Eglinton Tournament Bridge

The Eglinton Tournament Bridge is a bridge located within Eglinton Country Park near Kilwinning, North Ayrshire, Scotland. The bridge crosses the Lugton Water a short distance northwest of Eglinton Castle () and was named after the Eglinton Tournament of 1839. The castle and surrounding grounds were once home to the Montgomerie family, Earls of Eglinton and chiefs of the Clan Montgomery.
History.
The Tournament Bridges.
The surviving 'Tournament Bridge' was built to provide an appropriate crossing point to gain access to the far side of the Lugton Water and the Eglinton Kennels, circa 1845. Archibald Montgomerie, the 13th Earl of Eglinton had the bridge built in a Gothic style, using cast iron for the arches, pinnacles, etc. and stone for the two pairs of miniature ornamental towers at either end. These towers have subtle design differences (See photographs) which are significant in the context of the extended history of the bridge. This 'Tournament' bridge is said to have been designed by the architect David Hamilton; agreement to build the original three arched bridge was reached on 16 October 1799 by the 12th Earl of Eglinton and Hamilton's first recorded work dates from 1807. An Adam Russell is recorded as being partner to the agreement. The first bridge is described by Aiton in 1811 as "A bridge of three arches, the piers of stone, and the arches of cast-iron, of the most elegant device, imitating the gothic style of the castle, with the family arms in the centre, now building about 100 yards below the castle, where the river is 102 feet broad ..."
The bridge's cast-iron parapet is a repetition of the pointed Gothic arch design of the castle, surmounted by a battlement, and relieved in the centre with foliated pinnacles. The Tournament Bridge is B listed by Historic Scotland.
The 1839 Eglinton Tournament was held on a meadow or holm at a loop in the Lugton Water. Most of the holm no longer exists, the excavations in this area having provided gravel and sand for the construction of the Kilwinning bypass and leaving behind an excavation pit which is now known as Eglinton Loch. The Knights on horseback and their retinue reached the tilt yard ('C' on the map) via an enclosed ride ('G' on the map), whilst the guests and visitors made their way to the stands via the route marked 'F' on the map illustrated. Both groups crossed over the previous three arched Gothic bridge. A map of 1837 of "Eglinton Castle, Grounds and Tilt yard" of 1837 shows that the tilt yard was already in existence at this early date, but it is not recorded what its fate was after the tournament was over.
The 'new' Tournament Bridge served as a well used route across the Lugton Water, running through the Deer Park to Eglinton kennels (previously known as Laigh Moncur), especially on days when the Eglinton Hunt met at the castle itself. It was built by Messrs Connell of Dalgarven, using parts of the original bridge and possibly to a design by David Hamilton. Messrs. Connell also built the new Kilwinning Tower to a design by David Hamilton.
The original bridge, also with four pairs of miniature towers, but with three arches and four pinnacles, stood roughly 100 yards further up the river towards the castle; estate records show that it was built between 1802 and 1806 The original bridge is shown in several contemporary prints and maps as illustrated in the appropriate gallery of this article; the earliest is in William Aiton's book as published in 1811. It was this bridge that was used at the Eglinton Tournament as can be seen from the illustrations of the event, however the name was passed on to the 'new' bridge constructed downstream of it. No clear sign of this three arched bridge remains, a weir having been built at its old position; the 'old' bridge was constructed in 1811 according to Close., therefore around the time of the 'new' castle being built in 1801/2 and also when the grounds were being laid out by Tweedie.
Surviving architects drawings show the designs for a three arched bridge and as stated, contemporary prints of the Eglinton Tournament also show a three arched Tournament bridge, with cast-iron arches, pinnacles and parapets which may have been re-used in the later 'new' bridge which survives today. David Hamilton is recorded on the 1811 engraving as being the architect. A splendid archway was planned to be built for the tournament at the bridge, however this not recorded in the engravings.
The point at which the 'old' bridge crossed the Lugton was 102 feet broad and 100 yards downriver from the castle. It had the Montgomerie coat of arms in the centre. Aiton describes it as being under construction in 1811. The miniature castle towers on the demolished bridge are shown as each being surmounted by a double cross, but these do not figure on the 'new' Tournament Bridge; the 'old' bridge therefore may have been specially embellished for the tournament with temporary additions.
A local minister, the Rev. Lee Ker, confirms which bridge was used at the tournament by relating in his book on Kilwinning that the tournament procession passed over the Water of Lugton by "what is now called the Tournament Bridge, but which was then situated about 100 yards nearer the Castle and had three arches instead of two." This distance coincides with a weir today and an old path from the castle leads directly to it. Dane Love states that the bridge used by the tournament had been built by the 12th Earl in 1811. In contemporary reports of the tournament no special mention of the bridge is made, suggesting that it was already a well established feature of the estate by that time and not an extravagant new feature specially built for the event.
Lauchlan confuses the issue by stating that an older bridge with three arches existed 100 yards up from the present one, however he states that the present bridge was built for the tournament. The old three arched bridge in fact still existed in 1840 and at least as late as 1843.
The Eglinton Bridge had what was probably light with oil lamps as can be seen in the 1811 engraving and the twin towers at either end were both joined by masonry work and not by cast-iron work as in the present day two arched bridge. The Gothic embellishments on the engravings of the 1839 Tournament show that the oil lamps were removed for the event.
Construction of the 'new' Tournament Bridge.
The new bridge may have been erected by the 13th Earl at some time between 1843 and 1856 as part of the total re-modelling of the course of the Lugton Water which had been first undertaken by the 12th Earl (1740–1819) and which included the alteration of its course, the removal of the lakes or ponds and the creation of several weirs. The Lugton Water is liable to severe floods and damage to the easily broken cast-iron work by the force of the current, may have been a reason for its reconstruction at a different site; a severe 'Great Storm' in Ayrshire is recorded as having damaged or destroyed several buildings and structures in February 1856. The first Ordnance Survey map of 1856 shows the two arched bridge in position, a weir at the position of the old bridge and by this time the old lake had gone, replaced by a canalised Lugton Water with several weirs.
Ironically the strengthening work done on the 'new' bridge to create an extra arch of bricks in addition to the cast iron, may have weakened the structure, contributing to its eventual partial collapse. The army used the bridge extensively with large lorries and even tanks crossing over it.
The lower courses of ashlar on the bridge abutments and central pier were vermiculate. At some point the height of the weir beneath had been raised using an odd assortment of re-used stonework; this would have increased the depth and extent of the waters behind it. The central pier and the original weir had used reworked but re-cycled stone, probably from Kilwinning Abbey; as illustrated by a stone window surround recovered during restoration work (See illustration).
Examination of the top of the outer towers shows that something was attached to the centres, the 'plug' hole still being present. It is possible that the holes are related to the method of lifting them into position during construction work. The larger towers are capped with cement and nothing is therefore visible. During restoration work (2008) electricity power cables or possibly gas pipes were located leading to the bridge and they may have served some form of lighting on the bridge. These are not visible in the available illustrations. The Eglinton estate had its own gasworks and later its own power station, so it would have been natural to provide lighting on the bridge. The old OS maps show that by 1897 the gas works had been established here to supply the castle and offices, whilst by 1911 this had been replaced by an electricity works; the present day park workshop.
The larger and taller inner towers have been re-used from the older bridge, this being confirmed by the presence of ornate carving as infill within one of the larger towers. The curtain walls and the smaller and lower outer towers are made from a different type of stone and, as stated, the towers have a number of architectural differences, suggesting that they were made specifically for the 'new' Tournament Bridge (See photographs). During work on the central pier it was found that some of the hidden infill work is vermiculate ashlar from the 'old' bridge.
The cast-iron sections of the arches are numbered and some of the sequence are absent, suggesting that these missing sections may have been damaged previously beyond repair and were not used therefore in the 'new' bridge.
The Tournament Bridge and WWII.
The Eglinton Castle Estate was requisitioned during World War II and during this occupation the Tournament Bridge partly collapsed, partly due to alterations which had been made earlier by the Eglinton Estate, involving supposed strengthening using brickwork, as revealed during the 2008 restoration work. The old bridge partly collapsed in early 1936, the cast-iron fascias and central pinnacles falling outwards.
To save the bridge from total collapse the 103rd (Glasgow) Company Royal Engineers, who were encamped on the Irvine Moor, removed the cast-iron outer fascia coverings and the pinnacles, encasing the remaining cast-iron arches in concrete as can be seen from contemporary photographs and as further revealed during restoration work. It is not known what happened to the pinnacles and cast-iron coverings. It had been thought that they were safely in storage, however enquiries have led to nothing. The soldiers in 1936 were at their annual camp and the repair section were commanded by Lieut R. J. P. Cowan and Sergeant David Borland.
Other estate bridges.
Originally the river would have been crossed by simple fords, however by the 18th century ornamental pleasure gardens had been formed and these were partly situated in what later became the deer park. No signs of these gardens are now visible, apart from Crop marks on aerial photographs taken around the end of the Second World War. A bridge was necessary to give access to the ornamental gardens and one is indicated on John Ainslie's map dated 1790, crossing the Lugton Water close to the castle itself. A small wooden bridge across the Lugton Water is shown in an illustration from around 1815, however this may not have been across the Lugton Water. Thomson's map of 1828 (See illustration) indicates a bridge crossing the Lugton Water at the castle where the three arched bridge was and a drive starting off at the position of the present day bridge, which may have been a ford at the time. Another bridge is suggested further upstream and close to the castle.
A wooden 'Laundry Bridge' stood close to the castle and downstream from it was second wooden bridge which was washed away in a storm in 1938. Local children used it to build rafts. An 1807 estate map shows a bridge cutting across to a larder and another bridge just downstream, linked to the network of formal paths.
The restored Stables Bridge, also called Lady Jane's Bridge, lies on the Kilwinning Lodge drive and just downstream from it stood an elegant cast-iron bridge with a 50-foot span. This cast-iron bridge had high-quality stonework on both of the abutments, much of which survives. This bridge gave access to the kitchen walled gardens and glasshouse ranges and lasted into the mid-1940s when the army removed it.
The suspension bridge built by the army in the 1980s on behalf of the country park lies just below the weir beside the ruined gazebo. Lady Jane's Cottage had a wooded pedestrian footbridge which is shown in several postcards of the time; however, no clear sign remains apart from elements of the abutment on one bank.
The restored Diamond Bridge lies upstream near the Eglinton Loch and continues to give access to the old Toll Road from Irvine to Kilwinning via Fergushill. This bridge was named after the nearby Black Diamond mine, the spoil heap or bing of which still remains rear the Chapelholm Gate. The colliery name in turn was associated with one of the 13th Earl's favourite horses, Black Diamond.
Lugton Water.
The Lugton Water was diverted and altered several times, for example in the 1790s its course was altered by the 12th Earl (1740–1819) to run behind the Garden Cottage, rather than in front of it. The width was also changed at times, for instance five ponds or lakes were created by large weirs at one stage; the one at the Tournament Bridge is clearly visible in older prints of the 1840s (see illustrations) shown.
The size, shape and position of the various weirs was altered several times, latterly by Clement Wilson of the canning factory. One of the weirs lies directly beneath the restored Tournament Bridge. The one below the site of the old Bowling Green and Robert Burns's garden was 'U' shaped, holding back sufficient water at one time to form a lake with a small island bearing a single yew tree. The 1938 OS map shows no fewer than seven weirs between the castle and the present day Suspension Bridge.
The Clement Wilson gardens.
In 1948 the Trustees of the late 16th Earl sold most of the remaining parts of the estate to Robert Howie and Sons of Dunlop for £24,000 and in the 1950s the Wilson family purchased the Tournament Bridge, old offices, castle ruins, and other land from Robert Howie and Sons.
Clement Wilson, the food processing factory owner, established the Clement Wilson Foundation which opened part of the grounds to the public, spending around £400,000 (around £4,317,000 in 2008 terms) on partially restoring the Tournament Bridge, consolidating the castle ruins, planting trees, landscaping, making paths, creating a rockery and waterfall feature, etc.
2008–9 restoration.
The restoration of the Tournament Bridge involves a faithful and historic renovation of the 'Tournament Bridge', based on surviving documentary evidence. Historic Scotland requires a ‘faithful restoration where all details are replicated as closely as possible in terms of material, design and construction’.
The concrete arches were removed as well as the infill above. The concrete arches were replaced with the existing refurbished cast-iron arch sections and new cast-iron fascia sections, which have restored the original width of the structure. The load-bearing capacity of the bridge is carried by a modern steel structure concealed beneath the wooden deck surface, as this was considered to be the original material, possibly coated with a layer of whin dust or such-like.
The timber parapets have been replaced with cast-iron sections to match the original items. All of the cast-iron elements have been fabricated and fitted by the Ballantine Bo'ness Iron Company to restore the splendour of the original structure.
The restoration involved hydrodemolition to expose the cast-iron arches through removing the concrete in which they had been embedded. This process used very high pressure water jets and confirmed the poor structural integrity of the iron arches. They were not however intended to be load bearing in the restored bridge and an upside was the degree of Gothic artwork found to exist on the arches.
The estimated total project cost was £720k. Historic Scotland have indicated that they would be able to contribute some £161k, around £5k will be provided in kind, and the shortfall of £354k was the subject of the successful grant application to the Heritage Lottery Fund. The final cost was in the order of a million pounds.
The bridge deck is made from imported hardwoods such as Ipe. The bridge was re-opened on Friday, 26 June 2009.


Independent Albania

Independent Albania () was a parliamentary state declared in Vlorë (at the time part of Ottoman Empire) on 28 November 1912. Its assembly was constituted on the same day while its government and senate were established on 4 December 1912.
The delegation of Albania submitted a memorandum to the London Conference of 1913 requesting international recognition of independent Albania. At the beginning of the conference it was decided that the region of Albania would be under Ottoman suzerainty but with an autonomous government. The requests by the delegation for recognition based on the ethnic rights of Albanians were rejected and the treaty signed on 30 May 1913 partitioned a major part of the claimed lands between Serbia, Greece and Montenegro, leaving as independent territory only a central region, which was put under the protection of the Great Powers. The ambassadors of six Great Powers met again on 29 July 1913 and decided to constitute a new state, the Principality of Albania, as a constitutional monarchy. Finally, with the Treaty of Bucharest being signed in August 1913, this new independent state was established, leaving about 40% of the ethnic Albanian population outside its borders.
Name.
The name of the state used in the text of declaration of independence of Albania is "Shqipëria" (). It is also referred to as the "independent Albania" (), the "Albanian State" () or the "independent state of Albania" ().
Political system.
The independent Albania established on 28 November 1912 is the first Albanian state in modern history. It was a parliamentary state, not a monarchy. Some sources refer to it as the "Republic of Albania" or the "Albanian Republic".
Albania became an independent state through four constitutional decisions of the Assembly of Vlorë made on 28 November 1912:
Territory.
The authority of the state was limited to the regions of Vlore, Berat and Lushnje. The claimed territory was much larger than the territory of contemporary Albania and than the territory over which the Provisional Government exercised its power. It comprised the territories of Kosovo Vilayet, Monastir Vilayet, Shkoder Vilayet and Janina Vilayet. The Treaty of London, signed on 30 May 1913, reduced the territory of Albanian state to its central regions after partitioning a significant part of territory claimed by Albania between the Balkan allies (a major part of the northern and western area was given to the Serbia and Montenegro while the southern region of Chameria became part of Greece). Kosovo was given to Serbia at the London treaty at the insistence of Russia.
During the First Balkan War the kingdoms of Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria and Montenegro aspired to incorporate the entire region into their states (completely denying the Albania's independence), so most of the captured territory was occupied by their armies. Independent Albania did however exercise control over one pocket of land which included Vlore, Berat, Fier and Lushnje.
History.
Albanian Vilayet.
Until September 1912, the Ottoman government intentionally kept Albanians divided within four ethnically heterogeneous vilayets to prevent Albanian national unification. The reforms introduced by the Young Turks provoked the Albanian Revolt of 1912 which lasted from January to August 1912. In January 1912, Hasan Prishtina, Albanian deputy in the Ottoman parliament, publicly warned members of the parliament that the policy of the Young Turks' government would lead to a revolution in Albania. The Albanian revolt was successful and until August 1912 rebels managed to gain control over whole Kosovo vilayet (including Novi Pazar, Sjenica, Pristina and even Skopje), a part of the Scutari Vilayet (including Elbasan, Përmet and Leskovik), Konitsa in Janina Vilayet and Debar in Monastir Vilayet. The Ottoman government ended the Albanian revolt on 4 September 1912 by accepting all demands related to establishing an unified autonomous system of administration and justice for Albanians within one vilayet—the Albanian vilayet.
First Balkan War.
The success of the Albanian revolt sent a strong signal to the neighbouring countries that the Ottoman Empire was weak. Besides, the Kingdom of Serbia opposed the plan for an Albanian vilayet, preferring a partition of the European territory of the Ottoman Empire among the four Balkan allies. In the meantime it was agreed that the conquered territory was to have the status of a Condominium.
Albanian leaders, including Faik Konitza and Fan Noli, organized a large meeting on 7 October 1913 in Boston. They decided that Albanians should "unite fully with the Ottoman government against the enemies of the Empire" because "if Turkey is defeated, the Balkan states would shred Albania." That decision was risky, because if the Ottomans were defeated, Albanian participation in the Balkan war on the Ottoman side would serve as justification for the Balkan allies to partition Albania as an Ottoman province. Albanians who were mobilized in the Ottoman army fought for their country rather than for the Ottoman Empire.
During the First Balkan War the combined armies of the Balkan allies overcame the numerically inferior and strategically disadvantaged Ottoman armies and achieved rapid success. They occupied almost all the remaining European territories of the Ottoman Empire including the territory of the Albanian Vilayet.
At the beginning of November 1912, Albanian leaders appealed to Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria-Hungary, explaining the difficult situation in their country because parts of the four vilayets were also claimed by the Balkan League who were present on the disputed lands. Austria-Hungary and Italy strongly opposed the arrival of Serbian army on the Adriatic Sea because they perceived it as a threat to their domination of the Adriatic and feared that a Serbian Adriatic port could become a Russian base. Ismail Qemali, who had been an Albanian deputy in the Ottoman parliament, secured the support of Austria-Hungary for the autonomy of Albania within the Ottoman Empire, but not for its independence.
All-Albanian Congress.
Ismail Qemali invited the representatives of all parts of Albanian Vilayet to attend the All-Albanian Congress held in Vlorë on November 28, 1912. At the beginning of the session, Ismail Qemali referred to the threatened Albanian rights gained during the Albanian revolts in the previous four years, and explained to the participants of the congress that they should do whatever was necessary to save Albania. After his speech they began by checking the documents because it was decided that each kaza of Albanian Vilayet would be counted as one vote, regardless of the number of its delegates. Participants of this congress are regarded as Founding Fathers of Albania.
After the declaration of independence.
The first notification about the proclaimed independence was sent to the command of Serbian Army in Ohrid. On 29 November 1912, the army of the Kingdom of Serbia captured Durrës without any resistance and established Durrës County with four districts (): Durrës, Lezha, Elbasan and Tirana. New Serbian authorities were faced with big difficulties in governing a new county because all secluded army garrisons with small number of soldiers were destroyed in a couple of days. Although some tribal chieftains proposed to organize an armed resistance against troops of Serbia in the occupied parts of Albania, the provisional government of the Independent Albania decided to avoid unnecessary casualties and concluded agreement (besa) to maintain harmony in occupied territory.
The international relations of Albania began to function on a state level after it was proclaimed independent and the first diplomatic efforts of its government were requests for the international recognition of the Albanian state. In December 1912, a delegation of Albania submitted a memorandum to the London Conference of 1913 insisting on the ethnic rights of Albanians and requested an international recognition of the independent Albania composed of Kosovo, western Macedonia including Skopje and Bitola and the whole territory of Epirus up to Arta.
About 120 notable politicians and intellectuals from Albania attended the Albanian Congress of Trieste from 27 February to 6 March 1913 and requested from the Great Powers a recognition of the political and economical independence of Albania. Isa Boletini and Ismail Qemali travelled to London in March 1913 to obtain Britain's support for their new country. On March 6 Ioannina was captured by forces of the Kingdom of Greece. In March 1913 a group of 130 (or 200) soldiers of the Kingdom of Serbia were killed near Prizren by Albanian irregulars in act of revenge for repression of Serbian army.
In April 1913 the army of the Kingdom of Serbia retreated from Durrës but remained in other parts of Albania. On the other hand, Kingdom of Montenegro managed to capture Shkodër on 23 April 1913 after six months of siege. However, when the war was over, the Great Powers did not award the city to the Kingdom of Montenegro, which was compelled to evacuate it in May 1913.
In May 1913, delegates of Albania in London requested a British sovereign and considered offering the Albanian throne to Aubrey Herbert.
London Treaty.
The Great Powers did not fulfil the requests for recognition of Albania. At the beginning of the London conference in December 1912 the ambassadors of all six Great Powers rejected the plan for establishing an independent Albania. Instead, they decided that Albania would be under Ottoman suzerainty but with an autonomous government. After it became obvious that Ottoman Empire would lose all of Macedonia and its territorial connection with Albania, the Great Powers realized they had to change their decision.
The Treaty of London, signed on 30 May 1913, partitioned significant part of territory claimed by Albania, regardless its ethnic composition, between the Balkan allies reducing the territory of Albania to its central regions.
After the London treaty.
In September 1913 independent Albania secretly supported and helped Ohrid–Debar Uprising because Ismail Qemali thought that independent Albania was too weak to openly confront the Kingdom of Serbia. Qemali ordered simultaneous attack of the Albanian forces led by Isa Boletini and Bajram Curri to the region of Prizren. Peshkopi has been captured on 20 September 1913. Local Albanians and Bulgarians expelled the Serbian army and officials, creating a front line 15 km east of Ohrid. A local administration was set up in Ohrid. The Serbian Army of 100,000 regulars suppressed the uprising in several days. Thousands were killed, and tens of thousands of local inhabitants fled for Bulgaria and Albania to save their lives. According to the Report by the International Commission of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace the number of Albanians who took refuge was 25,000.
On 16 October 1913, Essad Pasha Toptani—who also had been an Albanian deputy in the Ottoman parliament—established the Republic of Central Albania with its administrative centre in Durrës. Toptani's state was also short-lived and unrecognised, with its territory bounded by rivers Mat in the North and Shkumbin in the South. It further partitioned already truncated territory of Albania. Toptani contested the status of the provisional government and denied that Qemali's government was legitimate, emphasizing that it was "the personal creation of a number of men." In July 1913 Ismail Qemali attempted to calm Toptani by appointing him Minister of Interior, but with no avail. Toptani was also, like Qemali little earlier, forced by Great Powers to step away on 1 February 1914.
Politics.
Declaration of Independence.
At the beginning of the session Ismail Qemali emphasized that the only way to prevent division of the territory of Albania between the Balkan allies was to establish it as independent state, separated from Ottoman Empire. Qemali's proposal was unanimously accepted and it was decided to sign the declaration of independence of Albania in the name of the constituted Assembly of Vlorë (Albanian: "Kuvendi i Vlorës") which members were representatives of all the regions of Albania. By the declaration of Albanian independence the Assembly of Vlorë rejected the autonomy granted by the Ottoman Empire to the Albanian Vilayet, projected a couple of months earlier. The consensus was made for the complete independence.
The sitting was then suspended and members of newly constituted National Assembly went to the house of Ismail Qemali who raised the flag of Skanderbeg on the balcony of his house, in front of the gathered people.
Government and Senate.
The establishment of the government was postponed for the fourth session of the Assembly of Vlorë, held on 4 December 1912, until representatives of all regions of Albania arrived to Vlore. During that session members of the assembly established the Provisional Government of Albania. It was a government that consisted of ten members, led by Ismail Qemali, until his resignation on 22 January 1914. Assembly established the Senate () with advisory role to the government, consisted of 18 members of Assembly.
Ismail Qemali was appointed as the first prime minister of independent Albania. On the same session held on 4 December 1912 the assembly appointed the other members of the government:
Public services.
A week after the independent Albania was proclaimed, its first Ministry of Posts and Telegraphs was established with Lef Nosi as its minister. Independent Albania took over the Ottoman post offices and placed significant efforts to make the Albanian postal service identifiable. Post offices of the independent Albania used the Ottoman postal seals until the end of April and the beginning of May 1913, when they were replaced by the postal seals of Albania with the name of the place in the upper part of the seal and the name of the state, Albania ("Shqipenie"), in the bottom part. On 5 May 1913 the first postage stamps of Albania were put into circulation. On 7 July 1913 Albania submitted an official request to the Universal Postal Union (UPU) for membership. The request was rejected, and Albania would become a member of UPU only in 1922.
After Albania achieved its independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1912, its legal system continued to function under the Ottoman Civil Code (Mejelle) for some time.
Since 28 November 1912 until 1926 the Albanian government did not mint any currency. Transactions occurred in gold and silver coins of other countries, whereas the official unit of account was the franc of the Latin Monetary Union.
Until 1912, the education system in Albania depended on religious institutions. Muslims attended Ottoman schools, the Orthodox population attended Greek or Armenian schools, Catholics attended Italian or Austrian schools, whereas in the districts near Slavic states, the population attended Serbian or Bulgarian schools. When Albania was declared independent in 1912 its government took measures to close foreign schools and to open Albanian ones. From 1912 to 1914, there was not much opportunity and time for progress of national education, because of the political instability and the breakout of World War I. The first laic school was opened in Shkoder in 1913.
A group of fighters from Kosovo led by Isa Boletini were the first nucleus of the armed forces of Albania established on 4 December 1912. The Ottoman forces backed the government of Independent Albania until the beginning of 1913, although the Ottomans did not recognize its independence.
Law enforcement forces (gendarmerie and Albanian Police) of the independent Albania were established on 13 January 1913. About 70 former Ottoman officers were engaged as officers of the law enforcement units of the independent Albania. The first director of the Albanian Police was Halim Jakova-Gostivari, whereas the first commanders of the gendarmerie were Alem Tragjasi, Hysni Toska, Sali Vranishti, and Hajredin Hekali. The Albanian Police uniforms was colored in gray and green, and the collars were red and black.
Economy.
The economy of Albania after it became independent state in 1912 was based on primitive agriculture and livestock, with no significant industry, and little international trade. Starting in 1912, Albania began activities aimed at implementing an agrarian reform, which would transfer ownership of the arable land from the big landowners to the peasants.
Aftermath.
The Treaties of London and Bucharest dealt with the final territorial adjustments arising out of the conclusion of the Balkan Wars. After the London treaty has been signed the ambassadors of six Great Powers decided to constitute a new state, Albania, as hereditary principality.
The Great Powers refused to recognize the Provisional Government of Albania and, instead, organized the International Commission of Control (ICC) to take care of the administration of the newly established principality until the arrival of the new monarch. The first law enforcement agency of the new principality was the International Gendarmerie.
The treaty of Bucharest, signed on 10 August 1913, established internationally recognized Albania as an independent state. The creation of Albanian state in 1913 after the Balkan Wars was their only political result.
A plot by the Young Turk government and led by Bekir Fikri to restore Ottoman control over Albania through the installment of an Ottoman-Albanian officer Ahmed Izzet Pasha as monarch was uncovered by the Serbs and reported to the ICC. Ismail Qemali supported the plot for military assistance against Serbia and Greece. The ICC allowed their Dutch officers serving as the Albanian Gendarmerie to declare a state of emergency and stop the plot. They raided Vlorë on 7–8 January 1914, discovering more than 200 Ottoman troops and arrested Fikri. During Fikri's trial the plot emerged and an ICC military court under Colonel Willem de Veer condemned him to death and later commuted to life imprisonment, while Qemali and his cabinet resigned. After Qemali left the country, turmoil ensured throughout Albania.
After a display of independence of Qemali's government, the Great Powers were angered and the International Commission of Control forced Qemali to step aside and leave Albania.
In 1914, after a gradual assumption of the administration of the country, the International Commission of Control prepared a draft of the constitution (Albanian: "Statuti Organik") with 216 articles. It was a basis for establishment of the National Assembly with power of legislation in Albania, which was designed as a hereditary constitutional monarchy. According to the constitution, the new principality would have, with few exceptions, the same administrative organization as during the Ottoman Empire suzerainty. It would be partitioned on seven administrative districts, each of which would choose three representatives for the national assembly by direct suffrage. The prince would nominate ten representatives and the heads of the all three religions (Islam, Orthodox and Catholic) would be also representatives in the national assembly, which would have four-year terms. The "Council of Ministres", with executive powers, would be appointed by the prince. After monarchical form of government has been installed by the International Commission of Control in 1914 the political system of Albania became a monarchy.
The biggest group of Albanians who were left outside of the new state were Albanians from Kosovo, the cradle of the 19th century Albanian nationalism. Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy exploited the discontent of the Albanians about the inaccurate ethnic borders.
Commemorations.
Since Albania was declared independent on November 28, 1912, every 28 November is commemorated by all Albanians (wherever they live in the world) as their National Day (Albanian Independence Day or "Flag Day"). In the Republic of Albania, the day is celebrated as a public holiday. In the Republic of Kosovo, the day has been an official public holiday since a 2011 decision of Prime Minister Hashim Thaçi's cabinet.
The proceedings of the conference dedicated to the 70th anniversary of Albania's independence organized in November 1982 by the Academy of Sciences of Albania were entitled ""National forces against imperialist dictate in the organization of the Albanian State, 1912-1914: Report". In 1992 the Academy of Sciences of Albania organized a conference dedicated to 80th anniversary of independent Albania and published a document titled: "The organization of government, judicial system and military of Albania (1912-1914)". Year 2012 is a year of the centennial of the Independence of Albania. The opening day of the year-long celebration was on 17 January 2012 during a solemn ceremony held at the Parliament of Albania and attended by Albanian representatives from the Republic of Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Preševo and Bujanovac, who were joined together that day like they were 100 years ago.
The Ministry of Tourism, Cultural Affairs, Youth and Sports announced on 22 December 2011 the "International Competition for the accomplishment in sculpture of the monumental work dedicated
to the “100 anniversary of the Declaration of Independence of the Albanian State: 28 November 1912 – 28 November 2012”"".


Artificial caves of Alapraia

The Artificial caves of Alapraia () constitute a prehistoric necropolis formed by four subterranean tombs or hypogea that were created by excavating marlstone rock using stone tools. They are situated in the centre of the suburb of Alapraia in Estoril, Lisbon District, Portugal and are believed to date back to the last quarter of the 4th Millennium BCE and to have been used as a necropolis for over one thousand years.
The Caves.
The four caves are surrounded by and, in some cases, are underneath modern housing and are individually numbered, according to the date of excavation. They are identified at the site but cannot be accessed by casual visitors. All the caves had the same system of construction, consisting of a long corridor or vestibule for access, with a circular chamber at the end with a skylight at the top, protected by slabs. This is believed to have made possible the placement of bodies into the chamber, when occupancy levels no longer allowed access through the corridor. Cave 1 is 19 m long and was first described by the geologist F. de Paula e Oliveira in 1889. A spherical chamber has a diameter of 6.2 metres and a height of 2.8 metres in the middle. It is the largest of the four caves and at the time of the excavation had been used as a stable or pigsty and wood store. It is surrounded by a high wall. Caves 2-4 were excavated by Father Eugénio Jalhay and Lieutenant Colonel Afonso do Paço. Cave 2 has a total length of 9 metres, with the oval chamber having a diameter of 4.2-4.4 metres and a height in the middle of 2.2 metres. It was excavated in 1932. Cave 3 has a diameter of 6.20 metres and a mean height of 2.40 metres and was excavated in 1942. The fourth cave was discovered during work to install a fountain. It was excavated in 1943 and is about 11 metres long, with a slightly oval chamber of 4.35 metres diameter and a height in the middle of 2.4 metres.
The excavations provided many finds dating back to the Beaker culture of the second half of the 3rd millennium BCE, together with older pottery from the Chalcolithic (Copper Age) era and more recent Bronze Age findings. Items found included decorated ceramic vessels, such as bowls and cups, shale plates with a geometric pattern, polished bone items, flints, pearls, votive idols, and limestone replicas of two soles of sandals, which are believed to be unique. The finds are mainly located in the Condes de Castro Guimarães Museum in neighbouring Cascais, where an archaeology room was inaugurated to display them in 1942.


Ben Berlin

Ben Berlin (real name Hermann Biek) was a jazz musician born in Reval (now Tallinn, Estonia) in 1896. He married composer Vera Vinogradova around 1920 and they had two children, Leopold and Nina. Berlin founded the Ben Berlin Dance Orchestra in Germany in 1928, producing records with Deutsche Grammophon such as "Küss mich und morgen vergiss mich" and "Roses of Yesterday". As a Jew, he left Nazi Germany in 1933, moving to Holland, Austria, France and finally England where he died in 1944, sitting at his desk.


Haxhi Zeka

Haxhi Zekë Byberi mostly known as Haxhi Zeka (; 20 December 1832 – 21 February 1902) was an Albanian nationalist leader, a member of the League of Prizren, while in 1899 he was part of the establishment and leadership of the League of Peja, another organization seeking protection of Albanians territories from Balkan states. Zeka was assassinated by a Serbian agent in 1902.
Biography.
Zeka was born on 20 December 1832 in the village of Shoshani (now in Tropojë), from where his family moved to Peja, in the Kosovo Vilayet. He was a landowner and had a reputation for being charismatic. Zeka was one of the organizers of the League of Prizren and one of the determined fighters for Albania's autonomy and protection of the integrity of its territory. The Assembly of the first League was held on June 10, 1878, where he was elected member of its Central Committee. He was a military commander, in charge of the forces of the League in action in Gjakova in September 1878 against Mehmet Ali Pasha. Besides other political and military leaders the league struggled in late 1879 and early 1880 for the protection of Plav and Gusinje against the forces of Montenegro. In the spring of 1881 he fought with Sulejman Vokshi and took part in battles against the army of Dervish Pasha. During 1892-1893 Zeka led an uprising against local Ottoman authorities.
In 1884-85, together with Vokshi and Kadri Bajri, Zeka led anti-Ottoman uprisings, in order to create autonomy. In 1893, Haxhi Zeka and Bajram Curri organized the uprisings in Peja, Gjakova and other regions of Kosovo against the political and economic injustices of the Ottoman Empire. For his patriotic activities in 1893, he was summoned to Istanbul where he was held under arrest until 1896.
In 1896-1900 he was put in charge of the Albanian rebellion for autonomy and protection of the territorial integrity of the country.
He led a people's armed resistance that began in Kosovo in 1897 and founded the "Albanian Covenant" (1897). In cooperation with the Albanian Committee of Istanbul headed by Sami Frashëri and other patriots at home and abroad, Haxhi Zeka organized a meeting known as the Assembly of Peja of Albanian notables between 23–29 January 1899. The gathering was a response to increasing foreign influence in the region and was attended by some 450 Kosovo Albanians in Pejë. On 28 January 1899 an agreement was reached by the delegates on forming the "League of Peja" (Besa-Besë) and on 29 January swore a pledge (besë), suspended blood feuds in the region and elected Zeka as chairman of its Committee. In April–May 1899 he was prepared to call another General Assembly of the Albanian League, whose keeping was hampered by the Sublime Porte. Zeka and the League committee would appeal to all parts of Albanian inhabited territory in the empire for assistance and meetings in some towns occurred that expressed solidarity with the movement. Regardless of Istanbul's objections and obstacles of the Great Powers of neighbouring irredentist states, Haxhi Zeka continued his efforts to strengthen the League throughout the year 1900 until its suppression by the Ottoman army. His activities continued especially after April 1901 holding meetings in northern parts of the vilayet of Kosovo aiming to unite Albanians toward resisting the Ottomans and other outside adversaries. Zeka reached out to Austria-Hungary offering his services and advocated for a union between Albania and them, however they distrusted him due to his closeness with the Ottoman sultan's entourage.
On February 21, 1902 Haxhi Zeka was assassinated in Peja by Adem Zajmi, an agent of Serbian chauvinist circles, which had the support of the Ottoman authorities.
Legacy.
Haxhi Zeka mill.
Haxhi Zeka Mill is a large complex of industrial heritage which belongs to the second half of the 19th century. It was built with the help of the Austro-Hungarians. The building consists of a mill and a granary. At the time in which it was built, it was the tallest building in Peja consisting of three floors. The façade combines stone and brick and it has arched windows and frames. The Haxhi Zeka Mill was the first mill in Kosovo and the region which had the most advanced technology brought in from Austria. The mill initially used water for its power source, then it used electricity. The building represented the start of an industrial-based economy in Peja. Prior to that, the whole region has performed services for grinding grain and flour production.
After the death of Haxhi Zeka, Yasar Pasha, his nephew, became manager of the mill. In 1997 it was placed under state control. During the 1998-1999 war, the mill was burned but it was restored: the mill was restored in 2004 with the granary restored in 2016.
Public University "Haxhi Zeka".
Public University "Haxhi Zeka" in the establishment is a descendant of the Faculty of Applied Business (FSHAB) in Peja was established in 1960 by decision of the Executive Board of KSAK as the High School of Commerce - Commercial Peja. The school was renamed as Business School and then at the Faculty of Applied Sciences and Business. Initially the school had only section of the Commercial Business in Enterprise and a small number of teachers. In the first academic year 1960/61, 120 students were enrolled.
Since 2007 FSHAB studies develop in three departments:
Also, the university provides opportunities for academic preparation master of science.
Haxhi Zeka square.
In the centre of the city of Peja lies Haxhi Zeka square. In this square are important objects including Tahir Bey Konak, the National Ethnographic Museum where can be seen various galleries, traditional national crafts, characteristic clothing of Rugova and Dukagjini, Trade Center "Metë Bajraktari" etc. In the center of the square is the fountain which was built in the 16th century, close to the statue of Haxhi Zeka.
Tower of Haxhi Zeka.
Near the Haxhi Zeka square is found "Tower of Pasha" or also known as Tower of Haxhi Zeka, whose walls are made with characteristic works of Albanian masters of that time as the lion, the star of David, etc. It has a characteristic architecture of the eighteenth and nineteenth century, built of stone and it has windows worked with commitment by the Albanian masters.


Standesamt Wongrowitz

Standesamt Wongrowitz was a civil registration district (Standesamt) located in Kreis Wongrowitz, province of Posen of the German Empire (1871–1918). This Standesamt was located in and administered the town of Wongrowitz as well as the nearby communities of:


Ezia Gavazza

Ezia Gavazza (1928-18 April 2019) was an Italian art historian. Along with her friends and colleagues Lauro Magnani and Piero Boccardo, she was one of the most prolific writers in Genoa on Baroque art. She specialised in the Ligurian Baroque, particularly Domenico Piola, Giulio Benso, Giovanni Andrea Ansaldo, Grechetto and Bernardo Strozzi.
Life.
Born in Pozzolo Formigaro, for several years she held the chair in Modern Art History at the University of Genoa before being made Professor Emerita by minister Fabio Mussi. She was a city counsellor for the PCI and also took a major part in Genoa's cultural life by organising exhibitions, publications and specialist conferences. In her final years she settled in the historic city centre of Genoa and continued to collaborate in the city's cultural and academic life. She died in Genoa aged 91.
She trained several important art critics, art historians and academics such as Lauro Magnani and Piero Boccardo, director of Genoa's Strada Nuova Museums. Two monographs were published to mark her retirement, marking her importance in Genoese and wider scholarship. She and other Genoese art historians also carried out major research on several paintings in the city's Zerbone collection.
Her method of artistic investigation derived from the methodology of Aby Warburg and his iconological school and following the "Arganiani" (i.e. supporters of Giulio Carlo Argan's method). She also investigated the complex web of relationships between the Genoese and Roman schools through looking at long and short visits to Rome by individual Genoese artists. In 2011 she and her colleague Lauro Magnani looked at Genoese nunneries (now mostly suppressed, demolished or in secular use) through an art-historical lens to reconstruct the city's urban and social appearance in the 16th and 17th centuries, studies which culminated in "Monasteri femminili a Genova tra il XVI e il XVII secolo", published by Diras di Genova.


Ymer Prizreni

Haxhi Ymer bey Effendi Prizreni or Ymer Drini (1826–1887) was an Ottoman-Albanian 'alim, hoxha and the political leader of the League of Prizren. He was Prime Minister of its Autonomous Provisional Government, formed in the period 1880–1881.
Life.
He was born around 1820, descending from a family of müderris, landlords in the area of Zgatar, near Prizren and nearby. He was the son of Müderris Sylejman Ali Nuhi. His grandfather was Müderris Ali Nuhi, known in the region of Opojë as founder of the first mosque in Zgatari, on 10 May 1814. It is not known when his father Sylejman settled in Prizren. Sylejman served as Imam in the Bajrakli Mosque, owner of land, stores and mills in Prizren area.
All three sons Ali, Ymer and Osman went through high education. The only descendants of the family today come from Ymer's brother Ali.
Ymer followed elementary and middle education in his town. Then he went to Istanbul where he studied Islamic theology and jurisdiction. After the studies he worked in the "madrasa" of Prizren, where he distinguished himself as a main supporter of the lower classes against the injustices of the corrupt 19th-century Ottoman administration. Once the Russo-Turkish War started off in (1877–1878), he set up together with other Albanian leaders, to work for the protection of Albania's territorial integrity and to seek its national rights in international level. He organized self-defense committee for the Sanjak of Prizren and else where, and organized other committees that were formed in Kosovo.
League of Prizren.
In 1877 he was elected member of the first Ottoman Parliament (1876–1878). In the same year he became a member and a founder of the Central Committee for Defending Albanian Rights () which was formed under the chairmanship of Abdyl Frashëri, whom he was connected for the rest of his life. In the spring of 1878, he chaired the committee that organized in Prizren General Assembly meeting, who founded the Albanian League. In October 1879 he was elected chairman of the League, and in January 1881, and the head of the Autonomous Provisional Government. As its chairman, he directed political activity that led to the establishment of the Vilayet of Albania, administration and organization of armed resistance against the Ottoman armies which were coming to crush it in the spring of 1881. After suppression of the League of Prizren, Ymer Prizren escaped from falling into the hands of the Ottoman authorities and to refuse the submission, by settling in Ulcinj, although sultan promised forgiveness and high posts to corrupt him in order to have him return. He was not subdued nor his Albanian ideology, and died in Ulcinj where his tomb still lies. He was allegedly murdered and all his archive of documents was stolen. Lately, his remains were examined. The medical expertise verified the assumptions that he was murdered.


District of Pavia

The District of Pavia was one of the four divisions of the , the province of Milan during the Napoleonic Italian Republic. It received the numeral II and its capital was Pavia.
The district.
Founded on May 13, 1801, it had a population of 119,105 inhabitants.
It was composed by the communes of:


Triballi

The Triballi () were an ancient tribe whose dominion was around the plains of modern southern Serbia, northern part of North Macedonia and western Bulgaria, at the "Angrus" and "Brongus" (the "South and West Morava") and the Iskar River, roughly centered where Serbia and Bulgaria are joined.
The Triballi were a Thracian tribe that received influences from Celts, Scythians and Illyrians.
History.
The written sources on the Triballi are scarce but the archaeological remains are abundant. The scientific research of the Triballi was boosted with Fanula Papazoglu's book "The Central Balkan Tribes in Pre-Roman Times" (1968 in Serbia, 1978 in English). Other historians and archaeologists who wrote on the Triballi include , Dragoslav Srejović, Nikola Tasić, Rastko Vasić, Miloš Jevtić and, especially, Milorad Stojić ("Tribali u arheologiji i istorijskim izvorima", 2017).
Based on the archaeological findings, the history of the Triballi can be divided in four periods: Proto-Triballian (1300–800 BC), Early Triballian (800-600 BC), Triballian (600–335 BC) and period from 335 BC until Roman conquest.
In 424 BC, they were attacked by Sitalkes, king of the Odrysae, who was defeated and lost his life in the engagement. They were pushed to the east by the invading Autariatae, an Illyrian tribe; the date of this event is uncertain.
In 376 BC, a large band of Triballi under King Hales crossed Mount Haemus and advanced as far as Abdera; they had backing from Maroneia and were preparing to besiege the city when Chabrias appeared off the coast, with the Athenian fleet, and organized a reconciliation.
In 339 BC, when Philip II of Macedon was returning from his expedition against the Scythians, the Triballi refused to allow him to pass the Haemus unless they received a share of the booty. Hostilities took place, in which Philip was defeated and wounded by a spear in his right thigh, but the Triballi appear to have been subsequently subdued by him.
After the death of Philip, Alexander the Great passed through the lands of the Odrysians in 335-334 BC, crossed the Haemus ranges and after three encounters (Battle of Haemus, Battle at Lyginus River, Battle at Peuce Island) defeated and drove the Triballians to the junction of the Lyginus at the Danube. 3,000 Triballi were killed, the rest fled. Their king Syrmus (eponymous to Roman Sirmium) took refuge on the Danubian island of Peukê, where most of the remnants of the defeated Thracians were exiled. The successful Macedonian attacks terrorized the tribes around the Danube; the autonomous Thracian tribes sent tributes for peace, Alexander was satisfied with his operations and accepted peace because of his greater wars in Asia.
They were attacked by Autariatae and Celts in 295 BC.
The punishment inflicted by Ptolemy Keraunos on the Getae, however, induced the Triballi to sue for peace. About 279 BC, a host of Gauls (Scordisci) under Cerethrius defeated the Triballi with an army of 3,000 horsemen and 15,000 foot soldiers. The defeat pushed the Triballi further to the east. Nevertheless, they continued to cause trouble to the Roman governors of Macedonia for fifty years (135 BC–84 BC).
The Illyrian Dardani tribe settled in the southwest of the Triballi area in 87 BC. The Thracian place names survives the Romanization of the region.
Pliny the Elder (23-79 AD) registers them as one of the tribes of Moesia.
In the time of Ptolemy (90–168 AD), their territory was limited to the district between the Ciabrus (Tzibritza) and Utus (Vit) rivers, part of what is now Bulgaria; their chief town was Oescus.
Under Tiberius, mention is made of Triballia in Moesia; and the Emperor Maximinus Thrax (reigned 235–237) had been a commander of a squadron of Triballi. The name occurs for the last time during the reign of Diocletian, who dates a letter from "Triballis".
Legacy.
Exonym of Serbs.
The term "Triballians" appears frequently in Byzantine and other European works of the Middle Ages, referring exclusively to Serbs. Some of these authors clearly explain that "Triballian" is synonym to "Serbian". For example, Niketas Choniates (or Acominatus, 1155–1215 or-16) in his history about Emperor Ioannes Komnenos: ""... Shortly after this, he campaigned against the nation of Triballians (whom someone may call Serbians as well) ..." or the much later Demetrios Chalkondyles (1423–1511), referring to an Islamized Christian noble: "... This Mahmud, son of Michael, is Triballian, which means Serbian, by his mother, and Greek by his father." or Mehmed the Conqueror when referring to the plundering of Serbia.
Mihailo Vojislavljević succeeded as Knez of "Duklja" in 1046, or as his realm was called by contemporary Cedrenus: "Triballorum ac Serborum principatum". According to George Kedrenos (fl. 1050s) and John Skylitzes (fl. 1057), he was the "Prince of Triballians and Serbs" (Τριβαλλών και Σέρβων...αρχηγός/ Τριβαλλῶν καὶ Σέρβων...ἀρχηγός).
In the 15th century, a coat of arms of "Tribalia", depicting a wild boar with an arrow pierced through the head (see Boars in heraldry), appeared in the supposed Coat of Arms of Emperor Stefan Dušan 'the Mighty' (r. 1331–1355). The motif had, in 1415, been used as the Coat of Arms of the Serbian Despotate and is recalled in one of Stefan Lazarević's personal Seals, according to the paper "Сабор у Констанци". Pavao Ritter Vitezović also depicts "Triballia" with the same motif in 1701 and Hristofor Zhefarovich again in 1741.
Marin Barleti (1450–1513), wrote in his biography of Skanderbeg (published between 1508–10), that father of Skanderbeg's mother Voisava was a "Triballian nobleman" ("pater nobilissimus Triballorum princeps"). In another chapter, when talking about the inhabitants of Upper Debar that defended Svetigrad, he calls them "Bulgarians or Triballi" ("Bulgari sive Tribali habitant").
With the beginning of the First Serbian Uprising, the Parliament adopted the Serbian Coat of Arms in 1805, their official seal depicted the heraldic emblems of Serbia and Tribalia.
Even though the two names were used as synonyms by some Byzantine sources and certain heraldic inheritance, Serbian official historiography is not equalizing the Serbs and the Triballi, nor does it fabricate a cultural continuity between the two.
Tribals and Tribalia are often identified in a historical context with Serbs and Serbia, as these interpretations refer only to Laonikos Chalkokondyles of the 15th century, who often resorted to archaisms in his historical writings that have come down to us (Mizi, Illyrians, etc.) to indicate the subjects of the individual rulers, without attaching ethnic meaning to their content.
Archaeological findings.
Serbia.
Archeological findings prove that the Triballi inhabited the Morava Valley (Great Morava and South Morava) region in the Iron Age.


2006 in the United Kingdom

Events from the year 2006 in the United Kingdom.


United Nations Security Council Resolution 7

United Nations Security Council Resolution 7, adopted on June 26, 1946, concerned the impact of Spain's dictatorship on international peace and security. The Second World War had ended the year before.
The resolution was adopted in parts, and therefore no vote was taken on the text as a whole.


Hzak

Hzak (Hza, Kzak) - the Cumans Khan, the head of the Cumans Of Don river (the Burchevichs), a son of the Beglyuk (Belyuk) Khan. In chronicles he is called Koza Burnovich. However, it's not excluding, that Kzak Belyukovich and Koza Burnovich are different persons.
Biography.
The Hypatian Codex narrate about defeat of Hzak by the Olgovichs in 1166:
According to S. Pletnyova, this text is not about Hzak, but about Kozel Satanovich, who died near the river Chartoriya in 1180. In 1185 Hzak took part in the battle with Igor Svyatoslavich as an ally of Konchak, and Roman Hzych, a son of Hzak, captured Vsevolod Svyatoslavich, who is a brother of Igor. After the victory over Igor, Hzak raided Posemye, there were no defenders, including Putyvl, while Konchak raided to lands near the Dnieper river, and married his daughter with Igor's son.
Notes.
All these notations are in Russian language


Social Committee of the Council of Ministers

The Social Committee of the Council of Ministers is an advisory body to the council of ministers of the Republic of Poland and the president of the Council of Ministers themselves, mostly reviewing social affairs within the framework of the 1st and 2nd cabinets of Mateusz Morawiecki. Instituted in 2017, the Committee was originally chaired by Beata Szydło, the previous prime minister and incumbent deputy prime minister. Piotr Gliński, the deputy prime minister and Minister of Culture and National Heritage, has been president of the Committee since June 24, 2019, following his predecessor's election to the European Parliament.
History.
On December 8, 2017, Beata Szydło, the incumbent Prime Minister, submitted her resignation from the office to the president of Poland, simultaneously abolishing her cabinet. The renouncement was approved by the President. On the same day, Mateusz Morawiecki, Szydło's previous deputy, was designated Prime Minister, commissioned to complete the composition of his Council of Ministers. Beata Szydło entered the new the government, assuming the office of Deputy Prime Minister. On December 20, Morawiecki issued a regulation which established the Social Committee and promoted Szydło to the position of presiding officer.
In the 2019 European Parliamentary Election, the United Right put up Szydło's candidacy. The feputy prime minister obtained a seat, which resulted in the relinquishment of her ministerial offices on June 3. On June 18, the Prime Minister implemented an amendment to the regulation from 2017, devolving the position of President of the Social Committee to Piotr Gliński, his deputy. The regulation went into effect on June 24.
Upon the 2019 Polish parliamentary election, the Social Committee of the Council of Ministers remained undissolved as the Second Cabinet of Mateusz Morawiecki was being formed. Another amendment introduced to the Prime Minister's regulation did not rescind Piotr Gliński's presidency over the advisory body, either.
Purposes and composition.
The main purpose of the Social Committee of the Council of Ministers is initiation, supervision, and coordination of any governmental projects supposed to improve the situation of Polish families prior to their submission to the "Sejm". The Prime Minister's regulation also obligates the body to conduct analyses and assessments as regards the above, as well as execute any other missions commissioned by the Head of Government.
The composition of the Committee involves particular ministries and is specified by the Prime Minister's regulation, numerously updated over the past three years. In case of a Minister's inability to participate in a meeting, a Secretary of State can appear on their behalf. Meetings are presided by the President, appointed and recalled by the Prime Minister. If present, the Prime Minister chairs the sitting themselves.


Battle of Carteia

The Battle of Carteia, also known by the modern name Battle of the Guadalquivir, was a battle of the Second Punic War that took place in 206 BC between the forces of Carthage and the Roman Republic. The name "Battle of the Guadalquivir" is anachronistic, since the river's name "el Guadalquivir", from the Arabic "al-wadi al-kabir" ("the great valley"), was not used until the Islamic conquest of Spain over nine hundred years after the battle. The Carthaginian forces were commanded by Hanno and the Romans by Gaius Lucius Marcius Septimus. The battle resulted in a Roman victory.
Context.
After the Carthaginian defeat at the Battle of Ilipa, the Turdetani flocked en masse to the Roman banner. Hasdrubal Gisco and Mago Barca were thereafter confined with their troops to Gadir where they were protected from a Roman assault. After the Revolt of Sucro and the Revolt of Indibilis and Mandonius, Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus sent Lucius Marcius Septimus with a small force uninhibited by baggage so as to augment their speed down the Guadalquivir River to the river mouth. There, the Romans encountered the Carthaginian prefect Hanno who was attempting to recruit a force of Celtiberian mercenaries for Mago Barca, as Mago and Hanno the Elder had just lost another army in Celtiberia to Marcus Junius Silanus.
The battle.
Hanno had at his command 700 cavalry and 6,000 infantrymen, of whom 4,000 were Celtiberian warriors and the rest Africans. Lucius Marcius Septimus attacked the Carthaginian force and surrounded them on a hill.
The mercenaries quickly opened negotiations with Marcius, who asked Hanno to hand over any deserters and prisoners that he had in his care. He further asked them for payment, after which they could reach an agreement. Once the mercenaries had come down from the hill, Marcius gave his final demand for the mercenary forces to surrender their arms and return to their respective cities.
However, the last demand infuriated the Celtiberians, whose culture established that death was preferable to surrender their weapons. They refused to comply and promptly resumed battle. After brave resistance from the Carthaginian forces, over half their number were slaughtered and the rest were able to escape.
Consequences.
The Celtiberian mercenaries and African fighters who were able to escape fled towards the army of Mago Barca, who had arrived on the coast at the head of a fleet of 60 ships to pick up the survivors. Carthaginian territory in the region was reduced to the city of Gadir after the fight. Mago Barca placed the remainder of his army on ships in an attempt to take back Cartago Nova. Upon reaching the city with the Carthaginian army, which numbered only a few thousand, Barca's army anchored and disembarked. They laid siege to the city but were repulsed by Roman forces at the Battle of Cartagena in 206 BC.
Mago Barca returned defeated to Gadir where he found that the local population had shut their gates to his army as they had begun negotiations with the Romans. Shortly thereafter, Mago abandoned the city and sailed to the Balearic Islands, spending the winter at Maó-Mahón. The following year, he sailed north to Italy where he hoped to instigate a revolt amongst the Ligures people.


List of years in Austria

This is a list of years in Austria. See also the timeline of Austrian history. For only articles about years in Austria that have been written, see .


William Capell, 4th Earl of Essex

William Anne Holles Capell, 4th Earl of Essex (7 October 1732 – 4 March 1799), was a British landowner and peer, a member of the House of Lords.
Early life.
Capell was born on 7 October 1732 in Turin. He was the son of William Capell, 3rd Earl of Essex (1696–1743), by his second marriage, to Lady Elizabeth Russell. From his father's first marriage to Lady Jane Hyde (a Lady of the Bedchamber to the Princess of Wales and the third daughter of Henry Hyde, 4th Earl of Clarendon), he had several older half-sisters, including Lady Charlotte Capell (wife of Thomas Villiers, 1st Earl of Clarendon), and Lady Mary Capell (wife of Admiral of the Fleet Hon. John Forbes, second son of George Forbes, 3rd Earl of Granard).
His paternal grandparents were Algernon Capell, 2nd Earl of Essex and Lady Mary Bentinck (eldest daughter of William Bentinck, 1st Earl of Portland and Anne Villiers). His mother was a daughter of Wriothesley Russell, 2nd Duke of Bedford and the former Elizabeth Howland (daughter and heiress of John Howland of Streatham).
Career.
In January 1743, at the age of ten, he inherited his father's titles and estates. In 1753, at the age of twenty-one, he took his seat in the House of Lords. From 1755 to 1769, he was a Lord of the Bedchamber to King George II. He again served in this role for King George III from 1782 to 1799.
Lord Essex served as Lord Lieutenant of Hertfordshire from 1764 to 1771. In 1770, he was made the last Master of the Staghounds.
Personal life.
On 1 August 1754, the Earl of Essex married, firstly, Frances Hanbury-Williams, the daughter of Charles Hanbury Williams of Coldbroke and of Lady Francis Coningsby of Hampton Court Castle (a daughter and co-heiress of Thomas Coningsby, 1st Earl Coningsby). By his first wife he had three children (George and his sister Elizabeth were painted in a double-portrait by Sir Joshua Reynolds in 1768, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York):
Several years after her death in childbirth in 1759, he married, secondly, Harriet Bladen (1735–1821), on 2 March 1767. Harriet was the daughter of Colonel Thomas Bladen of Glastonbury Abbey, Somerset. By his second wife, he had four children:
Essex died on 4 March 1799 at St James's Palace, Westminster.


Alexandros Kallimachis

Son of Scarlat Callimachi, Alexandru Callimachi or Alexandros Kallimachis () fled Moldavia with his mother and other members of his family in 1821, at the time of his father's death. The family sought refuge in Russia, where Alexander finished his studies, at the University of Kiev. After traveling through Europe, he made his way to the Ottoman Empire in 1829, where his family possessions and titles were restored to him.
He entered the service of the Ottoman administration, first serving as attache and later as counselor to Rashid Pasha, the Ottoman ambassador to Paris at the time.
In 1848 he was appointed Minister Plenipotentiary to London, and then, a year later, to Paris under the same title. In 1850 he was appointed Prince of Samos, a position which he never accepted personally, choosing rather to administer the island through the offices of a delegate, Georgios Konemenos. Though his rule was resisted by some of the islanders, he is known for having founded the constitutional political system of the Principality. That consisted of the separation of the divided the legislative, executive and judicial powers. He also advanced the educational system, establishing four Greek schools and twenty two elementary schools, and also established a system of courts as well as a printing house.
In 1853 he retired to Versailles but was recalled in 1855 was appointed ambassador to Vienna, a position which he was only able to assume after having played an important part in the Istanbul conferences on the re-organization of the Danubian principalities.
For his services, in June 1861, Kallimachis was granted the Ottoman title of Bala, the first Christian to have been conferred that honor.


Mirabilia Urbis Romae

Mirabilia Urbis Romae ("Marvels of the City of Rome") is a much-copied medieval Latin text that served generations of pilgrims and tourists as a guide to the city of Rome. The original, which was written by a canon of St Peter's, dates from the 1140s. The text survives in numerous manuscripts.
"Unhampered by any very accurate knowledge of the historical continuity of the city, the unknown author has described the monuments of Rome, displaying a considerable amount of inventive faculty," the "Catholic Encyclopedia" reports. The legend-filled "Mirabilia" remained the standard guide to the city until the fifteenth century. At the time it was written, the inhabited part of Rome, the "abitato", was a small city located in the bend of the Tiber River surrounded by the ruins of the great ancient city, where within the standing walls and gates of the ancient city were fields where cattle sheep and goats grazed among the temples and baths, giving to the Roman Forum its name "Campo Vaccino" (the "cow pasture").
From the pontificate of Boniface VIII (1294–1303) to that of John XXII (1316–34) the text was revised and enlarged. Its authority was unquestioned until the 15th century, when two authors set out to supersede it with new descriptions from a fresh Renaissance point of view. One was Leon Battista Alberti's "Descriptio urbis Romae", written "ca."1433. Another was Flavio Biondo's "Roma instaurata", written in 1444 and circulated in manuscript; it was printed in 1481.
Modern critical attention was first drawn to the different versions of "Mirabilia Urbis Romae" by the 19th-century archaeologist of Christian Rome, Giovanni Battista de Rossi, in "Roma Sotterranea" (vol I, 1864, pp 158ff). The edition of Louis Duchesne in the "Liber Censuum de l'Eglise Romaine" (I, Paris, 1905, 262-73), gave the text of the original of Cencius Camerarius with the variants of four other manuscripts. In 1889, Francis Morgan Nichols published the first English translation, which was reprinted in 1986 by Italica Press.
Contents.
The contents of the "Mirabilia" fall into the following sections, the title headings being taken from the "Liber Censuum":


Hales (king)

Hales or Chales ( 376–375 BC) was the king of the Triballi, a Thracian tribe that inhabited the region between West Morava and South Morava ("Angros" and "Brongos") rivers, called the "Triballian field" (πεδίον τὸ Τριβαλλικὸν) in what is today south-eastern Serbia.
In 376 BC, he led the Triballian army of 30,000 warriors and crossed Mount Haemus and the Sofia plain, followed the valley of the Strymon river and advanced as far as Abdera. His forces had nearly destroyed the city before Chabrias, an Athenian general, was able to negotiate a peace between the Triballi and the king of Maronea, in the process winning over the Triballi to the Athenian side.


Samum (castrum)

Samum was a "castrum" (fort) in the Roman province of Dacia, situated at the very northern border of that territory. It lied on the right (northern) side of the river Someș, in historical land later known as Transylvania, inside of present Romania. Remnants of this relatively small fortified camp lies within the cadastre of village Cășeiu (near the town of Dej), to the southwest from the edge of the village.
This "castrum" in a typical square shape was built as an auxiliary military camp at the beginning of the 2nd century, in times of the Emperor Trajan, while it was fully abandoned (together with whole province of Dacia) after 270 AD, when Emperor Aurelian decided to give-up too difficultly defensible province.


Baron Skryne

Baron Skryne was the title of the holder of an Irish feudal barony : it derived from the parish of Skryne, or Skreen, in County Meath. It was not recognised as a barony in the Peerage of Ireland, but was habitually used firstly by the de Feypo family and then by their descendants, the Marwards. The Barons of Skryne were not entitled as of right to sit in the Irish House of Lords, although it seems that in practice the holder of the title was often summoned to the Irish Parliament. The title fell into disuse in the seventeenth century, when the family estates were forfeited to the English Crown. Thomas Marward having been the last Baron of Skryne died in 1568 without male inheritors.
De Feypo Barons of Skryne.
Hugh de Lacy, Lord of Meath in 1173 granted the lands of Skryne and Santry to his lieutenant Adam de Feypo, who was the first of his family to use the title Baron of Skryne. Despite Adam's loyalty to Hugh de Lacy, his son Richard, second Baron Skryne, witnessed a charter in 1210 forfeiting the de Lacy inheritance. A later Richard, perhaps the first Richard's grandson, died in the reign of Edward I leaving an underage son, Simon. In 1302 Simon, by then an adult, brought a successful lawsuit against his former guardian Theobald de Verdon for wasting his inheritance. The last of the de Feypo barons of Skryne, Francis, founded an Augustinian friary and a chantry about 1340.
Marward Barons of Skryne.
Francis's daughter and heiress Katherine de Feypo married Thomas Marward in about 1375. Lord Francis's eldest son and heir John de Feipo along with his son, also called John, had died before Francis and Katherine became heiress to Skryne. Robert de Feipo, Katherine's surviving brother must have been somewhat out of sorts as he should have been the rightful heir. There had been de Feypo's holding the title of Baron for five generations. Robert lived in Santry Castle near Dunboyne. and his descendants also used the title Baron Skryne.
When the Marwards first adopted the title is uncertain, but it seems to have been before the 1460s, when Anne Marward, described as the daughter of Baron Skryne, married as his first wife Sir Alexander Plunket (died 1503), a future Lord Chancellor of Ireland. Walter Marward, Baron Skryne (died 1487), who was probably Anne's brother, was apparently a man of some consequence, who married Margaret St Lawrence, daughter of the powerful Anglo-Irish peer and statesman Christopher St Lawrence, 2nd Baron Howth.
William Nugent, the second son of Richard, Baron Delvin, married Janet Marward, only daughter and heiress of Walter Marward, baron of Skryne, who died c. 1564, and inherited with this marriage the manor of Santry among other possessions.
In the sixteenth century the Marward family were involved in two notable scandals. In 1534 James Marward, Baron Skryne, grandson of Walter and Margaret, was murdered by Richard FitzGerald, younger son of Gerald FitzGerald, 8th Earl of Kildare, supposedly at the instigation of James' wife, Maud Darcy, who later married Fitzgerald. James left an only son Thomas (or Walter) who died about 1565, leaving a daughter and heiress, Janet, titular Barones of Skryne. Her mother, Janet Plunket, daughter of Sir John Plunket, remarried the leading judge Nicholas Nugent, who was given wardship of his step-daughter. Nugent apparently allowed his favourite nephew, William Nugent to kidnap Janet and force her into marriage. Despite the scandal surrounding the marriage, it could not be dissolved. William died in 1625 and Janet in 1629.
Forfeiture of the Barony.
The Skryne inheritance passed to James Nugent, eldest son of William and Janet, but his lands were forfeit to the English Crown after he took part in the Irish Rebellion of 1641, and the title lapsed.
List of the Barons Skryne (de Feypo; extinct by 1375).
"Incomplete list"
List of the Barons Skryne (Marward; extinct c.1565).
"Incomplete list"


Scylletium

Scylletium or Scolacium was an ancient seaside city in Calabria, southern Italy. Its ruins can be found at the "frazione" of Roccelletta, in the "comune" of Borgia, near Catanzaro, facing the Gulf of Squillace.
History.
Scylletium was situated on the east coast of Calabria (ancient Bruttium), on the shores of an extensive bay, to which it gave the name of Scylleticus Sinus. It is this bay, still known as the Gulf of Squillace (), which indents the coast of Calabria on the east as deeply as that of Hipponium or Terina (the Gulf of Saint Euphemia, Italian: "Golfo di Sant'Eufemia") does on the west, so that they leave but a comparatively narrow isthmus between them. According to a tradition generally received in ancient times, Scylletium () was founded by an Athenian colony, a part of the followers who had accompanied Menestheus to the Trojan War. Solinus also mention that the Scylaceum was established by Athenians.
Another tradition was, however, extant, which ascribed its foundation to Ulysses.
But no historical value can be attached to such statements, and there is no trace in historical times of Scylletium having been a Greek colony, still less an Athenian one. Its name is not mentioned either by Scylax or Scymnus Chius in enumerating the Greek cities in this part of Italy, nor is there any allusion to its Athenian origin in Thucydides at the time of the Athenian expedition to Sicily. We learn from Diodorus that it certainly did not display any friendly feeling towards the Athenians. It appears, indeed, during the historical period of the Greek colonies to have been a place of inferior consideration, and a mere dependency of Crotona, to which city it continued subject until it was wrested from its power by the elder Dionysius, who assigned it with its territory to the Loerians. It is evident that it was still a small and unimportant place at the time of the Second Punic War, as no mention is found of its name during the operations of Hannibal in Bruttium, though he appears to have for some time had his headquarters in its immediate neighborhood, and the place called Castra Hannibalis must have been very near to Scylletium.
In 124 BC the Romans, at the instigation of C. Gracchus, sent a colony to Scylletium, which appears to have assumed the name of Minervium or Colonia Minervia. The name is written by Velleius Scolatium; and the form Scolacium is found also in an inscription of the reign of Antoninus Pius, from which it appears that the place must have received a fresh colony under Nerva. Scylletium appears to have become a considerable town after it received the Roman colony, and continued such throughout the Roman Empire. Towards the close of this period it was distinguished as the birthplace of the Roman statesman "Cassiodorus", founder of the "Vivarium", a monastery dedicated to the coexistence of coenobitic monks and hermits, who has left us a detailed but rhetorical description of the beauty of its situation, and fertility of its territory. Cassiodorus' writings also make mention of production of highly priced terra cotta.
Sculpture.
In 2006 a sculpture with the title "Time Horizon" was set up in the park by the English sculptor Antony Gormley.


Nurmekund

Nurmekund (Low German: "Nurmegunde") was a small independent country (ancient Estonian county) on the north coast of Lake Võrtsjärv in Central Estonia, bordered by Sakala, Alempois, Järvamaa, Mõhu, and Ugandi. Nurmekund had an area of approximately 600 hides.


Gazimestan

Gazimestan (, ) is the name of a memorial site and monument commemorating the Battle of Kosovo (1389), situated about 6-7 kilometres southeast of the actual battlefield, known as the Kosovo field. The name is a portmanteau derived from Arabic "ghazi", meaning "hero" or "champion", and Serbian word "mesto", meaning "place". Gazimestan is reached from the Pristina–Mitrovica highway, on a 50-metre hill above the plain, ca. 5 km north-west from Pristina. Every year, on "Vidovdan" (St. Vitus Day), 28 June, a commemoration is held by the monument, which in later years is also covered by an image of Prince Lazar, who led the Serbian army at the battle.
History.
The site was the place where Despot Stefan Lazarević erected a marble pillar with an inscription commemorating the battle. That monument disappeared during the Ottoman period. A monumental building in the form of a temple ("Vidovdanski hram", "Vidovdan temple") designed by Croatian sculptor Ivan Meštrović was planned but never realized. In 1924 a small monument honouring the Serbian heroes at the battle ("Kosovski junaci", "Kosovo heroes") was erected; it was an obelisk with a cross on top. It had a Cyrillic inscription: "To the fallen heroes for the honorable cross, freedom, and rights of their people – 1389 1912 – [by] thankful descendants, citizens and soldiers of the city of Priština". During World War II, just after the Yugoslav capitulation, the monument was mined by Albanian fascist troops and completely destroyed. In the years prior to the war, a larger monument had been planned and a cornerstone placed near where the present monument is, but the threat of war put it on hold.
Until the end of World War I and the creation of Yugoslavia (1918) there were no conditions or opportunities for large masses to gather at the site. More notable celebrations of "Vidovdan" (St. Vitus' day) at Gazimestan are noticed only since 1919, in 1924 when the obelisk was erected, and finally before the start of the war, five and a half centuries after the battle. In this period an estimated 20,000–100,000 people gathered on Vidovdan at Gazimestan. Participants included not only native Kosovo Serbs, but also others from distant regions, such as the Bay of Kotor, Dalmatia, Bosnia and Old Montenegro, and Skoplje, Zagreb, Belgrade and some places in Vojvodina. The celebration programme included, from 9 or 10 o'clock, commemoration in liturgy at Gračanica, Samodreža and Gazimestan, speeches, discourses, and artillery fire. In 1935 and 1939 there were also air show.
In 1989, on the 600th anniversary, Serbian president Slobodan Milošević held the famous Gazimestan speech at the site.
In 1997 the site was declared a cultural heritage of Serbia.
In 1999, in the aftermath of the Kosovo War (1998–99) the monumental area was mined.
In 2007, a 14-day march from Belgrade to Gazimestan was organized by several patriotic organizations.
In 2009, the commemoration brought the biggest crowd since 1999, with several thousand people.
In 2010, the Kosovo Police was handed over the task of guarding the monument, which was criticised by the Serbian government. In 2014, President Tomislav Nikolić held a speech at the monument.
Monument.
The Gazimestan monument was designed by Aleksandar Deroko, in the shape of a medieval tower, and built in 1953 under the authority of SFR Yugoslavia.


Congress of Lutsk

The Congress of Lutsk was a diplomatic gathering held in Lubart's Castle in Lutsk, Grand Duchy of Lithuania over a 13-week period beginning on January 6, 1429. The main topic of discussion was the coronation of Vytautas as King of Lithuania. Other topics included: the siege of Moldavia; a potential coalition against the Ottoman Empire; the desire for improved relations between Denmark and the Hanseatic League; religious unions and divisions; as well as various economic, trade, and tax-related issues.
Participants and delegates.
The congress was hosted by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania: Vytautas, other Lithuanian – Ruthenian aristocrats as well as local religious leaders
Foreign delegates attending the congress included:
Guests celebrated, feasted, and hunted until diplomatic negotiations began. Seven hundred barrels of honey, wine, 700 oxen, 1,400 sheep, hundreds of elk, wild boar, and other dishes were consumed daily. Guests also competed in jousting during negotiation breaks. Working for Vytautas, the Jester Henne spied on Sigismund of Luxemburg under the pretense of entertaining the delegates. The diplomatic meeting is thought to have taken place in the Palace of Lubart's Castle, although it is speculated that it may have taken place instead in the Palace of Vytautas, located near the Dominican Monastery.
Political proceedings.
The main aim of the council, a defense strategy to protect Europe from the Ottoman Turks, was not achieved because the Congress was dominated by another event. King Sigismund of Luxemburg encouraged the crowning of Vytautas as King of Lithuania. He was interested in dividing Lithuania and Poland, with a separate kingdom of Lithuania, to reduce the influence of Poland.


Headonhillia

Headonhillia is an extinct genus of anguine lizard which existed in England during the Eocene epoch. It was first named by Jozef Klembara and Bryony Green in 2010, and represents one of the smallest anguines currently known. The type species is "Headonhillia parva". Fossils have been found in the Hampshire Basin.


2004 in Luxembourg

The following lists events that happened during 2004 in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.


Bellevue Chapel

Bellevue Chapel is a church in Rodney Street in Canonmills, Edinburgh, Scotland.
History.
This building, built 1878–1881, was originally a Lutheran place of worship for German residents of Edinburgh and those that were building the Forth Bridge.
After the First World War in 1919 one of the Christian Brethren meetings in Edinburgh, meeting at Picardy Place, itself founded in 1891, moved into this building and it was renamed Bellevue Chapel. (Another Brethren meeting gathered at Lochrin Place, later moving to Lauriston Place and then, in 1967, to what is now Bruntsfield Evangelical Church.)
The scholar, F. F. Bruce, joined this meeting when he arrived in Edinburgh to teach at the University in 1935 (leaving in 1938 to teach in England).


List of years in Belarus

This is a list of years in Belarus. For only articles about years in Belarus that have been written, see .


Operation Surgeon

Operation Surgeon was a British post-Second World War programme to exploit German aeronautics and deny German technical skills to the Soviet Union.
A list of 1,500 German scientists and technicians was created, with the goal of forcibly removing them from Germany ("whether they like it or not") to lessen the risk of their falling into enemy hands. It was feared that if they remained in Germany, they could enable the Soviet Union to "achieve a long range bomber force superior to any other in the world".
At the operation's inception, many of the scientists had already offered their services to British Commonwealth countries, Sweden, Switzerland, Brazil and South America, and regarded working for the Soviet Union as a last resort, should they be prevented from working in Germany and unable to find employment elsewhere in the west.
Of the scientists relocated from 1946-1947, 100 chose to work for the UK.
British records of the operation were made public in 2006.


Timeline of Naples

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Naples. The Naples area has been inhabited since the Neolithic period. The earliest historical sources in the area were left by the Myceneans in the 2nd millennium BC. During its long history, Naples has been captured, destroyed and attacked many times. The city has seen earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, foreign invasions and revolutions.
See also.
Other cities in the macroregion of South Italy:()
Bibliography.
"See also: " (in Italian)


Battle of Sarmizegetusa

The Battle of Sarmizegetusa (also spelled "Sarmizegethuza") was a siege of Sarmizegetusa, the capital of Dacia, fought in 106 between the army of the Roman Emperor Trajan, and the Dacians led by King Decebalus.
Background.
Because of the threat the Dacians represented to the Roman Empire's eastward expansion, in the year 101 Emperor Trajan made the decision to begin a campaign against them. The first conflict began on March 25 and the Roman troops, consisting of four principal legions, the units X "Gemina", XI "Claudia", II "Traiana Fortis", and XXX "Ulpia Victrix", defeated the Dacians, and it thus ended in Roman victory.
Although the Dacians had sustained a defeat during the First Dacian War, the emperor postponed the final assault on their capital of Sarmizegetusa to reorganize his troops. Trajan demanded severe concessions from the Dacians and very hard peace conditions: Decebalus, the Dacian king, had to renounce all claims to portions of his kingdom, including Banat, Tara Haţegului, Oltenia, and Muntenia in the region south-west of Transylvania. He also had to surrender all Roman deserters his troops had captured, as well as the Dacian war machines. Upon returning to Rome, Trajan was welcomed as a victorious leader, and in honor of his triumph he took the name of "Dacicus", a title that appears on his coinage of this period.
However, during the years 103–105, Decebalus did not respect the peace conditions imposed by Trajan, and in retaliation the Emperor prepared to annihilate the Dacian kingdom and finally conquer Sarmizegetuza. The siege of Sarmizegetuza took place in the summer of the year 106. It is estimated that the Dacians most likely had fewer than 20,000 men capable of fighting the invasion.
Advance.
The Roman forces approached Sarmizegetuza in three main columns. The first column crossed the bridge built by Apollodorus of Damascus, and then followed the valleys of rivers Cerna and Timiş up to Tibiscum. They then turned on the valley of the river Bistra, through the Tara Haţegului depression. In these places, there were already Roman garrisons stationed from the first war, greatly easing the advance. They passed through Valea Cernei, Haţeg, and Valea Streiului and destroyed the Dacian fortresses at Costesti, Blidaru, and Piatra Rosie.
The second column of the army is believed to have crossed the Danube somewhere near ancient Sucidava and then marched northwards on the valley of Jiu, linking with the first Roman column in Tara Haţegului.
The combined forces of the two columns then began attacking the area of the Şurianu Mountains, meeting sporadic but desperate resistance from the Dacians.
The third Roman column, most likely led by Trajan himself, advanced through eastern Muntenia, crossed the Carpathians at a location close to what is now Bran, and marched westwards through southern Transylvania .
The rest of the troops left from Moesia Inferior and passed through Bran, Bratocea, and Oituz and destroyed the Dacian fortresses between Cumidava (now Rasnov, in Romania) and Angustia (now Brețcu, in Romania). At the battle for the conquest of Sarmizegetuza the following legions participated: II "Adiutrix", IV "Flavia Felix", and a "vexillatio" of VI "Ferrata" which until this war had been stationed in Iudaea.
The Roman forces then enveloped Sarmizegetuza.
Other Roman units are believed to have attacked other Dacian settlements and rally points, as far as the river Tisa to the north, and Moldavia to the east. Dacian settlements in the west, such as Ziridava, were completely destroyed in this period. However, Moldavia and Maramureş, located in modern-day northern Romania, were never part of the Roman province of Dacia and would remain free from Roman rule.
Siege.
The only historical record of the siege is Trajan's Column, which is a controversial source. There is debate as to whether the Romans did actually fight for Sarmizegetuza, or whether the Dacians destroyed their capital while fleeing ahead of the advancing legions. Most historians agree that a siege of Sarmizegetuza actually took place.
The first assault was repelled by the Dacian defenders. The Romans bombarded the city with their siege weapons and, at the same time, built a platform to more easily breach the fortress. They also encircled the city with a "circumvallatio" wall.
Finally, the Romans destroyed the water pipes of Sarmizegetuza and obliged the defenders to surrender before they set fire to the city. Roman forces succeeded in entering the Dacian sacred enclosure, hailed Trajan as emperor, and then leveled the whole fortress. IV "Flavia Felix" was stationed there to guard the ruins of Sarmizegetuza. Following the conclusion of the siege, Bicilis, a confidant of Decebalus, betrayed his king, and led the Romans to the Dacian treasure, which, according to Jerome Carcopino (p. 73), consisted of 165,000 kilograms of pure gold and 331,000 kilograms of silver in the bed of the Sergetia River (Cassius Dio 68.14).
Aftermath.
Decebalus and many of his followers escaped the legions during the siege. They fled east, probably towards the fortification of Ranisstorum (the location of which is now lost), only to be caught by the Roman cavalry. Knowing the often brutal treatment of prisoners of war given by the Romans, Decebalus killed himself to avoid capture.
Decebalus' head and right arm were later presented to Trajan. The Romans reorganized Dacia as a Roman province and built another capital-city at a distance of 40 kilometers from the old Sarmizegetuza. This center was named "Colonia Ulpia Traiana Dacica Augusta Sarmizegetuza". The Roman Senate celebrated the founding by ordering the minting of a sestertius dedicated to the "optimus princeps".
Losses sustained in this war by the Dacians were tremendous, but the Roman army also took significant casualties in the conquest of Dacia. The first Dacian rebellion against Roman rule would coincide with the death of Trajan, in 117, showing the effect the Emperor had on the Dacians after the war. Even in modern Romanian folklore, Trajan is remembered as Traian, and his great wars with the "people of the mountains" are still remembered in Romanian epic songs.
Whilst the battle ended in Roman victory, it is considered by historians as the last great conquest of the Roman Empire before its eventual decline.


Surrender of Caserta

The Surrender of Caserta () of April 29, 1945 was the written agreement that formalized the surrender of German forces in Italy, ending the Italian Campaign of World War II. The document, signed at the Royal Palace of Caserta, was to become effective on May 2, 1945.
Although British Field Marshal Harold Alexander claimed the Surrender of Caserta shortened the war in Europe by six to eight weeks and saved Northern Italy from more destruction along with tens of thousands of lives, the German Commander-in-Chief of Army Group C Heinrich von Vietinghoff had noted on 28 April that fighting would cease within one or two days regardless of negotiations, the German troops having neither arms nor ammunition left. Further destruction was thus unlikely, Army Group C having decided already on 11 April not to carry out Hitler's scorched earth policy.
Owing in part to Allied air attacks, the German forces in Italy had received no supplies from Germany since the first week of April. Since Allied aircraft had destroyed all bridges across the Po river, the Germans abandoned their heavy weapons and motor vehicles south of it during the Allied spring offensive. What was left of the German infantry was mostly wiped out during the fighting. The remaining troops had retreated across the Po using improvised transports and were reorganized by blocking detachments to man the front line and fight on, but without arms their situation was hopeless.


Ranisstorum

Ranisstorum is the name of the Ancient Roman fortification located east of Sarmizegetusa, the former capital of the old kingdom of Dacia. The exact location of this fortification is now lost, but it is possible that it was the present location called Sub Cununi, near Gradistea de Munte in Romania.
In 106 AD, Tiberius Claudius Maximus, of the Roman army, captured a fugitive Dacian king Decebalus, just moments after the king committed suicide in order not to be captured alive and suffer the same humiliation as Vercingetorix. Maximus cut Decebalus' head and right hand and brought them on a shield to Emperor Trajan, who was camped at that time at this fortification. As a result of this action, Maximus was made decurion and was given a second medal for bravery (the first was received from Emperor Domitian in 87 AD).


Eldership of Samogitia