2007 Croatian parliamentary election

Parliamentary elections were held in Croatia on 25 November 2007 and for overseas voters on 24 and 25 November. The campaign officially started on 3 November. The President of Croatia announced elections on 17 October and 14 days were allowed for candidate lists to be submitted.
Elections were held in 10 electoral districts inside Croatia (each providing 14 members of parliament), one electoral district for Croatian citizens living abroad (with a maximum 12 members of parliament), and one electoral district for national minorities (8 members of parliament). Candidate lists have to win more than 5% of the votes in at least one electoral district in order to be represented in the parliament. 4,478,386 people in total were eligible to vote, 405,092 of whom are in the diaspora, 280,000 living in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
To prevent possible electoral fraud, such as votes from the deceased, or people voting twice in different locations, the Croatians outside Croatia who were eligible to vote had to register no later than 14 days before the election.
In three locales, the election were repeated on 9 December 2007; while this could not and did not change the final result as far as mandates are concerned, it meant the final result became known only on 11 December 2007.
The governing centre-right Croatian Democratic Union emerged as the relative winner of the election, but failed to obtain an outright majority. The opposition centre-left Social Democratic Party of Croatia achieved their best result ever as a party, but were unsuccessful in their attempt to become the strongest single party. The election resulted in the formation of the Sanader II cabinet supported by HDZ, HSS, HSLS and the representatives of national minorities.
Electoral lists.
Croatian political parties and independent lists had to formally submit their candidates and eventual pre-election coalitions not later than 30 October. 3585 people from political parties or independent lists applied for the elections (22 people per seat). There were 235 political party lists, 16 independent lists and 72 candidates for minority seats. 29.93% of the candidates were women. The average age of the candidates was 43.41 years old; 44.70 for men, and 40.40 for women. The oldest candidate was 89, and the youngest 18. The State Electoral Committee had to confirm the lists before midnight of 2 November.
Parliamentary parties and coalitions.
Parliamentary parties are with bolded acronyms.
Election spending.
On 11 December 2007 GONG and Transparency International Croatia had published media spending of all Croatian political parties during the election period. This numbers are :
12 electorates in Croatia.
Since 1999 Croatia has been divided into 10 geographically-based electorates with around 250 000 - 300 000 registered voters. Each electorate elects up to 14 MPs chosen by the standard D'Hondt formula.
In the 11th electorate, up to 12 members are chosen by proportional representation - depending on a number of voters in Croatia - to represent Croatian citizens residing abroad (known as the "diaspora electorate") and 8 members from ethnic/national minorities.
It has to be noted that in Croatia, the official threshold is 5% for parties and coalitions. However, since the country is divided in 10 voting districts with 14 elected representatives each, sometimes the threshold can be higher, depending on the number of "fallen lists" (lists that don't get at least 5%). If many votes are lost in this manner, a list that gets barely more than 5% will still get a seat, whereas if there is a small number of parties that all pass the threshold, the actual ("natural") threshold is close to 7.15%.
This system is greatly favorable to regional parties, i.e. parties that gain their votes in a single electorate (see IDS, HDSSB), and it is disfavorable to parties that have greater numbers but are widespread throughout the nation (see HSU and HSP).
This made also the forming of post-electoral coalitions somewhat unpredictable, as the overall success of one of the greatest parties can effectively turn out to be counterproductive if it is achieved at the expense of their foreseeable partner, causing them to not pass the threshold in some or all electorates (it happened to the HDZ-led coalition in previous 2003 election).
Results.
Analysis.
Most polls a couple of days before the election were predicting a very tight race between the governing Croatian Democratic Union and the opposition Social Democratic Party of Croatia. On the night of the election, after all the polls around the country closed, all major television networks released the results of the exit polls. All of them showed the social democrats with a slight lead. None of the exit polls, however, took into account the votes coming from the citizens living abroad, which tend to vote for the more conservative option. The first official results published at 9 p.m. showed HDZ with a slight lead. Ivo Sanader gave a victory speech close to midnight saying he will be forming the next government. Despite the election loss, SDP individually as a party achieved its best result ever, even better than the 2000 election result when SDP led a victorious coalition. Most smaller parties lost seats, the Croatian People's Party - Liberal Democrats lost 4 seats from the 2003 election, the Croatian Peasant Party also lost 4 seats and the far-right Croatian Party of Rights suffered its worst election results since the 1990s losing 7 seats and winning only 1.
National minorities elected 8 representatives through a separate election system: Milorad Pupovac (25,3% of votes), Vojislav Stanimirović (21,5%) and Ratko Gajica (15,8%) for the Serb national minority, Deneš Šoja (47,8%) for the Hungarian minority, Furio Radin (88,8%) for the Italian minority, Zdenka Čuhnil (26%) for the Czech and Slovak minorities, Nazif Memedi (12,8%) for the Austrian, Bulgarian, German, Jewish, Polish, Roma, Romanian, Rusyn, Russian, Turkish, Ukrainian, Vlach minorities and Šemso Tanković (30,9%) for the Albanian, Bosniak, Macedonian, Montenegrin and Slovene minorities.
Government formation.
On night of the elections, after first seat projections were announced, the president of the Croatian Democratic Union announced that he spoke with the President of the Republic and that he will be forming the government. A few minutes after him, the president of the Social Democratic Party informed the public that he too spoke with president and that he too was commencing the formation of the government.
President Mesić explained that his constitutional obligation was to give a mandate to form a government to a person who presents him with convincing proof that they have support of a majority of the newly elected parliament. As the president failed to announce that he will give the mandate to Ivo Sanader, leader of the party with the most seats in the parliament, he was criticised by many for complicating the situation and starting a political crisis. President Mesić responded that he was following article 97 of the Constitution of Croatia.
HDZ, together with HSU and Roma national minority member Nazif Memedi had 68 of 77 seats required for a majority while SDP, HNS, IDS and SDA together had 67 seats. Therefore, the HSS-HSLS coalition which had 8 seats was instrumental in forming a government. Before the elections, leaders of the coalition stated that they will first speak with the party which wins the most seats (not counting diaspora seats). As this turned out to be HDZ, negotiations between HDZ and HSS-HSLS of a coalition started on 3 December.
Although HSS-HSLS started negotiating with HDZ, the president of SDP Milanović refused to give up and still claimed that SDP was also in a process of forming of a government because SDP, HNS, IDS and SDA won 150 thousand votes more than HDZ (not counting diaspora). HDSSB had declared support for SDP if SDP-formed government will work "in the interest of Slavonia and Baranja", but Milanović stated that he firmly believed that SDP will form the government even without support from HDSSB. Although up until 25 November Ljubo Jurčić still claimed that he was SDP's candidate for premier, on 30 November Milanović announced that he was assuming responsibility for forming SDP-led government. Jurčić confirmed that he thinks that "responsibility for functioning of the government should be distributed among heads of parties and that is the best concept in this circumstances". Heads of HSS-HSLS coalition Adlešič and Friščić declared this decision to be "very important and could influence their decision about who they will support". Adlešić added that Milanović is "much better premier candidate than Jurčić and that SDP would probably have better election results if Milanović made this decision earlier".
On 12 December it was announced that coalition talks between HDZ and the HSS-HSLS were close to completion and the odds of HSS-HSLS entering into discussions with SDP were announced by Božidar Pankretić as very low. Three days later, President Mesić held a second round of consultations with parliamentary parties and was reassured that HDZ and HSS-HSLS are finishing their negotiations. Mesić considered that a proof that Sanader had support of the majority of Sabor and handed him a mandate to form a government. Following that announcement, Milanović again reiterated that SDP still hasn't given up on forming a government. Sanader described this behaviour as "not fitting the democratic standards" and that president would have much easier job if SDP just acknowledged their defeat.
The first session of the newly elected parliament was called for 11 January 2008, and on 12 January, the parliament approved Sanader's cabinet.


John Farmery

John Farmery (1591–1647) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1640. He supported the Royalist side in the English Civil War.
Farmery was the son of William Farmery, Rector of Heapham, Lincolnshire and his wife Cassandra Newland of Hackney. He was baptised at Springthorpe, Lincolnshire on 24 February 1591. He matriculated from St John's College, Cambridge at Easter 1607. He was awarded BA in 1611 and MA in 1614 and LLD in 1620. In 1624, he was incorporated at Oxford University. He was admitted as an advocate on 6 May 1637 and was chancellor of the diocese of Lincoln.
In April 1640, Farmery was elected Member of Parliament for Lincoln in the Short Parliament. He received regimental command in the Royalist army in the civil war.
Farmery died at the age of 56.
Farmery married and left a son also named John.


Electoral registration officer

In the United Kingdom, an electoral registration officer (ERO) is a person who has the statutory duty to compile and maintain the electoral roll (which includes conducting the annual canvass). Any expenses incurred by an electoral registration officer in the performance of his/her functions are paid by the local authority which made the appointment, except in Northern Ireland, where the Chief Electoral Officer's expenses are covered by the Northern Ireland Office.
Appointment.
England.
In England, every district council is required to appoint an officer of the council to be the electoral registration officer. In the City of London, the Court of Common Council must appoint an officer as the electoral registration officer.
Northern Ireland.
In Northern Ireland, the Electoral Office for Northern Ireland (led by the Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland) is responsible for electoral registration.
Scotland.
In Scotland, every local authority is required to appoint an officer of that council or an adjoining council, or jointly appoint an officer in conjunction with other local authorities as the electoral registration officer.
Wales.
In Wales, every county borough council is required to appoint an officer of the council to be the electoral registration officer.


Hezekiah Haynes

Hezekiah Haynes (died 1693) supported the parliamentary cause during the English Civil War rising to the rank of major. During the Interregnum, under the patronage of his war time commander General Charles Fleetwood, he held a number of administrative posts in the under the early Commonwealth and Protectorate. He supported his old general during the late Commonwealth, and after spending 18 months in prison during the first couple of years of the Restoration, he retired to the family estate of Copford Hall in Essex.
Biography.
Haynes supported the parliamentary cause during the English Civil War. At the outbreak of war he took a captains commission in Colonel Holborne's regiment of foot. He transferred to Charles Fleetwood's cavalry regiment and by 1645 had risen to the rank of major. He fought at Battle of Preston in 1648, commanded the regiment at the Battle of Dunbar in 1650 and may well have fought at Worcester in the last battle of the Civil War.
During the Interregnum he held a number of administrative posts, all of them in and around his home region of East Anglia. From August 1655 until January 1657 while England and Wales were under the rule of the Major-Generals, he was a deputy to Charles Fleetwood, along with George Fleetwood and William Packer. Each carried out the day-to-day administration in different counties in the region assigned to their governor.
After the death of Oliver Cromwell, Haynes supported the Wallingford House party when they overthrew Richard Cromwell and in 1659 introduced the short lived second Commonwealth. In December, shortly before the Restoration, the Rump Parliament ordered him to leave London and return home, but he chose not to. In November 1660 he was arrested on suspicion of subversion, and held in the Tower of London for 18 months. He was released in April 1662 upon payment of a £5,000 bond for his future good behaviour. He retired to his family estate of Copford Hall and lived quietly until his death on 26 August 1693.
Family.
Haynes was the second son of John Haynes of Copford Hall in Essex and Mary Thornton, daughter of Robert Thornton of Nottingham. In the early 1650s he married Anne, daughter of Thomas Smithsby, the former saddler to Charles I. They had at least one son.
Haynes passed the family seat of Copford Hall over to his son in 1684, and moved to Coggeshall where he died in 1693.


Francesco Balducci Pegolotti

Francesco Balducci Pegolotti (fl. 1290 – 1347), also Francesco di Balduccio, was a Florentine merchant and politician.
Life.
His father, Balduccio Pegolotti, represented Florence in commercial negotiations with Siena in 1311. His brother, Rinieri di Balduccio, was suspected of connivance in the disappearance of a gold shipment in 1332.
Francesco Pegolotti himself was a businessman in the service of the Compagnia dei Bardi, and in this capacity we find him at Antwerp from 1315 (or earlier) to 1317. He was a director of the London office from 1317 to 1321, and is recorded (as Balduch) as having dealt directly with King Edward II. He was in Cyprus from 1324 to 1327, and again in 1335. In 1324 at Famagusta he negotiated a reduction of customs duties for the Compagnia dei Bardi and for those identified as Florentine merchants by the Bardi representative in the city. In 1335 he obtained from the King of Armenia a grant of privileges for Florentine trade. In 1331 and again in 1342 he was involved in Florentine politics as a "Gonfalionere di Compagnia"; in 1346 he held a higher position, "Gonfalionere di Giustizia". In 1347, when the Compagnia dei Bardi collapsed, Pegolotti was among those who dealt with the consequences of the bankruptcy.
Works.
Between 1335 and 1343 he compiled the work for which he is famous, the "Book of Descriptions of Countries and of Measures Employed in Business" (), commonly known as the "Practice of Commerce" (""). Beginning with a glossary of Italian and foreign terms then in use in trade, the "Practice" next describes nearly all the major trading cities then known to Italian merchants; the imports and exports of various regions; the business customs prevalent in each of those regions; and the comparative value of coinages, weights and measures. The most distant trade route described by Pegolotti is that from Azov via Astrakhan, Khiva, Otrar and Kulja to Beijing. He also details the route from Ayas on the Cilician coast of Turkey via Sivas, Erzingan and Erzerum to Tabriz in Persia.


Portuguese Democratic Labour Party

Portuguese Democratic Labour Party (in Portuguese: "Partido Trabalhista Democrático Português") was a centre-left political party in Portugal. PTDP was founded on May 3, 1974, the first political party to be formed after the Carnation Revolution. PTDP didn't make much impact however, and the party was never legally registered.


Burial sites of Serbian monarchs


Muscovite manorialism

The development of feudal society in the region of Rus' took a different course to that in Western Europe. In particular, under the version of manorialism practised in Rus', knights granted land by a prince were not bound in allegiance to that prince; and instead of serfdom much of the land was worked by a partially free peasant class ("smerd"). In consequence, there was no strong central monarchy able to resist invasions by the Poles, Norsemen, Tatars and Mongols. A strong central power emerged only later, particularly under Ivan III of Russia, which defeated the invaders, unified the territory of Rus', and laid claim to large areas of land.
Origins of Russian/Muscovite manorialism.
At the end of the first millennium AD, Europe was experiencing the full effects of the order and advances in social structure begun during the early Middle Ages; however, the structure and development(s) characterising medieval European society were not found beyond the Carpathian Mountains, and the region of Rus' remained as a disordered regionalist "state". The early development of feudal society in the absence of a strong central government helped the European states overcome the harshness experienced in the Dark Ages by enabling the creation of strong governments.
In Western Europe, a manorial (economic)/feudal (political) system was created, culminating in the full development of feudal society spreading across Europe and to England; a society which divided land, top to bottom, from the monarch to his immediate trustee or vassal, to the peasant or serf, who worked the fiefs in tribute, in return for protection from invaders. This symbiotic system created the first central governments throughout Christendom since the fall of Rome.
The history of Eastern Europe, Rus' in particular, was different. Due to the expansion of trade and its geographical proximity, Kiev became the most important trade center of Kievan Rus' and chief among the communes; therefore the leader of Kiev gained political "control" over the surrounding areas. This princedom emerged from a coalition of nuclear families banded together in an effort to increase the available workforce and expand the productivity of the land. This union developed the first major cities in Rus' and was the first notable form of self-government. As these communes became larger, the emphasis was taken off the family holdings and placed on the territory that surrounded them. This shift in ideology became known as the "verv"'.
The change in political structure led to the inevitable development of the peasant class or "smerds". "Smerds" were free peasants who found work by laboring for wages on the manors which began to develop around 1031 as the "verv'" began to dominate socio-political structure. "Smerds" were initially given equality in the Kievan law code, being theoretically equal to the prince, so they enjoyed as much freedom as can be expected of manual laborers. However, in the 13th century they began to slowly lose their rights and became less equal in the eyes of the law.
Contrasts between European feudalism and Kievan manorialism.
The major difference between the Kievan manorial system and European feudalism consists in the fact that lands granted by a prince to a knight held no obligation; that is to say if the knight wished to leave the service of the prince, who usually expected loyalty, he was able to do so with no obligation whatsoever and was also able to retain possession of the granted land. Therefore, the political structure created by Western European feudalism was not transferred to the Rus' by its manorial system. Rather, the manorial system was more of an economic control.
The manor owners in Rus' usually relied on direct production from their land and chose not to rent it out, which proved a stark contrast to feudal Europe in which by the High Middle Ages most of its land was claimed by monarchs, who in turn parceled it to vassals who rented the land to serfs. Even though it became increasingly common for one knight to have landholdings in several different princedoms, due to the use of direct production, the land of the Rus' was still largely in the hands of the peasants during the 12th century.
By 1100 it started to become more apparent that the "smerds" were considered lower than their totally independent counterparts in Europe (free traders); however, it is important to note the "smerds" still had much more freedom than the growing peon/serf class of Europe. Even though this indentured class grew greatly in numbers, the economy of Kievan Russia blossomed until 1125, the year of the death of Prince Vladimir Monomakh.
Through its history, the Kievan coalition inherited a tradition of lateral succession to the princedom; that is to say, that when a prince died, he was replaced by his brother, then he by the next brother, etc. with this repeating until the last brother was reached and then succession transferred back to the elder prince's son. Unfortunately for the Kievians, when Vladimir died, there was no clear line of succession and political infighting ensued; the resulting anarchy and civil war made trade difficult and invasion inevitable.
Politically, the structure of the Kievan Federation left the people without the tools necessary to ward off invaders and prosecute a winnable war. The aristocracy had no real power to deal with foreign states and there was no seat of true power as was found in feudal Europe. The Kievan Federation lacked the land-grant vassal—lord system which made England and France strong. In those two states, the king granted land to his loyal knights in return for cooperation, loyalty and tax revenue. The knight, or vassal, would then parcel the land out to renters or serfs, in order to bring in wealth. The king offered protection to the knight by control of an army to ward off invaders and the knight afforded safety to the serfs by local protection.
The Kievan federation, however, took the path of the German Empire and still contained characteristics of city-state independence; the individual family communes still thought of themselves as independent entities. In Europe as often happened, independent states often banded together and formed a strong central power in efforts to achieve a common goal, such as defense. Unfortunately for the people of Rus' they found themselves with no strong government, no clear successor, and no foreseeable way to ward off the invasions of its enemies. It would not take long for sorties in the north and west by the Norse and Poles to begin the weakening of the Kievan state to a point where the Tatars were able to conquer the country unopposed.
Tatar invasions.
1237 marked the beginning of a period of decline for the Rus', as both a culture and as a people. The first through Fourth Crusade, which effectively halted trade with the Byzantine Empire and cut off the Middle Eastern trade routes, began the decline of Kievan importance. The Mongol invasion of 1237 also helped mark the passing of free Kievian society. The Tatars sacked Kiev and all major towns; their practice of total destruction led to the dismemberment of the Kievian princedom and an end to Russian society as their people knew it. With the annihilation of Kiev and every city west of it all the way into Central Europe, Russian trade with the west and south was curtailed. With the destruction of its trade base and its trade routes curtailed, Kiev's role as an important seat of power ended. The people found it necessary to move to the northeast where they found a new home in the princedoms of the upper Volga River and Oka River.
As the invading Mongols ravaged the countryside, entire populations were wiped out. The peasant and serf classes were nearly destroyed en totalium; the continuation of the historical family commune social structure was broken and proved ineffective for large-scale governmental control. Most of the minor princedoms were destroyed. Most cities in the Rus' were razed and the population found it necessary to flee to the northeast in hopes of escaped the wrath of the Golden Horde.
As the Golden Horde expanded across Asia, the Khanate found it necessary to incorporate different governing aspects of the peoples it conquered; from these, much was taken from the Chinese. Their philosophy on autocratic dual government was carried from the Tatar state all the way to Muscovite Rus'. The ruling Khanate injected the Mongol governing ideology into the Rus', formed its princes to this mold and exacted control on the society as dictated by their synthesized theorem of government and established dominance over the Rus' political structure.
The Mongols realized the importance of cultural assimilation and local government. Mongols borrowed the political and cultural ideas from the societies they conquered. The Qipchaq idea of dual government, a principle of dual civil-military administration used to affect control over a large area, was initially developed by the Han Chinese. Han civil code, with the synthesis of Islamic iqtā, a system of decentralized cavalry control (power dispersion), proved to be an effective way of governing the Mongols' empire. After the death of Genghis Khan it was obvious the succeeding khans needed to implement effective government control over their subjects; the importance of local government, run by the natives, became evident.
By the early 14th century, the Prince of Moscow was seen as one of the chief princes of the Rus', and by the late 14th century recognized as the chief prince of Rus', or Grand Prince. Consequently, the Khanate granted him the governing power of the Mongolian basqaqs, or governor. Power was laid to the prince to collect taxes and use military force to maintain order. When the Khan was thoroughly convinced the Grand Prince could perform all the duties of the basqaqs effectively, he was given total control and the Mongol basqaqs were withdrawn from the Rus'. Although the Khan removed his governors due to acquiescence and acceptance of Qipachaq authority, he did maintain an envoy to the Rus' to keep open dialogue with the Grand Prince. In concession to the khan for this near autonomy, a monetary payment based on population, military service and of course compliance to Qipachaq whim was demanded. In effect the Rus' was commanded as a tribute state to the Mongol Empire.
Taking advantage of a peaceful situation with the Mongols, the Grand Prince was able to look again to his princedom and began extending his power further from Moscow. Grand Princes of Moscow ruled the Rus' for much of the rest of the century in near peace. As the Grand Princes extended their power, land ownership was assuming a more dominant role in deciding one's true worth in the social strata. Throughout the 14th and 15th centuries there were no restrictions on land ownership, as men of every class were able to hold a piece of dirt and call the other their equal. Since primary production was still the chief means of working the land, the serf class, as was seen in England, did not develop quickly. Instead the land was worked by the owner and his family, slaves, and those he paid for labor.
Internal consolidation of power accompanied outward expansion of the Rus' state. Even though the occurrences of private land ownership were increasing, the Grand Prince and his subservient princes considered all the lands of their realms their personal property. Traditionally the Grand Prince was forced to recognize private ownership of land, because the prince was not able to wield enough power to push his belief in supreme ownership. Later, when the Grand Prince was able to consolidate power, the idea of princely land ownership would not be forgotten and would have consequences on the future.
End of Mongol domination.
It was under Grand Prince Dmitri Donskoy (1359–1389) that the Grand Prince of Moscow became strong enough to fight the Mongols and win. In 1378, self-assured in his power, he stopped paying tribute. Pro-Byzantine and pro-Mongol factions began to develop among the people. Some saw the Byzantine Church and the Byzantine Emperor as the direction the Rus' should take; one not allowing for Tatar administrative and military dominance. The others saw the Mongols as a supreme way to organize and stay away from non-secular governmental influences.
Helping the Rus' cause, in the time of Dmitri and his successor Vasili I (1389–1425), was the fact that the Golden Horde was crippled, first by a civil war, then by a devastating invasion by Tamerlane. Afterwards, Vasili I never paid full tribute, rather, he just sent the Khan "gifts" when he cared to. The next prince, Vasili II (1425–1462), reversed the roles of lord & vassal by putting a Mongol prince in charge of one of his cities.
By the time of Ivan III of Russia's ascension to power, various semi-independent princes still claimed specific territories, but he forced the lesser princes to acknowledge the Grand Prince of Moscow and his descendants as unquestioned rulers with control over military, judicial, and foreign affairs. Ivan also (strongly) implemented the philosophy of all the land being the Grand Prince's personal property.
Ivan III also reorganized the land of Rus' in such a way as to impose his power and authority over Muscovy. Among his most important accomplishments was the unification under Moscow of the entire Rus'. Much like his predecessors, Ivan used every trick imaginable to gain more land: cash purchase, inheritance, forced treaties, and of course war. He started by buying Yaroslavl in 1463, and Rostov in 1474. He also conquered Tver in 1485, and persuaded many Russian nobles in Grand Duchy of Lithuania to transfer their allegiance to Ivan; this move started the rolling back of the Polish-Lithuanian frontier. Before Ivan III assumed the crown of Moscow, most of the land of Russia was in the hands of a small group of men; twenty-seven men controlled one third of the land not owned by the Church (when he died, Ivan passed to his son Vasili III, a great nation covering 55,000 square miles).
In 1480 Ivan was able to cause a withdrawal of the Mongols horde along the banks of the Ugra River, marking an end to Rus' Tatar domination; while not a true battle, this pseudo-battle was probably the most important fight for early Muscovy.
Perhaps Ivan's greatest triumph, other than backing down the Khan, was the conquest of Novgorod, the last stronghold of Kievian Russian culture. "Lord Novgorod the Great" had always been the largest Russian city-state, with colonies in Finland and even the northern Urals. Ivan's covetous eye upon Novgorod's wealth, combined with large numbers of Muscovites moving to Novgorod's lands in the Urals, brought a war in 1478.
Between 1484 and 1505 Ivan III systematically took all the land of Novgorod's aristocracy. As his personal land holdings increased (read the size of Rus'), it became ever obvious to Ivan that the administration system of the land would have to be altered to suit such holdings. He also began to realize the importance of a true national army. To remedy both situations he began settling his devoted warriors in Novgorod, about twenty-three thousand in all. He vested the warriors with ample estates in return for devoted military service. By doing this, Ivan planted the first true roots of feudalism in Rus'.
He also broke the European tradition of only giving fiefs to aristocratic knights. Perhaps 60 percent of his new estate holders were regular servicemen where only five percent were formerly aristocratic. His "pomestie" system became the new norm for the administration of land in Rus'. Land parcels were rented to serfs and peasants in return for their labor and service to Ivan III's vassal. Peasants soon had restrictions removed on free movement and began to see their rights increase at a steady rate.
In contrast to Europe where feudalism created a strong central power, it took a strong central power to develop feudalism in Rus'. The main conclusion that can be drawn from the history of Rus' expansion and power consolidation from the time of Kiev until the founding of the czar is that a lack of true central power weakened and doomed the Rus' to outside domination. In Rus' the system of landlord/worker, loosely called feudalism, developed "after" a strong central power was established. Lacking a feudal system of vassal loyalty made it impossible for any prince, early on, to gain enough influence and power to project a strong force against any invaders.


Spanish royal family

The House of Borbón-Anjou, or simply House of Borbón (), is the reigning royal house of the Kingdom of Spain. The current Spanish royal family consists of the present king, King Felipe VI, the queen consort, Queen Letizia, their children Leonor, Princess of Asturias and Infanta Sofía of Spain, and the king's parents, King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofía. The House of Borbón-Anjou is a branch of the House of Bourbon that descends from Philip V of Spain. The royal family lives at Zarzuela Palace in Madrid, although their official residence is the Royal Palace of Madrid.
Titles and styles.
The titles and styles of the Royal Family are as follows:
Public role.
Members of the Spanish Royal Family are often asked by non-profit charitable, cultural, or religious organizations within and without Spain to become their patrons, a role the Spanish constitution recognizes and codified in Title II Article 62 (j). It is incumbent for the monarch "to exercise the High Patronage of the Royal Academies". Royal patronage conveys a sense of official credibility as the organization is scrutinized for suitability. A royal presence often greatly raises the profile of the organization and attracts media publicity and public interest that the organization may not have otherwise garnered, aiding in the charitable cause or cultural event. Royalty make use of their considerable celebrity to assist the organization to raise funds or to promote government policy.
Additionally, members of the royal family may also pursue their own charitable and cultural interests. Queen Sofía devotes much of her time to the Queen Sofia Foundation ("Fundación Reina Sofía"); while Leonor, Princess of Asturias presents the annual Princess of Asturias Awards ("Premios Princesa de Asturias"), which aims to promote "scientific, cultural and humanistic values that form part of mankind's universal heritage." The Princess of Asturias Foundation ("Fundación Princesa de Asturias") holds the annual Princess of Asturias Awards acknowledging the contributions of individuals, entities, and/or organizations from around the world who make notable achievements in the sciences, humanities, or public affairs.
King Felipe VI serves as president of the Organization of Ibero-American States which hosts the annual Ibero-American Summit, serves as president of the Codespa Foundation, which finances specific economic and social development activities in Latin American and other countries, and serves as president of the Spanish branch of the Association of European Journalists, which is composed of achieving communications professionals. King Felipe VI also serves as honorary chair of the Ministry of Culture National Awards Ceremonies.
Infanta Elena, Duchess of Lugo, Juan Carlos' elder daughter, is the Director of Cultural and Social Projects of Mapfre Foundation, while Infanta Cristina, Juan Carlos' younger daughter, served as the Goodwill Ambassador to the United Nations for the 2nd World Assembly on Ageing, and is a member of the Dali Foundation Board of Trustees, president of the International Foundation for Disabled Sailing, and Director of Social Welfare at the La Caixa Foundation in Barcelona where she lives with her family.
King Juan Carlos, Queen Sofia, and Infanta Cristina are all members of the Bilderberg Group, an informal think-tank centered on United States and European relations, and other world issues.


Sir Thomas Baring, 2nd Baronet

Sir Thomas Baring, 2nd Baronet (12 June 1772 – 3 April 1848), was a British banker and Member of Parliament.
Early life.
Baring was born on 12 June 1772. A member of the Baring family, he was the eldest son of Harriet (née Herring) Baring and Sir Francis Baring, 1st Baronet, founder of Barings Bank.
His grandfather, John (Johann) Baring, had emigrated from Germany and established the family in England. His maternal grandfather was merchant William Herring of Croydon and among his mother's family was her cousin, Thomas Herring, Archbishop of Canterbury.
Career.
From 1790 and 1801, he worked with the Honourable East India Company. Thomas became a partner in Baring Brothers & Co. in 1804, remaining until 1809. Upon his father's death in, 1810, he succeeded Sir Francis Baring, 1st Baronet.
After his early career with the bank, Sir Thomas was elected a British Member of Parliament for the constituencies of High Wycombe and Hampshire until 1831.
From 1832 to 1833 he was the chairman of the London and South Western Railway. He was president of the London Institution and Director of the British Institution. In June 1841, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.
Personal life.
On 3 September 1794, he married Mary Ursula Sealy (1774–1846) in Calcutta, India. Mary was the daughter of Charles Sealy. Together, they were the parents of four sons and five daughters, including:
On 3 April 1848, aged 75, he died at his residence Stratton Park House, East Stratton, Hampshire. He was succeeded in the baronetcy by his eldest son who was later raised to the peerage in 1866 as Baron Northbrook.


Kemathen warrior

The Kemathen warrior was a Germanic mercenary in the service of the Roman Army who lived in the Limes foreland near the present-day German town of Kemathen and was honored in the Upper Bavarian district of Eichstätt. The individual grave, which was discovered in 1990, contained not only parts of the skeleton of the 30-year-old man, but also numerous grave goods that distinguish him as a Roman officer as well as a Germanic chieftain. His skeleton and the grave finds, together with a faithful replica of the tomb, are in the Roman and Bavarian Museum in Kipfenberg.
Location of the grave.
The warrior grave was discovered on September 28, 1990 on the occasion of a land consolidation measure in the corridor of Kemathen, a district of the Kipfenberg market. It is located in the Altmühltal approx. 25 km north of the then Roman imperial border, which at that time was relocated back to the Danube. The site is centrally located in the distribution area of the group, an archaeological group of finds in 5th century Bohemia and Bavaria.
Funeral.
In contrast to the usual cremation, the man received an elaborate body burial in a richly furnished individual grave. This illustrates the prominent social position of the dead. The wooden chamber grave was originally covered by a hill and therefore clearly visible to everyone. It was located on the edge of a settlement that existed at the same time and had a size of almost 3 m2. The dead person was laid down in a stretched supine position almost north–south, with the head facing north. He was originally bedded on an animal skin, in full gear and clothing.
Equipment of the grave.
The man's clothing and grave goods are culturally inconsistent and point to both Germanic and Roman customs. On the left side of the dead man lay a three-inch long, wide iron sword, which was sheathed and encircled by his left arm. In the area of the sword hilt a sword pearl was found, which was cut in the shape of a disk from the rose of a deer antler. The sword came from a Roman workshop.
On his left ring finger he wore a ring made of spirally wound, strong silver wire. Next to it was a two-row crest and a chert artifact that had once served as a flint. Both were probably kept in a belt pouch that has not been preserved. The dead man wore a 10 cm wide, magnificent Roman military belt with bronze fittings, which was made in northeastern Gaul and subsequently repaired and supplemented in Raetia near the burial site.
A simple iron brooch was found on his right shoulder that held his coat together. On the back there was a pocket with an iron knife. The shield was placed above the head, of which only the handle and the conical shield boss have been preserved. They are both made of iron, with the tip of the shield boss made of bronze. There were also iron fittings at the head end, which presumably came from an "officers' box".
Also on the left side of the body were the food additions, somewhat separated: the bones of a young pig. A 18.5 cm high Roman pointed beaker with a thread layer made of greenish-yellow glass. Five handmade, dark brown to black clay vessels. Two vessels, a mug, a plate with a stand ring and a large bowl of the Friedenhain type. The latter has inclined fluting on the fold, the raised ribs of which are profiled.
Temporal and biographical classification.
The Kemethan warrior served in the late Roman army, returned to the border region north of the Danube and was buried there around 100 years before the Baiuwaren were even mentioned. The warrior grave in Kemathen is the first body grave to be found by the Friedenhain group in Bavaria. However, whether the Friedenhain group is the origin of the Bavarians is a traditional hypothesis that is being questioned by modern research.
Presentation of the excavation finds In order to present the excavation finds, the Roman and Bavarian Museum was founded at kipfenberg Castle. Since 1999 it has been showing the original finds and the reconstructed skeleton from the warrior grave in Kemathen as well as a true-to-original replica of the grave complex. In addition, excavation finds from the area of the Böhming Roman fort and a model of this fort are shown in the museum.


Canadians in Turkey

There are over 1,100 Canadians living in Turkey, the majority of which are based in Ankara and Istanbul according to the Registration of Canadians Abroad (ROCA) and the local Canadian embassy and consulates in the country. In recent years, the number of Canadians settling within Turkey has seen a sharp rise with the country continuing to be one of the fastest-rising destinations for Canadians heading overseas. The growing figures have been linked as a proponent for the skyrocketing ratio of Canadian tourists choosing to visit Turkey each year. In 2009, approximately 150,000 Canadians had been to Turkey, an increase from the 39,000 in 1995.
There are a number of community organisations and set-ups, such as the Professional American Women of Istanbul (PAWI), a network of American and Canadian women living in Istanbul and The Professional and Fabulous (PAF) group, which is a breakaway from the former and also mostly made up of expatriate women of U.S. and Canadian origin living in Turkey.
Notable people.
Notable Canadians who have lived in Turkey include:


Chaloner Arcedeckne

Chaloner Arcedeckne ( – 20 December 1809), MP was an English politician and a Jamaican slave-holder and landowner during British rule.
Biography.
He descended from the Arcedecknes, an Anglo-Irish family who arrived in Suffolk and made it their home. His father, Andrew Arcedeckne (d. Jamaica, 17 August 1763) of Gurnamone, County Galway, was Attorney General of Jamaica, and he established Jamaica's Golden Grove slave-worked sugar plantation in 1734. His mother was Elizabeth Kersey (b. Jamaica; d. circa 1743). A creole, Arcedeckne was educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford.
Arcedeckne inherited the property in Jamaica from his father. Benjamin Cowell, Arcedeckne's brother-in-law, was his business partner, arranging the insurance for sugar cargoes shipped to England from Golden Grove. As an absentee proprietor, Arcedeckne also depended upon the Jamaican estate attorney, Simon Taylor (sugar planter), who went on to become the wealthiest sugar planter in Jamaica. As an attorney, Taylor was Arcedeckne's "most frequent client and correspondent".
Sir John Blois, 5th Baronet lent Cockfield Hall to Arcedeckne in the 1770s for 21 years, after which Arcedeckne built Glevering Hall as his seat in 1794. In 1780, he became MP for Wallingford and, in 1784, he sat for Westbury, resigning from the latter by becoming Steward of the Manor of East Hendred. He was High Sheriff of Suffolk during the period of 1797–98.
Arcedeckne died on 20 December 1809. He had married Catherine, daughter and coheir of John Leigh of Northcourt Manor, Isle of Wight. They had four children, sons Andrew and Chaloner, and daughters, Frances-Katherine and Mary-Louisa. His son, Andrew was also an MP.


Armenians in Turkey

Armenians in Turkey (; , "Turkish Armenians"), one of the indigenous peoples of Turkey, have an estimated population of 50,000 to 70,000, down from more than 1 million to 2 million Armenians in the year 1914. Today, the overwhelming majority of Turkish Armenians are concentrated in Istanbul. They support their own newspapers, churches and schools, and the majority belong to the Armenian Apostolic faith and a minority of Armenians in Turkey belong to the Armenian Catholic Church.
Until the Armenian Genocide of 1915, most of the Armenian population of Turkey (then the Ottoman Empire) lived in the eastern parts of the country that Armenians call Western Armenia (roughly corresponding to the modern Eastern Anatolia Region).
History.
Armenians living in Turkey today are a remnant of what was once a much larger community that existed for thousands of years, long before the establishment of the Sultanate of Rum. Estimates for the number of Armenian citizens of the Ottoman Empire in the decade before World War I range between 1.3 (official Ottoman data) and 3 million (independent estimates).
When Constantinople finally became part of the Ottoman Empire, financial support was given to the Apostolic Church by the Sultan, so it could build churches in the city, which prior to that the Byzantines refused as they viewed the church as heretical. Armenians in the Ottoman Empire were viewed as a separate millet, and given the status of second-class citizens, but were not usually mistreated until later in the empire's history. Many Armenians gained significant positions in the empire in professions such as banking, which they almost had a monopoly in. The oldest Turkish company, Zildjian, was founded by an Armenian.
Starting in the late 19th century, political instability, dire economic conditions, and continuing ethnic tensions prompted the emigration of as many as 100,000 Armenians to Europe, the Americas and the Middle East. This massive exodus from the Ottoman Empire is what started the modern Armenian diaspora worldwide.
There was conflict between Armenians and Turks between 1892 and 1915. The Armenian Genocide followed in 1915–1916 until 1918, during
which the Ottoman government of the time ordered the deportation and killing of more than 1 million Armenians. These measures affected an estimated 75–80% of all the Armenians living in the
Ottoman Empire during World War I. Many died directly through Ottoman massacres, while others died as a result of dehydration, disease, and starvation during the death marches and in the Syrian Desert, and even more due to Kurdish raids on fleeing refugees during the death marches.
As for the remaining Armenians in the east, they found refuge by 1917–1918 in the Caucasus and within the areas controlled by the newly established Democratic Republic of Armenia. They never returned to their original homes in today's Eastern Turkey (composed of six vilayets, Erzurum, Van, Bitlis, Diyarbakır, Mamuretülaziz, and Sivas).
Their descendants are known as Hidden Armenians and are present throughout Western Armenia, but particularly in Dersim (Tunceli). Through the 20th century, an unknown number of Armenians living in the mountainous region of Dersim converted to Alevism. During the Armenian Genocide, many of the Armenians in the region were saved by their Kurdish neighbors. According to Mihran Prgiç Gültekin, the head of the Union of Dersim Armenians, around 75% of the population of Dersim are "converted Armenians." He reported in 2012 that over 200 families in Tunceli have declared their Armenian descent, but others are afraid to do so. In April 2013, Aram Ateşyan, the acting Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople, stated that 90% of Tunceli's population is of Armenian origin.
Most of the Armenian survivors from Cilicia and the southernmost areas with Armenians like Diyarbakır ended up in northern Syria and the Middle East. All those who survived the death camps in/deportations to Deir ez-Zor ended up there as well. Armenians deported from areas that were under allied control by 1918, particularly the short lived French Mandate, which had control of southeastern Turkey and all of Cilicia according to the Sykes–Picot Agreement, were able to return to their homes to gather things or search for loved ones. After the fall of French Cilicia, Some of those returnees attempted to stay permanently after the Turks gained the territory back, but were all driven away by the early 1930s due to various reasons. Those who left the Mandate ended up in Syria, France, Armenia, the Americas and the rest of Europe, in that order. The Armenian population suffered a final blow with ongoing massacres and atrocities throughout the period 1920–1923, during the Turkish War of Independence. Those suffering the most were those Armenians remaining in the east and the south of Turkey, and the Pontic Greeks in the Black Sea Region.
By the end of the 1920s, only a sprinkling of non-converted Armenians left in Turkey were scattered sparsely throughout the country, with the only viable Armenian population remaining in Istanbul and its environs, Diyarbakir and Malatya, with those largely disappearing due to the Turkey-PKK War necessitating their migration to Istanbul. At the time of the establishment of the Republic of Turkey, Hatay Province was part of Syria, and is why that area still has some established and officially recognized Armenian communities.
Demographics.
Due to events in Turkey during the last century Turkish Armenians were killed, forced into hiding, and forcibly converted to Islam, which therefore split them into different groups. There are three groups- Armenian Christians, Crypto Armenians, and Muslim Armenians. Christian Armenians are in most cases part of the recognized minority, but can also include Crypto Armenians who are not legally recognized as Armenian but identify as both Armenian and Christian, and Armenian immigrants to Turkey. Crypto Armenians are Armenians who are legally identified as Turks and are either Christian and openly recognize their identity, hide their identity and either practice Crypto-Christianity or Islam, Openly identify as Armenian but are Muslim, or don't know about their ethnicity at all. The combined total of all Armenians in Turkey is unknown, because the number of people who are Crypto Armenian is hard to determine, with numbers ranging from as low as 30,000 to several million depending on how broad the standards were to be considered Crypto Armenian in the studies made. However, the combined total of immigrant Armenians and those in the recognized minority would be estimated at 150–170,000. Another statistic could be the number of people who are members of the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople, being at 95,000.
Armenian Christians.
The officially recognized Armenian Christian population is estimated to be between 50,000 and 70,000, mostly living in Istanbul and its environs. They are almost always members of the Armenian Apostolic, Armenian Catholic or Armenian Evangelical churches. The number of Armenian Christians is both diminishing due to emigration to Europe, the Americas and Australia, and increasing due to immigrants from Armenia looking for work (who are entirely Christian), and Crypto-Armenians who decide to identify openly as Armenians and convert to Christianity. However, most of that growth is not reflected in official data, because Crypto-Armenians are not listed as part of the recognized Armenian minority due to Turkish laws on the officially recognized (Armenians, Greeks, and Jews) minorities, which doesn't allow newly identified Armenians to change their Turkish identities they were given at birth. As for Armenian immigrants, most are unable to join the minority because they are illegal immigrants. Due to those factors, the de jure number of Armenian Christians is much lower than the de facto amount.
The Armenian minority is recognized as a separate "millet" in the Turkish system and has its own religious, cultural, social and educational institutions along with a distinct media. The Turkish Armenian community struggles to keep its own institutions, media and schools open due to diminishing demand from emigration and quite considerable economic sacrifices.
Regions with Armenian Christians.
Istanbul.
The Armenian Community of Istanbul is the largest in Turkey, a catalyst being due to the fact that it was the only place that Armenian Christians were at least somewhat protected at the time of the creation of Turkey post Armenian Genocide. Other factors included the Patriarchate having its headquarters in the city, and the city's economy and quality of life attracting Armenian immigrants which allowed for the community to keep stable numbers in the face of discrimination and constant migration.
The three most important areas where Armenians live in Istanbul are the Kumkapı quarter, Yeşilköy and Pangalti neighborhoods, as well as the Prince Islands. Kumkapi is the location of the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople, and is known for its many fish restaurants and historic Churches. One of the main differences between the areas is that Kumkapi is Apostolic, While Pangalti has a mix of Armenian and Roman Catholic, and Yesilköy is mostly Armenian Catholic, Roman Catholic and Syriac Orthodox. Kumkapi is also located in the Old city, while Pangalti is in the newer part, and Yesilköy is a neighborhood within Greater Istanbul next to the outer walls of the Fatih District.
Hatay Province.
Iskenderun has one small Armenian church, and a community of a few dozen Armenians.
Vakıflı Köyü (Armenian: — Vakif) is the only remaining fully ethnic Armenian village in Turkey. This village and 6 others managed to brave past the Armenian Genocide in the Musa Dagh Defense. This particular village only exists as of now due to some of the population deciding to stay after Hatay province was invaded and annexed by Turkey in 1939, while the other 6 villages populations decided to leave. It is located on the slopes of Musa Dagh in the Samandağ district of Hatay Province, the village overlooks the Mediterranean Sea and is within eyesight of the Syrian border. It is home to a community of about 130 Turkish-Armenians, and around 300 people who are from the village who come back to visit during the summer.
Immigration from Armenia.
The Christian Armenian presence in Turkey is reinforced by a constant flow of mostly illegal immigrants from Armenia who settle in Turkey in search of better job opportunities, where the difference in pay can be quite significant. Despite a negative public opinion in Armenia of "an Armenian who works for a Turk" as a result of the century-long uneasy relationship between the two countries, by 2010, there were between 22,000 and 25,000 Armenian citizens living illegally in Istanbul alone, according to Turkish officials, and an estimated total amount of 100,000. Many of them are employed in Turkish households to provide domestic services, such as cooking and cleaning. According to a 2009 interview poll of 150 Armenian work migrants, the majority are women. In 2010, amid Armenia's push for the recognition of the 1915 Armenian genocide as a genocide, Prime Minister Erdoğan threatened to deport the illegal immigrants back to Armenia, however the situation gradually thawed. Some Armenian immigrants do not discuss ever returning to their homeland having adapted to life in Turkey. Beginning in 2011, children of the Armenian citizens living illegally in Istanbul have been allowed to attend local Armenian minority schools, but as they are not Turkish citizens, they do not receive diplomas at the end of the school term. According to the researcher Alin Ozinian number of Armenians living illegally in Turkey (in 2009) is 12,000 to 13,000 and not 70,000 to 100,000 as has previously been estimated. Aris Nalci, a journalist working for the newspaper Agos, gave a little bit higher numbers, between 12,000 and 14,000 (in 2010).
Diyarbakir Province.
Diyarbakir (or Amida/Tigranakert) has three operating Armenian churches as of 2015- one Apostolic, one Catholic, and one Protestant- The largest amount for any city in Turkey excluding Istanbul. The city's modern Armenian community was established in the 1920s and 30s when all the Armenians that still lived in the surrounding areas consolidated by moving to Amida, forming a community consisting of 30 families in the 1980s in Sur, the historic district of Diyarbakir. It could also be assumed that many Crypto Armenians have been living here as well, because when the Apostolic church was restored in 2011 after years of abandonment, several thousand people came to celebrate mass there, including diasporans. In 2017, the Southeastern third of Sur district was leveled due to being occupied by Kurdish Insurgents. The Armenian Church was raided by what is suspected to be Grey Wolves after most of the residents of Sur were forced to leave, and the district was occupied by the Turkish Army. This part of the district is being rebuilt and resold to Turkish and foreign investors.
Muslim Armenians.
Hemshins.
Also in Turkey are the Hopa Hemshinli (also designated occasionally as eastern Hemshinli in publications) are Sunni Muslims of Armenian origin and culture who converted to Islam during Ottoman and earlier rule, and mostly live in the Hopa and Borçka counties of Turkey's Artvin Province. In addition to Turkish, they speak a dialect of western Armenian they call "Homshetsma" or "Hemşince" in Turkish.
Other Armenians.
Crypto Armenians.
Hidden Armenians or crypto-Armenians is an umbrella term to describe people in Turkey "of full or partial ethnic Armenian origin who generally conceal their Armenian identity from wider Turkish society." They are descendants of Armenians in Turkey who were Islamized and Turkified under the threat of either death, displacement, loss of property or a combination of those during the Armenian Genocide.
Ways in which they were converted included orphans being taken in by Muslim families, Armenian women being taken as wives by soldiers, and entire families converting by joining communities that accepted them.
Many Cryptos are totally unaware of their Armenian ethnicity, living as Turks or Kurds, while many know they are Armenian but hide it out of fear of discrimination.
Religious affiliation.
Considering the advanced nature of Crypto Armenians, They cannot be classified as either Muslim or Christian. Some practice Crypto-Christianity, masquerading as Muslims, while many genuinely practice Islam. Most Cryptos who later identify as Armenians are Christian as well, with a common practice among those who confess their ethnicity being to have a Christian baptism performed. Still, some who confess do not change their religion, and continue on as Muslims. Others even practice both faiths depending on where they are. That may just be due to a lack of churches, and for identified Armenians who are Muslim, a fear of Turkish extremists.
Politics.
The traditional Armenian political parties were known to be very active in Armenian-Turkish political life from the 1890s to 1915 at least and this included the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF - Dashnagtsutiun), the Social Democrat Hunchakian Party (Hunchak) and the Armenakan Party, the predecessor of the Armenian Democratic Liberal Party (Ramgavar Party). But the activities of all these Armenian parties were curtailed after 1915, and ethnic-based political parties as well as religious-based political parties are "de jure" prohibited in Turkey.
Some point to the fact that in the early 1920s, there were a number of Armenians in Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's movement, even actively aiding him in his Turkish National Movement and supporting his Kemalist ideology and secular movement. The Armenians perceived in the secular state established by Atatürk a way of survival for the remnants of Armenians still in Turkey.
The wealth tax known as Varlık Vergisi, a Turkish tax levied on the wealthy citizens of Turkey by a law enacted on November 11, 1942, with the stated aim of raising funds for the country's defense in case of an eventual entry into World War II had devastating effect on the ethnic minorities of Turkey, and most importantly the Armenian community. The draconian law came under harsh criticism, as property holders had to sell a lot of their assets at greatly deflated prices or such assets were confiscated by the authorities. The unpopular law was abolished on March 15, 1944.
The Armenians of Turkey were also highly critical of the activist role that the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA), the Justice Commandos Against Armenian Genocide (JCAG), Armenian Revolutionary Army (ARA) and other Armenian guerrilla organizations played in targeting Turkish diplomats and interests worldwide at the height of their anti-Turkish campaign in the 1970s and 1980s. The fears of the Turkish Armenians were justified with the fact that at many times, Turkish-Armenian institutions and even religious centers were targeted by threats and actual bombings in retaliation of the acts of ASALA, JCAG, ARA and others.
The Turkish-Armenian Artin Penik committed suicide in 1982 by self-immolation in protest of the terrorist attack on 7 August 1982 in Ankara's Esenboğa International Airport by the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia. Penik died five days after he set himself on fire in Taksim plaza, the main square of Istanbul, Turkey, and his stance was reflected by the Turkish mass media as a protest of most Turkish-Armenians against such attacks. Nine people had been killed and more than 70 wounded in the attack on the Turkish airport.
Another turbulent point for the Armenian community of Turkey was the highly publicized public trial of the Armenian gunman and one of the perpetrators of the attack, the 25-year-old Levon Ekmekjian, who was found guilty and eventually hanged at Ankara's civilian prison on January 30, 1983. He had been sentenced to death in September 1982 after having confessed that he had carried out the airport attack with another gunman on behalf of ASALA, and despite the fact that he publicly condemned violent acts during his own trial and appealed to the Armenian militants to stop the violence.
The Turkish Armenian Reconciliation Commission (TARC) was set up in July 2001 a joint project of a number of Turkish and Armenian intellectuals and political experts to discuss various aspects of the Turkish-Armenian relations and approving a set of recommendations to the governments of Turkey and Armenia on how to improve the strained relations between the two countries.
Thousands of Turks joined Turkish intellectuals in publicly apologizing for the World War I era mass killings and deportations of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire. The unprecedented apology was initiated by a group of 200 Turkish academics, journalists, writers and artists disagreeing with the official Turkish version of what many historians consider the first genocide of the 20th century. Their petition, entitled "I apologize", was posted on a special website https://web.archive.org/web/20150815013428/http://www.ozurdiliyoruz.com/.
On the occasion of a World Cup qualifying match between the two national football teams of Turkey and Armenia in the Armenian capital Yerevan, and following the Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan's invitation to attend the match, on 6 September 2008, the Turkish President Abdullah Gül paid a breakthrough landmark visit to Armenia that he said "promises hope for the future" for the two countries. The Armenian president Sargsyan will reciprocate the visit to Turkey during 2009.
Local politics.
The Armenians in Turkey used to be active in Turkish politics. The Turkish-Armenian Sarkis "Aghparik" Cherkezian and Aram Pehlivanyan (Nickname: Ahmet Saydan) played a pivotal role in the founding of the Communist Party of Turkey. There used to be Armenian activists in many other Turkish political parties as well. In 2015, three Turkish-Armenians, Garo Paylan (Peoples' Democratic Party), Markar Esayan (Justice and Development Party), and Selina Özuzun Doğan (Republican People's Party)—were elected, and became the first Armenians to be elected as Member of Parliament to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey since 1961.
Hrant Dink, the Turkish-Armenian journalist, writer and political activist, and the chief editor and publisher of Agos had carved himself a position of that of a very prominent figure for conveying the ideas and aspirations of the Armenian community in Turkey not only for Turkish-Armenians but for many Armenians worldwide. His newspaper "Agos" had played an important role in presenting Armenian historical grievances through publishing of articles and opinions in the Turkish language addressed to the Turkish public opinion. His assassination in front of his newspaper offices on January 19, 2007 turned into an occasion for expression of national grief throughout Turkey and the rallying of great support for the concerns of the Armenian community in Turkey by the general Turkish public.
Dink was best known for advocating Turkish-Armenian reconciliation and human and minority rights in Turkey; he was often critical of both Turkey's denial of the Armenian Genocide, and of the Armenian diaspora's campaign for its international recognition. Dink was prosecuted three times for denigrating Turkishness, while receiving numerous death threats from Turkish nationalists. At his funeral, one hundred thousand mourners marched in protest of the assassination, chanting "We are all Armenians" and "We are all Hrant Dink". Criticism of Article 301 became increasingly vocal after his death, leading to parliamentary proposals for repeal of the law.
Religion.
Religious affiliation.
Virtually all Armenians who are officially registered as part of the Armenian Minority are Christians, and are either of the Armenian Apostolic, Catholic, or less commonly Protestant denominations. The religion of others and those not officially part of the minority is elaborated on in the Demographics section.
Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople.
The Armenian Patriarchate of Istanbul (officially Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople) is, since 1461, the religious head of the Armenian community in Turkey. The Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople has exerted a very significant political role earlier and today still exercises a spiritual authority, which earns it considerable respect among Orthodox churches. The Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople recognizes the primacy of the Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, in the spiritual and administrative headquarters of the Armenian Church, the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, Vagharshapat, Republic of Armenia, in matters that pertain to the worldwide Armenian Church. In local matters, the Patriarchal See is autonomous.
Archbishop Patriarch Mesrob II Mutafyan of Constantinople is the 84th Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople under the authority of the Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians.
Armenian Catholic Archdiocese of Constantinople.
The Armenian Catholic Archdiocese of Constantinople is based in Istanbul and in 2008 reported 3,650 followers.
Christmas date, etiquette and customs.
Armenians celebrate Christmas at a date later than most of the Christians, on 6 January rather than 25 December. The reason for this is historical; according to Armenians, Christians once celebrated Christmas on 6 January, until the 4th century. 25 December was originally a pagan holiday that celebrated the birth of the sun. Many members of the church continued to celebrate both holidays, and the Roman church changed the date of Christmas to be 25 December and declared January 6 to be the date when the three wise men visited the baby Jesus. As the Armenian Apostolic Church had already separated from the Roman church at that time, the date of Christmas remained unchanged for Armenians.
The Armenians in Turkey refer to Christmas as "Surp Dzınunt" (Holy Birth) and have fifty days of preparation called "Hisnag" before Christmas. The first, fourth and seventh weeks of Hisnag are periods of vegetarian fast for church members and every Saturday at sunset a new purple candle is lit with prayers and hymns. On the second day of Christmas, 7 January, families visit graves of relatives and say prayers.
Armenian Churches in Turkey.
Turkey has hundreds of Armenian churches, however the majority of which are either in ruins or are being used for other purposes. Armenian churches still in active use belong to various denominations, mainly Armenian Apostolic, but also Armenian Catholic and Armenian Evangelical Protestant.
Education.
Turkey’s Armenian community faces educational problems due to the steadily decreasing number of students every school year and lack of funding. The number of Armenian schools decreases year by year. This number has fallen from 47 to 17 today with currently 3,000 Armenian students, down from 6,000 Armenian students in 1981. Schools are kindergarten through 12th grade (K–12), kindergarten through 8th grade (K-8) or 9th grade through 12th (9–12). "Ermeni İlköğretim Okulu" means "Armenian primary+secondary school". "Ermeni Lisesi" means "Armenian high school".
The Armenian schools apply the full Turkish curriculum in addition to Armenian subjects, mainly Armenian language, literature and religion.
In September 2011, the Turkish government recognized the right of immigrant families from Armenia to send their children to schools of the Turkey's Armenian community. This move came as a result of lobbying of Deputy Patriarch Aram Ateşyan, according to whom there were some 1,000 children of Armenian immigrants in Turkey at that time. However, as they are not Turkish citizens, at the end of the school term, they do not receive diplomas.
Health.
Among other institutions, Turkish Armenians also have their own long-running hospitals:
Language.
The majority of Armenians in Turkey speak Turkish. Only about 18% of them can speak Armenian, and most of that number are bilingual, with some having Armenian as their first language, and others learning it as a second language.
Western Armenian.
Western Armenian (), , (and earlier known as , namely "Trkahayeren" (Turkish-Armenian) are one of the two modern dialects of the modern Armenian, an Indo-European language.
The Western Armenian dialect was developed in the early part of the 19th century, based on the Armenian dialect of the Armenians in Istanbul, to replace many of the Armenian dialects spoken throughout Turkey.
It was widely adopted in literary Armenian writing and in Armenian media published in the Ottoman Empire, as well as large parts of the Armenian Diaspora and in modern Turkey. Partly because of this, Istanbul veritably became the cultural and literary center of the Western Armenians in the 19th and early 20th century.
Western Armenian is the language spoken by almost all of the Armenian diaspora. The only diaspora community that uses Eastern Armenian is the Iranian Armenian community, or those who immigrated from Armenia. Nevertheless, Western Armenian is the primary dialect of Armenian found in North and South America, Europe (except those in Russia) and most of the Middle East (except in Iran and Armenia). Western Armenian is the primary language of the diaspora because the great majority of the Armenian diaspora in all these areas (Europe, Americas, Middle East) was formed in the 19th and early 20th century by Armenian populations from the Ottoman Empire, which is where Western Armenian was historically spoken.
Nevertheless, the Western Armenian language is still spoken by a small minority of the present-day Armenian community in Turkey. However, only 18 percent of the Armenian community speaks Western Armenian, while 82 percent of the Armenian community speaks Turkish. This percentage is even lower among younger people of whom only 8 percent speaks Western Armenian and 92 percent speaks Turkish.
Turkish is replacing Western Armenian as a mother language, and UNESCO has added Western Armenian in its annual Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger where the Western Armenian language in Turkey is defined as a definitely endangered language.
The Western Armenian language is markedly different in grammar, pronunciation and spelling from the Eastern Armenian language spoken in Armenia, Iran and Russia, although they are both mutually intelligible. Western Armenian still keeps the classical Armenian orthography known as Mashdotsian spelling, whereas Eastern Armenian adopted reformed spelling in the 1920s (Eastern Armenian in Iran did not adopt this reform then).
Armeno-Turkish (Turkish in Armenian alphabet).
From the early 18th century until around 1950, and for almost 250 years, more than 2000 books were printed in the Turkish language using letters of the Armenian alphabet. This is popularly known as Armeno-Turkish.
Armeno-Turkish was not used just by Armenians, but also many non-Armenian elite (including the Ottoman Turkish intellectuals) could actually read the Armenian-alphabet Turkish language texts.
The Armenian alphabet was also used alongside the Arabic alphabet on official documents of the Ottoman Empire, written in Ottoman Turkish. For example, the Aleppo edition of the official gazette of the Ottoman Empire, called "Frat" (Turkish and Arabic for the Euphrates) contained a Turkish section of laws printed in Armenian alphabet.
Also very notably, the first novel to be written in the Ottoman Empire was 1851's "Akabi Hikayesi", written by Armenian statesman, journalist and novelist Vartan Pasha (Hovsep Vartanian) in Ottoman Turkish, was published with Armenian script. "Akabi Hikayesi" depicted an impossible love story between two young people coming from two different communities amidst hostility and adversity.
When the Armenian Duzian family managed the Ottoman mint during the reign of Abdülmecid I, they kept their records in Ottoman Turkish written in Armenian script.
Great collection of Armeno-Turkish could be found in Christian Armenian worship until the late 1950s. The Bible used by many Armenians in the Ottoman Empire was not only the Bible versions printed in Armenian, but also at times the translated Turkish language Bibles using the Armenian alphabet. Usage continued in Armenian church gatherings specially for those who were Turkophones rather than Armenophones. Many of the Christian spiritual songs used in certain Armenian churches were also in Armeno-Turkish.
Armenians and the Turkish language.
Armenians played a key role in the promotion of the Turkish language including the reforms of the Turkish language initiated by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.
Bedros Keresteciyan, the Ottoman linguist completed the first etymological dictionary of Turkish. Armenians contributed considerably to the development of printing in Turkey: Tokatlı Apkar Tıbir started a printing house in Istanbul in 1567, the historian Eremia Çelebi, Merzifonlu Krikor, Sivaslı Parseh, Hagop Brothers, Haçik Kevorkyan Abraham from Thrace, Eğinli Bogos Arabian, Hovannes Muhendisian, Rephael Kazancian were among many. Bogos Arabian issued the first Turkish daily newspaper, "Takvim-i Vekayi" and its translation to Armenian. Hovannes Muhendisian is known as the "Turkish Gutenberg". Haçik Kevorkyan updated the Ottoman Turkish alphabet. Yervant Mısırlıyan developed and implemented publishing books in installments for the first time in the Ottoman Empire. Kasap Efendi, published the first Comic magazine "Diyojen" in 1870.
Agop Dilâçar (1895–1979) was a Turkish Armenian linguist who had great contribution to the reform of Turkish language. He specialized in Turkic languages and was the first Secretary General and head specialist of the Turkish Language Association (TLA) from its establishment in 1932 until 1979. In addition to Armenian and Turkish, Martayan knew English, Greek, Spanish, Latin, German, Russian and Bulgarian. He was invited on September 22, 1932, as a linguistics specialist to the "First Turkish Language Congress" supervised by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. Istepan Gurdikyan (1865–1948), linguist, Turcologist, educator and academic and Kevork Şimkeşyan both ethnic Armenians were also prominent speakers at the first Turkish Language Conference. Agop Martayan Dilaçar continued his work and research on the Turkish language as the head specialist and Secretary General of the newly founded Turkish Language Association in Ankara. Atatürk suggested him the surname "Dilaçar" (literally meaning "language opener"), which he accepted. He taught history and language at Ankara University between 1936 and 1951 and was the head advisor of the "Türk Ansiklopedisi" ("Turkish Encyclopedia"), between 1942 and 1960. He held his position and continued his research in linguistics at the Turkish Language Association until his death in 1979.
Culture.
Armenians try to keep a rich cultural life and do participate in the Turkish art scene.
Music.
The pan-Turkish Kardeş Türküler cultural and musical formation, in addition to performing a rich selection of Turkish, Kurdish, Georgian, Arabic and gypsy musical numbers, also includes a number of beautiful interpretation of Armenian traditional music in its repertoire. It gave sold-out concerts in Armenia as part of the Turkish-Armenian Cultural Program, which was made possible with support from USAID.
The "Sayat-Nova" choir was founded in 1971 under the sponsorship of the St. Children’s Church of Istanbul performs traditional Armenian songs and studies and interprets Armenian folk music.
In classical opera music and theatre, Toto Karaca was a major figure on the stage. In the folk tradition, the effect of Udi Hrant Kenkulian as a legendary oud player is indisputable.
In contemporary music, Arto Tunçboyacıyan and his brother the late Onno Tunç are two veritable jazz musicians, composers and arrangers. The Turkish rock artist Yaşar Kurt declared he was of ethnic Armenian descent. Another famous Armenian rock musician is Hayko Cepkin. Hayko Tataryan is also well known for singing in Turkish, Armenian and Greek, so is his son Alex Tataryan. Very recently the Turkish-Armenian singer Sibil Pektorosoğlu (better known by her mononym Sibil) has become popular winning pan-Armenian music prizes for her recordings.
Cinema and acting.
In movie acting, special mention should be made of Vahi Öz who appeared in countless movies from the 1940s until the late 1960s, Sami Hazinses (real name Samuel Agop Uluçyan) who appeared in tens of Turkish movies from the 1950s until the 1990s and Nubar Terziyan who appeared in more than 400 movies. Movie actor and director Kenan Pars (real name Kirkor Cezveciyan) and theatre and film actress Irma Felekyan (aka Toto Karaca), who was mother of Cem Karaca.
Photography.
In photography Ara Güler is a famous photojournalist of Armenian descent, nicknamed "the Eye of Istanbul" or "the Photographer of Istanbul".
Literature.
Turkish Armenian novelists, poets, essayists and literary critics continue to play a very important role particularly in the literary scene of the Armenian diaspora, with works of quality in Western Armenian.
Robert Haddedjian chief editor of Marmara newspaper published in Istanbul remains a pivotal figure in the literary criticism scene. Zareh Yaldizciyan (1923–2007), better known by his pen name Zahrad was a renowned Western Armenian poet.
A number of Turkish writers - such as Sait Faik, Kemal Tahir and Ahmed Hamdi Tanpinar - also represented Armenians in their work and, in the case of Tanpinar, actually had Armenian friends and taught in Armenian schools.
Media.
Istanbul was home to a number of long-running and influential Armenian publications. Very notable now-defunct daily newspapers included "Arevelk" (1884–1915), "Puzantyon" (1896–1908), "Sourhantag" (1899–1908), "Manzoume Efkyar" (1912–1917), "Vertchin Lour" (1914–1924). Outside Istanbul, the notable daily publications included "Arshalouys" (1909–1914), "Tashink" (1909–1914) and "Van" (1908–1909).
Presently, Istanbul has two Armenian language dailies. These two newspapers, "Jamanag" (established in 1908) and "Marmara" also have a long tradition of keeping alive the Turkish Armenian literature, which is an integral part of the Western Armenian language and Armenian literature.
Other Armenian media titles include: "Sourp Pergiç" (St. Saviour) the magazine of the Armenian Sourp Pergiç (Pergitch) Hospital, also "Kulis", "Shoghagat", "Norsan" and the humorous "Jbid" (smile in Armenian)
In September 2011, the Turkish government granted some financing to "Jamanak", "Marmara" and "Agos" as part of a wider campaign in support of existing minority newspapers in Turkey. The Turkish Press Advertisement Agency also declared intention to publish official government advertisements in minority newspapers including Armenian ones.
Turkish Armenians in the Diaspora.
Despite leaving their homes in Turkey, the Turkish Armenians traditionally establish their own unions within the Armenian Diaspora. Usually named "Bolsahay Miutyun"s (Istanbul-Armenian Associations), they can be found in their new adopted cities of important Turkish-Armenian populations. Among them are the "Organization of Istanbul Armenians of Los Angeles", the "Istanbul Armenian Association in Montreal", etc.
The Turkish Ambassador in Berlin, Hüseyin Avni Karslıoğlu, inaugurated in December 2012 at the Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp a memorial stone with bronze letters (third of its kind after the Polish and Dutch similars) to the memory of eight Turkish citizens killed during the Holocaust, one of whom is a Turkish Armenian with the name Garabed Taşçıyan.
External links.
General
Media


Henry Benson (MP)

Henry Benson (c.1578 – 1643) of Knaresborough, Yorkshire was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons variously between 1626 and 1641.
He was born the son of Peter Benson, a Knaresborough yeoman farmer.
Benson was Deputy Steward of Knaresborough. In 1626 he was elected Member of Parliament for Knaresborough. He was re-elected in 1628 and sat until 1629 when King Charles decided to rule without parliament for eleven years.
In April 1640, Benson was re-elected MP for Knareborough in the Short Parliament. He was re-elected in November 1640 for the Long Parliament. However he was expelled from the House of Commons by vote on 2 November 1641 for selling protections to men who were not his servants. Benson declared that there was no better replacement for him than his son-in-law William Deerlove, although Deerlove's election was declared void.
Benson took arms for the King and in February 1642 was reported to be occupying Plumpton tower near Knaresborough with two cannon.
Benson married Elizabeth Deerlove, widow of John Deerlove, at Knaresborough in 1633. They had no children.


Robert Hibbert (merchant)

Robert Hibbert (1750–1835) was an English merchant in Kingston, Jamaica. He owned Albion plantation, owned slaves, and was a justice of the peace for Kingston, Saint George, and Saint Mary parishes.
In 1791, he purchased the original Birtles Hall in Cheshire, demolishing it and building a new house, and in 1798 he purchased Pains Hill in Surrey.


James Henry Lawrence

James Henry Lawrence (1773–1840) was a British writer. He is known for his utopian novel "The Empire of the Nairs, or the Rights of Women", which appeared in English in 1811. It was influenced by the political writing of Mary Wollstonecraft and William Godwin.
Life.
He was the son of Richard James Lawrence, a slave-owner of Fairfield, Jamaica, He was educated at Eton College, where he was Montem poet in 1790. He then studied in Germany, at the University of Göttingen.
Lawrence led an itinerant life, mainly in continental Europe. In 1803, in France with his father, he was arrested, along with other English residents and tourists, and was detained for several years at Verdun. He escaped by passing himself off as an Austrian. He received compensation for the Fairfield estate, under the Slave Compensation Act 1837.
Lawrence died unmarried 26 September 1840, and was interred with his father in the burying-ground of St. John's Wood Chapel. He claimed to be a Knight of Malta, and was known as the Chevalier Lawrence.
Works.
The "utopian romance" "The Empire of the Nairs", Lawrence's major work, developed in stages. In 1793 he published in "Der Teutsche Merkur" an essay on the Nair castes of Malabar, examining their customs of marriage and inheritance. In 1800 Lawrence completed a novel on the topic, in German. It was published in the "Journal der Romane" the following year, as "Das Paradies der Liebe", then reprinted as "Das Reich der Nairen". The book was subsequently translated into French and English by the author, and published in both versions; the English translation, as "The Empire of the Nairs" (1811), was much modified from the original, and had an introduction advocating the customs. The content is a description of a search for sexual freedom and independence for women.
Percy Bysshe Shelley wrote to Lawrence about the book, in 1812. Aaron Burr admired it, and called on Lawrence in London. Other works were:


Ralph Willett

Ralph Willett (1719–1795) was a plantation owner on St Kitts and bibliophile.
Life.
He was the elder son of Henry Willett of St Kitts, who married c. 1718, Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Colonel John Stanley of Nevis. He matriculated at Oriel College, Oxford, on 23 June 1736, aged 17, but did not take a degree.
Willett was admitted as student at Lincoln's Inn on 4 January 1739. On his father's death in 1740 he inherited the family estates in the West Indies. A 1753 map indicates that he owned five plantations on St Kitts.
In London, Willett had a town house in Dean Street, Soho, and in 1751 he bought the estate of Merley, a manor of Canford Magna, Dorset. There he began in 1752, and finished in 1760, Merley House. In 1772 he built on two wings, the one the south-east being a library (adorned with arabesques and frescoes). A printed account of this room and a view of the house are in John Hutchins's "Dorset" (2nd edit. iii. 12); views and plans are also in Woolfe and Gandon's continuation of Campbell's "Vitruvius Britannicus".
Willett was high sheriff of Dorset in 1760. He was elected Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London on 5 December 1763, and Fellow of the Royal Society on 21 June 1764. He died at Merley House without issue on 13 January 1795.
Collector.
Willett's library was rich in early-printed books and in specimens of block-printing. Many works were on vellum, and all were in the finest condition. He also collected prints and drawings. His pictures included several from the Orleans Collection and from Roman palaces. A description of the library was printed in octavo, in French and English, in 1776; it was reprinted by John Nichols, with illustrations of the designs, in 1785. A catalogue of the books in the library was distributed by Willett to friends in 1790.
The pictures were sold by Peter Coxe & Co. on 31 May 1813 and two following days. Willett's library was sold by Leigh & Sotheby on 6 December 1813, over 17 days. He had been a patron of Georg Dionysius Ehret who spent the summers of many years at Merley House, its library containing "a copious collection of exotics" by him. The botanical drawings were sold by Leigh & Sotheby on 20 and 21 December. A list of the prices realised at this sale, 19 days in all, was published in 1814, the total being £13,508. 4s. His books of prints passed under the hammer on 20 February 1814.
Works.
"Observations on the Origin of Printing" by Willett were included in "Archæologia" (viii. 239–50), and reprinted at Newcastle in 1819. As the birthplace of printing, Willett decided on Mainz. A second paper, "Memoir on the Origin of Printing" was included in the same collection (xi. 267–316), and was reprinted at Newcastle in 1818, and again in 1820. A third paper, "On British Naval Architecture",’ also appeared in pp. 154–199 of the eleventh volume of "Archæologia".
Family.
Willett was twice married. His first wife, Annabella Robinson, died on 10 December 1779, aged 60; a tablet to her memory and that of her husband was placed on the south side of the chancel of Canford Magna church. His second wife, whom he married by special license at his house in Dean Street on 15 May 1786, was Charlotte, daughter of Mr. Locke of Clerkenwell, and widow of Samuel Strutt, assistant clerk of the House of Lords. She died at Dean Street on 11 May 1815, aged 69, and was buried in the south cloister of Westminster Abbey.
Willett's estate and residual fortune passed by his will to his cousin, John Willett Adye, later John Willett Willett, Member of Parliament for from 1796 to 1806. Henry Ralph Willett, a descendant of John Willett Adye, who died in The Albany, London, in December 1857, collected coins and pictures, including twenty-six paintings and sketches by Hogarth.


George Aglionby

George Aglionby (c.1603–1643) was an English Royalist churchman, nominated in 1643 as Dean of Canterbury. He was a member of the Great Tew intellectual circle around Lucius Cary, and a friend and correspondent of Thomas Hobbes.
Life.
He was the son of John Aglionby, educated at Westminster School, from which he was elected to Christ Church, Oxford, where he matriculated in 1619, aged sixteen. He graduated B.A. in 1623, and successively proceeded M.A. in 1626, B.D. in 1633 and D.D. in 1635. He was hired as a tutor for her children including William Cavendish, 3rd Earl of Devonshire by the widowed Countess Christian Cavendish. In this position he was the replacement for Hobbes, who was a close associate of William Cavendish, 2nd Earl of Devonshire up to his death in 1628. Aglionby wrote to Hobbes on Cavendish family matters from 1629, and later made his way into the Great Tew circle.
In 1632 Aglionby accepted the vicarage of Cassington, Oxfordshire. On the death of his uncle, Dr. John King, in 1638, he was promoted to a stall in Westminster Abbey. In the following year he was made a prebendary of Chichester, and in 1642 compounded for the Deanery there. For some time he was a master of Westminster School, and was tutor to the young George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham.
He was deprived of his stall at Westminster; at Canterbury he was never installed, given the wartime conditions, and it is probable that he never visited his cathedral. He died of disease in Oxford, in November, 1643, and was buried in Christ Church Cathedral there.
Family.
In 1635 Aglionby married Sibilla Smith, of St. Martin-in-the Fields, London. It has been argued that William Aglionby was their son.