Slamat disaster

The "Slamat" disaster is a succession of three related shipwrecks during the Battle of Greece on 27 April 1941. The Dutch troopship and the Royal Navy destroyers and sank as a result of air attacks by "Luftwaffe" Junkers Ju 87 dive bombers. The three ships sank off the east coast of the Peloponnese during Operation Demon, which was the evacuation of British, Australian and New Zealand troops from Greece after their defeat by invading German and Italian forces.
The loss of the three ships caused an estimated 983 deaths. Only 66 men survived.
Operation Demon.
On 6 April 1941 Germany and Italy invaded Yugoslavia and Greece. An expeditionary force of British, Australian and New Zealand troops was already in Greece, but they and Greek defenders lost ground to the invaders and by 17 April the British Empire was starting to plan the evacuation of 60,000 troops.
"Slamat" was a Dutch troop ship, converted from a Koninklijke Rotterdamsche Lloyd ("Royal Dutch Lloyd") ocean liner. Since October 1940 she had been operating in the Indian Ocean, but in April 1941 she was ordered through the Suez Canal to the Mediterranean Sea to join Operation Demon.
Convoy AG 14.
"Slamat" was in the Mediterranean by 23 April, and on the 24th she was one of six merchant ships that left Alexandria with Convoy AG 14 for Greece. British, Australian and New Zealand forces were spread over much of Greece, so on 26 April when AG 14 reached Greek waters, it split to reach different embarkation points. "Slamat" and a smaller troop ship, the managed by British-India Line, were ordered with the cruiser and a number of destroyers to Nauplia and Tolon on the Argolic Gulf in the eastern Peloponnese. The corvette swept Nauplia Bay for mines before the ships arrived.
"Luftwaffe" air reconnaissance found AG 14 at noon on 26 April. The invaders had air superiority, and Royal Air Force capacity to resist was being reduced daily. On 24 April the Belfast Steamship Company troop ship had grounded in the fairway in Nauplia Bay, blocking ship access to the port. The next day an air attack turned the grounded ship into a total loss. Ships would now have to anchor in the bay and tenders would be needed to bring troops and equipment out to them from the shore, so the landing ship, infantry (a converted Glen Line merchant ship) was sent to deliver several Landing Craft Assault to Nauplia. However, on 26 April a Junkers Ju 87 "Stuka" attack disabled "Glenearn", so she put her LCAs ashore for use at Monemvasia and was towed to Souda Bay. "En route" to Nauplia the convoy was attacked by aircraft and a number of bombs hit "Slamat", causing heavy damage on B and C decks, destroying two of her lifeboats and wounding one crewman. The Germans recognised that the ships would embark troops overnight and leave early the next morning (27 April), so "General der Flieger" Wolfram Freiherr von Richthofen, commander of the "VIII. Fliegerkorps", planned to attack the ships as they left their various embarkation points.
At 2340 hrs on 26 April the light cruisers and joined "Khedive Ismail", "Slamat", "Calcutta" and four destroyers in the Bay of Nauplia. The destroyer patrolled against the risk of submarines while the other ships took turns to embark troops. The only available tenders were landing craft "A5", local caïques and the ships' own boats. One caïque, "Agios Giorgios", was a large boat with capacity for 600 men. There was a swell and a light wind, and in the dark there were one or two accidents and one ship's whaler capsized. "Calcutta" and "Orion" embarked 960 and 600 troops respectively; the destroyers and 500 and 408. The slow rate of embarkation meant that "Khedive Ismail" did not get her turn and did not embark any troops.
At 0300 hrs "Calcutta" ordered all ships to sail, but "Slamat" disobeyed and continued embarking troops. "Calcutta" and "Khedive Ismail" sailed at 0400 hrs; "Slamat" followed at 0415 hrs, by which time she had embarked about 500 troops: about half her capacity. An estimated 700–2,000 men were left behind, but "Hotspur" remained at Nauplia to embark as many of them as possible.
Loss of "Slamat".
The convoy steamed south down the Argolic Gulf; "Calcutta" and "Khedive Ismail" at and "Slamat" full ahead at to catch up. At 0645 or 0715 hrs "Luftwaffe" aircraft attacked the convoy off Leonidion near the mouth of the gulf. Three Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters attacked first, followed by a "Staffel" of nine Junkers Ju 87 "Stuka" dive bombers from "Sturzkampfgeschwader 77" at Almyros, Junkers Ju 88 and Dornier Do 17 bombers and more Bf 109s. The attackers mainly targeted the troop ships, but anti-aircraft fire from "Calcutta" and "Diamond" at first prevented aircraft from hitting "Slamat". Then a SC250 bomb exploded between her bridge and forward funnel, setting the bridge, control room and Master's cabin afire. Her water system became disabled, hampering her crew's ability to fight the fire. Another bomb also hit the ship and she listed to starboard.
"Slamat"s Master, Tjalling Luidinga, gave the order to abandon ship. The bombing and fire had destroyed some of her lifeboats and life rafts, and her remaining boats and rafts were launched under a second "Stuka" attack. "Hotspur" reported seeing four bombs hit "Slamat". At least two lifeboats capsized; No. 10 from overloading and No. 4 when, in the midst of transferring survivors, "Diamond" had to speed away from her to evade an air attack. One "Stuka" pilot, Bertold Jung, saw "one or two" fellow-pilots machine-gunning survivors in the boats. Jung had served in the
German navy, and back at Almyros airfield he complained very strongly that people in lifeboats had suffered enough so in future they should be spared.
"Orion", "Isis" and "Khedive Ismail" kept moving to reach Souda Bay, while "Calcutta" rescued some survivors and ordered the destroyer "Diamond" to go alongside "Slamat" to rescue more. At 0815 hrs "Diamond" reported that she was still rescuing survivors and still under air attack. At 0916 hrs the destroyers , and arrived from Souda Bay in Crete to reinforce the convoy, so "Calcutta" sent "Wryneck" to assist "Diamond". At 0925 hrs "Diamond" reported that she had rescued most of the survivors and was proceeding to Souda Bay. She left several people behind on life rafts, where aircraft machine-gunned them. "Calcutta"s captain said the attack continued until about 1000 hrs. "Wryneck" reached "Diamond" about 1000 hrs and signalled a request for aircraft cover at 1025 hrs.
"Diamond" accompanied by "Wryneck" returned to "Slamat", arriving about 1100 hrs. The destroyers found "Slamat"s No. 10 and No. 4 lifeboats, both of which had been righted. They rescued 30 troops and two Dutch crew from No. 10 and "Slamat"s Second Officer and several other survivors from No. 4. "Slamat" was afire from stem to stern, and "Diamond" fired a torpedo at her port side that sank her in a "coup de grâce". By now "Diamond" carried about 600 of "Slamat"s survivors, including Captain Luidinga.
Loss of "Diamond" and "Wryneck".
About 1315 hrs a "Staffel" of between four and nine Ju 87 bombers came out of the sun in a surprise attack on the two destroyers.
One bomb hit "Diamond"s engine room, stopping her engines and bringing down her funnel, mast and radio aerial. Another exploded in the sea off her port side, holing her hull below her foredeck. Her engine room petty officer, H.T. Davis, had been on deck, but rushed below and released the pressure from her No. 3 boiler to prevent the risk of a boiler explosion. She sank in eight minutes. Both of her lifeboats were destroyed, but her crew launched her three Carley floats.
Three bombs hit "Wryneck". The first exploded on her port side and damaged her hull; the second and third hit her engine room and bridge. Her Commissioned Engineer, Maurice Waldron, shut down her boilers and brought on deck a wounded Australian officer whom he had been looking after and put him in a Carley float. "Wryneck" capsized to port but managed to launch her whaler and three Carley floats before she sank in 10–15 minutes.
Lt Cdr Philip Cartwright, who commanded "Diamond", was on a Carley float but gave his place to a sailor who was in the water. Cartwright was not seen again. Several men in the Carley floats died either from wounds or from drowning in the swell. They included Lt Cdr Robert Lane who commanded "Wryneck", and Dr G.H. Brand who was the civilian ship's doctor on "Slamat".
Rescues.
"Wryneck"s whaler suffered two holes but was repaired. Her occupants were wet through, her compass was damaged and her drinking water contaminated. Her four oars were serviceable, so Commissioned Engineer Waldron took command and she set off east past Cape Maleas, towing two Carley floats and their occupants. In the evening the wind increased, causing the floats to strike the boat, so Waldron reluctantly cast them adrift. Waldron was also nursing a Leading Seaman, George Fuller, who had bullet wounds in his belly and thigh.
At 1900 the cruiser and seven destroyers reached Souda Bay and disembarked evacuated troops. The Vice Admiral, Light Forces, Henry Pridham-Wippell, became concerned that "Diamond" was not among them. Between 1922 and 1955 hrs repeated attempts to radio "Diamond" drew no reply. "Wryneck" had been ordered to keep radio silence so no attempt was made to radio her. Instead "Phoebe" and "Calcutta" were asked if they had seen her, but their replies at 2235 and 2245 hrs were indefinite.
Pridham-Wippell sent the destroyer to the position in the Argolic Gulf where "Slamat" had been lost. "Griffin" found 14 survivors in two Carley floats. At 0240 hrs she reported the rescue, said both destroyers had been sunk about 1330 hrs and she was still looking for "Wryneck"s whaler. In the morning she found more floats and another four survivors. She took the survivors to Crete.
The last living survivor from "Slamat", Royal Army Service Corps veteran George Dexter, states that after "Wryneck" was sunk he and three other men were rescued by "Orion".
On the morning of 28 April the whaler was about off Milos in the Aegean Sea, so she set course for the island. At noon she sighted Ananes Rock, about southeast of Milos, so Waldron decided to land there as everyone was exhausted. The rock has a bay, where the whaler found a caïque full of Greek refugees and British soldiers who had set out from Piraeus, were headed for Crete, but were sailing only by night to avoid detection. In the evening the caïque left Ananes and headed south for Crete. As many as possible of the survivors transferred to the caïque, but she was very full so she towed the whaler with five men still in it. On the morning of 29 April the caïque sighted a small landing craft, "A6", which had set out from Porto Rafti near Athens. She took aboard everyone from the caïque and whaler, and the next day they reached Souda Bay. After a short stay the survivors from "Slamat", "Diamond" and "Wryneck" were taken on HMS "Hotspur" to Port Said, Egypt.
Casualties.
Nearly 1,000 people were killed in the loss of "Slamat", "Diamond" and "Wryneck". Of the 500 or so soldiers that "Slamat" embarked, eight survived. Of her complement of 193 crew and 21 Australian and New Zealand DEMS gunners, 11 survived. Of "Diamond"s 166 complement, 20 survived. Of "Wryneck"s 106 crew, 27 survived. "Slamat" had a mixed crew of 84 Goans, 74 Dutch, 24 Chinese, 10 Australians and a Norwegian. The 11 survivors were six Goans, four Dutch and one other.
The bodies of three of "Slamat"s crew washed ashore far from the wreck: apprentice helmsman J Pille on the Greek island of Stamperia, Second Officer G van der Woude at Alexandria in Egypt, and lamp trimmer J van der Brugge at Gaza in Palestine.
Controversy.
Vice Admiral Pridham-Wippell held "Slamat" chiefly responsible of the disaster, asserting that her failure to depart until 75 minutes after she was ordered "resulted in her being within range of the dive bombers well after dawn." In a volume of his history "The Second World War", Winston Churchill wrote "At Navplion there was a disaster. The Slamat, in a gallant but misguided effort to embark the maximum number of men, stayed too long in the anchorage". The Dutch historian Karel Bezemer agreed that had "Slamat" obeyed orders and left on time, the convoy would not have been attacked.
Frans Luidinga, who in 1995 published a book about his father Tjalling Luidinga, points out that had "Slamat" left on time, the convoy would have been only further south at the time of the attack. This was still in range from Jg 77's base at Almyros and unlikely to have given enough advantage to the RAF's diminished fighter cover. The Germans knew the convoy would spend the night of 26–27 April evacuating troops from Nauplia and would not be far beyond the Argolic Gulf by daybreak. Frans Luidinga blames the Royal Navy for including troop ships in the evacuation, asserting that only warships had the speed, manoeuvrability and firepower to return from Nauplia under fire.
Against Luidinga's argument, the troop ship "Khedive Ismail" survived whereas the destroyers "Diamond" and "Wryneck" were sunk. And had the convoy been 20 nautical miles further south, "Vendetta", "Waterhen" and "Wryneck" could have met it at 0800 instead of 0915 hrs, increasing both its anti-aircraft fire and capacity to rescue survivors. The distance from Almyros allowed the same "Stukas" to make repeated attack runs, although on the flight back to base one stopped at Corinth to refuel. Increasing their round trip by 40 nautical miles might have marginally reduced the aircraft's ability to attack repeatedly.
The general situation was such that had "Slamat" left on time as ordered, it would have been more likely only to mitigate an attack rather than avert one. The Admiralty may have been as concerned at the general risk arising from Allied and civilian ships not following Royal Navy orders, as at any direct loss that Luidinga's delay may or may not have caused.
Awards and monuments.
In November 1941 Philip Cartwright of HMS "Diamond" was posthumously made a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order. From HMS "Wryneck", Maurice Waldron received the Distinguished Service Cross and George Fuller the Conspicuous Gallantry Medal. The Admiralty took the unusual step of publishing in "The London Gazette" its citation for Fuller: "who, though badly wounded, fought his gun till the last, and when his ship was sunk, heartened the survivors by his courage and cheerfulness".
In May 1945 the Netherlands were liberated and the Dutch government returned from exile. In August 1946 Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands wrote to Captain Luidinga's widow, expressing her sympathy for her husband's death, gratitude for his war service and commending him as "een groot zoon van ons zeevarend volk" ("a great son of our seafaring people").
British and Commonwealth troops and naval personnel who were lost in the sinking of "Slamat", "Diamond" and "Wryneck" are named on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission's Athens Memorial in Phaleron War Cemetery at Palaio Faliro southeast of Athens. Royal Navy personnel are also commemorated in Britain on the Royal Navy monuments at Chatham, Plymouth and Portsmouth. George Dexter commissioned a monument to all the service personnel lost when the three ships were sunk. It is in The Royal British Legion Club, Shard End, Birmingham.
There was no Dutch monument to "Slamat" until 2011, when one commemorating victims from all three ships was made by the Dutch sculptor Nicolas van Ronkenstein. It was installed in the "Sint-Laurenskerk" ("St Lawrence Church"), Rotterdam and formally unveiled on the 70th anniversary of the disaster, 27 April.
On 27 June 2012 the current hosted a wreath-laying ceremony at the position where "Slamat" was sunk. Participants included "Diamond"s commander, descendants of some of the dead from the Netherlands and New Zealand, and the Commander in Chief of the Hellenic Navy.


History of Podlaskie Voivodeship

Throughout its early history, the area comprising the current day Podlaskie Voivodeship was inhabited by various tribes of different ethnic roots. In the 9th and 10th centuries, the area was likely inhabited by Lechitic tribes in the south, Baltic (Yotvingian) tribes in the north, and Ruthenian tribes in the east. Between the 10th and 13th centuries, the area was part of the Ruthenian principalities. The area became a part of the Medieval Slavic cities union of Cherven cities. Until the 14th century the area was part of pro-Kyivan Ruthenian states, and was later annexed by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In 1569, after the Union of Lublin, the western part of Podlaskie was ceded to the Kingdom of Poland.
Historical periods.
The following is a partial list of political subdivisions in which part or all of current day Podlaskie Voivodeship was wholly or partially contained within:
Kingdom of Prussia
History.
In the second half of the 15th century, the Drohicka land was divided into three smaller administrative and territorial units: the Drohicka land, the Bielsko land and the Mielnica land. The formal creation of the Podlaskie Voivodeship took place on August 29 1513 when Ivan Sapieha, who held the office of governor and later the Vitebsk governor was appointed the Voivode of Podlasie even before he was formally called to live in that voivodeship. Ivan Sapieha died in 1517 and for three years the voivodship did not have a voivode. In 1519 to this office was appointed to Albertas Goštautas, who possessed extensive Tykocin estates and he was the Voivode of Trotsky.
In 1520, Sigismund I the Old, who was in Toruń, appointed Janusz Kostewicz for the position of the Podlaskie voivode. In 1566, the area of the Podlasie Voivodship was reduced by the Brest, Kamnica and Kobrin lands, which, together with the Turn-Pińsk principality, formed the Brest-Lithuanian Voivodship. Three years later, in 1569, the reduced Podlasie Province was incorporated into the Crown by the order of Sigismund II Augustus and the resolution of the Sejm of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.
After the third partition of Poland in 1795, Białystok Region came under Prussian rule. In the occupied areas, the Prussians formed the Organization Camera of the War and Domain Camera, which was located in Bialystok. The area of operation of the Camera Organizational Committee in Bialystok included 4 compartments: Wierzbołowski, Pułtusk, Białystok and Łomża. Circuses were divided into smaller organizational units, i.e. districts. They were established in Białystok, Bielsko, Dąbrowa, Goniądz, Sokółka, Tykocin, Ciechanowiec, Drohiczyn, Ostrołęka, Wąsosz, Zambrów, Wiźno, Ciechanów, Maków, Nasielsk, Płońsk, Przasnysz, Wyszków, Hołynka, Kalwaria, Mariampach, Wampachki. The lowest level of the territorial division was made up of village clusters with head leaders, nobility clusters with caretakers and cities with mayors. The works of the Commission ended in 1797 and the Camera of War and Domains of the Białystok Department was created. The Bialystok Department embraced 10 landrat districts. Their headquarters were: Łomża, Goniądz, Drohiczyn, Suraż, Bielsk, Białystok, Dąbrowa, Wigry, Kalwaria, and Mariampol.
Napoleon gave the poviats of Bialystok, Drohiczyn, Bielsko and Sokólski, with parts of the Suraski, Biebrza and Dąbrowa poviats to Aleksander I, on July 7, 1807, the Tsar of Tylyce, a year later the Russian authorities created a separate administrative unit from this territory - the Belostok Oblast, consisting of from four counties: Białystok, Bielsko, Sokólski and Drohiczyn.


Morava Offensive

The Morava Offensive Operation in Serbian (), () was undertaken by the Bulgarian First Army between 14 October 1915 and 9 November 1915 as part of the strategic offensive operation of Army Group Mackensen against Serbia in 1915. Under the command of Lieutenant General Kliment Boyadzhiev the Bulgarians seized the fortified areas of Pirot, Niš and the valley of the river Morava. As a result, the Serbian forces were compelled to retreat towards Kosovo and Metohija.
In the beginning due to the harsh weather, strong resistance of the defenders and the tough terrain the Bulgarian advance was slow but because defenders were greatly outnumbered, there was a Bulgarian breakthrough near Pirot in 10 days and the Serbs retreated to the Timok.
The battle continued for 27 days and the Bulgarians penetrated up to 90 km deep into the Serbia's territory. The Serbs lost 6,000 men; 60 guns and a large amount of military equipment.


Tamie Fraser

Tamara Margaret "Tamie" Fraser (née Beggs; born 28 February 1936) is the widow of Malcolm Fraser, who held office as Prime Minister of Australia between 1975 and 1983.
Early life.
Tamara Margaret Beggs was born in Adelaide, South Australia, the eldest of four children born to Helen Karen (née Seeck) and Sandford Robert Beggs. Her mother was a state champion in golf. Her father came from a family of pastoralists, and was a grandson of Francis Beggs, who was born in Malahide, Ireland, and arrived in the Port Phillip District in 1849. Her maternal grandfather, John Alexander Seeck, was a Baltic German born in what is now Latvia. He arrived in Australia in 1883 and became a pioneer of the local wine industry.
Beggs grew up on "Nareeb Nareeb", her father's property near Glenthompson, Victoria. She began her education with governesses, and then at the age of nine was sent to board at The Hermitage, a girls' school in Geelong that was later merged into Geelong Grammar School. She was a school prefect and sport captain.
Marriage and children.
Fraser met her future husband at a New Year's Eve party in 1955; she was almost six years younger than he. They announced their engagement in May 1956 and married in Willaura on 9 December. The couple would have four children together: Mark (b. 1958), Angela (b. 1959), Hugh (b. 1963), and Phoebe (b. 1966).
Public life.
Fraser disliked public speaking and electioneering work, but when her husband fell ill during the crucial election campaign of December 1975, after the dismissal of the Whitlam government, she represented him and spoke on his behalf.
Fraser founded and was president of The Australiana Fund from 1978 to 1983. She is President of Australia's Open Garden Scheme. In 2004 she was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia for her service to the community through fostering the recognition and preservation of Australian artistic achievement, for initiating and promoting a range of activities to support people with disabilities, and for support of charitable, health and service groups.


Kings of Luighne Connacht

The Kings of Luighne Connacht were rulers of the people and kingdom of Luighne Connacht, located in what is now County Mayo and County Sligo, Ireland.
The southern area was originally known as Gailenga but by the 12th-century called Sliabh Lugha. After the Anglo-Norman conquest of Connacht, it was known as the barony of Gallen, and ruled by the clan Mac Siúrtáin until the early 17th century.
The northern area, lying in south-west County Sligo, retained the name Luighne.
The families of Ó hEaghra, Ó Gadhra and Devlin of Connacht descend from rulers of the kingdoms.


Adranodoros

Adranodoros (or Andranodorus) was the son-in-law of the Greek Sicilian king Hiero II of Syracuse in the 3rd century BCE, being married to Hiero's daughter Demarata. He was one of fifteen guardians named by Hiero to counsel Hiero's fifteen-year-old grandson and successor, Hieronymus of Syracuse, after Hiero died. Adranodoros dismissed the guardians, saying that they were not needed, and became Hieronymos's chief counsellor. He encouraged Hieronymus to change the allegiance of Syracuse from Rome to Carthage, and connect himself with Hannibal.
Hieronymus was a notably debauched young king, compared by later historians to the Roman emperor Elagabalus. He was murdered by a band of conspirators, having ruled for only 13 months. After the assassination of Hieronymus by Deinomenes, Andranodoros seized upon the island and the citadel with the intention of usurping the royal power; but finding difficulties in the way, he judged it more prudent to surrender them to the Syracusans, and because of this was elected one of their generals. But the people of Syracuse became suspicious of him. A comedian named Ariston who was a friend of Andranodoros' reported that the general had confided in him that he and Themistus (son of Gelon) were still plotting to seize sovereign power for themselves, and massacre the other leaders of the city. The magistrates of the island ordered that Andranodoros be killed, and so he was set upon by soldiers and assassinated shortly afterwards, as he entered the senate building, in 214.
The people of the island rose up and demanded justice for the killing of Andranodoros, but his killers, among them the soldier Sopater, defended themselves by describing Andranodoros' tyrannical intentions, and claiming that the true debaucheries of Hieronymus were really perpetrated by Andranodoros. Furthermore, that Andranodoros and Themistus had been incited to this conspiracy by their power-hungry wives, Hiero's granddaughter and daughter. The wives, including another daughter of Hiero unrelated to this affair, were then killed to appease the fury of the people that Sopater had stirred up.


History of Thessaloniki

The history of the city of Thessaloniki is a long one, dating back to the ancient Greeks (Macedonians). Today with the opening of borders in Southeastern Europe it is currently experiencing a strong revival, serving as the prime port for the northern Greek regions of Macedonia and Thrace, as well as for the whole of Southeastern Europe.
Hellenistic era.
The town was founded around 315 BC by King Cassander of Macedon, on or near the site of the ancient town of Therma and twenty-six other local villages. King Cassander of Macedon named the new city after his wife Thessalonike, a half-sister of Alexander the Great. She gained her name ("victory of Thessalians", from Greek: "nikē" "victory") from her father, Philip II, to commemorate her birth on the day of his gaining a victory over the Phocians, who were defeated with the help of Thessalian horsemen, the best in Greece at that time. Thessaloniki developed rapidly and as early as the 2nd century BC, it had its first walls built, which enclosed and protected the city. The city also came to be an autonomous part of the Kingdom of Macedon, with its own parliament where a King was represented that could interfere in the city's domestic affairs.
Roman era.
After the fall of the Kingdom of Macedon in 168 BC, Thessalonica as it came to be called in Latin, became a city of the Roman Republic. It grew to be an important trade-hub located on the Via Egnatia, the Roman road connecting Byzantium (later Constantinople) with Dyrrhachium (now Durrës in Albania), which facilitated trade between Europe and Asia. The city became the capital of one of the four Roman districts of Macedonia while it kept its privileges but was ruled by a praetor and had a Roman garrison. Also for a short time in the 1st century BC, Thessalonica even became capital for all the Greek provinces. Due to the city's key commercial importance, a spacious harbour was built by the Romans, the famous "Burrowed Harbour" (Σκαπτός Λιμήν) that accommodated the city's trade, up to the 18th century. Later, with the help of silt deposits from the Axios river, land was reclaimed and the port was expanded. Remnants of the old harbour's docks can be found in present-day under Frangon Street, near the city's Catholic Church.
Thessaloniki's acropolis, located in the northern hills, was built in 55 BC for security reasons, following Thracian raids in the city's outskirts at the time.
About 50 AD, while on his second missionary journey, Paul the Apostle reasoned with the Jews from the Scriptures in this city's chief synagogue on three Sabbaths and sowed the seeds for Thessaloniki's first Christian church. During Paul's time in the city, he convinced some people among both Jews and Greeks to adopt Christian beliefs, as well as some of the city's leading women. However, Jews who kept their faith no longer wished for sectarian strife in their synagogues, and banned Paul and his companions from their midst. Because they were no longer welcome, Silas and Timothy were eventually sent out of Thessaloniki by the new Christian converts. From there the evangelizers went to Veroia, aka Berea, where they succeeded in converting some people in that city as well. The three men eventually continued their travels, and Paul wrote two letters to the new church at Thessaloniki, probably between 51 and 53, the First Epistle to the Thessalonians and the Second Epistle to the Thessalonians.
In 306, Thessaloníki acquired a patron saint, St. Demetrius. Christians credited him with a number of miracles that saved the city. He was the Roman Proconsul of Greece, under the emperor Maximian. Demetrius was killed at a Roman prison, where the Church of St. Demetrius lies today. The church was first built by the Roman sub-prefect of Illyricum, Leontios, in 463. Other important remains from this period include the Arch and Tomb of Galerius, located in the city centre of the modern Thessaloniki.
In 390 Gothic troops under the commands of the Roman Emperor Theodosius I, led a massacre against the inhabitants of Thessalonica, who had risen in revolt against the Germanic soldiers.
Medieval/Post-Roman (Byzantine) era.
When the Roman Prefecture of Illyricum was divided between the East and West Roman Empires in 379, Thessaloniki became the capital of the new Prefecture of Illyricum (reduced in size). Its importance was second only to Constantinople itself, while in 390 it was the location of a revolt against the emperor Theodosius I and his Gothic mercenaries. Butheric, their general, together with several of his high officials, were killed in an uprising triggered by the imprisoning of a favorite local charioteer for pederasty with one of Butheric's slave boys. 7,000 - 15,000 of the citizens were massacred in the city's hippodrome in revenge – an act which earned Theodosius a temporary excommunication.
A quiet interlude followed until repeated barbarian invasions after the fall of the Roman Empire, while a catastrophic earthquake severely damaged the city in 620, resulting in the destruction of the Roman Forum and several other public buildings. Thessaloniki itself came under attack from Slavs in the 7th century (most notably in 617 and 676–678); however, they failed to capture the city. Byzantine brothers Saint Cyril and Saint Methodius were born in Thessaloniki and it was Byzantine Emperor Michael III who encouraged them to visit the northern regions as missionaries where they adopted the South Slavonic speech as the basis for the Old Church Slavonic language. In the 9th century, the Byzantines decided to move the market for Bulgarian goods from Constantinople to Thessaloniki. Tsar Simeon I of Bulgaria subsequently invaded Thrace, defeated a Byzantine army and forced the empire to move the market back to Constantinople. In 904, Saracens, led by Leo of Tripoli, managed to seize the city and after a ten-day depredation, left after having freed 4,000 Muslim prisoners while capturing 60 ships, and gaining a large loot and 22,000 slaves, mostly young people.
Following these events, the city recovered and the gradual restoration of Byzantine power during the 10th, 11th, and 12th centuries brought peace to the area. According to Benjamin of Tudela, a Jewish community of at least 500-strong existed in the 12th century when he visited there. During that time the city came to host the fair of Saint Demetrius every October, which was held just outside the city walls and lasted six days.
The economic expansion of the city continued throughout the 12th century as the rule of the Komnenoi emperors expanded Byzantine control into Serbia and Hungary, to the north. The city is known to have housed an imperial mint at this time. However, after the death of the emperor Manuel I Komnenos in 1180, the fortunes of the Byzantine Empire began to decline and in 1185, Norman rulers of Sicily, under the leadership of Count Baldwin and Riccardo d'Acerra, attacked and occupied the city, resulting in considerable destruction. Nonetheless, their rule lasted less than a year and they were defeated by the Byzantine army in two battles months later, forcing them to evacuate the city.
Thessaloniki passed out of Byzantine hands in 1204, when Constantinople was captured by the Fourth Crusade. Thessaloniki and its surrounding territory — the Kingdom of Thessalonica — became the largest fief of the Latin Empire, covering most of north and central Greece. The city was given by emperor Baldwin I to his rival Boniface of Montferrat, but was seized back once more in 1224 by Theodore Komnenos Doukas, the Greek ruler of Epirus, who established the Empire of Thessalonica. After the Battle of Klokotnitsa in 1230, Tsar Ivan Asen II of Bulgaria made the rulers of Thessaloniki his vassals. The city became subordinated to the Empire of Nicaea in 1242, when its ruler, John Komnenos Doukas, lost his imperial title, and was fully annexed in 1246.
At this time, despite intermittent invasion, Thessaloniki sustained a large population and flourishing commerce, resulting in intellectual and artistic endeavour that can be traced in the numerous churches and frescoes of the era and by the evidence of its scholars teaching there, such as Thomas Magististos, Demetrios Triklinios, Nikephoros Choumnos, Constantine Armenopoulos, and Neilos Kabasilas. Examples of Byzantine art survive in the city, particularly the mosaics in some of its historic churches, including in the church of Hagia Sophia and the church of Saint George.
In the 14th century, however, the city faced upheaval in the form of the Zealot social movement (1342–1349), springing from a religious conflict between bishop Gregory Palamas, who supported conservative principles, and the monk Barlaam. Quickly, it turned into a political anti-aristocratic movement during the Byzantine civil war of 1341–47, leading to the Zealots ruling the city from 1342 until 1349.
Ottoman era.
The Byzantine Empire, unable to hold the city against the Ottoman Empire's advance, handed it over in 1423 to the Republic of Venice. Venice held the city until it was captured after a three-day-long siege by the Ottoman Sultan Murad II, on 29 March 1430. The Ottomans had previously captured Thessaloniki in 1387, but lost it in the aftermath of their defeat in the Battle of Ankara against Tamerlane in 1402, when the weakened Ottomans were forced to hand back a number of territories to the Byzantines.
During the Ottoman period, the city's Muslim and Jewish population grew. By 1478, Thessaloniki had a population of 4,320 Muslims between 6,094 Greek Orthodox inhabitants. By c. 1500, the numbers of Muslims grew to 8,575 Muslims, with Greeks numbering at 7,986, making them a minority. Around the same time, Sephardic Jews began arriving from Spain. Spain's Edict of Expulsion, promulgated by Catholic King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, forced Jews to either convert to Christianity, or be tortured and burned with the support of the Inquisition. Realizing the value of the Jewish citizenry, the Ottoman Emperor invited Jews fleeing for their lives to resettle in his territories, which included Salonica. In c. 1500, there were approximately 3,770 Jews, but by 1519, 15,715 Jews came to form 54% of the city's population. Sephardic Jews, Muslims and Greek Orthodox remained the principal groups in the city for the next 400 years.
The city came to become the largest Jewish city in the world and remained as such for at least 200 years, often called "Mother of Israel". Of its 130,000 inhabitants at the start of the 20th century, around 60,000 were Sephardic Jews. Some Romaniote Jews were also present.
With the help of the influx of cultures, Thessaloníki, called "Selânik" in Turkish, became one of the most important cities in the Empire, viable as the foremost trade and commercial center in the Balkans. The railway reached the city in 1888 and new modern port facilities were built in 1896–1904. The founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, was born there in 1881, and the Young Turk movement was headquartered in the city in the early 20th century.
Selânik was a sanjak center (Sanjak of Selanik) in the Rumeli Eyalet from 1393 to 1402 and again from 1430 to 1826, when it became center of a separate province, the Selanik Eyalet. From 1867 it was transformed into the Selanik Vilayet, which included the sanjaks of Selânik (Thessaloniki), Drama, and Serres (Siroz or Serez).
Architectural remains from the Ottoman period can be found mainly in the city's "Ano Poli" (Upper Town) district, in which traditional wooden houses and fountains survive the city's great fire in the following years. In the city center, a number of the stone mosques survived, notably the Hamza Bey Mosque on Egnatia (under restoration), the Aladja Imaret Mosque on Kassandrou Street, the Bezesten (covered market) on Venizelou Street, and Yahudi Hamam on Frangon Street. Most of the more than 40 minarets were demolished after 1912, or collapsed due to the Great Thessaloniki Fire of 1917; the only surviving one is at the Rotonda (Arch and Tomb of Galerius). There are also a few remaining Ottoman hammams (bathhouses), particularly the Bey Hamam on Egnatia Avenue.
After the outbreak of the Greek War of Independence, a revolt took place also in Macedonia, under the leadership of Emmanouel Pappas, which finally established in Chalkidiki peninsula. In May 1821 the governor of Thessaloniki Yusuf Bey (son of Ismail Bey) ordered to kill any Greeks found in the streets. The Mulla of Thessalonica, Hayrıülah, gives the following description of Yusuf's retaliations: "Every day and every night you hear nothing in the streets of Thessaloniki but shouting and moaning. It seems that Yusuf Bey, the Yeniceri Agasi, the Subaşı, the hocas and the ulemas have all gone raving mad". It would take until the end of the 19th century for the Greek community to recover.
From 1870, driven by economic growth, the city's population exploded by 70%, reaching 135,000 in 1917. During the 19th century, Thessaloníki became one of the cultural and political centres of the Bulgarian revival movement in Macedonia. According to Bulgarian ethnographer Vasil Kanchov around the beginning of the 20th century there were approximately 10,000 Bulgarians, forming a substantial minority in the city. In 1880 a Bulgarian Men's High School was founded, followed later by other educational institutions of the Bulgarian Exarchate. In 1893 a part of the Bulgarian intelligentsia created a revolutionary organization, which spread its influence among Bulgarians throughout Ottoman Balkans and became the strongest Bulgarian paramilitary movement, best known under its latest name, the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO). In 1903 a group of Bulgarian leftists and anarchists, tied to IMRO, organized series of Thessaloniki bombings of 1903. After the Young Turk Revolution of 1908, Thessaloniki became a centre of Bulgarian political activity in the Ottoman Empire and seat of the two largest legal Bulgarian parties, the rightist Union of the Bulgarian Constitutional Clubs, and the leftist People's Federative Party (Bulgarian Section).
Balkan Wars and World War I.
During the First Balkan War, the Ottoman garrison surrendered Salonika to the Greek Army, on . This was a day after the feast of the city's patron saint, Saint Demetrios, which has become the date customarily celebrated as the anniversary of the city's liberation. The next day, a Bulgarian division arrived, and Bulgarian troops were allowed to enter the city in limited numbers. Although officially governed by the Greeks, the final fate of the city hung in the balance. The Austrian government proposed to make Salonika into a neutral, internationalized city similar to what Danzig was to later become; it would have had a territory of 400–460 km2 and a population of 260,000. It would be "neither Greek, Bulgarian nor Turkish, but "Jewish"".
The Greeks' emotional commitment to the city was increased when King George I of Greece, who had settled there to emphasize Greece's possession of it, was assassinated on 18 March 1913 by Alexandros Schinas. After the Greek and Serbian victory in the Second Balkan War, which broke out among the former allies over the final territorial dispositions, the city's status was finally settled by the Treaty of Bucharest on August 10, 1913, sealing the city as an integral part of Greece. In 1915, during World War I, a large Allied expeditionary force landed at Thessaloniki to use the city as the base for a massive offensive against pro-German Bulgaria. This precipitated the political conflict between the pro-Allied Prime Minister, Eleftherios Venizelos and the pro-neutral King Constantine. In 1916, pro-Venizelist army officers, with the support of the Allies, launched an uprising, which resulted in the establishment of a pro-Allied temporary government (the "Provisional Government of National Defence"), headed by Venizelos, that controlled northern Greece and the Aegean, against the official government of the King in Athens. Ever since, Thessaloniki has been dubbed as "symprotévousa" ("co-capital").
On , the city faced one of it most destructive events, where most of the city was destroyed by a single fire accidentally sparked by French soldiers in encampments in the city. The fire left some 72,000 homeless, many of them Jewish, of a population of approximately 271,157 at the time. Venizelos forbade the reconstruction of the town center until a full modern city plan was prepared. This was accomplished a few years later by French architect and archeologist Ernest Hebrard. The Hebrard plan, although never fully completed, swept away the oriental features of Thessaloníki and transformed it into the modern European metropolis that it is today. One effect of the great fire, came to be dubbed the Great Thessaloniki Fire of 1917, was that nearly half of the city's Jewish homes and livelihoods were destroyed, leading to massive Jewish emigration. Many went to Palestine, others to Paris, while others found their way to the United States. Their populations, however, were quickly replaced by considerable numbers of Greek refugees from Asia Minor as a result of the population exchange between Greece and Turkey, following the defeat of the Greek forces in Anatolia during the Greco-Turkish War. With the arrival of these new refugees, the city expanded enormously and haphazardly. These events made the city to be nicknamed "The Refugee Capital" ("I Protévousa ton Prosfýgon") and "Mother of the Poor" ("Ftokhomána").
Metaxas regime and World War II.
In May 1936, a massive strike by tobacco workers led to general anarchy in the city and Ioannis Metaxas (future dictator, then PM) ordered its repression. The events and the deaths of the protesters inspired Yiannis Ritsos to write the "Epitafios".
Thessaloniki fell to the forces of Nazi Germany on April 22, 1941 and remained under German occupation until 30 October 1944. The city suffered considerable damage from Allied bombing and almost all of its entire Jewish population that remained following the 1917 fire, was exterminated by the Nazis. Barely a thousand Jews survived. Thessaloniki was rebuilt and recovered fairly quickly after the war, with this resurgence taking in both a rapid growth in its population and a large-scale development of new infrastructure and industry throughout the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. Most of the urban development of that period was however without an all-embracing plan, contributing to the traffic and zoning problems remaining to this day.
Modern era.
On 20 June 1978, the city was hit by a powerful earthquake, registering a moment magnitude of 6.5. The tremor caused considerable damage to several buildings and even to some of the city's Byzantine monuments; forty people were crushed to death when an entire apartment block collapsed in the central Hippodromio district. Nonetheless, the large city recovered with considerable speed from the effects of the disaster. Early Christian and Byzantine monuments of Thessaloniki were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1988 and Thessaloniki later became European City of Culture in 1997.
Thessaloniki today has become one of the most important trade and business hubs in the Balkans with its port, the Port of Thessaloniki being one of the largest in the Aegean, and facilitating trade throughout the Balkan hinterland. The city also forms one of the largest student centres in Southeastern Europe and is host to the largest student population in Greece. The city sustains two state universities — the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, the largest university in Greece (founded in 1926), and the University of Macedonia, alongside the Technological Education Institute of Thessaloniki. It also sponsors a range of private international institutions, either affiliated with universities in other nations, or accredited abroad.
In June 2003, the city was host to the Summit meeting of European leaders, at the end of the Greek Presidency of the EU, with the summit taking place at the Porto Carras resort in Chalkidiki, to aid security precautions. In 2004 the city hosted a number of the football events forming part of the 2004 Summer Olympic Games and experienced a massive modernisation program. Thessaloniki unsuccessfully bid for the 2008 World EXPO, this time won by Zaragoza in Spain, but another planned bid for 2017 was announced in September 2006 and is now in full development.
External links.
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Galloway hydro-electric power scheme

The Galloway hydro-electric power scheme is a network of dams and hydro-electric power stations in Galloway, south west Scotland. It was built between 1930 and 1936.
The generating stations draw water from the River Ken, River Dee and River Doon through reservoirs at Loch Doon, Kendoon, Carsfad, Clatteringshaws, and Tongland. The unusual modernist stations were designed by Scottish civil engineer, Sir Alexander Gibb.
The scheme, which is today operated by Drax, can produce a total peak power of around 106 megawatts.
History.
The scheme was authorized by the Galloway Water Power Act on 10 May 1929, by which the Galloway Water Power Company was incorporated. Chairman of the board was former colonial administrator Lord Meston. Also on the board was Robert Brand, managing director of the project's underwriter, Lazard Brothers and Company.
Design was carried out by civil engineers Sir Alexander Gibb and Partners along with electrical engineer, William McLellan of Merz & McLellan. Construction began three years later in 1932 and was completed in 1936. The scheme was made viable by the recent formation of the National Grid which made generation of electricity in remote areas useful. Hydro power was particularly helpful to this grid because of its ability to be turned on and off very quickly to meet peak demands (in contrast to oil and coal stations), and to meet the natural increase during the more energy demanding winter months.
The total cost of the scheme was around three million pounds. At a cost of £29 per kilowatt of installed capacity, they were some of the least costly stations ever built in the UK.
The scheme was extended in 1984 with the addition of the Drumjohn power station which made use of the existing needle valve where the water from Loch Doon and the Deuch feed into the Dee. This station has a capacity of just 2.3 megawatts, but was constructed largely using existing infrastructure.
In 2018 Drax Group purchased the scheme, alongside a number of other assets, from then owners Scottish Power.
Architecture.
The stations are generally white, Modernist structures, highly glazed and with large airy turbine halls. The designs were stylistically advanced for their time and can be viewed as some of Scotland's earliest modern buildings. The credit for the design is given to Alexander Gibb and Partners, however it seems likely that the design received input from H. O. Tarbolton, the architectural advisor to the scheme's 'Amenities Committee'. This committee was set up to "make to the Company such recommendations as they may think are reasonable and proper for the preservation of the beauty of the scenery" (from the 1929 Galloway water power act). Tarbolton was designer of the Pitlochry power station which bears some striking similarities to the Galloway turbine halls. Whilst no direct credit for the design work can be given to him, it is unlikely that he had no influence on the outcome.
In their book "Power from water" (1960), two partners of Alexander Gibb and Partners, A.O.L. Paton, and J Guthrie Brown (the latter of whom is known to have worked on the Galloway scheme), write that "The architecture of the power stations, under the watchful eye of the amenity committee...was given the most careful attention."
Parts of the scheme are now listed buildings, specifically the Glenlee Power Station and Bridge and the Tongland Power Station, Surge Tower and Valve House.
In great contrast to the bright pristine nature of the stations, the dams are organic and entwined with the natural rock. They are generally arch dams, curved in plan, bearing onto the side walls of the valleys except in those dams where only one side of the valley is suitable for bearing. In these latter cases, the end of the dam straightens out, and the last section of gravity dam (where the weight of the dam itself resists the force of the water) then acts like a buttress to the more efficient arch dam.
Perceptions of the scheme.
Today the dams are well liked and a source of pride to the people of Galloway and of course are still generating environmentally friendly electricity. However they were not universally admired when they were first built, as local poet W.G.M. Dobie wrote:
A raider comes today who kills

The glories of our glens and hills

With unheroic acts and bills

and "Private Legislation"

The Company promoters pen

Will Dam the Deugh and dam the Ken

and Dam the Dee - oh Dam the men

Who Plan such desecration!

Generating stations.
The six generating stations, from north to south, are:


Bury Manor

Bury Manor Castle is an early 19th-century house in the village of Wick, South Gloucestershire, England. It was built in Gothic Revival style.
The three-storey stone building has a slate roof and embattled parapet.
The site was an earlier manor house and the cellars date back to the 13th century. It has had a variety of uses: as a school, offices and health spa. Since 2006 it has been a private residence.


Barony of Rannoch

The Lordship and Barony of Rannoch is a Scottish feudal barony. King James IV, granted the lands of Rannoch, which lies in highland Perthshire, and its neighbouring forest, loch and islands, to Sir Robert Menzies of that Ilk (1475-1557) as the free barony of Rannoch on 1 Sep 1502 (Sir Robert also held the baronies of Menzies and Camsorny). On 1 May 1533, King James V granted Alexander Menzies, (1504-1563), son and heir apparent of Sir Robert, the lands and barony of Rannoch (including Downane, Kinclauchir, Cammyserachtis, Ardlaroch, Kilquhonane, Lairan, Ardlair, Largan, the island of Loch Rannoch and Irochty and all the lochs and islands).
Barons of Rannoch.
a: The Campbells of Glenorchy had some claim to the lands of Rannoch in the 17th century: on 25 July 1661, John Campbell the younger of Glen Orchy sold to John Campbell of Ferdew the lands and barony of Rannoch. Nevertheless, on 1 Mar 1679 James Menzies of Culdares, had a sasine of the lands and barony of Rannoch
b: having no surviving sons, the Nova Scotia baronetcy of Menzies expired


Hirth

Göbler-Hirthmotoren GmbH is an aircraft engine manufacturer based in Benningen, Germany.
History.
The company was founded by Hellmuth Hirth in 1920 as Hellmuth Hirth Versuchsbau, renamed Leichtmetall-Werke GmbH and finally Elektronmetall GmbH as a manufacturer of light alloy engine components, specifically the magnesium alloy Elektron, including parts for aircraft engines. In 1927, Hirth separated this part of the business, renaming it as Hirth Motoren GmbH, with the remainder becoming Mahle GmbH.
The first Hirth Motoren GmbH engine, the 4-cylinder inverted in-line HM 60, was released in 1931 and was fairly successful. An upgrade in the form of the HM 60R improved efficiency, and was followed by 6, 8 and 12-cylinder versions based on the same machinery. Over the next decade, Hirth became one of Germany's leading aero engine manufacturers.
Following Hirth's death in an aircraft crash in 1938, the "Reichsluftfahrtministerium" ("Reich aviation ministry") nationalised the company, and in 1941 it was merged with Heinkel to make Heinkel-Hirth. Although the existing engine series were continued, Heinkel also used the Hirth production facilities as a basis for work by Hans von Ohain on a series of jet engines as well under the new name of "Heinkel-Strahltriebwerke", although for various reasons none was widely used. Their final design, the Heinkel HeS 011, for which only 19 testing prototype powerplants were ever built, was intended for use in a proliferation of German jet combat aircraft design proposals late in the war.
Following World War II, this merger was dissolved, and Hirth was independent once again. Because of the prohibitions on German aviation during the Allied occupation, Hirth manufactured small stationary engines, as well as motors for snowmobiles. Eventually, Hirth returned to aircraft engine manufacturing in 1965, but in 1974 went into voluntary liquidation. The company was acquired by Hans Göbler, who returned it to making small two-stroke engines.
The beginnings of ultralight aviation in the 1980s created another opportunity to re-enter Hirth's original marketplace, and the company has been a notable builder of engines for these aircraft ever since.


Battle of Ludwigshafen

The Battle of Ludwigshafen () and the subsequent bombardment of Ludwigshafen lasted from 15 to 18 June 1849 and was part of the Palatine Uprising and Baden Revolution. The young settlement of Ludwigshafen was badly damaged by the shells of the Baden artillery and the resulting fires.
Background.
The movement of the March revolution within the member states of the German Confederation led to the election of Frankfurt Assembly, the first all-German parliament. This parliament proclaimed the Constitution of St. Paul's Church on 28 March 1849 that provided for the state as a hereditary constitutional monarchy. The Prussian king Frederick William IV refused the imperial crown that he was offered. On 23 April, the Bavarian king and his government rejected the constitution, which was regarded by the left as a coup.
On 2 May, it was decided to set up a ten-member National Committee for the Defence and Implementation of the Constitution and on 7 May 1849 the representative of the Central Power for the Palatinate, Bernhard Eisenstuck, legitimized the National Defence Committee.
On 3 May 1849, the May uprising in Dresden broke out, but this was put down on 9 May by Saxon and Prussian troops. On 11 May, the third Baden uprising began with the mutiny of Baden troops in the federal fortress of Rastatt.
On 11 June came the feared intervention of the 1st Prussian Army Corps under Moritz von Hirschfeld. The advance guard of his 1st Division, commanded by Major General von Hannecken, crossed the Palatine border unopposed near Kreuznach and advanced south.
On 14 June the Battle of Kirchheimbolanden took place. On 10 June 1849, Ludwik Mierosławski, a Polish revolutionary, arrived in Heidelberg to take over command of the Baden-Palatine revolutionary army which he had been given by the rebels. He then moved his headquarters to Mannheim.
On 15 June Lieutenant General Eduard von Peucker, the commander of the federal troops grouped into the Neckar Corps, brought the Baden counties of Lower and Middle Rhine onto a war footing. On that same day, a few kilometres northeast of Mannheim there was a clash at Käfertal between Hessian imperial forces and the Baden revolutionary army.
Occupation of Ludwigshafen by the Prussians.
On 15 June 1849 the 1st Division of the Ist Army Corps entered Frankenthal and send out an advance party to Oggersheim. From Oggersheim, Major Künzel pressed forward to Ludwigshafen with the 1st Battalion of von Goeben's 28th Infantry, a squadron of the 9th Hussars, a detachment of "Jägers" and two guns.
Baden infantry attacked the Prussians in front of Ludwigshafen at just before 11 o'clock, but withdrew in the face of the Prussian counter-attack. The entry points in the north and west were blocked by barricades of cotton bales and covered by the cannon of the revolutionary troops. A detachment of volunteers ("Freischaren") attempted an attack but were beaten back. After a short skirmish the Prussians succeeded in seizing the two obstacles and stormed another two barricades in "Rheinstraße". The rebel troops pulled back with their guns over the Rhine bridge to Mannheim. One element also escaped in the direction of Speyer. During the retreat over the bridge the insurgents suffered more losses from Prussian fire. In order to prevent a Prussian pursuit, the retreating rebels cut sections of the pontoon bridge, in the course of which several of them fell into the Rhine and drowned. After about 2 hours of fighting Ludwigshafen fell into Prussian hands at about 13.30 hours. The 1st Division left a battalion and 4 light guns in Ludwigshafen and occupied Speyer, Schifferstadt and Mutterstadt on 16 June.
Bombardment of Ludwigshafen by the rebels.
In the course of the fighting in Ludwigshafen the Baden revolutionaries had brought heavy artillery into action on the Mannheim side of the Rhine which, during the retreat of the rebels over the pontoon bridge, started a bombardment of Ludwigshafen. The Prussians had to withdraw their light guns out of range of the Baden artillery and were unable to engage them. Just before 3 p.m. on 15 June a Baden shell started a fire in a warehouse in Ludwigshafen's harbour area, which quickly engulfed buildings in the whole port. Later in the day, the pontoon also caught fire. The shelling continued all night on the 15/16 June with few interruptions. After a pause in the early morning the shooting continued on 16 June from 7 to 11 o'clock. The Prussians fired at houses on the Mannheim shore with hot shot in order to drive the riflemen out, but were unable to take on the heavy Baden artillery, which was directed by the Swiss gunner officer, Arnold Steck and by Otto von Corvin-Wiersbitzki.
The shelling continued on 17 June without either side gaining any real success. On 18 June the Prussians relieved their troops in Ludwigshafen with fresh units, even though the arrival of units of the West Franconian Corps of the Bavarian Army were due to arrive on the 19th. During this relief in place the Baden artillery increased the rate of shelling. On 18 June just before 2200 hours, the Baden troops attempted to cross the Rhine in boats, but the operation was foiled by Prussian defensive fire. On 19 June the guns fell silent on both sides of the Rhine. From 15 to 18 June, it is estimated that 1,000 shells were fired at Ludwigshafen from Mannheim.
Arrival of Bavaria.
The West Franconian Corps of the Bavarian Army under Lieutenant General Karl Theodor von Thurn und Taxis had crossed the Rhine at Oppenheim on 18 June with 9,500 men, having begun the invasion on 16 June. On 19 June around 2300 hours the Bavarian forces advanced with one "Jäger" battalion, two squadrons of cavalry and a battery of artillery into the destroyed town of Ludwigshafen. It was their intention to support the assault of Mannheim by the Army Corps of Lieutenant General Eduard von Peucker.
Consequences.
The Prussians were not able to cross the Rhine at Mannheim, but the Palatine army under Franz Sznayde was no longer to combine forces with the Baden troops at Mannheim. As a result, the Palatines crosse the Rhine bridge at Knielingen on 18 June. The Prussians followed up on 20 June at Germersheim.


Delilah

Delilah (; "Dəlīlāh", meaning "delicate"; Arabic "Dalilah"; Greek Δαλιδά "Dalidá") is a woman mentioned in the sixteenth chapter of the Book of Judges in the Hebrew Bible. She is loved by Samson, a Nazirite who possesses great strength and serves as the final Judge of Israel. Delilah is bribed by the lords of the Philistines to discover the source of his strength. After three failed attempts at doing so, she finally goads Samson into telling her that his vigor is derived from his hair. As he sleeps, Delilah orders a servant to cut Samson's hair, thereby enabling her to turn him over to the Philistines.
Delilah has been the subject of both rabbinic and Christian commentary; rabbinic literature identifies her with Micah's mother in the biblical narrative of Micah's Idol, while some Christians have compared her to Judas Iscariot, the man who betrayed Jesus. Scholars have noted similarities between Delilah and other women in the Bible, such as Jael and Judith, and have discussed the question of whether the story of Samson's relationship with Delilah displays a negative attitude towards foreigners. Notable depictions of Delilah include John Milton's closet drama "Samson Agonistes" and Cecil B. DeMille's 1949 Hollywood film "Samson and Delilah". Her name has become associated with treacherous and voluptuous women.
In the Bible.
Delilah was a woman of Sorek. She is the only woman in Samson's story who is named. The Bible says that Samson loved her () but not that she loved him. The two were not married and the idea that they had a sexual relationship is, in the words of Josey Bridges Snyder, "at most implicit in the biblical text". The lords of the Philistines bribed her to discover the source of Samson's great strength, each offering to give her 1,100 silver coins. Three times she failed.
First, at his own suggestion, she bound him with "seven green withes," but these he easily snapped asunder. Then she tied him with new ropes: these also failed. Then, she fastened the locks of his hair to the loom but with the same result. Finally, after many complaints that Samson did not trust her, he told her that his strength lay in his hair. Then, when he was asleep, she ordered a servant to cut Samson's hair. She then awoke him, and delivered him into the hands of the waiting Philistine chiefs.
The Bible does not mention her fate, and, as James D. G. Dunn and John William Rogerson note in "Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible", it never discusses whether Delilah felt guilt for her actions.
Religious views.
Jewish interpretations.
Josephus and Pseudo-Philo both view Delilah as a Philistine and a prostitute; Josey Bridges Snyder theorizes that this may be due to the fact that Book of Judges portrays Samson as being attracted to both Philistine women () and prostitutes (). Pseudo-Philo also writes that Delilah was Samson's wife. The Talmud says that Delilah used sex to get Samson to reveal his secret, in spite of the fact that the biblical text does not state that the two had a sexual relationship, while midrash state that Delilah harassed Samson verbally and physically during sex to get him to tell her the source of his strength. Midrashim on Delilah reveal negative attitudes toward non-Jewish women and are supposed to "demonstrate the havoc that a foreign woman could wreak". The midrash says that Samson lost his strength because of his relationship with Delilah, a foreign woman, and not because his hair was cut, and that the angel who foretold Samson's birth to his mother knew that Delilah would cause him to break his Nazirite vow.
The Jewish sages said Delilah's name implies what she did to Samson ("She dwindles"). Because Samson allowed his spiritual state to become diminished, he was vulnerable to losing his strength by having his hair cut. Even before Delilah is mentioned, the length of Samson's career is described. Normally the length of someone's life or career in the Old Testament is mentioned last for a character to signify the end of his relevance to the narrative. David Kimhi notes that it is mentioned at the peak of his career; which implies that mentions of Samson afterwards marks his decline and downfall. This might explain why Samson eventually told Delilah of his weakness, even though she repeatedly betrayed him before. It is possible he was not fully aware that cutting his hair would cause God to allow him to lose his strength; since it was actually the decline of his spiritual state that caused him to lose God's favor.
Late aggadah say that Samson and Delilah had sons together who were strong like their father; Eldad ha-Dani claims that their sons resided in the land of Havilah and each had voices as "triumphal...as a lion’s roar". Medieval midrash propose that Delilah was the mother of Micah from the biblical narrative of Micah's Idol. This theory rests on the fact that, in , Micah's mother gives her son 1,100 silver coins to construct his idol, similar to how Delilah was promised 1,100 silver coins to betray her lover by the Philistine leaders. This tradition explains the conflation of Delilah and Micah's mother by noting that Bible introduces the narrative of Micah's Idol immediately after the narrative of Samson and Delilah. Rashi disputes this theory, as the Seder Olam Rabbah states that Micah and Samson were not contemporaries and that Micah lived during the time of Othniel.
Christian interpretations.
Most Christian commentary on Delilah condemns her. Saint Ambrose represents Delilah as a Philistine prostitute and declares that "men should avoid marriage with those outside the faith, lest, instead of love of one's spouse, there be treachery." Marbodius of Rennes uses the examples of Delilah, Eve, Lot's daughters, Herodias, Clytemnestra, and Procne to illustrate that women are a "pleasant evil, at once a honeycomb and a poison". Christian commentators have viewed Samson as a type of Jesus Christ, based on similarities between Samson's story and the life of Jesus as portrayed in the New Testament Samson's betrayal by Delilah has also been compared to Jesus' betrayal by Judas Iscariot; both Delilah and Judas were paid in pieces of silver for their respective deeds. However, Thomas de Vio Cajetan views Delilah in a somewhat sympathetic light, suggesting that she never intended Samson to be killed or wounded. He asserts that Delilah accepted a bribe from the Philistine leaders because they convinced her that Samson would merely be weakened.
Caesarius of Arles views Delilah's temptation of Samson as similar to Satan's temptation of Christ. Isidore of Seville does see Samson as prefiguring Christ, but argues that "in yielding to Delilah, Samson did not prefigure Christ. Instead he exemplified the fall of the sinful man". Similarly, Billy Graham sees Samson's eyes being gouged out after he was handed over to the Philistines as his punishment for succumbing to his lust for Delilah; Graham also sees this as an example of the concept that one reaps what one sows. Joyce Meyer writes that Satan worked through Delilah, as he was aware that Samson had "a weakness for women". Meyer sees Delilah's relationship with Samson as an example of how the devil exploits people's weaknesses.
Scholarly views.
Delilah is usually thought to have been a Philistine, although she is not identified as such in the Bible. The name "Delilah" is a Hebrew name, however, numerous foreigners in the Bible have Hebrew names, so Delilah's name cannot be seen as indisputable proof that she was Hebrew. J. Cheryl Exum of the Jewish Women's Archive argues that the author of the Book of Judges would probably not portray Delilah in a negative light if she were a fellow Israelite. Samson was attracted to Philistine women; he had previously been married to one. Exum writes that the arguments that Delilah was a Philistine are inconclusive, while the "Jewish Encyclopedia" says that Delilah was a Philistine in all probability.
Dolores G. Kamrada write in "Heroines, Heroes and Deity: Three Narratives of the Biblical Heroic Tradition" that Delilah is similar to Jael, a woman mentioned in the fourth and fifth chapters of the Book of Judges who murders Sisera by driving a tent peg into his head, and frequently compared to the title character of the Book of Judith, who beheads Holofernes; all three women defeat powerful warriors. According to Susan Ackerman, Delilah differs from Jael and Judith in that she "sells out to the enemy, rather than the other way around".
Some scholarly commentary on Delilah centers on her gender. In the "Feminist Companion to Judges", Carol Smith says that feminist commentators tend to stress Delilah's positive qualities, explain her negative ones, or ignore her in favor of "other biblical women who are more amenable to reinterpretation in a positive way". James D. G. Dunn and John William Rogerson feel that the Bible portrays Delilah as "a doubly dangerous woman given her apparent independence", noting that she is not "identified by a male relationship - the wife, daughter or sister of anyone" but simply "appears in her own right". Conversely, Phillip Lopate writes "while the message of Samson's fall, like Adam's, would seem to be cautionary and misogynistic, underneath we see his time with Delilah as a liberating fantasy...Don't we secretly rejoice at his having the good sense to follow the route of his desire, to free himself from the 'good boy' Nazirite onus by putting himself in temptation's way?"
"Haaretz"s Elon Gilad writes "some biblical stories are flat-out cautions against marrying foreign women, none more than the story of Samson", noting that Samson's relationship with Delilah leads to his demise. He contrasts this to what he sees as a more positive portrayal of intermarriage in the Book of Ruth. James D. G. Dunn and John William Rogerson say in "Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible" that Delilah exemplifies an important theme in the Book of Judges - a fear of assimilation. They see the narratives of Samson, Gideon, and Jephthah as cautionary tales against men choosing partners who could create "impure offspring". Melissa A. Jackson, in "Comedy and Feminist Interpretation of the Hebrew Bible: A Subversive Collaboration", says that the Bible delineates between "good" foreigners like Tamar, Pharaoh's daughter, Rahab, and Ruth, and "bad" foreigners like Jezebel and Delilah.
Contrariwise, Elizabeth Wurtzel sees Samson's relationship with Delilah as "the archetypal story of cross-cultural love between members of warring nations", akin to "Romeo and Juliet".
Cultural influence.
According to the "Encyclopædia Britannica", Delilah's name has "become synonymous with a voluptuous, treacherous woman". The use of the name "Delilah" to connote deceit or betrayal can be found in works such as H. G. Wells' "The Invisible Man" (1897), the Tom Jones song "Delilah" (1968), Andrew Lloyd Webber's "The Phantom of the Opera" (1986), and Pat Conroy's "Beach Music" (1995). In "One Thousand and One Nights", her name is applied to cunning women.
Delilah also appears as a character in a number of works of art. John Milton's closet drama "Samson Agonistes", an allegory for the downfall of the Puritans and the restoration of the English monarchy, casts Delilah as an unrepentant, but sympathetic, deceiver and speaks approvingly of the subjugation of women.
In 1735, George Frideric Handel wrote the opera "Samson", with a libretto by Newburgh Hamilton, based on "Samson Agonistes". The opera is almost entirely set inside Samson's prison and Delilah appears only briefly in Act II. In 1877, Camille Saint-Saëns composed the opera "Samson and Delilah" with a libretto by Ferdinand Lemaire in which the entire story of Samson and Delilah is retold. In the libretto, Delilah is portrayed as a seductive "femme fatale", but the music played during her parts invokes sympathy for her.
The 1949 Biblical drama "Samson and Delilah", directed by Cecil B. DeMille and starring Victor Mature and Hedy Lamarr in the titular roles, was widely praised by critics for its cinematography, lead performances, costumes, sets, and innovative special effects. It became the highest-grossing film of 1950 and was nominated for five Academy Awards, winning two. According to Bosley Crowther of "The New York Times", the film depicts Delilah as "a much more noble creature than legend would lead us to suppose". In "Samson and Delilah", Delilah is the sister of Samson's wife, and repents cutting off his hair. When Samson prepares to collapse the pillars, Delilah does not follow Samson's advice to get out and she dies alongside him when the temple collapses. Actresses who have portrayed Delilah besides Lamarr include Belinda Bauer in "Samson and Delilah" (1984), and Elizabeth Hurley in "Samson and Delilah" (1996).


Baltische Historische Kommission

Baltische Historische Kommission ('Baltic Historical Commission'; abbreviated BHK) is an organization which deals with history related to Baltic Germans/Germany and Baltic states. BHK is located in Göttingen, Germany. Since 2007, BHK's chairman is Matthias Thumser.
BHK was established in 1951 in Göttingen.
BHK publishes several publications.
BHK organizes "Baltischen Historikertreffen" ('Baltic Historians Meetings').
As of 2020, BHK has about 100 full and 30 corresponding members.


Kyriakos Papachronis

Kyriakos Papachronis (, born 1960), also known as the "Ogre of Drama" (ο δράκος της Δράμας), is a Greek serial killer. While working as a cadet officer in the army, he killed 3 prostitutes and attempted to rape 5 more in the city of Drama in northern Greece from 1981 to 1982. The surviving victims' testimonies led to his capture on December 13, 1982 He was initially court-martialed and sentenced to two life sentences, but it was later reduced to life imprisonment. In the early days of his imprisonment he was particularly undisciplined and violent but by the late 1990s he turned into an exemplary prisoner. 22 years later, in 2004, he was released from prison. Papachronis now lives peacefully in Larissa, undisturbed by authorities.
Early life.
Kyriakos Papachronis was born in 1960 in Xanthi to parents Erifili and Charalambos Papachronis. He also had a brother and a sister. The Papachronis family kept a cafeteria in the city where Kyriakos worked since he was little. When he finished high school, he stayed for a while in Athens, making a living from working in various hotels. He dealt with sports and excelled mainly in boxing (in which he was declared champion in the 90 kg class) and karate, in which he was also declared a champion.
Crimes.
In the afternoon of September 9, 1981, Papachronis visited a brothel in the area of Profitis Ilias in Xanthi and requested the services of a 46-year-old prostitute. The coup, however, resulted in a fight, with the woman (as claimed by Papachronis) underestimated his sexual competence. He fled furiously to return a few hours later, stabbing the woman to death. His next victim, also a prostitute, he met on the streets of Drama. On December 20, 1981, while she was looking for customers, Papachronis followed her without her realizing, and stabbed the woman in the back, but her screaming attracted passers-by and he quickly fled. Ten days later, on December 30, after she had left a screening of a porn movie, a 19-year-old student was attacked by Papachronis. He stabbed her in the cervix, but was seen by the girl's father, who was waiting for her, and fled. On January 15, 1982, Papachronis attacked a nurse while walking to the train station in Drama. He dragged her under the airbridge and knocked her out, trying to rape her. But he eventually changed his mind and left the woman alive, who was the first victim to give the police a precise and detailed description of Papachronis. On August 15, 1982, he accidentally met a recent acquaintance at the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki, a girl named Anastasia Alexandridou, and persisted for her to go with him. He then followed the girl to her house and asked to make love. Eventually, he closed her mouth, grabbed her and dragged the girl to an adjacent grove. There he pulled out his knife (which he always carried with him) from his sock and stabbed her in the cervix, ripping her clothes off and raped her. He left her there naked, stealing all her personal belongings and throwing them away near the Menemeni train station, keeping only her lighter (which would later link him beyond doubt to the murder of the girl). The victim died two hours later from internal hemorrhage and pulmonary asphyxia.
On September 21, 1982, he attacked  a 23-year-old, who managed to escape. On October 1, 1982, after observing her, he attacked and seriously injured an 18-year-old girl outside her home in Drama. On October 25, he attacked in Xanthi, this time seriously injuring a 32-year-old prostitute. His last victim was a 30-year-old mother of four working as a cleaner, whom he stalked for several days before attacking her. On December 30, 1982, he stabbed her in the face and carotid, then vanished.
Arrest.
The perpetrator's description by his surviving victims depicted a man wearing a military uniform, limiting the range of suspects. The involvement of military authorities in search of the killer, with the detailed conduct of investigations and monitoring of the movements of suspected soldiers, led to his arrest a few days after his last murder attempt. When the news of the attack was heard, two camp officers, Christos Triandafyllidis and Tasos Kosmidis, looked at the archives that night, and noted that only a few men were out of camp (due to a ban on leaving) and one of them was Kyriakos Papachronis, who had arrived late. He was questioned by the campmaster, and due to the fact that he had no alibi for that particular evening and his apparent nervousness made the officer investigate his apartment. From this search, his knives were discovered, as well as the lighter he had kept as a trophy from Anastasia. He was subsequently arrested on December 13, 1982 by the Drama authorities. Papachronis refused to admit guilt on all charges at first, but the many inaccuracies, his erroneous answers, the heaps of recognitions from his victims, the lack of an alibi, and fatigue from the interrogations eventually led him to confess to everything he had done. He also admitted that on March 12, 1982, he had placed two bombs at the Post Office and at the National Bank of Greece's Xanthi Branch, and on the following day, he had placed two more bombs in a shop at the Alpha Bank Branch in Kavala. On June 16, 1982, he had placed another bomb at the door of his camp in Drama, and he was also responsible for a small arson at Kavala Airport.
Trial.
Papaxonis' trial was held from June 14 to 18, 1983 in the building of the Five-Member Court of Appeal of Thessaloniki, under the jurisdiction of the Standing Military Court of Kavala.
The trial, as expected, was largely covered by newspapers and television, with almost all the well-known journalists of the time, to deal with and comment on what is happening every day. The appearance of Papachronis in court, however, caused most of the comments – mainly negative and positive – since it was distinguished by great "theatrinism". He tried to justify his actions by constantly referring to his manhood, his courage, his natural rhyme and good looks, even reaching the point of rejecting the advocacy line of his lawyers, saying that ... "I have not built so many years this body to be destroyed by psychiatrists. His aggression and violent behavior by telling reporters that he would escape and massacre a lot of people, forced the police to dispose of 300 police officers for his custody in the four days that the trial dealt.
Papachronis was accused of manslaughter, attempted homicide, and illegal possession and repeated use of weapons.
They reported a total of 40 witnesses as well as four different psychiatrists who had been screened during pre-trial detention. Psychiatrists said that he was mentally and spiritually healthy - the court did not admit to any mitigating effect that his lawyers had advocated (neither the incomprehensibility of the acts, nor the lacking criminal record, nor his young age, nor the boiling of the soul), and sentenced him "to death", with 20 years' imprisonment.
Approximately one year later, in July 1984, the Court of Appeal, in the second trial, sentenced him to death for two murders, 27 years imprisonment for seven attempted murders and 8 attempted rapes, 2 years in prison for possession of 9 weapons and 10 years deprivation of political rights.
Imprisonment.
His imprisonment began on December 13, 1982, immediately after his arrest and detention in a prison in Corfu. He proved to be a difficult prisoner, being aggressive and angry, with violent behaviour by participating in micro-riots in the prison and hitting his retainers. After his trial, he was briefly held in a military prison in Thessaloniki, where he was also troublesome, and in a fit of rage that lasted for hours he completely destroyed his cell. In 2000, when he was tried by the Three-Member Court of Appeal of Thessaloniki and the offenses he had committed during his imprisonment, he was charged with: "the sentence of life imprisonment and a temporary imprisonment of 23 years and 9 months for intentional and collusive homicide crimes, attempted manslaughter intentionally and by collision, dangerous personal injury, attempted rape, confinement, theft, illegal artillery, continuation of weapons of mass destruction, the theft of objects belonging to the State at a time of continuity, the illegal possession of weapons, the deliberate and violent explosion, the attempted explosion and arson with intent from which it could pose human risk in complicity with common fraudulently".
Over time, accepting the situation, Papachronis began to calm down. In fact, after permanently settling in the Larissa prison, he began to read books on theology and psychology, paint, and spend time in the prison church. Unusual for a Greek serial killer, is the correspondence that Papachronis maintained during his imprisonment. With the profile of a nice and brave army officer, he seduced a certain category of women ("serial killer groupies", as they are called) who sent him love letters promising eternal love. He was released from prison on bail on December 8, 2004, at the age of 44 after 22 years in prison. In his written statement to the press he wrote:
Psychological profile.
According to Papachronis, the cause of his behaviour was the first time he visited a brothel in his teens. In particular, he argued that at the age of 14 while visiting a brothel in Xanthi, the rejection and embarrassment he experienced from the prostitute when he was unable to perform the sexual act gave birth to his hatred towards women. And the second attempt – again with a prostitute – was the same. This prostitute even mocked him in front of his friends, which was a major blow to his self-esteem. Papachronis was locked in himself, entertained by porn movies, and when he tried after a few years later with a prostitute, he failed again. This awakened his memories and hatred of women, causing his avenging fury. Psychiatrists who examined him said that the masochistic need to torment his body in order to reach the limits of his endurance drove him, since for Papachronis the physical rhyme was the only proof of masculinity. The narcissistic structure of his personality, on the other hand, created a host of other features such as intense anxiety, social immaturity, distrust and individualism. His need for sovereignty, and his inability to manage rejection, led him to extreme emotional states.
In the media.
In the case of Papachronis, the episode of the television series "Anatony of a Crime", "Deadly Toys: The Lead Soldier", was based on him. Giannis Bezos plays as Papachronis.


Humbert I, Count of Savoy

Humbert I (;  – 1042 or 1047  1048), better known as Humbert the White-Handed () or () was the founder of the House of Savoy. Of obscure origins, his service to the German emperors Henry II and Conrad II was rewarded with the counties of Maurienne and Aosta and lands in Valais, all at the expense of local bishops and archbishops; the territory came to be known as the county of Savoy.
Biography.
Family.
Humbert was the son of Amadeus, who may or may not have preceded him as count of Maurienne. His brother was Bishop Otto of Belley. Humbert is the progenitor of the dynasty known as the House of Savoy. The origins of this dynasty are unknown, but Humbert's ancestors are variously said to have come from Saxony, Burgundy or Provence. Given Humbert's close connections with Rudolf III of Burgundy, it is likely that his family was Burgundian, and was descended either from the dukes of Vienne, or from a Burgundian aristocratic family (such as the Guigonids, ancestors of the counts of Albon). It is also likely that Humbert was related to Ermengarde of Burgundy, second wife of Rudolf III.
Humbert initially held lands around Belley and in the county of Sermorens, before gaining lands in Aosta and Valais.
Humbert and empire.
After Rudolf III's death (1032), Humbert I swore fealty to Emperor Conrad II. He supported Conrad II in his campaigns against Odo II, Count of Blois, and Aribert, Archbishop of Milan. In return, Conrad II appointed Humbert count of Savoy and granted him Maurienne, Chablais and perhaps Tarentaise. These imperial grants to a loyal supporter secured key passes through the Alps, controlling trade between Italy and Western Europe, which would be the core of Savoy power for centuries.
Marriage and children.
Humbert married Ancelie (Auxilia or Ancilia). She may have been Ancilla of Aoste, the daughter of "vir illustris" Anselme of Aoste or Ancilla of Lenzburg, the daughter of the master of ceremonies of Burgundy. Alternatively, Ancilla may have been a daughter of Anselm and Aldiud, and thus a member of a northern Italian dynasty known as the Anselmids.
With his wife, Humbert had at least four sons:
Some authors believe that he had additional sons.
Death.
Humbert is often said to have died c.1047/8 at Hermillon, a town in the Maurienne region of present-day Savoie, France. More recently, it has been suggested that he died by 1042.


Inflanty Voivodeship

The Inflanty Voivodeship (), or "Livonian Voivodeship", also known as Polish Livonia, was an administrative division and local government in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, since it was formed in the 1620s out of the Wenden Voivodeship and lasted until the First Partition of Poland in 1772. The Inflanty Voivodeship was one of the few territories of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth to be ruled jointly by Poland and Lithuania.
Overview.
The Inflanty Voivodeship, also called the "Duchy of Inflanty", due to a 1667 bill of the Sejm, was the minority remainder of the Duchy of Livonia, which had been conquered by the Swedish Empire during the Polish–Swedish War of 1621–1625. The seat of the voivode was Dyneburg (Daugavpils).
The name "Inflanty" is derived through Polonization of "Livland", the German name for Livonia. In modern times the region is known as Latgalia in the Republic of Latvia.
Zygmunt Gloger in his monumental book "Historical Geography of the Lands of Old Poland" provides this description of Inflanty Voivodeship:
Voivodes.
This is a list of the voivodes for Inflanty:


Ebulo de Montibus

Ebulo de Montibus (French Ebal II de Mont) (c.1230 – 1269) Born as a younger son of Ebal I de Mont and his wife, Beatrice, Ebal II was first noted in 1237. Born in the Pays de Vaud, now Switzerland then Savoy. The Famille de Mont held the castle at Mont-le-Grand near Rolle. Better known in English records as Ebulo de Montibus, Ebal II de Mont had travelled to England by 1246. A household knight of King Henry III of England, granted much land in England. By 1256 he was part of the Savoyard circle of the Lord Edward (possibly steward), later King Edward I of England. Recorded as a Steward in the household of King Henry III of England from 12th November 1256 until 26th May 1263. A witness for King Henry III at the Mise of Amiens, where he swore for the king's good conduct in accepting King Louis XIVs arbitration. Left England during the Second Barons' War with Queen Eleanor of Provence and Peter II, Count of Savoy and active in attempting to raise an army loyal to the crown. Rewarded for his loyalty by being made Constable of Windsor Castle.
His son Ebal IV began as a squire in the service of King Edward I of England, assigned with Jean Cosyn de Grandson as being jointly responsible for Harlech from 1283, during early construction and prior to the appointment of its first Constable, John de Bonvillars. He was close to Eleanor of Castile, married Lady Elizabeth de Clinton possibly through her intervention. Fought in Scotland in 1300 and obtained land there. Later he became Constable of Stirling and Edinburgh castles.


Saverio Cassar

Saverio Cassar (29 December 1746 – 16 December 1805) was a Gozitan priest and patriot, who was Governor-general of an independent Gozo from 1798 to 1801.
Cassar was born in Għajnsielem, within limits of Nadur parish, Gozo on 29 December 1746. He studied in Rome, being ordained a priest on 30 March 1771. He was nominated archpriest of the Gozo Matrice in 1773, and he became Provicar of Gozo in 1775.
On 3 September 1798, Gozitans rebelled against the French occupiers, and on 18 September Cassar was appointed head of the Government and Superintendent of the Island of Gozo. The French garrisons at the Cittadella and Fort Chambray surrendered to the British on 28 and 29 October, and the British handed over the island to Cassar. He subsequently ruled Gozo as an independent state, recognizing Ferdinand III of Sicily as king. Cassar also petitioned for establishing Gozo as a separate diocese (the Roman Catholic Diocese of Gozo was eventually created in 1864).
The Maltese Congress of Mdina disapproved of Cassar's actions, and on 20 August 1801 the British appointed Emmanuele Vitale as Governor of Gozo instead of Cassar.
Cassar died on 16 December 1805 at the age of 58.


Battle of Samos

The Battle of Samos () was a naval battle fought on August 5–17, 1824 off the Greek island of Samos during the Greek War of Independence.
Background.
The island of Samos, under its leader, Lykourgos Logothetis, had successfully rebelled against the Ottomans in 1821, and established its own autonomous government. The island's position, however, a few miles off the Anatolian coast, made it vulnerable to a potential Ottoman attack. In the summer of 1824, following the destruction of Psara, the Ottoman fleet and troops assembled on the Anatolian coast, with the intention of capturing the island. Anxious to avoid repeating the failure to protect Psara, the Greek fleet, under Admiral Georgios Sachtouris, assembled to guard the island. After some minor engagements on the previous days, the decisive battle occurred on August 17.
Battle.
The Ottomans attempted to drive the Greek forces from their position in the straits, an Ottoman frigate began the cannonade, while the Ottoman fleet attempted to pass between the Anatolian coast and the Greek fleet's left-wing. At ten o'clock in the morning, the Greek fireships, including one under the celebrated Konstantinos Kanaris, began their approach towards an Ottoman frigate, the first fireship attempting to assail her was thwarted, despite this the fireship of Kanaris launched its own attack, the Ottoman ship attempted to avoid it to no avail. As the fireship reached the Ottoman frigate, the Ottoman crew abandoned ship, jumping into the sea, the flames reached the magazine of the ship causing it to explode, the explosion also caused much debris which destroyed and damaged other ships in the proximity, as well as causing casualties to men on shore. After witnessing the destruction of their frigate the Ottomans suspended any further actions for a short while. The Ottomans would renew their assault and through the course of the battle the Greeks would destroy two more Ottoman vessels, a Tunisian brig of war, and Tripolitanian Corvette. The Ottomans suffered fatal losses totaling three fine ships, 100 cannons, and at least 1,000 men lost. Greek casualties amounted to three dead and six spent fireships. The Ottoman troops encamped on shore who witnessed the battle saw a decline in moral and desertions.
Aftermath.
Together with the victory at the strait of Gerontas soon after, the battle of Samos ensured the safety of the island at that time. However, it was not included in independent Greece; rather, it became an autonomous principality under Ottoman suzerainty until the Balkan Wars.