John III Sobieski

John III Sobieski (; ; ; 17 August 1629 – 17 June 1696) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1674 until his death.
Born into Polish nobility, Sobieski was educated at the Jagiellonian University and toured Europe in his youth. As a soldier and later commander, he fought in the Khmelnytsky Uprising, the Russo-Polish War and during the Swedish invasion known as the Deluge. Sobieski demonstrated his military prowess during the war against the Ottoman Empire and established himself as a leading figure in Poland and Lithuania. In 1674, he was elected monarch of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth following the sudden and unexpected death of king Michael.
Sobieski's 22-year reign marked a period of the Commonwealth's stabilization, much needed after the turmoil of previous conflicts. Popular among his subjects, he was an able military leader, most famous for his victory over the Turks at the Battle of Vienna in 1683. The defeated Ottomans named Sobieski the "Lion of Lechistan", and the Pope hailed him as the saviour of Western Christendom. Suffering from poor health and obesity in later life, Sobieski died in 1696 and was buried at Wawel Cathedral in Kraków. He was succeeded by Augustus II of Poland and Saxony.
Biography.
Youth.
John Sobieski was born on 17 August 1629, in Olesko, now Ukraine, then part of the Ruthenian Voivodeship in the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth to a renowned noble family de Sobieszyn Sobieski of Janina coat of arms. His father, Jakub Sobieski, was the Voivode of Ruthenia and Castellan of Kraków; his mother, Zofia Teofillia Daniłowicz was a granddaughter of Hetman Stanisław Żółkiewski. John Sobieski spent his childhood in Żółkiew. After graduating from the Nowodworski College in Kraków in 1643, young John Sobieski then graduated from the philosophical faculty of the Jagiellonian University in 1646. After finishing his studies, John and his brother Marek Sobieski left for western Europe, where he spent more than two years travelling. They visited Leipzig, Antwerp, Paris, London, Leiden, and The Hague. During that time, he met influential contemporary figures such as Louis II de Bourbon, Charles II of England and William II, Prince of Orange, and learned French, German, and Italian, in addition to Latin.
Both brothers returned to the Commonwealth in 1648. Upon receiving the news of the death of king Władysław IV Vasa and the hostilities of the Khmelnytsky Uprising, they volunteered for the army. They both fought in the siege of Zamość. They founded and commanded their own banners ("chorągiew") of cavalry (one light, "cossack", and one heavy, of Polish hussars). Soon, the fortunes of war separated the brothers. In 1649, Jakub fought in the Battle of Zboriv. In 1652, Marek died in Tatar captivity after his capture at the Battle of Batih. John was promoted to the rank of "pułkownik" and fought with distinction in the Battle of Berestechko. A promising commander, John was sent by King John II Casimir as one of the envoys in the diplomatic mission of Mikołaj Bieganowski to the Ottoman Empire. There, Sobieski learned the Tatar language and the Turkish language and studied Turkish military traditions and tactics. It is likely he participated as part of the briefly allied Polish-Tatar forces in the 1655 Battle of Okhmativ.
After the start of the Swedish invasion of Poland known as "The Deluge", John Sobieski was among the Greater Polish regiments led by Krzysztof Opaliński, Palatine of Poznań which capitulated at Ujście, and swore allegiance to King Charles X Gustav of Sweden. However, around late March 1656, he abandoned their side, returning to the side of Polish king John II Casimir Vasa, enlisting under the command of hetmans Stefan Czarniecki and Jerzy Sebastian Lubomirski.
Commander.
By 26 May 1656 he received the position of the "chorąży koronny" (Standard-bearer of the Crown). During the three-day-long battle of Warsaw of 1656, Sobieski commanded a 2,000-man strong regiment of Tatar cavalry. He took part in a number of engagements over the next two years, including the Siege of Toruń in 1658. In 1659 he was elected a deputy to the Sejm (Polish parliament), and was one of the Polish negotiators of the Treaty of Hadiach with the Cossacks. In 1660 he took part in the last offensive against the Swedes in Prussia, and was rewarded with the office of "starost" of Stryj. Soon afterward he took part in the war against the Russians, participating in the Battle of Slobodyshche and Battle of Lyubar, and later that year he again was one of the negotiators of a new treaty with the Cossacks (the Treaty of Cudnów).
Through personal connections, he became a strong supporter of the French faction in the Polish royal court, represented by Queen Marie Louise Gonzaga. His pro-French allegiance was reinforced in 1665, when he married Marie Casimire Louise de la Grange d'Arquien and was promoted to the rank of Grand Marshal of the Crown.
In 1662 he was again elected a deputy to the Sejm, and took part in the work on reforming the military. He was also a member of the Sejm in 1664 and 1665. In between he participated in the Russian campaign of 1663. Sobieski remained loyal to the King during the Lubomirski Rebellion of 1665–66, though it was a difficult decision for him. He participated in the Sejm of 1665, and after some delays, accepted the prestigious office of the Marshal of the Crown on 18 May that year. Around late April or early May 1666 he received another high office of the Commonwealth, that of the Field Crown Hetman. Soon afterward, he was defeated at the Battle of Mątwy, and signed the Agreement of Łęgonice on the 21 July, which ended the Lubomirski Rebellion.
In October 1667 he achieved another victory over the Cossacks of Petro Doroshenko and their Crimean Tatar allies in the Battle of Podhajce during the Polish–Cossack–Tatar War (1666–71). This allowed him to regain his image as a skilled military leader. Later that year, in November, his first child, James Louis Sobieski was born in Paris. On 5 February 1668 he achieved the rank of Grand Hetman of the Crown, the highest military rank in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, and thereby the "de facto" commander-in-chief of the entire Polish Army. Later that year he supported the French candidacy of Louis, Grand Condé for the Polish throne, and after this candidacy fell apart, Philip William, Elector Palatine. Following the election of Michał Korybut Wiśniowiecki he joined the opposition faction; he and his allies helped veto several sejms (including the coronation ones), and his attitude once again resulted in him losing popularity among the regular "szlachta". While his pro-French stance in politics alienated some, his military victories against invading Tatars in 1671 helped him gain other allies. The year 1672 saw internal politics destabilizing the Commonwealth, as the pro-French faction of Sobieski and pro-court faction of King Michał formed two confederations, which despite major Ottoman incursions in the south seemed more concerned with one another than with uniting to defend the country. The court faction called openly for confiscation of his estates and dismissal from office, and declared him an "enemy of the state". This division culminated in the humiliating Treaty of Buchach, where the Commonwealth was forced to cede territories to the Ottomans, but promise an annual tribute. Sobieski eventually succeeded in balancing politics and national defense, and a combination of his military victories over the invaders, and successful negotiations at the Sejm in April 1673, led to a compromise in which the court faction dropped its demands and challenges against him.
On 11 November 1673 Sobieski added a major victory to his list, this time defeating the Ottomans in the Battle of Khotyn and capturing the fortress located there. The news of the battle coincided with the death of King Michal the day before the battle. This made Sobieski one of the leading figures of the state, so on 19 May the following year, he was elected monarch of the Commonwealth. His candidacy was almost universally supported, with only a dozen or so members of the diet opposing him (mainly centered around magnates of the Lithuanian Pac family). In light of the war, requiring Sobieski to be on the front lines, the coronation ceremony was significantly delayed – he was crowned John III almost two years later, on 2 February 1676.
King of Poland.
Though Poland-Lithuania was at that time the largest and one of the most populous states of Europe, Sobieski became a king of a country devastated by almost half a century of constant war. The treasury was almost empty and the court had little to offer the powerful magnates, who often allied themselves with foreign courts rather than the state.
Sobieski had a number of long term plans, including establishing his own dynasty in the Commonwealth, regaining lost territories, and strengthening the country through various reforms. One of his ambitions was to unify Christian Europe in a crusade to drive the Turks out of Europe. At the beginning of his reign, however, the Polish state was in dire fiscal straits and faced military threats to the north. King Louis XIV of France promised to mediate a truce between the Ottomans and Poland so that Sobieski could focus his attentions on Prussia. The negotiations ended in failure and Sobieski's Baltic goals had to be tempered by the immediate reality of the Ottoman threat to the south.
In the autumn of 1674, he recommenced the war against the Ottomans and managed to recapture a number of cities and fortresses including Bratslav, Mogilev, and Bar, which re-established a strongly fortified line defending Poland's southern border in Ukraine. In 1675, Sobieski defeated a Turkish and Tatar offensive aiming at Lviv. In 1676, the Tatars began a counter-offensive and crossed the Dneper, but could not retake the strategic town of Żórawno, and a peace treaty (the Treaty of Żurawno) was signed soon afterwards. Although Kamieniec Podolski and much of Podolia remained a part of the Ottoman Empire, Poland gained the return of the towns of Bila Tserkva and Pavoloch.
The treaty with the Ottomans began a period of peace that was much needed for the repair of the country and strengthening of the royal authority. Sobieski managed to reform the Polish army completely. The army was reorganised into regiments, the infantry finally dropped pikes, replacing them with battle-axes, and the Polish cavalry adopted hussar and dragoon formations. Sobieski also greatly increased the number of cannon and introduced new artillery tactics.
Sobieski wanted to conquer Prussia with Swedish troops and French support. Regaining control of this autonomous province was in the Commonwealth's best interest, and Sobieski also hoped for it to become part of his family domain. To this end he made the secret Treaty of Jaworów (1675), but he achieved nothing. The wars with the Ottoman Empire were not decisively won by the Commonwealth, the ruler of Brandenburg-Prussia made treaties with France, Prussia defeated the Swedish invasion, and Sobieski's plans for the Commonwealth's own military campaign against Prussia was opposed by Commonwealth magnates, many of them taking the Prussian side. Backed by Brandenburg and Austria, internal enemies of Sobieski even planned to dethrone him and elect Charles of Lorraine.
The French-Prussian treaty of 1679 meant that Sobieski lost the major foreign ally for his planned campaign against Prussia; consequently he started to distance himself from the pro-French faction, which in turn resulted in the cooling down of the Polish-French relations. During the Sejm of 1683, the French ambassador was expelled for involvement with a plan to dethrone Sobieski, definitely marking the end of the Polish-French alliance. At the same time Sobieski made peace with the pro-Habsburg faction and started to gravitate towards an alliance with Austria. This did not end the existence of strong internal opposition to Sobieski; however, it changed a number of allegiances, and further opposition was temporarily weakened through the king's successful political maneuvering, including granting the Grand Hetman office to one of the opposition's chief leaders, Stanisław Jan Jabłonowski.
Conscious that Poland lacked allies and risked war against most of its neighbours (a situation similar to the Deluge), by 1683 Sobieski allied himself with Leopold I, of the Holy Roman Empire. Both sides promised to come to one's another aid if their capitals were threatened. The alliance was signed by royal representatives on 31 March 1683, and ratified by the Emperor and Polish parliament within weeks. Although aimed directly against the Ottomans and indirectly against France, it had the advantage of gaining internal support for the defense of Poland's southern borders. This was a beginning of what would become the Holy League, championed by Pope Innocent XI to preserve Christendom.
Meantime, in the spring of 1683, royal spies uncovered Turkish preparations for a military campaign. Sobieski feared that the target might be the Polish cities of Lwów and Kraków. To counteract the threat, Sobieski began the fortification of the cities and ordered universal military conscription. In July, the Austrian envoy asked for Polish assistance. Soon afterward, the Polish army started massing for an expedition against the Ottomans, and in August was joined by Bavarians and Saxon allies under Charles of Lorraine.
Battle of Vienna.
Sobieski's greatest success came in 1683, with his victory at the Battle of Vienna, in joint command of Polish and German troops, against the invading Ottoman Turks under Kara Mustafa. Upon reaching Vienna on 12 September, with the Ottoman army close to breaching the walls, Sobieski ordered a full attack. In the early morning, the united army of about 65,000–76,000 men (including 22,000,-27,000 Poles) attacked a Turkish force of about 143,000 men. At about 5 pm, after observing the infantry battle from the Kahlenberg hilltop, Sobieski led the Polish husaria cavalry along with Austrians and Germans in a massive charge down the hillside. Soon, the Ottoman battle line was broken and the Ottoman forces scattered in disarray. At 5:30 pm, Sobieski entered the deserted tent of Kara Mustafa and the Battle of Vienna ended.
The Pope and other foreign dignitaries hailed Sobieski as the "Savior of Vienna and Western European civilization." In a letter to his wife, he wrote, "All the common people kissed my hands, my feet, my clothes; others only touched me, saying: 'Ah, let us kiss so valiant a hand!'"
The war with the Ottomans was not yet over, and Sobieski continued the campaign with the Battle of Párkány on 7–9 October. After early victories, the Polish found themselves a junior partner in the Holy League, gaining no lasting territorial or political rewards. The prolonged and indecisive war also weakened Sobieski's position at home. For the next four years Poland would blockade the key fortress at Kamenets, and Ottoman Tatars would raid the borderlands. In 1691, Sobieski undertook another expedition to Moldavia, with slightly better results, but still with no decisive victories.
Later years and death.
Although the King spent much time on the battlefields, which could suggest a good state of health, towards the end of his life he became seriously and increasingly ill.
King John III Sobieski died in Wilanów, Poland on 17 June 1696 from a sudden heart attack. His wife, Marie Casimire Louise, died in 1716 in Blois, France, and her body was returned to Poland. They are interred together in Wawel Cathedral, Kraków, Poland. He was succeeded by Augustus II.
Legacy and significance.
Sobieski is remembered in Poland as a "hero king", victor at Vienna who defeated the Ottoman threat, an image that became particularly well recognized after his story was told in many works of 19th century literature. In the Polski słownik biograficzny he is described as "an individual above his contemporaries, but still one of them"; an oligarch and a magnate, interested in personal wealth and power. His ambitions for the most part were instilled in him by his beloved wife, whom he undoubtedly loved more than any throne (when being forced to divorce her and marry the former Queen as a condition to gain the throne, he immediately refused the throne) and tended to obey, at times blindly.
He failed to reform the ailing Commonwealth, and to secure the throne for his heir. At the same time, he displayed high military prowess, he was well educated and literate, and a patron of science and arts. He supported the astronomer Johannes Hevelius, mathematician Adam Adamandy Kochański and the historian and poet Wespazjan Kochowski. His Wilanów Palace became the first of many palaces that would dot the lands of the Commonwealth over the next two centuries.
Family.
On 5 July 1665, he married the widow of Jan "Sobiepan" Zamoyski, Marie Casimire Louise de la Grange d'Arquien (1641–1716), of Nevers, Burgundy, France. Their children were:


America in the Bathhouse

America in the Bathhouse () is a three-act comedy by Keturakis (pen name of brothers and ). The play was first published in 1895. It became the first Lithuanian-language play performed in public in present-day Lithuania when a group of Lithuanian activists staged it on 20 August 1899 in Palanga (then part of the Courland Governorate, Russian Empire). The play depicts an episode from the everyday life of the Lithuanian village – a resourceful man swindles money from a naive woman and escapes to the United States. Due to its relevant plot, small cast, and simple decorations, the play was very popular with the Lithuanian amateur theater. It became one of the most popular and successful Lithuanian comedies of all time and continues to be performed by various troupes.
Plot synopsis.
Vincas, a resourceful tailor, gets a job with a struggling peasant Bekampis who desperately needs 200 rubles to repay his debts to Jew Faibčikas. In an inn, Vincas meets Antanas, an old acquaintance from their native village. Antanas is looking for a bride and has an eye on Agota, Bekampis' daughter. Vincas agrees to act as an intermediary – arrange a loan from Antanas to Bekampis and a marriage between Agota and Antanas. However, Vincas seduces naive Agota with stories about the easy life in America and convinces her to steal the money from her father. They plan to use the money to escape to America. Agota steals the money, but Vincas locks her in a bathhouse and runs away to America alone.
The play is rather simple and was well suited for the illegal amateur theater of the time. It depicts a scene from the ordinary lives of Lithuanian villagers and provides relevant commentary on the Lithuanian emigration to United States instead of more abstract or artistic characters or plot. Similar fraud and deception was described in Lithuanian newspapers of the time. It was also easy to stage as it needed only simple decorations and a limited cast (seven men and two women).
History.
Publication.
During the Lithuanian National Revival, resisting various Russification and Polonization efforts, Lithuanians increasingly become more culturally active – published and distributed Lithuanian-language publications that were outlawed by the Lithuanian press ban, organized secret Lithuanian-language schools for children, established secret societies (cultural and educational societies were officially allowed only after the Russian Revolution of 1905), and hosted evenings with music, dances, games, and occasional amateur theater performances. Since there was a dearth of Lithuanian-language plays that could be performed during such evenings, Lithuanian monthly "Varpas" announced a contest for Lithuanian plays. Brothers Vilkutaitis using pen name Keturakis (it is not known which brother was the main author) submitted comedy "America in the Bathhouse". Vincas Kudirka, editor of "Varpas", liked the play and brought it to the christening of a daughter of Jonas Jablonskis in 1894. The gathering included other intellectuals who read the play. Few months later, during užgavėnės in 1895, Jablonskis staged the play in a school dormitory of the Mitau Gymnasium. Future President of Lithuania Antanas Smetona played the role of Faibčikas. Kudirka had the play published in 1895 in Tilsit, East Prussia (now Sovetsk, Kaliningrad Oblast). The first edition, 5,000 copies, sold for 10 kopeks. It was republished in 1905 in Saint Petersburg by Eduards Volters (1,000 copies). Ten percent of the proceeds were earmarked for the widows and orphans of the Russo-Japanese War. It was further republished in 1921 and 1937 in independent Lithuania and in 1966 in Soviet Lithuania.
First performances.
The play was popular. It was staged by different communities of Lithuanian Americans at least five times before the performance in present-day Lithuania in 1899. In the Russian Empire, the play was performed in Saint Petersburg on 12 February 1898 and in Riga on 25 April 1898. In 1899, Liudas Vaineikis, a Lithuanian physician living in Palanga and an active Lithuanian book smuggler, suggested to Gabrielė Petkevičaitė-Bitė to stage a public Lithuanian theater performance. Since Palanga was part of the Courland Governorate, Lithuanian activities attracted far less attention than in the Kovno or Vilna Governorates and it was much easier to obtain an official permit. Petkevičaitė started organizing the play. She selected "America in the Bathouse" as it was easy to stage and already approved by the state censors and recruited Povilas Višinskis to help with finding actors. They managed to get access to a shed owned by the Tyszkiewicz family that was built for performances by traveling troupes. There was only one performance on . Despite various difficulties and a last-minute police interruption, the performance was a success and even netted a profit of 100 rubles that was donated to Vincas Kudirka. Vaineikis obtained a permit to stage "America in the Bathhouse" in Libau (Liepāja) during the winter break on 16 January 1900. The actors were mostly the same as in Palanga; Višinskis also recruited Jonas Biliūnas to play the role of the matchmaker. The same group managed to obtain permits to stage a different comedy, "Devil Trapped" ("Velnias spąstuose"), on 21 July in Libau and on 23 July in Mitau (Jelgava), but when Višinskis hung Lithuanian posters in Pašvitinys and Joniškis, the permits were revoked and actors were arrested and questioned by the police.
Later performances.
The play became very popular and was performed by various groups illegally. Various peasants hosted the play in their barns, particularly in Suvalkija. For example, future Prime Minister Juozas Tūbelis staged the play in his father's barn in 1901. The play was also staged outside of Lithuania. Birutė Society staged it on 25 February 1900 in Tilsit, East Prussia (now Sovetsk, Kaliningrad Oblast). It was staged legally in Saint Petersburg in 1902 (three performances) and 1904. Mykolas Sleževičius staged the play in Odessa in 1904, while two performances took place in present-day Latvia in Subate in February 1904 and in Grīva in December 1904. When the Lithuanian press ban was lifted in 1904 and cultural societies were allowed in 1905, there were a number of legal performances in Lithuania, including on 31 October 1904 in Šiauliai (Kazimieras Venclauskis played Bekampis; Vincas Kapsukas turned the gathering into a political protest against the Tsar), on 6 February 1905 in Vilnius, by the Daina Society on 5 March 1905 in Kaunas, by politician Kazys Grinius on 28 May 1905 in Marijampolė, composer Stasys Šimkus on 2 November 1905 in Jurbarkas. The play was staged in Moscow in 1907. By World War I, it was performed over a hundred times.
The play continues to be a part of the Lithuanian theater repertoire. The Kaunas State Drama Theatre staged the play in 1974 (director Valdas Lencevičius). In 2014, the theater staged the 700th performance in Rumšiškės. In 2014, the play was performed in Georgian at the Rustaveli Theatre in Tbilisi. In October 2016, Musical Assemble Ainiai premiered a new interpretation by Nerijus Petrokas, musical comedy "Is America in the Bathhouse?!" ("Ar Amerika pirtyje?!").


2006 in Norway

Events in the year 2006 in Norway.


Trochoceras

Trochoceras is a genus of trochoidally coiled nautiloid cephalopods placed in the nautilid family Rutoceratidae that lived during the Middle and Late Devonian in what is now central Europe.
The "Trochoceras" shell is a narrow, smooth, offset gyrocone consisting of little more than a single whorl, trochoidally grown in the sense of left hand screw. The phragmocone, with chambers, is ovate in cross section; the body or living chamber, quadrangular, with two pairs of winglike processes, one at the aperture and one at its base. The siphuncle is ventral, segments fusiform.
"Trochoceras" resembles the rutoceratid "Ptenoceras" except the latter has a planar gyroconic shell with narrow projections extending laterally from the body chamber.


Cicisbeo

In 18th- and 19th-century Italy, the cicisbeo ( , , ; plural: "cicisbei") or () was the man who was the professed gallant or lover of a woman married to someone else. With the knowledge and consent of the husband, the cicisbeo attended his mistress at public entertainments, to church and other occasions, and had privileged access to this woman. The arrangement is comparable to the Spanish "cortejo" or "estrecho" and, to a lesser degree, to the French "petit-maître". The exact etymology of the word is unknown; some evidence suggests it originally meant "in a whisper" (perhaps an onomatopeic word). Other accounts suggest it is an inversion of "bel cece", which means "beautiful chick (pea)". According to OED, the first recorded usage of the term in English was found in a letter by Lady Mary Wortley Montagu dated 1718. The term appears in Italian in Giovanni Maria Muti's "Quaresimale Del Padre Maestro Fra Giovanni Maria Muti De Predicatori" of 1708 (p. 734).
Social importance.
This arrangement, called the "cicisbeatura" or "cicisbeismo", was widely practised, especially among the nobility of the Italian cities of Genoa, Nice, Venice, Florence and Rome. While many contemporary references to "cicisbei" and descriptions of their social standing exist, scholars diverge on the exact nature of the phenomenon. Some maintain that this institution was defined by marriage contracts, others question this claim and see it as a peculiarity of 18th-century customs that is not well defined or easily explained. Other scholars see it as a sign of the increasing emancipation of aristocratic women in the 18th century.
The "cicisbeo" was better tolerated if he was known to be homosexual. Louise d'Épinay wrote from Paris to her friend Ferdinando Galiani about the impending departure of marchese Alvise Mocenigo, the Venetian ambassador, whose tastes the ambassador had displayed in Paris:
Regardless of its roots and technicalities, the custom was firmly entrenched. Typically, husbands tolerated or even welcomed the arrangement: Lord Byron, for example, was "cicisbeo" to Teresa, Contessa Guiccioli. After Byron's death, the Contessa's second husband, the Marquis de Boissy, was known to brag about the fact, introducing her as "Madame la Marquise de Boissy, autrefois la Maitresse de Milord Byron" (the Marquise de Boissy, formerly the mistress of Lord Byron). Byron also famously analyzed the institution from an English point of view in his poem "Beppo". Attempts by the husband to ward off prospective "cicisbei" or disapproval of the practice in general was likely to be met with ridicule and scorn:
"Cicisbei" played by set rules, generally avoiding public displays of affection. At public entertainments, they would typically stand behind their seated mistress and whisper in her ear. Customs of the time did not permit them to engage in relationships with any other women during their free time, making the arrangement rather demanding. Both parties could decide to end the relationship at any time. A woman's former "cicisbei" were called "spiantati" (literally "penniless", "destroyed"), or cast-offs.
In the arts.
The topic can be found in the contemporary poem "Il Giorno" (1763) by Giuseppe Parini. Other works from the period which make good (subjectively) use of the topic include:
References.
Citations
Bibliography


Kraku Lu Jordan

Kraku Lu Jordan ( , Romanian: Cracul lui Iordan) is archeological site in Serbia. It is situated at the confluence of the Brodica river into Pek, near Kučevo. Represents the most explored metallurgical center in eastern Serbia. The metallurgic occupation of the site lasted for about 100 years, beginning around 280 AD and ending in 380 AD. Kraku Lu Jordan is precisely dated by discovered coins from Diocletian time. This metallurgical complex was then destroyed in a fire in the late 4th century. Archaeological excavations began in 1971, and with few interruptions, lasted until 1987.
In 1983, Kraku Lu Jordan was added to the Archaeological Sites of Exceptional Importance list, protected by Republic of Serbia.
Location and Layout.
Kraku Lu Jordan is located on the southern slope of a hill, where on the slope a metallurgical plant is set with an internal arrangement for its purpose of processing ore, copper and iron. It was a fortified establishment that to the east side had a wall that is 2 m of width, in contrast to the northern side, which is extremely rugged and inaccessible, where the wall is slightly narrower. The gate was located in the lower part. On the northwestern side remains of a tower has been discovered which had the function of one of the metallurgical facilities. Slope on which the building is located was divided into several longitudinal walls horizons. The work of Bartel, Kondić, and Werner revealed a number of areas with metallurgical furnaces, facilities for the preparation of ember as well as other areas of personal life needs of metallurgists and miners. The site contains six main features: the northern wall, the western furnace room, the southern ‘utility’ room, the southern furnace room, the southern stairway, and the southern ‘office’ room.
Remains.
Of material culture, tools, mining lamps, large vessels for burning ore, watermill wheels and more have been found. In the years 1973-76, ceramics found consisted of 37 Early Bronze Age sherds and 6,215 Roman Era sherds. Of the Roman era pottery, 95% was local, one piece was truly Roman, and 5% probably came from neighboring Pannonia. Most of the ceramics are simply decorated and some were coated in yellow-white powder which indicates they contained chemicals for metallurgy. 200 metal artifacts were found, most iron and utilitarian in nature. Other objects include glass, lithics, and animals bones. Bartel, Kondić, and Werner concluded that the complex was relatively independent of Roman influence and more related to the activities of indigenous people in the area, because of the style and volume of material culture.


Operation Galaxia

Operation Galaxia () was the codename given to the plan which preceded the 23-F attempted coup d'état in Spain. It was named Galaxia, because the officers who took part met in "Cafetería Galaxia" in Madrid (later known as Van Gogh Café, and as of 2019 is a Taco Bell), on 11 November 1978.
It was meant to take place on 17 November 1978, to stop the Spanish transition to democracy taking place at that time. That date was chosen because the King, Juan Carlos, would be away in South America. The three people in charge of the operation were Guardia Civil Lieutenant-Colonel Antonio Tejero, Major Ricardo Saenz Ynestrillas, and another colonel, whose name has not been revealed.
An Infantry Captain of the Police, and an Infantry Commander of the Army were present at the conversation, and informed their superiors of the plot.
On 8 May 1980, the two main suspects, Tejero and Ynestrillas, were court-martialled, and on their way, they were cheered by crowds with nationalist flags, but also insulted, which showed the division of Spain at that time. The attorney general asked for six years for Tejero, and five for Ynestrillas, but they were only given seven months and a day and six months and a day respectively, the minimum sentence. Neither of them lost their military rank, and Ynestrillas was later promoted to Commander (major).
1981 attempt.
Lieutenant-Colonel Tejero attempted another coup on 23 February 1981, in the middle of the voting by the deputies for the new Prime minister. He took over the Cabinet and lower house of Parliament with 200 men, holding 350 deputies hostage and announcing the constitution of a military junta. This became known as the 23-F coup.


Battle of Konitsa

The Battle of Konitsa was a conflict of the Greek Civil War (1946-1949); between the Communist led Democratic Army of Greece and the Greek Army of the Kingdom of Greece. It was a failed initiative to capture the northwestern Greek town of Konitsa, in order to establish a capital for the Provisional Democratic Government; a rival authority to the recognized government in Athens. This was part of the communist "Operation Limnes" (Lakes) which aimed the capture of a major Greek town.
Background.
In March 1947, one year after the start of the Greek Civil War, the Democratic Army of Greece (DSE), founded and mainly supported by the Greek Communist Party, mainly controlled some mountainous pockets in Northern Greece and Peloponnese. It commanded an army of 13,000 troops with limited support by former ELAS fighters and an unknown network of civilians mainly in towns and villages throughout Greece. At the same time, the spearhead of the former People's Greek Liberation Army (ELAS), ca. 100.000 people were imprisoned or exiled in small islands. By mide-1947, the force of DSE had grown to 23,000 in battalions, regiments and brigades formed after the ex-ELAS structure with 1 General HQ in the North and 3 Regional HQs in the rest of the country. A provisional government was founded as the counterpart of the recognized government of Athens, and gain the silent support of the Socialist governments in Bulgaria, Albania and Yugoslavia.
However, DSE did not manage to control any major cities, and DSE High Staff, decided to make the town of Konitsa, 8 miles from the Albanian border, the capital of the Democratic Provisional Government. If DSE could control a major city with a considerable area, they could still hope for the recognition of a northern Greek Communist State by the Soviet Union and other communist countries.
Battle.
The townspeople of Konitsa, contrary to Vafiadis' expectations, sided with the Athens government and fortified their town against DSE, fighting alongside the government army. To this, helped also the "scorched earth" policy of the Governmental Army in the areas around major towns, that was emptying all villages from their inhabitants, bringing them into fortified towns and calling them "refugees due to guerilla activity" ("συμμοριόπληκτοι").
DSE attacked the bridge of Bourazani spanning the Aoos River, to cut off government forces in the regional capital Ioannina from the town. The government flew in troops in DC-3s provided by civilian airliners.
Despite the assistance of 105mm artillery provided by Albania, the communists were defeated. During the battle, Queen Frederica visited the town, welcomed by colonel Dovas.
Aftermath.
The government army, totaling 200,000 strong (8 divisions and 3 independent brigades), with artillery, armor, aircraft and Anglo-American assistance, far outnumbered DSE forces.


Ants Lauter

Ants Lauter ( – 30 October 1973) was an Estonian actor, theatre director and pedagogue, People's Artist of the USSR (1948). He was born in Veski, Märjamaa Parish, and died, aged 79, in Tallinn.
Since 1974 the has been given to a young stage actor or theatre director.


HMS Ledbury (L90)

HMS "Ledbury" was an escort destroyer of the Hunt class Type II. The Royal Navy ordered "Ledbury"s construction two days after the outbreak of the Second World War and J. I. Thornycroft Ltd laid down her keel at their Southampton yard on 24 January 1940. Air raid damage to the yard delayed her construction and she did not launch until 27 September 1941. Her initial assignment was to perform escort duties between Scapa Flow and Iceland. She remained in this theatre for the first part of the war, during which time she served with the ill-fated Arctic convoy PQ 17 in June 1942, from which twenty-four ships were lost.
Only two months later she took up the role of close escort in the Pedestal convoy to Malta. During the fierce attacks that dogged the convoy, "Ledbury" claimed three enemy aircraft destroyed and five damaged, and was one of three destroyers that helped the crippled oil tanker "Ohio" into the Grand Harbour. She added to her battle honours with the Allied landings in Sicily, Salerno, and operations in the Adriatic and Aegean. The Royal Navy finally scrapped "Ledbury" in 1958.
Early service record.
The Arctic convoy PQ 17.
"Ledbury" was engaged in escorting major warships and Fleet auxiliaries in the North Sea until late June 1942, when she was attached to the ocean escort of the convoy PQ 17. Mariners that took part in convoys delivering supplies to Russia remember vividly the biting cold and the continual fear of attack by air or sea. The supplies were vital in that they were needed to keep Russia in the war following her invasion by German forces in 1941. The PQ 17 convoy, which left Iceland at the end of June 1942, is known particularly for the tremendous losses among the merchant ships.
The problems for convoy PQ 17 started early on the morning of 4 July 1942, with the appearance of a copper-yellow warhead of a torpedo, clearly visible just below the surface of the sea. The freighter sounded her siren to warn the leading ships in column eight, but it was too late: the weapon was heading straight for the midship section of the Liberty ship , at the head of that column.
The ship's Armed Guard ordered the machine guns to be turned on the torpedo racing towards them. "Newport"s merchant seamen loading the guns lost their nerve and scrambled to the ship's port side. One gunner remained at his post, directing bullets at the torpedo; but these were deflected by the water. The torpedo slammed into the ship's engine-room, tearing a gaping hole and knocking the steering gear out of action with an enormous explosion. The helpless ship was yawing out of control across the sixth and seventh columns of the convoy, narrowly missing collisions with other ships, before she lurched round in the opposite direction to that of the convoy and slowed to a standstill. The surviving ships rolled past her, and the convoy sped on in the fog. "Christopher Newport" (code-number in the convoy, 'Penway' ) wirelessed the leading ship : 'Hit by aerial torpedo.' The Convoy Commander, Jack Broome, ordered "Ledbury", and to '... take all possible action to keep U-boats down.' "Ledbury" was one of the ships chosen to stay behind to tend to, and if necessary scuttle, the torpedoed ship and they themselves could have been an easy target to any submarines; however, none of the U-boats had maintained contact with the convoy.
The next front action for "Ledbury" came later on that day, at 08:20, when the destroyer began signalling, 'Eight air torpedo-bombers 210 degrees, five miles', and then two minutes later, 'for eight read ten'. Suddenly after "Ledbury"s signals, all the escorts seemed to be blinking morse-signals at once. The loudspeakers were booming, 'Bombers approaching ... there's six of them ... there's twelve ... there's eighteen ... good God, there's twenty-five!' The anti-aircraft ship lurched forward and altered course to head off the attack. Commodore Dowding signalled "Keppel" to ask if the convoy should make an 'emergency turn'; but it was deemed too late for such a manoeuvre, since half the ships would most likely miss the signal altogether and Broome flashed back, 'I do not think it worth it.' The developing air attack spotted by "Ledbury" turned into a blitz of the convoy, with Luftwaffe aircraft being shot down over the formation, and one plane crashed into the sea about four thousand yards from the destroyer , on the convoy's starboard bow. The crash occurred not far from "Ledbury" and seamen on board saw four German airmen climbing out into a rubber dinghy with the bomber sinking soon after. The pilot, Lieutenant Kaumeyr, and his three crewmen were picked out of their dinghy by "Ledbury". The attack however, continued and throughout the fierce fighting the escorts distinguished themselves by screening the merchantmen from many attacks, especially U-boat sorties; "Ledbury" alone had sighted seven.
The Admiralty believed that the convoy faced an imminent attack from elements of the German Kriegsmarine, possibly a combined attack of the commerce raiding capital ships , , and the . A series of signals were issued to the convoy, culminating in an order to 'scatter' to Soviet ports. In order to protect the convoy the destroyers and cruisers, believing that they were steaming to intercept a larger force, headed west thereby abandoning the merchantmen. Broome led his six destroyers round at twenty knots, and headed off in line ahead to join a number of cruisers and destroyers racing off to the south-west into a wall of fog. By 11:00, his destroyers were drawing very close to the cruisers. The destroyer signalled "Ledbury", 'How fast are you going?' "Ledbury" replied, 'Full ahead.' However the threat posed by the capital ships failed to materialise and the scattered merchant ships came under U-boat and Luftwaffe attack, resulting in the sinking of twenty three ships. As well as the loss of precious lives and supplies, there was widespread bitterness and the recriminations reverberated for many months, as stated by the commander of "Ledbury", Roger P. Hill:
Pedestal and "Ledbury".
Background and preliminary movements.
In 1942, Great Britain was waging war against Italian forces in North Africa and their allies, Rommel's Afrika Korps. Malta was critical to this campaign During this stage of the war, Malta was critically short on munitions, food and aviation fuel. Attempts to run the blockade and resupply Malta proved to be a failure; previous convoys such as Harpoon (from Gibraltar) and Vigorous (from Alexandria, Egypt) had lost most of their merchantmen and their escorts had been damaged. A new convoy was hence planned for mid-August, and named Pedestal.
On 9 August 1942, "Ledbury" sailed from Gibraltar, sighted the convoy in the afternoon, and took its convoy screening station. An hour before midnight on 10 August she left the convoy and proceeded to refuel from the tanker "Dingledale", an operation that took place early in the morning of 11 August. "Ledbury" took aboard 101 tons of fuel. Just before ten o'clock in the morning, the destroyer took station as starboard wing ship of screen. In the afternoon, was hit by torpedoes, with "Derwent" ordering "Ledbury" to stand by the stricken aircraft carrier. As "Eagle" sank, one destroyer and the tug "Jaunty" stopped, picking up survivors in the oil patches in the water. As "Ledbury" reached survivors, she was ordered to rejoin the convoy. The convoy now suffered a series of aerial attacks with the gunner of "Ledbury"'s port Oerlikon thought to have shot down one plane, although many other ships were firing at this machine. At 21:00, "Ledbury" was ordered to Anti-Aircraft station, with one cable on the starboard beam of No. 43. Early on the morning of 12 August, the destroyer was ordered by to investigate a periscope reported on the starboard quarter of No.43. "Nelson" reported a submarine periscope bearing north of her, and "Ledbury" deployed single scare charges to cover from this submarine, and destroyers astern of her appeared to follow up this contact. At nine o'clock in the morning, an air attack by Junkers 88s developed on the convoy, with one Junkers 88 crashing at bearing 058 degrees. Four small bombs were seen to go by the bridge, landing on the starboard side, and a large bomb came near the port quarter. In the ensuing mayhem, "Ledbury" was ordered to fill in gaps in the screen caused by ships falling back on contact. On the way to this position three airmen were seen coming down by parachute. One was picked up and found to be German, the others were abandoned. The captured airman stated that the last raid consisted of Luftwaffe airmen flying Junkers 88s from Sicily; and that he had been shot down by close range weapons from the convoy. "Ledbury"s crew noted that the most interesting thing about the pilot was that the nails of his boots were made of wood. Yet another aerial attack ensued, this time by dive-bombers. Two groups approached from ahead, but neither got over the convoy. Two of these planes were shot down by gunfire. After this attack, the destroyer resumed station on the starboard side of the convoy. An attack by Junkers 88s soon started whilst escort fighters were still refuelling. "Ledbury" suffered another near miss off her port quarter. One ship in the convoy was damaged, and stood by her.
The convoy now continued on its route, harassed and attacked at each step of its journey; it soon encountered submarines. One was forced to surface astern and it was sunk by a destroyer. A Junkers 87 dropped parachute mines, all of which fell clear. Twelve torpedo bombers approached from the starboard side but these were turned away by gunfire. At the same time, Junkers 87s carried out dive-bombing attacks, and HMS "Indomitable" was hit. At 19:00, Force "Z", (the battleships, the aircraft carriers, and three cruisers), retired from the convoy. Fifty minutes after "Force Z" turned back, the convoy was in the process of forming two lines with the three T.S.D.S. destroyers ahead, and the remaining ships in their Anti-Aircraft stations in the column of the convoy. A signal, "Form two columns" was still flying, but most ships were anticipating the movement and moving to their new positions. Four minutes before 20:00, and and the tanker were torpedoed. The convoy carried out an emergency turn to starboard, and most destroyers turned back to stand by the damaged cruisers. "Ledbury" was in station on the starboard side of the convoy - about half way up two columns roughly formed with , and ahead.
A cruiser reported aircraft detected by R.D.F on the port bow of the convoy and "Ledbury" was taken through the convoy to get to the engaged side; but a heavy and sustained attack by Junkers 88s dive bombing developed when the destroyer was still in between the two columns. The attack became increasingly indefensible; two ships were hit, one exploded, the other remained afloat but both were creating a huge mass of burning petrol on the water. Torpedo planes were now sighted on the starboard bow very close, but the light was failing quickly. "Ledbury" engaged the torpedo planes, but one delivered a very good attack, dropping two torpedoes. Another ship exploded, and Captain Hill assumed that was torpedoed at this time. "Ledbury" called "Manchester" to make sure that she was standing by the damaged ships; the destroyer sighted six ships out in the darkness steaming on various courses, mostly in a north or north-western direction. The destroyer called up the nearest ship and ordered course 120. This ship was . The orders were repeated to the nearest merchantmen. "Ledbury" then returned to "Ohio" intending to take her in tow, but the tanker reported that she could steam with her steering aft but had no compass. The destroyer switched on a brighter stern light and told the tanker to follow her to Malta. "Ledbury" informed stragglers of the presence of a minefield near Zembra, while she also contacted that the survivors from the damaged ships had not been picked up and that she was going on with the tanker. It seemed to the crew that a very long time had passed before the ships were clear of the glare of the burning ships. During the night, "Ledbury" sighted four E-Boat wrecks just around the next corner (These were sighted at 02:04, 03:32, 03:45 and 04:31 respectively).
Rescue operations.
On 13 August, after sighting a small patrol boat, three abandoned merchant ships were passed, some of them close by with boats showing flares. The convoy was sighted early in the morning, with the destroyer leading the tanker in astern of the line. The destroyer then informed the Convoy Commander of the tanker's condition. Torpedo planes flew in to distract attention from Junkers 88s which were coming in from a height. The convoy had detected these by R.D.F but could not sight them and the escorts were slow in opening fire on them. was hit, probably by about three or four bombs, and blew up with a tremendous explosion leaving "a great pylon of flame on the sea". "Ashanti" signalled "Ledbury" to pick up survivors. The destroyer went to the scene, but it was originally thought impossible that anyone could survive such a terrific explosion and mass of flames, but on approaching, men were seen in the water. The destroyer entered the inferno, and after manoeuvring around the debris field the destroyer picked up forty-four survivors, and one body was buried that evening with military honours. Some time later it was discovered that "Ledbury" had on board survivors from both "Waimarama" and "Melbourne Star". This happened because when "Waimarama" blew up it happened so suddenly that "Melbourne Star" passed right through the flames. Those aft on board "Melbourne Star" thought that their own ship had gone up and had jumped over the side. By half past-nine "Ledbury" had completed the recovery of survivors. By this time the Commander estimated that the destroyer was about thirty miles astern of the convoy, which meant that they had to speed up in order to reach the ships. Captain Hill then sent a message to Admiral Burrough, 'Interrogative STOP rejoin or go home'. When the signal rating brought in Burrough's reply it became apparent that the signal groups had been received corruptly, since the admiral was apparently ordering "Ledbury" to "proceed to the Orkney and Shetland Islands". After considering the signal, Captain Hill assumed that it plainly intended the destroyer to return to Gibraltar, however that he might be forgiven for not interpreting it correctly, and so "Ledbury" ignored the signal and set course for "Ohio".
"Ledbury" found "Ohio" with "Penn" standing by "Dorset" and "Bramham" dropping depth charges. The remnants of the convoy were about ten miles away, under attack from the air. Just as Captain Hill suggested to "Penn" to take "Ohio" in tow, "Ledbury" received a signal from the Convoy Commander to stand by "Manchester" in the Gulf of Hammamet. In view of the delay in signals, and as "Penn" and "Bramham" were standing by these two ships, "Ledbury" proceeded at to look for "Manchester", which according to the signal given by S.O. Cruiser Force had a flooded engine room and was ablaze. As the destroyer searched for the missing ship, it had passed alongside the wreckage of "Almeria Lykes", and it had also shot down two three-engined Savoia-Marchetti bombers. After making landfall and identifying a headland as Ras-Mahmur, course was set to follow the coastline looking for "Manchester". When the destroyer was almost certain that "Manchester" was not in the bay, the coast was closed in case there might be any survivors on the beach. At this moment, the signal station at Neboel started calling up "VHM - VHA" but "Ledbury" did not reply. The signal station at Hammamet made a flag signal, "show your signal letters". The destroyer hoisted an Italian group consisting of flag " I " and three other flags tied in knots so as to be unreadable. This apparently satisfied the shore station as they hoisted a large French ensign. During this period "Ledbury" was showing no ensign and no Italian ensign was carried on board. The destroyer carried on down the coast until it was twelve miles (19 km) south of Hammamet. During this time there were enemy reports of a cruiser near Zembra and also that two destroyers were making for Pantelleria.The destroyer changed course to pass five miles south of Linosa, and she altered the course after dark in order to rejoin "Ohio".
"Ledbury" and the "Ohio".
By 14 August "Ohio" was stopped with no hope of getting her engines going as she had been hit again whilst in tow of "Penn". As "Ledbury" approached the estimated position of the tanker, the destroyer could find no sign of her. A little later, Commander Hill sighted gunfire ahead, and considering it to be "Ohio"'s escorts beating off reconnaissance snoops, the destroyer turned course towards the flashes on the horizon. As "Ledbury" approached "Ohio", it was seen that the tanker was lying deep in the water, with a bent line of deck. Here, Hill turned towards his number one and said ' "It looks as though we're too late" '.
A six-inch manilla rope was passed from the tanker's stern to the destroyer's midship oiling bollard, the idea being to take the stern to port, whilst the minesweeper towed her; but "Ledbury" put on too much weight and the minesweeper's tow parted. "Penn" then asked "Ledbury" to take the tanker in tow from ahead, which was done, using the tanker's tow and a shackle of "Ledbury"s towing hawser-cable. "Rye" took the destroyer in tow to keep the ship from falling off, whilst "Penn" went alongside the starboard side of the tanker to act as a drag to keep her straight. "Ledbury"s gunner, who was in charge of the towing party on board the tanker tried out all the tanker's guns, which proved valuable as at 10:44 the flotilla was attacked by nine Stukas. Just before the attack, American survivors from the merchantman "Santa Elisa" asked Commander Hill to take a party aboard "Ohio" to repair and man one of the anti-aircraft guns, an offer gratefully accepted by "Ledbury"s captain. In the attack, "Ledbury" received a near miss within a few feet of the fo'c'sle, which fortunately was an oil bomb and caused no casualties. There was also a near miss astern. Help was however on the way, since Malta based Spitfires covered the ships and broke many enemy formations. This was the last successful attack, and "Ledbury", "Penn" and "Bramham" secured either side of the tanker, and by some very skilful seamanship and endurance on the part of the crews brought "Ohio" into Valletta Harbour.
Further action.
The action of "Ledbury" during Operation Pedestal was the pinnacle of an otherwise uneventful career. After Operation Pedestal "Ledbury" was involved in several other convoys throughout the latter stages of the Second World War. On 17 January 1943 Convoy JW 52 set sail with fifteen ships of Loch Ewe, with a Western close escort made up of the destroyers "Ledbury", "Middleton" and "Blankney", between 17 January and 21 January. "Ledbury" and the other destroyers left the convoy with the arrival of the Eastern escort, made up of the destroyers "Onslaught", "Beagle", "Bulldog", "Matchless", "Musketeer", "Offa" and the Polish "Piorun".
In June 1943 "Ledbury" proceeded again to the Mediterranean after further service on escort duties between Iceland and the Orkney Islands and took part in the invasion of Sicily, codenamed Operation Husky. During this operation, "Ledbury" formed part of Support Force East, in support of the troops of Forces N, B and V that formed XXX Corps. "Ledbury" was one of a group of upwards of fifty destroyers stationed to escort the landings' main force of cruisers.
She was also involved in the Salerno invasion in September 1943, but thereafter her main employment was as a convoy escort to the Italian front, based at first on Malta and latterly at Alexandria. Occasional offensive patrols in the Adriatic and Aegean were undertaken. Between 15 January and 12 February 1944 "Ledbury" was engaged in patrols along the supply lines of the Dalmatian coast, where heavy Axis losses were involved, becoming untenable due to the increased employment of Allied fighter-bombers from bases in Italy. Between 15 January and 16 January, the destroyers "Ledbury" and "Blackmore" bombarded Durazzo while other elements on the same patrol, were approaching Curzola.
After taking a minor covering role in the return of British troops to Athens in October 1944, "Ledbury" was reduced to reserve in March 1946, and was not again commissioned for active service, remaining in peacetime commission longer than most of her class, before being sold for scrap in 1958. The destroyer was broken up at Rosyth in April 1958.


Monarchy of Greece

The Monarchy of Greece () or Greek Monarchy () was the government in which a hereditary monarch was the sovereign of the Kingdom of Greece from 1832 to 1924 and 1935 to 1973.
History.
The Monarchy of Greece was created by the London Conference of 1832 at which the First Hellenic Republic was abolished. The Greek Crown was originally offered to Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha but he declined, later being elected King of the Belgians.
In 1832 Prince Otto of Bavaria of the House of Wittelsbach was styled "His Majesty Otto I, King of Greece", over which he reigned for 30 years until he was deposed in 1862. After Otto's deposition as King, the Crown was offered to, amongst others, the novelist and former British Colonial Secretary Edward Bulwer-Lytton.
A head of state referendum was held in 1862 to name a new King. Most of the Greek people wanted Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, to be the new King. He won the referendum by 230,016 against the Duke of Leuchtenberg. Alfred declined to be King, and so did every candidate until Prince Vilhelm of Denmark of the House of Glücksburg, who had received six votes. Vilhelm was elected unanimously by the Greek Assembly, and became "His Majesty George I, King of the Hellenes".
There was a referendum in 1920 to restore Constantine I as monarch, but four years later the Second Hellenic Republic was established and the monarchy was abolished following a referendum in 1924. Then in 1935 the Monarchy was restored after a referendum and maintained after a referendum in 1946.
In July 1973 the Greek military junta called a 'referendum', which abolished the Monarchy for the second time in Greek history. Then in 1974, the democratically elected Prime Minister, Konstantinos Karamanlis, called a referendum which formally abolished the Monarchy.
Residences.
Tatoi was the private residence and 10,000-acre estate outside of Athens originally bought by King George I in the 1870s. The property was seized by the Republic following the 1974 referendum and has long been a contentious issue between the former Royal Family and the Greek state.
The Old Royal Palace (, ) is the first royal palace of modern Greece, completed in 1843. It has housed the Hellenic Parliament since 1934. The Old Palace is situated at the heart of modern Athens, facing onto Syntagma Square.


St. Andreas Castle

St. Andreas Castle () is a privately owned castle located in Cham, in the Canton of Zug, Switzerland. It is a Swiss heritage site of national significance.
The castle hill has been used since at least 400 AD, based on Roman artifacts found there. The site of the neighboring chapel has been used for religious ceremonies since the Roman era. During the 8th century the chapel site was used by a "holy bishop without a name" for Christian services.
Today the castle and chapel are located on a private park. While the castle is privately owned, the grounds are opened to the public twice a year.


Dobrotitsa

Dobrotitsa (, ; or ; in contemporaneous Byzantine documents; "Dobrodicie" in contemporaneous Genoese documents) was a Bulgarian noble, ruler of the "de facto" independent Principality of Karvuna and the Kaliakra fortress from 1354 to 1379–1386.
Dobrotitsa's ethnic origin is disputed, in consequence he is considered by some a Bulgarian noble kindred of the Terter dynasty (from the Cuman Terteroba clan), to others a Vlach (mostly by Romanian historians), and to others a Christianized Turk. Venetian sources from the late 14th century refer to Dobrotitsa as a ""despot of Bulgarians" ("") and to his realm as "parts of Zagore (Bulgaria) subordinate to Dobrotitsa"" ("").
In 1346, Dobrotitsa and his brother Theodore were sent along with 1,000 soldiers by the Dobrujan ruler Balik to help the Byzantine Empress Anna of Savoy in the civil war against John VI Kantakouzenos, but were defeated by George Phakrases. The following year, after the death of Balik, he became the ruler of Dobruja. In 1348 Dobrotitsa took over the fortress of Midia and by 1356 managed to seize Kozyak (present-day Obzor) and Emona from the Byzantines.
In 1366 Emperor Ivan Alexander refused to allow the Byzantine emperor John V Palaiologos, who was returning home from Hungary, passage through Bulgaria. In order to force the Bulgarians, a relative of John V, Count Amadeus VI of Savoy, then leading his own the Savoyard crusade, attacked the Bulgarian coastal towns. In the fall of the same year Amadeo's navy captured Anchialos, Mesembria, Emona and on 25 October he besieged the strong fortress Varna, where he was repulsed. As a result, Ivan Alexander gave the Byzantines safe conduct across Bulgaria and they kept the conquered towns. In 1369 Dobrotitsa and Vladislav I of Wallachia helped Ivan Alexander to defeat the Hungarians and retake Vidin. Out of gratitude, the Emperor gave Dobrotitsa Emona and Kozyak. Later he built a navy in Varna which was engaged in actions as far as Trebizond. The Genoese manuscripts write that his navy was very strong albeit rather small and achieved successes against the Ottomans and Genoese. He was succeeded by his son Ivanko in 1386.
The names of the region of Dobruja derives from the Turkish rendition of his name. The city of Dobrich and two villages in northern Bulgaria are also named after him.


Evald Okas

Evald Okas (28 November 1915 – 30 April 2011) was an Estonian painter, probably best known for his portraits of nudes.
Biography.
Okas was born in Tallinn, where he began his artistic career while studying at the State Art School. With the advent of World War II and the Soviet invasion and occupation of Estonia, he was subsequently mobilized into Soviet army, but, like many other Estonians, moved to work battalions in Kotlas, Russia. When the Soviet officials decided to organize the artistic collectives in the Soviet rear in Yaroslavl, several Estonian artists, including Okas, were provided with an opportunity to leave the work battalions and join the artistic ensembles in 1942. The "Yaroslavl artists", as they came to be known, were also the founding members of the Soviet Estonian Artists Union established in 1943.
In Yaroslavl Okas befriended the rather well-known Estonian graphic artist Aino Bach and Richard Sagrits who mentored Okas and helped him hone his skills as an artist. By Soviet regulations, however, all artists were expected to paint in the Social Realism genre.
In 1947, Okas, with Elmar Kits and Richard Sagrits painted the ceiling of the Estonian National Opera in the style of Socialist Realism. By the late 1950s, Evald Okas was working mainly in the medium of charcoals and earning his living by sketching "ex libris" - graphic designs that identify the owner of a book, usually pasted onto the inside cover. Around this time Okas was even given permission to travel; first, within the Soviet Republics, then later worldwide and exhibit works as far afield as Asia and Western Europe.
In 1954 he became the professor at the Estonian State Art Institute; in 1962 the corresponding member of the Academy of Arts of the Soviet Union and the full member of the Academy in 1975.
Evald Okas lived in Tallinn and was a member of the Estonian Artists’ Association.
His son Jüri Okas is an architect, installation artist and printmaker.


Diadsomaspis

Diadsomaspis is an extinct genus of placoderm fish, which lived during the Late Devonian period in Europe.


James Stewart of the Glen

James Stewart of the Glen, (Gaelic: "Seumas a' Ghlinne"; c. 1698 - 8 November 1752) also known as James of the Glens, was a leader of the Scottish Clan Stewart of Appin. He was wrongfully accused and hanged as an accessory to the Appin Murder, the assassination of Colin Roy Campbell.
Appin Murder and trial.
Colin Roy Campbell, a government factor of estates forfeited by pro-Jacobite clans following the Rising of 1745, was shot in the back on 14 May 1752. The search for the killer targeted the Clan Stewart as Campbell had ordered several evictions of members of Clan Stewart. The chief suspect, Alan Breck Stewart having fled, James Stewart of the Glens, the tanist of the Stewarts, was arrested for the crime and tried for the murder in a trial dominated by the pro-Hanoverian Clan Campbell: chief Archibald Campbell, 3rd Duke of Argyll was the presiding judge and the 15-man jury contained Campbell clansmen. Although the trial showed that James was not directly involved in the assassination (he had a solid alibi), he was found guilty "in airts and pairts" (as an accessory; an aider and abetter).
Execution.
James Stewart was hanged on 8 November 1752 on a specially commissioned gibbet above the narrows at Ballachulish, now near the south entrance to the Ballachulish Bridge. He died protesting his innocence, lamenting that people of the ages may think him capable of a horrid and barbarous murder. Before mounting the scaffold, he sang the 35th Psalm in Scottish Gaelic:
To this day in the Highlands, it remains known as "The Psalm of James of the Glens".
James's corpse was left hanging at the south end of the Ballachulish Ferry for eighteen months as a warning to other clans with rebellious intentions. Over those months, it was beaten and battered by winds and rain. As it eventually deteriorated, the skeletal remains were held together with chains and wire.
Legacy.
In popular culture.
Several accounts of the Appin Murder have published since 1752, the most recent being "Culloden and the Last Clansman" (2001) by Dr James Hunter. An editorial review of this novel follows:
James of the Glen appeared in the novel "Kidnapped" by Robert Louis Stevenson. James's memorial and Ballachulish are mentioned in Liam McIlvanney's crime novel "The Quaker" by his detective Duncan McCormick who is also from Ballachulish though the novel is set in Glasgow.
Recent legal developments.
There is a movement afoot to gain a pardon for James of the Glens. In 2008, Glasgow lawyer John Macaulay asked the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission to reconsider the case on the grounds his study of the trial transcripts shows there was "not a shred of evidence" against Stewart. but was denied due to the case being so old it was not in the interest of justice. As of 2010, the application lies with the Scottish Ministers.


Francesco Foggia

Francesco Foggia (baptized 17 November 1603 – 8 January 1688) was an Italian Baroque composer.
Biography.
Foggia was a boy soprano at the Collegium Germanicum of the Jesuits in Rome, and was a student of Antonio Cifra, and Paolo Agostini. Perhaps his family was in contact with Giovanni Bernardino Nanino, "maestro di capella" at San Luigi dei Francesi. Later, he was probably employed at the court of the Bavarian Elector Maximilian I in Munich and then again in Vienna.
He served in various churches in Rome as "maestro di capella" and infrequently as an organist. From October 1634 he served for two years at the chapel of St. Mary in Trastevere; from December 1646 to 1661 he was "Kapellmeister" of the Patriarchal Basilica of St. John Lateran. In 1667, while music director of the Basilica of San Lorenzo in Damaso, he published a collection, "Psalmodia Vespertina", containing psalms, Magnificats, and Marian antiphons. From 1677 until his death, he was chapel master at the papal basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome, and while there published his valedictory "Offertoria" (1681). That publication has been linked to Palestrina's of about a century before. His son Antonio succeeded him in the same position at Santa Maria Maggiore. His wife Eugenia died on 12 March 1683; Foggia died on 8 January 1688 and was buried in the church of Santa Prassede in Rome.
Works (selection).
Foggia's works were known outside the areas he worked - Italy, Munich and Vienna. For example, while he never worked in France, 7 of Foggia's motets survive in a collection by Danican Philidor, along with motets by Carissimi, Daniel Danielis, Pierre Robert and Lully.


Centre for Contemporary British History


Saxe-Coburg

Saxe-Coburg () was a duchy held by the Ernestine branch of the Wettin dynasty in today's Bavaria, Germany.
History.
Ernestine Line.
When Henry IV, Count of Henneberg – Schleusingen, died in 1347, the possessions of the House of Henneberg – Schleusingen were divided between his widow, Jutta of Brandenburg-Salzwedel, and Henry's younger brother, John, and Jutta was given the so-called “"neues Herrschaft"” ("new lordship"), with Coburg among other properties. The death of Jutta six years later was followed by the division of the new "Herrschaft" amongst three of her daughters.
The second daughter, Catherine of Henneberg, was awarded the southeastern part of the Coburgish land. After their wedding in 1346, Catherine's husband, Frederick III, the Margrave of Meissen from the House of Wettin, asked for his wife's dowry, the Coburgish land called the "Pflege Coburg"; but his father-in-law resisted the devolution, and Frederick III could not touch it until after the death of Jutta in 1353.
The Coburgish land was the southernmost part of the Saxon territories. By the Treaty of Leipzig in 1485, the Great Division of the Saxon States ("Großen Sächsischen Landesteilung") between the Albertine and Ernestine lines, this Coburgish land, together with the greater part of the Landgraviate of Thuringia and the possessions in the Vogtland, was allotted to Ernest, Elector of Saxony, and thus to the Ernestine side of the House of Wettin.
Duke John Ernest.
After losing the Schmalkaldic War in 1547, the Ernestines had their territorial possessions greatly reduced in Thuringia. Because the Districts of the Coburger Land were assigned to Duke John Ernest as “equipment” ("Ausstattung"), they remained unaffected by the measures against the outlawed Electors. John Ernest settled in the city of Coburg to build the Ehrenburg as his new residential palace, which was later also used and expanded by various Dukes of Saxe-Coburg. When John Ernest died childless in 1553, the former Elector John Frederick I was now only the Duke of Saxony, just released from prison only to die in 1554.
Joint Rule.
The Coburger Land was given to Elector John Frederick II “the Middle” as his share of the inheritance. He reigned from Gotha together with his brothers John William, residing in Weimar, and John Frederick III “the Younger”. After the early death of their youngest brother, there was a preliminary division of the Ernestine properties, in which the surviving brothers agreed to have a “"Mutschierung"”, i. e., a change in government, every three years. John Frederick II reigned in Gotha, Eisenach and Coburg. But he failed in his efforts to regain the rank of the Elector for himself and his House, fell into conflict with the Emperor ("Grumbachsche Händel", or “Grumbach Feud”), and was eventually outlawed and imprisoned until his death. His rule initially fell to his brother, John William, who had participated in the "Reichsexekution" on the side of Augustus, Elector of Saxony, but it was returned, in the "Erfurter Teilung" (“Erfurter Division”) of 1572, to the sons of John Frederick.
Duke John Casimir.
With the Erfurter Division Treaty of 1572 the remaining lands were eventually and forcibly divided between the sons of the defeated John Frederick II. The younger son was John William of Saxe-Weimar, who received, among other properties, the cities of Jena, Altenburg and Saalfeld. Because the elder son, John Frederick II “the Middle” was still in prison for life in Austria, his sons, John Casimir and John Ernest, were given the new Principality of Saxe-Coburg, with Coburg chosen as their residence and “Duke” as their titles. The Principality consisted of the southern and western parts of Thuringia, including the cities of Eisenach, Gotha and Hildburghausen. One of the guardians for the sons was the enemy of their father, Augustus, Elector of Saxony, who supervised their education and who, for his own reasons, began in Coburg a corrupt Regency with Saxon officials from his Electorate.
Only after the death of Elector Augustus of Saxony in 1586 were Duke John Casimir and his brother John Ernest able to take over the government of their Principality. In 1596, the Principality was cut in half to give John Ernest his own Duchy of Saxe-Eisenach and John Casimir remained in Coburg to reign alone. His remaining territories were the Districts of Coburg, with the jurisdictions of Lauter, Rodach and Gestungshausen; Heldburg with the jurisdictions of Hildburghausen, Römhild, Eisfeld, Schalkau, Sonneberg, Neustadt bei Coburg, Neuhaus am Rennweg, and Mönchröden; and Sonnefeld. Under the reign of John Casimir, there was a building boom in Coburg. Above all, he established as the nucleus of Coburger government an administrative apparatus that would survive for a long time after his death and through many wars and political upheavals. Casimir, the founder of the Coburger State, died in 1633. His Principality then fell to his brother, the Duke of Saxe-Eisenach, John Ernest, who was also childless. During this time, the Coburger Land was hit hard by the Thirty Years War as the staging area for numerous armies. The population fell from 55,000 to 22,000.
Inheritance.
In 1638, the Ernestine line of Saxe-Eisenach died out and its territories were divided between the Duchies of Saxe-Weimar and Saxe-Altenburg. By drawing lots, the Coburger Land fell in 1640, with the Districts of Coburg, Sonnefeld, Sonneberg, Neuhaus am Rennweg, Neustadt bei Coburg, Hildburghausen and Römhild to Frederick William II of Saxe-Altenburg . The principalities of Altenburg and Coburg were ruled in personal union by the Duke but they maintained their own state authorities. Duke Frederick William II died in 1669, followed three years later by his only son, Hereditary Prince Frederick William III, bringing the line of Saxe-Altenburg to extinction. Three quarters of the Altenburger area, including the Coburger Land, were secured, with the Gotha Division Treaty ("Gothaer Teilungsvertrag") of 1672, for the new sovereign, Ernest I “the Pious”, of Saxe-Gotha, who died in 1675. The administration of Saxe-Gotha was undertaken by his eldest son, Frederick I, at the request of his father, together with his six other brothers.
Because the trial of the common administration of the territories failed at the "Schloss Friedenstein" in Gotha, the inheritance had to be distributed on 24 February 1680 among the seven brothers. The second eldest son of Ernst I “the Pious” of Saxe-Gotha, Albrecht, received the Principality of Saxe-Coburg. Like Saxe-Gotha under Duke Frederick and Saxe-Meiningen under Duke Bernhard I, the third oldest son, the Principality received full sovereignty in the Imperial Confederation. However, the Districts of Coburg, Neustadt bei Coburg, Sonneberg, Mönchröden, Sonnefeld and Neuhaus am Rennweg were considerably smaller than they were before, because Römhild and Hildburghausen were separated to supply the younger brother, the sixth oldest son, who became Ernest II, the first Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen.
Duke Albert.
Under Duke Albert, the expansion of his baroque residence in Coburg began. He based his life on the customs of his royal and princely contemporaries and tried to imitate their households on a smaller scale in Coburg. His court library consisted of 4,757 volumes. His plans to raise the "Gymnasium" Casimirianum to the rank of university failed because of the tight finances. The reconstruction of the "Schloss" Ehrenburg, burned in 1690, in the Baroque style eventually led to the ruin of the finances of the Principality, which could not be prevented by the minting of inferior coins. The Baroque Prince, Duke Albert, died in 1699 without any surviving descendants. This was followed by the usual inheritance disputes. Saxe-Hildburghausen got the District of Sonnefeld in 1707. Between Bernhard I of Saxe-Meiningen and his youngest brother John Ernest IV of Saxe-Saalfeld, strife lasted for thirty-five years, ending only in 1735 with several interventions from the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles VI, in Vienna. Saxe-Meiningen received the District of Neuhaus am Rennweg and the jurisdiction of Sonneberg while Saxe-Saalfeld was united with the remaining territories of Saxe-Coburg to become Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. In 1753, it grew with the one-third of the Duchy of Saxe-Römhild, which had expired with the death of its only Duke, the childless Henry, Duke of Saxe-Römhild.
Duke Francis Josias.
Duke Johann Ernest of Saxe-Saalfeld died in 1729. Afterwards, his sons Christian Ernest II and Francis Josias ruled the country together but in different residences. Christian Ernest remained in Saalfeld while Francis Josias chose Coburg as his residence and his decision would stand until the end of the monarchy in 1918. In 1745, Francis Josias inherited parts of Saxe-Coburg from his brother. In 1747, he was able to anchor his birthright (primogeniture) in the Line of Succession Laws and confer it on his rapidly growing family for the long-term survival of the House of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. In 1806, with the fall of the Holy Roman Empire, the Duchy became fully and truly independent. In 1826, with the extensive rearrangement of the Ernestine duchies, Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld changed its name to Saxe-Coburg and Gotha with the personal union of two different duchies, Coburg and Gotha.
Sovereigns of Saxe-Coburg.
Saxe-Coburg 1572–1638
Saxe-Coburg 1681–1735
Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld 1735–1826
Saxe-Coburg and Gotha 1826–1918


Albrecht von Kalckstein

Albrecht von Kalckstein (4 November 1592 – 26 May 1667) was a Prussian count, Lieutenant General and opponent of Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg.
Kalckstein was born in Königsberg (Kaliningrad) to Jakob von Kalckstein, laird of Wogau and Graventhien near Preußisch Eylau (Iławka) (today Bagrationovsk) in Ducal Prussia, and Margarete von der Gröben. He became an officer of the Electorate of Saxony and in Polish service, promoted to Rittmeister in 1625 and Lieutenant Colonel in 1631. Throughout the Thirty Years' War he was promoted to a Lieutenant General of Saxony in 1644. He returned to his families manor in Ducal Prussia and became a leading figure of the Prussian estates opponents of Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg. Kalckstein was arrested in 1661 by Frederick William but pardoned short after. He died at his manor house in Knauten and was buried at his families advowson church of Tapiau (Tapiawa) (today Gvardeysk).
Kalckstein was the father of Christian Ludwig von Kalckstein, who perpetuated the opposition against Frederick William.


Purbeck Group

The Purbeck Group is an Upper Jurassic to Lower Cretaceous lithostratigraphic group (a sequence of rock strata) in south-east England. The name is derived from the district known as the Isle of Purbeck in Dorset where the strata are exposed in the cliffs west of Swanage.
The Purbeck Group is famous for its fossils of reptiles and early mammals. This sequence of rocks has gone by various names in the past including amongst others the Purbeck Beds, Purbeck Formation, Purbeck Limestone Formation and Purbeck Stone.
Rocks of this age have in the past been called the Purbeckian stage by European geologists. The Purbeckian corresponds with the Tithonian to Berriasian stages of the internationally used geologic timescale.
Outcrops.
The Purbeck Group outcrops follow the line of the Jurassic outcrop from Dorset, through the Vale of Wardour, Swindon, Garsington, Brill and Aylesbury. In East Sussex, the Purbeck Group outcrops at three locations north and northwest west of Battle, East Sussex and at Netherfield. They also occur at several other locations east of Heathfield, East Sussex and at Beak's Wood near Burwash. Deposits of evaporite minerals such as gypsum and anhydrite, within the Purbeck Group are mined and processed in Mountfield, East Sussex. In Lincolnshire they are represented in part by the Spilsby Sands and in Yorkshire by portions of the Speeton Clay.
Lithology and stratigraphy.
The rocks predominantly comprise calcareous mudstones though also include clays, shales and marls with marly, tuffaceous and shelly limestones, occasional oolitic and sandy strata, and evaporites. Nodules of chert are present in some of the limestones.
The thickness of the formation in Wiltshire is 80 to , but in Dorset it is typically between thick. In the Weald of East Sussex the Purbeck Group has a typical thickness of between . In most places the Purbeck Group rests conformably upon the Portland Group and it is conformably overlaid by the Wealden Group; but there are in some districts distinct indications that the Portland Group was uplifted and worn away to some extent prior to the deposition of the Purbeck Group.
Correlations.
In the past, many geologists have ranged the Purbeck Group with the overlying Lower Cretaceous Wealden Group on account of the similarity of its fresh-water faunas; but the marine fossils, including the fishes, ally the Purbeck more closely with the Upper Jurassic rocks of other parts, and it may be regarded as the equivalent of the upper Volgian of Russia. Contemporaneous rocks are also present in the neighbourhood of Boulogne-sur-Mer, where they are characterized by thin limestones with "Cyrena" and gypsiferous marls. These French outcrops occur, just like those in England, in the core of the Weald-Artois anticline. Purbeckian aged deposits occur even further south in the Charente. In north-west Germany three subdivisions are recognized in strata of the same age: in descending order Purbeck Kalk, Serpulit and Münder Mergel.
Subdivisions.
Modern.
The Purbeck Group in Dorset is now divided into three formations, the Lulworth Formation and the overlying Durlston Formation in the south (in the Vectian or Wessex Basin). A third underlying formation, the Haddenham Formation, is identified in Wiltshire, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire. Within the Vectian Basin, the Durlston Formation is further divided into a lower 'Stair Hole Member' and an upper 'Peveril Point Member'. Similarly the Lulworth Formation is divided in Dorset into a lower 'Mupe Member', a middle 'Ridgeway Member' and an upper 'Worbarrow Tout Member'. In East Sussex the Purbeck Group is formally subdivided into the Blues and Greys Limestones members
Traditional.
The sequence was traditionally divided into three, though along different lines viz. Upper, Middle and Lower. The Upper Purbeck comprises . of fresh-water clays and shales with limestones, the Purbeck marble and "Unio"-bed, in the lower part. The Middle division (), mainly thin limestones with shaly partings, contains the principal building stones of the Swanage district; near the base of this subdivision there is a , bed from which an interesting suite of mammalian remains has been obtained; in this portion of the Purbeck Group there are some marine bands. The Lower Purbeck consists of fresh-water and terrestrial deposits, marls, and limestones (the famous Portland limestone) with several fossil soils known as "dirt beds". This division is very extensively exposed on the Isle of Portland, where many of the individual beds are known by distinctive names. The chief building stones of Upwey belong to this part of the Purbeck Group.
Fossil content.
No zonal fossil has been recognized for the British Purbeckian strata, but the horizon is approximately equivalent to that of "Pensphinctes transilorius" of the European continent. The Purbeckian equivalents of Spilsby and Speeton are in the zone of "Belemnites lateralis". Other marine fossils are "Hemicidaris purbeckensis" and "Ostrea distonta", the latter being abundant in the Cinder bed of the Middle Purbeck. The fresh-water mollusca include "Viviparus" ("Paludina"), "Planorbis", "Melanopsis", "Unio", "Cyrena". A large number of insect genera has been found in the Middle and Lower Purbeck Group.
Dinosaurs ("Owenodon", "Echinodon" [known from "Isolated skull elements of at least [three] individuals."]), crocodylians ("Goniopholis", "Petrosuchus"), "Cimoliosaurus", the plesiosaurs and the chelonians ("Chelone", "Pleurosternum") are representative reptiles. The mammals, mostly determined from lower jaws, found in the beds mentioned above include "Plagiaulax", "Amblotherium", "Stylodon", "Dorsetodon", "Triconodon", "Spalacothenium" and several others. The isopod crustacean "Archeoniscus brodei" is very common in the Purbeck of the Vale of Wardour.
Reptile remains diagnostic to the genus level ("Megalosaurus" sp (theropod indet), "Opisthias") are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation.
Fossil eggs referable to the oogenus "Mycomorphoolithus" are also known from the Purbeck Group.
The silicified stumps and trunks of cycads and coniferous trees, often surrounded by great masses of calcareous concretions ("burrs"), are very noticeable in the dirt beds of Portland and near Lulworth. "Chara" is found in the fresh-water cherts of the Middle Purbeck.
Use in construction.
The building stones of the Purbeck Group have already been mentioned; the Purbeck or Paludina "marble", a grey or greenish limestone full of shells, was formerly extensively employed in cathedrals and churches. Stone tiles or slatts were once used locally for roofing from the Lower Purbeck of Portland, Swanage and Swindon. Gypsum was formerly worked from the Lower Purbeck at Swanage.


Stadtpfarrkirche Rapperswil

Stadtpfarrkirche St. Johann (Saint John's parish church) is a Roman Catholic parish church in the city of Rapperswil, canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland.
Geography.
The church is located next to Rapperswil Castle on the so-called "Herrenberg" hill to the northeast of Stadtmuseum Rapperswil. The Catholic city cemetery is situated to the north of the church, some meters to the northwest there is the so-called "Liebfrauenkapelle" (St. Mary's chappel) situated, built in 1489 on the former ossuary. As of today it's the cemetery's chapel and also popular for weddings thanks to its location overlooking "Kempratnerbucht" at Kempraten lake shore.
History.
Rapperswil Castle, the town walls of the former locus "Endingen" and the parish church were built by Count Rudolf II and his son Rudolf III "of Rapperswil" around 1220/29. The former parish church was located at Busskirch on upper "Zürichsee" lake shore, being one of the oldest churches around the lake area. Even the citizens of Rapperswil had to attend services in Busskirch until Count Rudolf II built his own parish church on the "Herrenberg" hill next to the castle. Legally, Rapperswil church was subordinated to 1253 the parish of St. Johann Busskirch and thus the Pfäfers abbey. In 1489 the adjacent "Liebfrauenkapelle" (St. Mary's chappel) was built, the cemetery chapel that still exists.
On 24 November 1446 "Ellsbetha, gräffin zu Togckenburg" granted a benefice ("Pfründe") in the amount of 800 "Rheinische Gulden" to the "Allerheiligen" altar of the church, sealed by Countess Elisabeth and certified by "Schultheiss und Rat der Stadt Rapperswil".
Since 1737 «Bruderschaft der hl. Caecilia und Katharina» (Brotherhood of St. Cecilia and Catherine) provides an enormous repertoire of church music for the parish among them around 1,000 compositions of the Rapperswil-born church musicians and composers Carl Greith (1828–1887) and his father Franz Josef Greith (1799–1869) who composed the "Rütli" anthem («Von ferne sei herzlich gegrüsst, du stilles Gelände am See»). On 30 January 1881 the church was partially destroyed by fire, and rebuilt from 1881 to 1885.
The very first roses in Rapperswil blossom at the southern wall and at the present Stadtmuseum Rapperswil next to the Schloss Rapperswil because their medieval sandstone walls are exposed to the sun all through the year.
Architecture.
The Romanesque hall church and the northern church tower were built around 1220/29 by Count Rudolf II of Rappperswil and extended in 1383 to the west. In 1441 a smaller but massively southern church tower was built. Collection campaigns in 1493/97 allowed to rebuild the hall church into a tripartite Gothic choir with arched ceiling and tracery windows. Following the Reformation in Switzerland, two Renaissance wing altars in the side chapels were added respectively latter moved to other chapels. Thus, these altars were not destroyed by fire on January 30, 1882, as well as the sacristy located in the southern church tower, along with the precious treasure of the church: masterpieces by the goldsmiths Breny from Rapperswil, Dietrich, Dumeisen and Rüssi Ysenschlegel, being one of the richest in the Linth territory.
Advised by the art historian Johann Rudolf Rahn, the architect Xaver Müller rebuilt the largely destroyed building. The obtained towers were increased by . A choir with neo-Gothic vaulting star was added, the nave extended by a few meters and a double wooden ceiling. The neo-Gothic altars and the pulpit are created by Atelier Marggraf in Munich. The rededication took place on October 6, 1885. The large chandelier was built in 1894 by the company Benziger & Co. in Einsiedeln. Renovations were done in 1959/60 (exterior and new bells), in 1971/73 and 1981.
The church bells in the large southern tower have a prominent sound by seven bells; one of 1537 and six were added in 1960. The bells weight about . On Saturdays at 3 pm for about eight minutes all the bells rung for Sunday.
Pipe organ.
The pipe organ in the gallery was installed by "Mathys Orgelbau AG" in 1975.
Parish.
The parish "St. Johann" was founded by Count Rudolf III von Rapperswil in 1253, and is now the Catholic parish Rapperswil-Jona comprising about 3900 devotees and the area of the city of Rapperswil (Jona has its own Catholic parish). John the Baptist is the patron saint of the parish since 1253.
Protection.
The St. Johann church and Liebfrauenkapelle are listed in the Swiss inventory of cultural property of national and regional significance as "Class B" objects of regional importance.


Fabio Filzi

Fabio Filzi (Pisino, 20 November 1884 – Trento, 12 July 1916) was an ethnic-Italian who was born in the Austria-Hungarian Empire but was a irredentist patriot whose firm belief was that the Italian portions of Austria-Hungarian Empire should be united with Italy. He was captured and executed by the Austria-Hungarian Army with his superior Cesare Battisti.
Early life.
He was born in Pazin, Istria, the second of the four sons of Giovanni Battista and Amelia Ivancich. The father was originally from Borgo Sacco, near Rovereto, but worked as a teacher of classical philology in the high schools of Pazin and Koper. In 1892 he obtained the chair at the high school of Rovereto and returned to Trentino, bringing the family with him. As a result, Filzi began his high school studies in Koper and finished them brilliantly in Rovereto in 1902. He came into contact with the irredentist circles of Trentino in 1901–1903.
In 1904, at the inauguration of the Italian law faculty of the University of Innsbruck, there had been clashes fomented by the Germans that had caused a death, several injuries and numerous arrests among the Italians, including Cesare Battisti; following these events, Filzi was head of the Rovereto protest movement. In the same year he was conscripted, being placed in the 4th hunting regiment of Salzburg of the Austria-Hungarian Empire. In November he ended up under investigation on charges of having favored the desertion of an Italian comrade; he was acquitted but was dismissed as "politically suspect" at the time of discharge. In the following years he was recalled three times, as usual, for military exercises and on one of these occasions he challenged an officer to a duel who had pronounced insults against Italy; only the intervention of the commander averted the clash.
In 1905, in the presence of some Treviso gymnasts visiting Rovereto, he recited an impassioned speech against the Austro-Hungarian empire and promised his commitment to the cause of the Italians in the unredeemed lands. In the meantime he attended university studies, enrolling at the same time in Graz at the faculty of law and at Trieste at the "Revoltella" commercial school. He took an active part in the National League, the Society of Trentino students and the Giovine Trieste.
In November 1906 he went with his brother Ezio to Graz to join the Italian students who, asking for more government concessions in school, had blocked university activities. Both were injured in clashes with German ethnic elements. After graduating in law from the University of Graz in 1910, he returned first to Trieste and then to Rovereto, where he devoted himself to being a lawyer at the law firm of Antonio Piscel.
Military career.
He deserted the Austro-Hungarian army to fight, as a volunteer for Italy, in the First World War. On 10 July 1916 the Vicenza Battalion, formed by the 59th, 60th, 61st Companies and a Marching Company commanded by Lieutenant Cesare Battisti, of which the second lieutenant Filzi was subordinate, received the order to occupy Monte Corno (m. 1765) on the right of the Leno in Vallarsa.
Capture and death sentence.
He was taken prisoner together with Cesare Battisti on 10 July 1916 and recognized immediately after his superior. Almost certainly the Austrians had been informed for some days of the presence in the Battisti area, but not that of Filzi. In the episode, the Trentino soldier Bruno Franceschini, an Austrian soldier, was present during the hours of the capture of the two irredentists. With Battisti, he was brought to Trento, tried and sentenced to death for high treason. The sentence was executed by hanging at 19.30 on 12 July 1916 in the Buonconsiglio Castle, Austria-Hungarian Empire, now Buonconsiglio Castle in Italy.
In Arzignano, a town where he was a guest before leaving for the front, a monument was dedicated to him.
Fausto Filzi.
In September 1916, following the execution, Fabio's brother Fausto Filzi decided to return to Italy from Argentina, the place where he was working, to avenge his brother's martyrdom. Arriving in command of Verona on 21 October he volunteered in the 9th Artillery regiment from Fortress with the rank of second lieutenant. He died on June 8, 1917, on Monte Zebio in a battle which earned him the silver medal for military valour.
Bibliography.
Notes
References


Francesco Antonio Urio

Francesco Antonio Urio (1631/32 – c. 1719) was an Italian composer of the Baroque era.
Life.
Urio was born in Milan in 1631 or 1632, and died there in (or after) 1719.
Urio held "maestro di cappella" posts in: Spoleto's Cathedral (1679), Urbino (1681–83), Assisi, Genoa, Santi Apostoli in Rome (1690), Frari in Venice (1697), and at S. Francesco in Milan (1715–19).
Urio was a member of the Franciscan order.
Legacy.
George Frideric Handel reused Urio's work, including parts of the "Te Deum," in works such as "Saul", "Israel in Egypt", "L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato", and the "Dettingen Te Deum".
Works.
Urio's works include:
References.
Citations
Sources