Slavery in Portugal

Slavery in Portugal occurred since before the country's formation. During the pre-independence period, inhabitants of the current Portuguese territory were often enslaved and enslaved others. After independence, during the existence of the Kingdom of Portugal, the country played a leading role in the Atlantic Slave Trade, which involved the mass trade and transportation of slaves from Africa and other parts of the world to the American continent. Slavery was abolished in Portugal in 1761 by the Marquês de Pombal. After the abolishment of slavery in Portugal, the Portuguese slave traders turned to clients in other countries where slavery was not yet abolished, predominantly to Brazil. However, Slavery within the African Portuguese colonies was only abolished in 1869 and Portuguese involvement in slavery in its colonies continued into the 20th century.
As for the Atlantic slave trade, this began in 1444 A.D., when Portuguese traders brought the first large number of slaves from Africa to Europe. Eighty-two years later (1526), Spanish explorers brought the first African slaves to settlements in what would become the United States.
History.
Ancient era.
Slavery was a major economic and social institution in Europe during the classical era and a great deal is known about the ancient Greeks and Romans in relation to the topic. Rome added Portugal to its empire (2nd century BC), the latter a province of Lusitania at the time, and the name of the future kingdom was derived from "Portucale", a Roman and post-Roman settlement situated at the mouth of the Douro River. The details of slavery in Roman Portugal are not well-known; however, there were several forms of slavery, including enslaved miners and domestic servants.
Visigothic and Suebi kingdoms.
The Visigoths and the Suebi (Germanic tribes), of the 5th century AD, seized control of the Iberian peninsula as the Roman Empire fell. At the time, Portugal did not exist as a separate kingdom, but was primarily a part of the Visigothic Iberian kingdom (the Visigothic ruling class lived apart and heavily taxed the native population). However, during this period, a gradual transition to feudalism and serfdom was occurring throughout Europe.
Islamic Iberia.
After the Umayyad conquest of Hispania in the 8th century, in which Moors from North Africa crossed the Strait of Gibraltar and defeated the Visigothic rulers of Iberia, the territory of both modern-day Portugal and Spain fell under Islamic control. The pattern of slavery and serfdom in the Iberian Peninsula differs from the rest of Western Europe due to the Islamic conquest. They established Moorish kingdoms in Iberia, including the area that is occupied by modern Portugal. In comparison to the north, classical-style slavery continued for a longer period of time in southern Europe and trade between Christian Europe, across the Mediterranean, with Islamic North Africa meant that Slavic and Christian Iberian slaves appeared in Italy, Spain, Southern France and Portugal; in the 8th century, the Islamic conquest in Portugal and Spain changed this pattern.
Trade ties between the Moorish kingdoms and the North African Moorish state led to a greater flow of trade within those geographical areas. In addition, the Moors engaged sections of Spaniards and Portuguese Christians in slave labor. There was not a “racial” component to slavery in Iberia. The Moors used ethnic European slaves: 1/12 of Iberian population were slave Europeans, less than 1% of Iberia were Moors and more than 99% were native Iberians. Periodic Arab and Moorish raiding expeditions were sent from Islamic Iberia to ravage the remaining Christian Iberian kingdoms, bringing back stolen goods and slaves. In a raid against Lisbon in 1189, for example, the Almohad caliph Yaqub al-Mansur held 3,000 women and children as captives, while his governor of Córdoba, in a subsequent attack upon Silves, held 3,000 Christian slaves in 1191. In addition, the Christian Iberians who lived within Arab and Moorish-ruled territories were subject to specific laws and taxes for state protection.
Reconquista.
Muslim Moors who converted to Christianity, known as Moriscos, were enslaved by the Portuguese during the Reconquista; 9.3 per cent of slaves in southern Portugal were Moors and many Moors were enslaved in 16th-century Portugal.
It has been documented that other slaves were treated better than Moriscos, the slaves were less than 1% of population.
After the Reconquista period, Moorish slaves began to outnumber Slavic slaves in both importance and numbers in Portugal.
Age of Discovery.
Black slaves.
African slaves prior to 1441 were predominately Berbers and Arabs from the North African Barbary coast, known as ‘Moors” to the Iberian. They were typically enslaved during wars and conquests between Christian and Islamic kingdoms. The first expeditions of Sub-Saharan Africa were sent out by Prince Infante D. Henrique, known commonly today as Henry the Navigator, with the intent to probe how far the kingdoms of the Moors and their power reached. The expeditions sent by Henry came back with African slaves as a way to compensate for the expenses of their voyages. The enslavement of Africans was seen as a military campaign because the people that the Portuguese encountered were identified as Moorish and thus associated with Islam. The royal chronicler Gomes Eanes de Zurara was never decided on the “Moorishness” of the slaves brought back from Africa, due to a seeming lack of contact with Islam. Slavery in Portugal and the number of slaves expanded after the Portuguese began exploration of Sub-Saharan Africa.
Slave raids in Sub-Saharan Africa began in the 1430s and 1440s as war campaigns, but this period was short-lived. The Portuguese quickly transitioned into a trade network with African nobility and slavers. Prince Infante D. Henrique began selling African slaves in Lagos in 1444. In 1455, Pope Nicholas V gave Portugal the rights to continue the slave trade in West Africa, under the provision that they convert all people who are enslaved. The Portuguese soon expanded their trade along the whole west coast of Africa. Infante D Henrique held the monopoly on all expeditions to Africa granted by the crown until his death in 1460. Afterward, any ship sailing for Africa required authorization from the crown. All slaves and goods brought back to Portugal were subject to duties and tariffs. Slaves were baptized before shipment. Their process of enslavement, which was viewed by critics as cruel, was justified by the conversion of the enslaved to Christianity.
The high demand for slaves was due to a shortage of laborers in Portugal. Black slaves were in higher demand than Moorish slaves because they were much easier to convert to Christianity and less likely to escape. Although it was more expensive to purchase a slave than it was to employ a freeman, the sparse population and the lack of free labor made the purchase of a slave a necessary investment. The number of black slaves in Portugal given by contemporary accounts argue that Lisbon and the colonies of Portugal averaged a maximum of 10% of the population between the 16th and 18th centuries, but these numbers are impossible to verify. Most slaves in Portugal were concentrated in Lisbon and to the south in the Algarve. The number of black slaves brought to Lisbon and sold cannot be known. This is because the records of both royal institutions responsible for the sale of black slaves, the Casa de Guiné and the Casa dos Escravos were damaged during the earthquake of 1755 in Lisbon, and the fiscal records containing the numbers and sales of these companies were destroyed. The records of the royal chronicler Zurara claim that 927 African slaves were brought to Portugal between 1441 and 1448, and an estimated 1000 black slaves arrived in Portugal each year afterward. A common estimate is that around 2000 black slaves arrive in Lisbon annually after 1490.
During the 15th century, there were thousands of Africans in Portugal but were rare in Europe. The majority of Africans were servants but some were considered as trustworthy and responsible slaves. Because of Portugal’s small population, Portuguese colonization was only possible with the large number of slaves they had acquired. In the late 15th and into the 16th centuries, the Portuguese economic reliance on slaves was less in question than the sheer number of slaves found in Portugal. People wishing to purchase slaves in Portugal had two sources, the royal slaving company, the Casa da Guiné, or from slave merchants who had purchased their slaves through the Casa de Guiné to sell as retail. There were up to 70 slave merchants in Lisbon in the 1550s. Slave auctions occurred in the town or market square, or in the streets of central Lisbon. The sale of slaves was compared by observers as similar to the sale of horses or livestock. The laws of commerce regarding slavery addresses them as merchandise or objects. There was a period of time set upon purchase for the buyer to decide if he is happy with the slave he had purchased.
The occupations of slaves varied widely. Some slaves in Lisbon could find themselves working in domestic settings, but most worked hard labor in the mines and metal forges, while others worked at the docks loading and maintaining ships. Some slaves worked peddling cheap goods at the markets and returning the profits to their masters. Opportunities for slaves to become free were scarce, however there were many instances in which slaves had either elevated their status or obtained their freedom. Slaves were able to buy their freedom by saving any earnings, so long as their masters allow them to keep their earnings, or purchase a slave to replace them. Women slaves could be freed if their masters chose to marry them, but this was more common among the colonies. When Lisbon was on the verge of being invaded in 1580, slaves were promised their freedom in exchange for their military service. 440 slaves took the offer and most, after being freed, left Portugal. Black female slaves were desired for sexual purposes, resulting in many mixed-race offspring. This prompted the Council of Trent in 1563 to denounce the widespread immorality. Mulattoes had the ability to integrate into society, some would even command whole fleets of ships. Slavery did little to alter society in Portugal, due to the slight ease of enslaved people’s integration, those who did not assimilate were treated similar to the poor. Nevertheless, very few slaves survived in Western Europe towards the end of the sixteenth century.
Asians.
After the Portuguese first made contact with Japan in 1543, a large-scale slave trade developed in the Nanban trade, one of the Portuguese trade includes the Portuguese purchase of Japanese that sold them to various locations overseas, including Portugal itself, the Nanban trade existed from 1543 to 1614s. Many documents mention the large slave trade along with protests against the enslavement of Japanese. Japanese slaves are believed to be the first of their nation to end up in Europe, and the Portuguese purchased large numbers of Japanese slave girls to bring to Portugal for sexual purposes, as noted by the Church in 1555. King Sebastian feared that it was having a negative effect on Catholic proselytization since the slave trade in Japanese was growing to large proportions, so he commanded that it be banned in 1571. Records of three Japanese slaves dating from the 16th century, named Gaspar Fernandes, Miguel and Ventura who ended up in Mexico showed that they were purchased by Portuguese slave traders in Japan, brought to Manila from where they were shipped to Mexico by their owner Perez. Although the actual number of slaves is debated, the proportions on the number of slaves tends to be exaggerated by the Japanese as part of anti-Portuguese propaganda.
More than several hundred Japanese, especially women, were sold as slaves.
Portuguese visitors so often engaged in slavery in Japan and occasionally South Asian and African crew members were taken to Macau and other Portuguese colonies in Southeast Asia, the Americas, and India, where there was a community of Japanese slaves and traders in Goa by the early 17th century. Later European East India Companies, including those of the Dutch and British, were involved in prostitution while visiting or staying in Japan.
Japanese slave women were even occasionally sold as concubines to South Asian and black African crew members, along with their European counterparts serving on Portuguese ships trading in Japan, mentioned by Luis Cerqueira, a Portuguese Jesuit, in a 1598 document. Hideyoshi blamed the Portuguese and Jesuits for this slave trade and banned Christian proselytizing as a result.
Some Korean slaves were bought by the Portuguese and brought to Portugal from Japan, where they had been among the tens of thousands of Korean prisoners of war transported to Japan during the Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–98). Historians pointed out that at the same time Hideyoshi expressed his indignation and outrage at the Portuguese trade in Japanese slaves, he himself was engaging in a mass slave trade of Korean prisoners of war in Japan. Chinese were bought in large numbers as slaves by the Portuguese in the 1520s. Japanese Christian Daimyos mainly responsible for selling to the Portuguese their fellow Japanese. Japanese women and Japanese men, Javanese, Chinese, and Indians were all sold as slaves in Portugal.
Some Chinese slaves in Spain ended up there after being brought to Lisbon, Portugal, and sold when they were boys. Tristán de la China was a Chinese who was taken as a slave by the Portuguese, while he was still a boy and in the 1520s was obtained by Cristobál de Haro in Lisbon, and taken to live in Seville and Valladolid. He was paid for his service as a translator on the 1525 Loaísa expedition, during which he was still an adolescent. The survivors, including Tristan, were shipwrecked for a decade until 1537 when they were brought back by a Portuguese ship to Lisbon.
There are records of Chinese slaves in Lisbon as early as 1540. According to modern historians, the first known visit of a Chinese person to Europe dates to 1540 (or soon after), when a Chinese scholar, apparently enslaved by Portuguese raiders somewhere on the southern China coast, was brought to Portugal. Purchased by João de Barros, he worked with the Portuguese historian on translating Chinese texts into Portuguese.
In sixteenth century southern Portugal there were Chinese slaves but the number of them was described as "negligible", being outnumbered by East Indian, Mourisco, and African slaves. Amerindians, Chinese, Malays, and Indians were slaves in Portugal but in far fewer number than Turks, Berbers, and Arabs. China and Malacca were origins of slaves delivered to Portugal by Portuguese viceroys. A testament from 23 October 1562 recorded a Chinese man named António who was enslaved and owned by a Portuguese woman, Dona Maria de Vilhena, a wealthy noblewoman in Évora. António was among the three most common male names given to male slaves in Évora. D. Maria owned one of the only two Chinese slaves in Évora and she specifically selected and used him from among the slaves she owned to drive her mules for her because he was Chinese since rigorous and demanding tasks were assigned to Mourisco, Chinese, and Indian slaves. D. Maria's owning a Chinese, 3 Indians, and 3 Mouriscos among her fifteen slaves reflected on her high social status, since Chinese, Mouriscos, and Indians were among the ethnicities of prized slaves and were very expensive compared to blacks, so high class individuals owned these ethnicities and it was because her former husband Simão was involved in the slave trade in the east that she owned slaves of many different ethnicities. When she died, D. Maria freed twelve of her slaves including this Chinese man in her testament, leaving them with sums from 20,000 to 10,000 réis in money. D. Maria de Vilhena was the daughter of the nobleman and explorer Sancho de Tovar, the capitão of Sofala (List of colonial governors of Mozambique), and she was married twice, the first marriage to the explorer Cristóvão de Mendonça, and her second marriage was to Simão da Silveira, capitão of Diu (Lista de governadores, capitães e castelões de Diu). D. Maria was left a widow by Simão, and she was a major slave owner, possessing the most slaves in Évora, with her testament recording fifteen slaves.
A legal case was brought before the Spanish Council of the Indies in the 1570s, involving two Chinese men in Seville, one of them a freeman, Esteban Cabrera, and the other a slave, Diego Indio, against Juan de Morales, Diego's owner. Diego called on Esteban to give evidence as a witness on his behalf. Diego recalled that he was taken as a slave by Francisco de Casteñeda from Mexico, to Nicaragua, then to Lima in Peru, then to Panama, and eventually to Spain via Lisbon, while he was still a boy.
Chinese boys were kidnapped from Macau and sold as slaves in Lisbon while they were still children. Brazil imported some of Lisbon's Chinese slaves. Fillippo Sassetti saw some Chinese and Japanese slaves in Lisbon among the large slave community in 1578, although most of the slaves were blacks. Brazil and Portugal were both recipients of Chinese slaves bought by Portuguese. Portugal exported to Brazil some Chinese slaves. Military, religious, and civil service secretarial work and other lenient and light jobs were given to Chinese slaves while hard labor was given to Africans. Only African slaves in 1578 Lisbon outnumbered the large numbers of Japanese and Chinese slaves in the same city. Some of the Chinese slaves were sold in Brazil, a Portuguese colony. Cooking was the main profession of Chinese slaves around 1580 in Lisbon, according to Fillippo Sassetti from Florence and the Portuguese viewed them as diligent, smart, and "loyal".
The Portuguese "highly regarded" Asian slaves like Chinese and Japanese, much more "than slaves from sub-Saharan Africa" and Moorish Muslims. The Portuguese attributed qualities like intelligence and industriousness to Chinese and Japanese slaves which is why they favored them more. Traits such as high intelligence were ascribed to Chinese, Indian and Japanese slaves.
In 1595, a law was passed by Portugal banning the selling and buying of Chinese and Japanese slaves due to hostility from the Chinese and Japanese regarding the trafficking in Japanese and Chinese slaves On 19 February 1624, the King of Portugal forbade the enslavement of Chinese people of either sex.
A Portuguese woman, Dona Ana de Ataíde owned an Indian man named António as a slave in Évora. He served as a cook for her. Ana de Ataíde's Indian slave escaped from her in 1587. A large number of slaves were forcibly brought there since the commercial, artisanal, and service sectors all flourished in a regional capital like Évora.
A fugitive Indian slave from Evora named António went to Badajoz after leaving his master in 1545.
Portuguese domination was accepted by the "docile" Jau slaves. In Évora, Brites Figueira owned a Javanese (Jau) slave named Maria Jau. Antão Azedo took an Indian slave named Heitor to Evora, who along with another slave was from Bengal were among the 34 Indian slaves in total who were owned by Tristão Homem, a nobleman in 1544 in Évora. Manuel Gomes previously owned a slave who escaped in 1558 at age 18 and he was said to be from the "land of Prester John of the Indias" named Diogo.
In Évora, men were owned and used as slaves by female establishments like convents for nuns. Three male slaves and three female slaves were given to the nuns of Montemor by the alcaide-mor's widow. In order to "serve those who serve God" and being told to obey orders "in all things that they ordered them", a boy named Manual along with his slave mother were given to the Nuns of Montemor by father Jorge Fernandes in 1544. A capelão do rei, father João Pinto left an Indian man in Porto, where he was picked up in 1546 by the Évora-based Santa Marta convent's nuns to serve as their slave. However, female slaves did not serve in male establishments, unlike vice versa.
Slavery in Macau and the coast of China.
Beginning in the 16th century, the Portuguese tried to establish trading ports and settlements along the coast of China. Early attempts at establishing such bases, such as those in Ningbo and Quanzhou, were however destroyed by the Chinese, following violent raids by the settlers to neighboring ports, which included pillaging and plunder and sometimes enslavement.
The resulting complaints made it to the province's governor who commanded the settlement destroyed and the inhabitants wiped out. In 1545, a force of 60,000 Chinese troops descended on the community, and 800 of the 1,200 Portuguese residents were massacred, with 25 vessels and 42 junks destroyed.
Until the mid-17th century, during the early Portuguese mandate of Macau, some 5,000 slaves lived in the territory, in addition to 2,000 Portuguese and an ever-growing number of Chinese, which in 1664 reached 20,000.
This number decreased in the following decades to between 1000 and 2000. Most of the slaves were of African origin. Rarely did Chinese women marry Portuguese, initially, mostly Goans, Ceylonese/Sinhalese (from today's Sri Lanka), Indochinese, Malay (from Malacca), and Japanese women were the wives of the Portuguese men in Macau. Slave women of Indian, Indonesian, Malay, and Japanese origin were used as partners by Portuguese men. Japanese girls would be purchased in Japan by Portuguese men. From 1555 onwards Macau received slave women of Timorese origin as well as women of African origin, and from Malacca and India. Macau was permitted by Pombal to receive an influx of Timorese women. Macau received an influx of African slaves, Japanese slaves as well as Christian Korean slaves who were bought by the Portuguese from the Japanese after they were taken prisoner during the Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–98) in the era of Hideyoshi.
On June 24, 1622, the Dutch attacked Macau in the Battle of Macau, expecting to turn the area into a Dutch possession, with an 800-strong invasion force led by under Captain Kornelis Reyerszoon. The relatively small number of defenders repulsed the Dutch attack, which was not repeated. The majority of the defenders were Africans slaves, with only a few dozen Portuguese soldiers and priests in support, and they accounted for most of the victims in the battle. Following the defeat, the Dutch Governor Jan Coen said of the Macao slaves, that "it was they who defeated and drove away our people there".
In the 1800s, during the Qing dynasty, the British consul noted that some Portuguese were still buying children between five and eight years of age.
In 1814, the Jiaqing Emperor added a clause to the section of the fundamental laws of China titled "Wizards, Witches, and all Superstitions, prohibited", later modified in 1821 and published in 1826 by the Daoguang Emperor, which sentenced Europeans, namely Portuguese Christians who would not repent their conversion, to be sent to Muslim cities in Xinjiang as slaves to Muslim leaders.
Treatment.
During transport to Portugal, slaves were fastened and chained with manacles, padlocks, and rings around their necks. Portuguese owners could whip, chain, and pour burning hot wax and fat onto the skin of their slaves, and punish their slaves in any way that they wished, as long as the slaves remained alive. The Portuguese also used branding irons to brand their slaves as property.
Banning.
Voices condemning the slave trade were raised quite early on during the Atlantic Slave Trade period. Among them was Gaspar da Cruz, a Dominican friar who dismissed any arguments by the slave traffickers that they had "legally" purchased already-enslaved children, among the earliest condemnations of slavery in Europe during this period.
From an early age during the Atlantic Slave Trade period, the crown attempted to stop the trading of non-African slaves. The enslavement and overseas trading of Chinese slaves, who were prized by the Portuguese, was specifically addressed in response to Chinese authorities' requests, who, although not against the enslavement of people in Macau and Chinese territories, which was common practice, at different times attempted to stop the transport of slaves to outside the territory. In 1595, a Portuguese royal decree banned the selling and buying of ethnically Chinese slaves; it was reiterated by the Portuguese King on February 19, 1624, and, in 1744, by the Qianlong Emperor, who forbade the practice to Chinese subjects, reiterating his order in 1750. However, these laws were not able to stop the trade completely, a practice which lasted until the 1700s. In the American colonies, Portugal halted the use of Chinese, Japanese, Europeans, and Indians to work as slaves for sugar plantations, which was reserved exclusively for African slaves.
The abolition of all forms of slavery occurred in 1761 on mainland Portugal and Portuguese India through a decree by the Marquis of Pombal, followed, in 1777, by Madeira. The transatlantic slave trade was definitively outlawed altogether by Portugal in 1836, at the same time as other European powers, as a result of British pressure. Slavery within the African Portuguese colonies, however, would only be definitively abolished in 1869, following a treaty between United States and Britain for the suppression of the slave trade. In Brazil, which had become independent from Portugal in 1822, slavery was finally abolished in 1888. However, Portuguese involvement in slavery in its colonies continued into the 20th century. So-called contract labourers were effectively slaves as, although they signed a piece of paper, they had no idea what they were signing. In most cases they were not paid and few were returned to their homes when the duration of the contract was over. The use of such slavery in São Tomé led in 1909 to the three leading British chocolate makers, Cadbury's, Fry's and Rowntree's, ceasing to buy cocoa beans from that colony.


Yitzchok Zilber

Rabbi Yitzchok Yosef Zilber (1917–2004) was a Russian, later Israeli-Russian Haredi rabbi and a leader of the Russian baal teshuva movement.
Early life.
Rabbi Yitzchok Zilber was born in Kazan, Russia, several months before the Bolshevik Russian Revolution in 1917. His father, Rabbi Ben Tzion Chaim Zilber (originally Tsiyuni), a respected rabbinic scholar and rabbi of the city of Kazan, refused to send his son to an anti-religious Soviet school and taught him privately at home, teaching him Jewish law and tradition as well as secular knowledge.
By the time young Yitzchok Zilber was 15, he was giving classes in Judaism across the town, despite the fact that this was against the Soviet law.
His brilliance gained him entrance to the faculty of Mathematics of the University of Kazan despite never having attended public school. Rabbi Zilber married Gita Zeidman, and they had four children – Sarah, Ben Tzion Chaim, Chava, and Fruma Malka.
Life under Communist rule.
After World War II, Rabbi Zilber was imprisoned in a gulag for a technical accidental crime (a fellow Jew left some illegal papers by him, and a search revealed them. He did not want to tell to police whom had left the papers by him and so he was consequently imprisoned. Ironically, the owner himself regretted Rabbi Zilber being imprisoned for him and went to the police to admit his responsibility. As typical to Russia at the time, they happily admitted him to prison as well, leaving Rabbi Zilber there as well). He was forced to do heavy menial labor, but later attested to having never violated the Jewish Sabbath and other Torah commandments. Indeed, he taught Torah to other Jewish prisoners.
Rabbi Zilber received amnesty after Stalin's death in 1953, and returned to Kazan. While not openly violating state rules, in 1960 the KGB started harassing him, making a cover story about the sorry children of a religiously fanatic father who makes them suffer for Jewish laws etc. A large gathering was announced in the school where he taught and in the school where his wife taught. He was barred from his teaching job, and the KGB also attempted to take his children away from him, and promising his wife an apartment and a quiet life if she would agree to a divorce.
When he received an invitation for an interview in the KGB, Yitzchok Zilber fled from Kazan, and after a long journey stayed in Tashkent and was able to move his family there a short time later. The family tried to emigrate to Israel, but was refused for years, until they finally received permission and emigrated in 1972.
Life in Israel.
When he arrived in Israel, Rabbi Zilber was shocked to find that the vast majority of Russian-speaking Jews were not observant and for the most part, completely ignorant, of Jewish law and tradition. He undertook to change this situation, and began teaching extensively throughout the country as well as organizing circumcisions, since the Israeli rabbinate was not as yet prepared for such a large number of immigrants who needed to have a circumcision performed.
Rabbi Zilber worked tirelessly to help Russian women receive gittin (bills of divorce) after being abandoned by their husbands. Many of them were "complicated by the fact that the partners of the broken marriage were often living in different countries, and locating them was far from easy". However locating them was often necessary to comply with Jewish law. Often this was meant endless efforts, exquisite inventiveness, and (as he puts it in his autobiography) "a large dose of Divine providence". At the end of his autobiography he shares a sample from his "impressing collection of unusual stories" that came out of this endeavor.
He was available to everyone who came to seek his advice, which led to his fame in certain circles as "the father of Russian Jewry." Rabbi Zilber taught in Russian organizations such as Dvar Yerushalayim, Torat Haim, the Russian division of Ohr Somayach, Shuvu, and Shvut Ami. In 2000, he established the Toldos Yeshurun organization to provide Jewish education to the secular Russian Jews, which continues his work today, under the guidance of his only son, Rabbi Ben Tzion Zilber.
Rabbi Yitzchok Zilber died in 2004, on the eve of Tisha b'Av (the Ninth of Av), the greatest day of tragedy in Jewish history.
Influence.
Rabbi Yitzchok Zilber's books – especially his autobiography "To Remain A Jew", his "Talks on Torah", a collection of essays on the weekly Torah portion, "The Fire will not burn you" – are very popular among Russian-speaking Jews and have inspired many to return to their Jewish heritage and become baalei teshuva or learn more about Judaism.
His extensive teaching and personal guidance has brought thousands of Russian-speaking Jews to observance, and transformed large parts of secular Russian Jews into religious communities. The vast majority of Russian-speaking Rabbis, Torah teachers and Jewish leaders today are either his students or students of his students. His son is Rabbi Ben Zion Zilber a teacher and adviser to Russian Jews.
His sons-in-law are Rabbi Avraham Kooperman, teacher in the Mir Yeshiva, Rabbi Chaim Zavdi, a mashgiach ruchani, and Rabbi Yosef Shvinger, director of a State organization governing holy places in the land of Israel.


Nemanja Jaramaz

Nemanja Jaramaz (; born July 10, 1991) is a Serbian professional basketball player for KTE-Duna Aszfalt of the Hungarian NB I/A. Standing at , he plays at the shooting guard position.
Professional career.
In 2006, Jaramaz joined the KK Partizan junior team. He was loaned to Mega Vizura for the 2009–10 season. In 2010 he returned to Partizan and begin to play for the senior team. In March 2012, he was loaned again to Mega Vizura for the remainder of the season.
In June 2012, Jaramaz signed a one-year deal with the Italian team Angelico Biella. In January 2013, he was released by the Biella. Later that month he moved to Kazakhstan and signed with BC Astana for the remainder of the season.
In July 2013, Jaramaz signed a one-year deal with the Polish team Turów Zgorzelec. With them he won the Polish League in the 2013–14 season. In July 2014, he re-signed with Turow for one more season.
On September 14, 2015, Jaramaz signed with Budućnost Podgorica. In April 2016, he left Budućnost and signed with the Spanish club ICL Manresa for the rest of the 2015–16 ACB season.
On November 3, 2016, Jaramaz signed with Polish club Anwil Włocławek for the rest of the 2016–17 PLK season.
On September 19, 2017, Jaramaz signed a two-month contract with German club Oettinger Rockets. Following the expiration of his contract, he parted ways with Oettinger on November 28, 2017. Two days later, he signed with Basketball Löwen Braunschweig for the rest of the 2017–18 BBL season.
On July 22, 2020, Jaramaz signed a two-year contract with FMP. He parted ways with FMP in October 2020, after playing only one ABA game. In December 2020, he signed for Hungarian team KTE-Duna Aszfalt.
National team career.
Jaramaz was a member of the Serbia U16 national team which won a gold medal at the 2007 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship.
Personal life.
His younger brother is Ognjen, also a professional basketball player.


Icelandic nationalism

 is the Icelandic term for nationalism; "nationmindedness" is a rough translation of the term. Its use was instrumental in the Icelandic movement for independence from Denmark, led by Jón Sigurðsson.
Icelandic nationalism or is based upon the idea of resurrection of the Icelandic Free State, and its values (or what was believed to be its values): democracy, freedom of the individual, the need for the country to be independent, and respect for the cultural and religious traditions, specially the long preserved language. These ideas are often encoded in the popular phrase ('land, people, and language'). Historically, Icelanders have seen their current republic to be the reincarnation of the old Free State, and thus Icelandic nationalism today is based upon preserving what was gained by the independence movement. Thus Icelandic nationalist sentiment, having some aspects of civic and ethnic nationalism, is highly respectful of democratic parliamentary powers (see resurrected Althing) and skeptical of foreign control over Iceland, which is partly responsible for there being little will in Iceland for joining the European Union.


Citizenship Act (Slovakia)

Slovak nationality law is the law governing the acquisition, transmission and loss of Slovak citizenship. The Citizenship Act is a law enacted by the National Council of Slovakia in regard to the nationality law following the dissolution of Czechoslovakia. In 2010, it was controversially amended, enacting loss of Slovak citizenship upon naturalization elsewhere. This was said to have affected the 2012 election to some degree.
Enactment of the Citizenship Act.
Prior to 1993, the Slovak Republic was a part of the now defunct state of Czechoslovakia. On 19 January 1993, after the Slovak Republic had become a separate state, the National Council of the Slovak Republic enacted a nationality law to establish "the conditions of gain and loss of citizenship" in the newly formed republic. The law came into effect the day after its publication on 16 February. Citizenship applications would be issued by the Ministry of Interior after application with a district office. A citizen of Czechoslovakia as of 31 December 1992, who was not already a citizen of the Slovak Republic, could acquire Slovak citizenship upon declaration until 31 December 1993. Citizenship was also open to those who had lost Czechoslovak citizenship as a result of territorial dissolution after the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Under the 1993 law, a citizen could lose Slovak citizenship only at his or her own request, after having acquired citizenship in another country. However, release of citizenship would not be allowed for people who owed taxes, were under criminal investigation, serving a prison sentence or who were fugitives.
Amendment.
Neighboring Hungary passed a resolution on 26 May 2010, amending its own nationality law to allow any ethnic Hungarian living abroad (who was able to speak the Hungarian language, and was a Hungarian citizen before 1920 or a descendant of a pre-1920 Hungarian citizen) to seek Hungarian citizenship. The new Hungarian law, which was enacted by a majority of 344 votes in favor with three opposed and five abstentions, elicited a reaction in the surrounding region. The strongest reaction came from Slovakia. Prime Minister Robert Fico said Hungary's action was a "security threat," because Slovakia hosts a 500,000-strong Hungarian minority community within its borders that could possibly become citizens of Hungary. That same day, Slovakia passed a motion to amend the Citizenship Act to limit dual citizenship by barring Slovak citizenship for anyone, who acquired foreign citizenship by an act of will. The amendment did not, however, bar dual citizenship for those who acquired it at birth or by marriage.
The verbal spat continued the following year when Hungarian Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Minister Tibor Navracsics complained to the European Union's Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding that the law allegedly violated the EU's Charter of Fundamental Rights in that he believed it was against the free choice of identity and that Slovakia should be punished if it was found to be in violation of the charter:
I believe the European Union must go further than saying this is a Hungarian-Slovak conflict ... because it violates the charter of fundamental rights. If a democracy robs its own citizens of their citizenship by applying sanctions against people who practice their right to a free choice of identity, I believe it becomes a problem of democracy.
The amendments affected voting in the Slovakian 2012 parliamentary election, when some people who attempted to vote were turned away because they had been granted Hungarian citizenship.
Requirements.
Under the Citizenship Act, Slovak citizenship can be acquired by birth, adoption or grant (naturalization).
A child is a citizen upon birth if one or both parents is a Slovak citizen. Additionally a child born within the nation's territory to non-citizen parents may acquire citizenship if the parents are stateless, if the parents are unknown and there is no proof of foreign citizenship, or if the child does not choose to adopt the parents' nationality. When one parent is a citizen and the other is not, the child is considered a Slovak citizen even if the citizen parent is later determined not to be the child's actual parent.
Citizenship is given to a child upon adoption if at least one parent is a citizen.
There are several eligibility requirements for a person to be granted citizenship. For example:
Grants of citizenship can be revoked if:
In such cases, the Ministry of Interior would notify the applicants municipality, police, tax office, customs and social insurance and public health insurance institutions. Within 30 days from the date of notice the citizenship would lapse and certificates returned.
Procedure.
Applications are accepted by the County Administrative Authority ("obvodný úrad" in Slovak) or a Slovak diplomatic mission or consular office abroad and then scrutinized and sanctioned by the Ministry of Interior. After approval, the oath of citizenship must be taken within six months otherwise the application is suspended. Rejected applicants must wait at least two years to re-apply.
Oath.
The oath of citizenship is administered by the head of the County Administrative Authority, Slovak ambassador or Consul, or their authorized persons. It reads:
"Sľubujem na svoju česť a svedomie, že budem verný Slovenskej republike, budem dodržiavať Ústavu Slovenskej republiky, ústavné zákony, zákony a iné všeobecne záväzné právne predpisy a riadne plniť všetky povinnosti štátneho občana Slovenskej republiky"
Dual citizenship.
Slovakia restricts its nationals from acquiring another citizenship, and upon manifesting an act of will to acquire another (through declaration or any other mode of acquisition), Slovak citizenship is automatically lost. Dual citizenship is permitted in all other cases, for instance where a person acquired an additional nationality at birth or through marriage, or if they held the additional citizenship before becoming a Slovak citizen. If a citizen of Slovakia holds another citizenship, their Slovak citizenship is considered to be dominant.
Citizenship of the European Union.
Because Slovakia forms part of the European Union, Slovak citizens are also citizens of the European Union under European Union law and thus enjoy rights of free movement and have the right to vote in elections for the European Parliament. When in a non-EU country where there is no Slovak embassy, Slovak citizens have the right to get consular protection from the embassy of any other EU country present in that country. Slovak citizens can live and work in any country within the EU as a result of the right of free movement and residence granted in Article 21 of the EU Treaty.
Travel freedom of Slovak citizens.
Visa requirements for Slovak citizens are administrative entry restrictions by the authorities of other states placed on citizens of Slovakia. As of 7 April 2020, Slovak citizens had visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 181 countries and territories, ranking the Slovak passport 11th in the world according to the Visa Restrictions Index.
In 2018, Slovak nationality is ranked seventeenth in Nationality Index (QNI). This index differs from the Visa Restrictions Index, which focuses on external factors including travel freedom. The QNI considers, in addition, to travel freedom on internal factors such as peace & stability, economic strength, and human development as well.


John Chaworth, 2nd Viscount Chaworth

John Chaworth (1605 – June 1644) was 2nd Viscount Chaworth of Armagh.
He was the son of George Chaworth, 1st Viscount Chaworth of Armagh and Mary Knyveton. He married, firstly, Hon. Elizabeth Noel, daughter of Edward Noel, 2nd Viscount Campden and Hon. Juliana Hicks, before 1632. The children from this marriage were
After the death of his first wife, he married Anne Hickman, daughter of Dixie Hickman and Elizabeth Windsor, on 13 December 1643 at Gainsborough, Lincolnshire. He died in June 1644.
He succeeded to the titles of 2nd Viscount Chaworth of Armagh and 2nd Baron Chaworth of Tryme on 3 July 1639.
Lord Chaworth supported Charles I of England and in December 1642 fortified Wiverton Hall to make it a garrison for the King. In June 1643, Queen Henrietta, on her way from Newark, wrote to the King: ‘I shall sleep at Werton [Wiverton], and thence to Ashby, where we will resolve what way to take.’ Among other royal visitors were Prince Rupert of the Rhine and his brother Prince Maurice, who after visiting the King in Newark rode to Wiverton with about 400 troops and stayed there until they could settle their future plans. From Wiverton it was that Prince Rupert addressed a letter to the Parliament, asking for a pass for himself, his brother, and other noblemen and gentlemen to leave England.


2009 Croatian local elections

The 2009 Croatian local elections were held on 17 May, with the second round held on 31 May where necessary.
The elections were held to elect members of city councils, mayors, members of county councils and county prefects. These were the first elections in which mayors and county prefects were elected directly by popular vote, rather than by a majority coalition in the council. The new system allowed many independent politicians to run against big party nominees. Many cities elected independent mayors, most notable being Split, Croatia's second largest city and Kaštela. As a result many cities and counties elected opposite lists for mayoral and council elections causing a larger number of cohabitation local governments.
Election results.
The Croatian Democratic Union won the largest number of cities and counties carrying ten prefect elections, thirteen in coalition, and fifteen council elections largely in coalition with the Croatian Peasant Party and the Croatian Social Liberal Party. The Social Democratic Party of Croatia won five prefect elections, seven in coalitions, and six council elections mostly in coalition with the Croatian People's Party - Liberal Democrats and the Istrian Democratic Assembly. The social democrats fared better in mayoral elections as well as in city council elections. They made considerable gains in Dalmatia winning certain traditionally HDZ leaning cities such as Dubrovnik, Šibenik and Trogir and also managed to win Vukovar, a city that was almost destroyed in the Croatian War of Independence and was since a HDZ stronghold. They also kept economically the most powerful parts of the country, Zagreb, Rijeka and, in coalition, Istria. HDZ lost Split and Osijek, the second and the fourth most populous cities in the country respectively, but held Zadar.


Guido Demoor

Guido Demoor (1952) was a Belgian NMBS/SNCB Thalys train driver and father of two children.
He died on 24 June 2006 after an incident of violence in an Antwerp public transport bus with a group of six youths.
The exact circumstances under which Demoor died remain disputed. One of the youths was sentenced to a conditional two years imprisonment for kicking Demoor.
Incident.
The incident took place round 15h on 24 June 2006, when the 54-year-old Demoor was heading to work on a De Lijn city bus in Antwerp. There was a disturbance, involving Demoor and six youths of Moroccan descent (five Belgian citizens, one with Spanish passport). During the incident, Demoor received more than one blow to his body. Near the end of the incident, one of the youths rang the alarm bell, and some or all of them left the bus. Demoor died, after or before the boys left the bus, apparently from a subarachnoid hemorrhage.
Initial press reports led to believe that the youths started causing a disturbance on the bus. When Demoor stood up and tried to calm things down, he was beaten to the ground and kicked repeatedly. The youths then pulled the emergency brake and fled the bus, leaving Demoor to die.
Later, newspapers however reported that he asked the youths to calm down, and that, when they wouldn't listen, he grabbed one of them at the throat. Two of them then beat and kicked Demoor, the other four watched. After this, the youngsters fled.
According to the youth's lawyers, the six youths were just making noise. Demoor repeatedly yelled to lower the volume. One of the youths apologised. After another yell from Demoor, one of the youths started making animal noises, upon which Demoor made physical threats, calling: "It's always the same problem with you, Moroccans".
When the supposedly threatened youth tried to ward off Demoor, the latter is said to have grabbed the boy (1m 60 tall) at the throat and pushed his head against the bus window, yelling : "Now you will shut up!" The attacked boy asking for help, his friend struck Demoor twice, upon which Demoor released his victim. A third boy pushed the alarm button, the attacked boy kicked Demoor in the chest, and five of the six boys fled from the bus. The sixth boy remained on the bus, and only got off a few minutes later, at a regular bus stop. At that moment, Demoor was still alive and looking well. Demoor died a few moments later. All youths, three of them minors, were arrested days after the incident.
Investigation.
Initially, witnesses were able to provide a description of only one youngster. However, two days after the incident, when more testimonies came in, the police were able to identify three of them. On June 26 three arrests were made. In the morning of June 27, the three remaining boys were arrested. Three of the arrested youths had previously been in contact with the police in connection to minor crimes. Public broadcasters claimed that the arrests were thanks to tips received from the ethnic North African community, but the justice department denied this. VTM quoted a friend of one of the youngsters saying that "they didn't intend to kill Demoor and only fled because they panicked."
Later on in the investigation, the public prosecutor reclassed the case from "manslaughter" to "assault and battery resulting in unintentional death".
An autopsy on Demoor's body showed that he died because of a subarachnoid hemorrhage, possibly caused by high blood pressure or anxiety, or — indirectly — by the wounds brought on during the fight. The doctors declared that there is a "medical causal relationship" between the beats received and the cause of death. On July 1, a reconstruction of the incident was held in a De Lijn depot, because of "safety concerns" and the fact that the setting was of little importance.
On July 3 two adults were released. The lawyer of one of the other Moroccan youths claimed that he would seek acquittal on grounds of self-defence. On July 7 and July 11, two of the minors were released, bringing the total number of people in custody to two out of six. The courts are thereby apparently following the above mentioned version of the facts put forward by the youths' lawyers.
At the end of September 2006, one minor and one adult was still in custody. An experts' report showed that "a connection between the facts and the death can't be ruled out".
Final court ruling.
On November 14, 2007, the court of appeal ruled that Demoor had not provoked the facts, and that the beating was indeed the direct cause of his death. However, the sole adult suspect's sentence of two years imprisonment (which he had received in the original trial, but appealed against) was converted into a conditional sentence, meaning that he will not be sent to jail unless he commits new facts. The court cited his youthfulness, his blank criminal record, and his remorse (which the widow of Demoor claims not to have seen) as reasons for this lighter sentence.
Reactions.
There were official condemnations by mayor Patrick Janssens and prime minister Guy Verhofstadt. The latter called for a revision of the Belgian parole system. Unions for both De Lijn and the NMBS/SNCB employees called for more safety in their vehicles.
The Vlaams Belang, then the largest opposition party, criticized the fact that the incident was commonly referred to in the media as the "bus incident" and not "murder". They said the "downplaying" of this incident of "violence by immigrant youths", was done because "the media are controlled and dictated by socialists and liberals". During Demoor's funeral on June 30, a 14-year-old girl who witnessed the incident read a letter saying that "he was just a nice man trying to bring calm"". His colleagues declared that Demoor was a calm and peace-loving man, and said to be outraged that he was being presented as the initial aggressor by some.


Anne Holck

Anne Holck (7 December 1602, Tryggevælde - 5 June 1660, Stensgaard, Langeland), was a Danish noble. She became famous for her defense of the island of Langeland against the Swedish army during the Dano-Swedish War (1658–1660) in 1659.
She was the daughter of noble Ditlev Holck and married nobleman Vincents Steensen until Stensgaard from Langeland in 1623. In 1659, her spouse died from the wounds he received when he led the defense of Langeland against Swedish invasion, and after his death, she took over and defended the island against the attack until she was forced to surrender. After having been captured and imprisoned on her estate, she managed to trick a Swedish troupe down a vine cellar, where they were killed by local peasantry.


Thomas Hibbert

Thomas Hibbert (1710–1780) was an English merchant and plantation and slave-owner who became a prominent Jamaican.
Life.
Thomas was the son of Robert Hibbert (1684–1762) and his wife Margaret Tetlow Mills. Born into a family owning cotton mills which supplied barter goods to businesses in the slave-trade, Thomas was the first of the Hibbert family to settle in Jamaica, arriving in 1734. His youngest brother, John (1732–1769), also lived in Jamaica, from 1754 until his death; his other brother, Robert, was father of Thomas, a co-founder of the family trading business Hibbert, Purrier and Horton, and of George, merchant and pro-slavery campaigner. His original remit was to redeem the bonds of slave traders at the point at which they sold their slaves in Kingston.
In 1754, he completed work on building Hibbert House which won a competition as the finest house in Kingston. Rather than marrying, Thomas cohabited with Charity Harry, by whom he had three daughters. The youngest died whilst still young, but Jane Harry and Margaret were sent to have an Anglican education in England. Margaret died while still at school. In 1756 her was the speaker of the Jamaican House of Assembly.
Jane was befriended by Mary Knowles and became a noted Quaker convert which ended her friendship with Samuel Johnson. Jane was left money by her father but always avoided mentioning that he was her father.


2008 Icelandic lorry driver protests

The 2008 Icelandic truck driver protests were protests started by truck drivers in Iceland through March−April 2008. The protest came about due to increasing oil prices and working hours.


Battle of Portland

The naval Battle of Portland, or Three Days' Battle took place during 18–20 February 1653 (28 February – 2 March 1653 (Gregorian calendar)), during the First Anglo-Dutch War, when the fleet of the Commonwealth of England under General at Sea Robert Blake was attacked by a fleet of the Dutch Republic under Lieutenant-Admiral Maarten Tromp escorting merchant shipping through the English Channel.
The battle failed to settle supremacy of the English Channel, although both sides claimed victory, and ultimate control over the Channel would only be decided at the Battle of the Gabbard which allowed the English to blockade the Dutch coast until the Battle of Scheveningen, where Admiral Maarten Tromp was killed in a firefight.
Background.
The First Anglo-Dutch War was caused by friction between the two naval powers of the century, competing for strategic supremacy over the world's merchant routes. England and the United Provinces had always been 'natural allies' against the Habsburgs, as deemed by the Council of State under the rule of Charles I. It has been argued that had Charles I stayed in power the war between the two nations would have never sprung, as he would never have obtained the necessary funding from parliament. However, the rise of the English Parliament under Oliver Cromwell saw the deterioration of diplomacy between the two as the Dutch stadtholder financially supported the Royalists. During the English Civil War, the Dutch had taken advantage of the internal strife within their neighbours, and greatly expanded their maritime presence throughout the world's merchant harbours and routes, ultimately even challenging English control in its colonies, and the Dutch even boasted of driving all nations out of the sea. Nonetheless, Cromwell did not challenge the Dutch, still consolidating his power at home.
This changed when Parliamentary armies finally routed the Royalists at the Battle of Worcester, effectively ending the English Civil War. With Cromwell fully in power, the Parliament passed the Navigation Act of 1651, requiring all goods destined to English ports to be transported by English ships, which impacted part of the Dutch ability to trade, since they were cut off from all of England's colonies in the Americas and elsewhere. Later that year the Parliament gave an order which allowed privateers and warships to seize Dutch shipping. Parliament began to enforce its sovereignty over the "British Seas", which granted the Royal Navy dominion from the North Sea to Cape Finisterre. The translation of Parliament's words into action came when Sir George Ayscue folded Barbados into the Commonwealth and seized 27 Dutch merchantmen.
The Dutch response was divided; the moderate States of Holland pursued a policy of appeasement; but when the negotiations failed and the Navigation Acts were adopted the ferocious Orangist faction became more powerful, and the States General passed a resolution which would allow the Dutch war fleet, to be tripled in size, to protect Dutch interest over the areas in question. This fleet was put under the command of Admiral Maarten Tromp, who had defeated the sixth and final Spanish Armada at the Battle of the Downs, 31 October 1639. That same year, the Dutch signed a treaty with Denmark with the intent to hurt English trade routs. War finally broke out after a confrontation between admirals Robert Blake and Maarten Tromp, May 1652, at the Battle of Dover.
Minor skirmishes followed at the Battle of Plymouth, the Battle of Elba, and the Battle of Kentish Knock. The two fleets met for the first time in a major battle at the Battle of Dungeness, November 1652. The battle turned out to be a failure for the English, forcing them to rethink their naval strategy, led by Admiral Sir Henry Vane and an Admiralty Committee, including developing a tactic that would mark naval warfare for the following century. Taking a page out of the Dutch book the English reorganised each fleet into squadrons for greater tactical control. In fact, the tactic, renamed the line-of-battle tactic, would remain key to English/British naval strategy until the end of the Second World War. The two fleets would meet again off Portland.
Battle.
During the first days of February 1653, Tromp escorted a convoy of merchant ships through the Channel and put them safely into the Atlantic Ocean. He set to return to his home port, but first anchored off La Rochelle to repair and resupply his ships and waited for expected merchantmen coming from the Atlantic. He attempted to set sail on 20 February with 152 merchantmen, but was held back for three days by high winds and rough seas. On 24 February Tromp finally set sail, entering the area off Portland four days later where he spotted Blake's fleet attempting to cut them off. Immediately, Tromp set the signal for a general attack and began the offensive with the wind in his favour as he had the weather gauge.
Tromp's flagship, "Brederode", met Blake's flagship, "Triumph", immediately, sending a broadside at mere metres distance. Turning around, without having received a response from English gunners, he put a second broadside in "Triumph's" other side, and finally then delivered a third after turning around again. Blake subsequently veered away and decided to fight at long range. Dutch Commodore De Ruyter was able to attack the English rear and engaged the largest English vessel in the fleet, "Prosperity", ending in a boarding attempt which was repulsed by the crew of the English vessel the first time around. A second boarding attempt forced the "Prosperity" to surrender thereafter, however. An attempt to reclaim the ship surrounded De Ruyter, but after an intense fight the Dutch commodore was able to fight his way out. The battle continued for the day with heavy fire exchanged by both sides. Later on 28 February Blake sent a squadron of frigates to intercept and claim the Dutch merchantmen off the coast of La Rochelle. Tromp quickly responded by sending his own captains to intercept the English. Nonetheless, night brought a close to the day's battle.
The following day the English were the first to begin the engagement, with the wind in their favour. The initiative of the English fleet was not gone from the previous day, but five attempts failed to break the Dutch line. The day also saw 12 Dutch merchantmen caught by Blake's frigates after attempting to make a run for it, against Tromp's explicit orders. After the second day most of the Dutch warships were out of powder and shot, and there was none to resupply with.
The third day ended just the same, with a failure to break the Dutch line. Several Dutch captains attempted to flee after completely running out of ammunition but Tromp ended their flight with a few shots across their ships. The battle ended for the day when Blake drew off, after forcing the Dutch to fight to the point where they only had around half an hour worth of shot left. Blake's reasoning for the disengagement has been attributed to the fact that he received a wound to the thigh that day.
On the fourth day the English again attempted to resume action, but they found the sea empty of Dutch warships. Tromp had guided the remainder of his fleet along the coastline, escaping certain defeat the next day, leaving eight warships and a number of merchantmen behind. Although both sides claimed victory after the battle, the fact remains that it was Tromp who left the field, not Blake, and in the end, it was Blake who was able to commandeer 20 to 40 Dutch merchantmen and at least eight Dutch warships back to his homeport.
Aftermath.
The Battle of Portland restored English control over the English Channel. While Dutch propaganda tried to paint the battle as a Dutch victory or a "glorious defeat" and the populace publicly rejoiced at the heroism shown, Admiral Tromp and the other flag officers knew better, all coming home in an extremely dark mood. They concluded that the adoption of line tactics by the English would make it impossible for the Dutch to compensate inferior firepower with better seamanship and they urged the States-General to finally start building real heavy warships instead of replacing losses by recruiting armed merchants. In an attempt to at least keep the North Sea open, an under-equipped Dutch fleet engaged the English again at the Battle of the Gabbard.
References.
Works cited


David (company)

David was a Spanish company manufacturing automobiles in Barcelona between 1913 and 1923 and again between 1951 and 1957.
The original cars, developed by José Maria Armangué, were cyclecars using either a single cylinder 6–8 hp, or four-cylinder 6–8 hp, or 10–12 hp engine; and belt and pulley transmission giving 16 speeds and featuring front wheel brakes. Bodies were usually open two-seater, but 3-seat and closed versions were also made. Cyclecar production seems to have stopped in 1923, but the company continued making taxi bodies for fitting on Citroën chassis, for which they were Spanish distributors.
Car production started again in 1951 with a new generation of 3-wheeler light cars powered by single-cylinder two-stroke engines of 345 cc and 3-speed gearboxes. About 75 were made.


Sir William Ayloffe, 3rd Baronet

Sir William Ayloffe, 3rd Baronet (3 December 1618 – 1675) was an officer in the Royalist army during the English Civil War.
Biography.
William was the eldest son of Sir Benjamin Ayloffe and his second wife, Margaret, the fifth daughter of Thomas Fanshawe. He was born on 3 December 1618.
Like his father he supported the Royalist cause in the English Civil War. He was a colonel of a regiment at the siege of Colchester. On the death of his father in 1662 he inherited the family estates and baronetcy. He died in 1675, and was buried at Braxted. As he died without any surviving children, Benjamin, his younger brother, inherited the baronetcy.
Family.
Sir William married Anne (c. 1609–1684), 1st daughter of Peter Orby, of Burton Pedwardine, county Lincoln, and of Chertsey, Surrey, and Elizabeth, daughter of Robert Horseman, of Burton Pedwardine. Anne was the widow of Frederick de la Tremouille, Count de Laval and Benon in the kingdom of France, brother to the Duke of Tremoville. She died on 7 February 1684 and was buried at Braxted. Sir William and Anne had two sons, neither of whom outlived their father: Benjamin, who died an infant, and William (1646–1664), who died at the age of eighteen.
References.


Thomas Hurd

Thomas Hannaford Hurd (bapt. 30 January 1747 – 29 April 1823) was an officer of the Royal Navy, who rose to the rank of captain, becoming the second Hydrographer of the Navy, a Superintendent of Chronometers and a Commissioner on the Board of Longitude. Hurd Peninsula is named after him due to his role in the discovery of Antarctica.
Life.
Hurd joined the navy on 1 September 1768, serving as an able seaman aboard , which was then under the command of Captain Molyneux Shuldham. He served on the Newfoundland and North American stations between 1771 and 1774, part of the time aboard the armed vessel , under Lieutenant Henry Mowat. While with "Canceaux" Hurd helped Samuel Holland conduct hydrographic surveys. Hurd passed his lieutenant's examination on 1 March 1775, and went on to serve aboard Lord Howe's flagship, . Howe appointed Hurd as lieutenant of HMS "Unicorn" on 30 January 1777. "Unicorn" was a frigate under the command of Captain John Ford, which had a coppered hull. Being free of barnacles she was able to capture a great deal of enemy shipping and Hurd as Lieutenant gathered a large amount of prize money. After "Unicorn"s return to England she was one of the small squadron engaged under Captain Sir James Wallace in setting fire to three enemy ships and taking the French ship "Danae", a brig and a sloop as prizes in a minor battle on 13 May 1779 off the French coast at Cancale.
In the Battle of the Saintes off Dominica, on 12 April 1782, Hurd was second lieutenant of the from which he was moved into . "Ardent" had been recaptured from the French and was one of the prizes. Hurd helped sail her back to England under her commander, Richard Lucas. The battle was a victory for Admiral Sir George Rodney and Great Britain. Following this Hurd suffered on the ill-fated return journey from Jamaica—with Rear-Admiral Thomas Graves—where there were large losses due to a hurricane. Howe recommended Hurd for the post of surveyor-general of Cape Breton, to which he was appointed in 1785, but was dismissed the following year by lieutenant-governor Joseph Frederick Wallet DesBarres.
Hurd was sent to carry out the first exact survey of Bermuda in 1789, a task that took him nine years. On 18 August 1795 he was promoted to the rank of commander, serving as captain of HMS "Bermuda" and briefly HMS , before returning to HMS "Bermuda".
He received promotion to post captain on 29 April 1802. In 1804, he conducted a survey of the harbour of Brest and its surrounding coast. In May 1808, following the death of Alexander Dalrymple, Hurd was the second person to be appointed hydrographer to the admiralty. In the following 15 years, Hurd organised a regular system of surveys and the improved productivity was marked. He is also credited with making sure that his maps, that had been funded by the military, were made available for civilian use by the merchant navy. The Hurd Peninsula is on the south coast of Livingston Island, in the South Shetland Islands. It was named by the UK Antarctic Place-Names Committee in 1961, for "Thomas Hurd, RN". Hurd was chosen as it was under his authority that Antarctica was discovered. Hurd's Deep in the English Channel was also named after him.
When Hurd died on 29 April 1823, he was a superintendent of chronometers and a commissioner for the discovery of longitude. Hurd was survived by his wife and he left plantations in both America and the West Indies. To his wife he left "enslaved people on Grenada and Dominica that had been given and bequeathed to him by his 'worthy and respected friend' Samuel Proudfoot of Clapham Common".


Next Finnish parliamentary election

The next parliamentary elections will be held in Finland in April 2023, or earlier if Parliament is dissolved ahead of schedule.
Electoral system.
The 200 members of the Eduskunta were elected using open list proportional representation in 13 multi-member constituencies, with seats allocated according to the D'Hondt method. The number of elected representatives is proportional to the population in the district six months prior to the elections. Åland has single member electoral district and its own party system.
Background.
The former prime minister, Antti Rinne, resigned from his post due to a scandal regarding the Finnish Postal Service (Posti). Rinne's Social Democratic Party of Finland elected a 34-year-old MP from the province of Pirkanmaa, Sanna Marin, to replace him. Marin took office on 10 December 2019.
Covid-19's affect to the Finnish political system.
During the COVID-19 pandemic in Finland, the Social Democratic Party of Prime Minister Sanna Marin initially saw a sharp rise in popularity, and the Finns Party, leading polls before the pandemic, conversely saw a dip. By April 2021, the Finns Party have resurged, having overtaken the Social Democrats in polls and placed first in all representative polls conducted in 2021.


William Cranstoun, 3rd Lord Cranstoun

William Cranstoun, 3rd Lord Cranstoun (born before 1620, died after July 1664) was a Scottish Lord of Parliament and a renowned Cavalier.
Origins.
William Cranstoun was the only son and heir to his father, James, Master of Cranstoun (the second son of William Cranstoun, 1st Lord Cranstoun), by his spouse Elizabeth, daughter of Francis Stewart, 1st Earl of Bothwell. He succeeded to the peerage on the death without issue of his uncle, John Cranstoun, 2nd Lord Cranstoun. The Cranstouns were a prominent Lowland family, whose estates had since at least the 14th century been centred on Cranston (or "Cranstoun"), in Midlothian, and Denholm, in the Borders.
Royalist.
In 1648 he was one of the "Engagers" for King Charles I. He accompanied King Charles II into England in 1651 and was taken prisoner at the battle of Worcester, and remained in confinement for several years in the Tower of London. His estate was sequestrated, lands of £200 a year value being settled on his wife and children, and he was excepted from Cromwell's Act of Grace in April 1654.
Swedish service.
In 1656 he was allowed to levy 1000 men for the service of king Charles X Gustav of Sweden, and, probably at his instance, was formally pardoned by Parliament in 1657.
Duel.
On 15 January 1661/2 he, being then 'of the parish of St. Margaret's, Westminster', was found guilty of slaying Alexander Skringer, Esq., with a rapier in self-defence.
Marriage.
Cranstoun married by contract on 10 July 1643, Mary, fifth and youngest daughter of Alexander Leslie, 1st Earl of Leven, by whom he had:
The 3rd Lord Cranstoun was still alive on 29 July 1664, when his son had a charter of lands where he was designated "James, Master of Cranstoun".


Presbyter Judaeorum

The Presbyter Judaeorum was the chief official of the Jews of England prior to the Edict of Expulsion. The office appears to have been for life, though in two or three instances the incumbent either resigned or was dismissed. Prynne argues that the Presbyter Judaeorum was merely a secular officer in the Exchequer of the Jews to keep the rolls of control, whereas Tovey argues that the use of "sacerdos" and "pontifex" as synonymous of the office shows its ecclesiastical character.
There were only six of them between 1199 and 1290, the first known being Jacob of London, appointed in 1199; the next were Josce of London (1217–1237), Aaron of York (1237), Elias le Evesque (1237), Hagin fil Mosse (1257), and Hagin fil Deulacres (1281; appointed by the favour of Eleanor of Provence).
In the grant of Elias le Evesque, the justices of the Jews were ordered not to issue any summons without the confirmation of the said Elias, from which it appears that the presbyter acted somewhat as a baron of the Jewish Exchequer; and it was distinctly stated that Hagin fil Mosse had been sworn into the Jewish Exchequer to look after the administration of justice on behalf of the king and to explain the king's laws. It is thus probable that the presbyter was a successor of the Jewish justices, of whom two are mentioned toward the end of the twelfth century.
References.
 It contains the following bibliography:


Shumilino

Shumilino is an urban-type settlement in the Shumilina Raion, Belarus. Its location is 40 kilometers northwest of Vitebsk.
The population is 7,500 people.
History.
In 1939, 376 Jews lived in the town, making up 16% of the total population. After the German invasion of Poland, a significant population of Polish Jews came to the city. The city was under German occupation from 1941 to 1944.
The Jewish inhabitants were kept imprisoned in an enclosed ghetto in August 1941. The ghetto was liquidated on November 19, 1941, when the Germans and local police perpetrated a mass execution of around 300 Jews. After the shootings, witnesses recounted that the Jewish houses were plundered.


Battle of Texel

The naval Battle of Texel or Battle of Kijkduin took place off the southern coast of island of Texel on 21 August 1673 (11 August O.S.) between the Dutch and the combined English and French fleets. It was the last major battle of the Third Anglo-Dutch War, which was itself part of the Franco-Dutch War (1672–1678), during which Louis XIV of France invaded the Republic and sought to establish control over the Spanish Netherlands. English involvement came about because of the Treaty of Dover, secretly concluded by Charles II of England, and which was highly unpopular with the English Parliament.
The overall commanders of the English and Dutch military forces were Lord High Admiral James, Duke of York, afterwards King Duke of York, later James II, and Admiral-General William III of Orange, his son-in-law and another future King of England. Neither of them took part in the fight.
Prince Rupert of the Rhine commanded the Allied fleet of about 92 ships and 30 fireships, taking control of the centre himself, with Jean II d'Estrées commanding the van, and Sir Edward Spragge the rear division. The Dutch fleet of 75 ships and 30 fireships was commanded by Lieutenant-Admiral-General Michiel de Ruyter, with Lieutenant-Admirals Adriaen Banckert in charge of the van and Cornelis Tromp the rear. Although the Dutch ships were smaller on average than their opponents, they were better trained and more experienced.
Battle.
In late July, Rupert put to sea again, hoping to draw the Dutch fleet north by feinting against The Hague or Den Helder. De Ruyter initially remained at Schooneveld, but William ordered him to escort an inbound Dutch East India Company treasure fleet, whose capture could provide Charles enough funds to continue the war.
De Ruyter first decided not to leave his defensive position in the Schooneveld, from which he had successfully engaged the allied fleet in the double Battle of Schooneveld. However the Dutch Spice Fleet was returning from the Indies, filled with precious cargo. With half the country under French occupation for almost a year, the Dutch Republic's finances were in disastrous straits. The Dutch could not afford to lose the wealth the Spice Fleet was bringing, let alone allow it to be captured by the enemy. As such stadtholder William ordered De Ruyter to seek to engage the enemy.
Although outnumbered, De Ruyter gained the weather gauge and sent his van under Adriaen Banckert in to separate the Allied van (under D'Estrées) from the main fleet. His ploy was effective, and the French ships were unable to play a significant part in the remainder of the battle, which became a gruelling encounter between the bulk of the Dutch fleet and the English centre and rear divisions. Both suffered badly during hours of fierce fighting.
Once again, the rear divisions led by Spragge and Tromp clashed repeatedly, Spragge having publicly sworn to kill or capture his old enemy. Each had to shift their flags to fresh ships three times; on the third occasion, Spragge drowned when the boat transporting him sank. More importantly, his preoccupation with duelling Tromp isolated the English centre, and was a key factor in allowing an inferior but better managed fleet to succeed.
The fight between the English and Dutch centre under De Ruyter and Lieutenant-Admiral Aert Jansse van Nes continued for hours, with each side gaining the weather gauge as the winds shifted. Having disengaged from the French, Banckert joined the Dutch centre, followed first by Rupert, then De Ruyter; the main focus of the fight was a Dutch attempt to capture Spragge's isolated flagship, the "Prince". This was unsuccessful, and with both fleets exhausted, the Allies withdrew; although there were no major ship losses, many were seriously damaged and about 3,000 men died, two-thirds of them English or French.
Aftermath.
After the battle, Prince Rupert complained the French had not done their share of the fighting, and their performance is still disputed. While Prud'homme states the French fought hard, he accepts they allowed themselves to become separated from the English fleet. The main dispute is whether this was deliberate; D'Estrées had been ordered by Louis XIV to preserve the French fleet, and thus disobeyed Rupert's orders to attack the Dutch, claiming the wind was too weak. By the admission of several French officers, their fleet was not prominent in the action, but they attributed this to inexperience.
The size of the Allied fleet and length of its battle line, combined with inadequacies in fighting instructions and signalling, made it hard to control. It deepened suspicions between the English and French, further undercutting popular support for the war, while ending any hopes of starving the Dutch through a naval blockade, making it an overwhelming strategic victory for the Dutch. This campaign was the highlight of De Ruyter's career, as acknowledged by the Duke of York, who concluded "he was the greatest that ever to that time was in the world".
Despite losing four ships, the Spice Fleet arrived safely, bringing the much needed financial reprieve. In the months following, the Netherlands formed a formal alliance with Spain and the Holy Roman Empire. The threat posed by German and Spanish invasions from the south and east forced the French to withdraw from the territory of the Republic. The Third Anglo-Dutch War came to an end with the signing of the Treaty of Westminster between the English and the Dutch in 1674. Fourteen years later the Glorious Revolution, which saw Stadtholder William III ascend the throne of England, put an end to the Anglo-Dutch conflicts of the 17th century. Only in 1781 would the Dutch and British fleets fight each other again in the battle of Dogger Bank.
Ships involved.
England and France.
[cf "Journals and Narratives of the Third Dutch War", Roger Charles Anderson, Naval Records Society, London. Complete English ship lists are given for the naval battles of this war, but smaller vessels, e.g. fireships, of which there were many present during this action, are not included in Anderson's book.] John Winkler
White Squadron (French): 30 SOLs about 1828 guns


Veneto State

Veneto State ("Veneto Stato", VS) was a Venetist political party active in Veneto and eastern Lombardy. The party's goal to achieve full political independence for the former territories of the Venetian Republic from Italy through a referendum. VS had a handful of municipal councillors and was once represented in the Regional Council of Veneto.
After the exit of the libertarian faction led by Lodovico Pizzati, Paolo Bernardini and Gianluca Busato in December 2011 and the formation of Venetian Independence in May 2012, VS was seen as the communitarian wing of the Venetian independence movement. The party was also influenced by Christian democracy and social democracy. Both its latest secretary, Antonio Guadagnini, and its former president, Giustino Cherubin, were former Christian Democrats. VS had close ties with Independentist Youth, the Venetians Movement, and, strangely enough, the Libertarian Movement. At the European level, VS cooperated with the European Partnership for Independence and the International Commission of European Citizens.
Since the 2015 regional election, the party had been represented in the Regional Council of Veneto by Guadagnini, elected on the Independence We Veneto list. In March 2016 Guadagnini changed his affiliation to We Are Veneto (SV), which soon became the practical successor of Veneto State. VS is thus no longer active, but was outlived by its international section, "Veneto State of Europe" (VSE). Both SV and VSE participated in the formation of the Party of Venetians in 2019.
History.
Foundation and first elections.
The party was founded on 12 September 2010 in Cadoneghe (Padua) by the merger of the Venetian National Party (PNV) and the Party of the Venetians (PdV), that is two say the two main independentist parties in Veneto at the time (the largest Venetist party, Liga Veneta–Lega Nord, was not overtly separatist). VS was joined also by many members of North-East Project (PNE), in particular the majority of members from the provincial section of Padua, led by Umberto Cocco.
The congress, opened by the greetings sent by Eva Klotz (leader of South Tyrolean Freedom) and by Gavino Sale (leader of Independence Republic of Sardinia), was attended by Walter Kaswalder (president of the Trentino Tyrolean Autonomist Party), Federico Simeoni (Friulian Front) and Gianni Roversi (Independentist Front Lombardy) and other guests. Lodovico Pizzati, outgoing president of the PNV, was elected secretary of the new party, Giustino Cherubin (PdV) president and Gianluca Busato (PNV) treasurer. More importantly, the new party saw the participation of Venetist heavyweights such as Alessio Morosin and Silvano Polo.
In November 2010 Antonio Guadagnini, a former member of the Union of Christian and Centre Democrats and Liga Veneto Autonomo, announced that he had joined the party and that he would stand as candidate for President of the Province of Treviso in the 2011 provincial election. In the election Guadagnini won just 1.5% of the vote (+0.6% from the sum of PNV and PdV results in 2010), and did better in the eastern part of the province (traditionally a stronghold of LV–LN), and especially in Crespano del Grappa (8.9%), Paderno del Grappa (5.2%), Fonte (4.9%) and Borso del Grappa (3.6%), which was enough for the party to celebrate.
2011 congress in Vicenza.
In the second half of 2011, VS started to rise in opinion polls up to 5%. The party started to receive media coverage and its membership rose to 1,500 members by the end of September. However, the party experienced some internal infighting during the summer culminating in an early congress in October. On one side there was the group coming from the PdV (Patrik Riondato, Giustino Cherubin, Silvano Polo), on the other secretary Lodovico Pizzati and the majority of those who had been likewise members of the PNV (Gianluca Busato, Alessio Morosin, Paolo Bernardini, Gianluca Panto, Claudio Ghiotto, Alessia Bellon, Luca Schenato).
Those behind Pizzati represented the libertarian and modernizing wing of the party, while those led by Riondato were more traditional Venetists, Christian and social democrats. There were also clashes over the form of party, the relations with other Venetist parties, groups and associations, and Pizzati's style of leadership (too centralistic according to his opponents). At some point, there was a real chance that three separate congresses would take place, one in Vicenza, one in Treviso and one in Cadoneghe, and a split looked almost certain. Finally, on 13 October, an agreement was reached on a joint congress.
Already on 7 October, Antonio Guadagnini surprisingly declared he would challenge Pizzati's leadership and, a couple of days later, unveiled a tax plan which included the abolition of personal income tax and the introduction of a 50% tax on gains and savings. The proposal was labeled by his opponents as socialist. Soon after the agreement on the congress was reached, Morosin, close to Pizzati, declared he was running to become party president. Lucio Chiavegato, LIFE activist and former member of the PNV, decided to run for president in ticket with Guadagnini instead. Pizzati and Morosin were endorsed by Busato, Bellon, Panto, most former PNV members and the provincial section of Brescia, while Guadganini and Chiavegato had the support of most former PdV members and the provincial sections of Verona, Vicenza and Rovigo. From outside of the party, Chiavegato was endorsed also by Fabio Padovan, historic leader of LIFE and long-time Venetist, and by Flavio Faccia and Flavio Contin of the Venetian Most Serene Government (Christian Contin "de facto" supported Morosin instead).
On 23 October the congress took place. The credentials of some delegates from Venice and Brescia, all supporters of Pizzati, were refused and Polo, who presided over the assembly, refused some motions presented by Pizzati's supporters on the interpretation of the party's constitution. There was no vote on Pizzati, as he and his supporters expected, and it was not possible to present other candidates to party leadership. Subsequently, Guadagnini and Chiavegato were narrowly elected secretary and president of VS, respectively, Massimo Busato (another former PNV member now with Guadagnini) was elected treasurer, and the main organs of the party were filled by Guadagnini's supporters. Polo's conduct was heavily criticized by Pizzati's supporters, who felt the assembly was not democratic. A split eventually occurred as leading libertarians such as Ghiotto and Schenato decided to quit the party by the end of the day.
One name, two parties.
In November VS received some national attention for a demonstration against Equitalia, the Italian revenue service, but internal infighting was not over.
On 15 November 2011, after Guadagnini sacked him as party leader in the province of Padua, Stefano Venturato formed an autonomous provincial group. Two days later, the entire provincial section of Brescia left in protest. On 18 November, the Council of Ten expelled Pizzati, G. Busato and Venturato. As a response, Pizzati, as "legal secretary", decided to call a new congress of the party on the grounds that the October congress had been not valid, and, in doing that, he was endorsed by some 100 members of the party. The move by Pizzati received the support of the sections of Treviso and Brescia, Morosin and Venturato.
On 11 December the group around Pizzati celebrated a congress in Venice. Pizzati was elected secretary, Bellon president and Cristiano Zanin treasurer.
Since December 2011 the party was thus split in two different groups, both claiming to be the true Veneto State. The break-up was confirmed by the decision of the other group, led by Guadagnini and Chiavegato, to summon a new congress in Vicenza for 22 January, to which Pizzati's followers refused to participate.
On 22 January 2012 Guadagnini and Chiavegato were re-elected in their wing's congress, which saw the participation of four times the number of members who participated to the congress organized by Pizzati in December. The convention was also attended by representatives from North-East Union, Venetian People's Unity, European Federalist Free Entrepreneurs, "Raixe Venete" and other Venetist organizations. From the Pizzati's camp, which had organized a big rally on 19 January near Treviso, the reaction was that the Vicenza congress was illegal and that what was born there was "an ethnic and intolerant tiny party".
On 29 March 2012 the tribunal of Venice decided on a lawsuit filed by Chiavegato and Guadagnini: both congresses held after the one in Vicenza were declared not valid. Guadagnini thus affirmed his victory and offered an olive branch to the other group, saying that in the upcoming local elections he would support the electoral lists filed by the Pizzati's faction in its strongholds (mainly the province of Treviso). No agreement was however reached.
On 6–7 May VS took part to fourteen municipal contests. Candidates from the official party ran in Verona (0.3%), Cerea (4.6%), San Martino Buon Albergo (4.7%), Sandrigo (5.7%), Sarego (3.7%), Thiene (3.9%), and Piombino Dese (4.3%), while those from the unofficial wing in Loreggia (7.2%), Susegana (10.4%), Silea (3.5%), Conegliano (2.0%), Casale sul Sile (2.2%), Santa Maria di Sala (4.7%), and Mirano (1.6%). In Susegana Davide Pozzobon was elected to the city council.
On 12 May, during a demonstration in Venice, Pizzati and his followers launched a new party called Venetian Independence (IV).
2013 general and local elections.
On 30 September the national congress of the party re-elected secretary Guadagnini, who beat Francesco Falezza, and replaced Chiavegato, who chose to step down, with Giustino Cherubin. More importantly, VS decided by a narrow majority to take part to the 2013 general election, a taboo until that point. The decision to take part to the election caused the exit of Chiavegato, who would be elected president of the European Federalist Free Entrepreneurs in May 2013.
On 13 December it was announced that Davide Lovat would be the party's candidate for mayor of Vicenza in 2013. Lovat, a Christian socialist who was expelled from LV–LN in July 2011 and was later the leader of the Community Democratic League (LDC), represented the strengthening of the communitarian grip over the party. However, Lovat was eventually excluded from the election for not having presented the required signatures; VS considered this a conspiracy.
In the 2013 general election VS obtained 0.4% of the vote regionally, 0.7% in its stronghold of Vicenza.
In the run-up of the 2013 municipal elections, Guadagnini opened to IV and VS officially endorsed that party's candidates for mayor.
Separatist coalitions.
In June 2013, having reconciled with IV, Guadagnini formed a joint separatist cartel with Lodovico Pizzati of IV, Fabrizio Comencini of Liga Veneta Repubblica (LVR), Stefano Valdegamberi of Popular Future (FP), other Venetist groups, associations and individuals.
In July VS, having endorsed IV's campaign for a referendum on independence (see Venetian nationalism#Recent developments), joined Let Veneto Decide, a IV-led cross-party committee for the independence referendum, along with Valdegamberi, VS, "Raixe Venete", Veneto First, Independentist Youth, other Venetist groups and individuals. The initiative was launched on 4 September 2013 in Vedelago, at the presence of Carlo Lottieri of Lombard Committee for Resolution 44, MEP Mara Bizzotto of Liga Veneta–Lega Nord and Jordi Fornas i Prat of Catalan Solidarity for Independence.
In October 2013, for the second time in a row, the congress of the party failed due to the lack of the quorum needed to be valid.
In March 2014 the party joined forces with Independent Venetians, Liga Veneta Repubblica and Popular Future in order to form "United for Independent Veneto". In July 2014 the coalition was transformed into "We Independent Veneto" (NVI), after the entry of other parties, notably including North-East Project and Chiavegato for Independence. After the exit of Chiavegato and his group from the alliance and their alignment with IV, the remaining parties of NVI formed a joint list for the 2015 regional election named Independence We Veneto (INV) in support to Luca Zaia, incumbent President of Veneto and candidate of Liga Veneta–Lega Nord.
Representation in the Regional Council.
In the election, the list won 2.7% of the vote and Guadagnini was elected regional councillor in the provincial constituency of Vicenza. Soon after being installed, Guadagnini, who was appointed Secretary of the Regional Council of Veneto, formed a pro-independence "inter-group", which was joined from the start by Stefano Valdegamberi, re-elected councillor in Zaia's personal list, and Massimiliano Barison of Forza Italia.
In March 2016 Guadagnini severed his ties with INV and changed his affiliation in the Council to We Are Veneto (VS), which was contextually established as a broader Venetist and separatist party, including the former leader of Independentist Youth Giacomo Mirto.
International relations.
Since 2012 VS focused on establishing relations with other separatist parties and pro-independence groups at the European level. The party appointed Giovanni Dalla-Valle, who lived in Scotland and was a long-time member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), as its international secretary. Della Valle later left after a row with the party leadership, but the SNP and the European Partnership for Independence (EPI) remained the main international references of the party.
On 22 September 2012, a Venetian delegation took part in the March and Rally for Scottish Independence in Scotland's capital, Edinburgh. The delegation was led by Della Valle and included also representatives of Liga Veneta–Lega Nord (notably Massimo Bitonci and Roberto Ciambetti), Independentist Youth, Venetian Independence and "Raixe Venete". In November and December VS strengthened its ties with the EPI through two conventions in Treviso and Vicenza, which were attended by Scottish, Catalan and Flemish representatives. In February 2013 VS took part to the first congress of the International Commission of European Citizens (ICEC) in Barcelona. Ruggero Zigliotto and Luca Polo have represented VS in the board of ICEC. In order to jointly campaign for an ICEC European petition on self-determination, in April VS formed a political pact with South Tyrolean Freedom and Liga Veneta Repubblica.
In August 2013 Antonio Guadagnini, secretary of VS, gave a lecture on Venetian self-determination at the "Universitat Catalana d'Estiu".
In October 2013 VS launched Veneto State of Europe (VSE), a think tank aimed at spreading the separatist idea among the civil society. VSE outlived VS and its leaders, Zigliotto and Polo, led it into the Party of Venetians, a VS/SV-led coalition formed in April 2019.


National Republican Party (Portugal)

The National Republican Party (, PNR), unofficially known as the Sidonist Party ("Partido Sidonista") after its leader Sidónio Pais, was a political party in Portugal
History.
The party was established in April 1918 in order to contest the general elections later that month. Pais was the only candidate for president, and was elected unopposed, whilst the PNR won 108 of the 155 seats in the House of Representatives and 32 of the 73 Senate seats. However, the elections were boycotted by the Democratic Party, the Evolutionist Party and the Republican Union, which had won all but 16 of the seats in the 1915 elections.
After Pais was assassinated later in December 1918, the party went into decline, and merged with the Republican Liberal Party and the Reconstitution Party to form the Nationalist Republican Party in 1923.