Paul Ashbee

Paul Ashbee (23 June 1918 – 19 August 2009) was a leading British archaeologist, noted for his many excavations of barrows, or burial mounds, and for co-directing the Sutton Hoo digs (with Rupert Bruce-Mitford) from 1964 to 1972; he was perhaps less well known as president of the Just William Society. He died of cancer on 19 August 2009, aged 91.
Personal life.
The only child of cabinet maker Lewis Ashbee and Hannah Mary Elisabeth, daughter of house decorator William Edward Birch Brett, of Thanet, Kent, Paul Ashbee was born in Bearsted, near Maidstone, Kent. He made national headlines when he uncovered the remains of a Roman villa on a farm at Thurnham when still a teenager. He joined the Royal West Kent Regiment for the duration of the war, followed by the Control Commission for Germany. Although without any qualifications he studied for a diploma in "European prehistoric archaeology" at the University of London in 1952, followed by a diploma in education at Bristol University and a MA at Leicester University. He became an assistant history master at Britain's first comprehensive school, Forest Hill School, Forest Hill, London where he stayed until 1966. He married Richmal Disher in 1952; the niece and literary executor of Richmal Crompton, she was a history student and they met at a dig at Verulamium, St Albans in 1949. She died in 2005, after which Ashbee became president of the Just William Society.
Archaeology.
Ashbee went into archaeology (during school holidays) after service in the army through the Second World War. He excavated widely across southern Britain and is best known as a leading authority on Neolithic and Bronze Age barrows. From 1976 to 1980 he was the President of the Cornwall Archaeology Society, and was also a commissioner of the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England for 10 years.
External links.
[[Category:1918 births]]
[[Category:2009 deaths]]
[[Category:English archaeologists]]
[[Category:People from Bearsted]]
[[Category:History of the Isles of Scilly]]
[[Category:People of the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England]]


History of Franconia

Franconia () is a region that is not precisely defined, but which lies in the north of the Free State of Bavaria, parts of Baden-Württemberg and South Thuringia and Hesse in Germany. It is characterised by its own cultural and linguistic heritage. Its history began with the first recorded human settlement about 600,000 years ago. Thuringii, Alemanni and Franks, who gave the region its name, settled the area in the Early Middle Ages. From the mid-9th century, the Stem Duchy of Franconia emerged as one of the five stem duchies of the Empire of East Francia. On 2 July 1500, during the reign of Emperor Maximilian I, as part of the Imperial Reform, the empire was divided into Imperial Circles. The Franconian Circle, which was formed as a result of this restructuring, became decisive in the creation of a Franconian national identity. A feature of Franconia in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Period was its "Kleinstaaterei", an extreme fragmentation into little states and territories. In the 19th century under Napoleon, large parts of Franconia were incorporated into the newly created Kingdom of Bavaria.
Prehistory and Antiquity.
Archaeological finds of artifacts in Kronach and on the Schalksberg in Würzburg show that the region had already been settled by the middle Ice Age (the Pleistocene), about 600,000 years ago, by primitive man ("Homo erectus"). Fossils have also been found dating to the later phases of the Pleistocene. But the oldest find of human remains in Franconia comes from the cave ruins of Hunas at Pommelsbrunn in the county of Nürnberger Land.
In the early Bronze Age, the region was probably inhabited only relatively sparsely, as few noble metals occur here and the soils are only moderately fertile. However, in the late Bronze Age, a warrior elite of the so-called Urnfield culture (1200-800 BC) began to establish themselves on hilltops like the Ehrenbürg, the Hesselberg or the Marienberg above Würzburg. A particularly large site from this period was located on the Heunischenburg near Kronach in Upper Franconia. In nearby Thonberg, a helmet has been found dating to this period. Another helmet of this era was discovered at Ebing near Bamberg.
In the course of the Iron Age which followed (from about 800 BC), the Celts became the first identifiable tribe in the region. They built a chain of hillforts in northern Franconia as a defensive line against the Germanii who were pressing in from the north. On the Staffelberg they built a mighty settlement, which was mentioned by Ptolemy under the name of "oppidum Menosgada". Another was built on the Gleichberge: the largest surviving oppidum in Central Germany, the Steinsburg. With the accelerating expansion of Rome in the first century BC and the simultaneous advance of the Elbe Germanic tribes from the north, Celtic culture began to decline. A Germanic cemetery from this period, which was used for a long time, is located in what is now Altendorf in the county of Bamberg.
The southern parts of present-day Franconia soon fell under Roman control; however, most of the region was permanently in free Germania. This area was populated by the Marcomanni until, following their defeat by Rome roughly between 7 and 3 BC, they moved away further to the east into present-day Bohemia and were replaced by other Elbe Germanic tribes such as the Hermunduri. Initially Rome tried to extend its immediate influence far to the northeast, as witnessed by the legion camp at Marktbreit that was discovered in 1986 at the top of the River Main triangle. In the longer term, however, the Germanic-Roman frontier was established further southwest.
Under the emperors Domitian (81-96 AD), Trajan (98-117 AD) and Hadrian (117-138 AD) the Roman "Limes" formed the boundary with the tribes to the north. This defensive line bisected the south of Franconia and describes an arc through the region whose northernmost point was located at today's Gunzenhausen. To oversee it, the Romans built several forts, such as Biriciana near Weißenburg or Ruffenhofen at the foot of the Hesselberg. However, by the middle of the third century, the "Limes" border could no longer be maintained because by 250 AD the Alemanni occupied the areas south of the "Limes" as far as the Danube.
Fortified settlements as on the Gelbe Bürg near Dittenheim and Reisberg at Scheßlitz controlled the new regions. But north of the former "Limes", for example on the Ehrenbürg, the Staffelberg or the Houbirg, more such "Gau castles" ("Gauburgen") have been detected. What tribe their occupants belonged to is unknown in most cases. Especially in southern areas it might well have been the Alemanni and the Juthungi. On the lower and middle Main they were certainly Burgundians. They are also believed to have had a site on the Wettenburg near Urphar. But by no later than 500 AD, many of these hill forts appear to have been destroyed. The exact reasons for this are not clear, but they could have fallen prey to invasions by the Huns and the resulting mass migration of Vandals and Suebi that crossed southern Germany. In many cases, however, it was probably conquest by the Franks that spelt the end of these hilltop settlements.
Middle Ages.
Early Middle Ages.
Until the beginning of the 6th century, the East Francian region was caught in the area of tension between the Thuringians and the Alemanni. For example, the Cosmographer of Ravenna in the 7th century, wrote that the rivers Naab and Regen in today's Upper Palatinate joined the Danube in the land of the Thuringians. He apparently obtained this information from older sources, which makes the periodic expansion of Thuringian influence in the 5th and early 6th centuries, at least into Upper Franconia, probable.
According to recent investigations, however, the expansion of Thuringian power into the area of the River Main is not established with certainty. Upper Franconia appears to have had a relationship with Bohemian culture groups until their conquest by the Franks. It is clear that an autochthonous Elbe Germanic people group dominated this area as a bearer of tradition. The heartlands of the present region of Franconia fell to the Franks following victories over the Alamanni in 507 AD and the Thuringians (529-534 AD). At first they were only loosely attached to the Francian Empire. However, it is established that by the 6th century the region was colonized by the Franks, primarily from the Lower Main. In the 7th century, Frankish settlers advanced to the area of the great arc of the Upper Main and the River Regnitz. Shortly thereafter, at least by the mid-7th century, Slavs from the east began to settle the northeastern parts of the region. The Frankish king Dagobert I appointed a man named Hruodi in the central communications hub of Wurzburg to be the duke over the Main lands. It is occasionally speculated that this was the Thuringian duke, Radulf. More likely, however, is that even at that time the Franks had established their own duchy, to create a counterweight to the powerful Thuringian duke. Typical linear burial grounds from this period have been discovered in Westheim, Dittenheim, Gnotzheim, Hellmitzheim, Hettstadt, Kleinlangheim, Klepsau, Neubrunn, Niedernberg, Sulzheim, Weißenburg and Zeuzleben. Individual graves or grave goods from this era have also been discovered in Bad Staffelstein, Hirschaid and Eggolsheim.
The majority of the population in the area probably continued to follow pagan practices well into the Early Middle Ages. Only the king and his subordinate leadership were likely to have been fully Christian. The first to try to spread the Christian faith strongly, were itinerant Irish Anglo-Saxon monks. One of the first was Kilian, who became the apostle to the Franks. Around 685 the Irish preacher and his companions, Colman and Totnan, went to Würzburg where he became a type of bishop. On being murdered, he and his companions became martyrs. Around 741/742, the first Franconian bishopric was founded under Saint Boniface: the Bishopric of Würzburg. In 742 or possibly even a little later, Saint Willibald founded the Bishopric of Eichstatt, which included the southeastern parts of Franconia, but also parts of Bavaria and Alemannic areas.
Until about the 8th century, the region, which was becoming increasingly important to the Empire, still had no independent name. From the 9th century on, the Main area was referred to as East Francia ("Francia Orientalis"). However, the same name was given to the whole of the East Francian empire by Charlemagne's successor. Under Charlemagne, attempts were made to build a navigable channel between the River Altmühl and the Swabian Rezat and thus between the Rhine and the Danube near the present site of Graben at Treuchtlingen. Whether this "Fossa Carolina" or "Karlsgraben" was ever completed, is still disputed.
High Middle Ages.
In the mid-9th century, the Stem Duchy of Franconia emerged, one of the five stem duchies of the East Francian Empire. Present-day Franconia, however, only covers the eastern part of this duchy. Until the 10th century, Franconia also comprised Rhenish or West Franconia. This part covered present-day Hesse, Rhenish Hesse, the Palatinate region, and North Baden, and also included parts of modern Thuringia south of the Rennsteig path.
In the 9th century, the so-called older Babenberg family, also called the Popponids, had a significant position of power in the Main region until a rift developed with the Carolingian kings. The last Carolingian, Louis the Child, finally seized a number of their estates and granted it to members of the Conradine clan, a wealthy family from Rhenish Franconia. In the subsequent Babenberg feud, the Conradines fought the Babenbergs. In the end, most of their estates, including Bamberg, were seized.
When, in 911 AD, Louis the Child died, the Conradine, Conrad I, who had hitherto been Duke of Franconia, was elected in Forchheim as king of East Francia. He gave regional authority over the Duchy of Franconia to his brother, Eberhard of Franconia. After Conrad's death, Henry, Duke of Saxony was elected as the German king. Eberhard of Franconia fell in 939 in the Battle of Andernach fighting Henry's son, Otto the Great. Thereafter, no successor was appointed and the Frankish duchy was directly subordinated to the king. Unlike other tribal duchies, Franconia was from then on the homeland and power base of the East Frankish and German kings. As a result, it never became a strong regional power during the Middle Ages like the duchies of Saxony, Bavaria and Swabia.
Otto I endowed the Schweinfurt counts, who were probably descendants of the Frankish Babenbergs, with numerous offices such as the episcopal seat in Würzburg, and made them counts of the most important Frankish "gaus". Consequently, the Franks therefore remained loyal to the crown under Otto and his immediate successors. Otto the Great often stayed in Franconia, including the time in 957 when he met with his rebellious son, Liudolf of Swabia, in Zenna (today Langenzenn) in the Palatinate near Nuremberg.
In 973 Otto II transferred the important fortress of Babenburg (Bamberg) to the powerful Duke of Bavaria, Henry the Wrangler to win him over. This instigated a rebellion, which was defeated and the Bavarian duchy was smashed. Under Otto III, however, the son of Henry the Wrangler, Henry II, was given his Bavarian duchy back and was even elected king, as the main line of the Ottonians had died out with Otto III in the year 1002. He arranged beforehand to secure the support of the Schweinfurt counts in the elections for king and promised Henry of Schweinfurt the Duchy of Bavaria. However, he broke this promise upon his election in 1002. Thereupon the Schweinfurts joined the king's enemies and instigated the Schweinfurt Feud, but eventually lost. Although Henry of Schweinfurt kept the castles of Hersbruck, Creußen, Kronach, Burgkunstadt and Banz, he lost his comital estates and royal fiefdoms.
In 1007, the later canonized Henry II founded the Bishopric of Bamberg and provided it with rich estates. Bamberg became a preferred "Pfalz" and an important centre of the kingdom. In Bamberg Cathedral are the remains of Henry II and Pope Clement II who was once Bishop of Bamberg. It is the only grave of a pope north of Alps. Since parts of the Bishopric of Würzburg also fell to Bamberg, Würzburg received several of the royal estates from Henry II as a fiefdom in compensation, including Meininger Mark and the royal estate of Meiningen in Grabfeldgau.
The most important areas in the present day region of Franconia were, apart from bishoprics and Hohenstaufen allodial estates, the Meranian lands and the counties of Henneberg, Greifenstein, Wiltberg, Rieneck, Wertheim, Castell, Hohenlohe, Truhendingen and Abenberg.
Under the Salian, Henry III, Nuremberg, first recorded in 1050, was expanded into a new centre of power for the royal authority. The aim was to restrict the great influence of Bamberg, and in this way to cut off former Bamberg territories like Langenzenn or areas south of Forchheim from Bamberg itself. Bamberg forests in the vicinity of Nuremberg were declared as Imperial Forests ("Reichswäldern") and the market rights of Fürth were transferred from Bamberg to Nuremberg. Under the turbulent reign of his son, Henry IV, however, Forchheim and Fürth fell to Bamberg again. When Bavaria, Swabia and Saxony rose up against the king, Franconia became one of the most important bases of support for the king. The Bishopric of Bamberg benefited again from this situation and remained loyal to the king in the ensuing Investiture Dispute. By contrast, the Bishop of Wurzburg joined the king's enemies who, in 1077 in Forchheim, elected Rudolf of Rheinfelden as counter-king. He was not able to prevail over Henry however.
Under the Hohenstaufen kings, Conrad III and Frederick Barbarossa, Franconia became the centre of gravity of their land. Important bases of support were Würzburg and Nuremberg. At that time Würzburg was one of the biggest towns north of the Alps with around 4,000 to 5,000 inhabitants. From 1190/1191, Philip of Swabia, the youngest son of Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, was the bishop elect, i.e. the chosen Bishop of Würzburg. After the death of his brother, Henry VI, he was supposed to take the throne as his successor. Originally destined for a career in the church, Philip was therefore one of the few German kings who could read and write. Barbarossa and his grandson, Frederick II built new Hohenstaufen centres of power with the imperial palaces ("Pfalzen") of Gelnhausen, Seligenstadt and Wimpfen, and extended the Hohenstaufen imperial lands between Rothenburg, Nördlingen and Nuremberg. Around this time lived the famous poet, Wolfram von Eschenbach, who came from Wolframs-Eschenbach.
Originally the king's sovereignty was almost entirely supported by the bishops, but by the mid-13th century several powerful noble families also succeeded in securing stronger positions of power within Franconia. The most important were the counts of Rieneck, the counts of Wertheim and the House of Hohenlohe in the west, the counts of Henneberg, Truhendingen and Orlamünde in the north and the Schlüsselberg and counts of Castell in the centre. In the far south the "ministerialis" family of Pappenheim shielded Franconia from the Duchy of Bavaria. The Andechs family, originally Bavarian nobles, occupied a dominant position in Upper Franconia with the Duchy of Merania, until the death of Otto VIII in 1248 when it was divided among other ruling families. In addition, the Teutonic Order held wealthy estates in the region. The counts of Zollern achieved particular importance when they inherited the Burgraviate of Nuremberg in 1192. In the Late Middle Ages members of the princely family of Hohenzollern became electors of Brandenburg, in the Modern Era kings of Prussia and from 1871, emperors of the newly founded German Empire.
Late Middle Ages.
In the emperor-less period, the Interregnum (1254-1273), individual princes became increasingly powerful. After the Interregnum rulers succeeded, however, in re-establishing a strong royal following in Franconia. Franconia played an important role for the monarchy as early as the reign of Rudolf of Habsburg and the Itinerariesof the kings that followed him demonstrated a preference for the Rhine-Main area. In spite of all that, Franconia fragmented into a "Kleinstaaterei". In addition to the dioceses of Würzburg and Bamberg, and the greater nobility there were the numerous knightly estates ("Ritterschaften") of the lower nobility.
With the exception of free cities, which were subject directly to the empire, the influence of the emperor in all secular and spiritual territories was very restricted. Under Louis the Bavarian the Imperial City of Nuremberg benefited especially from many new privileges, which made it an economically, but also politically, important metropolis. For example, the Imperial Regalia were kept in Nuremberg from 1423 onwards.
From the time that the counts of Zollern were awarded with the March of Brandenburg in 1415, their Frankish possessions were also designated as margraviates. In First Margrave War (1449-1450) the Zollern, Albert Achilles of Brandenburg-Ansbach, tried to gain supremacy over Franconia and unsuccessfully besieged the free imperial city of Nuremberg. In the end the margrave failed and had to confine himself to his original estates. Albert bequeathed his eldest son and heir with the March of Brandenburg and his other sons, Frederick and Sigmund, with the areas around Ansbach and Kulmbach. Thus the Franconian territories of the Zollerns were gathered into independent principalities. Even other lords, such as the Prince Bishop of Würzburg, were not able to build a larger, contiguous, territorial power. By contrast, the free imperial city of Nuremberg emerged from the Margrave War victorious and, at the end of the Middle Ages, had the largest imperial municipal area in all of Germany.
The decline of chivalry at the end of the Hohenstaufen period and the increasing use of mercenaries, meant that numerous knights lost their livelihood and became impoverished. As a result, they often turned away from trading and became robber barons. An example was the notorious Eppelein of Gailingen.
Modern Era.
Emergence of the Franconian Circle.

On 2 July 1500, during the reign of Emperor Maximilian I, the Empire was divided into Imperial Circles in the wake of the Imperial Reform movement. This led to the emergence of the Franconian Circle. Initially, it was only called "Circle No. 1"; not until 1522 was it first referred to as the "Franconian Circle".
The Imperial Circles were not territories, but regional groupings of neighbouring imperial estates in order to carry out common tasks. These included the call up of forces for the Imperial Army in accordance with the Imperial Register, the election of judges to the Imperial Court, the supervision of the coinage, the preservation of peace under the "Landfrieden" and so on. The Franconian Circle which, like the other Imperial Circles, existed until the end of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, appears from today's perspective to have been an important basis for the development of the present day sense of Franconian identity in this otherwise very politically fragmented region. Although the bishops of Würzburg continued to bear the ancient title of the dukes of Franconia, they had no practical sovereignty over the whole region. Instead, in the Late Middle Ages and Modern Era, Franconia was badly affected by the fragmentation that resulted in the "Kleinstaaterei" in Germany. Completely different forms of government jostled one another. For example, Nuremberg and Schweinfurt were Free Imperial Cities, while the areas around Würzburg and Bamberg were ruled by the Church as a bishopric. There were also medium-sized principalities like Ansbach and Bayreuth, and small territories such as the County of Henneberg. In places, the next-door village had yet another lord with his own little territory. In Fürth even individual houses were assigned to one of three lords ("triumvirate"). The Franconian Circle failed repeatedly to secure the peace. The Grumbach Feud, which reached its climax with the attack by William of Grumbach on Würzburg, and the Second Margrave War were decided and settled by powers that did not belong to the Franconian Circle.
Reformation in Franconia.
Franconia, and especially the mighty imperial city of Nuremberg, had an important role in the spread of the Reformation movement triggered by Martin Luther. Very early on, in the two churches in Nuremberg open posts were filled by people from the group around Luther. Important Nuremberg citizens, such as Anton Tucher and Albrecht Dürer, were in close contact with the Wittenberg Circle where Luther was based. The Luther Bible was printed in Nuremberg and was dispatched across the German-speaking world in huge numbers to become the standard German Bible. Most other Franconian imperial cities such as Rothenburg, Schweinfurt and Dinkelsbühl, followed soon after and held masses in German, established evangelical preachers or approved Protestant communion services. Coburg Land, then part of the Electorate of Saxony, was actually one of the main centres of the Reformation movement. Even many of the Franconian Imperial Knights became converts to the new faith and through it hoped to gain greater independence from the power of the princes. In addition to the Lutheranism, the Radical Reformation Baptist movement began to spread early on across Franconia. Important centres of Anabaptists were Königsberg and Nuremberg. Meanwhile, the Hohenzollern areas around Ansbach and Kulmbach initially remained Roman Catholic until George the Pious introduced the teachings of Luther. Even in the dioceses of Bamberg and Würzburg there were many followers of the Reformation movement, although these areas remained Catholic at their core.
Franconian War.
The notorious robber knight, Hans Thomas of Absberg, regularly kidnapped merchants and noblemen in the Franconian region. This resulted in the Emperor, Charles V outlawing Absberg by imposing the "Imperial Ban". Following the kidnapping of Hans Lamparter of Greiffenstein, the Emperor's spokesman, and Johann Lucas, who handled financial business at the personal direction of the Emperor, Charles V secured the support of the Swabian League for a more targeted effort to defeat Absberg and the Franconian nobility that supported him. This led in 1523 to the Franconian War: after offering an amnesty to many of the knights, the Swabian League embarked on a military campaign against those who remained allied with Hans Thomas of Absberg and destroyed numerous castles, including Absburg and Boxberg, events portrayed in the wood carvings of war correspondent, Hans Wandereisen.
Peasants' War in Franconia.
A combination of discontent due to increasing taxation and socage, new ideas of social liberty and the religious attractions of the Reformation movement, unleashed the German Peasants' War in 1525. First, farmers in Swabia demanded a say in the selection of their priests, the restoration of traditional rights, such as hunting and fishing, limitations on socage and fairer taxes. These demands also met with broad approval in large parts of Franconia. In mid-March, 1525, a radical peasant group of about 4,000 men called the "Tauberhaufen", gathered in the villages around Rothenburg. Their leaders, who included Florian Geyer, declared that all men were equal before God and that serfdom was wrong. Further west, a similar group, the Odenwald Haufen was formed, led by Götz von Berlichingen. However, the rebellious peasants were unable to persuade any of the senior princes to make decisive changes and so they went on the rampage, attacking and plundering official buildings, stately homes and monasteries. In doing so they particularly targeted the tax rolls and interest books. The nobility initially gave in and the Count of Henneberg even provided the farmers with arms and food. At the same time they recruited experienced mercenaries in Italy, led by George, Steward of Waldburg known as "Farmer George" ("Bauernjörg").
Soon the uprisings had spread and affected the bishoprics of Bamberg and Würzburg. In the Würzburg area numerous castles and monasteries were burned down. In contrast, the Nuremberg Land and the areas around Kulmbach were largely spared. At the end of April nearly 20,000 peasants assembled outside Würzburg, where the bishop had moved into Marienberg. The Wurzburg citizens, among whom Tilman Riemenschneider played an important role, allied themselves surprisingly with the farmers. But they were unable to capture the Marienburg fortress. As the princely mercenary army advanced with 3,000 horsemen and 9,000 "Landsknecht" infantry, the farmers under Götz von Berlichingen positioned themselves for battle at Lauda-Königshofen, but their situation in the face of well-equipped troops was hopeless. At the express command of the army, no prisoners were taken and by the evening of 4 June, 5,000 farmers lay dead on the battlefield. A further battle occurred near the town of Meiningen in the Bishopric of Würzburg between episcopal troops and the peasant mob known as the "Bildhausen Haufen", in which the peasants were defeated. The victors went on to commit numerous mutilations and executions (including that of the priest at Meiningen). The peasants suffered heavy losses both in terms of life and crops. For centuries afterwards, the lower levels of society were excluded from political life as a result of this rebellion and threat to law and order.
Second Margrave War and Counter-Reformation.
In 1552 Margrave Albert Alcibiades of Kulmbach-Bayreuth tried to break the supremacy of Nuremberg and to secularise the bishoprics. He attacked Bamberg and Würzburg and extorted money from Nuremberg. During the fighting large areas of Franconia were laid waste until King Ferdinand I with several dukes and princes agreed to overthrow Albert. In 1553 Albert's place of retreat, the Plassenburg, was captured and totally destroyed. His successors demanded high levels of compensation from the Imperial City of Nuremberg, which itself had suffered badly from this war.
In the wake of the Roman Catholic Counter-Reformation, Julius Echter in Würzburg and Neidhardt von Thüngen in Bamberg acted ruthlessly against the Protestant Circle of the two bishoprics. Lutheran priests were driven out and subjects offered the choice of leaving or converting. The power of the Protestant knighthood was broken. Following the Counter-Reformation in Franconia, the number of witch trials escalated.
Thirty Years' War.
In 1608 the territorial princes of the Empire that had adopted the Reformation formed a Protestant Union. In Franconia the margraves of Ansbach and Bayreuth and the Imperial Cities belonged to this military and political alliance. The Catholics responded in 1609 by forming a counter-alliance, the Catholic League, in which princes, especially the prelates, gathered themselves under Maximilian I of Bavaria. The antagonism between the two sides finally resulted in the Thirty Years' War, which began in Bohemia, but eventually spread to the whole Empire and to Europe.
Franconia itself was initially no immediate battleground, but due to its central location within the Empire it was frequently traversed by plundering armies. After the Battle of the White Hill in 1620, where the Catholic League were victorious, Emperor Ferdinand II began a comprehensive re-Catholicisation. The bishops of Franconia received back all the estates that they had lost since 1552. In connexion with this the Bishop of Wurzburg received Kitzingen, which hitherto had been enfeoffed to Brandenburg-Ansbach for centuries. After the Battle of Breitenfeld in September 1631 Swedish troops under Gustavus Adolphus advanced to Franconia. They invaded Würzburg and stormed Marienberg Fortress, hitherto thought to be impregnable. While many Imperial Knights welcomed the Swedish invasion, the majority of Protestant territorial princes and the Imperial Cities resisted. Only the Duke of Coburg switched immediately over to the Swedish side. Nuremberg concluded an alliance with Sweden under public pressure and supplied troops and cannon. When Wallenstein entered the war again, Gustavus Adolphus set up a huge camp around Nuremberg in summer 1632. Wallenstein took up position west of Nuremberg around Zirndorf, but did not allow himself to be lured onto the offensive. As a result, the Swedes started the Battle of the Alte Veste and suffered heavy losses. Two weeks later the Swedish king withdrew from Franconia and the theatre of war moved to central Germany. Nevertheless, for a further 16 years, Franconia was beset by raids, the quartering of troops, the passage of armies, the extortion of financial contributions and plague epidemics. When in 1648 the war was finally ended by the Peace of Westphalia, the confession boundaries were fixed as at the year 1624. The Franconian estates had to pay huge sums of money to Sweden as war compensation which, due to the depopulation and devastation of the region was scarcely possible. Half the population had died; in Coburg Land as many as 70 to 80 percent of the population had disappeared. In the Protestant areas after the war about 150,000 Protestant refugees were settled. Some were Austrian exiles and were accepted in great numbers by the Margrave of Ansbach, who settled them around Ansbach, Gunzenhausen and Wassertrüdingen. One year after the peace treaty there a subsequent peace congress took place in Nuremberg, the Nuremberg Peace Execution Day, at which remaining issues were resolved.
Incorporation of Franconia into new territories.
Typical of the territorial lordship in Franconia continued to be the "territorium non clausum" (German: "nichtabgeschlossenes Gebiet" or "non-contiguous area"), i.e. princely territories that were not precisely delineated by a continuous geographical boundary. Instead territorial lordship in the region was often expressed through individual legal titles. So there were villages in which the land was owned by one lord, but jurisdiction exercised by another. An example of that is Fürth, where the Imperial City of Nuremberg, the Margrave of Ansbach and the Bishop of Bamberg all had sovereign rights. In the Principalities of Ansbach and Bayreuth this did not change until the late 18th century. In 1791, the last Margrave of Ansbach-Bayreuth, Charles Alexander, gave up his sovereign territory and transferred both principalities to Prussia. Immediately after this transfer of power the Prussian provincial governor ("Provinzstatthalter"), Hardenberg, secured sole dominion for Prussia in these areas with military force and thus forcibly replaced "territorium clausum" with Prussian national sovereignty. This created a relatively large state on the territory of the present day region of Franconia, giving a major power significant influence over the Franconian Circle and destroying its fragile balance of power, even though the Circle formally existed until the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806.
Overall, however, Franconia continued to be sharply politically as well as religiously divided. For example, the various states were divided into Roman Catholic or Protestant territories based on the Imperial legal principle of "cuius regio, eius religio" ("whose land, his religion").
This fragmentation and its status as a classical imperial landscape made Franconia in the early 19th century a bankruptcy asset and centre of disposal for the Old Empire following the Treaty of Lunéville. Under Napoleon's influence Bavaria, which he saw as a potential bulwark against Austria, was one of the winners among the southern German states. In 1803, parts of Franconia were occupied by the army of Electoral Bavaria. A few months later, the "Reichsdeputationshauptschluss" officially granted the bishoprics of Bamberg and Würzburg, the imperial cities of Weissenburg, Windheim, Rothenburg, Schweinfurt and the imperial villages of Gochsheim and Sennfeld near Schweinfurt to the Electorate of Bavaria, which had been previously linked historically and politically to Franconia. This represented the largest part of Franconia. But because Prussia retained possession of the principalities of Ansbach and Bayreuth it also had a large territorial presence in Franconia and sought to broadening its local power base. However, the Bishopric of Eichstätt went initially to Ferdinand III of Tuscany before falling to Bavaria two years later as a result of the Treaty of Pressburg; Grand Duke Ferdinand moving to Würzburg. In the Major State Border and Purification Compromise ("Haupt-Landes-Grenz- und Purifikationsvergleich") of 1802 Bavaria and Prussia agreed, following the "Reichsdeputationshauptschluss", an exchange of territory, which "inter alia" placed the town of Weissenburg under Prussian sovereignty with effect from 1803 before it returned to Bavarian ownership after Prussia's defeat in 1806.
Similarly, in 1806, Bavaria was able to exchange the Prussian Principality of Ansbach for the Duchy of Berg. The Treaty of the Confederation of the Rhine ("Rheinbundakte") - again in 1806 - ended the independence of the city of Nuremberg and its incorporation into what was now the Kingdom of Bavaria. In 1803, in the so-called "Rittersturm" ("Knights' Assault"), the great territorial states of Bavaria, Württemberg and Baden also seized the little territories, often of just a few villages, belonging to the Imperial Knights and the Franconian nobility, although the "Reichsdeputationshauptschluss" had not mentioned them. The "Rheinbundakte" sanctioned these unilateral actions in Article 25. In 1810 Bavaria purchased the former Prussian Principality of Bayreuth, which had been French-owned since 1807, and thus finally drove Prussia as a major power out of the region. In 1805, in an exchange of land with Bavaria, the House of Habsburg secured for itself the territory of the former Bishopric of Würzburg as a foundation for its Tuscan side line, while Bavaria was compensated with the lands of the former Bishoprics of Eichstätt, Trient and Brixen and the County of Tyrol. Würzburg, with its capital city, was a short-lived electorate and, from 1806, formed the Grand Duchy of Wurzburg under Ferdinand III of Tuscany, which as a member of the Confederation of the Rhine ("Rheinbund") – like Bavaria – was one of Napoleon's allies. Bavaria in turn exchanged the Würzburg area at the Congress of Vienna for the Habsburg territories right of the River Inn.
At the Congress of Vienna, Bavaria was also originally promised the Fulda and Electoral Mainz territories of Bad Brückenau and Aschaffenburg together with their surrounding areas that had historically belonged to the Upper Rhenish and Electoral Rhenish Circles and thus had never been part of Franconia (in the sense of the Franconian Circle). As part of the Bavarian administrative structure, these areas were allocated to the province of Lower Franconia and are now seen accordingly as Franconian.
In the Franconian territories there was, in places, considerable resentment towards any affiliation with Bavaria. These were intermingled with liberal demands for republican structures. The constitutional lawyer and Mayor of Würzburg, William Joseph Behr, was arrested for treason in 1832 when he declared before 6,000 people at the Gaibach Festival that Bavaria's was the worst constitution imaginable. In the spring of 1849 tensions escalated as the democratic opposition in Franconia demanded recognition of the decisions of the Constitution of St. Paul's Church and openly threatened the secession from Bavaria. In Würzburg and Miltenberg weapons caches were raided; in Schweinfurt six cannon and 1,100 rifles were counted at one meeting. The Franconian landed classes and bourgeoisie, as well as the churches and officials decided ultimately against violence and for a reconciliation with Munich. When Bavaria had become part of the German Empire in 1871, perspectives changed completely and antagonism between Franconia and Bayern eased significantly.
In 1920, the Free State of Coburg decided in a referendum against joining the state of Thuringia and went instead to Bavaria. Thanks to the Accession Treaty of 1920 with the Free State of Bavaria, Coburg enjoys certain administrative and cultural privileges. For example, Coburg is exempt from the authority of the Upper Franconian State Archive at Bamberg and has its own state archives. In Saxe-Meiningen, which then comprised about two-thirds of today's South Thuringia, there was no referendum on this question. There, the SPD-led parliament decided to join the new state of Thuringia. There were certainly loud protests against this move and, immediately after the establishment of the state of Thuringia, an "Out of Thuringia" ("Los von Thüringen") movement was founded that was active until 1932. At that time, Schmalkalden, Suhl and Schleusingen belonged to Prussia until 1945 or 1947.
Nazi era.
In the Nazi era parts of Franconia - the NSDAP "Gaue" of Main-Franconia ("Mainfranken") and Franconia ("Franken") were give their own party structures at the middle level of party government. By contrast, Upper Franconia, together with Lower Bavaria and Upper Palatinate, formed the Bavarian Ostmark ("Bayerische Ostmark"). The Protestant areas of Franconia had proved to be particularly receptive to National Socialism. The NSDAP won 83 per cent of the vote in Rothenburg Land in 1929, compared with only 32.9% for the rest of Bavaria. In Coburg town hall, the Nazi party governed with an absolute majority from 1929 under mayor, Franz Schwede, who later became Gauleiter of Pomerania. As the venue for Nuremberg Rallies, the city of Nuremberg played a prominent role in the self-expression of the Nazis who consciously fed the reminiscences and sentimentality of the city for its imperial past, by 'repatriating' the Imperial Crown. Gunzenhausen was one of the first cities in the Reich itself to openly discriminate against the Jewish population. It was there that the first Hitler Monument in the German Empire was erected in April 1933 and, on 25 March 1934, the first Jewish pogrom in Bavaria took place. The attack brought Gunzenhausen negative press coverage across the world. The political affiliation of Franconia to Bavaria and other states remained beyond questions during the Nazi era, however, but was inconsequential as a result of the Nazi policy of "Gleichschaltung" of the states.
Like all parts of the German Third Reich, Franconia was badly affected by Allied air raids. Nuremberg, as a major industrial centre and transport hub, was hit particularly hard. Between 1940 and 1945, the city was the target of dozens of air raids. Many other cities were also exposed to air raids. The Würzburg Residence was heavily damaged. The town of Bamberg, however, was almost completely spared. To protect cultural artefacts, the Historic Art Bunker was built below Nuremberg Castle where, among other things, the Imperial Regalia, the Cracow altarpiece, the Erdapfel and the Codex Manesse were kept. In the closing stages of the Second World War, at the end of March and April 1945, the Franconian towns and cities were captured by units of the US Army that had advanced from the west after the failure of the Battle of the Bulge and Operation Nordwind. The Battle of Nuremberg lasted five days and resulted in at least 901 deaths. The Battle of Crailsheim lasted 16 days and the Battle of Würzburg seven days. The Battle of Merkendorf lasted three days. The 7th United States Army took these strongholds.
Post-war era.
Federal Republic of Germany.
After the unconditional surrender of 8 May 1945 the Bavarian part of Franconia went into the American occupation zone while South Thuringia, with the exception of smaller enclaves like Ostheim, became part of the Soviet zone. Württemberg-Baden was also part of the American zone. In the autumn of 1945 the Bavarian Constitution came into force, founding the Free State of Bavaria. The state of Württemberg-Baden was founded on 19 September 1945. On 25 April 1952, this state merged with Baden and Württemberg-Hohenzollern ( both from the former French zone) to form the present state of Baden-Württemberg. On 1 December 1945, the state of Hesse was founded.
In addition to the reconstruction, Bavaria accepted more imperial Germans and refugees than any other German state. At the end of the Second World War, these dispossessed people streamed from Germany's former eastern territories as well as from Eastern and Southeastern Europe to Bavaria, since it was had been conquered by American troops at the end of the war. Numerous refugee camps sprang up, such as the Wülzburg. In 1945, Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg shouldered the structural transformation of their land from a largely agriculturally-dominated region into a leading industrial region.
In the years 1971 to 1980, a municipal reform in Bavaria was undertaken with the goal of creating more efficient municipalities and counties or districts. This was to be achieved by introducing larger administrative units ("Gemeindefusion") which, in the opinion of the Bavarian government would operate more efficiently. Under sometimes major protests by the population, the number of municipalities was reduced by two thirds and the number of counties by about a half. The hitherto Middle Franconian county of Eichstätt went to the province of Upper Bavaria.
East Germany.
The state of Thuringia, however, was restored in 1945 by the Soviet Military Administration in Germany and expanded in 1947, on the dissolution of Prussia, with Schmalkalden, Suhl and Schleusingen. On 7 October 1949, the German Democratic Republic (GDR) was founded, commonly known as East Germany. On 25 July 1952, in the course of administrative reform in East Germany, its Parliament passed the "Law on the Further Democratization of the Structure and Operation of the State Organs in Thuringia". Thus the state was relieved of its functions. From then on, it was run through the districts of Erfurt, Gera and Suhl. After "Die Wende", the peaceful revolution in the GDR, the state of Thuringia was reinstated by the State Introduction Act of 22 July 1990 (effective 14 October 1990), eleven days after the German reunification, from the "Bezirke" of Erfurt, Gera and Suhl and the districts of Altenburg and Schmölln and Artern. Like its predecessor in the Weimar Republic, it was called the Free State of Thuringia. The Franconian part of today's state of Thuringia was then relatively closely coincident with the county of Suhl, popularly known as the "Autonomous Mountain Republic of Suhl".
Since 1990, the term South Thuringia has been very well established. The Franconian history of the region south of the "Rennsteig" had ceased to be taught or was only very sketchily taught in schools since the 1960s. Today, the region's residents identify themselves mainly with Thuringia. This is markedly different from the present situation of Franconia in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg. However, in southern Thuringia, knowledge of its linguistic links to Franconia has been fairly widespread. In those areas that were heavily affected by the exclusion zone around the old Inner German Border - the districts of Sonneberg and Hildburghausen the inhabitants were constantly confronted with their broken links to Upper Bavaria and Lower Franconia, which anchored and heightened their sense of belonging to Franconia across the border. This becomes clear, for example, in the close cooperation between the districts of Sonneberg and Hildburghausen with Coburg after "Die Wende", in the fields of culture and tourism, and even by Sonnenberg's membership of the Nuremberg Metropolitan Region.


Battle of Kirchheimbolanden

The Battle of Kirchheimbolanden () was the first battle in the Palatine Uprising of 1849. It took place on 14 June near Kirchheimbolanden and ended in the defeat of the volunteers ("Freischaren") by the Prussian Army.
Background.
The movement of the March revolution within the member states of the German Confederation led to the election of Frankfurt Assembly, the first all-German parliament. This parliament proclaimed the Constitution of St. Paul's Church on 28 March 1849 that provided for the state as a hereditary constitutional monarchy. The Prussian king Frederick William IV refused the imperial crown that he was offered. On 23 April, the Bavarian king and his government rejected the constitution, which was regarded by the left as a coup.
On 2 May, it was decided to set up a ten-member National Committee for the Defence and Implementation of the Constitution and on 7 May 1849 the representative of the Central Power for the Palatinate, Bernhard Eisenstuck, legitimized the National Defence Committee.
On 3 May 1849, the May uprising in Dresden broke out, but this was put down on 9 May by Saxon and Prussian troops. On 11 May, the third Baden uprising began with the mutiny of Baden troops in the federal fortress of Rastatt.
The request by the Palatine state committee for the support of Baden and Hesse was made on 9 May in Rheinhessen. and led to the calling up of a Rhenish-Hessian volunteer army or "Freikorps" by Franz Zitz and Ludwig Bamberger. Military command was initially given to Karl Ludwig Heußner. The corps assembled in Wörrstadt and marched via Alzey to Pfeddersheim and then on to Kirchheimbolanden.
On 11 June, came the feared intervention of the 1st Prussian Army Corps under Moritz von Hirschfeld. The advance guard of his 1st Division, commanded by Major General von Hannecken, crossed the Palatine border unopposed near Kreuznach and advanced south.
Participating units.
The Rhenish-Hesse "Freikorps" - under the Pole, N. Rouppert, appointed by General Sznayde - which included members of the gymnastic club of Mainz and the worker's union - had originally about 1,500 men and four small iron cannon.
The vanguard of the 4th Division of the 1st Prussian Army Corps with the Berlin-based Guards Landwehr Battalion, the fusilier battalion of the 24th Infantry Regiment, two squadrons of the 7th Uhlan Regiment and two cannon under Colonel von Schleinitz.
Course of the battle.
As early as 13 June, during a recce by the Prussians near Morschheim, there was a clash with a company of volunteers, who reported one dead and two wounded.
The rebels left behind in Morschheim as an outpost left their positions, against orders, on the night of 13/14 June and withdrew to Kirchheimbolanden. The advance of the Prussians was spotted in Kirchheimbolanden on 14 June at 5 a.m. A Prussian company of fusiliers occupied Orbis, initially unopposed, and continued from the northwest towards Kirchheimbolanden, while the main body of the Prussian units attacked the town from the north. A third group advanced from the west. One company of the "Freikorps" initially resisted the Prussians in front of the town, but then pulled back when it was attacked from three sides. The situation of the "Freikorp", which had come under artillery fire, had become precarious. Because the Polish Major Rouppert, who was formally in command, made no decisions, a withdrawal to Rockenhausen was organised by Zitz and Bamberger. One section of Mainz riflemen remained, for reasons unknown, in the castle garden where a company of the Guards "Landwehr" battalion captured the barricade. The "Landwehr" and fusiliers soon broke through the main gate into the castle garden where the volunteers were killed or captured. Among the prisoners was Mathilde Hitzfeld, who is portrayed in one illustration holding a flag at a barricade, an image that is probably based on portraits of the French Revolution.
The Rhenish-Hessian "Freikorps" pulled back further to Neustadt an der Weinstraße, where it was united with Schlinke's militia ("Volkswehr") battalion and Blenker's corps and then marched over the bridge over the Rhine at Knielingen on 18 June and made for Baden. On 20 June the Rhenish-Hesse "Freikorps" was disbanded.
The Prince of Prussia, the supreme commander of the whole army that defeated the revolution in the Palatinate and in Baden accompanied the 4th Division and personally thanked his troops after the battle.
Commemoration.
On 16 June 1872 a monument to the rebels who had fallen on 14 June 1849 was unveiled at the cemetery in Kirchheimbolanden. It depicts Germania with a shield emblazoned with the imperial eagle. On the pedestal is an inscription that reads as follows: "In 1848–1849 the German imperial assembly in Frankfurt a. M., which was elected by the German people, discussed and legally agreed a German imperial constitution whose introduction and execution, however, was opposed by various German princes against the wish and wellbeing of the people. The population of the Bavarian Palatinate and of Baden stood up for their rights, but their militia [Volkswehr] were defeated by the superior forces deployed by the princes, and the hope of creating a united, free German empire receded over the horizon. In these battles for their rights the Palatine people were supported by men and boys from the neighbouring province of Rhenish Hesse who were inspired by [notions of] fatherland and freedom and formed a volunteer force that had to take part, here in Kirchheimbolanden on 14 June 1849, in the first battle against the Prussian army formation that advanced into the Palatinate, whereby the following [names listed] died a hero's death for freedom and fatherland and found their last resting place in this cemetery."


Sir Charles Clarke, 3rd Baronet

General Sir Charles Mansfield Clarke, 3rd Baronet, (13 December 1839 – 22 April 1932) was a British Army officer who was Quartermaster-General to the Forces.
Military career.
Educated at Eton College, Clarke was commissioned into the 57th Regiment of Foot in 1856.
He rose to become Commandant-General of the Colonial Forces of the Cape of Good Hope between 1880 and 1882. He held a series of administrative roles before becoming Commander-in-Chief of the Madras Army in 1893 (renamed "the Madras Command of the Indian Army" in 1895).
He was appointed to the command of the Sixth Army Corps in the Second Boer War in South Africa in December 1899. He served as Quartermaster-General to the Forces from 1899 until 1903, during which he was promoted to general on 5 August 1902. The following year he became Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Malta, serving until he retired in 1907.
He succeeded to the title of 3rd Baronet Clarke of Dunham Lodge on 25 April 1899.
Family.
In 1867 he married Gemma Cecilia Adams (who died in 1922) and they had three sons and three daughters. All his sons predeceased him and he was succeeded in the baronetcy by his nephew, Orme Bigland Clarke. In 1929 he married Constance Marion Warner.
Decorations.
Most Honourable Order of the Bath
Royal Victorian Order
References.


Robert Dalglish

Robert Dalglish (4 January 1808 – 6 June 1880) was a Scottish Radical politician. He was the Member of Parliament MP for Glasgow from 1857 to 1874.
Life.
Dalglish was born in Glasgow, the son of Robert Dalglish (1770–1844) the Lord Provost of Glasgow from 1830 to 1832 and brother of Andrew Stevenson Dalglish (1793–1858). He was educated at Glasgow University and became the head of the family calico printing firm of Dalglish, Falconer & Son founded in Lennoxtown by his father.
He was Independent Radical M.P. for Glasgow from 1857 to 1874 speaking in favour of extending of the franchise, voting by ballot and a more equal distribution of electoral districts.. He was a popular and respected MP. "Vanity Fair" in 1873 said "Popularity is commonly but a poor test of merit, yet in Parliament it has a distinct value and meaning, so that Mr. Dalglish may well be proud of being known for the most popular Member of the House of Commons. He has in truth all the qualities which command consideration among a body of ordinary sensible men. He possesses the charity that is not puffed up, he is an easy-going, good-natured man, he is fond of the fair sex, he gives good dinners, and yet at the same time he has a sound judgment and discretion, often appealed to by men whose names are far more frequently before the public. He is one of those valuable and too rare Members who are useful in Committee, and seldom speak at all, and never without saying something to the point at issue and worthy of being ranged among the arguments concerning it."
He was a great admirer of the Duke of Wellington and was heavily involved in the erection of Marochetti's statue of the "Iron Duke" in front of the Royal Exchange Square, Glasgow. Dalglish himself is commemorated by a bas-relief on Queen Victoria's statue in George Square.
He owned and resided at Kilmardinny House in Bearsden from 1853, making substantial improvements to the property to the designs of architect James Smith. Kilmardinny was purchased by Thomas Reid (1831-1900) Chairman of Nobel Explosives and Provost of Govan following Dalglish's death.


Castle Hill, Torrington

There are two hills named Castle Hill within the immediate environs of Great Torrington in Devon, England. The first is within the town and is the site of the Norman & mediaeval castles, but was probably an Iron Age hill fort before this.
The second is a smaller Iron Age earthwork to the South East along the River Torridge which is probably also a small hill fort.


Tocov

Tocov (, German: Totzau) is an abandoned Sudeten German settlement located in the "Hradiště military training area" four kilometers southeast of Stráž nad Ohří. It lies in the Doupov Mountains at an altitude of 590 m on the "Petrovský creek".
History.
The village was first mentioned in 1369 and became independent in 1850; till then it belonged to the town Doupov (German: Duppau). The village was inhabited mainly by Germans, who were expulsed after World War II. In an incident in May 1945 31 Germans were killed in retaliation for the killing of a policeman and the injuring of another who searched for allegedly hidden Nazis from the district centre of Kaaden.


Richerzeche

Richerzeche was founded in the 12th Century in the Free Imperial City of Cologne as a secular brotherhood or a corporation of all the wealthy patricians, which gradually absorbed in their hands the direction of the city's government. They lost their power in the middle of the 14th century.


War of the Bucket

The War of the Bucket or the War of the Oaken Bucket () was fought in 1325 between the rival city-states of Bologna and Modena. It took place in the region of Emilia-Romagna, in northern Italy. The war was an episode in the over 300-year-long struggle between Guelphs and Ghibellines. Modena won the Battle of Zappolino, the only battle of the war, and the bucket remains in Modena to this day.
A common myth surrounding the War of the Bucket is that it was caused by the Modenese stealing a bucket from a Bolognese well. However, that is mostly incorrect, as the bucket was, according to most accurate accounts, taken as a trophy by the Modenese after the war. The reason that Bologna declared war on Modena was actually that Modena had taken the castle of Monteveglio from Bologna.
Background.
From the late Middle Ages to the Renaissance, northern Italy was divided between factions supporting the rival political claims of the Holy Roman Emperor ("Ghibellines") and the Pope ("Guelphs"). Modena was Ghibelline; Bologna was Guelph. The political difference exacerbated the natural conflicts over border territories.
In 1176, Frederick Barbarossa was defeated at the Battle of Legnano by the Lombard League, which supported Pope Alexander III. That was the start of a protracted period of conflict in Medieval Italy between the Guelphs and Ghibellines. The two opposing factions started war against each other. The town of Modena was a staunch supporter of the Holy Roman Empire and pledged to be a Ghibelline city. The northern city of Bologna was a Guelph city and was led by the Popes because it supported them.
In 1296, Bologna seized Bazzano and Savigno from Modena. Pope Boniface VIII confirmed Bologna's title that same year.
Azzo VIII d'Este, Marquis of Ferrara controlled Modena from 1293 to 1308 and confronted Bologna partly to bolster his lukewarm support among Modena's nobles. His elected successor, the Mantuan Passerino Bonacolsi, was an agent of Emperor Louis IV of Bavaria. He continued the Ghibelline war policy, with Parma and Reggio also under his power. Pope John XXII declared Bonacolsi a rebel against the Church and granted indulgences as befit a Crusader to any who could harm his person or his possessions.
In the months before the battle, border clashes intensified. In July, the Bolognese entered the Modenese territory and laid waste the fields in the section "between the canals" by fire and sword. In August, a Bolognese rabble, headed by their podestà, spent two weeks ravaging other lands of Modena. In September, Mantua took its turn, and at the end of that month, the strategic Bolognese "rocca" of Monteveglio was betrayed to Modena by malcontents. Two renegade castellans were decapitated.
Battle of Zappolino.
After Bologna mustered an army of 32,000 men and marched against Modena in November, 7,000 Modenese under Bonacolsi met them at Zappolino, in Bolognese territory. The Bolognese were routed and fled into the walls of their city. About 2,000 men were killed on both sides. Some accounts state that the Modenese took a bucket from a well just outside a city gate as a trophy.
Aftermath.
The 17th-century Italian poet Alessandro Tassoni composed the mock-heroic epic "La secchia rapita" on the events of the War of the Bucket. After the war, Ghibelline power had risen once again, but the wars were not over. In 1447, the Ghibellines encountered failures when the Ambrosian Republic was created and broke down. The wars of the Guelphs and Ghibellines continued until 1529 when Charles I of Spain seized imperial power in Italy during the Italian Wars. Faced with the threat of a foreign invasion, both factions made peace with each other. A wooden bucket is kept in the Torre della Ghirlandina in Modena to this day.


History of the Jews in Luxembourg

The history of the Jews in Luxembourg dates back to the 1200s. There are roughly 1,200 Jews in Luxembourg, and Jews form one of the largest and most important religious and ethnic minority communities in Luxembourg historically.
Judaism is the fifth-largest religious denomination in Luxembourg, behind Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, Orthodox Christianity, and Islam. By absolute size, Luxembourg's community is one of the smallest in the European Union; relative to total population, it is the sixth largest. Judaism is recognised and supported by the government as one of the major state-mandated religions (see: "Religion in Luxembourg").
History.
The first record of a Jewish community in Luxembourg was made in 1276, and, over the next fifty years, the population grew as a result of immigration from Trier. During the Black Death, the Jews were made scapegoats, and were murdered or expelled from the towns of Luxembourg City and Echternach. A few remained, protected by the intervention of Emperor Charles IV. After the death of Charles, the new Emperor, Wenceslaus, took little interest in affairs in Luxembourg. Deprived of Imperial protection, in 1391, Luxembourg's Jewish population was expelled.
After the initial expulsion, the ban was not thoroughly enforced, and a few Jewish families began to return to Luxembourg from 1405 onwards. During an uprising in 1478, Jewish homes were torched. Only two families remained, but this number had grown to fifteen by 1515. In 1530, Jews were again expelled. This ban was enforced stringently, and Jews did not return to Luxembourg until the late 18th century.
After the Napoleonic conquest of the Austrian Netherlands in 1794, Jews were allowed back into Luxembourg, and the community flourished. By 1810, the number of Jewish families had reached 20. The first synagogue was opened in Luxembourg City in 1823, and Samuel Hirsch was appointed the first chief rabbi in 1843. By 1880, there were 150 Jewish families in Luxembourg, mostly in the Gutland. The first Great Synagogue was built in Luxembourg City in 1894, and the first provincial synagogue in Luxembourg was opened in Ettelbruck in 1870, the second one in Echternach in 1899. By 1927, the Jewish community had grown to 1,171, most of whom had fled the Russian pogroms, and, by the outbreak of the Second World War, the population had grown to about 4,200, fuelled by the arrival of 3,200 refugees from Nazi Germany and Central Europe.
Luxembourg and the Holocaust.
Luxembourg was invaded by Germany on 10 May 1940; before and during the invasion, 50,000 Luxembourgers managed to flee the country, amongst which were 1,650 Jews, who escaped into France and Belgium. Other Jews managed to escape thanks to clandestine rescues, carried out by both the resistance and individuals; the most famous of these individuals was Victor Bodson, a cabinet minister and Righteous Among the Nations. On 5 September, Gustav Simon announced the extension of the Nuremberg Laws to Luxembourg. From October 1940, the Gestapo adopted a policy of encouraging Jews to emigrate westwards; in the following year, nearly, 1,000 took this opportunity, although it would not be enough to escape the Nazis' persecution.
On 22 October 1940 the synagogue of Esch was destroyed. In May 1941 the synagogue of Luxembourg City was closed by the Gestapo, vandalised and then razed, which took until autumn of 1943. On 3 June 1941 the synagogue in Esch was also destroyed.
From 7 February 1941 a law mandated the confiscation of all property of those who had emigrated up until 1940. From 18 April 1941 this was extended to Jews remaining in Luxembourg. The confiscated property was either sold off or used by various Nazi organisations. The money was intended to be used towards funding the germanisation policy in Luxembourg, the so-called "Aufbaufonds Moselland". In November 1941 all Jewish organisations were dissolved and more than 35,000 Reichsmark were confiscated.
Most Jews that remained in the Grand Duchy were interned at Fünfbrunnen, an internment camp near Troisvierges. From here, 696 Jewish prisoners were deported to ghettos, labour camps, and extermination camps, of whom, 56 survived. More than 500 Luxembourgian Jews that had fled to France or Belgium were also deported to camps, of whom 16 survived. Altogether, 1,945 of the 3,500 pre-war Luxembourgian Jews died, whilst 1,555 survived the Holocaust by fleeing, hiding, or surviving in detention.
At the end of the war, out of six Jewish congregations (Luxembourg City, Esch-Alzette, Ettelbruck, Mondorf, Medernach and Grevenmacher) only two remained, in Luxembourg and in Esch.
Luxembourgian Jewry today.
After the war, about 1,500 Jews who had fled Luxembourg returned, mostly merchants. Communities were re-established across Luxembourg, particularly in Luxembourg City and Esch-sur-Alzette. Synagogues were built in both of these cities; whilst the capital's Great Synagogue had been demolished by the Nazis. Over the second half of the twentieth century, Luxembourg's Jewish population gradually shrank, as families emigrated to other countries. In recent years, a wave of immigration by young Jews, mainly from France, attracted by good working conditions, has compensated somewhat the shrinking of the Jewish population.
On West 110th Street in Manhattan, New York City, there is an active congregation, Ramath Orah, founded by Jews who fled Luxembourg in the Nazi period led by Rabbi Dr. Robert Serebrenik, chief Rabbi of Luxembourg. Rabbi Serebrenik and his congregation gave their new synagogue the name Ramath Orah (Hebrew for 'mountain of light', i.e. 'Luxembourg').
Antisemitism.
Unlike many other countries in Europe, including some of Luxembourg's closest neighbours, there is a very low level of antisemitic behaviour and attitude in Luxembourg. In the first half of 2002, there were no reports of antisemitic attacks in the Grand Duchy. Hate speech and verbal aggression towards Jews are also almost unheard of.
No antisemitic political parties exist in Luxembourg. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the National Movement, a far-right and openly xenophobic political party, achieved moderate success by the ballot box. Despite its attraction to neo-Nazis and its opposition to ethnic and religious minorities, most of its rhetoric was aimed at guest workers from southern Europe, and not at the Jewish population. The National Movement folded in the mid-1990s, and no far-right organisation has taken its place.


Castle and Barony of Gadgirth

The Castle and Barony of Gadgirth was held by the Chalmer family, originally De Camera, with successive castles and a mansion house overlooking the River Ayr at the border of the Parish of Coylton, the old district of Kyle, now part of South Ayrshire, Scotland.
History.
The Barons of Gadgirth.
Reginaldus de Camera, later Chalmer, is recorded to have held the Barony of Gadgirth as a hereditary possession, during the reign of William the Lion (1165-1214). The family continued in residence until circa 1761 and in 1800 Colonel Joseph Burnett, retired from the East India Company, purchased part of the old barony, including Gadgirth and the Old Ha' Castles.
The name 'Chalmer' derives from the post of Lord or Great Chamberlain of Scotland, "Camerarius Regii" a position held by Herbert de Camera from 1124 to 1153, a member of the family who were of Saxon or Norman descent. In 1357 the 'Farthing Land of Gadgard (sic) is recorded its tithe and 50s as the assessed rent. The lands of Gaitgirth (sic) and Culreath were joined to form one Barony in 1468.
In 1424 John Chalmer of Gadgirth fought for King Charles VII of France against the English at the Battle of Vernuie and was awarded the right to use the "Fleur de Lis" in recognition of his gallantry. He is thought to have died at the Battle of Herrings in 1429.
Sir John Chalmer's wife Elizabeth was charged before the King's Council in 1494 as an adherent to the Lollard's, a heretical doctrine promulgated by John Wycliffe. The charge was dismissed by King James IV.
James Chalmer of Gadgirth was a great supporter of the Scottish Reformation and was regarded by Archbishop Spottiswood and John Knox as one of the boldest of the leaders of the movement. In 1558, Mary of Guise, the Queen Regent, a supporter of the Catholic Church, was meeting with the Catholic bishops, when a delegation of reformers entered the privy chamber and James Chalmer addressed her, saying (in updated English) "Madam you know of the malice of the jail birds and that bastard that stands beside you (the bishop of St. Andrews). We swear to God we shall make a fight of it. They oppress us and our tenants, for feeding their idle bellies. They trouble our preachers, and intend to murder them and us. Shall we not put up with this any longer.” The reformers then put on their helmets as if they were about to use force. Mary quickly compromised with the reformers.
Annabelle Cunningham was the wife of James Chalmer and when she died in 1569 her will stated that "I do commend my spirit to Jesus Christ my onlie saviour and redeemer, in quhome and by quhome I luke for eternaljoy and felicite."
The laird of Gadgirth is recorded as having great misgivings relating to the economic control that the clergy had upon him and his tenants.
In 1696 Captain John Chalmers inherited the barony as a minor from his father John, however almost all of the lands had passed into others hands as a result of debts incurred as a result of the Chalmer family supporting King Charles I. John managed to restore some of the barony lands to Chalmer ownership however he died circa 1750 without a male heir and the property passed to his sisters Mary, Anna and Elizabeth.
Mary left her portion to her husband, John Steel of Gadgirth and his daughter by a second marriage, married Lieut-Colonel Joseph Burnett of the Bengal Artillery who purchased his sister-in-laws portion of the barony. James Muir, Elizabeth's eldest son, changed his name to Chalmer and inherited his aunt, Anna Chalmer's, portion of the barony.
Joseph Burnett died in 1833 and his son John Joseph Burnett inherited however he never married and the barony passed to his brother Lieut-Colonel Francis Claude Burnett of the Bengal Artillery who died on August 19, 1897. He was buried with his wife Mary in the family mausoleum at the Coylton Kirk cemetery.
The Chalmer's were connected through marriage with many families in Ayrshire and elsewhere, such as the Campbells of Loudoun, Hamiltons of Cadzow, Cuninghames of Caprington, Wallace of Ellerslie, Craufurd of Craufurdland, Fergusson of Craigdarroch, Farquhar of Gilmilnscroft, etc.
The Chalmer of Gadgirth coat of arms is "Argent, a demi-lion rampant, Sable, issuing out of a Fess, and in base, a Fleur-de-Lis: all within a border, Gules. Crest - a falcon, belled, proper. Motto - Non Praeda sed Victoria (Not spoiled by victory)."
The Burnett of Gadgirth coat of arms is "Argent. Crest - A Holly Branch, green, with red berries. Shield - Three holly leaves on a white ground in the upper division; on the lower, a Hunting Horn. Motto - Nec Fluctu, nec Flatu (Neither by Wave nor Wind).".
Gadgirth Castle.
The castle, probably a typical 14th century tower castle, replaced the earlier Gadgirth Old Ha' that stood around 500 metres or a quarter of a mile downstream on the same southern side of the River Ayr, abandoned when the new castle was built. Gadgirth Castle was itself demolished in 1808 when a new mansion house was built on its footprint by Colonel Joseph Burnett who had retired from his post with the East India Company. Joseph had intended to retain the castle however it proved to be unsuitable for modification with walls six feet thick. Extensive woodlands and a pale or fence are shown on Timothy Pont's map of the early 17th century indicating a deer park. A dwelling is shown on the 1775 Armstrong map that appears to indicate a house rather than a castle with planted woodlands and open parkland, with a road running to it via Enterkine and with a bridge across the River Ayr as confirmed by the dwelling named Bridgend. A print of 1892 by the artist Robert Bryden shows a castle that has been given some Georgian features such as regular windows and ornamental bartizan towers. It not known what source was used to create the print and therefore the accuracy of the image is unknown.
John Knox is known to have preached here dispensed the sacrament and Mary Queen of Scots is said to have stayed here for one night.
Gadgirth Old Ha'.
As stated, the first castle, Gadgirth Old Ha', also lay on the southern side of the River Ayr near the B742 road that crosses the River Ayr at Gadgirth Bridge and runs up to Annbank. The castle jutted into the river on a rocky promontory with an islet located within the river at this point. The historian John Smith in the 1890s visited the site and recorded that even at that date only a short stretch of wall could be traced.
Gadgirth House.
Built in 1808 on a prominent position overlooking the River Ayr and Gadgirth Holm it was purchased in 1949 by the council became a children's home. It was demolished in 1968. It had been built on the site of Gadgirth Castle. As stated, the 1775 William Armstrong map appears to indicate a house rather than a castle with a road running to it via Enterkine and with a bridge across the River Ayr as confirmed by the name Bridgend. In 1828 the mansion house is clearly shown with a network of roads.
Gadgirth House is shown on photographs and prints as a mansion with similarities to Logan House near Cumnock and probably designed by the same architect. It had "an advanced, eliptical, bowed projection on the centre of both main fronts, the projection on the garden front being further advanced than that on the entrance front". In 1903 alterations were carried out that were designed by the architects Honeyman, Keppie and Mackintosh.
Gadgirth Holm Cottages - Dated 1906 on their monogram, a terrace of eight estate cottages in Arts and Crafts style were built just downstream from Gadgirth Bridge. The 1906 cottages replaced an earlier set cottages, a miner's row, on the site as shown on OS maps with two coal pits nearby.
Gadgirth Mains This was the home farm and was built circa 1807. A courtyard design, it has a central arched entrance with a small dovecot above. An advert in 1807 refers to a set of farm offices that were to be built in the summer of 1808. On the 1750s map by William Roy a 'Gath Gard Mains' is already shown. A gasometer was located here to hold the coal gas made on site.
Estate features - A walled garden survives which once had several greenhouses and other buildings associated with it. The OS maps also record a monument or obelisk built in the centre of one of two old 18th century wooded roundel features on top of the hill that lies above Gadgirth Mains. The monument bore no inscription and given the fashion of early 19th century memorials to Horatio Nelson, the Battle of Trafalgar or the Battle of Waterloo it may relate to one of these or a family linked origin.
John Thomson's map of 1828 indicates an ornamental lake in front of Gadgirth House in the Byre Burn Glen, however this is no longer shown in 1908. In 1908 a sundial was shown on the OS in front of the mansion house. Gadgirth Cottage and Bankfoot Cottages were once situated on the lane to Knockshoggle Holm. The Kennels Cottage also survives as do the gates.
Gadgirth Viaduct.
Also known as the Enterkine Viaduct this wrought iron bridge on stone pillars originally carried the old G&SWR line from Ayr to Cronberry over the River Ayr, latterly it was used to carry coal trains to the Killoch washery. It was still in service in 2009.
Etymology.
The name 'Gadgirth' is also variously written as 'Gadgard', 'Gaitgirth', 'Galdgirth'. and may either refer to an archaic Scots unit of land measurement or even the personal name 'Galdus', recorded as an ancient King of Scots commemorated at Wigton. 'Garth' or 'Girth' refers to an enclosure. The name is given as 'Gaidyant' on Timothy Pont's map of the early 17th century. The same spelling is given in 1745. 'Gath Gard' is the spelling shown on William Roy's map of the 1750s. Armstrongs map of 1775 uses the spelling 'Gadgirth'.
Industry.
The ancient Privick Mills are located on the opposite bank of the River Ayr from the castles and mansion house sites with at one time extensive stone weir and lade carrying the water to the mill's wheel. It is marked as 'Preuik Mil' on Timothy Pont's early 17th century map and may have been associated with Privick House, later known as Annbank House, renamed after Lady Ann Montgomery but demolished in the 1970s. A charter of 1359 does refer to a mill and grannary belonging to the lands of Gadgirth.
At least two coal pits are recorded, one lying above Gadgirth Mains with some ruins remaining and the other with an engine house in the Byre Burn Glen. In 1875 one miner was killed and a second mortally injured. William Kerr, aged around 50, was working in the No. 1 Gadgirth Pit, Annbank Colliery and had been excavating a wedge-hole when a one ton block of coal fell on him. Taken out of the adit and carried home he died shortly afterwards, leaving a widow and ten offspring. Only two hours later a similar accident happened to a David M'Crorie, a younger man. His left arm was amputated, but his other injuries were so serious that he is not though to have pulled through.
Chalmerhouses, Irvine.
The Chalmer family in 1558 held 52 acres of lands at Thornlibank also known as Chalmerhouses located at the east end of the burgh of Irvine. The burial place of the Chalmers of Chalmerhouses was at the wall of the old churchyard, on the left-hand side when walking towards the church from the Kirkgate.
References.
Notes;


Berenbrock

Berenbrock is a village and a former municipality in the Börde district in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 January 2010, it is part of the municipality Calvörde.


Hans de Vries

Johannes "Hans" de Vries (born 12 March 1927) is Dutch economic historian. He was historian of De Nederlandsche Bank.
De Vries was born in Heemstede. In 1959 he obtained his PhD in economic sciences at the University of Amsterdam under with a thesis titled: "Economische achteruitgang der Republiek in de achttiende eeuw". He was elected member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1979.


Johannes von Guenther

Johannes von Guenther or Johannes von Günther (1886–1973) was a German writer.
The 1929 silent film "Cagliostro" was adapted from one of his novels.


De Bono

De Bono or Debono is a surname of Italian origin, rooted from the Latin word "Bonus" meaning "Good". It originated in Northern Italy and its first known documentation appears in Parma in the thirteenth centaury, where it is recorded in deeds of property sale.
There are multiple variations of the surname, namely "Di Bono", "Del Bono", "Buono", "Buonomo", but all trace back to a common origin.
The abbreviation of De Bono from its original form into Debono (no spacing) is common in the Maltese islands. It could be found in its original form in Maltese records as early as 1420.
Notable people with the surname include:


County of Blankenburg

The County of Blankenburg () was a state of the Holy Roman Empire. Its capital was Blankenburg, it was located in and near the Harz mountains.
History.
County of Blankenburg.
About 1123 Lothair of Supplinburg, then Duke of Saxony, had Blankenburg Castle erected in the Eastphalian Harzgau region. His vassal Poppo I of Blankenburg, a relative of Lothair's wife Richenza of Northeim, is documented as count over the Eastern Harzgau since 1128. He later also appeared as a "ministerialis" of the Welf duke Henry the Lion. After Poppo's death around 1161, his sons divided their heritage: Conrad took his residence at Regenstein Castle, north of Blankenburg, and became the ancestor of the noble House of Regenstein, while his brother Siegfried I retained Blankenburg Castle.
In 1180 Henry the Lion was deposed by an intervention of his Hohenstaufen cousin Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, allied with many Saxon vassals and former supporters of Duke Henry. However, the then ruling Counts of Blankenburg, Henry and Siegfried II, remained true liensmen of their liege lord, until Prince-Bishop Dietrich of Halberstadt, newly raised to Imperial immediacy by the emperor, besieged Blankenburg Castle and defeated them with his troops in 1182. After swearing allegiance to Dietrich, the brothers could maintain their county, their descendants laid out the Blankenburg settlement beneath the castle about 1200. The estates remained under suzerainty of the Halberstadt prince-bishops, strongly contested by the Welf dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg.
In 1599 the comital family became extinct, and the fief was reverted to the Prince-Bishopric, which at that time was held by the Welf administrator Duke Henry Julius of Brunswick and Lunenburg. Even though the Bishopric was secularised as the Principality of Halberstadt and given to the "Great Elector" Frederick William of Brandenburg by the 1648 Peace of Westphalia, the Welfs kept the fief of Blankenburg, which became an eastern exclave of their Principality of Wolfenbüttel. In 1690, the county was given to the younger son of Duke Anthony Ulrich of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Prince Louis Rudolph.
Principality of Blankenburg.
In 1707 Prince Louis Rudolph managed to betroth his daughter Elisabeth Christine to Charles VI of Habsburg and to get Charles' elder brother Emperor Joseph I to raise his county to an immediate principality, thus ending Halberstadt's mediate liege lordship. Since 1731 Prince Louis Rudolph of Blankenburg upon the death of his elder brother Augustus William also inherited the Principality of Wolfenbüttel, both principalities were ruled in personal union, however, the princes of Blankenburg moved to Wolfenbüttel, the capital of the inherited bigger principality.
After the defeat of Duke Charles William Ferdinand of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel by Napoléon Bonaparte at the Battle of Jena-Auerstedt, the Principality of Blankenburg was annexed to the newly established Kingdom of Westphalia in 1807, which in turn was dissolved after the Battle of Leipzig and Blankenburg was restituted. Charles William's son and successor, the "Black Duke" Frederick William of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, returned from British exile and entered into fighting the French expansion in Europe, dying at the Battle of Quatre Bras in 1815.
District of Blankenburg.
In 1815 the principalities of Wolfenbüttel and Blankenburg were de jure united as Duchy of Brunswick, with the former Principality of Blankenburg becoming an administrative district within the new duchy. The duchy became the Free State of Brunswick after the abdication of the dukes in 1918. After the apportionment of assets and liabilities between the states of the Weimar Republic and the abdicated regnal houses in 1924 the ducal family maintained - among other estates - its castle in Blankenburg am Harz and Ernest Augustus, Duke of Brunswick, and his family returned from their Austrian exile in 1930 in order to live there. In 1942 the District of Blankenburg, until then a Brunswickian exclave between the Free State of Anhalt and the Prussian provinces of Hanover and Saxony became territorially connected with mainland Brunswick in the course of a territorial redeployment between the Free State of Brunswick and the Free State of Prussia.
According to the London Protocol (September 1944) all of the Free State of Brunswick was supposed to become part of the future British zone of occupation in Germany. So after US forces had conquered the region in April 1945 the District of Blankenburg was handed over to the Britons on 1 July. However, on July 22 the Britons put into effect a territorial redeployment between their zone and the Soviet occupation zone of Germany, shortening the zonal border by assigning exclaves and salients along the border to the respective other zone (mostly) surrounding them. Thus the District of Blankenburg was divided at its narrowest section into a western third, remaining with the British zone and the eastern two thirds, including the eponymous capital, becoming part of the Soviet zone to the dismay of the population there. The British army helped the ducal family to evacuate their chattels with 30 army trucks, a favour which other unfortunate families, not related to the British royal family, could not enjoy.
At uniting the Free State of Brunswick, except of the seized eastern exclaves and salients, and further German states to become Lower Saxony in 1946, the western third of the former Principality or District of Blankenburg, respectively, became part of that state. Until 1 July 1972 it formed a district of its own, named District of Blankenburg (), with the capital in Braunlage. Then - by an administrative redeployment - the western district was divided between the districts of Goslar and Osterode.
The eastern two thirds became first part of the Province of Saxony and then of the state of Saxony-Anhalt, founded in 1946. The eastern District of Blankenburg () was dissolved on 30 June 1950, with its territory divided between the districts of Quedlinburg and Wernigerode. Since 1 July 2007 its former territory is included in the new Hartz mountains district.
Geography.
As of 1789, the Principality of Blankenburg was surrounded by (from the north clockwise): Brandenburg (County of Stolberg-Wernigerode and Principality of Halberstadt), Anhalt-Bernburg, Brandenburg (County of Hohnstein), and Brunswick-Grubenhagen. Cities were Blankenburg am Harz and Hasselfelde.
As of 1932, the District of Blankenburg was surrounded by (from north clockwise): Prussian Province of Saxony, Free State of Anhalt, Province of Saxony, Prussian Province of Hanover. Cities were Blankenburg am Harz, Braunlage and Hasselfelde.


Anthony Beeson

Anthony Beeson (born April 1948) is a classical iconographer and an expert on Roman and Greek art and architecture. He is also the archivist of the Association for Roman Archaeology and the former art librarian at Bristol City Libraries. He reassembled the Orpheus Mosaic in Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery.


William Forster (bishop)

William Forster, D.D. (died 1635) was an Anglican clergyman who served in the Church of England as the Bishop of Sodor and Man from 1633 to 1635.
He was educated at St Catharine's College, Cambridge, and later becoming a Fellow of the college. He was appointed a canon of Chester in 1618.
He was nominated bishop of Sodor and Man by William Stanley, 6th Earl of Derby on 26 December 1633 and consecrated on 9 March 1634.
He died in office on 23 or 24 February 1635 and was buried at St Bartholomew's Church, Barrow on 26 February 1635, where he had also been rector.
References.


Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh

Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh, (25 November 1743 – 25 August 1805), was a grandson of King George II and a younger brother of King George III of the United Kingdom.
Life.
Youth.
Prince William Henry was born at Leicester House, Westminster. His parents were Frederick, Prince of Wales, eldest son of George II and Caroline of Ansbach, and Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha, then Princess of Wales. He was baptized at Leicester House eleven days later. His godparents were his paternal uncle by marriage, the Prince of Orange; his paternal uncle, the Duke of Cumberland; and his paternal aunt (via a proxy marriage), Princess Amelia. He was fourth in the line of succession at birth.
His father died in 1751, leaving the Prince's elder brother, Prince George, heir-apparent to the throne. He succeeded as George III on 25 October 1760, and created William Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh and Earl of Connaught on 19 November 1764. He had been made a Knight of the Garter on 27 May 1762, and invested on 22 September of that year. In 1764 he began to court Maria Walpole, the Dowager Countess of Waldegrave, an illegitimate granddaughter of Sir Robert Walpole.
Career and marriage.
He initially wished for active service in the military, but his health and intelligence both proved insufficient. Instead he was appointed colonel of the 13th Regiment of Foot in 1766. That same year he and Maria married in secret in his home on Pall Mall. This marriage only became known to the King after the passing of the Royal Marriages Act 1772. The Duke and Maria lived at St Leonard's Hill in Clewer, near Windsor and had three children, all of whom were styled "Highness" from birth and used the territorial designation of Gloucester in conjunction with their princely styles, as great-grandchildren in the male line of George II.
In 1767 he was promoted to major-general and made colonel of the 3rd Regiment of Foot Guards. The same year he was made Warden of Windsor Forest, gaining the post's official residence at Cranbourne Lodge. He was made the thirteenth Chancellor of Trinity College, Dublin in 1771, holding the post until 1805.
The Duke and Maria's first child, Princess Sophia of Gloucester ("Sophia Matilda"; 29 May 1773 – 29 November 1844), was born in 1773. Princess Caroline of Gloucester ("Caroline Augusta Maria"; 24 June 1774 – 14 March 1775) followed just over a year later and was christened privately on 22 July 1774 – her godparents were the Duchess of Gloucester (her mother), the Hereditary Duchess of Brunswick-Lüneburg (her paternal aunt) and the Hereditary Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (her uncle by marriage). However, Princess Caroline died aged just nine months following a smallpox inoculation, intended to protect her from the disease. The Duke and Maria had a third and final child in 1776, Prince William Frederick (15 January 1776 – 30 November 1834).
With the outbreak of the American War of Independence, the Duke hoped for a field command, but George refused. He made a request to serve in the forces of Frederick II of Prussia during the War of Bavarian Succession (1777–1779) – George consented but Frederick himself turned down the offer. He later transferred to the 1st Regiment of Foot Guards, and he became a field marshal on 18 October 1793. He went on to be General Officer Commanding Northern District in 1796, a command that he held until 1802.
Later life.
In 1782 an illegitimate daughter was born to the Duke, Louisa Maria La Coast (6 January 1782 – 10 February 1835). Her mother was the Duke's mistress Lady Almeria Carpenter, a daughter of the first Earl of Tyrconnell.
The Duke died at Gloucester House in London in 1805 and was succeeded as duke by his son William Frederick.
Titles, styles, honours and arms.
Titles and styles.
His peerages were gazetted on 17 November 1764.
Arms.
William was granted use of the arms of the kingdom, differenced by a "label argent of five points, the centre bearing a fleur-de-lys azure, the other points each bearing a cross gules".


Rose of Turaida

Maija (1601–1620), known as Rose of Turaida (sometimes Rose of Sigulda) was a murdered young woman whose grave, in the grounds of Turaida Castle in Latvia, is still much visited.
Story.
After a battle at the foot of Turaida Castle in 1601, the castle clerk, while searching for survivors, found a baby in the arms of its dead mother. He called the child Maija and brought her up as his own. She grew up to be very beautiful and so was known as the "Rose of Turaida". She fell in love with Viktor, the gardener at the castle of Sigulda (opposite Turaida over the Gauja River) and in the autumn of 1620 they prepared to be married. Shortly before the wedding Maija received a letter from Viktor asking her to meet him at the Gutmanis Cave, their usual meeting place. She went to the cave with Lenta, the young daughter of her adoptive father. When she reached it, however, it was not Viktor she encountered but a Polish nobleman or soldier called Adam Jakubowski who was lying in wait for her with the intention of forcing her to be his wife. Maija promised to give him her magic scarf, that had the power to make the wearer immune from injury (in some versions the scarf is impossible to cut through), if he would let her go, and persuaded him to test its power on her. He struck her with an axe and she died, having thus saved her honour.
In the evening Viktor came to the cave and found the body of his betrothed and was accused of the murder. But in court there appeared a witness called Peteris Skudritis, who testified that he had been commissioned by Jakubowski to deliver the fatal letter. Lenta confirmed the course of events. Viktor buried his betrothed near the castle, planted a linden tree on the grave and left the country forever. According to documents in Sigulda's archives the soldier was later caught, tried and hanged for his crime.
From then on it has been customary for newlyweds to leave flowers on the grave of the Rose of Turaida in hopes of knowing the same eternal love and devotion.