History of the Isle of Wight

The Isle of Wight is rich in historical and archaeological sites, from prehistoric fossil beds with dinosaur remains, to dwellings and artefacts dating back to the Bronze Age, Iron Age, and Roman periods.
Formation.
The River Solent was the largest tributary of the Channel River that drained the Hampshire Basin from the Early Pleistocene or late Pliocene. During the Mesolithic period, sea levels in northern Europe were some 30 to 40 metres lower than today, and the land that became Britain was a peninsula of northern Europe. The island was formed at the end of the last Ice Age, about 8–9000 years ago, as sea levels rose, and the land of southern Britain sunk due to the post-glacial rebound of the north that had been under the ice. This flooded the former river valley of the Solent to the north, and the future English Channel to the south, and cut Wight off from the island of Britain. Once open to the sea, tidal scouring widened the Solent.
Early history.
Prehistory.
The first inhabitants are assumed to have been hunter-gatherers migrating by land during the Paleolithic
(Old Stone Age) period, as the ice age began to recede and the climate improved. The island has no visible Paleolithic or Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age) sites, but flints from these periods have been found and are on display at Carisbrooke Castle.
Neolithic.
There are theories that, during the Neolithic era, Bouldnor was a seaport that traded with the Middle East, or that nomadic gatherers roamed over wider areas than previously thought, because wheat was present there 8,000 years ago, hundreds if not thousands of years before it is known to have been grown in northern Europe.
The Longstone near Mottistone (the standing stone on the hill later becoming an Anglo-Saxon meeting place, this 'moot-stone' giving name to the nearby settlement) is one of the only three surviving Neolithic (New Stone Age) sites, along with a long barrow on Afton Down and a 'mortuary enclosure' on Tennyson Down.
Bronze Age.
Between the Neolithic and Roman eras, Southeastern Britain experienced significant in migration from the continent. Finds of late Late Iron Age coins, such as the South Wight and Shalfleet Hoards, suggest trading links both with nearby tribes and further afield. The coins and ingots from these hoards had been defaced before burial, for reasons that are unknown; this feature has only been found in coin finds from Hampshire and Wight. The variety of origin of the coins found locally is more marked than elsewhere in Britain and suggests that the island may have had a degree of political separation.
The island has over 240 bronze age burial mounds or round barrows, nearly all on the chalk downs. One plough-damaged barrow on Gallibury Down was excavated during 1979-80 and dated to between 1600-1400 BCE. There is also evidence from aerial photographs of ring ditches (the remains of barrows) on the limestone near Bembridge. The only significant Iron Age find is at Chillerton Down, where there was a hill fort. However three of the Roman villa sites have also produced late Iron Age pottery, which suggests a continuity of occupation.
Bronze Age Britain had large reserves of tin from mining in Cornwall and Devon. Tin is necessary to smelt bronze. At that time the sea level was much lower, and so tin for export could be brought across the Solent at low tide on carts, or possibly on boats such as those found at Ferriby. A shortage of tin during the Bronze Age collapse and trade disruptions in the Mediterranean around 1300 BCE may have forced metalworkers to seek an alternative to bronze.
Etymology.
It has been suggested that a 1st century BCE reference to "Ίκτιν" ("Ictin") by the Graeco-Sicilian Diodorus Siculus might refer to the Isle of Wight, although St. Michael's Mount in Cornwall is now considered more likely. A century later, Pliny the Elder uses its Latin name "Vectis" and in the mid 2nd century Ptolemy confirms the position of Vectis as "...below Magnus Portus" (probably the port near Bosham). The Roman historian Suetonius calls the island "insula Vecta" in his account of its capture in year 43, referring to the future emperor Vespasian, who "proceeded to Britain where he fought thirty battles, subjugated two warlike tribes, and captured more than twenty towns, besides the entire Isle of Vectis".
The form "Vectis" seems reasonably robust but Rivet and Smith were uncertain of its etymology. A gloss on an 1164 manuscript of Nennius equates Old English "wiht" with Latin "divorcium", which has encouraged writers to think that the island sits like a lever (Latin "vectis") between the two arms of the Solent. The word could be Brittonic, from a Celtic root akin to Irish "fecht" "journey" and Welsh "gwaith" "work". A detailed study in 2010 draws attention to the Proto-Germanic word "*wextiz", which would have been "Vectis" in Latin, and survives in various modern-language forms, including Modern English "whit" "something small" (English "wight" is considered a revival from Middle English), German "wicht" "dwarf, imp", Dutch "wicht" "little girl" and Norwegian "vette" "being, creature (especially supernatural)". This might suggest that the meaning is something like "daughter island" or "little companion"; however if Germanic languages were not widely spoken in Britain during the Roman era, as has been the consensus, then they would be an unlikely source for the Latin "Vectis". However more recently it has been argued that the inhabitants of southern Britain at this time may indeed have been Germanic, rather than Celtic, which could re-open the possibility of the island's name having Germanic roots.
Roman era.
The Romans occupied southern Britain, including the Isle of Wight, for nearly four hundred years. The Romans built no towns on the island, but it became an agricultural centre, and at least seven Roman villas are known. The Roman villas at Newport and Brading have been excavated and are open to the public. When fully developed around AD 300, Brading was probably the largest on the Island, being a courtyard villa with impressive mosaics, suggesting a good income was being made from the agricultural produce of the island.
At Brading Villa a field system can be seen near Brading Down; the remains associated with the villa can be seen as low banks. The chalk downland was cultivated in prehistoric and Roman times because the light chalk soil was not too difficult to plough. It is very likely indeed that the Romans grew vines, as the climate was then warmer than it is now, and on this basis nearby Adgestone Vineyard claims to be the oldest in Britain.
By the late fourth or early fifth centuries AD, Roman troops and officials had withdrawn from Britain.
Jutish kingdom.
In Bede's ecclesiastical history, "Vecta" [sic], along with parts of Hampshire and most of Kent, was settled by Jutes.
According to the "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle", Cerdic and his son Cynric conquered the island in 530. The "Chronicle" states that after Cerdic died in 534, the island was given to his nephews Stuf and Wihtgar. However, it is uncertain whether "Wihtgar", who is believed to have died in 544, was a real person or came from a misunderstood place name. The "Men of Wight" were known as "Wihtwara". Carisbrooke was known as the "Fort of the Men of Wight" ("Wihtwarasburgh"), or alternatively the fort may have been named after Wihtgar.
It is believed that the island became a Jutish kingdom ruled by King Stuf and his successors, until 661 when it was invaded by Wulfhere of Mercia and forcibly converted to Christianity. When he returned to Mercia the island reverted to paganism. Arwald was its last Jutish King and the last pagan king in Anglo-Saxon England until the Vikings.
Bede describes the invasion of the island in 686 (noting that Bede was writing fifty years later, and some of his dates are considered approximate) by Caedwalla, a Wessex King. He writes: "After Caedwalla had obtained possession of the kingdom of the Gewissae, he took also the Isle of Wight, which till then was entirely given over to idolatry, and by merciless slaughter, endeavoured to destroy all the inhabitants thereof, and to place in their stead people from his own province; binding himself by a vow, though it is said that he was not yet regenerated in Christ, to give the fourth part of the land and of the spoil to the Lord, if he took the Island. He fulfilled this vow by giving the same for the service of the Lord to Bishop Wilfrid...". Arwald died in action, and his nephews were betrayed to Caedwalla and executed. Bede adds that 300 "hides" (each being the land that could support a family) were given to the Church.
Little archaeological evidence of this period survives. The main sites are cemeteries at Chessell Down and Bowcombe Down, both excavated in the nineteenth century to produce skeletons, iron swords, knives, and jewellery such as brooches and buckles. The biggest brooches are in the British Museum but some swords, parts of shields, small brooches and buckles are retained in the county archaeological centre.
The Saxon period and the Vikings.
From about 685-686 the island can be considered part of Wessex, and after the West Saxon kings ruled all England, then part of England.
The Anglo Saxon Chronicle tells how "Wiht-land" suffered from Viking raids: "And then another time they lay in the Isle of Wight, and meanwhile ate out of Hampshire and of Sussex". Alfred the Great's navy defeated the Danes in 871 after they had "ravaged Devon and the Isle of Wight".
Around 900 the kingdom was divided into shires, and the island became part of the shire of Hampshire.
During the second wave of Viking attacks in the reign of Ethelred the Unready (975-1014) the island was often used by them as a temporary winter base, when they were unable to shelter with their 'cousins' in Normandy.
In 1002 Ethelred ordered the killing of all Danes in England, in the St. Brice's Day Massacre. From 1003 onwards, Sweyn Forkbeard raided England, which may partly have been to avenge the massacre.
Also in 1002 Ethelred had married the Norman princess Emma, and then persuaded the Normans not to give the Vikings shelter. Thereafter they were more regular visitors to the island. In 1006 the Chronicle records: ""when it drew near to winter, the army travelled home, and after Martinmas the raiding-army came to its secure base on the Isle of Wight and there provided themselves everywhere whatever they needed", and then records raids that they made from there into southern England.
In 1013 Sweyn began a more concerted invasion, and Ethelred was forced to flee to the island: "And then at midwinter the King turned from the fleet to the Isle of Wight, and was there for the season; and after the season turned across the sea to Richard [of Normandy], and was there until the happy event of Swein's death occurred".".
After Ethelred himself died, England came under Danish rule, and the island continued to be a base for their fleets as recorded by the Chronicle in 1022: "Here King Cnut went out with his ships to Wight."
After England returned to an English king, occasional Viking raids continued; in 1048 the Chronicle records: "a great earth-tremor widely in England. And in the same year Sandwich and Wight were raided, and the best men that were there were killed; and King Edward [the Confessor] and the earls went out after them in their ships". The Viking practice of sub-dividing the kingdom amongst powerful Earls had survived their departure, and Wessex came under the control of Earl Godwin, and then his son Harold Godwinson, the future King Harold.
During the war of succession in 1066, the island was used as a base by various contenders. Firstly "came Earl Tostig from beyond the sea into Wight, and with as great a fleet as he could get, and there was given both money and provisions; and then went from there, and did harm everywhere along the sea-cost he could get to" and later his brother Harold Godwinson "...went into Wight, and lay there all the summer and the autumn; and a land army was kept everywhere by the sea, although in the end it was to no avail". Both men had manors on the island - Harold at Kern and Tostig at Nunwell.
The Norman Conquest.
After the Battle of Hastings in 1066, the Isle of Wight and the rest of England entered the Norman era. The island would not again be invaded by a foreign nation for another 479 years.
In the Domesday book of 1086 the Island's name is "Wit". William the Conqueror gave its manorial rights to his kinsman William FitzOsbern, who became Lord of the Isle of Wight. Carisbrooke Priory and the fort of Carisbrooke Castle were founded (probably the site had previously been fortified, originally by Romans and subsequently by Jutes or Saxons; there are remains of a late Saxon wall or "burgh" as defence against Viking raiders). Thereafter allegiance on the island was sworn to FitzOsbern as 'Lord' rather than the king, a role subsequently granted to the de Redvers family by Henry I after his succession in 1100.
For nearly 200 years the island was a semi-independent feudal fiefdom, with the de Redvers family ruling from Carisbrooke. The final private owner was the Norman Countess Isabella de Fortibus, who inherited it aged 25 after her brother died suddenly. She ruled for thirty years, during which time all of her children died. On her deathbed in 1293 she was persuaded to sell the island to Edward I, and so it came under control of the English crown.
Newtown was laid out by a Bishop of Winchester and his ecclesiastical estate at Swainston, and granted Borough status in 1256. It did not prosper, partly because it was in competition with the existing ports of Yarmouth, Newport and Southampton, and partly because of the extensive damage it later suffered during French raids (especially in 1377).
Newport was laid out in the late 12th Century as the 'new port' for Carisbrooke Castle, the town designed on a grid system, unusual for its time.
Notable surviving monuments from this period include the 11th century church of St. Boniface at Bonchurch, the 12th century church at Yaverland, and the Norman entrance arch (now to the churchyard) at Binstead.
Medieval period.
On 22 April 1313 the ship St. Marie was wrecked in Chale Bay, its cargo of wine plundered by local landowners. This led to the construction of St. Catherine's Oratory as penance for the crime.
In 1374, the fleet of the Crown of Castile, led by Fernando Sánchez de Tovar, sacked and burned the island.
In 1377 French raiders attacked and burned several towns, including Newtown, and laid siege to Carisbrooke Castle. Peter de Heynoe, Lord of Stenbury, is said to have killed the French commander with a crossbow shot aimed through an arrow slit still visible in the castle's west wall.
The island continued to be governed by a Lordship, but this was now a royal appointment (the position evolving over the years into a Captaincy and eventually a Governorship). It is sometimes said there was a brief interruption in 1444 when Henry Beauchamp was crowned King of the Isle of Wight, with King Henry VI placing the crown on his head; the regal title supposedly expired when he died heirless in 1446. But there little evidence to support this story.
Henry VIII developed the Royal Navy and its permanent base at Portsmouth, and ordered fortifications to be built at Yarmouth, Cowes, East Cowes and Sandown, sometimes using stone from the dissolved monasteries.
16th century.
The French invaded the island on 21 July 1545. English ships engaged the French navy; two days earlier, the "Mary Rose" had sunk, apparently without damage. Sir Richard Worsley, Captain of the Island, commanded the local militia who resisted the attack, after French troops landed on the southern coast intending to use the island as a base against the mainland. However, the local militia defeated the French troops at the Battle of Bonchurch (although one account claims the French were successful at Bonchurch but defeated at Bembridge).
In 1587 two Catholic missionaries Anderton and Marsden, originally from Lancashire but trained in France, returned to England in disguise, heading for Dover. However, due to a gale their ship landed in Cowes. Fellow passengers had overheard them praying and they were reported on arrival to Governor Carey, taken to London for trial, then executed by hanging, drawing and quartering in Cowes. They were declared "venerable" by Pope Pius XI.
On 23 July 1588 some of the decisive action in the naval battle against the Spanish Armada took place within sight of the island, off Portland. Afterwards the threat of Spanish attacks remained, and the outer fortifications of Carisbrooke Castle were built between 1597 and 1602.
In the late 16th century the bubonic plague arrived in Newport. God's Providence House is traditionally the only house in the town where no-one died.
Three of Queen Elizabeth I's most influential courtiers came from Newport: Dr Edes, her chaplain, Dr James, her doctor, and Thomas Fleming, who became Lord Chief Justice and presided over the trial of Guy Fawkes in 1606.
17th and 18th centuries.
Towards the end of the English Civil War in November 1647, Charles I rode out from London to avoid capture by the army, hoping to escape to Jersey. He became lost in the New Forest, missed the intended ship, and so fled to the Isle of Wight. But its Governor Colonel Robert Hammond had already declared for Parliament, and so he imprisoned Charles in Carisbrooke Castle.
The king made several failed attempts to escape, one time famously getting stuck in a castle window. He also had letters smuggled out, most of which were intercepted, which he signed 'J' to disguise his identity (donkeys operating the castle's water-well have subsequently been given names beginning with 'J'). In September 1648 he discussed the Treaty of Newport with the Presbyterian faction of Parliament, which would have granted him a constitutional monarchy. However, he had no intention of accepting its restrictions, and so also conspired for the Scots to invade England on his behalf. This led to his eventual execution on 30 January 1649.
In 1669, Sir Robert Holmes became governor, and re-organised the island's defences. Yarmouth's castle was reduced in size, and he built a house for himself alongside, now the George Hotel. His position as the local vice-admiral entitled him to two-thirds of the value of any prizes captured in home waters, and he preyed enthusiastically on foreign ships that happened to sail nearby. On one of his raids he captured a part-completed statue of the French king, and had a likeness of his own head attached instead.
During the Seven Years' War, the island was used as a staging post for British troops departing on expeditions against the French coast, such as the Raid on Rochefort. During 1759, with a planned French invasion imminent, a large force of soldiers was stationed there. The French called off their invasion following the Battle of Quiberon Bay.
Early 19th century.
The famous boat-building firm of J. Samuel White was established on the Island in 1802. Other noteworthy marine manufacturers followed over the 19th and 20th centuries including Saunders-Roe a key manufacturer of the Flying-boats and the world's first hovercraft. The tradition of maritime industry continues on the Island today.
The famous Regency architect John Nash lived on the island, and designed Newport's Guidhall, completed in 1816. It now houses the island's history museum.
Victorian era.
In the 1860s, what remains in real terms the most expensive ever government spending project saw fortifications built on the island and in the Solent, as well as elsewhere along the south coast, including the Palmerston Forts, The Needles Batteries and Fort Victoria, because of fears about the strength of the French and their possible invasion.
Queen Victoria spent childhood holidays on the island and became fond of it. When Queen she made Osborne House her winter home, and so the island became a fashionable holiday resort for many Victorians, including Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Julia Margaret Cameron, and Charles Dickens (who wrote much of "David Copperfield" there), as well as the French painter Berthe Morisot and members of European royalty (many of whom were family relations). Until then, the island had been rural, with most people employed in farming, fishing or boat-building. The boom in tourism, spurred by growing wealth and leisure time, and by Victoria's example, led to significant urban development of the island's coastal resorts; the island saw significant expansion as many new homes and hotels were built.
Queen Victoria died at Osborne House on 22 January 1901, aged 81.
During her reign, the world's first radio station was set up by Marconi in 1897 at the Needles Battery, at the western tip of the island. In 1898 the first paid telegram (called a 'Marconigram' at the time) was sent from this station, and the island is now the home of the National Wireless Museum, near Ryde.
Modern history.
In the mid- to late-nineteenth century, a sizeable network of railways was built on the island, notable for its punishing gradients and numerous tunnels, particularly to reach the town of Ventnor. Since the early twentieth century, these lines were often linked to plans for a tunnel under the Solent, an idea still talked of today. Most of the rail network closed between 1956 and 1966, and is now a series of cyclepaths.
During the Second World War the island was frequently bombed. With its proximity to German-occupied France, the island had a number of observation stations and transmitters, as well as the RAF radar station at Ventnor. It was the starting-point for one of the earlier Operation Pluto pipelines to feed fuel to Europe after the Normandy landings.
The Needles Battery was used to develop and test the Black Arrow and Black Knight space rockets, which were subsequently launched from Woomera, Australia.
The Isle of Wight Festival was a very large rock festival that took place near Afton Down, West Wight in 1970, following two smaller concerts in 1968 and 1969. The 1970 show was notable both as one of the last public performances by Jimi Hendrix and for the number of attendees, reaching by some estimates 600,000. The festival was revived in 2002 in a different format, and is now an annual event.
The first Governor to hold the crown representative title used now of Lord-Lieutenant was Lord Mountbatten of Burma until his murder in 1979. Lord Mottistone was the last Lord Lieutenant to also hold the title Governor (from 1992 to 1995). Since 1995 there has been no Governor appointed and Mr Christopher Bland has been the Lord Lieutenant.
Political history.
The island's most ancient borough was Newtown on the large natural harbour on the island's north-western coast. A French raid in 1377, which destroyed much of the town as well as other Island settlements, sealed its permanent decline. By the middle of the 16th century it was a small settlement long eclipsed by the more easily defended town of Newport. Elizabeth I breathed some life into the town by awarding two parliamentary seats but this ultimately made it one of the most notorious of the Rotten Boroughs. By the time of the Great Reform Act that abolished the seats, it had just fourteen houses and twenty-three voters. The Act also disenfranchised the borough of Yarmouth and replaced the four lost seats with the first MP for the whole Isle of Wight; Newport also retained its two MPs, though these were reduced to one in 1868 and eventually abolished completely in 1885.
Often thought of as part of Hampshire, the Isle of Wight was briefly included in that county when the first county councils were created in 1888. However, a "Home Rule" campaign led to a separate county council being established for the Isle of Wight in 1890, and it has remained separate ever since. Like inhabitants of many islands, Islanders are fiercely jealous of their real (or perceived) independence, and confusion over the Island's separate status is a perennial source of friction.
It was planned to merge the county back into Hampshire as a district in the 1974 local government reform, but a last minute change led to it retaining its county council. However, since there was no provision made in the Local Government Act 1972 for unitary authorities, the Island had to retain a two-tier structure, with a county council and two boroughs, Medina and South Wight.
The borough councils were merged with the county council on 1 April 1995, to form a single unitary authority, the Isle of Wight Council. The only significant present-day administrative link with Hampshire is the police service, the Hampshire Constabulary, which is joint between Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.
From the closing decades of the 20th century onwards, there has been considerable debate on the Island over whether or not a bridge or tunnel should connect the island with mainland England. The Isle of Wight Party campaigned from a positive position, although extensive public debate on the subject revealed a strong body of opinion amongst islanders against such a proposal. In 2002 the Isle of Wight Council debated the issue and made a policy statement against the proposal.


Schoenfels Castle

Schoenfels Castle (), with a history dating back to the 12th century, is one of the castles belonging to the Valley of the Seven Castles in central Luxembourg. Located in the village of Schoenfels in the Mamer Valley between Kopstal and Mersch, it now belongs to the State of Luxembourg.
History.
Early history.
The castle appears to have been built by Friedrich of Schonevels in 1292. Through marriage, it subsequently belonged to the families of Ansembourg and Sanem. In the 16th century, Henri Schloeder of Lachen became the owner and the Lord of Schoenfels and Busbach. His arms are to found on the keep. In 1683, the French destroyed the castle's defences and in 1690 the castle and the village were burnt down after a dispute between Theodor von Neunheuser and the Lord of Brandenbourg. In 1759, Pierre-François de Gaillot de Genouillac became Lord of Schoenfels after marrying Marie-Catherine de Neunheuser. In 1813, his son, François-Romain de Gaillot, sold the castle to Jean-Baptiste Thorn-Suttor, governor of the Province of Luxembourg during the Belgian period (1831-1839). The Belgian senator Jacques Engler bought the castle in 1840 and left it to his son-in-law Baron Auguste Goethals who built a residence beside the keep. In 1948, the Luxembourgish industrialist Camillle Weiss bought the property but sold it in 1971 to the Luxembourg State. The new residence was demolished in 1976.
The castle today.
On completing its current restoration of the keep, the State intends to open a visitor centre for the Mamer Valley Nature Reserve and offices for the Forestry Administration. In the meantime, the castle is not open to the public.


III Corps (Ottoman Empire)

The III Corps of the Ottoman Empire (Turkish: "3üncü Kolordu" "or" "Üçüncü Kolordu") was one of the corps of the Ottoman Army. It was formed in the early 20th century during Ottoman military reforms.
Formation.
Order of Battle, 1911.
With further reorganizations of the Ottoman Army, to include the creation of corps level headquarters, by 1911 the III Corps was headquartered in Kırk Kilise. The Corps before the First Balkan War in 1911 was structured as such:
Balkan Wars.
Order of Battle, October 17, 1912.
On October 17, 1912, the corps was structured as follows:
Order of Battle, October 29, 1912.
On October 29, 1912, the corps was structured as follows:
Order of Battle, November 17, 1912.
On November 17, 1912, the corps was structured as follows:
Order of Battle, March 25, 1913.
On March 25, 1913, the corps was structured as follows:
World War I.
Order of Battle, August 1914, November 1914.
In August 1914, November 1914, the corps was structured as follows:
Order of Battle, April 1915.
In late April 1915, the corps was structured as follows:
Order of Battle, Late Summer 1915, January 1916.
In late Summer 1915, January 1916, the corps was structured as follows:
Order of Battle, August 1916.
In August 1916, the corps was structured as follows:
Order of Battle, August 1917.
In August 1917, the corps was structured as follows:
Order of Battle, January 1918.
In January 1918, the corps was structured as follows:
Order of Battle, September 1918.
In September 1918, the corps was structured as follows:
The Ottoman III Corps has been described as consisting of 7th, 8th and 9th Infantry Divisions from the beginning of the war to late April 1915 when the 19th Infantry Division was added while it was serving at Gallipoli. In August 1916 while serving in the Caucasus it is said to have consisted of 1st, 7th, 14th and 53rd Infantry Divisions and by August 1917 it formed part of the 7th Army in Palestine and made up of the 224th and 50th Infantry Divisions. By January 1918 it consisted of 1st, 19th and 24th Infantry Divisions with the 3rd Cavalry Division added in June 1918.
After Mudros.
Order of Battle, November 1918.
In November 1918, the corps was structured as follows:
Order of Battle, January 1919.
In January 1919, the corps was structured as follows:


Elections in Malta

Malta elects on a national level 6 MEPs representing Malta in the European Parliament, on a district level the legislature, On a local level the Local Councils and on a community level the Administrative Committees.
Malta uses single transferable vote to elect its MP/MEP and local councillors. Even though transferable preferences should help third parties, the Maltese electorate, since independence, has consistently voted in two dominant political parties and effectively created a two party system. A third party was elected to Parliament for the first time since Independence in 2017, thanks to the election of the Democratic Party to Parliament as part of the Forza Nazzjonali coalition.
Legislature.
The House of Representatives () has 65 members, elected for a five-year term in 13 five-seat Electoral divisions, called "distretti elettorali", with constitutional amendments that allows for mechanisms to establish strict proportionality amongst seats and votes of political parliamentary groups.
European elections.
Malta, the smallest EU member state, includes around 0.1% of the total EU population. Maltese voters elect 6 MEPs (5 until 2011) to the European Parliament, or one every 69,342 voters - the lowest population-per-seat ratio in the EU, 10 times smaller than the EU average (680,000) and 20 times smaller than the largest European Parliament constituency. Malta is thus the extreme case in the curve of the regressive proportionality function that allocates European Parliament seats to EU Member States constituencies.
European elections in Malta are held according to the single transferable vote (STV) system, consistently with domestic electoral systems and with EU standards requiring proportional representation and use either the list system or STV.
Local elections.
In the 2015 local elections, 16-year-olds were allowed to vote for the first time. On March 5, 2018, 16-year-olds were given the right to vote in general elections and can thus vote in the upcoming 2022 general election
Referendums.
There are three types of referendums in Malta: constitutional, consultative and abrogative referendums.
The Constitution of Malta mentions the institute of referendum only in Article 66, sub-articles 3 and 4 (and even then implicitly). Those sub-articles requires that a bill be "[...] submitted to the electors [...] and the majority of the electors voting have approved the bill" in case it modifies:
Such referendum is binding. This type of referendum has never taken place.
The other categories of referendums are regulated by the Referenda Act. "Consultative" referendums (the Act does not use the term) can either take place prior to the assent of a bill in the House of Representatives or following the parliamentary procedure in a form of a conditional clause in the said bill. In the former case it would not legally bind Parliament to approve the said legislation irrelevant of the result of the said referendum, however the latter case, it would be conventionally binding on the President to promulgate the bill into law. There has been six referendums like this on a national level, one on a regional level (1973 Gozo Civic Council referendum) and a number of local referendums organised by single Local Councils.
An abrogative referendum has never been held and, if invoked and successful, can abrogate pieces of legislation barring some exceptions, notably financial and constitutional law.
There was a total of 6 national referendums in Malta. Of those, 3 referendums were held while Malta was a British crown colony. Those were referendums on:
Three referendums were held in independent Malta:
There was also one local referendum in 1973 in region of Gozo. All seven were non-binding on the colonial and independent government. However, all resulted in a vote in favour of the proposal and, with the exception of the 1956 integration referendum, they were all honoured by the responsible government of the day.


George Murray (bishop of Rochester)

George Murray (12 January 1784 – 16 February 1860) was an Anglican bishop. He was Bishop of Rochester from 1827 until his death in 1860. He was previously the Archdeacon of Man, Dean of Worcester and Bishop of Sodor and Man.
Background and education.
Murray was born in Farnham, Surrey, the second son of George Murray, Bishop of St David's, himself the second son of John Murray, 3rd Duke of Atholl, Chief of Clan Murray. Murray's mother, Anne Charlotte (d.1844), was the daughter of Francis Grant (MP and general); she served as Lady-in-Waiting to Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (wife of George III). Murray's youngest sister was Amelia was also a courtier, and a writer.
Murray attended Harrow before matriculating at Christ Church, Oxford, on 22 December 1801, graduating Bachelor of Arts (BA) in 1806, proceeding Oxford Master of Arts (MA Oxon) in 1810, and Doctor of Divinity (DD) by diploma on 13 March 1814.
Ministry.
On 29 September 1808, Murray was installed, like his father, as the Archdeacon of Man; on 22 May 1813 he was nominated as Bishop of Sodor and Man by his cousin John Murray, 4th Duke of Atholl and consecrated on 6 March 1814. On 24 November 1827 he was elected Bishop of Rochester, receiving back the temporalities on 14 December 1827, and on 19 March 1828 was appointed Dean of Worcester, being succeeded in 1845 by John Peel.
While commending the character of the leaders of the Oxford Movement, Murray attacked some of the "Tracts for the Times", especially Nos. 81 and 90, in his episcopal charge of October 1843. Several of his sermons and charges were published.
Family.
Murray married, on 5 May 1811, Sarah Hay-Drummond, second daughter of Robert Hay-Drummond, 10th Earl of Kinnoull (by his wife Sarah Harley, daughter and co-heiress of Thomas Harley, Lord Mayor of London), by whom he had five sons and six daughters, including:
After a protracted illness, Murray died at his town residence in Chester Square, London, on 16 February 1860, aged 76. He was buried in the family vault at Kensal Green.


Daxweiler

Daxweiler is an "Ortsgemeinde" – a municipality belonging to a "Verbandsgemeinde", a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Kreuznach district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the "Verbandsgemeinde" Langenlonsheim-Stromberg, whose seat is in Langenlonsheim.
Geography.
Location.
The municipality of Daxweiler lies in the Soonwald part of the Northern Upper Rhine Plain. Daxweiler's municipal area lies on a small salient of the Bad Kreuznach district, wedged between two neighbouring districts, the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis and the Mainz-Bingen district. More than 85% of the municipal area, measuring 16.65 km², is made up of extensive woodlands. Daxweiler can easily be reached through the nearby links to the Autobahn A 61.
Land use.
As at 31 December 2007, land use in Daxweiler broke down as follows:
Neighbouring municipalities.
Clockwise from the north, Daxweiler's neighbours are the municipality of Dichtelbach, the municipality of Weiler bei Bingen, the municipality of Waldalgesheim, the municipality of Warmsroth, the town of Stromberg, the municipality of Seibersbach and the town of Rheinböllen. The first and last of these places lie within the neighbouring Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis, while the second and third lie within the neighbouring Mainz-Bingen district.
Constituent communities.
Also belonging to Daxweiler are the outlying homesteads of Eichhof, Eichmühle (a chicken farm, despite its name meaning “Oakmill”), Forsthaus Emmerichshütte, Forsthaus Tiefenbach ("Forsthaus" means "forester’s house"), Soonfried (hunting lodge) and Stromberger Neuhütte.
Climate.
The region's climatic conditions are characterized by the location within the extratropical Westerlies. The region is furthermore also favoured by the Gulf Stream, which flows along Europe’s west coast. This explains why the prevailing local climate is rather milder than would usually be expected at these latitudes. Prevailing throughout most of the "Naturpark Soonwald-Nahe" is a suboceanic climate marked by rather mild winters and cool summers (yearly average temperature: 7 to 8 °C) as well as a rather high amount of precipitation, namely between 1 000 and 1 100 mm. In winter, the wealth of precipitation in higher parts of the Hunsrück makes winter sports possible. It could be described as a bracing climate whose qualitative recreational worth is heightened by the low levels of contaminants in the air. In the river valleys, the suboceanic climate is overlaid by continental influences. The precipitation is lower than it is in the heights, between 700 and 800 mm, and the temperatures are higher (yearly average: 9 to 10 °C).
History.
In 1190, Daxweiler had its first documentary mention in a directory of fiefs kept by the knight Sir Werner II of Bolanden. In 1281, a great landhold hitherto held by a knightly order was donated to Otterberg Abbey, who in turn sold it to Electoral Palatinate in 1441. Electoral Palatinate had already taken Daxweiler from the Archbishop of Mainz in 1375 as a pledge, and then acquired full ownership in 1419. Electoral Palatinate then put the estate into "Erbbestand" (a uniquely German landhold arrangement in which ownership rights and usage rights are separated; this is forbidden by law in modern Germany), and for three generations it was a pledged holding. A 1419 "Weistum" (cognate with English "wisdom", this was a legal pronouncement issued by men learned in law in the Middle Ages and early modern times) describes the dwellers of the municipality of Daxweiler as “serfs of Ingelheim” (whether the town or the comital family of that name was meant is not clear in the source), a term that hardly applied at any time. The villagers did not feel like slaves, they could go to other villages and even marry someone from elsewhere, and they could even leave the land without having to buy such freedom, as was customary for serfs. Daxweiler belonged then to the "Reichsschultheißerei" (Imperial "Schultheißerei") of Ingelheim. After the Thirty Years' War, the lessees forwent any further use of the landhold because they felt themselves in no position to put the estate buildings and the fields, which had been laid waste, back in order. The lord of the ironworks, Jean Marioth, who built the foundries in Stromberg and later the Rheinböllerhütte (ironworks in Rheinböllen) back up again from their wartime destruction, and whose palace stood in Wald-Erbach, leased the "Cameralhof" (state financial authority for estate income) in Daxweiler in 1650, holding it until 1733. The next lessee was Peter Assmann, who was from Kirchberg and had a wife from Daxweiler whose maiden name was Piroth. Peter Assmann sought to secure a longer leasehold and bid one thousand Rhenish guilders more than the Lords Sahler of the Stromberger Neuhütte (ironworks). Nevertheless, these lords found themselves able to use their connections in the Electoral Palatinate government to get their bid accepted over Assmann's. In 1773, the Brothers Sahler of the Stromberger Neuhütte sought to secure an hereditary lease on the estate, citing the lack of fodder for their draught animals that would be necessary if the ironworks were to stay in business. In 1802, by which time the German lands on the Rhine’s left bank had been overrun and occupied by French Revolutionary troops, the Brothers Sahler bought the estate at a low price at auction after the French authorities had seized it. In 1912, the Hüttenwerke Sahler – Wandesleben (the Stromberger Neuhütte), together with the estate’s lands, was facing financial hardship and was thus bought up by Kirsch Puricelli from the Rheinböller Hütte. The estate encompassed what are today the Puricelli lands in Daxweiler and the Guldenbach valley, hardly differing in their extent from that time, with the exception of about 13 "Morgen" (roughly 3.3 ha) of church field in the Guldenbach valley which was exchanged for smaller parcels in the village. The "Hütter Weiher" (“ironworks pond”) up from the Stromberger Neuhütte was a meadow owned by the Catholic parish of Daxweiler before the Brothers Sahler turned it into a water reservoir for the ironworks sometime before 1800. The parish derived a yearly rental income therefrom. Daxweiler's history is also very tightly bound to the Family Puricelli's, for their entrepreneurial endeavours at the Stromberger Neuhütte and the Rheinböller Hütte have supplied the region with jobs for more than 150 years. On these grounds, the Puricelli family heraldic device appears in the municipality's coat of arms.
Religion.
As at 31 August 2013, there are 784 full-time residents in Daxweiler, and of those, 210 are Evangelical (26.786%), 408 are Catholic (52.041%), 1 belongs to the Bad Kreuznach-Koblenz Jewish worship community (0.128%), 8 (1.02%) belong to other religious groups and 157 (20.026%) either have no religion or will not reveal their religious affiliation.
Politics.
Municipal council.
The council is made up of 12 council members, who were elected by proportional representation at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, and the honorary mayor as chairman. No parties vied for seats in the municipal election, but rather three voters’ groups. The municipal election held on 7 June 2009 yielded the following results:
The official figures for the 2004 municipal election rather unhelpfully lumped all voters’ groups’ results together into a single sum. Since they were the only bodies that fielded candidates in Daxweiler, the results simply show an uninformative figure of 100% and a seat count of 12.
Mayor.
Daxweiler's mayor is Rainer Gerlach, and his deputies are Horst Rienecker and Bernd Mildner.
Coat of arms.
The municipality's arms might be described thus: Per fess sable a cross countercompony Or and gules and argent three pallets of the third.
Given the Family Puricelli's prominent role in Daxweiler's history over the last 150 years and more, their family heraldic device appears in the municipality's arms. This device can be seen in the lower field in the escutcheon. The other device, to be seen in the upper field, is one formerly borne by the local feudal lords, the Counts of Ingelheim.
Culture and sightseeing.
Buildings.
The following are listed buildings or sites in Rhineland-Palatinate’s Directory of Cultural Monuments:
More about the church.
The Nativity of Mary Catholic Parish Church ("Pfarrkirche Maria Geburt", or sometimes "Mariä Geburt") was built in its current form in the years 1894-1896. A church in Daxweiler is, however, attested in documents as early as 1484, and was later partly destroyed by fires and wartime devastation. The church as it stands now is a Gothic Revival building with a rib-vaulted quire. On 19 May 1907, the "Kreuznacher Anzeiger" published an article about the restorations then taking place (it is worth pointing out that the church was then only about twelve years old):After new windows from Wilhelm Jansen’s stained-glass workshop in Trier were installed in our church’s quire last autumn, whose whole workmanship was then greatly praised in an article in the "Trierische Landeszeitung", the restoration and beautification over the last few weeks have come to completion. First, the quire was skilfully painted throughout by painter J. Bruch, from Trier. The whole work praises the master, and to the viewer they impart great enjoyment, especially the hue, harmonizing so nicely as it does with the new windows. In the weeks leading up to that, a new high altar, which uses a few pieces of the old one, was installed, from the well known workshop of Carl Frank in Trier. The task of giving the altar its required height without hindering the view of the great middle window was best solved by the addition of a retable with turrets. The carved images on the altar’s retable and the antependium – symbols of the Holy Sacrament – bespeak an extraordinary artist’s hand. The whole quire now makes a grand, pleasant impression. The parishioners’ joy over the new decoration of their otherwise already lovely church can be all the greater, as they have their own readiness to make sacrifices in large part to thank as the means for this beautification. … The peculiar technique lends the glass a thoroughly special charm; the hues are of a homey warmth. One can never get enough of looking at the mellow light effect that is precisely measured and strikes one as bright, but not too bright. However often one goes into the church, one may be sure that the stained glass can be reckoned among the loveliest of its kind, that it will keep a lasting artistic worth and that the artist, Master Jansen from Trier, will earn continuing, reverent praise… The Nativity of Mary Parish Church can be visited by appointment.
Clubs.
The following clubs are active in Daxweiler:
Sport and leisure.
Daxweiler has at its disposal a children's playground, a sporting ground with lavatories, a grilling pavilion with a playing field, a bowling alley, a kindergarten and a municipal centre with a hall for up to 300 people and room for up to 70 guests. Worth experiencing is the hiking trail network in the Bingen Forest, with benches for resting and a shelter in a conservation area with a birdwatching platform and a charming view into the Middle Rhine and across the Rhine to the Frankfurt Rhine Main Region. There is also a ropes course with various courses.
Soonwald-Nahe Nature Park.
The "Naturpark Soonwald-Nahe" reaches from the heights of the Hunsrück over the quartzite combs of the Soonwald with its dales deeply carved by brooks to the vineyard slopes in the sunny and dry valley of the Nahe. The landscape and climate combine to give the park a great floral and faunal diversity. Found in the Soonwald-Nahe Nature Park are such varying habitats as blossom-filled woodland glades, mires, slate mine galleries, juniper heaths, meadow orchard areas, and brooks, riverside flats, dry grasslands and fallow vineyards with luxuriant orchid growth. The Salzkopf is the greatest elevation in the Bingen Forest (628 m). As early as 1899 the first wooden tower, mainly for military purposes, was built there by the "Mainzer Pionierbataillon". In 1973, this tower was succeeded by a 24 m-tall one, the "Salzkopfturm", which had to be renovated in 1997 owing to damage from carpenter ants. It is constructed of waterproofed sprucewood, while the steps are made of oak from the forest itself. It stands just north of Daxweiler. On a clear day, one can enjoy an outstanding view of up to 140 km. Living in the nature park is a broad palette of native animals. Among mammals are the red deer and the wild boar, "Mustelidae", fox, badgers and bats as well as the otherwise now rare wildcat. which is widespread in the Hunsrück. The park furthermore harbours many rare bird species, among them 29 on the IUCN Red List. Among reptiles are the grass snake, the smooth snake, the common lizard, the common wall lizard and the sand lizard as well as the blindworm. Amphibians are represented foremost in the dales. Species found in the park include the fire salamander, the alpine newt, the northern crested newt, the palmate newt, the smooth newt, the common midwife toad, the yellow-bellied toad, the common toad and the natterjack toad as well as green frogs and the common frog.
Economy and infrastructure.
Education.
Daxweiler has one Catholic kindergarten, the "Katholische Kindertagesstätte Maria Geburt" (“Nativity of Mary Catholic Daycare Centre”) with a staff of four teachers.
Established businesses.
Daxweiler has at least six inns, one of them with a beer garden. They are Gasthaus Fennel, Haus am Walde, Zur Brunnenstube, Emmerichshütte, Forsthaus Lauschhütte and Raststätte Hunsrück Westseite. There is, however, only one bakery.
Transport.
Daxweiler lies right on the Autobahn A 61, although the nearest interchanges are in Rheinböllen and Stromberg. Running through the middle of the village is "Kreisstraße" 37. "Landesstraße" 214 also runs to the village's southwest on its way from Rheinböllen to Stromberg. There is no railway service in either of those towns; however, the old "Hunsrückquerbahn" (“Cross-Hunsrück Railway”), closed to passenger traffic since the mid 1980s (although there is still goods traffic to Stromberg), runs through both towns, and Daxweiler's outlying centre of Stromberger Neuhütte besides, and there is talk of reactivating this railway to furnish a transport corridor to and from Frankfurt-Hahn Airport. Serving nearby Langenlonsheim is a railway station on the Nahe Valley Railway (Bingen–Saarbrücken).


Andreas Londos

Andreas S. Londos (, 1786–1846) was a Greek military leader and politician. Born in Vostitsa in 1786, he was initiated into the Filiki Eteria in 1818, and was one of the first military leaders to raise the banner of revolt in the Peloponnese during the Greek War of Independence.
On 26 January 1821, under the ruse of a land dispute between landowners, Londos and other leading landowners, primates and bishops of the Filiki Eteria, including Andreas Zaimis and Germanos of Patras, met Papaflessas at the Monastery of Archangels Michael and Gabriel in Vostitsa to discuss plans for an uprising against the Turks. At first, skeptical of Papaflessas's rhetoric for general uprising, Londos and the other leaders eventually raised the banner of independence on 10 March 1821, at the Monastery of Agia Lavra. It was after the Bey of Tripoli imprisoned and threatened to execute several leading Greek Bishops.
On 23 March 1821, he and 400 Greek fighters marched on Vostitsa. Hearing rumours of a general insurrection, the Turks fled across the Gulf of Corinth and took refuge at Amfissa. The Greeks captured the town without a fight. Leaving 200 men as a garrison, Londos then marched on Patras to join the siege of the city's fortress.
On July 1822, at Akrata, a force of Greek fighters under Londos, Zaimis and Petimezas surrounded and attacked a group of 4,000 Turks marching to Patras after their defeat at the Battle of Dervenakia. Only a few were lucky to escape, while Yusuf Pasha sent ships to take them to Patras.
Andreas Londos along with his friend and ally, Andreas Zaimis were later embroiled in the political intrigues surrounding the claims of two factions to the legitimacy of government. At first, siding with the government (then led by Georgios Kountouriotis), Londos later joined the Peloponnesian leaders against the government of Ioannis Kolettis and was subsequently on the losing side of the civil war of 1824.
Following Greek independence, he became involved in the September 3 Movement that finally secured a constitution for the people of Greece.


Oberfell

Oberfell is a municipality in the district of Mayen-Koblenz in Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany.


Dioceses of Ireland

The pre-Reformation Christian church in Ireland was first divided into dioceses at the Synod of Ráth Breasail in 1111, although the dioceses of Dublin and Waterford were founded earlier by Hiberno Norse rulers with bishops consecrated by the Archbishop of Canterbury in England. The boundaries were reconfigured at the Synod of Kells in 1152 into 37 dioceses. A few were later abolished, as when Glendalough merged Dublin in 1214–16.
After the Reformation in Ireland, the established Anglican Church of Ireland was "de jure" the continuation to the pre-Reformation church. The Church Temporalities Act 1833 effected the abolition of 10 Church of Ireland dioceses by merger with neighbouring ones. Further mergers subsequently mean there are now 12 Church of Ireland dioceses in Ireland.
The Roman Catholic diocesan structure was prohibited under Penal Laws but bishops were consecrated abroad and visited Ireland in secret. By the eighteenth century they resumed residency. Although the Ecclesiastical Titles Act 1851 made it illegal for Roman Catholic dioceses to use the same names as those of the Church of Ireland and England, this was not enforced in Ireland. There are now 26 Roman Catholic dioceses in Ireland.


William Ouseley

Sir William Ouseley HFRSE FSAScot (1767September, 1842), was a British orientalist.
Early life.
Ouseley was born in Monmouthshire, the eldest son of Captain Ralph Ouseley and his wife Elizabeth (born Holland). He was tutored at home in the company of his brother, Gore and his cousin, Gideon Ouseley. All three had notable careers.
In 1787 he went to Paris to learn French, and there laid the foundation of his interest in Persian literature. In 1788 he became a cornet, a junior cavalry officer, in the 8th regiment of dragoons. At the end of 1794 he sold his commission and went to Leiden to study Persian.
Marriage and family life.
In 1798 he was in Crickhowell where he eventually would publish his "Travels" and have them locally printed.
He had married Julia Frances Irving in 1796 and had a large number of children. The eldest was Sir William Gore Ouseley who was a diplomat in South America and a renowned artist.
Knighted.
In 1800, Charles Lord Cornwallis (1738–1805), who from 1786 to 1793 had been Governor-General of India, had him knighted in recognition of his promotion of oriental studies.
Published works.
In 1795 he published "Persian Miscellanies"; in 1797–1799, "Oriental Collections"; in 1799, "Epitome of the Ancient History of Persia"; in 1800, "The Oriental Geography of Ebn Haukal" (The Oriental Geography of Ibn Hawqal);and in 1801, a translation of the "Bakhtiyar Nama and Observations on Some Medals and Gems". He received the degree of LL.D. from the University of Dublin in 1797, and in 1800 he was knighted.
Persia.
When his younger brother, Sir Gore Ouseley, was sent, in 1810, as Ambassador to what was then called Persia (Iran), Sir William accompanied him as his Secretary. In September 1812 he cadged passage on HMS "Salsette", then at Smyrna, and with her returned to England in 1813. In 1819–1823 he published, in three volumes, "Travels in Various Countries of Middle East", especially Persia (Iran), in 1810, 1811 and 1852. He also published editions of John Lewis Burckhardt's "Travels in Arabia", "Arabian Proverbs" and "Notes on the Bedouins and Wahbys". He contributed a number of important papers to the Transactions of the Royal Society of Literature.
He died at Boulogne-sur-Mer.
References.
Attribution:


Ottoman Kosovo

Kosovo was part of the Ottoman Empire from 1455 to 1912, at first as part of the eyalet of Rumelia, and from 1864 as a separate Kosovo Vilayet.
During this period several administrative districts (known as "sanjaks" ("banners" or districts) each ruled by a "sanjakbey" (roughly equivalent to "district lord") have included parts of the territory as parts of their territories.
History.
17th century.
During the Great Turkish War (1683–99), in October 1689, a small Habsburg force under Margrave Ludwig of Baden breached the Ottoman Empire and reached as far as Kosovo, following their earlier capture of Belgrade. Many Serbs and Albanians pledged their loyalty to the Austrians, some joining Ludwig's army. A massive Ottoman counter-attack the following summer drove the Austrians back to their fortress at Niš, then back to Belgrade, then finally back across the Danube into Austria.
The Ottoman offensive was accompanied by savage reprisals and looting, prompting many Serbs – including Arsenije III, Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church – to flee along with the Austrians. This event has been immortalised in Serbian history as the Great Migrations of the Serbs, regarded an alleged huge exodus of hundreds of thousands of Serbs from Kosovo and Serbia proper.
19th century.
During and after the Serbian–Ottoman War of 1876–78, between 30,000 and 70,000 Muslims, mostly Albanians, were expelled by the Serb army from the Sanjak of Niš and fled to the Kosovo Vilayet.
In 1878, the League of Prizren was created by Albanians from four vilayets including the Vilayet of Kosovo. The League's purpose was to resist Ottoman rule and incursions by the newly emerging Balkan nations.
By 1878 Kosovo (in whole or in part) had become the subject of Albanian, Serbian and Montenegrin irredentism (all alongside other regions relevant to each nation). Kosovo's population from these three groups had begun taking steps to oust the then-Ottoman authorities from the region.
1900–18.
In 1910, an Albanian-organised insurrection broke out in Pristina and soon spread to the entire vilayet of Kosovo, lasting for three months. The Ottoman sultan visited Kosovo in June 1911 during peace settlement talks covering all Albanian-inhabited areas.
Islamisation.
Despite the imposition of Muslim rule, large numbers of Christians continued to live and sometimes even prosper under the Ottomans. A process of Islamisation began shortly after the beginning of Ottoman rule but it took a considerable amount of time – at least a century – and was concentrated at first on the towns. It appears that many Christian Albanian inhabitants converted directly to Islam, rather than being replaced by Muslims from outside Kosovo. A large part of the reason for the conversion was probably economic and social, as Muslims had considerably more rights and privileges than Christian subjects. Christian religious life nonetheless continued, with churches largely left alone by the Ottomans, but both the Serbian Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches and their congregations suffered from high levels of taxation. The Ottomans appeared to have a more deliberate approach to converting the Roman Catholic population of whom were mostly Albanians as compared to adherents of Eastern Orthodoxy who were mostly Serbs, as they viewed the former less favorably due to its allegiance to Rome, a competing regional power.
Demographics.
Around the 17th century, there is evidence of an increasingly visible Albanian population initially concentrated in Metohia. It has been claimed this was the result of migrations out of the south-west (i.e. modern Albania), and that the putative migrants brought Islam with them. There is certainly evidence of migration: many Kosovo Albanians have surnames characteristic of inhabitants of the northern Albanian region of Malësi. However, many others do not. A small number of Slavs – presumably members of the Serbian Orthodox Church – converted to Islam under Ottoman rule. Today, most Slavic Muslims of Serbia live in the Sandžak region of southern Serbia, northwest of Kosovo. Some historians believe that there was probably a pre-existing population of Catholic Albanians in Metohia who mostly converted to Islam, but remained strictly a minority in a still largely Serb-inhabited region. According to Austrian data, by the 1890s Kosovo was 70% Muslim (nearly entirely of Albanian descent) and less than 30% non-Muslim (primarily Serbs).


Max Bock

Max Woldemar Gustav Eduard Bock (4 April 1885 – 29 April 1948) was a Baltic German politician and lawyer prominent in Estonia.
Bock was born in Reval (later named Tallinn) on 4 April 1885 to Julius Bock, a medical doctor, and his wife Alice, "née" Kampf. He attended the Nikolai Gymnasium in Reval, studying medicine between 1905 and 1908, then law until 1910, working as a private tutor in the meantime. He then studied law at the Demidov Lyceum in Yaroslavl until 1912, and then practised law in Reval until 1939 and was a district judge in Włocławek between 1940 and 1945.
Bock was elected to the Estonian Provincial Assembly, which governed the Autonomous Governorate of Estonia between 1917 and 1919. He was then elected to the Asutav Kogu (Constituent Assembly) of the newly formed Republic of Estonia in 1919, serving till the session ended in 1920. He was elected to the first legislature of the Riigikogu and served throughout the session (1920–23) as a German-Baltic Party member; he joined the second legislature on 27 September 1923, when he replaced Martin Luther, but stepped down only two days later (he was succeeded by Gerhard Kress).
Bock died on 29 April 1948 at Reicholzried in Germany.


Porto Pisano

Porto Pisano, also known as Triturrita, was the main seaport of the Republic of Pisa, located on the Ligurian Sea coast close to the mouth of the Arno River. In the 13th century, at its peak, Porto Pisano was one of the most important sea ports in Italy, which rivaled if not surpassed both Genoa and Venice.
In the Battle of Meloria in 1284 Porto Pisano was blockaded by the Genoese fleet, and Pisa suffered a heavy defeat, which eventually resulted in its decline. Subsequently, Porto Pisano was controlled by Genoa. On August 28, 1421, the port was sold to Florence which has chosen to use Livorno as its principal seaport, since Porto Pisano suffered from increasing alluvial deposits, and the coastline had moved away from the port. After the 16th century, it ceased entirely to be used.
Currently the site of Porto Pisano is occupied by San Piero a Grado, a suburb of Pisa.
History.
In the 12th century, Pisa was one of the most important trading cities of Italy, however, it was located slightly off the coast and badly needed a sea port. Porto Pisano was before the middle of the 12th century merely a landing, and in 1156, works to make a major port started. Between 1154 and 1163, three towers were built to guard Porto Pisano; one more tower was built in the sea to guide the ships. From 1162, the entrance to the port was guarded by a chain hung between two of the towers. In 1174, a large warehouse was constructed. From Porto Pisano, the ships went along the coast to the mouth of the Arno and then upstream to Pisa. This short stretch of the coast was under constant threat by the Genoese and by pirates, and therefore needed to be patrolled by the Pisan fleet. There was also a road running overland between Pisa and Porto Pisano, with two hospitals for sick travelers.
Between 1285 and 1290, the port structures were destroyed by the Genoese, but within a few years, they were rebuilt, and the port was used again.


Bombing of Hanover in World War II

The Bombing of Hannover was a series of eighty-eight air raids by RAF Bomber Command and the United States Army Air Forces on the German city of Hanover during World War II. 4,748 residents and 2,034 others were killed. Around 1,000 aerial mines, 34,000 high explosive bombs, 900,000 incendiary bombs and 50,000 fire bombs were dropped. The heaviest raid was that by the RAF on the night of 8/9 October 1943, killing 1,245 people. This was an example of the carpet bombing of suburban and residential civilian targets laid out in the 14 February 1942 Area Bombing Directive.
At the end of the war 90% of the city centre was destroyed, with 52% of buildings heavily damaged or completely destroyed. A total of 7.5 million cubic metres of rubble had to be removed. Of the 147,222 dwellings recorded at the end of 1939, 51.2% were heavily damaged or totally destroyed, 43.6% lightly or moderately damaged and only 7,489 dwellings (5.2%) completely undamaged. The Aegidienkirche and Nikolaikapelle were both destroyed but it was decided to leave them in ruins after the war as a war memorial
Strategic importance.
Before the war Hannover was the thirteenth largest city in Germany and Austria, with 471,000 inhabitants – on average this fell to 287,000 during the war (mainly due to evacuations) and in May 1945 was down to 217,000. It was the headquarters of 19th Infantry Division, military district XI and a military training facility.
Hannover was an important railway junction at the intersection of two major east-west and north-south routes. It was the fifth most active industrial centre in the Third Reich, producing tyres for military vehicles and aircraft and other rubber parts and products in three Continental AG factories. Its Maschinenfabrik Niedersachsen Hannover and Hanomag factories also produced guns and tracked-vehicles., whilst an AFA (Accumulatoren Fabrik Aktiengesellschaft – laterVARTA) factory built in 1938 produced batteries for submarines and torpedoes from 1940 onwards.
A new Vereinigten Leichtmetallwerke (VLW) factory had been built in 1935 on a site in the Linden-Süd district formerly used by the Hannoversche Waggonfabrik after the latter went bankrupt. The VLW also built a factory in Laatzen outside the city limits in 1936 which was not directly attacked. Two large refineries Deurag and Nerag in Misburg on the northeastern outskirts of the city produced gasoline and motor oils for the Luftwaffe, meaning they were targeted early and continued to be attacked, especially late on in the war.
Raids.
Raids on Hannover involved a relatively short flying-time from bases in the United Kingdom and the nearby Steinhuder Meer provided a useful navigational aid. The 78 hectare Maschsee on the southern edge of the city centre was partly covered with wooden boards and artificial islands to make it less recognizable from the air, but the geometrical patterns in the 50 hectare Großer Garten remained undisguised and were used by the RAF's H2S radar from mid 1943 onwards.
1939 and 1940 – initial raids.
The first raid was on 4 September 1939, the day after the British declaration of war – it involved just one RAF Armstrong Whitworth Whitley dropping leaflets. On 19 May 1940 the RAF bombed the Misburg refineries, killing nineteen people. 1 August the same year saw the first raid on Hannover itself, with a raid on the Seilerstraße in the south of the city. On 30 September 1940 six planes destroyed several buildings in Wülfel and Linden.
1941.
On 10 February 1941, the city was raided by 220 British planes, mainly hitting the eastern district and killing 101 people. Another British raid followed on the night of 15/16 April on the Vahrenwald and Hainholz and on 15/16 June on the VLW-Werk factory and the Misburg refineries. Although these raids damaged the factories' productivity, they were repeatedly able to resume production.
9 October 1943 – The "Black Day".
RAF Bomber Command sent 504 aircraft (Lancasters, Halifaxes, Wellingtons and eight Mosquitos). Many German nightfighters arrived before the attack was over and 27 British aircraft were lost. Conditions over Hannover were clear and the Pathfinders marked the centre of the city accurately with all bombs landing within the built-up area.
"The air raid lasted from 1.05 to 1.45 a.m. on 9th October 1943. The number of planes attacking was 700. They dropped: 80 land-mines, 3000 high explosives, 28,000 phosphor bombs, and 230,000 fire-bombs. The destruction of 3,932 private houses was total; 13,832 houses had severe damage. These figures do not include minor damage, and the many hundreds of devastated industrial complexes and public buildings. The centre of Hanover, including the old medieval town, and the southern district were laid waste. During this night 1,139 people were killed, 6,319 were injured, and 250,000 of the original 500,000 inhabitants were made homeless. The following day the sun stood in the sky but did not shine. A pall of smoke, heat, soot and dust rose and blotted out the sky. The raid on the night of the 8th–9th October 1943 was not the first, and was to be followed by another 88. Each of these brought fear, misery and destruction: but in its extent the night of the 8th–9th October caused the greatest terror of them all."
18 October 1943.
In the last of the four big raids against Hanover, 360 Lancasters attacked Hannover but the target area was covered by cloud and the raid was inaccurate "most bombs falling in open country north and north-west of the city".


Tribute of the Maltese Falcon

The Grand Master of the Order of St John of Jerusalem had to pay an annual tribute to the Emperor Charles V and his mother Queen Joanna of Castile as monarchs of Sicily, for the granting of Tripoli, Malta and Gozo. There were also other conditions. The annual tribute payable on All Saints day (1 November) was one falcon. The grant was made at Castel Franco and is dated "the 23rd day of the month of March, Third Indiction, in the Year of Our Lord 1530; in the 10th year of our reign as Emperor, the 27th as King of Castile, Granada etc., the 16th of Navarre, the 15th of Aragon, the Two Sicilies, Jerusalem and all our other realms".
Text of the grant.
The grant says:
Conditions.
The investiture had to be renewed in every case of a new succession, and completed according to the dispositions of common law. Other conditions included:
The order and grand master paid the annual falcon until 1798 when the Order was expelled from the Maltese islands by the French Directory.
In popular culture.
The Knights of Malta's tribute of a falcon is referenced in the 1930 Dashiell Hammett novel "The Maltese Falcon", as well as in the 1941 film adaptation.


Faidiva of Toulouse

Faidiva of Toulouse (1133 – 1154), was a Countess Consort of Savoy; married in 1151 to Humbert III, Count of Savoy. She was the daughter of Alfonso Jordan. She died childless.


Simon of Sicily

Simon of Hauteville (Palermo 1093 – Mileto 1105), called Simon de Hauteville in French and Simone D'Altavilla in Italian, was the eldest son and successor of Roger the Great Count, count of Sicily, and Adelaide del Vasto, under whose regency he reigned.
The chronicler Alexander of Telese relates an incident that took place during the childhood of Simon and his brother, Roger:
As the way of children, they were playing a coin game which was a favorite of theirs, and fell to fighting. When they fought, each with a group of boys whom they had gathered together, the younger, Roger, was the conqueror. As a result, he mocked his brother Simon, saying, "It would be far better that I should have the honor of ruling triumphantly after our father's death than you. However, when I shall be able to do this I shall make you a bishop or even Pope in Rome - to which you're far better suited.
Simon was young when he ascended to the county in 1101 and he died only four years later in Mileto, Calabria in 1105. His death allowed his brother, Roger, who would be King of Sicily, to succeed him.