Laurel and Hardy were a British-American comedy team during the early Classical Hollywood era of American cinema, consisting of Englishman Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and American Oliver Hardy (1892–1957). Starting their career as a duo in the silent film era, they later successfully transitioned to "talkies". From the late 1920s to the mid-1950s, they were internationally famous for their slapstick comedy, with Laurel playing the clumsy, childlike friend to Hardy's pompous bully. Their signature theme song, known as "The Cuckoo Song", "Ku-Ku", or "The Dance of the Cuckoos" (by Hollywood composer T. Marvin Hatley) was heard over their films' opening credits, and became as emblematic of them as their bowler hats.

 

Prior to emerging as a team, both had well-established film careers. Laurel had acted in over 50 films, and worked as a writer and director, while Hardy was in more than 250 productions. Both had appeared in The Lucky Dog (1921), but were not teamed at the time. They first appeared together in a short film in 1926, when they signed separate contracts with the Hal Roach film studio. They officially became a team in 1927 when they appeared in the silent short Putting Pants on Philip. They remained with Roach until 1940, and then appeared in eight B movie comedies for 20th Century Fox and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer from 1941 to 1945. After finishing their film commitments at the end of 1944, they concentrated on performing stage shows, and embarked on a music hall tour of England, Ireland, Wales, and Scotland. They made their last film in 1950, a French–Italian co-production called Atoll K.

 

They appeared as a team in 107 films, starring in 32 short silent films, 40 short sound films, and 23 full-length feature films. They also made 12 guest or cameo appearances, including in the Galaxy of Stars promotional film of 1936. On December 1, 1954, they made their sole American television appearance, when they were surprised and interviewed by Ralph Edwards on his live NBC-TV program This Is Your Life. Since the 1930s, their works have been released in numerous theatrical reissues, television revivals, 8-mm and 16-mm home movies, feature-film compilations, and home videos. In 2005, they were voted the seventh-greatest comedy act of all time by a UK poll of professional comedians. The official Laurel and Hardy appreciation society is The Sons of the Desert, after a fictional fraternal society in the film of the same name.

 

History as Laurel and Hardy

Hal Roach

Hal Roach recounted how Laurel and Hardy became a team: Hardy was already working for Roach (and others) when Roach hired Laurel, whom he had seen in vaudeville. Laurel had very light blue eyes, and Roach discovered that, due to the technology of film at that time, Laurel's eyes wouldn't photograph properly—blue photographed as white. This problem is apparent in their first silent film together, The Lucky Dog, where an attempt was made to compensate for the problem by applying heavy makeup to Laurel's eyes. For about a year, Roach had Laurel work at the studio as a writer. Then panchromatic film was developed; they tested Laurel, and found the problem was solved. Laurel and Hardy were then put together in a film, and they seemed to complement each other. Comedy teams were usually composed of a straight man and a funny man, but these two were both comedians; however, each knew how to play the straight man when the script required it. Roach said, "You could always cut to a close-up of either one, and their reaction was good for another laugh."

 

Style of comedy and characterizations

The humor of Laurel and Hardy was highly visual, with slapstick used for emphasis. They often had physical arguments (in character) which were quite complex and involved a cartoonish style of violence. Their ineptitude and misfortune precluded them from making any real progress, even in the simplest endeavors. Much of their comedy involves "milking" a joke, where a simple idea provides a basis for multiple, ongoing gags without following a defined narrative.

 

Stan Laurel was of average height and weight, but appeared comparatively small and slight next to Oliver Hardy, who was 6 ft 1 in (185 cm) and weighed about 280 lb (127 kg; 20 st 0 lb) in his prime. Details of their hair and clothing were used to enhance this natural contrast. Laurel kept his hair short on the sides and back, growing it long on top to create a natural "fright wig". Typically, at times of shock, he simultaneously screwed up his face to appear as if crying while pulling up his hair. In contrast, Hardy's thinning hair was pasted on his forehead in spit curls and he sported a toothbrush moustache. To achieve a flat-footed walk, Laurel removed the heels from his shoes. Both wore bowler hats, with Laurel's being narrower than Hardy's, and with a flattened brim. The characters' normal attire called for wing collar shirts, with Hardy wearing a necktie which he would twiddle when he was particularly self-conscious; and Laurel, a bow tie. Hardy's sports jacket was a little small and done up with one straining button, whereas Laurel's double-breasted jacket was loose-fitting.

 

A popular routine was a "tit for tat" fight with an adversary. It could be with their wives—often played by Mae Busch, Anita Garvin, or Daphne Pollard—or with a neighbor, often played by Charlie Hall or James Finlayson. Laurel and Hardy would accidentally damage someone's property, and the injured party would retaliate by ruining something belonging to Laurel or Hardy. After calmly surveying the damage, one or the other of the "offended" parties found something else to vandalize, and the conflict escalated until both sides were simultaneously destroying items in front of each other. An early example of the routine occurs in their classic short Big Business (1929), which was added to the National Film Registry in 1992. Another short film which revolves around such an altercation was titled Tit for Tat (1935).

 

One of their best-remembered dialogue devices was the "Tell me that again" routine. Laurel would tell Hardy a genuinely smart idea he came up with, and Hardy would reply, "Tell me that again." Laurel would then try to repeat the idea, but, having instantly forgotten it, babble utter nonsense. Hardy, who had difficulty understanding Laurel's idea when expressed clearly, would then understand the jumbled version perfectly. While much of their comedy remained visual, humorous dialogue often occurred in Laurel and Hardy's talking films as well. Examples include:

 

"You can lead a horse to water, but a pencil must be led." (Laurel, Brats)

"I was dreaming I was awake, but I woke up and found meself asleep." (Laurel, Oliver the Eighth)

"A lot of weather we've been having lately." (Hardy, Way Out West)

In some cases, their comedy bordered on the surreal, in a style Laurel called "white magic". For example, in the 1937 film Way Out West, Laurel flicks his thumb upward as if working a lighter. His thumb ignites and he matter-of-factly lights Hardy's pipe. Amazed at seeing this, Hardy unsuccessfully attempts to duplicate it throughout the film. Much later he finally succeeds, only to be terrified when his thumb catches fire. Laurel expands the joke in the 1938 film Block-Heads by pouring tobacco into his clenched fist and smoking it as though it were a pipe, again to Hardy's bemusement. This time, the joke ends when a match Laurel was using relights itself, Hardy throws it into the fireplace, and it explodes with a loud bang.

 

Rather than showing Hardy suffering the pain of misfortunes, such as falling down stairs or being beaten by a thug, banging and crashing sound effects were often used so the audience could visualize the mayhem. The 1927 film Sailors, Beware! was a significant one for Hardy because two of his enduring trademarks were developed. The first was his "tie twiddle" to demonstrate embarrassment. Hardy, while acting, had received a pail of water in the face. He said, "I had been expecting it, but I didn't expect it at that particular moment. It threw me mentally and I couldn't think what to do next, so I waved the tie in a kind of tiddly-widdly fashion to show embarrassment while trying to look friendly." His second trademark was the "camera look", where he breaks the fourth wall and, in frustration, stares directly at the audience. Hardy said: "I had to become exasperated, so I just stared right into the camera and registered my disgust." Offscreen, Laurel and Hardy were quite the opposite of their movie characters: Laurel was the industrious "idea man", while Hardy was more easygoing.

 

Catchphrases

Laurel and Hardy's best-known catchphrase is, "Well, here's another nice mess you've gotten me into!" It was earlier used by W. S. Gilbert in both The Mikado (1885) and The Grand Duke (1896). It was first used by Hardy in The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case in 1930. In popular culture, the catchphrase is often misquoted as "Well, here's another fine mess you've gotten me into", which was never spoken by Hardy—a misunderstanding that stems from the title of their film Another Fine Mess. When Hardy said the phrase, Laurel's frequent, iconic response was to start to cry, pull his hair up, exclaim "Well, I couldn't help it...", then whimper and speak gibberish.

 

Some variations on the phrase occurred. For example, in Chickens Come Home, Ollie impatiently says to Stan, "Well...", and Stan continues for him: "Here's another nice mess I've gotten you into." The films Thicker than Water and The Fixer Uppers use the phrase "Well, here's another nice kettle of fish you've pickled me in!" In Saps at Sea, the phrase becomes "Well, here's another nice bucket of suds you've gotten me into!" The catchphrase, in its original form, was used as the last line of dialogue in the duo's last film, Atoll K (1951).

 

In moments of particular distress or frustration, Hardy often exclaims, "Why don't you do something to help me?", as Laurel stands helplessly by.

 

"OH!" (or drawn out as "Ohhhhh-OH!") was another catchphrase used by Hardy. He uses the expression in the duo's first sound film, Unaccustomed As We Are (1929) when his character's wife smashes a record over his head.

 

Mustachioed Scottish actor James Finlayson, who appeared in 33 Laurel and Hardy films, used a variation: "D'oh!" The phrase, expressing surprise, impatience, or incredulity, inspired the trademark "D'oh!" of character Homer Simpson (voiced by Dan Castellaneta) in the long-running animated comedy The Simpsons.

 

Films

Laurel's and Hardy's first film pairing, although as separate performers, was in the silent The Lucky Dog. Its production details have not survived, but film historian Bo Berglund has placed it between September 1920 and January 1921. According to interviews they gave in the 1930s, the pair's acquaintance at the time was casual, and both had forgotten their initial film entirely. The plot sees Laurel's character befriended by a stray dog which, after some lucky escapes, saves him from being blown up by dynamite. Hardy's character is a mugger attempting to rob Laurel. They later signed separate contracts with the Hal Roach Studios, and next appeared in the 1926 film 45 Minutes From Hollywood.

 

Hal Roach is considered the most important person in the development of Laurel's and Hardy's film careers. He brought them together, and they worked for Roach for almost 20 years. Director Charley Rogers, who worked closely with the three men for many years, said, "It could not have happened if Laurel, Hardy, and Roach had not met at the right place and the right time." Their first "official" film together was Putting Pants on Philip, released December 3, 1927. The plot involves Laurel as Philip, a young Scotsman who arrives in the United States in full kilted splendor, and suffers mishaps involving the kilts. His uncle, played by Hardy, tries to put trousers on him. Also in 1927, the pair starred in The Battle of the Century, a classic pie-throwing short involving over 3,000 real pies; only a fragment of the film was known to exist until the first half resurfaced in the 1970s; a more complete print was discovered in 2015 by historian Jon Mirsalis.

 

Laurel said to the duo's biographer John McCabe: "Of all the questions we're asked, the most frequent is, how did we come together? I always explain that we came together naturally." Laurel and Hardy were joined by accident and grew by indirection. In 1926, both were part of the Roach Comedy All Stars, a stock company of actors who took part in a series of films. Laurel's and Hardy's parts gradually grew larger, while those of their fellow stars diminished, because Laurel and Hardy had superior pantomime skills. Their teaming was suggested by Leo McCarey, their supervising director from 1927 and 1930. During that period, McCarey and Laurel jointly devised the team's format. McCarey also influenced the slowing of their comedy action from the silent era's typically frantic pace to a more natural one. The formula worked so well that Laurel and Hardy played the same characters for the next 30 years.

 

Although Roach employed writers and directors such as H. M. Walker, Leo McCarey, James Parrott, and James W. Horne on the Laurel and Hardy films, Laurel, who had a considerable background in comedy writing, often rewrote entire sequences and scripts. He also encouraged the cast and crew to improvise, then meticulously reviewed the footage during editing. By 1929, he was the pair's head writer, and it was reported that the writing sessions were gleefully chaotic. Stan had three or four writers who competed with him in a perpetual game of 'Can You Top This?' Hardy was quite happy to leave the writing to his partner. He said, "After all, just doing the gags was hard enough work, especially if you have taken as many falls and been dumped in as many mudholes as I have. I think I earned my money." Laurel eventually became so involved in their films' productions, many film historians and aficionados consider him an uncredited director. He ran the Laurel and Hardy set, no matter who was in the director's chair, but never asserted his authority. Roach remarked: "Laurel bossed the production. With any director, if Laurel said 'I don't like this idea,' the director didn't say 'Well, you're going to do it anyway.' That was understood." As Laurel made so many suggestions, there was not much left for the credited director to do.

 

Their 1929 silent Big Business is by far the most critically acclaimed. Laurel and Hardy are Christmas tree salesmen who are drawn into a classic tit-for-tat battle, with a character played by James Finlayson, that eventually destroys his house and their car. Big Business was added to the United States National Film Registry as a national treasure in 1992.

 

Sound films

In 1929 the silent era of film was coming to an end. Many silent-film actors failed to make the transition to "talkies"—some, because they felt sound was irrelevant to their craft of conveying stories with body language; and others, because their spoken voices were considered inadequate for the new medium. However, the addition of spoken dialogue only enhanced Laurel's and Hardy's performances; both had extensive theatrical experience, and could use their voices to great comic effect. Their films also continued to feature much visual comedy. In these ways, they made a seamless transition to their first sound film, Unaccustomed As We Are (1929) (whose title was a play on the familiar phrase, "Unaccustomed as I am to public speaking"). In the opening dialogue, Laurel and Hardy began by spoofing the slow and self-conscious speech of the early talking actors which became a routine they would use regularly.

 

The Music Box (1932), with the pair delivering a piano up a long flight of steps, won an Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Subject. The Music Box remains one of the duo's most widely known films.

 

Laurel and Hardy were favorites around the world, and Hal Roach catered to international audiences by filming many of their early talkies in other languages. They spoke their dialogue phonetically, in Spanish, Italian, French, or German. The plots remained similar to the English versions, although the supporting actors were often changed to those who were fluent in the native language. Pardon Us (1931) was reshot in all four foreign languages. Blotto, Hog Wild and Be Big! were remade in French and Spanish versions. Night Owls was remade in both Spanish and Italian, and Below Zero and Chickens Come Home in Spanish.

 

Feature films

Just as Laurel and Hardy's teaming was accidental, so was their entry into the field of feature films. In the words of biographer John McCabe, "Roach planned to use the MGM set [built for The Big House] for a simple prison-break two-reeler but MGM suddenly added a proviso: Laurel and Hardy would have to do a picture for them in exchange. Roach would not agree so he built his own prison set, a very expensive item for a two-reeler. So expensive was it indeed that he added four more reels to bring it into the feature category and, it was hoped, the bigger market." The experiment was successful, and the team continued to make features along with their established short subjects until 1935, when they converted to features exclusively.

 

Sons of the Desert (1933) is often cited as Laurel and Hardy's best feature-length film. The situation-comedy script by actor-playwright Frank Craven and screenwriter Byron Morgan is stronger than usual for a Laurel & Hardy comedy. Stan and Ollie are henpecked husbands who want to attend a convention held by the Sons of the Desert fraternal lodge. They tell their wives that Ollie requires an ocean voyage to Honolulu for his health, and they sneak off to the convention. They are unaware that the Honolulu-bound ship they were supposedly aboard is sinking, and the wives confront their errant husbands when they get home.

 

Babes in Toyland (1934) remains a perennial on American television during the Christmas season. When interviewed, Hal Roach spoke scathingly about the film and Laurel's behavior. Roach himself had written a treatment detailing the characters and storyline, only to find that Laurel considered Roach's effort totally unsuitable. Roach, affronted, tried to argue in favor of his treatment, but Laurel was adamant. Roach angrily gave up and allowed Laurel to make the film his way. The rift damaged Roach-Laurel relations to the point that Roach said that after Toyland, he didn't want to produce for Laurel and Hardy. Although their association continued for another six years, Roach no longer took an active hand in Laurel and Hardy films.

 

Way Out West (1937) was a personal favorite of both Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. A satire of the Gene Autry musical westerns sweeping America at the time, the film combines Laurel and Hardy's slapstick routines with songs and dances performed by the stars.

 

It appeared that the team would split permanently in 1938. Hal Roach had become dissatisfied with his distribution arrangement with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and had begun releasing his films through United Artists. He still owed MGM one last feature, and made the Laurel and Hardy comedy Block-Heads, with the announcement that this would be Laurel and Hardy's farewell film. Stan Laurel's contract with Roach then expired, and Roach did not renew it. Oliver Hardy's contract was still in force, however, and Roach starred Hardy solo in the antebellum comedy Zenobia (1939), with Harry Langdon as Hardy's comic foil. This fueled rumors that Laurel and Hardy had split on bad terms.

 

After Zenobia, Laurel rejoined Hardy and the team signed with independent producer Boris Morros for the comedy feature The Flying Deuces (1939). Meanwhile, Hal Roach wanted to demonstrate his new idea of making four-reel, 40-minute featurettes—twice the length of standard two-reel, 20-minute comedies—which Roach felt could fit more conveniently into double-feature programs. He referred to these extended films as "streamliners". To test his theory, Roach rehired Laurel and Hardy. The resulting films, A Chump at Oxford and Saps at Sea (both 1940), were prepared as featurettes. United Artists overruled Roach and insisted that they be released as full-length features.

 

Hoping for greater artistic freedom, Laurel and Hardy split with Roach, and signed with 20th Century-Fox in 1941 and MGM in 1942. However, their working conditions were now completely different: they were simply hired actors, relegated to both studios’ B-film units, and not initially allowed to contribute to the scripts or improvise, as they had always done. When their films proved popular, the studios allowed them more input, and they starred in eight features until the end of 1944. These films, while far from their best work, were still very successful. Budgeted between $300,000 and $450,000 each, they earned millions at the box office for Fox and MGM. The Fox films were so profitable that the studio kept making Laurel and Hardy comedies after it discontinued its other "B" series films.

 

The busy team decided to take a rest during 1946, but 1947 saw their first European tour in 15 years. A film based in the charters of "Robin Hood" was planned during the tour, but not realized. In 1947, Laurel and Hardy famously attended the reopening of the Dungeness loop of the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway, where they performed improvised routines with a steam locomotive for the benefit of local crowds and dignitaries.

 

In 1948, on the team's return to America, Laurel was sidelined by illness and temporarily unable to work. He encouraged Hardy to take movie roles on his own. Hardy's friend John Wayne hired him to co-star in The Fighting Kentuckian for Republic Pictures, and Bing Crosby got him a small part in Frank Capra's Riding High.

 

In 1950–51, Laurel and Hardy made their final feature-length film together, Atoll K. A French-Italian co-production directed by Léo Joannon, it was plagued by problems with language barriers, production issues, and both actors' serious health issues. When Laurel received the script's final draft, he felt its heavy political content overshadowed the comedy. He quickly rewrote it, with screen comic Monte Collins contributing visual gags, and hired old friend Alfred Goulding to direct the Laurel and Hardy scenes. During filming, Hardy developed an irregular heartbeat, while Laurel experienced painful prostate complications that caused his weight to drop to 114 pounds. Critics were disappointed with the storyline, English dubbing, and Laurel's sickly physical appearance. The film was not commercially successful on its first release, and brought an end to Laurel and Hardy's film careers. Atoll K did finally turn a profit when it was rereleased in other countries. In 1954, an American distributor removed 18 minutes of footage and released it as Utopia; widely released on film and video, it is the film's best-known version.

 

After Atoll K wrapped in April 1951, Laurel and Hardy returned to America and used the remainder of the year to rest. Stan appeared, in character, in a silent TV newsreel, Swim Meet, judging a local California swimming contest.

 

Most Laurel and Hardy films have survived and are still in circulation. Only three of their 107 films are considered lost and have not been seen in complete form since the 1930s. The silent film Hats Off from 1927 has vanished completely. The first half of Now I'll Tell One (1927) is lost, and the second half has yet to be released on video. The Battle of the Century (1927), after years of obscurity, is now almost complete but a few minutes are missing. In the 1930 operatic Technicolor musical The Rogue Song, Laurel and Hardy appeared as comedy relief in 10 sequences; only one exists. The complete soundtrack has survived.

 

Radio

Laurel and Hardy made at least two audition recordings for radio, a half-hour NBC series, based on the skit, Driver’s License, and a 1944 NBC pilot for "The Laurel and Hardy Show," casting Stan and Ollie in different occupations each episode. The surviving audition record, "Mr. Slater's Poultry Market," has Stan and Ollie as meat-market butchers mistaken for vicious gangsters. A third attempt was commissioned by BBC Radio in 1953: "Laurel and Hardy Go to the Moon," a series of science-fiction comedies. A sample script was written by Tony Hawes and Denis Gifford, and the comedians staged a read-through, which was not recorded. The team was forced to withdraw due to Hardy's declining health, and the project was abandoned.

 

Final years

Following the making of Atoll K, Laurel and Hardy took some months off to deal with health issues. On their return to the European stage in 1952, they undertook a well-received series of public appearances, performing a short Laurel-written sketch, "A Spot of Trouble". The following year, Laurel wrote a routine entitled "Birds of a Feather". On September 9, 1953, their boat arrived in Cobh in Ireland. Laurel recounted their reception:

 

The love and affection we found that day at Cobh was simply unbelievable. There were hundreds of boats blowing whistles and mobs and mobs of people screaming on the docks. We just couldn't understand what it was all about. And then something happened that I can never forget. All the church bells in Cobh started to ring out our theme song "Dance of the Cuckoos" and Babe (Oliver Hardy) looked at me and we cried. I'll never forget that day. Never.

 

On May 17, 1954, Laurel and Hardy made their last live stage performance in Plymouth, UK at the Palace Theatre. On December 1, 1954, they made their only American television appearance when they were surprised and interviewed by Ralph Edwards on his live NBC-TV program This Is Your Life. Lured to the Knickerbocker Hotel under the pretense of a business meeting with producer Bernard Delfont, the doors opened to their suite, #205, flooding the room with light and Edwards' voice. The telecast was preserved on a kinescope and later released on home video. Partly due to the broadcast's positive response, the team began renegotiating with Hal Roach Jr. for a series of color NBC Television specials, to be called Laurel and Hardy's Fabulous Fables. However, the plans had to be shelved as the aging comedians continued to suffer from declining health. In 1955, America's magazine TV Guide ran a color spread on the team with current photos. That year, they made their final public appearance together while taking part in This Is Music Hall, a BBC Television program about the Grand Order of Water Rats, a British variety organization. Laurel and Hardy provided a filmed insert where they reminisced about their friends in British variety. They made their final appearance on camera in 1956 in a private home movie, shot by a family friend at the Reseda, California home of Stan Laurel's daughter, Lois. The three-minute film has no audio.

 

In 1956, while following his doctor's orders to improve his health due to a heart condition, Hardy lost over 100 pounds (45 kg; 7.1 st), but nonetheless suffered several strokes causing reduced mobility and speech. Despite his long and successful career, Hardy's home was sold to help cover his medical expenses. He died of a stroke on August 7, 1957, and longtime friend Bob Chatterton said Hardy weighed just 138 pounds (63 kg; 9.9 st) at the time of his death. Hardy was laid to rest at Pierce Brothers' Valhalla Memorial Park, North Hollywood. Following Hardy's death, scenes from Laurel and Hardy's early films were seen once again in theaters, featured in Robert Youngson's silent-film compilation The Golden Age of Comedy.

 

For the remaining eight years of his life, Stan Laurel refused to perform, and declined Stanley Kramer's offer of a cameo in his landmark 1963 film It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. In 1960, Laurel was given a special Academy Award for his contributions to film comedy, but was unable to attend the ceremony due to poor health. Actor Danny Kaye accepted the award on his behalf. Despite not appearing on screen after Hardy's death, Laurel did contribute gags to several comedy filmmakers. His favorite TV comedy was Leonard B. Stern's I'm Dickens, He's Fenster, co-starring John Astin and Marty Ingels as carpenters. Laurel enjoyed the Astin-Ingels chemistry and sent two-man gags to Stern.

 

During this period, most of his communication was in the form of written correspondence, and he insisted on personally answering every fan letter. Late in life, he welcomed visitors from the new generation of comedians and celebrities, including Dick Cavett, Jerry Lewis, Peter Sellers, Marcel Marceau, Johnny Carson, and Dick Van Dyke. Jerry Lewis offered Laurel a job as consultant, but he chose to help only on Lewis's 1960 feature The Bellboy.[citation needed]

 

Dick Van Dyke was a longtime fan, and based his comedy and dancing styles on Laurel's. When he discovered Laurel's home number in the phone book and called him, Laurel invited him over for the afternoon. Van Dyke hosted a television tribute to Stan Laurel the year he died.

 

Laurel lived to see the duo's work rediscovered through television and classic film revivals. He died on February 23, 1965, in Santa Monica and is buried at Forest Lawn-Hollywood Hills in Los Angeles, California.

 

Supporting cast members

Laurel and Hardy's films included a supporting cast of comic actors, some of whom appeared regularly:

 

Harry Bernard (former vaudeville partner of Charley Chase) played supporting roles as a waiter, bartender, or policeman.

Mae Busch often played the formidable Mrs. Hardy and other characters, particularly sultry femmes fatales.

Charley Chase, the Hal Roach film star and brother of James Parrott, a writer/director of several Laurel and Hardy films, made four appearances.

Dorothy Coburn appeared in nearly a dozen early silent shorts.

Baldwin Cooke (former vaudeville partner of Stan Laurel) played supporting roles as a waiter, colleague, or neighbor.

Richard Cramer appeared as a scowling, menacing villain or opponent.

Peter Cushing, well before becoming a star in Hammer Horror films, played one of the students in A Chump at Oxford.

Bobby Dunn appeared as a cross-eyed bartender and telegram messenger, as well as the genial shoplifter in Tit for Tat.

Eddie Dunn made several appearances, notably as the belligerent taxi driver in Me and My Pal.

James Finlayson, a balding, mustachioed Scotsman known for displays of indignation and squinting, pop-eyed "double takes," made 33 appearances and is perhaps their most celebrated foil.

Anita Garvin appeared in a number of Laurel and Hardy films, often cast as Mrs. Laurel.

Billy Gilbert made many appearances, most notably as bombastic, blustery characters such as those in The Music Box (1932) and Block-Heads.

Charlie Hall, who usually played angry, diminutive adversaries, appeared nearly 50 times.

Jean Harlow had a small role in the silent short Double Whoopee (1929) and two other films in the early part of her career.

Arthur Housman made several appearances as a comic drunk.

Isabelle Keith was the only actress to appear as wife to both Laurel and Hardy (in Perfect Day and Be Big!, respectively).

Edgar Kennedy, master of the "slow burn," often appeared as a cop, a hostile neighbor, or a relative.

Walter Long played grizzled, unshaven, physically threatening villains.

Sam Lufkin appeared several times, usually as a husky authority figure.

Charles Middleton made a handful of appearances, usually as a sourpuss adversary.

James C. Morton appeared as a bartender or exasperated policeman.

Vivien Oakland appeared in several early silent films, and later talkies including Scram! and Way Out West.

Blanche Payson, a former policewoman, was featured in several sound shorts, including Oliver's formidable wife in Helpmates.

Daphne Pollard was featured as Oliver's diminutive but daunting wife.

Viola Richard appeared in several early silent films, most notably as the beautiful cave girl in Flying Elephants (1928).

Charley Rogers, an English actor and gag writer, appeared several times.

Tiny Sandford was a tall, burly, physically imposing character actor who played authority figures, usually policemen.

Thelma Todd appeared several times before her own career as a comic leading lady.

Ben Turpin, the cross-eyed Mack Sennett comedy star, made two memorable appearances.

Ellinor Vanderveer made many appearances as a dowager, high society matron, or posh party guest.

 

Music

The duo's famous signature tune, known variously as "The Cuckoo Song", "Ku-Ku" or "The Dance of the Cuckoos", was composed by Roach musical director Marvin Hatley as the on-the-hour chime for KFVD, the Roach studio's radio station. Laurel heard the tune on the station and asked Hatley if they could use it as the Laurel and Hardy theme song. The original theme, recorded by two clarinets in 1930, was recorded again with a full orchestra in 1935. Leroy Shield composed the majority of the music used in the Laurel and Hardy short sound films. A compilation of songs from their films, titled Trail of the Lonesome Pine, was released in 1975. The title track was released as a single in the UK and reached #2 in the charts.

 

Influence and legacy

Laurel and Hardy's influence over a very broad range of comedy and other genres has been considerable. Lou Costello of the famed duo of Abbott and Costello, stated "They were the funniest comedy team in the world." Most critics and film scholars throughout the years have agreed with this assessment; writers, artists, and performers as diverse as Samuel Beckett, Jerry Lewis, Peter Sellers, Marcel Marceau Steve Martin, John Cleese, Harold Pinter, Alec Guinness, J. D. Salinger, René Magritte and Kurt Vonnegut among many others, have acknowledged an artistic debt. Starting in the 1960s, the exposure on television of (especially) their short films has ensured a continued influence on generations of comedians and fans.

 

Posthumous revivals and popular culture

Since the 1930s, the works of Laurel and Hardy have been released again in numerous theatrical reissues, television revivals (broadcast, especially public television and cable), 16 mm and 8 mm home movies, feature-film compilations and home video. After Stan Laurel's death in 1965, there were two major motion-picture tributes: Laurel and Hardy's Laughing '20s was Robert Youngson's compilation of the team's silent-film highlights, and The Great Race was a large-scale salute to slapstick that director Blake Edwards dedicated to "Mr. Laurel and Mr. Hardy". For many years the duo were impersonated by Jim MacGeorge (as Laurel) and Chuck McCann (as Hardy) in children's TV shows and television commercials for various products.

 

Numerous colorized versions of Laurel and Hardy features and shorts have been reproduced by several studios. The process was introduced in 1983 by Colorization, Inc. in partnership with Hal Roach Studios, then a Canadian concern licensing its name and films from Hal Roach. Early efforts were the famous Laurel & Hardy films Helpmates, Way Out West, and The Music Box, which were released to television and issued on VHS videocassettes. Most of the Laurel & Hardy sound shorts were ultimately colorized for distribution in Europe; The pixel-based color process and the conversion from the American NTSC system to the European PAL system often affected the sharpness of the image, so since 2011 video distributors have issued the original, more accurately rendered black-and-white editions.

 

There are three Laurel and Hardy museums. One is in Laurel's birthplace of Ulverston, England and another is in Hardy's birthplace of Harlem, Georgia, United States. The third is located in Solingen, Germany. Maurice Sendak showed three identical Oliver Hardy figures as bakers preparing cakes for the morning in his award-winning 1970 children's book In the Night Kitchen. This is treated as a clear example of "interpretative illustration" wherein the comedians' inclusion harked back to the author's childhood. The Beatles used cut-outs of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy in the cutout celebrity crowd for the cover of their 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. A 2005 poll by fellow comedians and comedy insiders of the top 50 comedians for The Comedian's Comedian, a TV documentary broadcast on UK's Channel 4, voted the duo the seventh-greatest comedy act ever, making them the top double act on the list.

 

Merchandiser Larry Harmon claimed ownership of Laurel's and Hardy's likenesses and has issued Laurel and Hardy toys and coloring books. He also co-produced a series of Laurel and Hardy cartoons in 1966 with Hanna-Barbera Productions. His animated versions of Laurel and Hardy guest-starred in a 1972 episode of Hanna-Barbera's The New Scooby-Doo Movies. In 1999, Harmon produced a direct-to-video feature live-action comedy entitled The All New Adventures of Laurel & Hardy in For Love or Mummy. Actors Bronson Pinchot and Gailard Sartain were cast playing the lookalike nephews of Laurel and Hardy named Stanley Thinneus Laurel and Oliver Fatteus Hardy.

 

Currently, the North American rights to a majority of the Laurel & Hardy library are owned by Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, successor-in-interest to the companies that previously held such rights (Cabin Fever, RHI, Hallmark, and Sonar), while the CCA owns international rights, and Larry Harmon's estate owns the likenesses and trademarks to Laurel & Hardy.

 

The Indian comedy duo Ghory and Dixit was known as the Indian Laurel and Hardy. In 2011 the German/French TV station Arte released in co-production with the German TV station ZDF the 90-minute documentary Laurel & Hardy: Their Lives and Magic. The film, titled in the original German Laurel and Hardy: Die komische Liebesgeschichte von "Dick & Doof", was written and directed by German film-maker Andreas Baum. It includes many movie clips, rare and unpublished photographs, interviews with family, fans, friends, showbiz pals and newly recovered footage. Laurel's daughter Lois Laurel Hawes said of the film: "The best documentary about Laurel and Hardy I have ever seen!". It has also been released as a Director's Cut with a length of 105 minutes, plus 70 minutes of bonus materials on DVD.

 

Appreciation society

Main article: The Sons of the Desert

The official Laurel and Hardy appreciation society is known as The Sons of the Desert, after a fraternal society in their film of the same name (1933). It was established in New York City in 1965 by Laurel and Hardy biographer John McCabe, with Orson Bean, Al Kilgore, Chuck McCann, and John Municino as founding members, with the sanction of Stan Laurel. Since the group's inception, well over 150 chapters of the organization have formed across North America, Europe, and Australia. An Emmy-winning film documentary about the group, Revenge of the Sons of the Desert, has been released on DVD as part of The Laurel and Hardy Collection, Vol. 1.

 

Around the world

Laurel and Hardy are popular around the world but are known under different names in various countries and languages.

 

CountryNickname

Poland"Flip i Flap" (Flip and Flap)

Germany"Dick und Doof" (Fat and Dumb)

Brazil"O Gordo e o Magro" (The Fat One and the Skinny One)

Sweden"Helan och Halvan" (The Whole and the Half)

Norway"Helan og Halvan" (The Whole and the Half)

Spanish-speaking countries"El Gordo y el Flaco" (The Fat One and the Skinny One)

Italy"Stanlio e Ollio" also as "Cric e Croc" up to the 1970s

Hungary"Stan és Pan" (Stan and Pan)

Romania"Stan și Bran" (Stan and Bran)

The Netherlands, Flemish Belgium"Laurel en Hardy", "Stan en Ollie", "De Dikke en de Dunne" (The Fat [One] and the Skinny [One])

Denmark"Gøg og Gokke" (Roughly translates to Wacky and Pompous)

Portugal"O Bucha e o Estica" (The Fat One and the Skinny One)

Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia, North Macedonia, Montenegro"Stanlio i Olio" (Cyrillic: Станлио и Олио)

Slovenia"Stan in Olio"

Greece"Hondros kai Lignos" (Χοντρός και Λιγνός) (Fat and Skinny)

India (Marathi)"जाड्या आणि रड्या" (Fatso and the Crybaby)

India (Punjabi)"Moota Paatla" (Laurel and Hardy) (Fat and Skinny)

India (Telugu)"Lamboo Jamboo" (లంబూ జంబూ) (Laurel and Hardy) (Fat and Skinny)

FinlandOhukainen ja Paksukainen (Thin one and Thick one)

Iceland"Steini og Olli"

Israel"השמן והרזה" (ha-Shamen ve ha-Raze, The Fat and the Skinny)

Vietnam (South)"Mập – Ốm" (The Fat and the Skinny)

Korea (South)"뚱뚱이와 홀쭉이" (The Fat and the Skinny)

Malta"L-Oħxon u l-Irqiq" ("The Fat and the Thin One")

Thailand"อ้วนผอมจอมยุ่ง" ("The Clumsy Fat and Thin")

Biopic

A biographical film titled Stan & Ollie directed by Jon S. Baird and starring Steve Coogan as Stan and John C. Reilly as Oliver was released in 2018 and chronicled the duo's 1953 tour of Great Britain and Ireland. The film received positive reviews from critics, garnering a 94% "Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes. For their performances, Reilly and Coogan were nominated for a Golden Globe and a BAFTA award respectively.

you may know me as plain Jane, or the woman hanging around a jungle waiting to be carried off by Tarzan...

I am a cleaner, carer, I work in the local supermarket, I am the one you more than likely dont give a second thought to.. I have been invisible, behind the scenes, oppressed and passive, i empty bed pans, work betweeen schools runs, know as so and so's mummy, or his wife.. I am the Doe with out Identity,

I am the woman in uniform fighting for you liberty, the class room assistant, the teacher, I am the whore and the housewife..

I have a voice thats often over looked or silenced.I am the one who left school with few qualifications that worked in a factory, the one to give up her career to bring up children, the one from a hard up family who never regained her grip on her dreams..

I am the past beacuse every thing is different now.. Things are better and i should be grateful.

I am sarcastic, mock, moan..

Dont insult my intelligence, I have endured, faught, suffered indignation.

I am Woman, I will be seen, heard and not judged. Things have not changed for a lot of Janes...

~

Feminism/Equality

digital draw and paint

gimp

  

My entire period of study in the Society was a grim struggle with the dreariness of theology, with what men had made out of the glory of revelation. I could not endure this presentation of the Word of God. I could have lashed out with the fury of a Samson. I felt like tearing down, with Samson’s strength, the whole temple and burying myself beneath the rubble. But it was like this because, despite my sense of vocation, I wanted to carry out my own plans, and was living in a state of unbounded indignation. I told almost no one about this.

-Hans Urs von Balthasar: His Life and Work

David Schindler

  

 

Palermo’s Piazza Pretoria has long been the city’s most unabashed open-air gallery of flesh and flourish. These marble figures—gods, goddesses, nymphs, beasts, and mortals alike—have weathered centuries of sun, scandal, and curious stares. Some strike classical poses of virtue and poise. Others flaunt grapes, grip sea monsters, or simply let it all hang out. It’s not subtle. It’s not prudish. It’s Palermo at its most baroque—and its most brazen.

 

Originally sculpted by Francesco Camilliani in 1554 for a private villa in Florence, the Fontana Pretoria was shipped to Palermo in 1573, where its arrival caused an uproar—particularly among the neighbouring convents, who dubbed it the Square of Shame (Piazza della Vergogna). Today, it’s embraced with local pride, international amusement, and the occasional side-eye from visiting aunties.

 

This series captures the sensuous splendour of the statues in all their unabashed glory—no fig leaves, no apologies, just pure Sicilian stone-cold confidence.

 

⸻

 

La Piazza Pretoria de Palerme est sans doute la galerie en plein air la plus audacieuse de la ville. Ces statues de marbre — dieux, déesses, nymphes, monstres et mortels — ont affronté les siècles avec grâce, insolence et un sens du style tout sicilien. Certaines posent avec une dignité classique. D’autres exhibent des grappes de raisin, chevauchent des créatures marines… ou se tiennent fièrement dans le plus simple appareil. Subtil ? Non. Pudique ? Encore moins.

 

Sculptée en 1554 par Francesco Camilliani pour une villa privée à Florence, la Fontana Pretoria fut transportée à Palerme en 1573, provoquant l’indignation des religieuses voisines, qui la surnommèrent Place de la Honte. Aujourd’hui, elle est célébrée avec humour, fierté et un brin de provocation.

 

Cette série d’images rend hommage à la sensualité marbrée de ces statues sans tabou – une Sicile baroque, assumée et résolument sculpturale.

 

French postcard, no. 30. Photo: Paramount Pictures.

 

Blonde Mae West (1895-1982) was a seductive, overdressed, endearing, intelligent, and sometimes vulgar American actress and sex symbol. She featured a come-hither voice, aggressive sexuality, and a genius for comedy. West started in Vaudeville and on the stage in New York, and later moved to Hollywood to star in such films as I’m No Angel (1933), She Done Him Wrong (1933), and Klondike Annie (1936). She was one of the first women in the cinema to consistently write the films she starred in.

 

Mary Jane West was born in 1892, in Brooklyn, New York, to Matilda and John West. Family members called her Mae. Her father was a prizefighter known around the Brooklyn area as ‘Battlin' Jack’ West. Later, he worked as a "special policeman" (most likely as muscle for local business and crime bosses) and then as a private detective. Mae began working as an entertainer at age five at a church social. After a few years in stock, she moved into burlesque, where she was billed as ‘The Baby Vamp’. In 1907, 14-year-old West began performing professionally in vaudeville in the Hal Claredon Stock Company. Her mother made all her costumes, drilled her on rehearsals, and managed her bookings and contracts. In 1909, West met Frank Wallace, an up-and-coming vaudeville song-and-dance man. They formed an act and went out on the burlesque circuit. In 1911, she married Frank Wallace. Only 17, she lied about her age on her marriage certificate and kept the marriage secret from the public and her parents. She broke up the act soon after they arrived back in New York and the union remained a secret until 1935. In 1911, West auditioned for, and got a part, in her first Broadway show, ‘A La Broadway’, a comedy review. The show folded after only eight performances, but West was a hit. In the audience on opening night were two successful Broadway impresarios, Lee and J.J. Shubert, and they cast her in the production of ‘Vera Violetta’, also featuring Al Jolson and Gaby Deslys. West got her big break in 1918 in the Shubert Brothers revue Sometime, playing opposite Ed Wynn. Her character, Mayme, danced the shimmy, a brazen dance move that involved shaking the shoulders back and forth and pushing the chest out. As more parts came her way, West began to shape her characters, often rewriting dialogue or character descriptions to better suit her persona. She eventually began writing her own plays, initially using the pen name Jane Mast. In 1926 her first play, ‘Sex’, which she wrote, produced, and directed on Broadway, caused a scandal and landed her in jail for ten days on obscenity charges. Media attention surrounding the incident enhanced her career, by crowning her the darling "bad girl" who "had climbed the ladder of success wrong by wrong". She wrote and directed her second play, ‘Drag’ (1927) about homosexuality. She was an early supporter of gay rights and publicly declared against police brutality that gay men experienced. The play was a smash hit during a series of try-outs in Connecticut and New Jersey, but she was warned by city officials, not to bring it to Broadway. Finally, her play ‘Diamond Lil’ (1928), about a racy, easygoing, and ultimately very smart lady of the 1890s, became a Broadway hit and cemented West's image in the public's eye. And, after two more successful stage productions, she was invited to Hollywood.

 

At Paramount Pictures, Mae West made her film debut in Night After Night (Archie Mayo, 1932), starring George Raft. At 38 years old, she might have been considered in her ‘advanced years’ for playing sexy harlots, but her persona and physical beauty seemed to overcome any doubt. At first, she balked at her small role in Night After Night but was appeased when allowed to rewrite her scenes. One scene became a sensation. When a coat check girl exclaims, "Goodness! What lovely diamonds!", after seeing Mae's jewelry. Mae replies, "Goodness had nothing to do with it, dearie". Mae was a hit and later George Raft said of Mae: "She stole everything but the cameras." In her second film, She Done Him Wrong (Lowell Sherman, 1933), West was able to bring her ‘Diamond Lil’ character to the screen in her first starring film role. Her co-star was newcomer Cary Grant in one of his first major roles. ‘Lil’ was renamed ‘Lady Lou’, and she uttered the famous West line, "Why don't you come up sometime and see me?" The film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture, and did tremendously well at the box office. She Done Him Wrong is attributed to saving Paramount from bankruptcy. In her next film, I'm No Angel (Wesley Ruggles, 1933), she was again paired with Grant. This film, too, was a financial blockbuster and West became the highest-paid woman in the United States. However, her reputation as a provocative sexual figure and the steamy settings of her films aroused the wrath and moral indignation of several groups. The new Hays Office had the power to pre-approve films' productions and change scripts. In 1934, the organisation began to seriously and meticulously enforce the Production Code on West's screenplays, and heavily edited them. West responded in her typical fashion by increasing the number of innuendos and double entendres, fully expecting to confuse the censors, which she did for the most part. Her film Klondike Annie (Raoul Walsh, 1936) with Victor McLaglen, concerned itself with religion and hypocrisy. William R. Hearst disagreed so vehemently with the film's context, and West's portrayal of a Salvation Army worker, that he personally forbade any stories or advertisements of the film to be published in any of his newspapers. However, the film did well at the box office and is considered the high-point of West's film career. Throughout the 1930s her films were anticipated as major events, but by the end of the decade she seemed to have reached her limit and her popularity waned. The few other films she did for Paramount — Go West, Young Man (Henry Hathaway, 1936) and Everyday's a Holiday (A. Edward Sutherland, 1937) — did not do well at the box office, and she found censorship was severely limiting her creativity. In 1937, she was banned from NBC Radio after a guest appearance with Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy that was loaded with flirtatious dialogue and double-entendres.

 

In 1939, Mae West was approached by Universal Pictures to star in a film opposite comedian W.C. Fields. The studio wanted to duplicate the success they had with another film, Destry Rides Again (George Marshall, 1939), a Western morality tale starring Marlene Dietrich and James Stewart. West, looking for a vehicle to make a comeback in films, accepted the part, demanding creative control over the film. Using the same Western genre, she wrote the script for My Little Chickadee (Edward F. Cline, 1940). Despite tension on the set between West and Fields (she was a teetotaler and he drank), the film was a box-office success, out-grossing Fields' previous two films. After making The Heat's On (Gregory Ratoff, 1943) for Columbia, she planned to retire from the screen and went back to Broadway and on a tour of English theatres. Among her popular stage performances was the title role in ‘Catherine Was Great’ (1944) on Broadway, in which she penned a spoof on the story of Catherine the Great of Russia, surrounding herself with an ‘imperial guard’ of tall, muscular young actors. The play was produced by theater and film impresario Mike Todd and ran for 191 performances and then went on tour. In 1954, when she was 62, she began a nightclub act in which she was surrounded by musclemen; it ran for three years and was a great success. In 1954, West formed a nightclub act which revived some of her earlier stage work, featuring her in song-and-dance numbers and surrounded by musclemen fawning over her for attention. The show ran for three years and was a great success. With this victory, she felt it was a good time to retire. In 1959, West released her bestselling autobiography, ‘Goodness Had Nothing To Do With It’, recounting her life in show business. She made a few guest appearances on the 1960s television comedy/variety shows like The Red Skelton Show and some situation comedies like Mister Ed. She also recorded a few albums in different genres including rock 'n' roll and a Christmas album which, of course, was more parody and innuendo than a religious celebration. In the 1970s, she appeared in two more films. She had s small part in Gore Vidal's Myra Breckenridge (Michael Sarne, 1970), starring Raquel Welch. She starred in Sextette (Ken Hughes, 1978), which she based on her own stage play. Both were box office flops, but are now seen as cult films. In 1980, Mae West died after suffering two strokes in Hollywood and was entombed in Brooklyn, New York. She was 88. Denny Jackson at IMDb: “The actress, who only appeared in 12 films in 46 years, had a powerful impact on us. There was no doubt she was way ahead of her time with her sexual innuendos and how she made fun of a puritanical society. She did a lot to bring it out of the closet and perhaps we should be grateful for that.”

 

Sources: Denny Jackson (IMDb), Biography.com, AllMovie, Wikipedia, and IMDb.

 

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards..

American postcard by The Museum of Modern Art, New York, no. 9268. Photo: The Museum of Modern Art / Film Stills Archive. Caption: Publicity shot of Mae West, 1934.

 

Blonde Mae West (1895-1982) was a seductive, overdressed, endearing, intelligent, and sometimes vulgar American actress and sex symbol. She featured a come-hither voice, aggressive sexuality, and a genius for comedy. West started in Vaudeville and on the stage in New York, and later moved to Hollywood to star in such films as I’m No Angel (1933), She Done Him Wrong (1933), and Klondike Annie (1936). She was one of the first women in the cinema to consistently write the films she starred in.

 

Mary Jane West was born in 1892, in Brooklyn, New York, to Matilda and John West. Family members called her Mae. Her father was a prizefighter known around the Brooklyn area as ‘Battlin' Jack’ West. Later, he worked as a "special policeman" (most likely as muscle for local business and crime bosses) and then as a private detective. Mae began working as an entertainer at age five at a church social. After a few years in stock, she moved into burlesque, where she was billed as ‘The Baby Vamp’. In 1907, 14-year-old West began performing professionally in vaudeville in the Hal Claredon Stock Company. Her mother made all her costumes, drilled her on rehearsals, and managed her bookings and contracts. In 1909, West met Frank Wallace, an up-and-coming vaudeville song-and-dance man. They formed an act and went out on the burlesque circuit. In 1911, she married Frank Wallace. Only 17, she lied about her age on her marriage certificate and kept the marriage secret from the public and her parents. She broke up the act soon after they arrived back in New York and the union remained a secret until 1935. In 1911, West auditioned for, and got a part, in her first Broadway show, ‘A La Broadway’, a comedy review. The show folded after only eight performances, but West was a hit. In the audience on opening night were two successful Broadway impresarios, Lee and J.J. Shubert, and they cast her in the production of ‘Vera Violetta’, also featuring Al Jolson and Gaby Deslys. West got her big break in 1918 in the Shubert Brothers revue Sometime, playing opposite Ed Wynn. Her character, Mayme, danced the shimmy, a brazen dance move that involved shaking the shoulders back and forth and pushing the chest out. As more parts came her way, West began to shape her characters, often rewriting dialogue or character descriptions to better suit her persona. She eventually began writing her own plays, initially using the pen name Jane Mast. In 1926 her first play, ‘Sex’, which she wrote, produced, and directed on Broadway, caused a scandal and landed her in jail for ten days on obscenity charges. Media attention surrounding the incident enhanced her career, by crowning her the darling "bad girl" who "had climbed the ladder of success wrong by wrong". She wrote and directed her second play, ‘Drag’ (1927) about homosexuality. She was an early supporter of gay rights and publicly declared against police brutality that gay men experienced. The play was a smash hit during a series of try-outs in Connecticut and New Jersey, but she was warned by city officials, not to bring it to Broadway. Finally, her play ‘Diamond Lil’ (1928), about a racy, easygoing, and ultimately very smart lady of the 1890s, became a Broadway hit and cemented West's image in the public's eye. And, after two more successful stage productions, she was invited to Hollywood.

 

At Paramount Pictures, Mae West made her film debut in Night After Night (Archie Mayo, 1932), starring George Raft. At 38 years old, she might have been considered in her ‘advanced years’ for playing sexy harlots, but her persona and physical beauty seemed to overcome any doubt. At first, she balked at her small role in Night After Night but was appeased when allowed to rewrite her scenes. One scene became a sensation. When a coat check girl exclaims, "Goodness! What lovely diamonds!", after seeing Mae's jewelry. Mae replies, "Goodness had nothing to do with it, dearie". Mae was a hit and later George Raft said of Mae: "She stole everything but the cameras." In her second film, She Done Him Wrong (Lowell Sherman, 1933), West was able to bring her ‘Diamond Lil’ character to the screen in her first starring film role. Her co-star was newcomer Cary Grant in one of his first major roles. ‘Lil’ was renamed ‘Lady Lou’, and she uttered the famous West line, "Why don't you come up sometime and see me?" The film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture, and did tremendously well at the box office. She Done Him Wrong is attributed to saving Paramount from bankruptcy. In her next film, I'm No Angel (Wesley Ruggles, 1933), she was again paired with Grant. This film, too, was a financial blockbuster and West became the highest-paid woman in the United States. However, her reputation as a provocative sexual figure and the steamy settings of her films aroused the wrath and moral indignation of several groups. The new Hays Office had the power to pre-approve films' productions and change scripts. In 1934, the organisation began to seriously and meticulously enforce the Production Code on West's screenplays, and heavily edited them. West responded in her typical fashion by increasing the number of innuendos and double entendres, fully expecting to confuse the censors, which she did for the most part. Her film Klondike Annie (Raoul Walsh, 1936) with Victor McLaglen, concerned itself with religion and hypocrisy. William R. Hearst disagreed so vehemently with the film's context, and West's portrayal of a Salvation Army worker, that he personally forbade any stories or advertisements of the film to be published in any of his newspapers. However, the film did well at the box office and is considered the high-point of West's film career. Throughout the 1930s her films were anticipated as major events, but by the end of the decade she seemed to have reached her limit and her popularity waned. The few other films she did for Paramount — Go West, Young Man (Henry Hathaway, 1936) and Everyday's a Holiday (A. Edward Sutherland, 1937) — did not do well at the box office, and she found censorship was severely limiting her creativity. In 1937, she was banned from NBC Radio after a guest appearance with Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy that was loaded with flirtatious dialogue and double-entendres.

 

In 1939, Mae West was approached by Universal Pictures to star in a film opposite comedian W.C. Fields. The studio wanted to duplicate the success they had with another film, Destry Rides Again (George Marshall, 1939), a Western morality tale starring Marlene Dietrich and James Stewart. West, looking for a vehicle to make a comeback in films, accepted the part, demanding creative control over the film. Using the same Western genre, she wrote the script for My Little Chickadee (Edward F. Cline, 1940). Despite tension on the set between West and Fields (she was a teetotaler and he drank), the film was a box-office success, out-grossing Fields' previous two films. After making The Heat's On (Gregory Ratoff, 1943) for Columbia, she planned to retire from the screen and went back to Broadway and on a tour of English theatres. Among her popular stage performances was the title role in ‘Catherine Was Great’ (1944) on Broadway, in which she penned a spoof on the story of Catherine the Great of Russia, surrounding herself with an ‘imperial guard’ of tall, muscular young actors. The play was produced by theater and film impresario Mike Todd and ran for 191 performances and then went on tour. In 1954, when she was 62, she began a nightclub act in which she was surrounded by musclemen; it ran for three years and was a great success. In 1954, West formed a nightclub act which revived some of her earlier stage work, featuring her in song-and-dance numbers and surrounded by musclemen fawning over her for attention. The show ran for three years and was a great success. With this victory, she felt it was a good time to retire. In 1959, West released her bestselling autobiography, ‘Goodness Had Nothing To Do With It’, recounting her life in show business. She made a few guest appearances on the 1960s television comedy/variety shows like The Red Skelton Show and some situation comedies like Mister Ed. She also recorded a few albums in different genres including rock 'n' roll and a Christmas album which, of course, was more parody and innuendo than a religious celebration. In the 1970s, she appeared in two more films. She had s small part in Gore Vidal's Myra Breckenridge (Michael Sarne, 1970), starring Raquel Welch. She starred in Sextette (Ken Hughes, 1978), which she based on her own stage play. Both were box office flops, but are now seen as cult films. In 1980, Mae West died after suffering two strokes in Hollywood and was entombed in Brooklyn, New York. She was 88. Denny Jackson at IMDb: “The actress, who only appeared in 12 films in 46 years, had a powerful impact on us. There was no doubt she was way ahead of her time with her sexual innuendos and how she made fun of a puritanical society. She did a lot to bring it out of the closet and perhaps we should be grateful for that.”

 

Sources: Denny Jackson (IMDb), Biography.com, AllMovie, Wikipedia, and IMDb.

 

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards..

The proposed tower had been a subject of controversy, drawing criticism from those who did not believe it was feasible and those who objected on artistic grounds. These objections were an expression of a long-standing debate in France about the relationship between architecture and engineering. It came to a head as work began at the Champ de Mars: a "Committee of Three Hundred" (one member for each metre of the tower's height) was formed, led by the prominent architect Charles Garnier and including some of the most important figures of the arts, such as Adolphe Bouguereau, Guy de Maupassant, Charles Gounod and Jules Massenet. A petition called "Artists against the Eiffel Tower" was sent to the Minister of Works and Commissioner for the Exposition, Charles Alphand, and it was published by Le Temps on 14 February 1887.

 

" We, writers, painters, sculptors, architects and passionate devotees of the hitherto untouched beauty of Paris, protest with all our strength, with all our indignation in the name of slighted French taste, against the erection of this useless and monstrous Eiffel Tower To bring our arguments home, imagine for a moment a giddy, ridiculous tower dominating Paris like a gigantic black smokestack, crushing under its barbaric bulk Notre Dame, the Tour Saint-Jacques, the Louvre, the Dome of les Invalides, the Arc de Triomphe, all of our humiliated monuments will disappear in this ghastly dream. And for twenty years we shall see stretching like a blot of ink the hateful shadow of the hateful column of bolted sheet metal."

 

Gustave Eiffel responded to these criticisms by comparing his tower to the Egyptian pyramids: "My tower will be the tallest edifice ever erected by man. Will it not also be grandiose in its way? And why would something admirable in Egypt become hideous and ridiculous in Paris?" These criticisms were also dealt with by Édouard Lockroy in a letter of support written to Alphand, ironically saying, "Judging by the stately swell of the rhythms, the beauty of the metaphors, the elegance of its delicate and precise style, one can tell this protest is the result of collaboration of the most famous writers and poets of our time", and he explained that the protest was irrelevant since the project had been decided upon months before, and construction on the tower was already under way."

 

Indeed, Garnier was a member of the Tower Commission that had examined the various proposals, and had raised no objection. Eiffel was similarly unworried, pointing out to a journalist that it was premature to judge the effect of the tower solely on the basis of the drawings, that the Champ de Mars was distant enough from the monuments mentioned in the protest for there to be little risk of the tower overwhelming them, and putting the aesthetic argument for the tower: "Do not the laws of natural forces always conform to the secret laws of harmony?

 

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eiffel_Tower

French postcard by EC, no. 14.

 

Blonde Mae West (1895-1982) was a seductive, overdressed, endearing, intelligent, and sometimes vulgar American actress and sex symbol. She featured a come-hither voice, aggressive sexuality, and a genius for comedy. West started in Vaudeville and on the stage in New York, and later moved to Hollywood to star in such films as I’m No Angel (1933), She Done Him Wrong (1933), and Klondike Annie (1936). She was one of the first women in the cinema to consistently write the films she starred in.

 

Mary Jane West was born in 1892, in Brooklyn, New York, to Matilda and John West. Family members called her Mae. Her father was a prizefighter known around the Brooklyn area as ‘Battlin' Jack’ West. Later, he worked as a "special policeman" (most likely as muscle for local business and crime bosses) and then as a private detective. Mae began working as an entertainer at age five at a church social. After a few years in stock, she moved into burlesque, where she was billed as ‘The Baby Vamp’. In 1907, 14-year-old West began performing professionally in vaudeville in the Hal Claredon Stock Company. Her mother made all her costumes, drilled her on rehearsals, and managed her bookings and contracts. In 1909, West met Frank Wallace, an up-and-coming vaudeville song-and-dance man. They formed an act and went out on the burlesque circuit. In 1911, she married Frank Wallace. Only 17, she lied about her age on her marriage certificate and kept the marriage secret from the public and her parents. She broke up the act soon after they arrived back in New York and the union remained a secret until 1935. In 1911, West auditioned for, and got a part, in her first Broadway show, ‘A La Broadway’, a comedy review. The show folded after only eight performances, but West was a hit. In the audience on opening night were two successful Broadway impresarios, Lee and J.J. Shubert, and they cast her in the production of ‘Vera Violetta’, also featuring Al Jolson and Gaby Deslys. West got her big break in 1918 in the Shubert Brothers revue Sometime, playing opposite Ed Wynn. Her character, Mayme, danced the shimmy, a brazen dance move that involved shaking the shoulders back and forth and pushing the chest out. As more parts came her way, West began to shape her characters, often rewriting dialogue or character descriptions to better suit her persona. She eventually began writing her own plays, initially using the pen name Jane Mast. In 1926 her first play, ‘Sex’, which she wrote, produced, and directed on Broadway, caused a scandal and landed her in jail for ten days on obscenity charges. Media attention surrounding the incident enhanced her career, by crowning her the darling "bad girl" who "had climbed the ladder of success wrong by wrong". She wrote and directed her second play, ‘Drag’ (1927) about homosexuality. She was an early supporter of gay rights and publicly declared against police brutality that gay men experienced. The play was a smash hit during a series of try-outs in Connecticut and New Jersey, but she was warned by city officials, not to bring it to Broadway. Finally, her play ‘Diamond Lil’ (1928), about a racy, easygoing, and ultimately very smart lady of the 1890s, became a Broadway hit and cemented West's image in the public's eye. And, after two more successful stage productions, she was invited to Hollywood.

 

At Paramount Pictures, Mae West made her film debut in Night After Night (Archie Mayo, 1932), starring George Raft. At 38 years old, she might have been considered in her ‘advanced years’ for playing sexy harlots, but her persona and physical beauty seemed to overcome any doubt. At first, she balked at her small role in Night After Night but was appeased when allowed to rewrite her scenes. One scene became a sensation. When a coat check girl exclaims, "Goodness! What lovely diamonds!", after seeing Mae's jewelry. Mae replies, "Goodness had nothing to do with it, dearie". Mae was a hit and later George Raft said of Mae: "She stole everything but the cameras." In her second film, She Done Him Wrong (Lowell Sherman, 1933), West was able to bring her ‘Diamond Lil’ character to the screen in her first starring film role. Her co-star was newcomer Cary Grant in one of his first major roles. ‘Lil’ was renamed ‘Lady Lou’, and she uttered the famous West line, "Why don't you come up sometime and see me?" The film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture, and did tremendously well at the box office. She Done Him Wrong is attributed to saving Paramount from bankruptcy. In her next film, I'm No Angel (Wesley Ruggles, 1933), she was again paired with Grant. This film, too, was a financial blockbuster and West became the highest-paid woman in the United States. However, her reputation as a provocative sexual figure and the steamy settings of her films aroused the wrath and moral indignation of several groups. The new Hays Office had the power to pre-approve films' productions and change scripts. In 1934, the organisation began to seriously and meticulously enforce the Production Code on West's screenplays, and heavily edited them. West responded in her typical fashion by increasing the number of innuendos and double entendres, fully expecting to confuse the censors, which she did for the most part. Her film Klondike Annie (Raoul Walsh, 1936) with Victor McLaglen, concerned itself with religion and hypocrisy. William R. Hearst disagreed so vehemently with the film's context, and West's portrayal of a Salvation Army worker, that he personally forbade any stories or advertisements of the film to be published in any of his newspapers. However, the film did well at the box office and is considered the high-point of West's film career. Throughout the 1930s her films were anticipated as major events, but by the end of the decade she seemed to have reached her limit and her popularity waned. The few other films she did for Paramount — Go West, Young Man (Henry Hathaway, 1936) and Everyday's a Holiday (A. Edward Sutherland, 1937) — did not do well at the box office, and she found censorship was severely limiting her creativity. In 1937, she was banned from NBC Radio after a guest appearance with Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy that was loaded with flirtatious dialogue and double-entendres.

 

In 1939, Mae West was approached by Universal Pictures to star in a film opposite comedian W.C. Fields. The studio wanted to duplicate the success they had with another film, Destry Rides Again (George Marshall, 1939), a Western morality tale starring Marlene Dietrich and James Stewart. West, looking for a vehicle to make a comeback in films, accepted the part, demanding creative control over the film. Using the same Western genre, she wrote the script for My Little Chickadee (Edward F. Cline, 1940). Despite tension on the set between West and Fields (she was a teetotaler and he drank), the film was a box-office success, out-grossing Fields' previous two films. After making The Heat's On (Gregory Ratoff, 1943) for Columbia, she planned to retire from the screen and went back to Broadway and on a tour of English theatres. Among her popular stage performances was the title role in ‘Catherine Was Great’ (1944) on Broadway, in which she penned a spoof on the story of Catherine the Great of Russia, surrounding herself with an ‘imperial guard’ of tall, muscular young actors. The play was produced by theater and film impresario Mike Todd and ran for 191 performances and then went on tour. In 1954, when she was 62, she began a nightclub act in which she was surrounded by musclemen; it ran for three years and was a great success. In 1954, West formed a nightclub act which revived some of her earlier stage work, featuring her in song-and-dance numbers and surrounded by musclemen fawning over her for attention. The show ran for three years and was a great success. With this victory, she felt it was a good time to retire. In 1959, West released her bestselling autobiography, ‘Goodness Had Nothing To Do With It’, recounting her life in show business. She made a few guest appearances on the 1960s television comedy/variety shows like The Red Skelton Show and some situation comedies like Mister Ed. She also recorded a few albums in different genres including rock 'n' roll and a Christmas album which, of course, was more parody and innuendo than a religious celebration. In the 1970s, she appeared in two more films. She had s small part in Gore Vidal's Myra Breckenridge (Michael Sarne, 1970), starring Raquel Welch. She starred in Sextette (Ken Hughes, 1978), which she based on her own stage play. Both were box office flops, but are now seen as cult films. In 1980, Mae West died after suffering two strokes in Hollywood and was entombed in Brooklyn, New York. She was 88. Denny Jackson at IMDb: “The actress, who only appeared in 12 films in 46 years, had a powerful impact on us. There was no doubt she was way ahead of her time with her sexual innuendos and how she made fun of a puritanical society. She did a lot to bring it out of the closet and perhaps we should be grateful for that.”

 

Sources: Denny Jackson (IMDb), Biography.com, AllMovie, Wikipedia, and IMDb.

 

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards..

The Eiffel Tower (French: La Tour Eiffel, nickname La dame de fer, the iron lady) is an iron lattice tower located on the Champ de Mars in Paris, named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower. Erected in 1889 as the entrance arch to the 1889 World's Fair, it has become both a global cultural icon of France and one of the most recognizable structures in the world. The tower is the tallest structure in Paris and the most-visited paid monument in the world; 7.1 million people ascended it in 2011. The third level observatory's upper platform is at 279.11 m the highest accessible to public in the European Union and the highest in Europe as long as the platform of the Ostankino Tower, at 360 m, remains closed as a result of the fire of August 2000. The tower received its 250 millionth visitor in 2010.

 

The tower stands 320 metres (1,050 ft) tall, about the same height as an 81-storey building. During its construction, the Eiffel Tower surpassed the Washington Monument to assume the title of the tallest man-made structure in the world, a title it held for 41 years, until the Chrysler Building in New York City was built in 1930. However, because of the addition, in 1957, of the antenna atop the Eiffel Tower, it is now taller than the Chrysler Building. Not including broadcast antennas, it is the second-tallest structure in France, after the Millau Viaduct.

 

The tower has three levels for visitors. Tickets can be purchased to ascend, by stairs or lift (elevator), to the first and second levels. The walk from ground level to the first level is over 300 steps, as is the walk from the first to the second level. The third and highest level is accessible only by lift - stairs exist but they are not usually open for public use. Both the first and second levels feature restaurants.

 

The tower has become the most prominent symbol of both Paris and France, often in the establishing shot of films set in the city.

  

History

  

Origin

  

First drawing of the Eiffel Tower by Maurice Koechlin

 

The design of the Eiffel Tower was originated by Maurice Koechlin and Émile Nouguier, two senior engineers who worked for the Compagnie des Establissments Eiffel after discussion about a suitable centrepiece for the proposed 1889 Exposition Universelle, a World's Fair which would celebrate the centennial of the French Revolution. In May 1884 Koechlin, working at his home, made an outline drawing of their scheme, described by him as "a great pylon, consisting of four lattice girders standing apart at the base and coming together at the top, joined together by metal trusses at regular intervals". Initially Eiffel himself showed little enthusiasm, but he did sanction further study of the project, and the two engineers then asked Stephen Sauvestre, the head of company's architectural department, to contribute to the design. Sauvestre added decorative arches to the base, a glass pavilion to the first level and other embellishments. This enhanced version gained Eiffel's support, and he bought the rights to the patent on the design which Koechlin, Nougier and Sauvestre had taken out, and the design was exhibited at the Exhibition of Decorative Arts in the autumn of 1884 under the company name. On 30 March 1885 Eiffel read a paper on the project to the Société des Ingiénieurs Civils: after discussing the technical problems and emphasising the practical uses of the tower, he finished his talk by saying that the tower would symbolise "not only the art of the modern engineer, but also the century of Industry and Science in which we are living, and for which the way was prepared by the great scientific movement of the eighteenth century and by the Revolution of 1789, to which this monument will be built as an expression of France's gratitude."

 

Little happened until the beginning of 1886, when Jules Grévy was re-elected as President and Édouard Lockroy was appointed as Minister for Trade. A budget for the Exposition was passed and on 1 May Lockroy announced an alteration to the terms of the open competition which was being held for a centerpiece for the exposition, which effectively made the choice of Eiffel's design a foregone conclusion: all entries had to include a study for a 300 m (980 ft) four-sided metal tower on the Champ de Mars. On 12 May a commission was set up to examine Eiffel's scheme and its rivals and on 12 June it presented its decision, which was that all the proposals except Eiffel's were either impractical or insufficiently worked out. After some debate about the exact site for the tower, a contract was finally signed on 8 January 1887. This was signed by Eiffel acting in his own capacity rather than as the representative of his company, and granted him one and a half million francs toward the construction costs: less than a quarter of the estimated cost of six and a half million francs. Eiffel was to receive all income from the commercial exploitation of the tower during the exhibition and for the following twenty years. Eiffel later established a separate company to manage the tower, putting up half the necessary capital himself.

  

The "Artists Protest"

  

Caricature of Gustave Eiffel comparing the Eiffel tower to the Pyramids.

 

The projected tower had been a subject of some controversy, attracting criticism both from those who did not believe that it was feasible and also from those who objected on artistic grounds. Their objections were an expression of a longstanding debate about relationship between architecture and engineering. This came to a head as work began at the Champ de Mars: A "Committee of Three Hundred" (one member for each metre of the tower's height) was formed, led by the prominent architect Charles Garnier and including some of the most important figures of the French arts establishment, including Adolphe Bouguereau, Guy de Maupassant, Charles Gounod and Jules Massenet: a petition was sent to Charles Alphand, the Minister of Works and Commissioner for the Exposition, and was published by Le Temps.

 

"We, writers, painters, sculptors, architects and passionate devotees of the hitherto untouched beauty of Paris, protest with all our strength, with all our indignation in the name of slighted French taste, against the erection…of this useless and monstrous Eiffel Tower … To bring our arguments home, imagine for a moment a giddy, ridiculous tower dominating Paris like a gigantic black smokestack, crushing under its barbaric bulk Notre Dame, the Tour Saint-Jacques, the Louvre, the Dome of les Invalides, the Arc de Triomphe, all of our humiliated monuments will disappear in this ghastly dream. And for twenty years … we shall see stretching like a blot of ink the hateful shadow of the hateful column of bolted sheet metal"

 

Gustave Eiffel responded to these criticisms by comparing his tower to the Egyptian Pyramids : "My tower will be the tallest edifice ever erected by man. Will it not also be grandiose in its way ? And why would something admirable in Egypt become hideous and ridiculous in Paris ?" These criticisms were also masterfully dealt with by Édouard Lockroy in a letter of support written to Alphand, ironically saying "Judging by the stately swell of the rhythms, the beauty of the metaphors, the elegance of its delicate and precise style, one can tell that …this protest is the result of collaboration of the most famous writers and poets of our time", and going on to point out that the protest was irrelevant since the project had been decided upon months before and was already under construction. Indeed, Garnier had been a member of the Tower Commission that had assessed the various proposals, and had raised no objection. Eiffel was similarly unworried, pointing out to a journalist that it was premature to judge the effect of the tower solely on the basis of the drawings, that the Champ de Mars was distant enough from the monuments mentioned in the protest for there to be little risk of the tower overwhelming them, and putting the aesthetic argument for the Tower: "Do not the laws of natural forces always conform to the secret laws of harmony?"

 

Some of the protestors were to change their minds when the tower was built: others remained unconvinced. Guy de Maupassant[20] supposedly ate lunch in the Tower's restaurant every day. When asked why, he answered that it was the one place in Paris where one could not see the structure. Today, the Tower is widely considered to be a striking piece of structural art.

  

Construction

  

Foundations of the Eiffel Tower

  

Eiffel Tower under construction between 1887 and 1889

 

Work on the foundations started in January 1887. Those for the east and south legs were straightforward, each leg resting on four 2 m (6.6 ft) concrete slabs, one for each of the principal girders of each leg but the other two, being closer to the river Seine were more complicated: each slab needed two piles installed by using compressed-air caissons 15 m (49 ft) long and 6 m (20 ft) in diameter driven to a depth of 22 m (72 ft)[21] to support the concrete slabs, which were 6 m (20 ft) thick. Each of these slabs supported a block built of limestone each with an inclined top to bear a supporting shoe for the ironwork. Each shoe was anchored into the stonework by a pair of bolts 10 cm (4 in) in diameter and 7.5 m (25 ft) long. The foundations were complete by 30 June and the erection of the ironwork began. The very visible work on-site was complemented by the enormous amount of exacting preparatory work that was entailed: the drawing office produced 1,700 general drawings and 3,629 detailed drawings of the 18,038 different parts needed:

 

The task of drawing the components was complicated by the complex angles involved in the design and the degree of precision required: the position of rivet holes was specified to within 0.1 mm (0.04 in) and angles worked out to one second of arc. The finished components, some already riveted together into sub-assemblies, arrived on horse-drawn carts from the factory in the nearby Parisian suburb of Levallois-Perret and were first bolted together, the bolts being replaced by rivets as construction progressed. No drilling or shaping was done on site: if any part did not fit it was sent back to the factory for alteration. In all there were 18,038 pieces of puddle iron using two and a half million rivets.

 

At first the legs were constructed as cantilevers but about halfway to the first level construction was paused in order to construct a substantial timber scaffold. This caused a renewal of the concerns about the structural soundness of the project, and sensational headlines such as "Eiffel Suicide!" and "Gustave Eiffel has gone mad: he has been confined in an Asylum" appeared in the popular press. At this stage a small "creeper" crane was installed in each leg, designed to move up the tower as construction progressed and making use of the guides for the lifts which were to be fitted in each leg. The critical stage of joining the four legs at the first level was complete by March 1888. Although the metalwork had been prepared with the utmost precision, provision had been made to carry out small adjustments in order to precisely align the legs: hydraulic jacks were fitted to the shoes at the base of each leg, each capable of exerting a force of 800 tonnes, and in addition the legs had been intentionally constructed at a slightly steeper angle than necessary, being supported by sandboxes on the scaffold.

 

No more than three hundred workers were employed on site, and because Eiffel took safety precautions, including the use of movable stagings, guard-rails and screens, only one man died during construction.

  

Inauguration and the 1889 Exposition

  

The 1889 Exposition Universelle for which the Eiffel Tower was built

 

The main structural work was completed at the end of March 1889 and on the 31st Eiffel celebrated this by leading a group of government officials, accompanied by representatives of the press, to the top of the tower. Since the lifts were not yet in operation, the ascent was made by foot, and took over an hour, Eiffel frequently stopping to make explanations of various features. Most of the party chose to stop at the lower levels, but a few, including Nouguier, Compagnon, the President of the City Council and reporters from Le Figaro and Le Monde Illustré completed the climb. At 2.35 Eiffel hoisted a large tricolore, to the accompaniment of a 25-gun salute fired from the lower level. There was still work to be done, particularly on the lifts and the fitting out of the facilities for visitors, and the tower was not opened to the public until nine days after the opening of the Exposition on 6 May, and even then the lifts had not been completed.

 

The tower was an immediate success with the public, and lengthy queues formed to make the ascent. Tickets cost 2 francs for the first level, 3 for the second and 5 for the top, with half-price admission on Sundays, and by the end of the exhibition there had been nearly two million visitors.

 

Eiffel had a permit for the tower to stand for 20 years; it was to be dismantled in 1909, when its ownership would revert to the City of Paris. The City had planned to tear it down (part of the original contest rules for designing a tower was that it could be easily demolished) but as the tower proved valuable for communication purposes, it was allowed to remain after the expiry of the permit. In the opening weeks of the First World War the powerful radio transmitters using the tower were used to jam German communications, seriously hindering their advance on Paris and contributing to the Allied victory at the First Battle of the Marne.

  

Subsequent events

  

10 September 1889 Thomas Edison visited the tower. He signed the guestbook with the following message— To M Eiffel the Engineer the brave builder of so gigantic and original specimen of modern Engineering from one who has the greatest respect and admiration for all Engineers including the Great Engineer the Bon Dieu, Thomas Edison.

  

19 October 1901 Alberto Santos-Dumont in his Dirigible No.6 won a 10,000-franc prize offered by Henri Deutsch de la Meurthe for the first person to make a flight from St Cloud to the Eiffel tower and back in less than half an hour.

  

1910 Father Theodor Wulf measured radiant energy at the top and bottom of the tower. He found more at the top than expected, incidentally discovering what are today known as cosmic rays.[28]

  

4 February 1912 Austrian tailor Franz Reichelt died after jumping 60 metres from the first deck of Eiffel tower with his home-made parachute.

  

1914 A radio transmitter located in the tower jammed German radio communications during the lead-up to the First Battle of the Marne.

  

1925 The con artist Victor Lustig "sold" the tower for scrap metal on two separate, but related occasions.

  

1930 The tower lost the title of the world's tallest structure when the Chrysler Building was completed in New York City.

  

1925 to 1934 Illuminated signs for Citroën adorned three of the tower's four sides, making it the tallest advertising space in the world at the time.

  

1940–1944 Upon the German occupation of Paris in 1940, the lift cables were cut by the French so that Adolf Hitler would have to climb the steps to the summit. The parts to repair them were allegedly impossible to obtain because of the war. In 1940 German soldiers had to climb to the top to hoist the swastika[citation needed], but the flag was so large it blew away just a few hours later, and was replaced by a smaller one. When visiting Paris, Hitler chose to stay on the ground. It was said that Hitler conquered France, but did not conquer the Eiffel Tower. A Frenchman scaled the tower during the German occupation to hang the French flag. In August 1944, when the Allies were nearing Paris, Hitler ordered General Dietrich von Choltitz, the military governor of Paris, to demolish the tower along with the rest of the city. Von Choltitz disobeyed the order. Some say Hitler was later persuaded to keep the tower intact so it could later be used for communications. The lifts of the Tower were working normally within hours of the Liberation of Paris.

  

3 January 1956 A fire damaged the top of the tower.

  

1957 The present radio antenna was added to the top.

  

1980s A restaurant and its supporting iron scaffolding midway up the tower was dismantled; it was purchased and reconstructed on St. Charles Avenue and Josephine Street in the Garden District of New Orleans, Louisiana, by entrepreneurs John Onorio and Daniel Bonnot, originally as the Tour Eiffel Restaurant, later as the Red Room and now as the Cricket Club (owned by the New Orleans Culinary Institute). The restaurant was re-assembled from 11,000 pieces that crossed the Atlantic in a 40-foot (12 m) cargo container.

  

31 March 1984 Robert Moriarty flew a Beechcraft Bonanza through the arches of the tower.

  

1987 A.J. Hackett made one of his first bungee jumps from the top of the Eiffel Tower, using a special cord he had helped develop. Hackett was arrested by the Paris police upon reaching the ground.

  

27 October 1991 Thierry Devaux, along with mountain guide Hervé Calvayrac, performed a series of acrobatic figures of bungee jumping (not allowed) from the second floor of the Tower. Facing the Champ de Mars, Thierry Devaux was using an electric winch between each figure to go back up. When firemen arrived, he stopped after the sixth bungee jump.

  

New Year's Eve 1999 The Eiffel Tower played host to Paris's Millennium Celebration. On this occasion, flashing lights and four high-power searchlights were installed on the tower, and fireworks were set off all over it. An exhibition above a cafeteria on the first floor commemorates this event. Since then, the light show has become a nightly event. The searchlights on top of the tower make it a beacon in Paris's night sky, and the 20,000 flash bulbs give the tower a sparkly appearance every hour on the hour.

  

28 November 2002 The tower received its 200,000,000th guest.

  

2004 The Eiffel Tower began hosting an ice skating rink on the first floor each winter.

  

Design of the tower

  

Material

  

The Eiffel Tower from below

  

The puddle iron structure of the Eiffel Tower weighs 7,300 tonnes, while the entire structure, including non-metal components, is approximately 10,000 tonnes. As a demonstration of the economy of design, if the 7,300 tonnes of the metal structure were melted down it would fill the 125-metre-square base to a depth of only 6 cm (2.36 in), assuming the density of the metal to be 7.8 tonnes per cubic metre. Depending on the ambient temperature, the top of the tower may shift away from the sun by up to 18 cm (7.1 in) because of thermal expansion of the metal on the side facing the sun.

  

Wind considerations

  

At the time the tower was built many people were shocked by its daring shape. Eiffel was criticised for the design and accused of trying to create something artistic, or inartistic according to the viewer, without regard to engineering. Eiffel and his engineers, however, as experienced bridge builders, understood the importance of wind forces and knew that if they were going to build the tallest structure in the world they had to be certain it would withstand the wind. In an interview reported in the newspaper Le Temps, Eiffel said:

 

Now to what phenomenon did I give primary concern in designing the Tower? It was wind resistance. Well then! I hold that the curvature of the monument's four outer edges, which is as mathematical calculation dictated it should be […] will give a great impression of strength and beauty, for it will reveal to the eyes of the observer the boldness of the design as a whole.[37]

 

Researchers have found that Eiffel used empirical and graphical methods accounting for the effects of wind rather than a specific mathematical formula. Careful examination of the tower shows a basically exponential shape; actually two different exponentials, the lower section overdesigned to ensure resistance to wind forces. Several mathematical explanations have been proposed over the years for the success of the design; the most recent is described as a nonlinear integral equation based on counterbalancing the wind pressure on any point on the tower with the tension between the construction elements at that point. As a demonstration of the tower's effectiveness in wind resistance, it sways only 6–7 cm (2–3 in) in the wind.

  

Accommodation

  

When built, the first level contained two restaurants: an "Anglo-American Bar", and a 250 seat theatre. A 2.6 m (8 ft 6 in) promenade ran around the outside.

 

On the second level, the French newspaper Le Figaro had an office and a printing press, where a special souvenir edition, Le Figaro de la Tour, was produced. There was also a pâtisserie.

 

On the third level were laboratories for various experiments and a small apartment reserved for Gustave Eiffel to entertain guests. This is now open to the public, complete with period decorations and lifelike models of Gustave and some guests.

  

Engraved names

  

Gustave Eiffel engraved on the tower seventy-two names of French scientists, engineers and other notable people. This engraving was painted over at the beginning of the twentieth century but restored in 1986–1987 by the Société Nouvelle d'exploitation de la Tour Eiffel, a company contracted to operate business related to the Tower.

  

Maintenance

  

Maintenance of the tower includes applying 50 to 60 tonnes of paint every seven years to protect it from rust. The height of the Eiffel Tower varies by 15 cm due to temperature.

  

Aesthetic considerations

  

In order to enhance the impression of height, three separate colours of paint are used on the tower, with the darkest on the bottom and the lightest at the top. On occasion the colour of the paint is changed; the tower is currently painted a shade of bronze. On the first floor there are interactive consoles hosting a poll for the colour to use for a future session of painting.

 

The only non-structural elements are the four decorative grillwork arches, added in Stephen Sauvestre's sketches, which served to reassure visitors that the structure was safe, and to frame views of other nearby architecture.

 

One of the great Hollywood movie clichés is that the view from a Parisian window always includes the tower. In reality, since zoning restrictions limit the height of most buildings in Paris to 7 storeys, only a very few of the taller buildings have a clear view of the tower.

  

Popularity

  

More than 200,000,000 people have visited the tower since its construction in 1889, including 6,719,200 in 2006. The tower is the most-visited paid monument in the world.

  

Passenger lifts

  

Ground to the second level

 

The original lifts (elevators) to the first and second floors were provided by two companies. Both companies had to overcome many technical obstacles as neither company (or indeed any company) had experience with installing lifts climbing to such heights with large loads. The slanting tracks with changing angles further complicated the problems. The East and West lifts were supplied by the French company Roux Combaluzier Lepape, using hydraulically powered chains and rollers. The North and South lifts were provided by the American company Otis using car designs similar to the original installation but using an improved hydraulic and cable scheme. The French lifts had a very poor performance and were replaced with the current installations in 1897 (West Pillar) and 1899 (East Pillar) by Fives-Lille using an improved hydraulic and rope scheme. Both of the original installations operated broadly on the principle of the Fives-Lille lifts.

 

The Fives-Lille lifts from ground level to the first and second levels are operated by cables and pulleys driven by massive water-powered pistons. The hydraulic scheme was somewhat unusual for the time in that it included three large counterweights of 200 tonnes each sitting on top of hydraulic rams which doubled up as accumulators for the water. As the lifts ascend the inclined arc of the pillars, the angle of ascent changes. The two lift cabs are kept more or less level and indeed are level at the landings. The cab floors do take on a slight angle at times between landings.

 

The principle behind the lifts is similar to the operation of a block and tackle but in reverse. Two large hydraulic rams (over 1 metre diameter) with a 16 metre travel are mounted horizontally in the base of the pillar which pushes a carriage (the French word for it translates as chariot and this term will be used henceforth to distinguish it from the lift carriage) with 16 large triple sheaves mounted on it. There are 14 similar sheaves mounted statically. Six wire ropes are rove back and forth between the sheaves such that each rope passes between the 2 sets of sheaves 7 times. The ropes then leave the final sheaves on the chariot and pass up through a series of guiding sheaves to above the second floor and then through a pair of triple sheaves back down to the lift carriage again passing guiding sheaves.

 

This arrangement means that the lift carriage, complete with its cars and passengers, travels 8 times the distance that the rams move the chariot, the 128 metres from the ground to the second floor. The force exerted by the rams also has to be 8 times the total weight of the lift carriage, cars and passengers, plus extra to account for various losses such as friction. The hydraulic fluid was water, normally stored in three accumulators, complete with counterbalance weights. To make the lift ascend, water was pumped using an electrically driven pump from the accumulators to the two rams. Since the counterbalance weights provided much of the pressure required, the pump only had to provide the extra effort. For the descent, it was only necessary to allow the water to flow back to the accumulators using a control valve. The lifts were operated by an operator perched precariously underneath the lift cars. His position (with a dummy operator) can still be seen on the lifts today.

 

The Fives-Lille lifts were completely upgraded in 1986 to meet modern safety requirements and to make the lifts easier to operate. A new computer-controlled system was installed which completely automated the operation. One of the three counterbalances was taken out of use, and the cars were replaced with a more modern and lighter structure. Most importantly, the main driving force was removed from the original water pump such that the water hydraulic system provided only a counterbalancing function. The main driving force was transferred to a 320 kW electrically driven oil hydraulic pump which drives a pair of hydraulic motors on the chariot itself, thus providing the motive power. The new lift cars complete with their carriage and a full 92 passenger load weigh 22 tonnes.

 

Owing to elasticity in the ropes and the time taken to get the cars level with the landings, each lift in normal service takes an average of 8 minutes and 50 seconds to do the round trip, spending an average of 1 minute and 15 seconds at each floor. The average journey time between floors is just 1 minute.

 

The original Otis lifts in the North and South pillars in their turn proved to be inferior to the new (in 1899) French lifts and were scrapped from the South pillar in 1900 and from the North pillar in 1913 after failed attempts to repower them with an electric motor. The North and South pillars were to remain without lifts until 1965 when increasing visitor numbers persuaded the operators to install a relatively standard and modern cable hoisted system in the north pillar using a cable-hauled counterbalance weight, but hoisted by a block and tackle system to reduce its travel to one third of the lift travel. The counterbalance is clearly visible within the structure of the North pillar. This latter lift was upgraded in 1995 with new cars and computer controls.

 

The South pillar acquired a completely new fairly standard electrically driven lift in 1983 to serve the Jules Verne restaurant. This was also supplied by Otis. A further four-ton service lift was added to the South pillar in 1989 by Otis to relieve the main lifts when moving relatively small loads or even just maintenance personnel.

 

The East and West hydraulic (water) lift works are on display and, at least in theory, are open to the public in a small museum located in base of the East and West tower, which is somewhat hidden from public view. Because the massive mechanism requires frequent lubrication and attention, public access is often restricted. However, when open, the wait times are much less than the other, more popular, attractions. The rope mechanism of the North tower is visible to visitors as they exit from the lift.

  

Second to the third level

  

The original spiral stairs to the third floor which were only 80 centimetres wide. Note also the small service lift in the background.

 

The original lifts from the second to the third floor were also of a water-powered hydraulic design supplied by Léon Edoux. Instead of using a separate counterbalance, the two lift cars counterbalanced each other. A pair of 81-metre-long hydraulic rams were mounted on the second level reaching nearly halfway up to the third level. A lift car was mounted on top of the rams. Ropes ran from the top of this car up to a sheave on the third level and back down to a second car. The result of this arrangement was that each car only travelled half the distance between the second and third levels and passengers were required to change lifts halfway walking between the cars along a narrow gangway with a very impressive and relatively unobstructed downward view. The ten-ton cars held 65 passengers each or up to four tons.

 

One interesting feature of the original installation was that the hoisting rope ran through guides to retain it on windy days to prevent it flapping and becoming damaged. The guides were mechanically moved out of the way of the ascending car by the movement of the car itself. In spite of some antifreeze being added to the water that operated this system, it nevertheless had to close to the public from November to March each year.

 

The original lifts complete with their hydraulic mechanism were completely scrapped in 1982 after 97 years of service. They were replaced with two pairs of relatively standard rope hoisted cars which were able to operate all the year round. The cars operate in pairs with one providing the counterbalance for the other. Neither car can move unless both sets of doors are closed and both operators have given a start command. The commands from the cars to the hoisting mechanism are by radio obviating the necessity of a control cable. The replacement installation also has the advantage that the ascent can be made without changing cars and has reduced the ascent time from 8 minutes (including change) to 1 minute and 40 seconds. This installation also has guides for the hoisting ropes but they are electrically operated. The guide once it has moved out of the way as the car ascends automatically reverses when the car has passed to prevent the mechanism becoming snagged on the car on the downward journey in the event it has failed to completely clear the car. Unfortunately these lifts do not have the capacity to move as many people as the three public lower lifts and long lines to ascend to the third level are common. Most of the intermediate level structure present on the tower today was installed when the lifts were replaced and allows maintenance workers to take the lift halfway.

 

The replacement of these lifts allowed the restructuring of the criss-cross beams in upper part of the tower and further allowed the installation of two emergency staircases. These replaced the dangerous winding stairs that were installed when the tower was constructed.

 

Restaurants

 

The tower has two restaurants: Le 58 tour Eiffel, on the first floor 311 ft (95 m) above sea level; and the Le Jules Verne, a gastronomical restaurant on the second floor, with a private lift. This restaurant has one star in the Michelin Red Guide. In January 2007, the multi-Michelin star chef Alain Ducasse was brought in to run Jules Verne.

  

Attempted relocation

  

According to interviews given in the early 1980s, Montreal Mayor Jean Drapeau negotiated a secret agreement with French President Charles de Gaulle for the tower to be dismantled and temporarily relocated to Montreal to serve as a landmark and tourist attraction during Expo 67. The plan was allegedly vetoed by the company which operated the tower out of fear that the French government could refuse permission for the tower to be restored to its original location.

  

Economics

  

The American TV show Pricing the Priceless speculates that in 2011 the tower would cost about $480,000,000 to build, that the land under the tower is worth $350,000,000, and that the scrap value of the tower is worth $3,500,000. The TV show estimates the tower makes a profit of about $29,000,000 per year, though it is unlikely that the Eiffel Tower is managed so as to maximize profit.

 

It costs $5,300,000 to repaint the tower, which is done once every seven years. The electric bill is $400,000 per year for 7.5 million kilowatt-hours.

 

The Tokyo Tower in Japan is a very similar structure of very similar size. It was finished in 1958 at a final cost of ¥2.8 billion ($8.4 million in 1958).

  

Source Wikipedia

The Furnace of Affliction!

William Nicholson and Milburn Cockrell

 

"Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have chosen you in the furnace of affliction!" Isaiah 48:10

The Bible has much to say about the afflictions of God's people. Psalm 34:19 declares: "Many are the afflictions of the righteous." It is sometimes necessary for God to put His people in the furnace of affliction. This act flows from both the justice and compassion of God. He does this to try and to prove His people. This was true of Israel of old (Deuteronomy 4:20), and it is equally true of the New Testament believer. Sometimes He exercised them with heavy trials; placing them in the furnace of affliction. And it appears from the context, that a consignment to such an ordeal had been beneficial in its influence.

In the time of the Old Testament a "furnace" was a crucible for melting and refining silver and gold (Proverbs 17:3; 27:21). The word is used figuratively in the Scriptures. It this text, it means severe and grievous afflictions by which God purifies and proves His people (Ezekiel 22:18-22; Isaiah 32:9).

 

The Furnace is AFFLICTIVE

That is, the furnace is composed of many severe trials, of much mental and bodily suffering, which are designed by the great Proprietor and Manager of this furnace, to purge and refine the souls of His people.

Many agents are used by God in working out His sovereign purposes. He may use men, things, and circumstances. This is all hinted at in the action of fire in a furnace. A furnace with a fire in it causes suffering and separation. Fire finds out what is worthless; it cleanses. Now I want to list some of the forms these afflictions take.

First, God may send us a scantiness of earthly things. This may be induced by lack of employment—it may be the result of sickness—it may result from the injustice of man.

"I gave you empty stomachs in every city and lack of bread in every town" (Amos 4:6). We may not have enough food to dirty our teeth. The Lord controls both nature and worldly circumstances. He has many ways of taking away our temporal goods. Though we may work hard every work day and make much money, God can cause it to not go very far. "You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it." (Haggai 1:6).

Second, there can be affliction in our body. "My wounds fester and are loathsome because of my sinful folly. I am bowed down and brought very low; all day long I go about mourning. My back is filled with searing pain; there is no health in my body." (Psalm 38:5-7). The great Manager of the furnace of affliction, chastens the body with pain, burns with fever, or wastes it by disease.

Third, this affliction may take the form of bereavements. "And Sarah died at Kiriath-arba in the land of Canaan. There Abraham mourned and wept for her." (Genesis 23:2). Our friends and relatives get sick and die. Many of us have been put in this furnace of affliction. Friends and relatives are removed by death, lest we trust too much in them, instead of the Lord.

Fourth, the Lord sends domestic trials. "At the age of forty, Esau married two Hittite wives: Judith, the daughter of Beeri, and Basemath, the daughter of Elon. But Esau’s wives made life miserable for Isaac and Rebekah!" (Genesis 26:34-35). Sometimes our child will make a bad choice of a mate for life. Often times even small children in the home mock their father and despise their mother (Proverbs 30:17). The actions of our children can . . .

break our hearts,

put gray hairs in our heads,

and hasten us to the grave!

All of God's elect have been in this furnace of affliction! Adam first experienced it when he sinned in Eden.

Moses suffered afflictions with the people of God.

David was persecuted by his blood-thirsty enemies.

Job lost his possessions, children, and health.

Jeremiah and Isaiah were cruelly treated.

Daniel was put in the lions' den.

Paul and Silas were put in prison.

Even our Lord was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.

 

This Furnace is DIVINELY APPOINTED

Afflictions are not the result of chance or blind fate.

Afflictions do not arise out of the dust (Job 5:6).

Afflictions are not to be traced to secondary causes.

Afflictions are not merely the work of our enemies.

Afflictions come from the moral government of God.

Afflictions come by the wise and gracious arrangement of God's divine providence. "So that no one would be disturbed by these afflictions; for you yourselves know that we have been destined for this!" (1 Thessalonians 3:3). "Heed the rod, and the One who appointed it!" (Micah 6:9).

The same God who sends the sunshine and the rain — also sends His people into the furnace of affliction. "The LORD kills, and makes alive. He brings down to the grave, and raises up. The LORD sends poverty and wealth; He humbles and He exalts!" (1 Samuel 2:7). In Isaiah 45:7 Jehovah declares: "I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the LORD, do all these things!"

The wise man sees the hand of God in affliction — as well as in affluence. Every event is either of His appointment — or it has His all-wise permission. God works all things after the counsel of His own will (Ephesians 1:11), and so all things work together for good to those who love God (Romans 8:28). "Behold, He snatches away; who can hinder or turn Him back? Who will say to Him, What are You doing? He destroys the blameless and the wicked" (Job 9:12, 22).

God's afflictive providence, is the working out of His sovereign will. Often we see God's hand in great things — but not in little things. We see His hand in good things — but not in evil things. "Behold, this evil is of the LORD" (2 Kings 6:33). Job asked his wife: "What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?" (Job 2:10). "Shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD has not done it?" (Amos 3:6). "For the inhabitant of Maroth waited carefully for good: but evil came down from the LORD unto the gate of Jerusalem" (Micah 1:12). These verses do not teach that God is the author of sin. Rather they teach that when God sends us afflictions — they seem evil unto us.

When grace enables us to see the hand of God in all events, we can bear these without murmuring or complaining. Job lost his family, his wealth, and his good health, yet he consoled himself: "For He performs what is appointed for me, and many such decrees are with Him!" (Job 23:14). David suffered much from his enemies and his family, yet he was happy to say: "My times are in Your hand!" (Psalm 31:15). Still again hear him: "I was silent; I would not open my mouth — for You are the one who has done this!" (Psalm 39:9). When Eli was told his family tree would be cut off, he said to young Samuel: "He is the LORD; let Him do what is good in His eyes!" (1 Samuel 3:18). When Hezekiah was told by the Prophet Isaiah that his sons would be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon, he said: "The word of the LORD you have spoken is good" (Isaiah 39:8).

How wonderful to know that a God of infinite love and wisdom has arranged all things which come to pass in this world. When we find ourselves in a very dark chapter of the book of Divine Providence, we must fall upon the words of our Lord: "What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand!" (John 13:7).

 

This Furnace is Not Vindictive, but GRACIOUS

The chastisement of God is always less than we deserve: "He has not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities" (Psalm 103:10). If God dealt with us as our sins deserved, we would be consigned to the lowest Hell. But because of His mercy and grace, we never suffer as we deserve to suffer. "But He, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and did not destroy them. Yes, many a time He turned His anger away, and did not stir up all His wrath!" (Psalm 78:38). "And after all that has come upon us for our evil deeds and for our great guilt, seeing that you, our God, have punished us less than our iniquities deserved!" (Ezra 9:13). Our sins are many: "We all stumble in many ways!" (James 3:2). Nevertheless, God's judgments are few: "For He does not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men." (Lamentations 3:33).

The afflictions He sends are "light affliction" (2 Corinthians 4:17).

They are of short duration: "For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning!" (Psalm 30:5). The Lord told the Israelites: "For a brief moment I deserted you — but with great compassion I will gather you. In overflowing anger for a moment I hid My face from you — but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you — says the LORD, your Redeemer." (Isaiah 54:7-8).

 

The Furnace is for OUR EVERLASTING GOOD

There can be no caprice, nor unwise anger in God toward His chosen purchased people. When He sends upon us afflictions, they are designed for our spiritual and everlasting good. They are corrective, not destructive. When we are cold and indifferent to His cause — He will permit persecutions and reproaches to befall us. But this is not the same way God punishes the wicked for their sins. The wicked are punished in wrath — the righteous are chastened in love. The wicked are punished for the good of society — the righteous are disciplined for their individual good: "When He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold!" (Job 23:10; cf. Deuteronomy 8:15-16).

Afflictions exhibit the faithfulness of God: "I know, O LORD, that Your judgments are right, and that in faithfulness You have afflicted me" (Psalm 119:75). God always justly and wisely chastens us. It is the faithfulness of God to His covenant, which brings the elect under the afflictive rod. "If they break My statutes and do not keep My commandments — then I will punish their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes. Nevertheless My lovingkindness I will not utterly take from him, Nor allow My faithfulness to fail." (Psalm 89:31-34; cf. Ezekiel 20:37). God's chastisements are blessings in disguise — they are veiled mercies.

When sore afflictions come upon us, we have the greatest evidence that we are loved with an everlasting love: "As many as I love — I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent!" (Revelation 3:19). "My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him. For whom the LORD loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives." (Hebrews 12:6-7). None but the sons and daughters of God's family are corrected. To live without chastisement is a sad sign of alienation from God. Our heavenly Father chastens us to prevent our final condemnation: "But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world" (1 Corinthians 11:32).

 

The Furnace is PROPORTIONATE

As a furnace is prepared for refining gold (Proverbs 17:3), so afflictions are appointed for the saints, who are compared to fine gold (Lamentations 4:2). Let us see here the high value that God places upon His people. Being . . .

chosen by the Father,

redeemed by the Son, and

regenerated by the Holy Spirit

— they are His precious gold!

As His gold, they get tarnished by the world and sin, and they must be subjected to the refining process. The beauty of His grace must be seen in them. Hence Jehovah seeks their spiritual improvement: "I will turn My hand against you; I will thoroughly purge away your dross and remove all your impurities!" (Isaiah 1:25).

The Lord does not treat Israel in the severe manner in which gold or silver is treated by the refiner: "Behold, I have refined you, but not with silver. . ." (Isaiah 48:10). The Great Refiner knows His metal — He knows what each one can bear. He never allows us to be tested above what we are able to bear. Sometimes He pours water on the fire if it gets too hot. He never goes beyond our strength. Neither does He turn the furnace up to the same temperature for all alike. He proportions the temperature to the strength of the bearer, allotting a greater heat to the strongest, and a less to the weakest. "I will correct you in measure" (Jeremiah 30:11). God will not over-afflict.

The goldsmith keeps the furnace burning with the gold in it, until all the dross has been removed, and he can see his face in the pure gold. Even so does our heavenly Father. Let us be cheerful and hopeful when we are in the furnace, knowing He seeks only to see His pure image clearly in us! We are in the furnace of affliction "for our profit, that we might be partakers of His holiness" (Hebrews 12:10).

An all-wise God regulates the heat of the furnace according to the needs of His people. "He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; He will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver." (Malachi 3:3).

Some of us need more heat than others, so He increases the fire when needed. Micah said: "I will bear the indignation of the LORD, because I have sinned against Him." (Micah 7:9).

There are other times that He lowers the temperature, according to His Divine inspection. The prophet Jeremiah said: "Correct me, LORD, but only with justice — not in your anger, lest You reduce me to nothing." (Jeremiah 10:24).

Remember the time of trial is but short. "Weeping may endure for a night." It is called the day of adversity—the hour of affliction. Afflictions are but for a moment.

 

The Design of the Furnace is BENEFICIAL

The design of God in choosing us to suffer in the furnace of affliction, is for our everlasting good, and for His glory. Regenerating grace implants in us the seeds of immortality, which require cultivation in order to bring about maturity. The furnace is designed to develop these principles, and to fit us for higher enjoyment. Afflictions . . .

scour off our rust,

preserve us from sin,

assimilate us to Christ, who was a man of sorrows,

show us the frailty of human life,

manifest the vanity of the world,

teach us sympathy to others,

make us very humble, break the haughty mind, and bring down the lofty thought,

induce a spirit of prayer, "In the day of my trouble, I sought the Lord."

The people of God have the same need of affliction . . .

that our bodies have of medicine,

that fruit trees have of pruning,

that gold and silver have of the furnace,

that iron has of the file, and

that the child has of the rod of correction!

"However the wicked, like trees in the wilderness, grow without culture — yet the saints, like trees in the garden, must be pruned to be made fruitful; and affliction does this. There is as much difference between the sufferings of the saints and those of the ungodly — as between the cords with which an executioner pinions a condemned malefactor, and the bandages wherewith a tender surgeon binds his patient!" Wall

1. The furnace of affliction is designed to prevent us from going astray. "Before I was afflicted I went astray — but now have I kept Your Word" (Psalm 119:67). "It is good for me that I have been afflicted — that I might learn Your statutes" (Psalm 119:71). The believer comes from this furnace improved and refined!

By our natural corruption, we are ready to wander in the pathway of sin, and go astray after worldly vanities. Hence the Lord makes affliction to serve us as a thorny hedge — to keep us on the right course. Afflictions amend us and strengthen us to keep God's statutes.

2. Afflictions wean us from the evil world. "For You have tried us, O God; You have refined us as silver is refined!" (Psalm 66:10). When Egypt became an iron furnace — the Israelites became weary of it. The prodigal never thought of his father — until he experienced famine. The Lord makes this world a grief — so it may not become our idol. It is to be our purgatory — that we may never make it our paradise.

3. Afflictions test our religious profession. "But He knows the way that I take! When He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold" (Job 23:10). We profess to be gold for God's treasury — yet there is much dross in us. We claim to be grain fit for the garner of heavenly glory — yet there seems to be more chaff than wheat in us. Therefore the Lord casts us into the furnace of affliction — that we may be tried and purified. The dross must be severed and separated from us. We must be winnowed with the strong wind of affliction — that the chaff may be blown away and the pure grain remain.

We profess to be soldiers in the army of the King of kings. We claim to fight under the banner of the Lord Almighty. Therefore the Lord allows us to be attacked by Satan and assaulted by the world with afflictions and persecutions — to try us and to find out if we are traitors. Cowards will yield early in the fight. Real soldiers will stand and fight to the death, but a traitor will join with the enemy. "The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away!" (Matthew 13:20-21). "You therefore endure hardship, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ" (2 Timothy 2:3).

4. The furnace of affliction brings about growth in Christian graces. "We also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope" (Romans 5:3-4). Our heavenly Father longs to see His children grow up spiritually. To bring this about, He uses the instrumentality of afflictions. In these we learn patience, and we are caused to hope in God. The Lord buffets and afflicts us with severe trials — to give occasion to exercise these graces which otherwise would lie dormant with us.

The Christian graces are like perfumes — the more they are pressed by affliction, the sweeter they smell. They are like the stars — they appear best in the darkness of trouble. They are like the snow (though cold and uncomfortable), yet it warms and nourishes the earth in winter. Just so, the believer is nourished in the winter of affliction. Worldly joy ends in sorrow — but godly sorrow ends in joy. As it sometimes rains when the sun shines, so there is frequently joy in the saint's heart — when there are tears in his eyes!

5. The great Refiner aims to drive us to prayer. "LORD, in trouble have they visited You; they poured out a prayer when Your chastening was upon them" (Isaiah 26:16). "Is any among you afflicted? Let him pray" (James 5:13). The furnace is necessary to stir up prayer in us. In peace and prosperity we seldom recognize our need of Divine help. Afflictions bring us to God, and show our need of dependence upon Him. "In their affliction, they will seek Me early" (Hosea 5:15).

6. Afflictions prepare us for greater usefulness and fruitfulness. "Every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it, that it may bring forth more fruit" (John 15:2). The wise farmer prunes his fruit trees in the winter, so that they may produce more fruit in the summer. Superfluous branches and suckers which steal the sap, must be removed. Creature comforts are often to the soul, what suckers are to the tree. Therefore the great Farmer prunes these off, that the tree of the Lord may produce much fruit. God will prune His people, but not hew them down. The right hand of His mercy, knows what the left hand of His severity is doing!

 

CONCLUSION

1. Do not think the life of a Christian is easy. It is not a flowery bed of ease. During our life on earth, we all must spend some time in the furnace of affliction. But like the three Hebrews in the furnace in Babylon, God is always with us in all these sufferings. "Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are Mine. When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you. For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior!" (Isaiah 43:1-3).

2. In short, God, by placing his people in the furnace of affliction, is educating them . . .

for crowns and scepters,

for thrones and dominions,

for a place in Paradise, and

for a seat at his right hand!

At present, the Lord is fashioning the inward spiritual life for the world to come. The oppression, the piercings, the anguish, the disappointments, and all events — are but the preparation for the position we shall occupy in the world to come.

3. As Israel did not understand election until they were in Egypt, even so today we come to see our election in the furnace of afflictions. When the sorrows of death compass us and the pains of Hell get hold upon us — then we come to see distinguishing grace and everlasting love. In soul trouble we come to understand the text: "I have chosen you in the furnace of affliction!"

4. There is in this world — a furnace of afflictions for God's elect. Then in the world to come — there is another furnace of literal, physical fire that is heated for the ungodly after the judgment. "The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will weed out of His kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth!" (Matthew 13:41-42). Oh, lost sinner, flee the wrath to come!

  

APPLICATION

1. Let the sublime design of this furnace induce patience, and submission.

2. Remember the time of trial is but short. "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning!" Called the day of adversity — the hour of affliction — are but for a moment.

3. What a furnace of infliction awaits the ungodly in the world to come!

After years of reading Found Magazine, I finally had my very own "finding" this week. I was getting on the train headed home when I came across a handwritten letter left in a vacant subway seat.

 

It seems to have been deliberately discarded by the recipient. He had torn out part of the envelope that contained his mailing address, but carefully left everything else intact.

 

The letter is sort of heartbreaking. The return address corner doesn't have an address -- just the words "Your True Friend." The letter begins with an apology. The author, presumably a jilted lover, is writing to ask the recipient, Mr. Allen, for forgiveness after the end of their relationship on January 10, 2005. The first page is a thoughtful, sincere apology. However, the second, third, and fourth pages are full of vindictive rage and righteous indignation.

 

I can see why Mr. Allen didn't want to hang on to the letter. This woman is still pretty hot under the collar.

 

Every time she uses the word "remember" it's underlined two or three times.

 

An excerpt follows. Spelling is copied:

 

By know means was I an angel — oh know! Because toward the end, say 2 1/2 - 3 yrs I was taking from you, not for the reason you thought oh know — but to keep a little money in my pocket, because you didn't and wouldn't give me anything, when I would think about it being wrong and feel really sorry about doing it — my other side would say he did it to you the first 8 yrs of the relationship and think about how he is doing you now, then it began easy, when you had your car & truck remember how you was, when you would leave and come back when you got ready without any answers remember — you wouldn't call me back when I would beep you remember — you wouldn't give me anything $2 - 3 dollars here and there. Lovemaking and everything even cooking food you was in control of that remember me telling you that? Everything you put in the house even food was yours remember? all the times we would be at home, something you didn't have 2 words to say to me remember? I would listen to you say what you did for your friends — home boys — not me. 14 years — Oh God 14 long years — but you know what was really really happening, while you thought you was putting me down and I was doing things that was not of my kindred spirit — my Father-God was bulding me up, not to hurt, because he knew Jan 10, 05 was coming and where you really thought that you left me, I had left you long before you physically left the house.

 

All the time you were sleeping with your so call ____ [the author just wrote a dash — I think she couldn't bring herself to write the word "girlfriend" here] now and doing what you thought was getting over on me — my God had my back :)

 

I hope you're happy, you think you are. I hope your so call ____ read this. I pray God have mercy on your soul, because if you haven't felt his wrath you will. you see you took my love and feeling for granted for 14 long years and you just don't do that to a child of God — he doesn't like that Mr. Allen. Remember I used to tell you that I loved you and I was in love with you — you acted like you didn't know the different remember.

Large

 

This is the first squirrel I have seen from my patio window since we moved here four years ago. There are no mature trees nearby and I had assumed it would be some time yet before I ever did see one. I had just put some old cereal out on the patio to see if any birds would eat it when he appeared and he marched right up and boldly helped himself despite Sophie's loud barks of indignation from the other side of the door.

For the wargame, John's Fighting Ships, set in the 19th Century:

 

Gaius Nero (1829-1883) was the face of Perceptum's Second Revolution. His charisma and masterful skill as an orator made him, and his monobrow, famous across the world. Born into a poor family, he experienced firsthand the life of a commoner in the late Perceptan Empire. A perceptive and academic child, Nero developed a powerful hatred for the purple banners, ivory towers, groping priests and political corruption that characterized his country. It irked him to no end to read and hear the stories of the greatness of his nation whilst the majority of its people would never experience its riches for themselves. Bullied and ostracized at school for his academics and eccentricity, Nero would develop a powerful sense of indignation that would last for years, his sensitivity and injured pride would later harden into excessive paranoia. When he was ten, his father saved the life a businessman from a pair of thugs; the grateful aristocrat became Nero's patron, paying for his schooling where his excellence and charming nature booked him a place in the prestigious Imperial College of Nacivitas. There, studying as a lawyer, he became a political activist outspoken against the old regime. He was teased ruthlessly for his monobrow, political inclinations and relative poverty by the other scholars of the college, fueling his rage further. But what truly crafted him as an individual was his dedication to excellence- he graduated university with the highest distinctions accomplished by a Perceptan law student in eighty years. He regularly outperformed his peers despite their ridicule. The idea that he was a superior individual, that the jealous opinions of his tormentors were ultimately irrelevant in the face of his own accomplishments, would root a deep superiority complex within his psyche. He was a lion; everyone else was a sheep.

 

During his studies, his politics would be cemented; he dreamed of a nation where personal excellence, not cronyism and high birth, dictated policy. Where wealth would be shared equally, where people didn't have to put up with perverse priests or backwards politicians. And most of all, where men as brilliant as himself would rule, crafting a better world for all. Disillusioned by the false promises of monarchy and democracy alike, he became a member of the growing National Party and frequented the political meetings of a range of other parties to sample their ideas. His cunning, remarkable sense of charm and ability to speak sense in stirring orations that preyed on the psychology of his listeners allowed him to rise quickly through the ranks of the Party elite, gaining a cadre of followers and hangers-on. When the First Revolution broke out in early 1874, Nero became the figurehead of the National Party, now holding a minority in the Imperial Senate and maintaining stern criticism of the coalition government that was taking form to represent Perceptum as a constitutional monarchy. Although the government made several attempts to quell his protests, he succeeded in ramping up support for his cause among the downtrodden populace. He accused the government of basing its rule upon compromise rather than results, of not meeting the needs of the people or their expectations for a righteous society. He portrayed himself as a representation of the common man; downtrodden, bullied, ridiculed, ostracized and denied the opportunities available to those in power. He convinced that the Perceptan people, like himself, were victims of an unjust system that needed to be overthrown. His powerful voice and the red-hot anger of his words stirred the hearts of a people who, by this time, had had enough of the old way of life. The mass political rallies that he organized, the modernist, progressive identity he crafted for his party and multiple shows of force, usually with his private army of Blackshirts, fanned the flame of his insurrection.

 

In late 1874, to the horror of the world, Nero staged a coup. Exactly how he accomplished the overthrow of the Imperial government, gained support in the armed forces and defeated the garrison of the capital, Nacivitas, remains a matter of debate to this day. Nero wasted no time in declaring himself the Empire's Supreme Leader, creating a regime more autocratic and totalitarian than anything the world had seen before. He completely rewrote the constitution to do away with the old system forever, styling his new code of law off advances made in Columbia and Vinland yet rigging it with fascist clauses that would ensure his complete control. Hand in hand with the reforms, came the Terror. Blackshirts roamed the streets, tearing down old statues and torching anything that symbolized the old regime. Nero's government outlawed all religion, sanctioning the arson of the Citadel of Saint Julius and countless other churches. He confiscated huge tracts of land formerly owned by the aristocracy, reformed the armed forces and began the forced modernization of the economy. But worst of all were the purges. Thousands of people; aristocrats, business owners, old military men, priests and all kinds of political individuals were lined up before a massive group of guillotines erected in the old parade ground. But in the eyes of his people, he was a Saint. He maintained a powerful cult of personality the likes of which the world had never seen before. Nero would increasingly think of himself as godly; he had a grand vision of the future of the world, and he would not permit anyone to stop him from realizing it.

 

But the more Nero got done, the more shrill, proud, stubborn and foolhardy he became. He believed he was incorruptible, insurmountable, unrivaled; a living god. He could never be wrong. He could never lose. This was not a healthy mindset, and would spell disaster for Perceptum during the Eight Years War. For while the Imperial homeland had been wracked by Revolution, many of its colonies had been pushing for independence, hosting little revolutions of their own. Some of the Empire's primary rivals, like the Order of Achatius, had been funding and supporting these movements and even minor countries like the Kingdom of Kahili had begun encroaching on the Empire's turf whilst the central government had been preoccupied. Having declared hostilities on multiple countries he perceived as threats, Nero insisted upon directing the war effort himself, and began to draft plans for a post-war world where his Empire held complete supremacy. Nero was not a military man, and neither were most of his staff. Even though Perceptum's military was truly vast, almost as big as those of all its enemies combined, it had been handicapped by Nero's purges. Most of the intellectuals and officers of the old Imperial Navy had been axed (literally), forced into exile or demoted. The loyal men Nero installed in their place had more spirit then sense, and were often downright idiotic. To make it worse, Nero had a horrible method of dealing with opposition and failure. In the past he would shout down, discredit and punish those who opposed them, taking credit for the actions of his subordinates and readily scapegoating them when things went wrong. This trait translated badly into military matters: He would ignore the reports of his spies if the information they provided displeased him but would be quick to blame them for failing in their duty whenever things didn't go according to plan. He would demote or execute officers he felt threatened by, dismiss strategies that didn't conform to his own purely academic understanding of combat doctrine and passed maniacal commands like forbidding retreat that would get thousands of men killed. He, and many others, thought Perceptum was invincible. The newly christened National Armada was, on paper, nearly twice as powerful and far larger than the combined navies of the Order and its Allies. The fact that the majority of its ships were undermanned, badly supplied, outdated and/or poorly captained was not taken into account. Perceptum was not ready for war, much less the global conflicts of the Eight Years War, and Nero's leadership only made the outcome inevitable.

 

The turning point of his idiocy, and the war at large, was the Battle of Sanct Alban's Bay. The events of that foolish battle- when he led his Armada into an obvious Allied trap, would change him. Having witnessed his fleet being butchered, hearing the cries of dismembered men, watching the detonation of his flagship (after he abandoned it) and seeing the body-counting of the aftermath shook him to his core. Nero would return home a broken man; it was said that he hardly uttered a word from Sanct Alban's Bay to the end of the war. The news of the Armada's defeat was met with shock and disbelief. Public morale became suicidal; Perceptum had owned the greatest navy the world had ever seen, and now it nearly ceased to exist. Without his grand speeches and mass rallies, Nero's place in the public eye disintegrated. The great dictator spent his remaining years in power skulking around his palace while the military picked up the slack, trying in vain to prevent the complete destruction of the Empire. Nero would not even name a new leader for the military to follow, resulting in debilitating infighting amongst the Armada, eventually crafting an awkward command structure that hobbled their efforts. Neither would he contribute to further planning or sue for peace, leaving his government at a loss for what to do. In fact, the most he did was call for food and copious amounts of alcohol. Having heard nothing from the Supreme Leader for nearly two years, the military elite declared him deposed. This was the Third Revolution; the government disintegrated without a fight, and the people welcomed the prospect of peace after what seemed like a lifetime of war. When the Revolution came for him, Nero was drinking himself to death in his study. The sight of the broken man in a puddle of wine, who didn't so much as whimper on the way to the guillotine, was a sobering experience for all involved. In the end, Nero's was the last head of thousands to roll from under the blade. The great tyrant was finally dead, reduced to a blight on the pages of history, but his ruinous legacy would haunt the psychology of the nation forever.

 

The Perceptan Empire was dismantled in the peace that followed. Almost all of Perceptum's colonies either declared independence or were taken from it by the victorious allies, resetting the world's balance of power and ending an era defined by Imperial hegemony. The Empire, that had once covered half the global, was replaced by the Grand Republic. Its new government of generals, clergy and businessmen who had survived the Terror would spend the next fifty years trying repair what Nero had done.

 

But some scars are too deep heal.

 

-

 

Sorry for the word wall, but Nero is a critical figure in JFS lore. I based his bio on aspects of Adolf Hitler, Josef Stalin and Maximilien Robespierre while naming him after one of Rome's maddest emperors.

 

I think I did good. I'm just kinda annoyed that I can't figure out my POVray settings enough to avoid those stupid reflections and glares.

 

The Black Apple - The Extreme Right Social Media Techniques- Hate Speech Processes by Daniel Arrhakis (2025)

 

Extreme Right Social Media Techniques - Hate Speech Processes (*)

  

There is often talk of the use of many fake profiles that certain political forces use to give the impression of greater support for this or that political party.

The case has been more inflated in cases of far-right movements, but in general it has also been seen that it runs through several political quadrants, including the left.

 

With the rise of Bolsonaro and especially Trump in world politics and later with the acquisition of X (Twitter) by Elon Musk, the problem has taken on a projection and dimension that no one can ignore anymore. The proliferation of hate speech and racial, religious, social, sexual and/or gender segregation has reached proportions never seen before.

 

In the case of the Chega party in Portugal, it is estimated that half of the profiles supporting the populist/far-right party may be fake.

 

I wouldn't say most of them are fake, or made by AI. There are indeed the normal profiles of those who support Chega, but there are other groups linked to football fan clubs, to the group 1143, Habeas Corpus, Ergue-te and other so-called Nationalists and Patriots with multiple profiles, in which the same person creates several and whose main objective is to comment on competing political forces and articles in the press and television of the so-called public and/or private institutional media!

 

The multiple use of several profiles is planned in detail, even temporally, with a few Trolls at the forefront of the process, who post the so-called Information/Disinformation produced by the global, national or far-right partisan media, which is then voraciously repeated by their followers.

In Portugal, group 1143 and certain groups linked to football fan clubs as well as certain nationalist groups are experts in this and often include their significant others, who are also quite active.

 

The process is simple, the speech is always uncomfortable, made with an air of mockery, or sometimes with a violent, hateful character, and rude enough and without moral restrictions, it is made in order to scandalize audiences in search of a dynamic response! The more interactive it is, the more the message is passed on to others and therefore the possibility of reaching a wider range of web browsers; because it is also enhanced by the algorithms of social media platforms!

 

The propagation of hate and segregationist speech thus occurs in a multi-directional fractal way, expanding in all directions and to followers of followers, even those who did not even participate in the initial conversation! Rudeness, swearing, and lying are part of the process of promoting indignation and the natural impulse to respond!

The use of racialized violent videos, identified with a given religion or political spectrum and which can be associated with a given group, then serves to stigmatize that community in order to standardize the idea that we have of them, often dehumanizing them, even culturally bestializing them!

The choice is not made at random, videos with a high level of graphic content, criminal content, behavioral or cultural divergence, which have a strong impact on viewers, are chosen. Their origin is worldwide, what matters is that they are an incessant and permanent source, periodically renewed with others that emerge or are replenished, to shape the viewer's vision and perception in relation to their own perception of the world and their sense of security - Fear and the feeling of Insecurity is the ultimate goal!

 

Next comes the generalization and use of the superiority of a race, religion or political belief in order to justify both the right to segregation and even the duty of that so-called civilization " more evolved" to do so so that it does not run the risk of being invaded or simply disappearing.

 

The threat of a national and even international conspiracy that wants to end Western civilization, white, serious, hard-working, meritorious and civilizing, then serves the urgency of struggle and survival by all means to escape a programmed extinction!

 

And the fact of the matter is that there can only be one conclusion: to choose someone who meets the requirements of a strong leader, without fear of bringing back the natural order of things, who will rescue the country once again for its legitimate heirs against usurpers and external invaders.

A kind of Savior of the Nation, an Enlightened One who, like Ventura (the current president of Chega), or Trump himself, has already said that he was chosen by God. Dignification is thus an attempt to justify one's own right to ascend and exercise absolute power emanated by God or the heavens over common mortals in the light of a Messian Absolutism; which in the case of Trump and Elon take the form of an Absolutist Oligarchy.

 

In this conception, Democracy and the tolerant Left are the source of all evils, the cause of Social and Moral Disorder that must be defeated at all costs... and in the last instance, must be controlled or even replaced by a Universal Order of Single Thought, imposed by a strong and incontestable leader - which necessarily has to be a Totalitarian, Patriarchal and Dictatorial Order; and in Trump's case also Worldly.

 

And that is what we are walking towards while the people welcome them with applause!!

 

That is why our struggle is so important and increasingly urgent, dear Friends !

  

______________________________________________________

 

The Black Apple - As Técnicas da Extrema Direita nas Redes Sociais - Processos Do Discurso De Ódio

 

Fala-se muitas vezes da utilização de muitos perfis falsos que certas forças politicas usam para dar a sensação de um maior apoio a este ou aquele partido politico.

O caso tem sido mais empolado em casos de movimentos de Extrema Direita , mas no geral também já se percebeu que percorre vários quadrantes politicos, incluindo à esquerda.

 

Com a ascensão na politica mundial de Bolsonaro e principalmente de Trump e posteriormente com a aquisição do X (Twitter ) por Elon Musk, o problema tomou uma projeção e uma dimensão que já ninguém pode desprezar. A proliferação do discurso do ódio e da segregação racial, religiosa, social, sexual e ou de género atingiu proporções então até há pouco tempo nunca vistas.

 

No caso do partido Chega em Portugal, estima-se que metade dos perfis que apoiam o partido populista/de extrema-direita possam ser falsos.

 

Eu não diria que a maioria são falsos, ou feitos por AI. Há é sim os perfis normais de quem apoia o Chega mas há outros grupos ligados ás claques do futebol, ao grupo 1143, Habeas Corpus, Ergue-te e outros ditos Nacionalistas e Patriotas com perfis múltiplos, em que uma mesma pessoa cria vários e cujo principal objetivo é comentar junto das forças politicas concorrentes e os artigos da imprensa e televisão da dita média institucional publica e/ou privada!

 

A utilização múltipla de vários perfis é planeada com detalhe, mesmo temporal, com uns quantos Trolls á frente do processo, que postam a dita Informação / Desinformação produzida pela média mundial, nacional ou partidária de extrema direita que depois é então repetida vorazmente pelos seus seguidores.

Em Portugal o grupo 1143 e certos grupos ligados às claques futebolísticas bem como a certos grupos nacionalistas são nisso peritos e inclui muitas vezes as suas caras metade, aliás bastante ativas.

 

O processo é simples, o discurso sempre incómodo, feito com ar de gozo, ou por vezes com carácter violento, de ódio, e grosseiro o quanto baste e sem restrições morais, é feito de modo a escandalizar audiências na procura de uma dinâmica de resposta! Quanto mais interativo resultar, mais a mensagem passa para outros e portanto a possibilidade de atingir um leque alargado de navegadores da rede; pois é também potenciado pelos algoritmos das plataformas das redes sociais!

 

A propagação do discurso de ódio e segregacionista faz-se assim de forma fractal multidirecional, expandindo-se em todas as direções e para os seguidores dos seguidores, mesmo os que nem sequer entraram na conversa inicial ! A grosseria, o xingamento, a mentira faz parte do processo de promover a indignação e o impulso natural de resposta!

A utilização de vídeos violentos racializados, identificados com uma dada religião ou espectro politico e que podem ser associados a um dado grupo, servem então para estigmatizar essa comunidade de modo a padronizar a ideia que se quer dar deles, muitas vezes desumanizando-os, bestializando-os mesmo culturalmente!

A escolha não é feita ao acaso, escolhem-se videos com grande teor grafico, criminal, de divergencia comportamental ou cultural, que tenha forte impacto junto dos observadores. A sua origem é mundial, o que interessa é que sejam uma fonte incessante e permanente, renovada periodicamente com outros que vão surgindo ou repondo, para moldar a visão e a perceção do espectador em relação à sua própria perceção do mundo e do seu sentido de segurança - o Medo e a sensação de Insegurança é o objetivo final !

 

A seguir vem a generalização e a utilização da superioridade de uma raça, religião ou crença política de modo a justificar quer por um lado o direito á segregação como até o dever dessa dita civilização " mais evoluída" de o fazer para que não corra o risco de ser invadida ou desaparecer simplesmente.

 

A ameaça de uma conspiração nacional e até internacional que quer acabar com a civilização ocidental, branca, séria, trabalhadora, meritória e civilizadora serve então a urgência da luta e da sobrevivência por todos os meios para escapar a uma extinção programada!

 

E facto dos factos a constatação só pode ser uma, escolher alguém que reúne as condições de um líder forte, sem medo que traga de novo a ordem natural das coisas, que resgate o país de novo para os seus legítimos herdeiros contra os usurpadores e invasores externos.

Uma espécie de Salvador da Pátria, um Iluminado que, como Ventura (o actual presidente do Chega), ou o próprio Trump já teem dito terem sido escolhidos por Deus. A dignificação é assim uma tentativa de justificar o direito próprio a ascender e a exercer um poder absoluto emanado por Deus ou pelos céus sobre os comuns mortais à luz de um Absolutismo Messiano; que no caso de Trump e de Elon tomam a forma de um Oligarquismo Absolutista.

 

Nesta conceção, a Democracia e a Esquerda tolerante é a fonte de todos os males, a causa da Desordem Social e Moral que é preciso derrotar a todo o custo ... e em ultimo caso, deve ser controlada ou mesmo substituída por uma Ordem Universal de Pensamento Único, imposta por um líder, forte e incontestável - o que forçosamente tem que ser uma Ordem Totalitária, Patriarcal e Dictatorial; e no caso de Trump também Mundial.

 

E é para isso que caminhamos enquanto os povos os recebem em palmas !!

 

Por isso é que é tão importante e cada vez mais urgente a nossa luta Camaradas !!

  

(*) Text and image by Daniel Arrhakis (2025)

   

What craziness is this, a day in that London on a weekday? Well, working one day last weekend, and another next weekend, meant I took a day in Lieu.

 

So there.

 

And top of my list of places to visit was St Magnus. This would be the fifth time I have tried to get inside, and the first since I wrote to the church asking whether they would be open a particular Saturday, and then any Saturday. Letters which were ignored

 

So, I walked out of Monument Station, down the hill there was St Magnus: would it be open?

 

It was, and inside it was a box, nay a treasure chest of delights.

 

--------------------------------------------------------------

 

St Magnus the Martyr, London Bridge is a Church of England church and parish within the City of London. The church, which is located in Lower Thames Street near The Monument to the Great Fire of London,[1] is part of the Diocese of London and under the pastoral care of the Bishop of London and the Bishop of Fulham.[2] It is a Grade I listed building.[3] The rector uses the title "Cardinal Rector". [4]

St Magnus lies on the original alignment of London Bridge between the City and Southwark. The ancient parish was united with that of St Margaret, New Fish Street, in 1670 and with that of St Michael, Crooked Lane, in 1831.[5] The three united parishes retained separate vestries and churchwardens.[6] Parish clerks continue to be appointed for each of the three parishes.[7]

St Magnus is the guild church of the Worshipful Company of Fishmongers and the Worshipful Company of Plumbers, and the ward church of the Ward of Bridge and Bridge Without. It is also twinned with the Church of the Resurrection in New York City.[8]

Its prominent location and beauty has prompted many mentions in literature.[9] In Oliver Twist Charles Dickens notes how, as Nancy heads for her secret meeting with Mr. Brownlow and Rose Maylie on London Bridge, "the tower of old Saint Saviour's Church, and the spire of Saint Magnus, so long the giant-warders of the ancient bridge, were visible in the gloom". The church's spiritual and architectural importance is celebrated in the poem The Waste Land by T. S. Eliot, who adds in a footnote that "the interior of St. Magnus Martyr is to my mind one of the finest among Wren's interiors".[10] One biographer of Eliot notes that at first he enjoyed St Magnus aesthetically for its "splendour"; later he appreciated its "utility" when he came there as a sinner.

 

The church is dedicated to St Magnus the Martyr, earl of Orkney, who died on 16 April in or around 1116 (the precise year is unknown).[12] He was executed on the island of Egilsay having been captured during a power struggle with his cousin, a political rival.[13] Magnus had a reputation for piety and gentleness and was canonised in 1135. St. Ronald, the son of Magnus's sister Gunhild Erlendsdotter, became Earl of Orkney in 1136 and in 1137 initiated the construction of St. Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall.[14] The story of St. Magnus has been retold in the 20th century in the chamber opera The Martyrdom of St Magnus (1976)[15] by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, based on George Mackay Brown's novel Magnus (1973).

 

he identity of the St Magnus referred to in the church's dedication was only confirmed by the Bishop of London in 1926.[16] Following this decision a patronal festival service was held on 16 April 1926.[17] In the 13th century the patronage was attributed to one of the several saints by the name of Magnus who share a feast day on 19 August, probably St Magnus of Anagni (bishop and martyr, who was slain in the persecution of the Emperor Decius in the middle of the 3rd century).[18] However, by the early 18th century it was suggested that the church was either "dedicated to the memory of St Magnus or Magnes, who suffer'd under the Emperor Aurelian in 276 [see St Mammes of Caesarea, feast day 17 August], or else to a person of that name, who was the famous Apostle or Bishop of the Orcades."[19] For the next century historians followed the suggestion that the church was dedicated to the Roman saint of Cæsarea.[20] The famous Danish archaeologist Professor Jens Jacob Asmussen Worsaae (1821–85) promoted the attribution to St Magnus of Orkney during his visit to the British Isles in 1846-7, when he was formulating the concept of the 'Viking Age',[21] and a history of London written in 1901 concluded that "the Danes, on their second invasion ... added at least two churches with Danish names, Olaf and Magnus".[22] A guide to the City Churches published in 1917 reverted to the view that St Magnus was dedicated to a martyr of the third century,[23] but the discovery of St Magnus of Orkney's relics in 1919 renewed interest in a Scandinavian patron and this connection was encouraged by the Rector who arrived in 1921

 

A metropolitan bishop of London attended the Council of Arles in 314, which indicates that there must have been a Christian community in Londinium by this date, and it has been suggested that a large aisled building excavated in 1993 near Tower Hill can be compared with the 4th-century Cathedral of St Tecla in Milan.[25] However, there is no archaeological evidence to suggest that any of the mediaeval churches in the City of London had a Roman foundation.[26] A grant from William I in 1067 to Westminster Abbey, which refers to the stone church of St Magnus near the bridge ("lapidee eccle sci magni prope pontem"), is generally accepted to be 12th century forgery,[27] and it is possible that a charter of confirmation in 1108-16 might also be a later fabrication.[28] Nonetheless, these manuscripts may preserve valid evidence of a date of foundation in the 11th century.

 

Archaeological evidence suggests that the area of the bridgehead was not occupied from the early 5th century until the early 10th century. Environmental evidence indicates that the area was waste ground during this period, colonised by elder and nettles. Following Alfred's decision to reoccupy the walled area of London in 886, new harbours were established at Queenhithe and Billingsgate. A bridge was in place by the early 11th century, a factor which would have encouraged the occupation of the bridgehead by craftsmen and traders.[30] A lane connecting Botolph's Wharf and Billingsgate to the rebuilt bridge may have developed by the mid-11th century. The waterfront at this time was a hive of activity, with the construction of embankments sloping down from the riverside wall to the river. Thames Street appeared in the second half of the 11th century immediately behind (north of) the old Roman riverside wall and in 1931 a piling from this was discovered during the excavation of the foundations of a nearby building. It now stands at the base of the church tower.[31] St Magnus was built to the south of Thames Street to serve the growing population of the bridgehead area[32] and was certainly in existence by 1128-33.[33]

The small ancient parish[34] extended about 110 yards along the waterfront either side of the old bridge, from 'Stepheneslane' (later Churchehawlane or Church Yard Alley) and 'Oystergate' (later called Water Lane or Gully Hole) on the West side to 'Retheresgate' (a southern extension of Pudding Lane) on the East side, and was centred on the crossroads formed by Fish Street Hill (originally Bridge Street, then New Fish Street) and Thames Street.[35] The mediaeval parish also included Drinkwater's Wharf (named after the owner, Thomas Drinkwater), which was located immediately West of the bridge, and Fish Wharf, which was to the South of the church. The latter was of considerable importance as the fishmongers had their shops on the wharf. The tenement was devised by Andrew Hunte to the Rector and Churchwardens in 1446.[36] The ancient parish was situated in the South East part of Bridge Ward, which had evolved in the 11th century between the embankments to either side of the bridge.[37]

In 1182 the Abbot of Westminster and the Prior of Bermondsey agreed that the advowson of St Magnus should be divided equally between them. Later in the 1180s, on their presentation, the Archdeacon of London inducted his nephew as parson.

 

Between the late Saxon period and 1209 there was a series of wooden bridges across the Thames, but in that year a stone bridge was completed.[39] The work was overseen by Peter de Colechurch, a priest and head of the Fraternity of the Brethren of London Bridge. The Church had from early times encouraged the building of bridges and this activity was so important it was perceived to be an act of piety - a commitment to God which should be supported by the giving of alms. London’s citizens made gifts of land and money "to God and the Bridge".[40] The Bridge House Estates became part of the City's jurisdiction in 1282.

 

Until 1831 the bridge was aligned with Fish Street Hill, so the main entrance into the City from the south passed the West door of St Magnus on the north bank of the river.[41] The bridge included a chapel dedicated to St Thomas Becket[42] for the use of pilgrims journeying to Canterbury Cathedral to visit his tomb.[43] The chapel and about two thirds of the bridge were in the parish of St Magnus. After some years of rivalry a dispute arose between the church and the chapel over the offerings given to the chapel by the pilgrims. The matter was resolved by the brethren of the chapel making an annual contribution to St Magnus.[44] At the Reformation the chapel was turned into a house and later a warehouse, the latter being demolished in 1757-58.

The church grew in importance. On 21 November 1234 a grant of land was made to the parson of St Magnus for the enlargement of the church.[45] The London eyre of 1244 recorded that in 1238 "A thief named William of Ewelme of the county of Buckingham fled to the church of St. Magnus the Martyr, London, and there acknowledged the theft and abjured the realm. He had no chattels."[46] Another entry recorded that "The City answers saying that the church of ... St. Magnus the Martyr ... which [is] situated on the king's highway ... ought to belong to the king and be in his gift".[47] The church presumably jutted into the road running to the bridge, as it did in later times.[48] In 1276 it was recorded that "the church of St. Magnus the Martyr is worth £15 yearly and Master Geoffrey de la Wade now holds it by the grant of the prior of Bermundeseie and the abbot of Westminster to whom King Henry conferred the advowson by his charter.

 

In 1274 "came King Edward and his wife [Eleanor] from the Holy Land and were crowned at Westminster on the Sunday next after the Feast of the Assumption of Our Lady [15 August], being the Feast of Saint Magnus [19 August]; and the Conduit in Chepe ran all the day with red wine and white wine to drink, for all such as wished."[50] Stow records that "in the year 1293, for victory obtained by Edward I against the Scots, every citizen, according to their several trade, made their several show, but especially the fishmongers" whose solemn procession including a knight "representing St Magnus, because it was upon St Magnus' day".

An important religious guild, the Confraternity de Salve Regina, was in existence by 1343, having been founded by the "better sort of the Parish of St Magnus" to sing the anthem 'Salve Regina' every evening.[51] The Guild certificates of 1389 record that the Confraternity of Salve Regina and the guild of St Thomas the Martyr in the chapel on the bridge, whose members belonged to St Magnus parish, had determined to become one, to have the anthem of St Thomas after the Salve Regina and to devote their united resources to restoring and enlarging the church of St Magnus.[52] An Act of Parliament of 1437[53] provided that all incorporated fraternities and companies should register their charters and have their ordinances approved by the civic authorities.[54] Fear of enquiry into their privileges may have led established fraternities to seek a firm foundation for their rights. The letters patent of the fraternity of St Mary and St Thomas the Martyr of Salve Regina in St Magnus dated 26 May 1448 mention that the fraternity had petitioned for a charter on the grounds that the society was not duly founded.

 

In the mid-14th century the Pope was the Patron of the living and appointed five rectors to the benefice.[56]

Henry Yevele, the master mason whose work included the rebuilding of Westminster Hall and the naves of Westminster Abbey and Canterbury Cathedral, was a parishioner and rebuilt the chapel on London Bridge between 1384 and 1397. He served as a warden of London Bridge and was buried at St Magnus on his death in 1400. His monument was extant in John Stow's time, but was probably destroyed by the fire of 1666.[57]

Yevele, as the King’s Mason, was overseen by Geoffrey Chaucer in his capacity as the Clerk of the King's Works. In The General Prologue of Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales the five guildsmen "were clothed alle in o lyveree Of a solempne and a greet fraternitee"[58] and may be thought of as belonging to the guild in the parish of St Magnus, or one like it.[59] Chaucer's family home was near to the bridge in Thames Street.

 

n 1417 a dispute arose concerning who should take the place of honour amongst the rectors in the City churches at the Whit Monday procession, a place that had been claimed from time to time by the rectors of St Peter Cornhill, St Magnus the Martyr and St Nicholas Cole Abbey. The Mayor and Aldermen decided that the Rector of St Peter Cornhill should take precedence.[61]

St Magnus Corner at the north end of London Bridge was an important meeting place in mediaeval London, where notices were exhibited, proclamations read out and wrongdoers punished.[62] As it was conveniently close to the River Thames, the church was chosen by the Bishop between the 15th and 17th centuries as a convenient venue for general meetings of the clergy in his diocese.[63] Dr John Young, Bishop of Callipolis (rector of St Magnus 1514-15) pronounced judgement on 16 December 1514 (with the Bishop of London and in the presence of Thomas More, then under-sheriff of London) in the heresy case concerning Richard Hunne.[64]

In pictures from the mid-16th century the old church looks very similar to the present-day St Giles without Cripplegate in the Barbican.[65] According to the martyrologist John Foxe, a woman was imprisoned in the 'cage' on London Bridge in April 1555 and told to "cool herself there" for refusing to pray at St Magnus for the recently deceased Pope Julius III.[66]

Simon Lowe, a Member of Parliament and Master of the Merchant Taylors' Company during the reign of Queen Mary and one of the jurors who acquitted Sir Nicholas Throckmorton in 1554, was a parishioner.[67] He was a mourner at the funeral of Maurice Griffith, Bishop of Rochester from 1554 to 1558 and Rector of St Magnus from 1537 to 1558, who was interred in the church on 30 November 1558 with much solemnity. In accordance with the Catholic church's desire to restore ecclesiastical pageantry in England, the funeral was a splendid affair, ending in a magnificent dinner.

 

Lowe was included in a return of recusants in the Diocese of Rochester in 1577,[69] but was buried at St Magnus on 6 February 1578.[70] Stow refers to his monument in the church. His eldest son, Timothy (died 1617), was knighted in 1603. His second son, Alderman Sir Thomas Lowe (1550–1623), was Master of the Haberdashers' Company on several occasions, Sheriff of London in 1595/96, Lord Mayor in 1604/05 and a Member of Parliament for London.[71] His youngest son, Blessed John Lowe (1553–1586), having originally been a Protestant minister, converted to Roman Catholicism, studied for the priesthood at Douay and Rome and returned to London as a missionary priest.[72] His absence had already been noted; a list of 1581 of "such persons of the Diocese of London as have any children ... beyond the seas" records "John Low son to Margaret Low of the Bridge, absent without licence four years". Having gained 500 converts to Catholicism between 1583 and 1586, he was arrested whilst walking with his mother near London Bridge, committed to The Clink and executed at Tyburn on 8 October 1586.[73] He was beatified in 1987 as one of the eighty-five martyrs of England and Wales.

 

Sir William Garrard, Master of the Haberdashers' Company, Alderman, Sheriff of London in 1553/53, Lord Mayor in 1555/56 and a Member of Parliament was born in the parish and buried at St Magnus in 1571.[74] Sir William Romney, merchant, philanthropist, Master of the Haberdashers' Company, Alderman for Bridge Within and Sheriff of London in 1603/04[75] was married at St Magnus in 1582. Ben Jonson is believed to have been married at St Magnus in 1594.[76]

The patronage of St Magnus, having previously been in the Abbots and Convents of Westminster and Bermondsey (who presented alternatively), fell to the Crown on the suppression of the monasteries. In 1553, Queen Mary, by letters patent, granted it to the Bishop of London and his successors.[77]

The church had a series of distinguished rectors in the second half of the 16th and first half of the 17th century, including Myles Coverdale (Rector 1564-66), John Young (Rector 1566-92), Theophilus Aylmer (Rector 1592-1625), (Archdeacon of London and son of John Aylmer), and Cornelius Burges (Rector 1626-41). Coverdale was buried in the chancel of St Bartholomew-by-the-Exchange, but when that church was pulled down in 1840 his remains were removed to St Magnus.[78]

On 5 November 1562 the churchwardens were ordered to break, or cause to be broken, in two parts all the altar stones in the church.[79] Coverdale, an anti-vestiarian, was Rector at the peak of the vestments controversy. In March 1566 Archbishop Parker caused great consternation among many clergy by his edicts prescribing what was to be worn and by his summoning the London clergy to Lambeth to require their compliance. Coverdale excused himself from attending.[80] Stow records that a non-conforming Scot who normally preached at St Magnus twice a day precipitated a fight on Palm Sunday 1566 at Little All Hallows in Thames Street with his preaching against vestments.[81] Coverdale's resignation from St Magnus in summer 1566 may have been associated with these events. Separatist congregations started to emerge after 1566 and the first such, who called themselves 'Puritans' or 'Unspottyd Lambs of the Lord', was discovered close to St Magnus at Plumbers' Hall in Thames Street on 19 June 1567.

 

St Magnus narrowly escaped destruction in 1633. A later edition of Stow's Survey records that "On the 13th day of February, between eleven and twelve at night, there happened in the house of one Briggs, a Needle-maker near St Magnus Church, at the North end of the Bridge, by the carelessness of a Maid-Servant setting a tub of hot sea-coal ashes under a pair of stairs, a sad and lamentable fire, which consumed all the buildings before eight of the clock the next morning, from the North end of the Bridge to the first vacancy on both sides, containing forty-two houses; water then being very scarce, the Thames being almost frozen over."[83] Susannah Chambers "by her last will & testament bearing date 28th December 1640 gave the sum of Twenty-two shillings and Sixpence Yearly for a Sermon to be preached on the 12th day of February in every Year within the Church of Saint Magnus in commemoration of God's merciful preservation of the said Church of Saint Magnus from Ruin, by the late and terrible Fire on London Bridge. Likewise Annually to the Poor the sum of 17/6."[84] The tradition of a "Fire Sermon" was revived on 12 February 2004, when the first preacher was the Rt Revd and Rt Hon Richard Chartres, Bishop of London.

 

Parliamentarian rule and the more Protestant ethos of the 1640s led to the removal or destruction of "superstitious" and "idolatrous" images and fittings. Glass painters such as Baptista Sutton, who had previously installed "Laudian innovations", found new employment by repairing and replacing these to meet increasingly strict Protestant standards. In January 1642 Sutton replaced 93 feet of glass at St Magnus and in June 1644 he was called back to take down the "painted imagery glass" and replace it.[86] In June 1641 "rail riots" broke out at a number of churches. This was a time of high tension following the trial and execution of the Earl of Strafford and rumours of army and popish plots were rife. The Protestation Oath, with its pledge to defend the true religion "against all Popery and popish innovation", triggered demands from parishioners for the removal of the rails as popish innovations which the Protestation had bound them to reform. The minister arranged a meeting between those for and against the pulling down of the rails, but was unsuccessful in reaching a compromise and it was feared that they would be demolished by force.[87] However, in 1663 the parish resumed Laudian practice and re-erected rails around its communion table.[88]

Joseph Caryl was incumbent from 1645 until his ejection in 1662. In 1663 he was reportedly living near London Bridge and preaching to an Independent congregation that met at various places in the City.[89]

During the Great Plague of 1665, the City authorities ordered fires to be kept burning night and day, in the hope that the air would be cleansed. Daniel Defoe's semi-fictictional, but highly realistic, work A Journal of the Plague Year records that one of these was "just by St Magnus Church"

 

Despite its escape in 1633, the church was one of the first buildings to be destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666.[91] St Magnus stood less than 300 yards from the bakehouse of Thomas Farriner in Pudding Lane where the fire started. Farriner, a former churchwarden of St Magnus, was buried in the middle aisle of the church on 11 December 1670, perhaps within a temporary structure erected for holding services.[92]

The parish engaged the master mason George Dowdeswell to start the work of rebuilding in 1668. The work was carried forward between 1671 and 1687 under the direction of Sir Christopher Wren, the body of the church being substantially complete by 1676.[93] At a cost of £9,579 19s 10d St Magnus was one of Wren's most expensive churches.[94] The church of St Margaret New Fish Street was not rebuilt after the fire and its parish was united to that of St Magnus.

 

The chancels of many of Wren’s city churches had chequered marble floors and the chancel of St Magnus is an example,[95] the parish agreeing after some debate to place the communion table on a marble ascent with steps[96] and to commission altar rails of Sussex wrought iron. The nave and aisles are paved with freestone flags. A steeple, closely modelled on one built between 1614 and 1624 by François d'Aguilon and Pieter Huyssens for the church of St Carolus Borromeus in Antwerp, was added between 1703 and 1706.[97] London's skyline was transformed by Wren's tall steeples and that of St Magnus is considered to be one his finest.[98]

The large clock projecting from the tower was a well-known landmark in the city as it hung over the roadway of Old London Bridge.[99] It was presented to the church in 1709 by Sir Charles Duncombe[100] (Alderman for the Ward of Bridge Within and, in 1708/09, Lord Mayor of London). Tradition says "that it was erected in consequence of a vow made by the donor, who, in the earlier part of his life, had once to wait a considerable time in a cart upon London Bridge, without being able to learn the hour, when he made a promise, that if he ever became successful in the world, he would give to that Church a public clock ... that all passengers might see the time of day."[101] The maker was Langley Bradley, a clockmaker in Fenchurch Street, who had worked for Wren on many other projects, including the clock for the new St Paul's Cathedral. The sword rest in the church, designed to hold the Lord Mayor's sword and mace when he attended divine service "in state", dates from 1708.

Duncombe and his benefactions to St Magnus feature prominently in Daniel Defoe's The True-Born Englishman, a biting satire on critics of William III that went through several editions from 1700 (the year in which Duncombe was elected Sheriff).

 

Shortly before his death in 1711, Duncombe commissioned an organ for the church, the first to have a swell-box, by Abraham Jordan (father and son).[103] The Spectator announced that "Whereas Mr Abraham Jordan, senior and junior, have, with their own hands, joinery excepted, made and erected a very large organ in St Magnus' Church, at the foot of London Bridge, consisting of four sets of keys, one of which is adapted to the art of emitting sounds by swelling notes, which never was in any organ before; this instrument will be publicly opened on Sunday next [14 February 1712], the performance by Mr John Robinson. The above-said Abraham Jordan gives notice to all masters and performers, that he will attend every day next week at the said Church, to accommodate all those gentlemen who shall have a curiosity to hear it".[104]

The organ case, which remains in its original state, is looked upon as one of the finest existing examples of the Grinling Gibbons's school of wood carving.[105] The first organist of St Magnus was John Robinson (1682–1762), who served in that role for fifty years and in addition as organist of Westminster Abbey from 1727. Other organists have included the blind organist George Warne (1792–1868, organist 1820-26 until his appointment to the Temple Church), James Coward (1824–80, organist 1868-80 who was also organist to the Crystal Palace and renowned for his powers of improvisation) and George Frederick Smith FRCO (1856–1918, organist 1880-1918 and Professor of Music at the Guildhall School of Music).[106] The organ has been restored several times - in 1760, 1782, 1804, 1855, 1861, 1879, 1891, 1924, 1949 after wartime damage and 1997 - since it was first built.[107] Sir Peter Maxwell Davies was one of several patrons of the organ appeal in the mid-1990s[108] and John Scott gave an inaugural recital on 20 May 1998 following the completion of that restoration.[109] The instrument has an Historic Organ Certificate and full details are recorded in the National Pipe Organ Register.[110]

The hymn tune "St Magnus", usually sung at Ascensiontide to the text "The head that once was crowned with thorns", was written by Jeremiah Clarke in 1701 and named for the church.

 

Canaletto drew St Magnus and old London Bridge as they appeared in the late 1740s.[112] Between 1756 and 1762, under the London Bridge Improvement Act of 1756 (c. 40), the Corporation of London demolished the buildings on London Bridge to widen the roadway, ease traffic congestion and improve safety for pedestrians.[113] The churchwardens’ accounts of St Magnus list many payments to those injured on the Bridge and record that in 1752 a man was crushed to death between two carts.[114] After the House of Commons had resolved upon the alteration of London Bridge, the Rev Robert Gibson, Rector of St Magnus, applied to the House for relief; stating that 48l. 6s. 2d. per annum, part of his salary of 170l. per annum, was assessed upon houses on London Bridge; which he should utterly lose by their removal unless a clause in the bill about to be passed should provide a remedy.[115] Accordingly, Sections 18 and 19 of 1756 Act provided that the relevant amounts of tithe and poor rate should be a charge on the Bridge House Estates.[116]

A serious fire broke out on 18 April 1760 in an oil shop at the south east corner of the church, which consumed most of the church roof and did considerable damage to the fabric. The fire burnt warehouses to the south of the church and a number of houses on the northern end of London Bridge.

 

As part of the bridge improvements, overseen by the architect Sir Robert Taylor, a new pedestrian walkway was built along the eastern side of the bridge. With the other buildings gone St Magnus blocked the new walkway.[117] As a consequence it was necessary in 1762 to 1763 to remove the vestry rooms at the West end of the church and open up the side arches of the tower so that people could pass underneath the tower.[118] The tower’s lower storey thus became an external porch. Internally a lobby was created at the West end under the organ gallery and a screen with fine octagonal glazing inserted. A new Vestry was built to the South of the church.[119] The Act also provided that the land taken from the church for the widening was "to be considered ... as part of the cemetery of the said church ... but if the pavement thereof be broken up on account of the burying of any persons, the same shall be ... made good ... by the churchwardens"

 

Soldiers were stationed in the Vestry House of St Magnus during the Gordon Riots in June 1780.[121]

By 1782 the noise level from the activities of Billingsgate Fish Market had become unbearable and the large windows on the north side of the church were blocked up leaving only circular windows high up in the wall.[122] At some point between the 1760s and 1814 the present clerestory was constructed with its oval windows and fluted and coffered plasterwork.[123] J. M. W. Turner painted the church in the mid-1790s.[124]

The rector of St Magnus between 1792 and 1808, following the death of Robert Gibson on 28 July 1791,[125] was Thomas Rennell FRS. Rennell was President of Sion College in 1806/07. There is a monument to Thomas Leigh (Rector 1808-48 and President of Sion College 1829/30,[126] at St Peter's Church, Goldhanger in Essex.[127] Richard Hazard (1761–1837) was connected with the church as sexton, parish clerk and ward beadle for nearly 50 years[128] and served as Master of the Parish Clerks' Company in 1831/32.[129]

In 1825 the church was "repaired and beautified at a very considerable expense. During the reparation the east window, which had been closed, was restored, and the interior of the fabric conformed to the state in which it was left by its great architect, Sir Christopher Wren. The magnificent organ ... was taken down and rebuilt by Mr Parsons, and re-opened, with the church, on the 12th February, 1826".[130] Unfortunately, as a contemporary writer records, "On the night of the 31st of July, 1827, [the church's] safety was threatened by the great fire which consumed the adjacent warehouses, and it is perhaps owing to the strenuous and praiseworthy exertions of the firemen, that the structure exists at present. ... divine service was suspended and not resumed until the 20th January 1828. In the interval the church received such tasteful and elegant decorations, that it may now compete with any church in the metropolis.

 

In 1823 royal assent was given to ‘An Act for the Rebuilding of London Bridge’ and in 1825 John Garratt, Lord Mayor and Alderman of the Ward of Bridge Within, laid the first stone of the new London Bridge.[132] In 1831 Sir John Rennie’s new bridge was opened further upstream and the old bridge demolished. St Magnus ceased to be the gateway to London as it had been for over 600 years. Peter de Colechurch[133] had been buried in the crypt of the chapel on the bridge and his bones were unceremoniously dumped in the River Thames.[134] In 1921 two stones from Old London Bridge were discovered across the road from the church. They now stand in the churchyard.

Wren's church of St Michael Crooked Lane was demolished, the final service on Sunday 20 March 1831 having to be abandoned due to the effects of the building work. The Rector of St Michael preached a sermon the following Sunday at St Magnus lamenting the demolition of his church with its monuments and "the disturbance of the worship of his parishioners on the preceeding Sabbath".[135] The parish of St Michael Crooked Lane was united to that of St Magnus, which itself lost a burial ground in Church Yard Alley to the approach road for the new bridge.[136] However, in substitution it had restored to it the land taken for the widening of the old bridge in 1762 and was also given part of the approach lands to the east of the old bridge.[137] In 1838 the Committee for the London Bridge Approaches reported to Common Council that new burial grounds had been provided for the parishes of St Michael, Crooked Lane and St Magnus, London Bridge.

 

Depictions of St Magnus after the building of the new bridge, seen behind Fresh Wharf and the new London Bridge Wharf, include paintings by W. Fenoulhet in 1841 and by Charles Ginner in 1913.[139] This prospect was affected in 1924 by the building of Adelaide House to a design by John James Burnet,[140] The Times commenting that "the new ‘architectural Matterhorn’ ... conceals all but the tip of the church spire".[141] There was, however, an excellent view of the church for a few years between the demolition of Adelaide Buildings and the erection of its replacement.[142] Adelaide House is now listed.[143] Regis House, on the site of the abandoned King William Street terminus of the City & South London Railway (subsequently the Northern Line),[144] and the Steam Packet Inn, on the corner of Lower Thames Street and Fish Street Hill,[145] were developed in 1931.

 

By the early 1960s traffic congestion had become a problem[147] and Lower Thames Street was widened over the next decade[148] to form part of a significant new east-west transport artery (the A3211).[149] The setting of the church was further affected by the construction of a new London Bridge between 1967 and 1973.[150] The New Fresh Wharf warehouse to the east of the church, built in 1939, was demolished in 1973-4 following the collapse of commercial traffic in the Pool of London[151] and, after an archaeological excavation,[152] St Magnus House was constructed on the site in 1978 to a design by R. Seifert & Partners.[153] This development now allows a clear view of the church from the east side.[154] The site to the south east of The Monument (between Fish Street Hill and Pudding Lane), formerly predominantly occupied by fish merchants,[155] was redeveloped as Centurion House and Gartmore (now Providian) House at the time of the closure of old Billingsgate Market in January 1982.[156] A comprehensive redevelopment of Centurion House began in October 2011 with completion planned in 2013.[157] Regis House, to the south west of The Monument, was redeveloped by Land Securities PLC in 1998.[158]

The vista from The Monument south to the River Thames, over the roof of St Magnus, is protected under the City of London Unitary Development Plan,[159] although the South bank of the river is now dominated by The Shard. Since 2004 the City of London Corporation has been exploring ways of enhancing the Riverside Walk to the south of St Magnus.[160] Work on a new staircase to connect London Bridge to the Riverside Walk is due to commence in March 2013.[161] The story of St Magnus's relationship with London Bridge and an interview with the rector featured in the television programme The Bridges That Built London with Dan Cruickshank, first broadcast on BBC Four on 14 June 2012.[162] The City Corporation's 'Fenchurch and Monument Area Enhancement Strategy' of August 2012 recommended ways of reconnecting St Magnus and the riverside to the area north of Lower Thames Street.

 

A lectureship at St Michael Crooked Lane, which was transferred to St Magnus in 1831, was endowed by the wills of Thomas and Susannah Townsend in 1789 and 1812 respectively.[164] The Revd Henry Robert Huckin, Headmaster of Repton School from 1874 to 1882, was appointed Townsend Lecturer at St Magnus in 1871.[165]

St Magnus narrowly escaped damage from a major fire in Lower Thames Street in October 1849.

 

During the second half of the 19th century the rectors were Alexander McCaul, DD (1799–1863, Rector 1850-63), who coined the term 'Judaeo Christian' in a letter dated 17 October 1821,[167] and his son Alexander Israel McCaul (1835–1899, curate 1859-63, rector 1863-99). The Revd Alexander McCaul Sr[168] was a Christian missionary to the Polish Jews, who (having declined an offer to become the first Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem)[169] was appointed professor of Hebrew and rabbinical literature at King's College, London in 1841. His daughter, Elizabeth Finn (1825–1921), a noted linguist, founded the Distressed Gentlefolk Aid Association (now known as Elizabeth Finn Care).[170]

In 1890 it was reported that the Bishop of London was to hold an inquiry as to the desirability of uniting the benefices of St George Botolph Lane and St Magnus. The expectation was a fusion of the two livings, the demolition of St George’s and the pensioning of "William Gladstone’s favourite Canon", Malcolm MacColl. Although services ceased there, St George’s was not demolished until 1904. The parish was then merged with St Mary at Hill rather than St Magnus.[171]

The patronage of the living was acquired in the late 19th century by Sir Henry Peek Bt. DL MP, Senior Partner of Peek Brothers & Co of 20 Eastcheap, the country's largest firm of wholesale tea brokers and dealers, and Chairman of the Commercial Union Assurance Co. Peek was a generous philanthropist who was instrumental in saving both Wimbledon Common and Burnham Beeches from development. His grandson, Sir Wilfred Peek Bt. DSO JP, presented a cousin, Richard Peek, as rector in 1904. Peek, an ardent Freemason, held the office of Grand Chaplain of England. The Times recorded that his memorial service in July 1920 "was of a semi-Masonic character, Mr Peek having been a prominent Freemason".[172] In June 1895 Peek had saved the life of a young French girl who jumped overboard from a ferry midway between Dinard and St Malo in Brittany and was awarded the bronze medal of the Royal Humane Society and the Gold Medal 1st Class of the Sociâetâe Nationale de Sauvetage de France.[173]

In November 1898 a memorial service was held at St Magnus for Sir Stuart Knill Bt. (1824–1898), head of the firm of John Knill and Co, wharfingers, and formerly Lord Mayor and Master of the Plumbers' Company.[174] This was the first such service for a Roman Catholic taken in an Anglican church.[175] Sir Stuart's son, Sir John Knill Bt. (1856-1934), also served as Alderman for the Ward of Bridge Within, Lord Mayor and Master of the Plumbers' Company.

 

Until 1922 the annual Fish Harvest Festival was celebrated at St Magnus.[176] The service moved in 1923 to St Dunstan in the East[177] and then to St Mary at Hill, but St Magnus retained close links with the local fish merchants until the closure of old Billingsgate Market. St Magnus, in the 1950s, was "buried in the stink of Billingsgate fish-market, against which incense was a welcome antidote".

 

A report in 1920 proposed the demolition of nineteen City churches, including St Magnus.[179] A general outcry from members of the public and parishioners alike prevented the execution of this plan.[180] The members of the City Livery Club passed a resolution that they regarded "with horror and indignation the proposed demolition of 19 City churches" and pledged the Club to do everything in its power to prevent such a catastrophe.[181] T. S. Eliot wrote that the threatened churches gave "to the business quarter of London a beauty which its hideous banks and commercial houses have not quite defaced. ... the least precious redeems some vulgar street ... The loss of these towers, to meet the eye down a grimy lane, and of these empty naves, to receive the solitary visitor at noon from the dust and tumult of Lombard Street, will be irreparable and unforgotten."[182] The London County Council published a report concluding that St Magnus was "one of the most beautiful of all Wren's works" and "certainly one of the churches which should not be demolished without specially good reasons and after very full consideration."[183] Due to the uncertainty about the church's future, the patron decided to defer action to fill the vacancy in the benefice and a curate-in-charge temporarily took responsibility for the parish.[184] However, on 23 April 1921 it was announced that the Revd Henry Joy Fynes-Clinton would be the new Rector. The Times concluded that the appointment, with the Bishop’s approval, meant that the proposed demolition would not be carried out.[185] Fr Fynes-Clinton was inducted on 31 May 1921.[186]

The rectory, built by Robert Smirke in 1833-5, was at 39 King William Street.[187] A decision was taken in 1909 to sell the property, the intention being to purchase a new rectory in the suburbs, but the sale fell through and at the time of the 1910 Land Tax Valuations the building was being let out to a number of tenants. The rectory was sold by the diocese on 30 May 1921 for £8,000 to Ridgways Limited, which owned the adjoining premises.[188] The Vestry House adjoining the south west of the church, replacing the one built in the 1760s, may also have been by Smirke. Part of the burial ground of St Michael Crooked Lane, located between Fish Street Hill and King William Street, survived as an open space until 1987 when it was compulsorily purchased to facilitate the extension of the Docklands Light Railway into the City.[189] The bodies were reburied at Brookwood Cemetery.

 

The interior of the church was restored by Martin Travers in 1924, in a neo-baroque style,[191] reflecting the Anglo-Catholic character of the congregation[192] following the appointment of Henry Joy Fynes-Clinton as Rector.[193] Fr Fynes, as he was often known, served as Rector of St Magnus from 31 May 1921 until his death on 4 December 1959 and substantially beautified the interior of the church.[194]

Fynes-Clinton held very strong Anglo-Catholic views, and proceeded to make St Magnus as much like a baroque Roman Catholic church as possible. However, "he was such a loveable character with an old-world courtesy which was irresistible, that it was difficult for anyone to be unpleasant to him, however much they might disapprove of his views".[195] He generally said the Roman Mass in Latin; and in personality was "grave, grand, well-connected and holy, with a laconic sense of humour".[196] To a Protestant who had come to see Coverdale's monument he is reported to have said "We have just had a service in the language out of which he translated the Bible".[197] The use of Latin in services was not, however, without grammatical danger. A response from his parishioners of "Ora pro nobis" after "Omnes sancti Angeli et Archangeli" in the Litany of the Saints would elicit a pause and the correction "No, Orate pro nobis."

 

In 1922 Fynes-Clinton refounded the Fraternity of Our Lady de Salve Regina.[198] The Fraternity's badge[199] is shown in the stained glass window at the east end of the north wall of the church above the reredos of the Lady Chapel altar. He also erected a statue of Our Lady of Walsingham and arranged pilgrimages to the Norfolk shrine, where he was one of the founding Guardians.[200] In 1928 the journal of the Catholic League reported that St Magnus had presented a votive candle to the Shrine at Walsingham "in token of our common Devotion and the mutual sympathy and prayers that are we hope a growing bond between the peaceful country shrine and the church in the heart of the hurrying City, from the Altar of which the Pilgrimages regularly start".[201]

Fynes-Clinton was General Secretary of the Anglican and Eastern Orthodox Churches Union and its successor, the Anglican and Eastern Churches Association, from 1906 to 1920 and served as Secretary to the Archbishop of Canterbury's Eastern Churches Committee from 1920 to around 1924. A Solemn Requiem was celebrated at St Magnus in September 1921 for the late King Peter of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.

At the midday service on 1 March 1922, J.A. Kensit, leader of the Protestant Truth Society, got up and protested against the form of worship.[202] The proposed changes to the church in 1924 led to a hearing in the Consistory Court of the Chancellor of the Diocese of London and an appeal to the Court of Arches.[203] Judgement was given by the latter Court in October 1924. The advowson was purchased in 1931, without the knowledge of the Rector and Parochial Church Council, by the evangelical Sir Charles King-Harman.[204] A number of such cases, including the purchase of the advowsons of Clapham and Hampstead Parish Churches by Sir Charles, led to the passage of the Benefices (Purchase of Rights of Patronage) Measure 1933.[205] This allowed the parishioners of St Magnus to purchase the advowson from Sir Charles King-Harman for £1,300 in 1934 and transfer it to the Patronage Board.

 

St Magnus was one of the churches that held special services before the opening of the second Anglo-Catholic Congress in 1923.[207] Fynes-Clinton[208] was the first incumbent to hold lunchtime services for City workers.[209] Pathé News filmed the Palm Sunday procession at St Magnus in 1935.[210] In The Towers of Trebizond, the novel by Rose Macauley published in 1956, Fr Chantry-Pigg's church is described as being several feet higher than St Mary’s Bourne Street and some inches above even St Magnus the Martyr.[211]

In July 1937 Fr Fynes-Clinton, with two members of his congregation, travelled to Kirkwall to be present at the 800th anniversary celebrations of St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall. During their stay they visited Egilsay and were shown the spot where St Magnus had been slain. Later Fr Fynes-Clinton was present at a service held at the roofless church of St Magnus on Egilsay, where he suggested to his host Mr Fryer, the minister of the Cathedral, that the congregations of Kirkwall and London should unite to erect a permanent stone memorial on the traditional site where Earl Magnus had been murdered. In 1938 a cairn was built of local stone on Egilsay. It stands 12 feet high and is 6 feet broad at its base. The memorial was dedicated on 7 September 1938 and a bronze inscription on the monument reads "erected by the Rector and Congregation of St Magnus the Martyr by London Bridge and the Minister and Congregation of St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall to commemorate the traditional spot where Earl Magnus was slain, AD circa 1116 and to commemorate the Octocentenary of St Magnus Cathedral 1937"

 

A bomb which fell on London Bridge in 1940 during the Blitz of World War II blew out all the windows and damaged the plasterwork and the roof of the north aisle.[213] However, the church was designated a Grade I listed building on 4 January 1950[214] and repaired in 1951, being re-opened for worship in June of that year by the Bishop of London, William Wand.[215] The architect was Laurence King.[216] Restoration and redecoration work has subsequently been carried out several times, including after a fire in the early hours of 4 November 1995.[217] Cleaning of the exterior stonework was completed in 2010.

 

Some minor changes were made to the parish boundary in 1954, including the transfer to St Magnus of an area between Fish Street Hill and Pudding Lane. The site of St Leonard Eastcheap, a church that was not rebuilt after the Great Fire, is therefore now in the parish of St Magnus despite being united to St Edmund the King.

Fr Fynes-Clinton marked the 50th anniversary of his priesthood in May 1952 with High Mass at St Magnus and lunch at Fishmongers' Hall.[218] On 20 September 1956 a solemn Mass was sung in St Magnus to commence the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the restoration of the Holy House at Walsingham in 1931. In the evening of that day a reception was held in the large chamber of Caxton Hall, when between three and four hundred guests assembled.[219]

Fr Fynes-Clinton was succeeded as rector in 1960 by Fr Colin Gill,[220] who remained as incumbent until his death in 1983.[221] Fr Gill was also closely connected with Walsingham and served as a Guardian between 1953 and 1983, including nine years as Master of the College of Guardians.[222] He celebrated the Mass at the first National Pilgrimage in 1959[223] and presided over the Jubilee celebrations to mark the 50th anniversary of the Shrine in 1981, having been present at the Holy House's opening.[224] A number of the congregation of St Stephen's Lewisham moved to St Magnus around 1960, following temporary changes in the form of worship there.

 

In 1994 the Templeman Commission proposed a radical restructuring of the churches in the City Deanery. St Magnus was identified as one of the 12 churches that would remain as either a parish or an 'active' church.[226] However, the proposals were dropped following a public outcry and the consecration of a new Bishop of London.

The parish priest since 2003 has been Fr Philip Warner, who was previously priest-in-charge of St Mary's Church, Belgrade (Diocese in Europe) and Apokrisiarios for the Archbishop of Canterbury to the Serbian Orthodox Church. Since January 2004 there has been an annual Blessing of the Thames, with the congregations of St Magnus and Southwark Cathedral meeting in the middle of London Bridge.[227] On Sunday 3 July 2011, in anticipation of the feast of the translation of St Thomas Becket (7 July), a procession from St Magnus brought a relic of the saint to the middle of the bridge.[228]

David Pearson specially composed two new pieces, a communion anthem A Mhànais mo rùin (O Magnus of my love) and a hymn to St Magnus Nobilis, humilis, for performance at the church on the feast of St Magnus the Martyr, 16 April 2012.[229] St Magnus's organist, John Eady, has won composition competitions for new choral works at St Paul's Cathedral (a setting of Veni Sancte Spiritus first performed on 27 May 2012) and at Lincoln Cathedral (a setting of the Matin responsory for Advent first performed on 30 November 2013).[230]

In addition to liturgical music of a high standard, St Magnus is the venue for a wide range of musical events. The Clemens non Papa Consort, founded in 2005, performs in collaboration with the production team Concert Bites as the church's resident ensemble.[231] The church is used by The Esterhazy Singers for rehearsals and some concerts.[232] The band Mishaped Pearls performed at the church on 17 December 2011.[233] St Magnus featured in the television programme Jools Holland: London Calling, first broadcast on BBC2 on 9 June 2012.[234] The Platinum Consort made a promotional film at St Magnus for the release of their debut album In the Dark on 2 July 2012.[235]

The Friends of the City Churches had their office in the Vestry House of St Magnus until 2013.

 

Martin Travers modified the high altar reredos, adding paintings of Moses and Aaron and the Ten Commandments between the existing Corinthian columns and reconstructing the upper storey. Above the reredos Travers added a painted and gilded rood.[237] In the centre of the reredos there is a carved gilded pelican (an early Christian symbol of self-sacrifice) and a roundel with Baroque-style angels. The glazed east window, which can be seen in an early photograph of the church, appears to have been filled in at this time. A new altar with console tables was installed and the communion rails moved outwards to extend the size of the sanctuary. Two old door frames were used to construct side chapels and placed at an angle across the north-east and south-east corners of the church. One, the Lady Chapel, was dedicated to the Rector's parents in 1925 and the other was dedicated to Christ the King. Originally, a baroque aumbry was used for Reservation of the Blessed Sacrament, but later a tabernacle was installed on the Lady Chapel altar and the aumbry was used to house a relic of the True Cross.

The interior was made to look more European by the removal of the old box pews and the installation of new pews with cut-down ends. Two new columns were inserted in the nave to make the lines regular. The Wren-period pulpit by the joiner William Grey[238] was opened up and provided with a soundboard and crucifix. Travers also designed the statue of St Magnus of Orkney, which stands in the south aisle, and the statue of Our Lady of Walsingham.[239]

On the north wall there is a Russian Orthodox icon, painted in 1908. The modern stations of the cross in honey-coloured Japanese oak are the work of Robert Randall and Ashley Sands.[240] One of the windows in the north wall dates from 1671 and came from Plumbers' Hall in Chequer Yard, Bush Lane, which was demolished in 1863 to make way for Cannon Street Railway Station.[241] A fireplace from the Hall was re-erected in the Vestry House. The other windows on the north side are by Alfred Wilkinson and date from 1952 to 1960. These show the arms of the Plumbers’, Fishmongers’ and Coopers’ Companies together with those of William Wand when Bishop of London and Geoffrey Fisher when Archbishop of Canterbury and (as noted above) the badge of the Fraternity of Our Lady de Salve Regina.

The stained glass windows in the south wall, which are by Lawrence Lee and date from 1949 to 1955, represent lost churches associated with the parish: St Magnus and his ruined church of Egilsay, St Margaret of Antioch with her lost church in New Fish Street (where the Monument to the Great Fire now stands), St Michael with his lost church of Crooked Lane (demolished to make way for the present King William Street) and St Thomas Becket with his chapel on Old London Bridge.[242]

The church possesses a fine model of Old London Bridge. One of the tiny figures on the bridge appears out of place in the mediaeval setting, wearing a policeman's uniform. This is a representation of the model-maker, David T. Aggett, who is a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Plumbers and was formerly in the police service.[243]

The Mischiefs by Fire Act 1708 and the Fires Prevention (Metropolis) Act 1774 placed a requirement on every parish to keep equipment to fight fires. The church owns two historic fire engines that belonged to the parish of St Michael, Crooked Lane.[244] One of these is in storage at the Museum of London. The whereabouts of the other, which was misappropriated and sold at auction in 2003, is currently unknown.

In 1896 many bodies were disinterred from the crypt and reburied at the St Magnus's plot at Brookwood Cemetery, which remains the church's burial ground.

 

Prior to the Great Fire of 1666 the old tower had a ring of five bells, a small saints bell and a clock bell.[246] 47 cwt of bell metal was recovered[247] which suggests that the tenor was 13 or 14 cwt. The metal was used to cast three new bells, by William Eldridge of Chertsey in 1672,[248] with a further saints bell cast that year by Hodson.[249] In the absence of a tower, the tenor and saints bell were hung in a free standing timber structure, whilst the others remained unhung.[250]

A new tower was completed in 1704 and it is likely that these bells were transferred to it. However, the tenor became cracked in 1713 and it was decided to replace the bells with a new ring of eight.[251] The new bells, with a tenor of 21 cwt, were cast by Richard Phelps of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry. Between 1714 and 1718 (the exact date of which is unknown), the ring was increased to ten with the addition of two trebles given by two former ringing Societies, the Eastern Youths and the British Scholars.[252] The first peal was rung on 15 February 1724 of Grandsire Caters by the Society of College Youths. The second bell had to be recast in 1748 by Robert Catlin, and the tenor was recast in 1831 by Thomas Mears of Whitechapel,[253] just in time to ring for the opening of the new London Bridge. In 1843, the treble was said to be "worn out" and so was scrapped, together with the saints bell, while a new treble was cast by Thomas Mears.[254] A new clock bell was erected in the spire in 1846, provided by B R & J Moore, who had earlier purchased it from Thomas Mears.[255] This bell can still be seen in the tower from the street.

The 10 bells were removed for safe keeping in 1940 and stored in the churchyard. They were taken to Whitechapel Bell Foundry in 1951 whereupon it was discovered that four of them were cracked. After a long period of indecision, fuelled by lack of funds and interest, the bells were finally sold for scrap in 1976. The metal was used to cast many of the Bells of Congress that were then hung in the Old Post Office Tower in Washington, D.C.

A fund was set up on 19 September 2005, led by Dickon Love, a member of the Ancient Society of College Youths, with a view to installing a new ring of 12 bells in the tower in a new frame. This was the first of three new rings of bells he has installed in the City of London (the others being at St Dunstan-in-the-West and St James Garlickhythe). The money was raised and the bells were cast during 2008/9 by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry. The tenor weighed 26cwt 3qtr 9 lbs (1360 kg) and the new bells were designed to be in the same key as the former ring of ten. They were consecrated by the Bishop of London on 3 March 2009 in the presence of the Lord Mayor[256] and the ringing dedicated on 26 October 2009 by the Archdeacon of London.[257] The bells are named (in order smallest to largest) Michael, Margaret, Thomas of Canterbury, Mary, Cedd, Edward the Confessor, Dunstan, John the Baptist, Erkenwald, Paul, Mellitus and Magnus.[258] The bells project is recorded by an inscription in the vestibule of the church.

 

The first peal on the twelve was rung on 29 November 2009 of Cambridge Surprise Maximus.[260] Notable other recent peals include a peal of Stedman Cinques on 16 April 2011 to mark the 400th anniversary of the granting of a Royal Charter to the Plumbers' Company,[261] a peal of Cambridge Surprise Royal on 28 June 2011 when the Fishmongers' Company gave a dinner for Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh at their hall on the occasion of his 90th birthday[262] and a peal of Avon Delight Maximus on 24 July 2011 in solidarity with the people of Norway following the tragic massacre on Utoeya Island and in Oslo.[263] On the latter occasion the flag of the Orkney Islands was flown at half mast. In 2012 peals were rung during the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant on 3 June and during each of the three Olympic/Paralympic marathons, on 5 and 12 August and 9 September.

The BBC television programme, Still Ringing After All These Years: A Short History of Bells, broadcast on 14 December 2011, included an interview at St Magnus with the Tower Keeper, Dickon Love,[264] who was captain of the band that rang the "Royal Jubilee Bells" during the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant on 3 June 2012 to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II.[265] Prior to this, he taught John Barrowman to handle a bell at St Magnus for the BBC coverage.

The bells are currently rung every Sunday around 12:15 (following the service) by the Guild of St Magnus.

 

Every other June, newly elected wardens of the Fishmongers' Company, accompanied by the Court, proceed on foot from Fishmongers' Hall[267] to St Magnus for an election service.[268] St Magnus is also the Guild Church of The Plumbers' Company. Two former rectors have served as master of the company,[269] which holds all its services at the church.[270] On 12 April 2011 a service was held to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the granting of the company's Royal Charter at which the Bishop of London, the Rt Revd and Rt Hon Richard Chartres KCVO, gave the sermon and blessed the original Royal Charter. For many years the Cloker Service was held at St Magnus, attended by the Coopers' Company and Grocers' Company, at which the clerk of the Coopers' Company read the will of Henry Cloker dated 10 March 1573.[271]

St Magnus is also the ward church for the Ward of Bridge and Bridge Without, which elects one of the city's aldermen. Between 1550 and 1978 there were separate aldermen for Bridge Within and Bridge Without, the former ward being north of the river and the latter representing the City's area of control in Southwark. The Bridge Ward Club was founded in 1930 to "promote social activities and discussion of topics of local and general interest and also to exchange Ward and parochial information" and holds its annual carol service at St Magnus.

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Magnus-the-Martyr

 

"This was the unfortunate child who, on December 25,1886, went to Notre-Dame de Paris for Christmas services. I was then beginning to write and it seemed to me that in Catholic ceremonies, considered with a superior dilettantism, I would find an appropriate excitement and the subject of some decadent exercises. It was in these arrangements that, bent and shoved by the crowd, I attended the high Mass with mediocre pleasure. Then, having nothing better to do, I returned to Vespers. The children of the master's degree in white dresses and the students of the small seminary of St Nicolas du Chardonnet who attended them, were singing what I later knew to be the Magnificat. I myself was standing in the crowd, next to the second pillar at the entrance of the choir on the right side of the sacristy. And then came the event that dominated my whole life. In an instant my heart was touched and I believed. I believed, with such a force of adherence, such an upheaval of my whole being, such a powerful conviction, such a certainty leaving no room for any kind of doubt, that since then, all the books, all the reasoning, all the chance of a troubled life, have not been able to shake my faith, nor, indeed, to touch it".

 

The Photography of Christ:Dear Sir, I read with the strongest interest the opuscule that you had the kind thought to send me: Christ in his passion revealed by the Holy Shroud of Turin. I have the striking images that accompany it4 are considered at length.. I don' t Wishes it to reach the general public and help Christianity in France to realize the importance of this religious event which is discovery.

photograph of the Holy Shroud of Turin. It's so important that

I can only compare it to a second resurrection. I am referring by the thought to this sinister period from 1890 to 1910,

where my youth and my mature age passed, a period of materialism and materialism. of aggressive and triumphant scepticism, dominated by the figure of Ernest. Renan.. How much effort, then, to obscure the divinity of Christ, to veiling this unbearable face, to flatten the Christian fact, to erase it

the contours under the criss-crossed strips of erudition and doubt! The little pieces of the Gospel were no more than a mass of incoherent and suspicious materials, where every amateur was going to search the elements of a construction as pretentious as it is temporary. The figure of Jesus was drowned until it disappeared in a fog of historical, mystagogical and romantic literature. I mean, we had successful! Jesus Christ, it was only a pale outline, a few words, a few words. lineaments fluid and ready to go. Madeleine could now go to the tomb. His Lord was taken from him. And now, after centuries gone by, the obliterated image suddenly reappears. underneath the fabric with appalling truthfulness, with authenticity, no more. only an irrefutable document, but a current fact. The interval of the nineteen centuries is destroyed all at once. The past is transferred in the immediate future. "What our eyes have seen," says St. John,"what we have seen," says St. John.

let us at leisure consider, what our hands have done with the Word of life, what we have done, what we have done with it.

is not only an official document, as would be, for example, an official signed and initialled: it is a verbatim record of the proceedings, a large judgment duly signed and initialled.

a decal, it's an image bearing her own caution. Plus

that an image is a presence! More than a presence, it's a photograph, something printed and unalterable. And more than just a photograph, it's a "negative ", i. e. a hidden activity (a bit like the Sacred Scripture itself, will I take the liberty of suggesting) and able, under the objective, to achieve positive evidence!

All of a sudden,in 1898, after Strauss, after Renan, at Loisy6's very time.and as a coronation of this prodigious work of excavation and exegesis.realized by the century that will end, we are in possession of the photograph of Christ! Like that!

It's Him! It's His face! This face that so many saints and prophets have been consumed with the desire to contemplate, following this word of the Word of God.

Psalm:"My face has sought You: Lord, I will seek Your face ". It is in us! From this life, we are allowed as long as we want to

to consider the Son of God face to face! Because a photograph is not a portrait of a man's hand. Between that face and us there was no one as a human intermediary. It is He who materially impregnated this plate, and it is this plate in turn that comes to take possession of our spirit What a face! We understand these executioners who couldn't stand it. and who, in order to overcome it, are still trying today, as they can, to hide it. I will express my thoughts by saying that what we brings this wonderful appearance, it is even less a vision of overwhelming majesty that the feeling in us, beneath sin, of our complete and radical indignity, the exterminating conscience of our nothingness. There are in these closed eyes, in this definitive figure and as a mark of eternity, something destructive. Like a sword strike in the heart that brings death, it brings consciousness. Something so horrible and beautiful that there's no way to get him.to escape only through worship.

Photography has given us back this body that the greatest mystics have barely dared to consider, literally martyred since the plant. from feet to the top, all wrapped in whiplashes, all dressed up.of this sacred flesh has escaped. to the atrocious inquisition of Justice, these straps armed with lead and lead

hooks on it unleashed!

 

He was born in Villeneuve-sur-Fère (Aisne), into a family of farmers and government officials. His father, Louis-Prosper, dealt in mortgages and bank transactions. His mother, the former Louise Cerveaux, came from a Champagne family of Catholic farmers and priests. Having spent his first years in Champagne, he studied at the lycée of Bar-le-Duc and at the Lycée Louis-le-Grand in 1881, when his parents moved to Paris. An unbeliever in his teenage years, he experienced a sudden conversion at the age of eighteen on Christmas Day 1886 while listening to a choir sing Vespers in the cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris: "In an instant, my heart was touched, and I believed." He would remain a strong Catholic for the rest of his life. He studied at the Paris Institute of Political Studies (better known as Sciences Po).

The young Claudel seriously considered entering a Benedictine monastery, but in the end began a career in the French diplomatic corps, in which he would serve from 1893 to 1936. He was first vice-consul in New York (April 1893), and later in Boston (December 1893). He was French consul in China (1895–1909), including consul in Shanghai (June 1895), and vice-consul in Fuzhou (October 1900), consul in Tianjin (Tientsin) (1906–1909), in Prague (December 1909), Frankfurt am Main (October 1911), Hamburg (October 1913), ministre plénipotentiaire in Rio de Janeiro (1916), Copenhagen (1920), ambassador in Tokyo (1922–1928), Washington, D.C. (1928–1933) and Brussels (1933–1936). While he served in Brazil during the First World War he supervised the continued provision of food supplies from South America to France. (His secretaries during the Brazil mission included Darius Milhaud, later world-famous as a composer, and who wrote incidental music to a number of Claudel's plays.) In 1930, Claudel received an LL.D. from Bates College.

In 1936 he retired to his château in Brangues (Isère).

Claudel married Reine Sainte-Marie-Perrin on 15 March 1906.

 

In his youth Claudel was heavily influenced by the poetry of Arthur Rimbaud and the Symbolists. Like them, he was horrified by modern materialist views of life. Unlike most of them[citation needed], his response was to embrace Catholicism. All his writings are passionate rejections of the idea of a mechanical or random universe, instead proclaiming the deep spiritual meaning of human life founded on God's all-governing grace and love.

Claudel wrote in a unique verse style. He rejected traditional metrics in favour of long, luxuriant, unrhymed lines of free verse, the so-called verset claudelien, influenced by the Latin psalms of the Vulgate. His language and imagery was often lush, mystical, exhilarating, consciously 'poetical'; the settings of his plays tended to be romantically distant, medieval France or sixteenth-century Spanish South America, yet spiritually all-encompassing, transcending the level of material realism. He used scenes of passionate, obsessive human love to convey with great power God's infinite love for humanity. His plays were often extraordinarily long, sometimes stretching to eleven hours, and pressed the realities of material staging to their limits. Yet they were physically staged, at least in part, to rapturous acclaim, and are not merely closet dramas. The most famous of his plays are Le Partage de Midi ("The Break of Noon", 1906), L'Annonce Faite a Marie ("The Tidings Brought to Mary", 1910) focusing on the themes of sacrifice, oblation and sanctification through the tale of a young medieval French peasant woman who contracts leprosy, and Le Soulier de Satin ("The Satin Slipper", 1931), his deepest exploration of human and divine love and longing set in the Spanish empire of the siglo de oro, which was staged at the Comédie-Française in 1943. In later years he wrote texts to be set to music, most notably "Jeanne d'Arc au Bûcher" ("Joan of Arc at the Stake", 1939), an "opera-oratario" with music by Arthur Honegger.

Claudel was always a controversial figure during his lifetime, and remains so today. His devout Catholicism and his right-wing political views, both slightly unusual stances among his intellectual peers, made him, and continue to make him, unpopular in many circles

His address of a poem ("Paroles au Maréchal," "Words to the Marshal") to Marshal Philippe Pétain after the defeat of France in 1940, commending Petain for picking up and salvaging France's broken, wounded body, has been unflatteringly remembered, though it is less a paean to Petain than a patriotic lament over the condition of France. As a Catholic, he could not avoid a certain sense of bitter satisfaction at the fall of the anti-clerical French Third Republic. However, accusations that he was a collaborationist based on the 1941 poem ignore the fact that support for Marshal Petain and the surrender was, in the catastrophic atmosphere of defeat, emotional collapse and exhaustion in 1941, widespread throughout the French populace (witness the large majority vote in favour of Petain and the dissolution of the Third Republic in the French Parliament in 1940, with support stretching across the political spectrum). Claudel's diaries make clear his consistent contempt for Nazism (condemning it as early as 1930 as "demonic" and "wedded to Satan," and referring to communism and Nazism as "Gog and Magog"), and his attitude to the Vichy regime quickly hardened into opposition.

He also committed his sister Camille Claudel to a psychiatric hospital in March 1913, where she remained for the last 30 years of her life, visiting her seven times in those 30 years (see Camille Claudel's Wiki page for further details).Records show that while she did have mental lapses, she was clear-headed while working on her art. An exhibition of her bronzes in the Swiss Foundation Gianadda from 16 November 1990 until February 1991 shows clearly what can be considered only a small proof of the timeless beauty of her sculptures, inspired by a genuine talent. Doctors tried to convince the family that she need not be in the institution, but still they kept her there. (The story forms the subject of a novel by Michèle Desbordes, La Robe bleue, The Blue Dress.)

Despite sharing in his earlier years in the old-fashioned antisemitism of conservative France, his response to the radical racialist Nazi version was unequivocal; he had written an open letter to the World Jewish Conference in 1935 condemning the Nuremberg Laws as "abominable and stupid." The sister of his daughter-in-law had married a Jew, Paul-Louis Weiller, who was arrested by the Vichy government in October 1940. Claudel went to Vichy to intercede for him, to no avail; luckily Weiller managed to escape (with Claudel's assistance, the authorities suspected) and flee to New York. Claudel made known his anger at the Vichy government's anti-Jewish legislation, courageously writing a published letter to the Chief Rabbi, Israel Schwartz, in 1941 to express "the disgust, horror, and indignation that all decent Frenchmen and especially Catholics feel in respect of the injustices, the despoiling, all the ill treatment of which our Jewish compatriots are now the victims... Israel is always the eldest son of the promise [of God], as it is today the eldest son of suffering." The Vichy authorities responded by having Claudel's house searched and keeping him under observation. His support for Charles de Gaulle and the Free French forces culminated in his victory ode addressed to de Gaulle when Paris was liberated in 1944.

Claudel, a conservative of the old school, was clearly not a fascist. The French writers who were attracted by, and collaborated with, the Nazi "New Order" in Europe, much younger men like Louis-Ferdinand Céline and Pierre Drieu la Rochelle, tended to come from a very different background to Claudel's: they were nihilists, ex-dadaists, and futurists rather than old-fashioned Catholics (neither of the other two major French Catholic writers, François Mauriac and Georges Bernanos, were supporters of the Nazi occupation or the Vichy regime).

An interesting parallel to Claudel, for Anglophones, is T. S. Eliot, whose later political and religious views were similar to Claudel's. As with Eliot, even those who dislike Claudel's religious and political beliefs, have generally admitted his genius as a writer. The British poet W. H. Auden, at that time a left-leaning agnostic, acknowledged the importance of Paul Claudel in his famous poem "In Memory of W. B. Yeats" (1939). Writing about Yeats, Auden says in lines 52–55:

Time that with this strange excuse/Pardoned Kipling and his views,/And will pardon Paul Claudel,/Pardons him for writing well. (These lines are from the originally published version; they were excised by Auden in a later revision.)

Jean-Charles de Castelbajac wrote a song "La soeur de Paul" pour Mareva Galanter/2010. George Steiner, in The Death of Tragedy, calls him one of the three "masters of drama" in the twentieth century.

Paul Claudel was elected to the Académie française on 4 April 1946.

As well as his verse dramas, Claudel also wrote much lyric poetry, for example the Cinq Grandes Odes (Five Great Odes)

 

Claudel, a conservative of the old school, was clearly not a fascist. The French writers who were attracted by, and collaborated with, the Nazi "New Order" in Europe, much younger men like Louis-Ferdinand Céline and Pierre Drieu la Rochelle, tended to come from a very different background to Claudel's, nihilists, ex-dadaists, and futurists rather than old-fashioned Catholics (neither of the other two major French Catholic writers, François Mauriac and Georges Bernanos, were supporters of the Nazi occupation or the Vichy regime).

An interesting parallel to Claudel, for Anglophones, is T. S. Eliot, whose later political and religious views were similar to Claudel's. As with Eliot, even those who dislike Claudel's religious and political beliefs, have generally admitted his genius as a writer. The British poet W. H. Auden, at that time a left-leaning agnostic, acknowledged the importance of Paul Claudel in his famous poem "In Memory of W. B. Yeats" (1939). Writing about Yeats, Auden says in lines 52-55:

"Time that with this strange excuse/Pardoned Kipling and his views,/And will pardon Paul Claudel,/Pardons him for writing well." (These lines are from the originally published version; they were excised by Auden in a later revision.)

Jean-Charles de Castelbajac wrote a song "La soeur de Paul" pour Mareva Galanter/2010. George Steiner, in "The Death of Tragedy," calls him one of the three "masters of drama" in the twentieth century.

Paul Claudel was elected to the Académie française on 4 April 1946.

Paul Claudel évoque sa conversion le jour de Noël

" Les cinq grandes odes ", Paul Claudel (1906-1910) - Ode II, "Salut donc, ô monde nouveau à mes yeux..."

L'expérience mystique

Une expérience poétique

Un lyrisme religieux

L'oeuvre de Claudel ne se comprend pas sans la puissante inspiration religieuse qui l'anime. Depuis qu'il eut la révélation de l'existence de Dieu le jour de Noël."Tel était le malheureux enfant qui, le 25 décembre 1886, se rendit à Notre-Dame de Paris pour y suivre les offices de Noël. Je commençais alors à écrire et il me semblait que dans les cérémonies catholiques, considérées avec un dilettantisme supérieur, je trouverai un excitant approprié et la matière de quelques exercices décadents. C'est dans ces dispositions que, coudoyé et bousculé par la foule, j'assistai, avec un plaisir médiocre, à la grand-messe. Puis, n'ayant rien de mieux à faire, je revins aux vêpres. Les enfants de la maîtrise en robes blanches et les élèves du petit séminaire de saint Nicolas du Chardonnet qui les assistaient, étaient en train de chanter ce que je sus plus tard être la Magnificat. J'étais moi-même debout dans la foule, près du second pilier à l'entrée du choeur à droite du côté de la sacristie. Et c'est alors que se produisit l'événement qui domine toute ma vie. En un instant mon coeur fut touché et je crus. Je crus, d'une telle force d'adhésion, d'un tel soulèvement de tout mon être, d'une conviction si puissante, d'une telle certitude ne laissant place à aucune espèce de doute, que, depuis, tous les livres, tous les raisonnements, tous les hasards d'une vie agitée, n'ont pu ébranler ma foi, ni, à vrai dire, la toucher."

 

L'esprit de Dieu m'a ravi tout d'un coup par-dessus le mur et me voici dans ce pays inconnu.

Oû est le vent maintenant ? oû est la mer? oû la route qui ma mené jusqu'ici...

Oû sont les hommes?il n'y a plus rien que le ciel toujours pur. Oû est l'ancienne tempête?

Je prête l'oreille:et n'y a plus que cet arbre qui frémit.

J'écoute: et il n'y que cette feuille insistante.

Je sais que la lutte est finie...

Il y a eu le passé, mais il n'est plus. Je sens sur ma face un souffle plus froid.

Voici de nouveau la Présence, l'effrayante solitude, et soudain le souffle de nouveau sur ma face.

Seigneur, ma vigne est en ma présence et je vois ma délivrance ne peut plus m'échapper.

Celui qui connaît la délivrance, il se rit maintenant de tout les lien, et qui comprendra le rire qu'il a son coeur?

Il regarde toutes choses et rit.

Seigneur, il fait bon pour nous en ce lieu,que je ne retourne pas à la vue des hommes,que je sois plus connu d'aucun d'eux,

Et comme l'étoile éternelle.

Sa lumière,qu'il ne reste rien en moi que la voix seule.

Le verbe intelligible et la parole exprimée et la qui est l'esprit et l'eau....

Frère, je ne puis vous donner mon coeur, mais ou la matière ne sert point vaut et va la parole subtile.

Et moi-même avec une intelligence éternelle.

Ecoute, mon enfant et incline vers moi la tête, et te donnerais mon âme.

CINQ GRANDES ODES L ESPRIT ET L EAU

PAUL CLAUDEL

 

Cher Monsieur,

J'ai lu avec le plus vif intérêt l’opuscule que vous avez eu l'aimable pensée de m'envoyer : Le Christ dans sa passion révélée par le Saint Suaire de Turin. J'ai longuement considéré les saisissantes images qui l’accompagnent4

. Je souhaite qu'il atteigne le grand public et qu'il aide la chrétienté de France à réaliser l'importance de cet événement religieux qu'est la découverte photographique du Saint Suaire de Turin. Une importance si grande que

je ne puis la comparer qu'à une seconde résurrection.

Je me reporte par la pensée à cette sinistre période qui va de 1890 à 1910,où s'est écoulée ma jeunesse et mon âge mûr, période de matérialisme et de scepticisme agressifs et triomphants et que domine la figure d'Ernest

Renan. Que d'efforts alors pour obscurcir la divinité du Christ, pour voiler ce visage insoutenable, pour aplatir le fait chrétien, pour en effacer les contours sous les bandelettes entrecroisées de l'érudition et du doute ! L’Évangile mis en petits morceaux ne constituait plus qu'un amas de

matériaux incohérents et suspects, où chaque amateur allait rechercher les éléments d'une construction aussi prétentieuse que provisoire. La figure de Jésus était noyée jusqu'à disparaître dans un brouillard de

littérature historique, mystagogique et romanesque. Enfin, on avait réussi ! Jésus-Christ, ce n’était plus qu'un pâle contour, quelques linéaments fluides et tout prêts à s'effacer. Madeleine pouvait maintenant aller au tombeau. On lui avait enlevé son Seigneur. Et voilà qu'après les siècles écoulés, l'image oblitérée reparaît tout à coup sous le tissu avec une véracité épouvantable, avec l'authenticité, non plus

seulement d'un document irréfragable, mais d’un fait actuel. L'intervalle des dix-neuf siècles est anéanti d'un seul coup. Le passé est transféré dans l’immédiat. "Ce que nos yeux ont vu ", dit saint Jean, ce que nous avons à loisir considéré, ce que nos mains ont manié du Verbe de vie, ce n’est pas seulement une pièce officielle, comme serait, par exemple, un

procès-verbal, une grosse de jugement dûment signée et paraphée : c'est un décalque, c’est une image portant avec elle sa propre caution. Plus qu'une image, c'est une présence ! Plus qu'une présence, c'est une photographie,

quelque chose d'imprimé et d'inaltérable. Et plus qu’une photographie, c'est un "négatif ", c’est-à-dire une activité cachée (un peu comme la Sainte Écriture elle-même, prendrai-je la liberté de suggérer) et capable, sous l'objectif, de réaliser en positif une évidence ! Tout à coup,

en 1898, après Strauss, après Renan, au temps même de Loisy6, et comme un couronnement de ce travail prodigieux de fouilles et d'exégèse réalisé par le siècle qui va finir, nous sommes en possession de la photographie du Christ ! Comme cela ! C'est Lui ! C'est Son visage ! Ce visage que tant de saints et de prophètes ont été consumés du désir de contempler, suivant cette parole du psaume : "Ma face T'a recherché : Seigneur, je rechercherai Ta face ". Il est à

nous ! Dès cette vie, il nous est permis tant que nous voulons de considérer le Fils de Dieu face à face ! Car une photographie, ce n'est pas un portrait fait de main d'homme. Entre ce visage et nous il n'y a pas eu d'intermédiaire humain. C'est Lui matériellement qui a imprégné cette

plaque, et c'est cette plaque à son tour qui vient prendre possession de notre esprit. Quel visage !

 

Voilà pour la convenance subjective. Mais que dire de la coïncidence matérielle et de la superposition minutieuse et détaillée du document ainsi placé entre nos mains et du quadruple récit de la Passion ? Tous les traits en sont là inscrits, ineffaçables : les plaies des mains, celles des

pieds, celle du côté jusqu'au cœur, celle de l'épaule ; la couronne d'épines qui nous rappelle l’interrogation de Pilate "Ergo tu Rex es ? ", et ces traces de la flagellation, si réelles que la vue encore aujourd'hui nous en fait frémir. La photographie nous a rendu ce corps que les plus grands mystiques ont à peine osé envisager, martyrisé littéralement depuis la plante des pieds jusqu’à la cime, tout enveloppé de coups de fouet, tout habillé de blessures, en sorte que pas un pouce de cette chair sacrée n'a échappé à l'atroce inquisition de la Justice, ces lanières armées de plombs et de

crochets sur elle déchaînées !... Ce ne sont point des phrases que nous déchiffrons ligne à ligne : c’est toute la Passion d'un seul coup qu’on nous livre en pleine figure. L'heure même est écrite : c’est le soir, il fallait se presser ; la hâte avec laquelle on a roulé ce corps souillé dans un linge, sans prendre le temps de le nettoyer pour obéir aux prescriptions du

Sabbat immédiat. Le temps pendant lequel cet enveloppement a duré et qui est indiqué par l'avancement du travail destructeur sur le cadavre. L’obligation clairement imposée aux amis du Christ de procéder à ce supplément de toilette funèbre que l’intervention du Sabbat les avait

obligés d’ajourner. La disponibilité elle-même de cette carapace rejetée ainsi qu'une dépouille d'insecte après la mue ; enfin, malgré les explications ingénieuses des savants qui se sont occupés du Saint Suaire, il est bien difficile de voir, dans cette impression détaillée du corps du Christ en négatif sur une toile non préparée et grâce uniquement à quelques

aromates disposés au hasard, un phénomène purement naturel. II n'y a, dans la vaste expérience que nous possédons des ensevelissements antiques, aucun analogue. Une vertu est sortie de Lui et a laissé cette trace prodigieuse. Il n’est pas moins remarquable que, pendant toute cette suite de siècles et d'événements, les différents incendies qui ont

attaqué le Suaire aient respecté l’image sacrée et que leurs vestiges ne constituent autour d'elle qu'une espèce d'encadrement ! Aussi quelle reconnaissance devons-nous aux autorités civiles et religieuses qui ont enfin permis l'examen minutieux de l'insigne relique et aux hommes de science qui l'ont étudiée avec tant d'ingéniosité et de bonne

foi, tels que M. Paul Vignon ! Le moment est venu des vulgarisations, et c'est à ce titre que je salue avec joie le travail si remarquable que vous m’avez envoyé et auquel je souhaite la plus large diffusion.

Paul Claudel

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Claudel

Big German card by Ross Verlag. Photo: Paramount Pictures.

 

Blonde Mae West (1895-1982) was a seductive, overdressed, endearing, intelligent, and sometimes vulgar American actress and sex symbol. She featured a come-hither voice, aggressive sexuality, and a genius for comedy. West started in Vaudeville and on the stage in New York, and later moved to Hollywood to star in such films as I’m No Angel (1933), She Done Him Wrong (1933), and Klondike Annie (1936). She was one of the first women in the cinema to consistently write the films she starred in.

 

Mary Jane West was born in 1892, in Brooklyn, New York, to Matilda and John West. Family members called her Mae. Her father was a prizefighter known around the Brooklyn area as ‘Battlin' Jack’ West. Later, he worked as a "special policeman" (most likely as muscle for local business and crime bosses) and then as a private detective. Mae began working as an entertainer at age five at a church social. After a few years in stock, she moved into burlesque, where she was billed as ‘The Baby Vamp’. In 1907, 14-year-old West began performing professionally in vaudeville in the Hal Claredon Stock Company. Her mother made all her costumes, drilled her on rehearsals, and managed her bookings and contracts. In 1909, West met Frank Wallace, an up-and-coming vaudeville song-and-dance man. They formed an act and went out on the burlesque circuit. In 1911, she married Frank Wallace. Only 17, she lied about her age on her marriage certificate and kept the marriage secret from the public and her parents. She broke up the act soon after they arrived back in New York and the union remained a secret until 1935. In 1911, West auditioned for, and got a part, in her first Broadway show, ‘A La Broadway’, a comedy review. The show folded after only eight performances, but West was a hit. In the audience on opening night were two successful Broadway impresarios, Lee and J.J. Shubert, and they cast her in the production of ‘Vera Violetta’, also featuring Al Jolson and Gaby Deslys. West got her big break in 1918 in the Shubert Brothers revue Sometime, playing opposite Ed Wynn. Her character, Mayme, danced the shimmy, a brazen dance move that involved shaking the shoulders back and forth and pushing the chest out. As more parts came her way, West began to shape her characters, often rewriting dialogue or character descriptions to better suit her persona. She eventually began writing her own plays, initially using the pen name Jane Mast. In 1926 her first play, ‘Sex’, which she wrote, produced, and directed on Broadway, caused a scandal and landed her in jail for ten days on obscenity charges. Media attention surrounding the incident enhanced her career, by crowning her the darling "bad girl" who "had climbed the ladder of success wrong by wrong". She wrote and directed her second play, ‘Drag’ (1927) about homosexuality. She was an early supporter of gay rights and publicly declared against police brutality that gay men experienced. The play was a smash hit during a series of try-outs in Connecticut and New Jersey, but she was warned by city officials, not to bring it to Broadway. Finally, her play ‘Diamond Lil’ (1928), about a racy, easygoing, and ultimately very smart lady of the 1890s, became a Broadway hit and cemented West's image in the public's eye. And, after two more successful stage productions, she was invited to Hollywood.

 

At Paramount Pictures, Mae West made her film debut in Night After Night (Archie Mayo, 1932), starring George Raft. At 38 years old, she might have been considered in her ‘advanced years’ for playing sexy harlots, but her persona and physical beauty seemed to overcome any doubt. At first, she balked at her small role in Night After Night but was appeased when allowed to rewrite her scenes. One scene became a sensation. When a coat check girl exclaims, "Goodness! What lovely diamonds!", after seeing Mae's jewelry. Mae replies, "Goodness had nothing to do with it, dearie". Mae was a hit and later George Raft said of Mae: "She stole everything but the cameras." In her second film, She Done Him Wrong (Lowell Sherman, 1933), West was able to bring her ‘Diamond Lil’ character to the screen in her first starring film role. Her co-star was newcomer Cary Grant in one of his first major roles. ‘Lil’ was renamed ‘Lady Lou’, and she uttered the famous West line, "Why don't you come up sometime and see me?" The film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture, and did tremendously well at the box office. She Done Him Wrong is attributed to saving Paramount from bankruptcy. In her next film, I'm No Angel (Wesley Ruggles, 1933), she was again paired with Grant. This film, too, was a financial blockbuster and West became the highest-paid woman in the United States. However, her reputation as a provocative sexual figure and the steamy settings of her films aroused the wrath and moral indignation of several groups. The new Hays Office had the power to pre-approve films' productions and change scripts. In 1934, the organisation began to seriously and meticulously enforce the Production Code on West's screenplays, and heavily edited them. West responded in her typical fashion by increasing the number of innuendos and double entendres, fully expecting to confuse the censors, which she did for the most part. Her film Klondike Annie (Raoul Walsh, 1936) with Victor McLaglen, concerned itself with religion and hypocrisy. William R. Hearst disagreed so vehemently with the film's context, and West's portrayal of a Salvation Army worker, that he personally forbade any stories or advertisements of the film to be published in any of his newspapers. However, the film did well at the box office and is considered the high-point of West's film career. Throughout the 1930s her films were anticipated as major events, but by the end of the decade she seemed to have reached her limit and her popularity waned. The few other films she did for Paramount — Go West, Young Man (Henry Hathaway, 1936) and Everyday's a Holiday (A. Edward Sutherland, 1937) — did not do well at the box office, and she found censorship was severely limiting her creativity. In 1937, she was banned from NBC Radio after a guest appearance with Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy that was loaded with flirtatious dialogue and double-entendres.

 

In 1939, Mae West was approached by Universal Pictures to star in a film opposite comedian W.C. Fields. The studio wanted to duplicate the success they had with another film, Destry Rides Again (George Marshall, 1939), a Western morality tale starring Marlene Dietrich and James Stewart. West, looking for a vehicle to make a comeback in films, accepted the part, demanding creative control over the film. Using the same Western genre, she wrote the script for My Little Chickadee (Edward F. Cline, 1940). Despite tension on the set between West and Fields (she was a teetotaler and he drank), the film was a box-office success, out-grossing Fields' previous two films. After making The Heat's On (Gregory Ratoff, 1943) for Columbia, she planned to retire from the screen and went back to Broadway and on a tour of English theatres. Among her popular stage performances was the title role in ‘Catherine Was Great’ (1944) on Broadway, in which she penned a spoof on the story of Catherine the Great of Russia, surrounding herself with an ‘imperial guard’ of tall, muscular young actors. The play was produced by theater and film impresario Mike Todd and ran for 191 performances and then went on tour. In 1954, when she was 62, she began a nightclub act in which she was surrounded by musclemen; it ran for three years and was a great success. In 1954, West formed a nightclub act which revived some of her earlier stage work, featuring her in song-and-dance numbers and surrounded by musclemen fawning over her for attention. The show ran for three years and was a great success. With this victory, she felt it was a good time to retire. In 1959, West released her bestselling autobiography, ‘Goodness Had Nothing To Do With It’, recounting her life in show business. She made a few guest appearances on the 1960s television comedy/variety shows like The Red Skelton Show and some situation comedies like Mister Ed. She also recorded a few albums in different genres including rock 'n' roll and a Christmas album which, of course, was more parody and innuendo than a religious celebration. In the 1970s, she appeared in two more films. She had s small part in Gore Vidal's Myra Breckenridge (Michael Sarne, 1970), starring Raquel Welch. She starred in Sextette (Ken Hughes, 1978), which she based on her own stage play. Both were box office flops, but are now seen as cult films. In 1980, Mae West died after suffering two strokes in Hollywood and was entombed in Brooklyn, New York. She was 88. Denny Jackson at IMDb: “The actress, who only appeared in 12 films in 46 years, had a powerful impact on us. There was no doubt she was way ahead of her time with her sexual innuendos and how she made fun of a puritanical society. She did a lot to bring it out of the closet and perhaps we should be grateful for that.”

 

Sources: Denny Jackson (IMDb), Biography.com, AllMovie, Wikipedia, and IMDb.

 

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards..

American Arcade card. Caption: Sincerely, Mae West.

 

Blonde Mae West (1895-1982) was a seductive, overdressed, endearing, intelligent, and sometimes vulgar American actress and sex symbol. She featured a come-hither voice, aggressive sexuality, and a genius for comedy. West started in Vaudeville and on the stage in New York, and later moved to Hollywood to star in such films as I’m No Angel (1933), She Done Him Wrong (1933), and Klondike Annie (1936). She was one of the first women in the cinema to consistently write the films she starred in.

 

Mary Jane West was born in 1892, in Brooklyn, New York, to Matilda and John West. Family members called her Mae. Her father was a prizefighter known around the Brooklyn area as ‘Battlin' Jack’ West. Later, he worked as a "special policeman" (most likely as muscle for local business and crime bosses) and then as a private detective. Mae began working as an entertainer at age five at a church social. After a few years in stock, she moved into burlesque, where she was billed as ‘The Baby Vamp’. In 1907, 14-year-old West began performing professionally in vaudeville in the Hal Claredon Stock Company. Her mother made all her costumes, drilled her on rehearsals, and managed her bookings and contracts. In 1909, West met Frank Wallace, an up-and-coming vaudeville song-and-dance man. They formed an act and went out on the burlesque circuit. In 1911, she married Frank Wallace. Only 17, she lied about her age on her marriage certificate and kept the marriage secret from the public and her parents. She broke up the act soon after they arrived back in New York and the union remained a secret until 1935. In 1911, West auditioned for, and got a part, in her first Broadway show, ‘A La Broadway’, a comedy review. The show folded after only eight performances, but West was a hit. In the audience on opening night were two successful Broadway impresarios, Lee and J.J. Shubert, and they cast her in the production of ‘Vera Violetta’, also featuring Al Jolson and Gaby Deslys. West got her big break in 1918 in the Shubert Brothers revue Sometime, playing opposite Ed Wynn. Her character, Mayme, danced the shimmy, a brazen dance move that involved shaking the shoulders back and forth and pushing the chest out. As more parts came her way, West began to shape her characters, often rewriting dialogue or character descriptions to better suit her persona. She eventually began writing her own plays, initially using the pen name Jane Mast. In 1926 her first play, ‘Sex’, which she wrote, produced, and directed on Broadway, caused a scandal and landed her in jail for ten days on obscenity charges. Media attention surrounding the incident enhanced her career, by crowning her the darling "bad girl" who "had climbed the ladder of success wrong by wrong". She wrote and directed her second play, ‘Drag’ (1927) about homosexuality. She was an early supporter of gay rights and publicly declared against police brutality that gay men experienced. The play was a smash hit during a series of try-outs in Connecticut and New Jersey, but she was warned by city officials, not to bring it to Broadway. Finally, her play ‘Diamond Lil’ (1928), about a racy, easygoing, and ultimately very smart lady of the 1890s, became a Broadway hit and cemented West's image in the public's eye. And, after two more successful stage productions, she was invited to Hollywood.

 

At Paramount Pictures, Mae West made her film debut in Night After Night (Archie Mayo, 1932), starring George Raft. At 38 years old, she might have been considered in her ‘advanced years’ for playing sexy harlots, but her persona and physical beauty seemed to overcome any doubt. At first, she balked at her small role in Night After Night but was appeased when allowed to rewrite her scenes. One scene became a sensation. When a coat check girl exclaims, "Goodness! What lovely diamonds!", after seeing Mae's jewelry. Mae replies, "Goodness had nothing to do with it, dearie". Mae was a hit and later George Raft said of Mae: "She stole everything but the cameras." In her second film, She Done Him Wrong (Lowell Sherman, 1933), West was able to bring her ‘Diamond Lil’ character to the screen in her first starring film role. Her co-star was newcomer Cary Grant in one of his first major roles. ‘Lil’ was renamed ‘Lady Lou’, and she uttered the famous West line, "Why don't you come up sometime and see me?" The film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture, and did tremendously well at the box office. She Done Him Wrong is attributed to saving Paramount from bankruptcy. In her next film, I'm No Angel (Wesley Ruggles, 1933), she was again paired with Grant. This film, too, was a financial blockbuster and West became the highest-paid woman in the United States. However, her reputation as a provocative sexual figure and the steamy settings of her films aroused the wrath and moral indignation of several groups. The new Hays Office had the power to pre-approve films' productions and change scripts. In 1934, the organisation began to seriously and meticulously enforce the Production Code on West's screenplays, and heavily edited them. West responded in her typical fashion by increasing the number of innuendos and double entendres, fully expecting to confuse the censors, which she did for the most part. Her film Klondike Annie (Raoul Walsh, 1936) with Victor McLaglen, concerned itself with religion and hypocrisy. William R. Hearst disagreed so vehemently with the film's context, and West's portrayal of a Salvation Army worker, that he personally forbade any stories or advertisements of the film to be published in any of his newspapers. However, the film did well at the box office and is considered the high-point of West's film career. Throughout the 1930s her films were anticipated as major events, but by the end of the decade she seemed to have reached her limit and her popularity waned. The few other films she did for Paramount — Go West, Young Man (Henry Hathaway, 1936) and Everyday's a Holiday (A. Edward Sutherland, 1937) — did not do well at the box office, and she found censorship was severely limiting her creativity. In 1937, she was banned from NBC Radio after a guest appearance with Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy that was loaded with flirtatious dialogue and double-entendres.

 

In 1939, Mae West was approached by Universal Pictures to star in a film opposite comedian W.C. Fields. The studio wanted to duplicate the success they had with another film, Destry Rides Again (George Marshall, 1939), a Western morality tale starring Marlene Dietrich and James Stewart. West, looking for a vehicle to make a comeback in films, accepted the part, demanding creative control over the film. Using the same Western genre, she wrote the script for My Little Chickadee (Edward F. Cline, 1940). Despite tension on the set between West and Fields (she was a teetotaler and he drank), the film was a box-office success, out-grossing Fields' previous two films. After making The Heat's On (Gregory Ratoff, 1943) for Columbia, she planned to retire from the screen and went back to Broadway and on a tour of English theatres. Among her popular stage performances was the title role in ‘Catherine Was Great’ (1944) on Broadway, in which she penned a spoof on the story of Catherine the Great of Russia, surrounding herself with an ‘imperial guard’ of tall, muscular young actors. The play was produced by theater and film impresario Mike Todd and ran for 191 performances and then went on tour. In 1954, when she was 62, she began a nightclub act in which she was surrounded by musclemen; it ran for three years and was a great success. In 1954, West formed a nightclub act which revived some of her earlier stage work, featuring her in song-and-dance numbers and surrounded by musclemen fawning over her for attention. The show ran for three years and was a great success. With this victory, she felt it was a good time to retire. In 1959, West released her bestselling autobiography, ‘Goodness Had Nothing To Do With It’, recounting her life in show business. She made a few guest appearances on the 1960s television comedy/variety shows like The Red Skelton Show and some situation comedies like Mister Ed. She also recorded a few albums in different genres including rock 'n' roll and a Christmas album which, of course, was more parody and innuendo than a religious celebration. In the 1970s, she appeared in two more films. She had s small part in Gore Vidal's Myra Breckenridge (Michael Sarne, 1970), starring Raquel Welch. She starred in Sextette (Ken Hughes, 1978), which she based on her own stage play. Both were box office flops, but are now seen as cult films. In 1980, Mae West died after suffering two strokes in Hollywood and was entombed in Brooklyn, New York. She was 88. Denny Jackson at IMDb: “The actress, who only appeared in 12 films in 46 years, had a powerful impact on us. There was no doubt she was way ahead of her time with her sexual innuendos and how she made fun of a puritanical society. She did a lot to bring it out of the closet and perhaps we should be grateful for that.”

 

Sources: Denny Jackson (IMDb), Biography.com, AllMovie, Wikipedia, and IMDb.

 

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards..

Geralt: I know what this mark is. You shared your curse with me.

I now share my heart. Feel my righteous indignation, my compassion for lives taken sadistically. Know with equal sadism,

I pursue murderers relentlessly.

indignation is necessary, saving lives is a duty.

Verona (/vəˈroʊnə/ və-ROH-nə, Italian: [veˈroːna]; Venetian: Verona or Veròna) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Italy, with 259,610 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city municipality in the region and the second largest in northeast Italy. The metropolitan area of Verona covers an area of 1,426 km2 (550.58 sq mi) and has a population of 714,310 inhabitants. It is one of the main tourist destinations in northern Italy because of its artistic heritage and several annual fairs and shows as well as the opera season in the Arena, an ancient Roman amphitheater.

 

Between the 13th and 14th century the city was ruled by the Della Scala Family. Under the rule of the family, in particular of Cangrande I della Scala, the city experienced great prosperity, becoming rich and powerful and being surrounded by new walls. The Della Scala era is survived in numerous monuments around Verona.

 

Two of William Shakespeare's plays are set in Verona: Romeo and Juliet (which also features Romeo's visit to Mantua) and The Two Gentlemen of Verona. It is unknown if Shakespeare ever visited Verona or Italy, but his plays have lured many visitors to Verona and surrounding cities. Verona was also the birthplace of Isotta Nogarola, who is said to be the first major female humanist and one of the most important humanists of the Renaissance. In november of 2000 the city has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO because of its urban structure and architecture.

 

History

 

The precise details of Verona's early history remain a mystery along with the origin of the name. One theory is it was a city of the Euganei, who were obliged to give it up to the Cenomani (550 BCE). With the conquest of the Valley of the Po, the Veronese territory became Roman (about 300 BCE). Verona became a Roman colonia in 89 BCE. It was classified as a municipium in 49 BCE, when its citizens were ascribed to the Roman tribe Poblilia or Publicia.

 

The city became important because it was at the intersection of several roads. Stilicho defeated Alaric and his Visigoths here in 403. But, after Verona was conquered by the Ostrogoths in 489, the Gothic domination of Italy began. Theoderic the Great was said to have built a palace there. It remained under the power of the Goths throughout the Gothic War (535–552), except for a single day in 541, when the Byzantine officer Artabazes made an entrance. The defections of the Byzantine generals over the booty made it possible for the Goths to regain possession of the city. In 552 Valerian vainly endeavored to enter the city, but it was only when the Goths were fully overthrown that they surrendered it.

 

In 569, it was taken by Alboin, King of the Lombards, in whose kingdom it was, in a sense, the second most important city. There, Alboin was killed by his wife in 572. The dukes of Treviso often resided there. Adalgisus, son of Desiderius, in 774 made his last desperate resistance in Verona to Charlemagne, who had destroyed the Lombard kingdom. Verona became the ordinary residence of the kings of Italy, the government of the city becoming hereditary in the family of Count Milo, progenitor of the counts of San Bonifacio. From 880 to 951 the two Berengarii resided there. Otto I ceded to Verona the marquisate dependent on the Duchy of Bavaria, however, the increasing wealth of the burgher families eclipsed the power of the counts, and in 1135 Verona was organised as a free commune. In 1164 Verona joined with Vicenza, Padua and Treviso to create the Veronese League, which was integrated with the Lombard League in 1167 to battle against Frederick I Barbarossa. Victory was achieved at the Battle of Legnano in 1176, and the Treaty of Venice signed in 1177 followed by the Peace of Constance in 1183.

 

When Ezzelino III da Romano was elected podestà in 1226, he converted the office into a permanent lordship. In 1257 he caused the slaughter of 11,000 Paduans on the plain of Verona (Campi di Verona). Upon his death, the Great Council elected Mastino I della Scala as podestà, and he converted the "signoria" into a family possession, though leaving the burghers a share in the government. Failing to be re-elected podestà in 1262, he affected a coup d'état, and was acclaimed Capitano del Popolo, with the command of the communal troops. Long internal discord took place before he succeeded in establishing this new office, to which was attached the function of confirming the podestà. In 1277, Mastino della Scala was killed by the faction of the nobles.

 

The reign of his son Alberto as capitano (1277–1302) was a time of incessant war against the counts of San Bonifacio, who were aided by the House of Este. Of his sons, Bartolomeo, Alboino and Cangrande I, only the last shared the government (1308); he was great as warrior, prince, and patron of the arts; he protected Dante, Petrarch, and Giotto. By war or treaty, he brought under his control the cities of Padua (1328), Treviso (1308) and Vicenza. At this time before the Black death the city was home to more than 40,000 people.

 

Cangrande was succeeded by Mastino II (1329–1351) and Alberto, sons of Alboino. Mastino continued his uncle's policy, conquering Brescia in 1332 and carrying his power beyond the Po. He purchased Parma (1335) and Lucca (1339). After the King of France, he was the richest prince of his time. But a powerful league was formed against him in 1337 – Florence, Venice, the Visconti, the Este, and the Gonzaga. After a three years war, the Scaliger dominions were reduced to Verona and Vicenza (Mastino's daughter Regina-Beatrice della Scala married to Barnabò Visconti). Mastino's son Cangrande II (1351–1359) was a cruel, dissolute, and suspicious tyrant; not trusting his own subjects, he surrounded himself with Brandenburg mercenaries. He was killed by his brother Cansignorio (1359–1375), who beautified the city with palaces, provided it with aqueducts and bridges, and founded the state treasury. He also killed his other brother, Paolo Alboino. Fratricide seems to have become a family custom, for Antonio (1375–87), Cansignorio's natural brother, slew his brother Bartolomeo, thereby arousing the indignation of the people, who deserted him when Gian Galeazzo Visconti of Milan made war on him. Having exhausted all his resources, he fled from Verona at midnight (19 October 1387), thus putting an end to the Scaliger domination, which, however, survived in its monuments.

 

The year 1387 is also the year of the Battle of Castagnaro, between Giovanni Ordelaffi, for Verona, and John Hawkwood, for Padua, who was the winner.

 

Antonio's son Canfrancesco attempted in vain to recover Verona (1390). Guglielmo (1404), natural son of Cangrande II, was more fortunate; with the support of the people, he drove out the Milanese, but he died ten days after, and Verona then submitted to Venice (1405). The last representatives of the Scaligeri lived at the imperial court and repeatedly attempted to recover Verona by the aid of popular risings.

 

From 1508 to 1517, the city was in the power of the Emperor Maximilian I. There were numerous outbreaks of the plague, and in 1629–33 Italy was struck by its worst outbreak in modern times. Around 33,000 people died in Verona (over 60 per cent of the population at the time) in 1630–1631.

 

In 1776 was developed a method of bellringing called Veronese bellringing art. Verona was occupied by Napoleon in 1797, but on Easter Monday the populace rose and drove out the French. It was then that Napoleon made an end of the Venetian Republic. Verona became Austrian territory when Napoleon signed the Treaty of Campo Formio in October 1797. The Austrians took control of the city on 18 January 1798. It was taken from Austria by the Treaty of Pressburg in 1805 and became part of Napoleon's Kingdom of Italy, but was returned to Austria following Napoleon's defeat in 1814, when it became part of the Austrian-held Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia.

 

The Congress of Verona, which met on 20 October 1822, was part of the series of international conferences or congresses, opening with the Congress of Vienna in 1814–15, that marked the continuing enforcement of the "Concert of Europe".

 

In 1866, following the Third Italian War of Independence, Verona, along with the rest of Venetia, became part of United Italy.

 

The advent of fascism added another dark chapter to the annals of Verona. Throughout Italy, the Jewish population was hit by the Manifesto of Race, a series of anti-Semitic laws passed in 1938, and after the invasion by Nazi Germany in 1943, deportations to Nazi concentration camps. An Austrian Fort (now a church, the Santuario della Madonna di Lourdes), was used to incarcerate and torture Allied troops, Jews and anti-fascists, especially after 1943, when Verona became part of the Italian Social Republic.

 

As in Austrian times, Verona became of great strategic importance to the regime. Galeazzo Ciano, Benito Mussolini's son-in-law, was accused of plotting against the republic; in a show trial staged in January 1944 by the Nazi and fascist hierarchy at Castelvecchio (the Verona trial), Ciano was executed on the banks of the Adige with many other officers on what is today Via Colombo. This marked another turning point in the escalation of violence that would only end with the final liberation by allied troops and partisans in 1945. After World War II, as Italy joined the NATO alliance, Verona once again acquired its strategic importance, due to its geographical closeness to the Iron Curtain.

 

The city became the seat of SETAF (South European Allied Terrestrial Forces) and had during the whole duration of the Cold War period a strong military presence, especially American, which has since decreased.

 

(Wikipedia)

 

Verona ist eine Großstadt in der Region Venetien im Nordosten Italiens. Sie hat 259.608 Einwohner (Stand 31. Dezember 2019) und ist Hauptstadt der Provinz Verona. Verona liegt an der Etsch etwa 59 m über dem Meeresspiegel am Austritt des Etschtals und der Brenner-Transitroute in die Po-Ebene. Seit 2000 gehört die Altstadt von Verona zum UNESCO-Welterbe.

 

Geschichte

 

Frühgeschichte

 

Die erste vorübergehende Besiedlung Veronas kann zwischen dem 11. und dem 8. Jahrhundert v. Chr. angesiedelt werden, wie Grabbeigaben und vereinzelte Keramikfunde belegen. Besiedelt wurde zunächst das linke Etschufer rund um den Colle San Pietro, an dem eine Furt auf die andere Flussseite führte. Erst mit dem 4. Jahrhundert v. Chr. war der Hügel und seine nähere Umgebung erneut Ort einer festen Siedlung. Funde, die den Rätern, Euganeern und Cenomanen zugeordnet werden können, unterstreichen, dass die Siedlung an der Grenze verschiedener Kulturbereiche lag. Bereits römische Quellen hatten sich in dieser Richtung geäußert und Verona mit den genannten Völkern und Stämmen in Verbindung gebracht. Im 2. Jahrhundert v. Chr. tauchten die ersten römischen Siedler auf. Der Bau der Via Postumia 148 v. Chr. förderte die weitere römische Ansiedlung. Mit der Verleihung des latinischen Bürgerrechts an die Bewohner der Gallia cisalpina 89 v. Chr. wurde Verona zum Oppidum ausgebaut.

 

Mit der Verleihung der römischen Bürgerrechte unter Gaius Iulius Caesar wurde Verona 49 v. Chr. zum Municipium, was als offizieller Gründungsakt der Stadt angesehen wird. Mit der Ernennung erfuhr Verona auch einen radikalen städtebaulichen Schnitt. Lag das Zentrum des Ortes bis dahin am linken Etuschfer, wurde Verona nun am rechten Ufer innerhalb der Etschschleife neu angelegt und an der zur Po-Ebene offenen Seite mit Stadtmauern geschützt. Zwischen Etsch und den römischen Stadtmauern entstand bereits unter Kaiser Augustus die römische Stadt Verona, die bald über ihre Mauern hinaus wuchs. So wurde das gut erhaltene Amphitheater – die Arena von Verona – ein knappes Jahrhundert später bereits vor den Stadtmauern angelegt.

 

Im Vierkaiserjahr 69 n. Chr. entging Verona im Gegensatz zu Cremona der Verwüstung im Kampf zwischen den Legionen des Vespasian und den Legionen des Vitellius. Danach setzte bis zur Reichskrise des 3. Jahrhunderts eine friedlichere Phase ein. Der Usurpator Decius schlug hier 249 den Kaiser Philippus Arabs, Konstantin 312 den Pompejanus (Schlacht von Verona)

 

Während der Völkerwanderung wurde Verona 402 von den Westgoten unter Alarich bedroht. Zwar konnte Stilicho in der Schlacht bei Verona noch einen Sieg über Alarich erringen. Aber bereits 452 plünderten die Hunnen unter Attila die Stadt. Nach dem Sieg des Ostgotenkönigs Theoderich über Odoaker bei Verona 489 wurde die Stadt neben Pavia und Ravenna zur Residenz des Ostgotenkönigs, der später im deutschen Hoch- und Spätmittelalter zur Sagenfigur Dietrich von Bern stilisiert wurde. Aus dem Sagenkreis um Dietrich von Bern stammt auch der alte Name der Stadt: „Dietrichsbern“. Weiterhin war in alter Zeit die Bezeichnung „Welsch-Bern“ gebräuchlich (zimbrisch: Bearn). Im 5. und 6. Jahrhundert war Verona nicht nur Residenz der Ostgoten, sondern auch für den Langobardenkönig Alboin, bis es an das fränkische Reich kam.

 

Mittelalter und frühe Neuzeit

 

In der Folge der verheerenden Ungarneinfälle ab 899 in Oberitalien wurde die stark befestigte Stadt nach 900 Sitz einer Münzstätte, die zum Ausgangspunkt des Veroneser Währungsraums wurde. Ab 952 gehörte Verona zur Markgrafschaft Verona und damit zum Herzogtum Bayern und bzw. (ab 976) zu Kärnten. Erst zu Beginn des 12. Jahrhunderts wurde Verona selbständig und besaß eigene Stadtrechte. 1117 wurde die Stadt von einem Erdbeben getroffen, bei dem unter anderem Teile der Arena einstürzten. Die verheerenden Ausmaße, der von späteren Chronisten dargestellten Schäden, wurden in neueren Studien allerdings in Zweifel gestellt. Bei einem Stadtbrand 1172, ausgelöst durch Streitigkeiten zwischen Ghibellinen und Guelfen, brannten große Teile der Stadt ab. 1184 fand das Konzil von Verona statt.

 

m Kampf gegen Kaiser Friedrich I. stand Verona mit an der Spitze des Lombardischen Städtebundes. Darauf wurde es durch die Parteikämpfe der Adelsparteien, der Montecchi (Ghibellinen) und der San Bonifazios (Guelfen), erschüttert. Zu Anfang des 13. Jahrhunderts bemächtigten sich die Ezzelini, die Beschützer der Montecchi, der Stadt. Nach dem Tod Ezzelinos III. da Romano (1259) wählten die Veroneser 1260 Mastino I. della Scala zum Podestà. Die Scaliger herrschten fortan 127 Jahre lang über Verona und erreichten unter der Signoria von Cangrande I. ihre höchste Blüte und unter seinem Nachfolger Mastino II. die größte territoriale Ausdehnung.

 

1387 fiel Verona nach der Vertreibung von Antonio della Scala durch Gian Galeazzo Visconti an die Mailänder Viscontis. Nach dem Tod Gian Galeazzos 1402 nutzten die Carrarersi aus Padua das entstandene Machtvakuum und nahmen die Stadt 1404 in ihren Besitz. Aber bereits 1405 beendete die Republik Venedig die Träume eines paduanischen Herrschaftsgebietes auf der Terraferma und Francesco II. da Carrara musste Verona an die Serenissima übergeben. Mit dem von einer Vertretung der Stadt am 24. Juni 1405 geleisteten Treueid gegenüber der Republik Venedig begann die venezianische Herrschaft. Letztere wurde 1509 nach der Niederlage Venedigs in der Schlacht von Agnadello unterbrochen und die Stadt von den kaiserlichen Truppen Maximilian I. besetzt. Nach dem Ende des Krieges der Liga von Cambrai fiel Verona 1517 wieder an Venedig.

 

1630 wurde die Stadt erneut von der Pest heimgesucht, nachdem die Bevölkerung von Verona bereits im 14. und 15. Jahrhundert von Pestepidemien dezimiert worden war. Der im März 1630 ausgebrochenen Epidemie fielen bis November des gleichen Jahres etwa 30.000 der 50.000 Einwohner zum Opfer. An dem vom Geschichtsschreiber Francesco Pona abgefassten Bericht über die Epidemie inspirierte sich später Alessandro Manzoni für sein Werk I Promessi Sposi.

 

Moderne

 

Nach dem von Napoleon Bonaparte bedingten Ende der Republik Venedig fiel Verona im Frieden von Campo Formio 1797 an Österreich; der vorherige, antifranzösische Aufstand der Veroneser zu Ostern wurde blutig niedergeschlagen. Unter österreichischer Herrschaft war die Stadt Teil des oberitalienischen Festungsvierecks (it.: Quadrilatero), das 1815 zur Verteidigung der habsburgerischen Besitztümer in Italien in den Orten Peschiera, Mantua, Legnago und Verona errichtet wurde. Der Ausbau zur Festungsstadt wurde zwischen 1833 und 1866 nach Plänen des Ingenieurgenerals Franz von Scholl vorgenommen. 1866 kam Verona als Ergebnis des Deutschen Kriegs nach dem Dritten Italienischen Unabhängigkeitskrieg zum Königreich Italien.

 

1882 wurde die Stadt an der Etsch von einer schweren Flutkatastrophe heimgesucht, bei der mehrere Gebäude vollkommen zerstört, fast 200 beschädigt und 3000 Menschen obdachlos wurden. Der nachfolgende Wiederaufbau prägt nach wie vor das Stadtbild entlang des Etschufers. 1913 wurde zum 100. Geburtstags von Giuseppe Verdi in der römischen Arena die Oper Aida aufgeführt. Aus dem überwältigenden Erfolg entstanden nach dem Ersten Weltkrieg die Opernfestspiele in der Arena von Verona.

 

Nachdem Verona bereits im Ersten Weltkrieg zum Ziel der österreichisch-ungarischen Luftstreitkräfte geworden war, wurde die Stadt im Zweiten Weltkrieg mehrmals von den Alliierten bombardiert. Im Herbst 1943 fand im Castelvecchio der erste Parteitag der neugegründeten Republikanischen Faschistischen Partei statt, die nach dem Sturz Mussolinis im Juli 1943 und dem Verbot der Faschistischen Partei im September des gleichen Jahres gegründet worden war. An gleicher Stelle fand im Januar 1944 der sogenannte Prozess von Verona statt. In dem Schauprozess wurden sieben ehemalige Mitglieder des Großen Faschistischen Rats, die in der Sitzung vom 24./25. Juli 1943 im Rom im Palazzo Venezia für die Absetzung von Benito Mussolinis als Oberbefehlshaber der italienischen Streitkräfte gestimmt hatten, wegen Hochverrats zum Tode verurteilt, darunter Galeazzo Ciano, der Schwiegersohn Mussolinis. Am 26. April 1945 wurde Verona im Rahmen der alliierten Frühjahrsoffensive befreit. Zuvor hatten die abziehenden deutschen Truppen noch sämtliche zehn Etschbrücken der Stadt, darunter die Römerbrücke Ponte Pietra sowie die Scaligerbrücke, gesprengt.

 

Heute ist die Stadt durch die Nähe zum Gardasee und zu Venedig ein beliebtes Ausflugsziel für Touristen und wirtschaftliches Zentrum der Region Venetien. 2000 wurde die Altstadt von Verona in die Liste des UNESCO-Welterbes aufgenommen.

 

(Wikipedia)

Barcelona (Spain).

 

It was #136 in Explore on Jul 24, 2007.

 

Another break in my Montserrat series. :-(

At the moment for publishing these photos 45 hours have passed and I continue without having electricity.

 

ENGLISH

Second night of the "Big Blackout".

 

***

The great cosmopolitan city, opened, modern, present cine set of Woody Allen, bastion of a country that it tries to enter some day the G7, underwent yesterday day 23 to 10:53 local time (8: 53 GMT) a blackout of that now, 20 hours later, not yet has left. Shameful and outrageous.

 

-------------------------

 

CASTELLANO

Segunda noche del "Gran Apagón".

 

***

La gran ciudad cosmopolita, abierta, moderna, plató actual de Woody Allen, baluarte de un país que pretende entrar algún día en el G7, sufrió ayer día 23 a las 10:53 hora local (8:53 GMT) un apagón del que ahora, 20 horas después, aún no ha salido. Vergonzoso e indignante.

 

Más info (in spanish) en mi Blog: www.munesc.org

Los acontecimientos alrededor del sismo del pasado 19 de septiembre ponen a la vista la estrategia que adoptó el Estado mexicano para administrar la tragedia en su beneficio, ocultar su negligencia, lucrar con ella y aprovechar la oportunidad que se viene para engrosar los bolsillos de quienes más tienen. Es esto lo que convierte un desastre natural en una tragedia.

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La omisión del Estado y la administración de la tragedia | Por Tejiendo Organización Revolucionaria | 25 de septiembre de 2017 - tejiendorevolucion.org/190917.html

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Quien protagoniza la tragedia es la negligencia, no el temblor; evidencia de ello es que éste fue presentado como inesperado, aunque es por demás sabido que se dio en zona sísmica; evidencia son los más de treinta años en que no se avanzó en la prevención: las revisiones fallidas después del temblor del 7 de septiembre no arrojaron datos de que hubiera escuelas mal construidas o con daños estructurales; evidencia es que los reglamentos de construcción son letra muerta, asesinada por la corrupción de los diversos niveles de gobierno y los negocios inmobiliarios.

 

La urgencia de la tragedia convocó a la solidaridad inmediata y la presión del tiempo urgente ocultó un hecho fundamental: el Estado sí cuenta con los recursos materiales y humanos para enfrentar la catástrofe; cuenta con maquinaria pesada, equipo y personal especializado, infraestructura de comunicación, dinero, etc., si no los ocupó fue porque deicidio no hacerlo, no porque se viera rebasado.

 

El Estado mexicano tiene recursos de alta tecnología para espiarnos, por ejemplo, pero no los puso al servicio de los rescatistas para localizar vida dentro de los escombros. Tampoco se usó la estructura estatal para proporcionar información fidedigna y pronta que pudiera salvar vidas y canalizar la ayuda. Es más, ni los rescatistas internacionales fueron bien aprovechados, aunque los había.

 

La participación del Estado en las zonas más afectadas fue bajo la lógica de contener y controlar. Así actuaron sus efectivos castrenses, la milicia y la marina, al presentarse con armas de alto calibre a establecer perímetros de seguridad, que no sólo obstaculizaban el pronto rescate de vidas humanas, sino que pretendían cohibir la organización de la gente. Es importante mencionar que hubo elementos del ejército y policía custodiando las tiendas trasnacionales de supuestos intentos de rapiña. No es difícil concluir que su plan era lavarle la cara al ejército, cuya presencia fue más evidente en aquellos puntos que mediáticamente eran más explotables. Todo esto bajo una lógica de guerra y de barrer de manera pronta con los escombros.

 

El Estado permitió y fomentó que se le pidiera a la población gastar su salario en acopios individuales, que luego buscó administrar de forma clientelar y asistencialista, mientras, los impuestos que de por si paga el pueblo fueron a parar al fideicomiso “Fuerza México”, fideicomiso que canalizará los recursos públicos y privados generando una acumulación de capital nada desdeñable para quienes lo administran: las grandes empresas; esas, que brillaron por su ausencia cuando se hizo el llamado general a la solidaridad y que ahora piden donaciones como si fuesen la víctimas de la tragedia.

 

Para el Estado y los grandes capitalistas, a quienes realmente representa, el territorio de la tragedia –Oaxaca, Guerrero, Tlaxcala, Morelos, Puebla, Ciudad de México– es visto como un espacio para generar ganancias, invirtiendo y especulando con las vidas de la gente.

 

Lo único que podrá detenerlos es la organización de los afectados por el sismo, la organización de la gente solidaria que desbordó las calles y acudió segura de que su ayuda era indispensable, porque sabíamos que el gobierno no haría nada.

 

El triple propósito de la estrategia estatal fue primero, ponernos a resolver la situación como pudiéramos y así canalizar la energía social, segundo, aparecer codo a codo con la gente para lavar su imagen y, tercero, aumentar las ventas de las grandes empresas.

 

Si algo aprenden los que insisten en dominarnos es que abajo siempre nos organizamos en su contra, así sucedió con el terremoto de 1985, así sucede ahora. Eso es lo que temen los de arriba y lo que intentaran contener a cualquier costo. El caos que han fomentado en forma de vacío institucional, desinformación, tragedia y muerte tiene por primer objetivo ese: imposibilitar la organización. Después de largos años atacando las múltiples formas de organización popular y social han dejado a una sociedad aislada, dividida, individualizada; no obstante, esta sociedad ahora intenta restablecer los lazos, buscamos reconocernos como compañeros de los mismos problemas.

 

Junto a la desorganización hay un segundo objetivo del Estado, encauzar nuestra indignación y nuestra solidaridad. Dejar que la “sociedad civil” tenga que resolver lo urgente y vital de la tragedia para así impedir que lo denunciemos; con estas formas el Estado nos desgasta, nos va quitando esperanzas y evita que nos organicemos para cambiarlo en el futuro. Nos quieren dejar la carga de la tragedia, quieren que seamos los responsables del fracaso.

 

La apuesta desde arriba es que no vamos a ser capaces de organizarnos pero están equivocados, nosotros, desde abajo, vamos a demostrarlo porque nos va la vida en ello.

 

Por eso llamamos a la organización solidaria y no sólo a la solidaridad. Hay que organizarnos que esto va pa' largo, hay que reconocernos con un enemigo en común: el sistema capitalista al que defiende y representa el Estado. Pero además, y más importante, hay que reconocernos con una causa común: tener una vida digna, digna porque podemos organizarnos para salvar vidas sin que ninguna instancia autoritaria nos lo impida; digna porque podemos participar y garantizar que la reconstrucción de las viviendas afectadas se haga con los requerimientos necesarios. Denunciemos la omisión, la negligencia y la administración que el Estado hace de la tragedia. Impulsemos la autoorganización de los de abajo para la reconstrucción del país desde los escombros.

 

Tejiendo Organización Revolucionaria

25 de septiembre de 2017

 

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The events surrounding the September 19 earthquake expose the Mexican state's strategy to manage the tragedy on its behalf, to hide its negligence, to profit from it and to seize the opportunity that has come to swell the pockets of those who have. This is what turns a natural disaster into a tragedy.

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The omission of the State and the administration of the tragedy | By Tejiendo Revolutionary Organization | September 25, 2017

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The protagonist of the tragedy is negligence, not trembling; Evidence of this is that it was presented as unexpected, although it is well known that it occurred in seismic zone; evidence is more than thirty years in which there was no progress in prevention: failed reviews after the earthquake of September 7 did not report that there were poorly constructed or structurally damaged schools; evidence is that building regulations are dead letter, murdered by the corruption of various levels of government and real estate business.

 

The urgency of the tragedy called for immediate solidarity and the urgent pressure of time concealed a fundamental fact: the State does have the material and human resources to face the catastrophe; has heavy machinery, equipment and specialized personnel, communication infrastructure, money, etc., if not occupied was because deicide not to do it, not because it was exceeded.

 

The Mexican state has high-tech resources to spy on us, for example, but did not put them at the service of rescuers to locate life inside the rubble. Nor was the state structure used to provide reliable and timely information that could save lives and channel aid. Moreover, not even the international rescuers were well exploited, although there were.

 

The participation of the State in the most affected areas was under the logic of containing and controlling. This was how their military officers, the militia and the navy acted, by introducing themselves with high-caliber weapons to establish security perimeters, which not only hindered the prompt rescue of human lives, but also sought to restrain the organization of the people. It is important to mention that there were elements of the army and police guarding the transnational tents of alleged predatory attempts. It is not difficult to conclude that his plan was to wash the face to the army, whose presence was more evident in those points that mediatically were more exploitable. All this under a logic of war and sweep quickly with the rubble.

 

The state allowed and encouraged that the population be asked to spend their salary in individual stores, which later sought to manage clientele and welfare, while the taxes paid by the people went to the trust "Fuerza México" trust that will channel the public and private resources generating a capital accumulation not negligible for those who administer it: large companies; those that shone by their absence when the general call for solidarity was made and now ask for donations as if they were the victims of the tragedy.

 

For the state and the great capitalists it represents, the territory of the tragedy - Oaxaca, Guerrero, Tlaxcala, Morelos, Puebla, Mexico City - is seen as a space to generate profits, investing and speculating with the lives of people.

 

The only thing that can stop them is the organization of those affected by the earthquake, the organization of the people of solidarity who overflowed the streets and came safe that their help was indispensable, because we knew that the government would do nothing.

 

The threefold purpose of the state strategy was first, to resolve the situation as we could and thus channel social energy, second, to appear side by side with people to wash their image and, thirdly, to increase the sales of large companies.

 

If there is something learned by those who insist on dominating us, it is that below we always organize against him, so it happened with the earthquake of 1985, this is what happens now. That's what they fear from above and what they try to contain at any cost. The chaos that they have fomented in the form of institutional vacuum, disinformation, tragedy and death has the first objective that: to prevent the organization. After many years attacking the multiple forms of popular and social organization have left an isolated, divided, individualized society; nevertheless, this society now tries to reestablish the bonds, we seek to recognize ourselves as companions of the same problems.

 

Along with the disorganization there is a second objective of the State, to channel our indignation and our solidarity. Let the "civil society" have to solve the urgent and vital of the tragedy in order to prevent denouncing it; with these forms the State wears us, takes away our hopes and prevents us to organize to change it in the future. They want to leave us the burden of tragedy, they want us to be responsible for the failure. The bet from above is that we will not be able to organize but they are wrong, we, from below, we are going to prove it because we are going to live in it.

 

That's why we call solidarity organization and not just solidarity. We have to organize that this goes for long, we have to recognize ourselves with a common enemy: the capitalist system that defends and represents the State. But more importantly, we must recognize ourselves with a common cause: having a dignified, dignified life because we can organize ourselves to save lives without any authoritarian instance preventing us; dignified because we can participate and ensure that the reconstruction of affected housing is made with the necessary requirements. Let us denounce the omission, neglect and administration that the State makes of the tragedy. Let us encourage the self-organization of those below for the reconstruction of the country from the rubble.

 

Tejiendo Organización Revolucionaria

25 September 2017

troybooks.co.uk/a-witch's-natural-history.html

 

CHAPTER 13:

BEYOND THE CROOKED STILE

 

It is said that Mother Goose is derived from Frau Holt, or Herodias, the goddess of the witches of northern Europe, who flies at night astride a goose, naked and (even in my childhood imagination) voluptuous in spite of the cold. She flies at the head of the Furious Horde, the Wild Hunt, her raven hair streaming out behind her, her red slitted pupils glowing on Samhain night. To be sure, she flies above the Ridgeway, where the feet of the living and of the dead have passed for millennia; a spirit path if ever there was one. At Bishopstone in Wiltshire, it draws nigh the Icknield Way, the Iron Age road to Norfolk, and between the high road and the low road lie a series of colossal gouges in the chalk which even the tourist guidebooks describe as “another world”. Five miles to the east, the chalk escarpment is rippled by glaciation to form “the Devil’s Step Ladder”, and beyond it the Uffington White Horse, smattered in spring with an interpunction of twayblades and spotted orchids, seems set to leap across the downs. Beneath that is a hill with a flattened top, where St. George purportedly slew the dragon, its blood scouring the grass to the chalk beneath it. There are few landscapes which contain so awe-inspiring an arrangement of sacred objects. The best way for the witch to approach them is from the Ridgeway itself, down one of the many paths that branch from it, and to do so, one must invariably negotiate a stile. Perhaps one day you may meet me at one of them.

 

In times of old, you might have left a crooked sixpence there. Weyland the Smith, whose megalithic forge lies just off the Ridgeway on the route between Uffington and Bishopstone, would certainly have accepted it, provided you did not attempt to fob him off with a lesser coin of copper. The Neolithic long barrow, sentried by four gaunt, pitted sarsen stones, is surrounded by towering beech trees, whose nuts crack underfoot as one approaches, and barn owls screech in the darkness. Come here at the winter solstice, with the rising of the sun, and the shadows shift like ghosts around you. Legend insists that Weyland will shoe your horse; I have a suspicion that he prefers to beat swords and axe-heads upon his forge, for he is not so far removed from the Green Knight, the Holly King who reigns throughout the winter, armed to the teeth in readiness to meet his rival, the Oak, on the occasion of his beheading. His namesake, the Icelandic Vőlundr, once decapitated a king’s sons by slamming the lid of a treasure chest down upon their necks; later he raped a princess who asked him to mend her ring. The stone at nearby Snivelling Corner was supposedly thrown by Weyland at an incompetent assistant. It is best not to bother him with trifles. But this does not stop wayfarers from leaving behind an assortment of charms, from elaborately woven corn dollies to the Rastafarian wicker man currently on display at the Uffington museum – a practice which dates back at least as far as 1939, when a “Witch’s moon dial”, made from human bone, was deposited there. Mary Chalmers, a woman skilled at curing cows and sheep, who lived at Little Moreton, east of Didcot, was the proud owner of a skull named “Wayland Smithy”, which was sold in a curiosity shop after she died in 1810. Satanic rites at Weyland’s Smithy have even been blamed for a robbery at the thirteenth century church at Compton Beauchamp in 1998, in the course of which the tabernacle was smashed, and the chalice and sacrament stolen – if the churchwarden is to be believed – for nefarious uses at the long barrow.

 

On a morning in early spring, the Smithy is a different place; cowslips sprout from the burial mound, and the beech buds burst with pale, translucent leaves. The resident toad, who lives beneath the beech tree to your right, emerges glass-eyed from his torpor. Everything is waking, except for Weyland himself, who sinks into the earth as the sap rises in the trees. From here, one may turn east, dodging the cagouled walkers, and return to the White Horse and the hill fort that rears above it, listening for the cronks of ravens on the way. Alternatively, one may descend towards the Vale, seeking Hardwell Camp, another fort which lies forgotten, brooding in a hazel coppice. Or one may turn up one’s collar and head westwards down the Ridgeway, towards Russley Downs and Bishopstone. If you would come with me now, you will take this route.

 

No, do not look up yet to admire the scenery, and if you tarry until the autumn, do not be distracted by the berries of sloe, spindle, bryony and woody nightshade. Look down at the Ridgeway itself. You are walking on prehistory, for surely the Roman road must have been pre-dated in these parts by a pathway joining the White Horse to the Smithy. More than that; you are walking on the palaeontological past, for the chalk of the Ridgeway is composed of the microscopic remains of Palaeozoic sea creatures. The rounded, flattened stone which just crunched beneath your walking boots is an echinoid, a sea urchin, millions of years old, revered by the old witches and Doreen Valiente alike as “thunder stones” or “shepherds’ crowns”. More than a hundred miles from the coast, you are now beachcombing on the Ridgeway. Pick up the test, and your witch’s intuition will feel the pulse of life still within it. On the underside is the beaked mouth, crusted with chalk. On the dorsal side there is a five-pointed star. Treasure it in your pocket, and use it for sortilege, along with the petrified bivalve and the knob of coral you found beside it. Keep searching, and you will discover that these are not uncommon; the challenge is to find a brachiopod, a little clam with a muppet-like mouth. The exultation of this discovery should carry you in a reverie all the way to Russley Downs.

 

As you draw near to your destination, a hare darts and jinks in front of you. It has shot from out of hiding in the undergrowth at the side of the Ridgeway, like a bolt from a crazed crossbow, fired by a drunkard through a maze of mirrors. It is not by accident that the verb “to jink”, used to describe the hare’s habit of rapidly changing direction in flight from a pursuer, has affinities with the word “jinx”. The crooked path of the hare has helped to establish its reputation as a magical creature from time immemorial. The ancient dramatist Aeschylus records that Artemis, who had always opposed the expedition against Troy, was enraged when two eagles devoured a pregnant hare, which the diviner Calchas interpreted, to her further indignation, as an omen of the victory of Agamemnon and Menelaus. Boudica, the Briton warrior queen, driven into a fury by the rape of British women by Roman soldiers, released a hare in the course of a rite in honour of the war goddess Andraste, before a retaliatory raid in which captured Roman women were skewered on spears, their breasts severed and stuffed in their mouths. It is possible that the hare represented the Romans Boudica intended to hunt down, but it is equally likely that the release of the hare was the unleashing of a curse. Even the Christian tradition is unable to obscure the magical significance of hares. A late medieval saint’s life which very likely reflects the influence of an earlier pagan tale, the Historia Divae Monacellae, records that a hare pursued by Brychwel Ysithrog, Prince of Powys, took refuge under the skirt of the kneeling Saint Melangell, and his dogs cringed in terror at the sight of her. At her trial in 1662, the Nairnshire witch Isobel Gowdie confessed that she had the power to change into a hare at will by reciting the charm: “I shall go into a hare/ With sorrow, and sighing, and mickle care,/ And I shall go in the Devil’s name/ Till I come home again.” Indeed, there are innumerable folk tales from across the country which attest to the ability of witches to transform themselves into hares, a fact which is taken as proven when a woman is found with an injury corresponding to that inflicted on a hare by its pursuers. John Monro, an eighteenth century doctor who ran the Bethlehem hospital for the mentally ill, better known as “Bedlam”, recorded the case of a Mr. Walker, who had been in the company of the devil for seven years, and had seen a vision of “the fall of all mankind”. Mr. Walker attributed his affliction to a hare he had killed some twenty-seven years earlier, “which he did not think to be a common hare but… something he knew not of what infinite power.” It is not surprising, therefore, that you feel an affinity with this creature, as it scarpers bulge-eyed down the gorge to your right. It beckons you on its crooked way.

 

Here, therefore, you must depart from the Ridgeway, for your path lies through that gorge in the chalk. At present, there is only a metal gate, but you will feel that you have climbed a stile. Half way down, it is marked on either side by two thorn trees. The gouged hill rears on either side of you. Linnets twitter. Black-faced sheep stare at you. You feel as though you are on a processional way to the underworld; you left your sixpence in case you need to cross the Styx. It is fitting that it is littered with innumerable carcasses. They are partridges, their flayed sternums, wishbones and coracoids gleaming white, picked clean of red flesh. Their wings lie as though dropped by accident, like forgotten handkerchiefs. A mournful whistle overhead; a buzzard takes wing. Crows wheel and craw. You descend to the depths of the gorge, your progress halted by a stile beside a spring. The silence here is uncanny, and you acknowledge another ancient presence. Strip lynchets rear to your right, traversed by the trails of bullocks. Strange optical illusions cause the landscape to writhe as you walk through it. You may climb the stile and pass through a wooded tunnel, lined with hart’s-tongue ferns, to the twittering world of Bishopstone and its duck-pond, or you may turn aside and walk back uphill another way, for the gorge down which you walked has been joined by another. Look up the second gorge. It is surmounted by a colossal field system. Scramble up the hill towards it; a stairway for giants. When you reach the top, sit and stare. The mundane world stretches out beneath you: Swindon with its monstrous, magic roundabouts barely besmirches the landscape. The Vale seems interminable, stretching into mist, and something within you has taken flight, with the buzzards and the crows. Above you and behind you: a stile, and the Ridgeway, awaiting your return.

 

As I sit here beside you, I can still remember the voice of my father; he was younger than I am now, and I was only four. I was ready for sleep, and he was reading from Mother Goose:

 

There was a crooked man

And he walked a crooked mile

He found a crooked sixpence

Upon a crooked stile…

 

I knew then that this was not a nursery rhyme, but a canticle of the Craft uttered by Fraw Holt herself, and I have sought the crooked mile ever since. It is crooked because it is the way of the hare, of the shape-changed witch, and because it must negotiate a course between sacred objects. It is a mile in the more liberal sense of the word: negotiating it may take a minute, or it may take a lifetime. The sixpence is the price of my soul. The stile is a real one, leading down into the gorge above Bishopstone, but it is also a metaphorical one. It is a gateway to the otherworld, the world of the sabbat. Against it, the crooked man leans his staff; beneath it lies the pot of ointment which gives him, his crooked mouse – and their crooked cat – the gift of flight.

 

 

Restore us again, O God of our salvation,

and put away your indignation toward us!

5 Will you be angry with us forever?

Will you prolong your anger to all generations?

6 Will you not revive us again,

that your people may rejoice in you?

7 Show us your steadfast love, O LORD,

and grant us your salvation.

 

8 Let me hear what God the LORD will speak,

for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints;

but let them not turn back to folly.

9 Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him,

that glory may dwell in our land.

 

10 Steadfast love and faithfulness meet;

righteousness and peace kiss each other.

11 Faithfulness springs up from the ground,

and righteousness looks down from the sky.

12 Yes, fthe LORD will give what is good,

and our land will yield its increase.

13 Righteousness will go before him

and make his footsteps a way.

 

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Ps 85:4–13.

What craziness is this, a day in that London on a weekday? Well, working one day last weekend, and another next weekend, meant I took a day in Lieu.

 

So there.

 

And top of my list of places to visit was St Magnus. This would be the fifth time I have tried to get inside, and the first since I wrote to the church asking whether they would be open a particular Saturday, and then any Saturday. Letters which were ignored

 

So, I walked out of Monument Station, down the hill there was St Magnus: would it be open?

 

It was, and inside it was a box, nay a treasure chest of delights.

 

--------------------------------------------------------------

 

St Magnus the Martyr, London Bridge is a Church of England church and parish within the City of London. The church, which is located in Lower Thames Street near The Monument to the Great Fire of London,[1] is part of the Diocese of London and under the pastoral care of the Bishop of London and the Bishop of Fulham.[2] It is a Grade I listed building.[3] The rector uses the title "Cardinal Rector". [4]

St Magnus lies on the original alignment of London Bridge between the City and Southwark. The ancient parish was united with that of St Margaret, New Fish Street, in 1670 and with that of St Michael, Crooked Lane, in 1831.[5] The three united parishes retained separate vestries and churchwardens.[6] Parish clerks continue to be appointed for each of the three parishes.[7]

St Magnus is the guild church of the Worshipful Company of Fishmongers and the Worshipful Company of Plumbers, and the ward church of the Ward of Bridge and Bridge Without. It is also twinned with the Church of the Resurrection in New York City.[8]

Its prominent location and beauty has prompted many mentions in literature.[9] In Oliver Twist Charles Dickens notes how, as Nancy heads for her secret meeting with Mr. Brownlow and Rose Maylie on London Bridge, "the tower of old Saint Saviour's Church, and the spire of Saint Magnus, so long the giant-warders of the ancient bridge, were visible in the gloom". The church's spiritual and architectural importance is celebrated in the poem The Waste Land by T. S. Eliot, who adds in a footnote that "the interior of St. Magnus Martyr is to my mind one of the finest among Wren's interiors".[10] One biographer of Eliot notes that at first he enjoyed St Magnus aesthetically for its "splendour"; later he appreciated its "utility" when he came there as a sinner.

 

The church is dedicated to St Magnus the Martyr, earl of Orkney, who died on 16 April in or around 1116 (the precise year is unknown).[12] He was executed on the island of Egilsay having been captured during a power struggle with his cousin, a political rival.[13] Magnus had a reputation for piety and gentleness and was canonised in 1135. St. Ronald, the son of Magnus's sister Gunhild Erlendsdotter, became Earl of Orkney in 1136 and in 1137 initiated the construction of St. Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall.[14] The story of St. Magnus has been retold in the 20th century in the chamber opera The Martyrdom of St Magnus (1976)[15] by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, based on George Mackay Brown's novel Magnus (1973).

 

he identity of the St Magnus referred to in the church's dedication was only confirmed by the Bishop of London in 1926.[16] Following this decision a patronal festival service was held on 16 April 1926.[17] In the 13th century the patronage was attributed to one of the several saints by the name of Magnus who share a feast day on 19 August, probably St Magnus of Anagni (bishop and martyr, who was slain in the persecution of the Emperor Decius in the middle of the 3rd century).[18] However, by the early 18th century it was suggested that the church was either "dedicated to the memory of St Magnus or Magnes, who suffer'd under the Emperor Aurelian in 276 [see St Mammes of Caesarea, feast day 17 August], or else to a person of that name, who was the famous Apostle or Bishop of the Orcades."[19] For the next century historians followed the suggestion that the church was dedicated to the Roman saint of Cæsarea.[20] The famous Danish archaeologist Professor Jens Jacob Asmussen Worsaae (1821–85) promoted the attribution to St Magnus of Orkney during his visit to the British Isles in 1846-7, when he was formulating the concept of the 'Viking Age',[21] and a history of London written in 1901 concluded that "the Danes, on their second invasion ... added at least two churches with Danish names, Olaf and Magnus".[22] A guide to the City Churches published in 1917 reverted to the view that St Magnus was dedicated to a martyr of the third century,[23] but the discovery of St Magnus of Orkney's relics in 1919 renewed interest in a Scandinavian patron and this connection was encouraged by the Rector who arrived in 1921

 

A metropolitan bishop of London attended the Council of Arles in 314, which indicates that there must have been a Christian community in Londinium by this date, and it has been suggested that a large aisled building excavated in 1993 near Tower Hill can be compared with the 4th-century Cathedral of St Tecla in Milan.[25] However, there is no archaeological evidence to suggest that any of the mediaeval churches in the City of London had a Roman foundation.[26] A grant from William I in 1067 to Westminster Abbey, which refers to the stone church of St Magnus near the bridge ("lapidee eccle sci magni prope pontem"), is generally accepted to be 12th century forgery,[27] and it is possible that a charter of confirmation in 1108-16 might also be a later fabrication.[28] Nonetheless, these manuscripts may preserve valid evidence of a date of foundation in the 11th century.

 

Archaeological evidence suggests that the area of the bridgehead was not occupied from the early 5th century until the early 10th century. Environmental evidence indicates that the area was waste ground during this period, colonised by elder and nettles. Following Alfred's decision to reoccupy the walled area of London in 886, new harbours were established at Queenhithe and Billingsgate. A bridge was in place by the early 11th century, a factor which would have encouraged the occupation of the bridgehead by craftsmen and traders.[30] A lane connecting Botolph's Wharf and Billingsgate to the rebuilt bridge may have developed by the mid-11th century. The waterfront at this time was a hive of activity, with the construction of embankments sloping down from the riverside wall to the river. Thames Street appeared in the second half of the 11th century immediately behind (north of) the old Roman riverside wall and in 1931 a piling from this was discovered during the excavation of the foundations of a nearby building. It now stands at the base of the church tower.[31] St Magnus was built to the south of Thames Street to serve the growing population of the bridgehead area[32] and was certainly in existence by 1128-33.[33]

The small ancient parish[34] extended about 110 yards along the waterfront either side of the old bridge, from 'Stepheneslane' (later Churchehawlane or Church Yard Alley) and 'Oystergate' (later called Water Lane or Gully Hole) on the West side to 'Retheresgate' (a southern extension of Pudding Lane) on the East side, and was centred on the crossroads formed by Fish Street Hill (originally Bridge Street, then New Fish Street) and Thames Street.[35] The mediaeval parish also included Drinkwater's Wharf (named after the owner, Thomas Drinkwater), which was located immediately West of the bridge, and Fish Wharf, which was to the South of the church. The latter was of considerable importance as the fishmongers had their shops on the wharf. The tenement was devised by Andrew Hunte to the Rector and Churchwardens in 1446.[36] The ancient parish was situated in the South East part of Bridge Ward, which had evolved in the 11th century between the embankments to either side of the bridge.[37]

In 1182 the Abbot of Westminster and the Prior of Bermondsey agreed that the advowson of St Magnus should be divided equally between them. Later in the 1180s, on their presentation, the Archdeacon of London inducted his nephew as parson.

 

Between the late Saxon period and 1209 there was a series of wooden bridges across the Thames, but in that year a stone bridge was completed.[39] The work was overseen by Peter de Colechurch, a priest and head of the Fraternity of the Brethren of London Bridge. The Church had from early times encouraged the building of bridges and this activity was so important it was perceived to be an act of piety - a commitment to God which should be supported by the giving of alms. London’s citizens made gifts of land and money "to God and the Bridge".[40] The Bridge House Estates became part of the City's jurisdiction in 1282.

 

Until 1831 the bridge was aligned with Fish Street Hill, so the main entrance into the City from the south passed the West door of St Magnus on the north bank of the river.[41] The bridge included a chapel dedicated to St Thomas Becket[42] for the use of pilgrims journeying to Canterbury Cathedral to visit his tomb.[43] The chapel and about two thirds of the bridge were in the parish of St Magnus. After some years of rivalry a dispute arose between the church and the chapel over the offerings given to the chapel by the pilgrims. The matter was resolved by the brethren of the chapel making an annual contribution to St Magnus.[44] At the Reformation the chapel was turned into a house and later a warehouse, the latter being demolished in 1757-58.

The church grew in importance. On 21 November 1234 a grant of land was made to the parson of St Magnus for the enlargement of the church.[45] The London eyre of 1244 recorded that in 1238 "A thief named William of Ewelme of the county of Buckingham fled to the church of St. Magnus the Martyr, London, and there acknowledged the theft and abjured the realm. He had no chattels."[46] Another entry recorded that "The City answers saying that the church of ... St. Magnus the Martyr ... which [is] situated on the king's highway ... ought to belong to the king and be in his gift".[47] The church presumably jutted into the road running to the bridge, as it did in later times.[48] In 1276 it was recorded that "the church of St. Magnus the Martyr is worth £15 yearly and Master Geoffrey de la Wade now holds it by the grant of the prior of Bermundeseie and the abbot of Westminster to whom King Henry conferred the advowson by his charter.

 

In 1274 "came King Edward and his wife [Eleanor] from the Holy Land and were crowned at Westminster on the Sunday next after the Feast of the Assumption of Our Lady [15 August], being the Feast of Saint Magnus [19 August]; and the Conduit in Chepe ran all the day with red wine and white wine to drink, for all such as wished."[50] Stow records that "in the year 1293, for victory obtained by Edward I against the Scots, every citizen, according to their several trade, made their several show, but especially the fishmongers" whose solemn procession including a knight "representing St Magnus, because it was upon St Magnus' day".

An important religious guild, the Confraternity de Salve Regina, was in existence by 1343, having been founded by the "better sort of the Parish of St Magnus" to sing the anthem 'Salve Regina' every evening.[51] The Guild certificates of 1389 record that the Confraternity of Salve Regina and the guild of St Thomas the Martyr in the chapel on the bridge, whose members belonged to St Magnus parish, had determined to become one, to have the anthem of St Thomas after the Salve Regina and to devote their united resources to restoring and enlarging the church of St Magnus.[52] An Act of Parliament of 1437[53] provided that all incorporated fraternities and companies should register their charters and have their ordinances approved by the civic authorities.[54] Fear of enquiry into their privileges may have led established fraternities to seek a firm foundation for their rights. The letters patent of the fraternity of St Mary and St Thomas the Martyr of Salve Regina in St Magnus dated 26 May 1448 mention that the fraternity had petitioned for a charter on the grounds that the society was not duly founded.

 

In the mid-14th century the Pope was the Patron of the living and appointed five rectors to the benefice.[56]

Henry Yevele, the master mason whose work included the rebuilding of Westminster Hall and the naves of Westminster Abbey and Canterbury Cathedral, was a parishioner and rebuilt the chapel on London Bridge between 1384 and 1397. He served as a warden of London Bridge and was buried at St Magnus on his death in 1400. His monument was extant in John Stow's time, but was probably destroyed by the fire of 1666.[57]

Yevele, as the King’s Mason, was overseen by Geoffrey Chaucer in his capacity as the Clerk of the King's Works. In The General Prologue of Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales the five guildsmen "were clothed alle in o lyveree Of a solempne and a greet fraternitee"[58] and may be thought of as belonging to the guild in the parish of St Magnus, or one like it.[59] Chaucer's family home was near to the bridge in Thames Street.

 

n 1417 a dispute arose concerning who should take the place of honour amongst the rectors in the City churches at the Whit Monday procession, a place that had been claimed from time to time by the rectors of St Peter Cornhill, St Magnus the Martyr and St Nicholas Cole Abbey. The Mayor and Aldermen decided that the Rector of St Peter Cornhill should take precedence.[61]

St Magnus Corner at the north end of London Bridge was an important meeting place in mediaeval London, where notices were exhibited, proclamations read out and wrongdoers punished.[62] As it was conveniently close to the River Thames, the church was chosen by the Bishop between the 15th and 17th centuries as a convenient venue for general meetings of the clergy in his diocese.[63] Dr John Young, Bishop of Callipolis (rector of St Magnus 1514-15) pronounced judgement on 16 December 1514 (with the Bishop of London and in the presence of Thomas More, then under-sheriff of London) in the heresy case concerning Richard Hunne.[64]

In pictures from the mid-16th century the old church looks very similar to the present-day St Giles without Cripplegate in the Barbican.[65] According to the martyrologist John Foxe, a woman was imprisoned in the 'cage' on London Bridge in April 1555 and told to "cool herself there" for refusing to pray at St Magnus for the recently deceased Pope Julius III.[66]

Simon Lowe, a Member of Parliament and Master of the Merchant Taylors' Company during the reign of Queen Mary and one of the jurors who acquitted Sir Nicholas Throckmorton in 1554, was a parishioner.[67] He was a mourner at the funeral of Maurice Griffith, Bishop of Rochester from 1554 to 1558 and Rector of St Magnus from 1537 to 1558, who was interred in the church on 30 November 1558 with much solemnity. In accordance with the Catholic church's desire to restore ecclesiastical pageantry in England, the funeral was a splendid affair, ending in a magnificent dinner.

 

Lowe was included in a return of recusants in the Diocese of Rochester in 1577,[69] but was buried at St Magnus on 6 February 1578.[70] Stow refers to his monument in the church. His eldest son, Timothy (died 1617), was knighted in 1603. His second son, Alderman Sir Thomas Lowe (1550–1623), was Master of the Haberdashers' Company on several occasions, Sheriff of London in 1595/96, Lord Mayor in 1604/05 and a Member of Parliament for London.[71] His youngest son, Blessed John Lowe (1553–1586), having originally been a Protestant minister, converted to Roman Catholicism, studied for the priesthood at Douay and Rome and returned to London as a missionary priest.[72] His absence had already been noted; a list of 1581 of "such persons of the Diocese of London as have any children ... beyond the seas" records "John Low son to Margaret Low of the Bridge, absent without licence four years". Having gained 500 converts to Catholicism between 1583 and 1586, he was arrested whilst walking with his mother near London Bridge, committed to The Clink and executed at Tyburn on 8 October 1586.[73] He was beatified in 1987 as one of the eighty-five martyrs of England and Wales.

 

Sir William Garrard, Master of the Haberdashers' Company, Alderman, Sheriff of London in 1553/53, Lord Mayor in 1555/56 and a Member of Parliament was born in the parish and buried at St Magnus in 1571.[74] Sir William Romney, merchant, philanthropist, Master of the Haberdashers' Company, Alderman for Bridge Within and Sheriff of London in 1603/04[75] was married at St Magnus in 1582. Ben Jonson is believed to have been married at St Magnus in 1594.[76]

The patronage of St Magnus, having previously been in the Abbots and Convents of Westminster and Bermondsey (who presented alternatively), fell to the Crown on the suppression of the monasteries. In 1553, Queen Mary, by letters patent, granted it to the Bishop of London and his successors.[77]

The church had a series of distinguished rectors in the second half of the 16th and first half of the 17th century, including Myles Coverdale (Rector 1564-66), John Young (Rector 1566-92), Theophilus Aylmer (Rector 1592-1625), (Archdeacon of London and son of John Aylmer), and Cornelius Burges (Rector 1626-41). Coverdale was buried in the chancel of St Bartholomew-by-the-Exchange, but when that church was pulled down in 1840 his remains were removed to St Magnus.[78]

On 5 November 1562 the churchwardens were ordered to break, or cause to be broken, in two parts all the altar stones in the church.[79] Coverdale, an anti-vestiarian, was Rector at the peak of the vestments controversy. In March 1566 Archbishop Parker caused great consternation among many clergy by his edicts prescribing what was to be worn and by his summoning the London clergy to Lambeth to require their compliance. Coverdale excused himself from attending.[80] Stow records that a non-conforming Scot who normally preached at St Magnus twice a day precipitated a fight on Palm Sunday 1566 at Little All Hallows in Thames Street with his preaching against vestments.[81] Coverdale's resignation from St Magnus in summer 1566 may have been associated with these events. Separatist congregations started to emerge after 1566 and the first such, who called themselves 'Puritans' or 'Unspottyd Lambs of the Lord', was discovered close to St Magnus at Plumbers' Hall in Thames Street on 19 June 1567.

 

St Magnus narrowly escaped destruction in 1633. A later edition of Stow's Survey records that "On the 13th day of February, between eleven and twelve at night, there happened in the house of one Briggs, a Needle-maker near St Magnus Church, at the North end of the Bridge, by the carelessness of a Maid-Servant setting a tub of hot sea-coal ashes under a pair of stairs, a sad and lamentable fire, which consumed all the buildings before eight of the clock the next morning, from the North end of the Bridge to the first vacancy on both sides, containing forty-two houses; water then being very scarce, the Thames being almost frozen over."[83] Susannah Chambers "by her last will & testament bearing date 28th December 1640 gave the sum of Twenty-two shillings and Sixpence Yearly for a Sermon to be preached on the 12th day of February in every Year within the Church of Saint Magnus in commemoration of God's merciful preservation of the said Church of Saint Magnus from Ruin, by the late and terrible Fire on London Bridge. Likewise Annually to the Poor the sum of 17/6."[84] The tradition of a "Fire Sermon" was revived on 12 February 2004, when the first preacher was the Rt Revd and Rt Hon Richard Chartres, Bishop of London.

 

Parliamentarian rule and the more Protestant ethos of the 1640s led to the removal or destruction of "superstitious" and "idolatrous" images and fittings. Glass painters such as Baptista Sutton, who had previously installed "Laudian innovations", found new employment by repairing and replacing these to meet increasingly strict Protestant standards. In January 1642 Sutton replaced 93 feet of glass at St Magnus and in June 1644 he was called back to take down the "painted imagery glass" and replace it.[86] In June 1641 "rail riots" broke out at a number of churches. This was a time of high tension following the trial and execution of the Earl of Strafford and rumours of army and popish plots were rife. The Protestation Oath, with its pledge to defend the true religion "against all Popery and popish innovation", triggered demands from parishioners for the removal of the rails as popish innovations which the Protestation had bound them to reform. The minister arranged a meeting between those for and against the pulling down of the rails, but was unsuccessful in reaching a compromise and it was feared that they would be demolished by force.[87] However, in 1663 the parish resumed Laudian practice and re-erected rails around its communion table.[88]

Joseph Caryl was incumbent from 1645 until his ejection in 1662. In 1663 he was reportedly living near London Bridge and preaching to an Independent congregation that met at various places in the City.[89]

During the Great Plague of 1665, the City authorities ordered fires to be kept burning night and day, in the hope that the air would be cleansed. Daniel Defoe's semi-fictictional, but highly realistic, work A Journal of the Plague Year records that one of these was "just by St Magnus Church"

 

Despite its escape in 1633, the church was one of the first buildings to be destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666.[91] St Magnus stood less than 300 yards from the bakehouse of Thomas Farriner in Pudding Lane where the fire started. Farriner, a former churchwarden of St Magnus, was buried in the middle aisle of the church on 11 December 1670, perhaps within a temporary structure erected for holding services.[92]

The parish engaged the master mason George Dowdeswell to start the work of rebuilding in 1668. The work was carried forward between 1671 and 1687 under the direction of Sir Christopher Wren, the body of the church being substantially complete by 1676.[93] At a cost of £9,579 19s 10d St Magnus was one of Wren's most expensive churches.[94] The church of St Margaret New Fish Street was not rebuilt after the fire and its parish was united to that of St Magnus.

 

The chancels of many of Wren’s city churches had chequered marble floors and the chancel of St Magnus is an example,[95] the parish agreeing after some debate to place the communion table on a marble ascent with steps[96] and to commission altar rails of Sussex wrought iron. The nave and aisles are paved with freestone flags. A steeple, closely modelled on one built between 1614 and 1624 by François d'Aguilon and Pieter Huyssens for the church of St Carolus Borromeus in Antwerp, was added between 1703 and 1706.[97] London's skyline was transformed by Wren's tall steeples and that of St Magnus is considered to be one his finest.[98]

The large clock projecting from the tower was a well-known landmark in the city as it hung over the roadway of Old London Bridge.[99] It was presented to the church in 1709 by Sir Charles Duncombe[100] (Alderman for the Ward of Bridge Within and, in 1708/09, Lord Mayor of London). Tradition says "that it was erected in consequence of a vow made by the donor, who, in the earlier part of his life, had once to wait a considerable time in a cart upon London Bridge, without being able to learn the hour, when he made a promise, that if he ever became successful in the world, he would give to that Church a public clock ... that all passengers might see the time of day."[101] The maker was Langley Bradley, a clockmaker in Fenchurch Street, who had worked for Wren on many other projects, including the clock for the new St Paul's Cathedral. The sword rest in the church, designed to hold the Lord Mayor's sword and mace when he attended divine service "in state", dates from 1708.

Duncombe and his benefactions to St Magnus feature prominently in Daniel Defoe's The True-Born Englishman, a biting satire on critics of William III that went through several editions from 1700 (the year in which Duncombe was elected Sheriff).

 

Shortly before his death in 1711, Duncombe commissioned an organ for the church, the first to have a swell-box, by Abraham Jordan (father and son).[103] The Spectator announced that "Whereas Mr Abraham Jordan, senior and junior, have, with their own hands, joinery excepted, made and erected a very large organ in St Magnus' Church, at the foot of London Bridge, consisting of four sets of keys, one of which is adapted to the art of emitting sounds by swelling notes, which never was in any organ before; this instrument will be publicly opened on Sunday next [14 February 1712], the performance by Mr John Robinson. The above-said Abraham Jordan gives notice to all masters and performers, that he will attend every day next week at the said Church, to accommodate all those gentlemen who shall have a curiosity to hear it".[104]

The organ case, which remains in its original state, is looked upon as one of the finest existing examples of the Grinling Gibbons's school of wood carving.[105] The first organist of St Magnus was John Robinson (1682–1762), who served in that role for fifty years and in addition as organist of Westminster Abbey from 1727. Other organists have included the blind organist George Warne (1792–1868, organist 1820-26 until his appointment to the Temple Church), James Coward (1824–80, organist 1868-80 who was also organist to the Crystal Palace and renowned for his powers of improvisation) and George Frederick Smith FRCO (1856–1918, organist 1880-1918 and Professor of Music at the Guildhall School of Music).[106] The organ has been restored several times - in 1760, 1782, 1804, 1855, 1861, 1879, 1891, 1924, 1949 after wartime damage and 1997 - since it was first built.[107] Sir Peter Maxwell Davies was one of several patrons of the organ appeal in the mid-1990s[108] and John Scott gave an inaugural recital on 20 May 1998 following the completion of that restoration.[109] The instrument has an Historic Organ Certificate and full details are recorded in the National Pipe Organ Register.[110]

The hymn tune "St Magnus", usually sung at Ascensiontide to the text "The head that once was crowned with thorns", was written by Jeremiah Clarke in 1701 and named for the church.

 

Canaletto drew St Magnus and old London Bridge as they appeared in the late 1740s.[112] Between 1756 and 1762, under the London Bridge Improvement Act of 1756 (c. 40), the Corporation of London demolished the buildings on London Bridge to widen the roadway, ease traffic congestion and improve safety for pedestrians.[113] The churchwardens’ accounts of St Magnus list many payments to those injured on the Bridge and record that in 1752 a man was crushed to death between two carts.[114] After the House of Commons had resolved upon the alteration of London Bridge, the Rev Robert Gibson, Rector of St Magnus, applied to the House for relief; stating that 48l. 6s. 2d. per annum, part of his salary of 170l. per annum, was assessed upon houses on London Bridge; which he should utterly lose by their removal unless a clause in the bill about to be passed should provide a remedy.[115] Accordingly, Sections 18 and 19 of 1756 Act provided that the relevant amounts of tithe and poor rate should be a charge on the Bridge House Estates.[116]

A serious fire broke out on 18 April 1760 in an oil shop at the south east corner of the church, which consumed most of the church roof and did considerable damage to the fabric. The fire burnt warehouses to the south of the church and a number of houses on the northern end of London Bridge.

 

As part of the bridge improvements, overseen by the architect Sir Robert Taylor, a new pedestrian walkway was built along the eastern side of the bridge. With the other buildings gone St Magnus blocked the new walkway.[117] As a consequence it was necessary in 1762 to 1763 to remove the vestry rooms at the West end of the church and open up the side arches of the tower so that people could pass underneath the tower.[118] The tower’s lower storey thus became an external porch. Internally a lobby was created at the West end under the organ gallery and a screen with fine octagonal glazing inserted. A new Vestry was built to the South of the church.[119] The Act also provided that the land taken from the church for the widening was "to be considered ... as part of the cemetery of the said church ... but if the pavement thereof be broken up on account of the burying of any persons, the same shall be ... made good ... by the churchwardens"

 

Soldiers were stationed in the Vestry House of St Magnus during the Gordon Riots in June 1780.[121]

By 1782 the noise level from the activities of Billingsgate Fish Market had become unbearable and the large windows on the north side of the church were blocked up leaving only circular windows high up in the wall.[122] At some point between the 1760s and 1814 the present clerestory was constructed with its oval windows and fluted and coffered plasterwork.[123] J. M. W. Turner painted the church in the mid-1790s.[124]

The rector of St Magnus between 1792 and 1808, following the death of Robert Gibson on 28 July 1791,[125] was Thomas Rennell FRS. Rennell was President of Sion College in 1806/07. There is a monument to Thomas Leigh (Rector 1808-48 and President of Sion College 1829/30,[126] at St Peter's Church, Goldhanger in Essex.[127] Richard Hazard (1761–1837) was connected with the church as sexton, parish clerk and ward beadle for nearly 50 years[128] and served as Master of the Parish Clerks' Company in 1831/32.[129]

In 1825 the church was "repaired and beautified at a very considerable expense. During the reparation the east window, which had been closed, was restored, and the interior of the fabric conformed to the state in which it was left by its great architect, Sir Christopher Wren. The magnificent organ ... was taken down and rebuilt by Mr Parsons, and re-opened, with the church, on the 12th February, 1826".[130] Unfortunately, as a contemporary writer records, "On the night of the 31st of July, 1827, [the church's] safety was threatened by the great fire which consumed the adjacent warehouses, and it is perhaps owing to the strenuous and praiseworthy exertions of the firemen, that the structure exists at present. ... divine service was suspended and not resumed until the 20th January 1828. In the interval the church received such tasteful and elegant decorations, that it may now compete with any church in the metropolis.

 

In 1823 royal assent was given to ‘An Act for the Rebuilding of London Bridge’ and in 1825 John Garratt, Lord Mayor and Alderman of the Ward of Bridge Within, laid the first stone of the new London Bridge.[132] In 1831 Sir John Rennie’s new bridge was opened further upstream and the old bridge demolished. St Magnus ceased to be the gateway to London as it had been for over 600 years. Peter de Colechurch[133] had been buried in the crypt of the chapel on the bridge and his bones were unceremoniously dumped in the River Thames.[134] In 1921 two stones from Old London Bridge were discovered across the road from the church. They now stand in the churchyard.

Wren's church of St Michael Crooked Lane was demolished, the final service on Sunday 20 March 1831 having to be abandoned due to the effects of the building work. The Rector of St Michael preached a sermon the following Sunday at St Magnus lamenting the demolition of his church with its monuments and "the disturbance of the worship of his parishioners on the preceeding Sabbath".[135] The parish of St Michael Crooked Lane was united to that of St Magnus, which itself lost a burial ground in Church Yard Alley to the approach road for the new bridge.[136] However, in substitution it had restored to it the land taken for the widening of the old bridge in 1762 and was also given part of the approach lands to the east of the old bridge.[137] In 1838 the Committee for the London Bridge Approaches reported to Common Council that new burial grounds had been provided for the parishes of St Michael, Crooked Lane and St Magnus, London Bridge.

 

Depictions of St Magnus after the building of the new bridge, seen behind Fresh Wharf and the new London Bridge Wharf, include paintings by W. Fenoulhet in 1841 and by Charles Ginner in 1913.[139] This prospect was affected in 1924 by the building of Adelaide House to a design by John James Burnet,[140] The Times commenting that "the new ‘architectural Matterhorn’ ... conceals all but the tip of the church spire".[141] There was, however, an excellent view of the church for a few years between the demolition of Adelaide Buildings and the erection of its replacement.[142] Adelaide House is now listed.[143] Regis House, on the site of the abandoned King William Street terminus of the City & South London Railway (subsequently the Northern Line),[144] and the Steam Packet Inn, on the corner of Lower Thames Street and Fish Street Hill,[145] were developed in 1931.

 

By the early 1960s traffic congestion had become a problem[147] and Lower Thames Street was widened over the next decade[148] to form part of a significant new east-west transport artery (the A3211).[149] The setting of the church was further affected by the construction of a new London Bridge between 1967 and 1973.[150] The New Fresh Wharf warehouse to the east of the church, built in 1939, was demolished in 1973-4 following the collapse of commercial traffic in the Pool of London[151] and, after an archaeological excavation,[152] St Magnus House was constructed on the site in 1978 to a design by R. Seifert & Partners.[153] This development now allows a clear view of the church from the east side.[154] The site to the south east of The Monument (between Fish Street Hill and Pudding Lane), formerly predominantly occupied by fish merchants,[155] was redeveloped as Centurion House and Gartmore (now Providian) House at the time of the closure of old Billingsgate Market in January 1982.[156] A comprehensive redevelopment of Centurion House began in October 2011 with completion planned in 2013.[157] Regis House, to the south west of The Monument, was redeveloped by Land Securities PLC in 1998.[158]

The vista from The Monument south to the River Thames, over the roof of St Magnus, is protected under the City of London Unitary Development Plan,[159] although the South bank of the river is now dominated by The Shard. Since 2004 the City of London Corporation has been exploring ways of enhancing the Riverside Walk to the south of St Magnus.[160] Work on a new staircase to connect London Bridge to the Riverside Walk is due to commence in March 2013.[161] The story of St Magnus's relationship with London Bridge and an interview with the rector featured in the television programme The Bridges That Built London with Dan Cruickshank, first broadcast on BBC Four on 14 June 2012.[162] The City Corporation's 'Fenchurch and Monument Area Enhancement Strategy' of August 2012 recommended ways of reconnecting St Magnus and the riverside to the area north of Lower Thames Street.

 

A lectureship at St Michael Crooked Lane, which was transferred to St Magnus in 1831, was endowed by the wills of Thomas and Susannah Townsend in 1789 and 1812 respectively.[164] The Revd Henry Robert Huckin, Headmaster of Repton School from 1874 to 1882, was appointed Townsend Lecturer at St Magnus in 1871.[165]

St Magnus narrowly escaped damage from a major fire in Lower Thames Street in October 1849.

 

During the second half of the 19th century the rectors were Alexander McCaul, DD (1799–1863, Rector 1850-63), who coined the term 'Judaeo Christian' in a letter dated 17 October 1821,[167] and his son Alexander Israel McCaul (1835–1899, curate 1859-63, rector 1863-99). The Revd Alexander McCaul Sr[168] was a Christian missionary to the Polish Jews, who (having declined an offer to become the first Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem)[169] was appointed professor of Hebrew and rabbinical literature at King's College, London in 1841. His daughter, Elizabeth Finn (1825–1921), a noted linguist, founded the Distressed Gentlefolk Aid Association (now known as Elizabeth Finn Care).[170]

In 1890 it was reported that the Bishop of London was to hold an inquiry as to the desirability of uniting the benefices of St George Botolph Lane and St Magnus. The expectation was a fusion of the two livings, the demolition of St George’s and the pensioning of "William Gladstone’s favourite Canon", Malcolm MacColl. Although services ceased there, St George’s was not demolished until 1904. The parish was then merged with St Mary at Hill rather than St Magnus.[171]

The patronage of the living was acquired in the late 19th century by Sir Henry Peek Bt. DL MP, Senior Partner of Peek Brothers & Co of 20 Eastcheap, the country's largest firm of wholesale tea brokers and dealers, and Chairman of the Commercial Union Assurance Co. Peek was a generous philanthropist who was instrumental in saving both Wimbledon Common and Burnham Beeches from development. His grandson, Sir Wilfred Peek Bt. DSO JP, presented a cousin, Richard Peek, as rector in 1904. Peek, an ardent Freemason, held the office of Grand Chaplain of England. The Times recorded that his memorial service in July 1920 "was of a semi-Masonic character, Mr Peek having been a prominent Freemason".[172] In June 1895 Peek had saved the life of a young French girl who jumped overboard from a ferry midway between Dinard and St Malo in Brittany and was awarded the bronze medal of the Royal Humane Society and the Gold Medal 1st Class of the Sociâetâe Nationale de Sauvetage de France.[173]

In November 1898 a memorial service was held at St Magnus for Sir Stuart Knill Bt. (1824–1898), head of the firm of John Knill and Co, wharfingers, and formerly Lord Mayor and Master of the Plumbers' Company.[174] This was the first such service for a Roman Catholic taken in an Anglican church.[175] Sir Stuart's son, Sir John Knill Bt. (1856-1934), also served as Alderman for the Ward of Bridge Within, Lord Mayor and Master of the Plumbers' Company.

 

Until 1922 the annual Fish Harvest Festival was celebrated at St Magnus.[176] The service moved in 1923 to St Dunstan in the East[177] and then to St Mary at Hill, but St Magnus retained close links with the local fish merchants until the closure of old Billingsgate Market. St Magnus, in the 1950s, was "buried in the stink of Billingsgate fish-market, against which incense was a welcome antidote".

 

A report in 1920 proposed the demolition of nineteen City churches, including St Magnus.[179] A general outcry from members of the public and parishioners alike prevented the execution of this plan.[180] The members of the City Livery Club passed a resolution that they regarded "with horror and indignation the proposed demolition of 19 City churches" and pledged the Club to do everything in its power to prevent such a catastrophe.[181] T. S. Eliot wrote that the threatened churches gave "to the business quarter of London a beauty which its hideous banks and commercial houses have not quite defaced. ... the least precious redeems some vulgar street ... The loss of these towers, to meet the eye down a grimy lane, and of these empty naves, to receive the solitary visitor at noon from the dust and tumult of Lombard Street, will be irreparable and unforgotten."[182] The London County Council published a report concluding that St Magnus was "one of the most beautiful of all Wren's works" and "certainly one of the churches which should not be demolished without specially good reasons and after very full consideration."[183] Due to the uncertainty about the church's future, the patron decided to defer action to fill the vacancy in the benefice and a curate-in-charge temporarily took responsibility for the parish.[184] However, on 23 April 1921 it was announced that the Revd Henry Joy Fynes-Clinton would be the new Rector. The Times concluded that the appointment, with the Bishop’s approval, meant that the proposed demolition would not be carried out.[185] Fr Fynes-Clinton was inducted on 31 May 1921.[186]

The rectory, built by Robert Smirke in 1833-5, was at 39 King William Street.[187] A decision was taken in 1909 to sell the property, the intention being to purchase a new rectory in the suburbs, but the sale fell through and at the time of the 1910 Land Tax Valuations the building was being let out to a number of tenants. The rectory was sold by the diocese on 30 May 1921 for £8,000 to Ridgways Limited, which owned the adjoining premises.[188] The Vestry House adjoining the south west of the church, replacing the one built in the 1760s, may also have been by Smirke. Part of the burial ground of St Michael Crooked Lane, located between Fish Street Hill and King William Street, survived as an open space until 1987 when it was compulsorily purchased to facilitate the extension of the Docklands Light Railway into the City.[189] The bodies were reburied at Brookwood Cemetery.

 

The interior of the church was restored by Martin Travers in 1924, in a neo-baroque style,[191] reflecting the Anglo-Catholic character of the congregation[192] following the appointment of Henry Joy Fynes-Clinton as Rector.[193] Fr Fynes, as he was often known, served as Rector of St Magnus from 31 May 1921 until his death on 4 December 1959 and substantially beautified the interior of the church.[194]

Fynes-Clinton held very strong Anglo-Catholic views, and proceeded to make St Magnus as much like a baroque Roman Catholic church as possible. However, "he was such a loveable character with an old-world courtesy which was irresistible, that it was difficult for anyone to be unpleasant to him, however much they might disapprove of his views".[195] He generally said the Roman Mass in Latin; and in personality was "grave, grand, well-connected and holy, with a laconic sense of humour".[196] To a Protestant who had come to see Coverdale's monument he is reported to have said "We have just had a service in the language out of which he translated the Bible".[197] The use of Latin in services was not, however, without grammatical danger. A response from his parishioners of "Ora pro nobis" after "Omnes sancti Angeli et Archangeli" in the Litany of the Saints would elicit a pause and the correction "No, Orate pro nobis."

 

In 1922 Fynes-Clinton refounded the Fraternity of Our Lady de Salve Regina.[198] The Fraternity's badge[199] is shown in the stained glass window at the east end of the north wall of the church above the reredos of the Lady Chapel altar. He also erected a statue of Our Lady of Walsingham and arranged pilgrimages to the Norfolk shrine, where he was one of the founding Guardians.[200] In 1928 the journal of the Catholic League reported that St Magnus had presented a votive candle to the Shrine at Walsingham "in token of our common Devotion and the mutual sympathy and prayers that are we hope a growing bond between the peaceful country shrine and the church in the heart of the hurrying City, from the Altar of which the Pilgrimages regularly start".[201]

Fynes-Clinton was General Secretary of the Anglican and Eastern Orthodox Churches Union and its successor, the Anglican and Eastern Churches Association, from 1906 to 1920 and served as Secretary to the Archbishop of Canterbury's Eastern Churches Committee from 1920 to around 1924. A Solemn Requiem was celebrated at St Magnus in September 1921 for the late King Peter of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.

At the midday service on 1 March 1922, J.A. Kensit, leader of the Protestant Truth Society, got up and protested against the form of worship.[202] The proposed changes to the church in 1924 led to a hearing in the Consistory Court of the Chancellor of the Diocese of London and an appeal to the Court of Arches.[203] Judgement was given by the latter Court in October 1924. The advowson was purchased in 1931, without the knowledge of the Rector and Parochial Church Council, by the evangelical Sir Charles King-Harman.[204] A number of such cases, including the purchase of the advowsons of Clapham and Hampstead Parish Churches by Sir Charles, led to the passage of the Benefices (Purchase of Rights of Patronage) Measure 1933.[205] This allowed the parishioners of St Magnus to purchase the advowson from Sir Charles King-Harman for £1,300 in 1934 and transfer it to the Patronage Board.

 

St Magnus was one of the churches that held special services before the opening of the second Anglo-Catholic Congress in 1923.[207] Fynes-Clinton[208] was the first incumbent to hold lunchtime services for City workers.[209] Pathé News filmed the Palm Sunday procession at St Magnus in 1935.[210] In The Towers of Trebizond, the novel by Rose Macauley published in 1956, Fr Chantry-Pigg's church is described as being several feet higher than St Mary’s Bourne Street and some inches above even St Magnus the Martyr.[211]

In July 1937 Fr Fynes-Clinton, with two members of his congregation, travelled to Kirkwall to be present at the 800th anniversary celebrations of St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall. During their stay they visited Egilsay and were shown the spot where St Magnus had been slain. Later Fr Fynes-Clinton was present at a service held at the roofless church of St Magnus on Egilsay, where he suggested to his host Mr Fryer, the minister of the Cathedral, that the congregations of Kirkwall and London should unite to erect a permanent stone memorial on the traditional site where Earl Magnus had been murdered. In 1938 a cairn was built of local stone on Egilsay. It stands 12 feet high and is 6 feet broad at its base. The memorial was dedicated on 7 September 1938 and a bronze inscription on the monument reads "erected by the Rector and Congregation of St Magnus the Martyr by London Bridge and the Minister and Congregation of St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall to commemorate the traditional spot where Earl Magnus was slain, AD circa 1116 and to commemorate the Octocentenary of St Magnus Cathedral 1937"

 

A bomb which fell on London Bridge in 1940 during the Blitz of World War II blew out all the windows and damaged the plasterwork and the roof of the north aisle.[213] However, the church was designated a Grade I listed building on 4 January 1950[214] and repaired in 1951, being re-opened for worship in June of that year by the Bishop of London, William Wand.[215] The architect was Laurence King.[216] Restoration and redecoration work has subsequently been carried out several times, including after a fire in the early hours of 4 November 1995.[217] Cleaning of the exterior stonework was completed in 2010.

 

Some minor changes were made to the parish boundary in 1954, including the transfer to St Magnus of an area between Fish Street Hill and Pudding Lane. The site of St Leonard Eastcheap, a church that was not rebuilt after the Great Fire, is therefore now in the parish of St Magnus despite being united to St Edmund the King.

Fr Fynes-Clinton marked the 50th anniversary of his priesthood in May 1952 with High Mass at St Magnus and lunch at Fishmongers' Hall.[218] On 20 September 1956 a solemn Mass was sung in St Magnus to commence the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the restoration of the Holy House at Walsingham in 1931. In the evening of that day a reception was held in the large chamber of Caxton Hall, when between three and four hundred guests assembled.[219]

Fr Fynes-Clinton was succeeded as rector in 1960 by Fr Colin Gill,[220] who remained as incumbent until his death in 1983.[221] Fr Gill was also closely connected with Walsingham and served as a Guardian between 1953 and 1983, including nine years as Master of the College of Guardians.[222] He celebrated the Mass at the first National Pilgrimage in 1959[223] and presided over the Jubilee celebrations to mark the 50th anniversary of the Shrine in 1981, having been present at the Holy House's opening.[224] A number of the congregation of St Stephen's Lewisham moved to St Magnus around 1960, following temporary changes in the form of worship there.

 

In 1994 the Templeman Commission proposed a radical restructuring of the churches in the City Deanery. St Magnus was identified as one of the 12 churches that would remain as either a parish or an 'active' church.[226] However, the proposals were dropped following a public outcry and the consecration of a new Bishop of London.

The parish priest since 2003 has been Fr Philip Warner, who was previously priest-in-charge of St Mary's Church, Belgrade (Diocese in Europe) and Apokrisiarios for the Archbishop of Canterbury to the Serbian Orthodox Church. Since January 2004 there has been an annual Blessing of the Thames, with the congregations of St Magnus and Southwark Cathedral meeting in the middle of London Bridge.[227] On Sunday 3 July 2011, in anticipation of the feast of the translation of St Thomas Becket (7 July), a procession from St Magnus brought a relic of the saint to the middle of the bridge.[228]

David Pearson specially composed two new pieces, a communion anthem A Mhànais mo rùin (O Magnus of my love) and a hymn to St Magnus Nobilis, humilis, for performance at the church on the feast of St Magnus the Martyr, 16 April 2012.[229] St Magnus's organist, John Eady, has won composition competitions for new choral works at St Paul's Cathedral (a setting of Veni Sancte Spiritus first performed on 27 May 2012) and at Lincoln Cathedral (a setting of the Matin responsory for Advent first performed on 30 November 2013).[230]

In addition to liturgical music of a high standard, St Magnus is the venue for a wide range of musical events. The Clemens non Papa Consort, founded in 2005, performs in collaboration with the production team Concert Bites as the church's resident ensemble.[231] The church is used by The Esterhazy Singers for rehearsals and some concerts.[232] The band Mishaped Pearls performed at the church on 17 December 2011.[233] St Magnus featured in the television programme Jools Holland: London Calling, first broadcast on BBC2 on 9 June 2012.[234] The Platinum Consort made a promotional film at St Magnus for the release of their debut album In the Dark on 2 July 2012.[235]

The Friends of the City Churches had their office in the Vestry House of St Magnus until 2013.

 

Martin Travers modified the high altar reredos, adding paintings of Moses and Aaron and the Ten Commandments between the existing Corinthian columns and reconstructing the upper storey. Above the reredos Travers added a painted and gilded rood.[237] In the centre of the reredos there is a carved gilded pelican (an early Christian symbol of self-sacrifice) and a roundel with Baroque-style angels. The glazed east window, which can be seen in an early photograph of the church, appears to have been filled in at this time. A new altar with console tables was installed and the communion rails moved outwards to extend the size of the sanctuary. Two old door frames were used to construct side chapels and placed at an angle across the north-east and south-east corners of the church. One, the Lady Chapel, was dedicated to the Rector's parents in 1925 and the other was dedicated to Christ the King. Originally, a baroque aumbry was used for Reservation of the Blessed Sacrament, but later a tabernacle was installed on the Lady Chapel altar and the aumbry was used to house a relic of the True Cross.

The interior was made to look more European by the removal of the old box pews and the installation of new pews with cut-down ends. Two new columns were inserted in the nave to make the lines regular. The Wren-period pulpit by the joiner William Grey[238] was opened up and provided with a soundboard and crucifix. Travers also designed the statue of St Magnus of Orkney, which stands in the south aisle, and the statue of Our Lady of Walsingham.[239]

On the north wall there is a Russian Orthodox icon, painted in 1908. The modern stations of the cross in honey-coloured Japanese oak are the work of Robert Randall and Ashley Sands.[240] One of the windows in the north wall dates from 1671 and came from Plumbers' Hall in Chequer Yard, Bush Lane, which was demolished in 1863 to make way for Cannon Street Railway Station.[241] A fireplace from the Hall was re-erected in the Vestry House. The other windows on the north side are by Alfred Wilkinson and date from 1952 to 1960. These show the arms of the Plumbers’, Fishmongers’ and Coopers’ Companies together with those of William Wand when Bishop of London and Geoffrey Fisher when Archbishop of Canterbury and (as noted above) the badge of the Fraternity of Our Lady de Salve Regina.

The stained glass windows in the south wall, which are by Lawrence Lee and date from 1949 to 1955, represent lost churches associated with the parish: St Magnus and his ruined church of Egilsay, St Margaret of Antioch with her lost church in New Fish Street (where the Monument to the Great Fire now stands), St Michael with his lost church of Crooked Lane (demolished to make way for the present King William Street) and St Thomas Becket with his chapel on Old London Bridge.[242]

The church possesses a fine model of Old London Bridge. One of the tiny figures on the bridge appears out of place in the mediaeval setting, wearing a policeman's uniform. This is a representation of the model-maker, David T. Aggett, who is a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Plumbers and was formerly in the police service.[243]

The Mischiefs by Fire Act 1708 and the Fires Prevention (Metropolis) Act 1774 placed a requirement on every parish to keep equipment to fight fires. The church owns two historic fire engines that belonged to the parish of St Michael, Crooked Lane.[244] One of these is in storage at the Museum of London. The whereabouts of the other, which was misappropriated and sold at auction in 2003, is currently unknown.

In 1896 many bodies were disinterred from the crypt and reburied at the St Magnus's plot at Brookwood Cemetery, which remains the church's burial ground.

 

Prior to the Great Fire of 1666 the old tower had a ring of five bells, a small saints bell and a clock bell.[246] 47 cwt of bell metal was recovered[247] which suggests that the tenor was 13 or 14 cwt. The metal was used to cast three new bells, by William Eldridge of Chertsey in 1672,[248] with a further saints bell cast that year by Hodson.[249] In the absence of a tower, the tenor and saints bell were hung in a free standing timber structure, whilst the others remained unhung.[250]

A new tower was completed in 1704 and it is likely that these bells were transferred to it. However, the tenor became cracked in 1713 and it was decided to replace the bells with a new ring of eight.[251] The new bells, with a tenor of 21 cwt, were cast by Richard Phelps of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry. Between 1714 and 1718 (the exact date of which is unknown), the ring was increased to ten with the addition of two trebles given by two former ringing Societies, the Eastern Youths and the British Scholars.[252] The first peal was rung on 15 February 1724 of Grandsire Caters by the Society of College Youths. The second bell had to be recast in 1748 by Robert Catlin, and the tenor was recast in 1831 by Thomas Mears of Whitechapel,[253] just in time to ring for the opening of the new London Bridge. In 1843, the treble was said to be "worn out" and so was scrapped, together with the saints bell, while a new treble was cast by Thomas Mears.[254] A new clock bell was erected in the spire in 1846, provided by B R & J Moore, who had earlier purchased it from Thomas Mears.[255] This bell can still be seen in the tower from the street.

The 10 bells were removed for safe keeping in 1940 and stored in the churchyard. They were taken to Whitechapel Bell Foundry in 1951 whereupon it was discovered that four of them were cracked. After a long period of indecision, fuelled by lack of funds and interest, the bells were finally sold for scrap in 1976. The metal was used to cast many of the Bells of Congress that were then hung in the Old Post Office Tower in Washington, D.C.

A fund was set up on 19 September 2005, led by Dickon Love, a member of the Ancient Society of College Youths, with a view to installing a new ring of 12 bells in the tower in a new frame. This was the first of three new rings of bells he has installed in the City of London (the others being at St Dunstan-in-the-West and St James Garlickhythe). The money was raised and the bells were cast during 2008/9 by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry. The tenor weighed 26cwt 3qtr 9 lbs (1360 kg) and the new bells were designed to be in the same key as the former ring of ten. They were consecrated by the Bishop of London on 3 March 2009 in the presence of the Lord Mayor[256] and the ringing dedicated on 26 October 2009 by the Archdeacon of London.[257] The bells are named (in order smallest to largest) Michael, Margaret, Thomas of Canterbury, Mary, Cedd, Edward the Confessor, Dunstan, John the Baptist, Erkenwald, Paul, Mellitus and Magnus.[258] The bells project is recorded by an inscription in the vestibule of the church.

 

The first peal on the twelve was rung on 29 November 2009 of Cambridge Surprise Maximus.[260] Notable other recent peals include a peal of Stedman Cinques on 16 April 2011 to mark the 400th anniversary of the granting of a Royal Charter to the Plumbers' Company,[261] a peal of Cambridge Surprise Royal on 28 June 2011 when the Fishmongers' Company gave a dinner for Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh at their hall on the occasion of his 90th birthday[262] and a peal of Avon Delight Maximus on 24 July 2011 in solidarity with the people of Norway following the tragic massacre on Utoeya Island and in Oslo.[263] On the latter occasion the flag of the Orkney Islands was flown at half mast. In 2012 peals were rung during the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant on 3 June and during each of the three Olympic/Paralympic marathons, on 5 and 12 August and 9 September.

The BBC television programme, Still Ringing After All These Years: A Short History of Bells, broadcast on 14 December 2011, included an interview at St Magnus with the Tower Keeper, Dickon Love,[264] who was captain of the band that rang the "Royal Jubilee Bells" during the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant on 3 June 2012 to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II.[265] Prior to this, he taught John Barrowman to handle a bell at St Magnus for the BBC coverage.

The bells are currently rung every Sunday around 12:15 (following the service) by the Guild of St Magnus.

 

Every other June, newly elected wardens of the Fishmongers' Company, accompanied by the Court, proceed on foot from Fishmongers' Hall[267] to St Magnus for an election service.[268] St Magnus is also the Guild Church of The Plumbers' Company. Two former rectors have served as master of the company,[269] which holds all its services at the church.[270] On 12 April 2011 a service was held to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the granting of the company's Royal Charter at which the Bishop of London, the Rt Revd and Rt Hon Richard Chartres KCVO, gave the sermon and blessed the original Royal Charter. For many years the Cloker Service was held at St Magnus, attended by the Coopers' Company and Grocers' Company, at which the clerk of the Coopers' Company read the will of Henry Cloker dated 10 March 1573.[271]

St Magnus is also the ward church for the Ward of Bridge and Bridge Without, which elects one of the city's aldermen. Between 1550 and 1978 there were separate aldermen for Bridge Within and Bridge Without, the former ward being north of the river and the latter representing the City's area of control in Southwark. The Bridge Ward Club was founded in 1930 to "promote social activities and discussion of topics of local and general interest and also to exchange Ward and parochial information" and holds its annual carol service at St Magnus.

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Magnus-the-Martyr

 

In Opuwo, Namibia, lot of Herero people were wandering around the central market. I started to ask for pictures, everything was ok. But as soon as i started to take the pictures, flocks of drunk (and more) men came, arguing they were the sons, the husbands, the uncle, of those women. And they asked for delirious amount of money.

So, now you're warned!

Of course, all the Herero people are not acting like this, but in this touristic part of Namibia, they do! Avoid!

The Hereros are an ethnic group belonging to the Bantu speaking group. The 320,000 Herero people mainly live in Namibia (representing about 7 per cent of the namibian population), but some of them live in Botswana and Angola. They mostly earn their money as workers on big farms or in the cities as merchants and tradesmen. They are famous for dressing in a victorian style with full length coloured dresses and hats.

 

According to their oral history, Hereros have come from Betschanaland (the current Botswana) with Himbas in the 15th and 16th centuries, and maybe formerly from eastern Africa from Tanganikya Lake area. Both ethnic groups used to be a unique one. Hereros belong to the bantu linguistic group, and as all Bantus, are sedentary farmers and pastoral people. Himbas and Hereros got different and went separate ways. One of the subgroups crossed the Okavango River and became known as the Mbanderu (Eastern Herero) while the other group went to the northwestern part of Namibia and became known as the Himba. During the 18th century, a group of the Himba migrated to central Namibia and there met again with the Mbanderu. The two combined groups settled in the Kalahari Desert and became known as the Herero. At the end of the 18th century Herero people settled in the area of Okahandja (nearby the current capital city : Windhoek). During the 19th century Hereros have been in perpetual conflict with the neighbouring tribes, in particular with the Oorlams and the Namas. Oorlams were an ethnic group of descendants of Boers and Khoikhois (the original inhabitants of south west Africa) migrating from Cape colony in order to escape from the discriminatory laws. They arrived in Okahandja area during the 1820 s led by their chief Jonker Afrikaner. Their modern military organization and the fact the had fire arms (rifles and guns) gave them a big advantage over the Hereros. The latter under Oorlam domination, however the conflict lasted for 50 years, with a break between 1842 and 1850, after a peace treaty was signed. After the death of Jonker Afrikaner in 1861, Hereros and Namas became allies against the Oorlam which led to a peace treaty in 1870, which confirmed the new supremacy of Hereros and their leader Maharero. A conflict the started with the Namas and their leader Hendrik Witbooi.

At the Berlin conference in 1884, which is the climax of the Scramble for Africa, western powers decided that South West Africa (current Namibia) would become a german protectorate, meant to protect Hereros from the neighbouring tribes (especially from the Namas who didn't sign any treaty with the Germans) in exchange of lands for German settlers. Numerous German settlers arrived on Hereros lands in addition to the missionaries that were already there for a few decades. In the beginning Samuel Maharero (who succeeded his father as chief in 1890) sold good lands and farms to German settlers for money. Soon after, conflicts between the German colonists and the Herero herdsmen began. Controversies frequently arose because of disputes about access to land and water, but also the legal discrimination against the native population by the white immigrants (with the creation of the first reservations in 1903) and the liberation of the Damaras slaves (a tribe which was under Herero rule). The growing dissatisfaction among Herero people led Samuel Mahaero to rise up his people against German colonialists in january 1904, by slaughtering about 150 german settlers during the attack of a garrison in Okahandja. In the beginning Hereros had some military successes against the Germans. But when General Von Trotha arrived with reinforcement troops (called Schutztruppe meaning Protective Force) from Germany in june 1904 in order to put down the uprising ; war became a genocide.

 

Herero were victims of the first genocide of the 20th century before the one suffered by armenians or Jews. Von Trotha gave the following order to his soldiers : "Any Herero found within the German borders with or without a gun, with or without cattle, will be shot". Herero resistance was broke down during the Waterberg battle. German troops encircled Herero warriors giving them no other choice than escaping in Omaheke desert. Von Trotha gave the order of poisoning all the waterholes and sources. Of an estimated 65,000 Herero, only 15,000 survived from hunger and thirst in the desert. The survivors became prisoners of war and were put in concentration camps (that were inspired by the ones used by the british during the war against the Boers in South Africa a few years earlier). When these exactions became public in Germany, it provoked protests and indignation which led the Chancellor to resign Von Trotha s duties. Germany made an apology in 2006 for the massacres that occurred, and proposed a multi million dollar development deal for Namibia. The remaining Hereros became tenant farmers in german farms and afterwards in south african ones. Indeed South West Africa switched under south african rule (as part of the british colonial empire) after the german defeat in World War I. Under south african rule Herero people also were also subjected to Apartheid policies. Lots of Hereros joined the SWANU and the NUDO which fought for the independence of Namibia from South Africa. In 1968, South african authorities create the bantustan ( a self governing homeland) of Hereroland to restrict Herero claims. Nevetherless Hereros kept fighting until the complete independence of Namibia.

Nowadays most of the Herero customs dates back to the times they were evangelized by german missionaries. It had an influence on the way Herero people dress, they wear victorian style clothes (hats and dresses), called Hererotracht. Most of the customs and the traditional beliefs are no longer observed by Hereros, as a result of active missionary work. Some of the traditional features of traditional religion (rituals that Himbas still respect and accomplish nowadays) has been mixed with christianity.

 

© Eric Lafforgue

www.ericlafforgue.com

 

The Temple Church was consecrated in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary on 10 February 1185 by Heraclius, Patriarch of Jerusalem.

 

The whole Temple community had moved from an earlier site in High Holborn, considered by the 1160s to be too confined. The church was the chapel serving the London headquarters of the Knights Templar, and from them it took its name. The Templars – as the knights were popularly known – were soldier monks.

 

After the success of the First Crusade, the order was founded in Jerusalem in a building on the site of King Solomon’s temple. Their mission was to protect pilgrims travelling to and from the Holy Land, but in order to do this they needed men and money. For more details of the Templars and this early history of the Church, see The Round Church, 1185.

 

The London Temple was the Templars’ headquarters in Great Britain. The Templars’ churches were always built to a circular design to remind them of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem, a round, domed building raised over the site of the sepulchre where Jesus was buried. At first, the Templars were liked and respected. St Bernard of Clairvaux became their patron and they gained many privileges from popes and much support from kings.

 

In England, King Henry II was probably present at the consecration of the church; King Henry III favoured them so much that he wished to be buried in their church. As a consequence of this wish, the choir of the church was pulled down and a far larger one built in its place, the choir which we now see. This was consecrated on Ascension Day 1240 in the presence of the king. However, after Henry died it was discovered that he had altered his will, and he was buried in Westminster Abbey.

 

On 10 February 1185 Heraclius, Patriarch of Jerusalem, processed into the Round for the church’s consecration. The King was almost certainly present. A grand church for a grand occasion; for the Round had no such quiet austerity as we see in it today. The walls and grotesque heads were painted: the walls most probably with bands and lozenges of colour. The Round was proudly modern: Heraclius entered through the Norman door to find the first free-standing Purbeck columns ever cut; above them curved in two dimensions Gothic arches rising to the drum. A chancel, some two thirds of the present chancel’s length, stretched to the east. There the Patriach’s procession will have come to rest for Mass. And there the altar stayed. What, then, – on that great day or later – was the function of the Round?

 

Its most important role was played by its shape. Jerusalem lies at the centre of all medieval maps, and was the centre of the crusaders’ world. The most sacred place in this most sacred city was the supposed site of Jesus’ own burial: the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Here the crusaders inherited a round church. It was the goal of every pilgrim, whose protection was the Templars’ care. This was the building, of all buildings on earth, that must be defended from its enemies.

 

In every round church that the Templars built throughout Europe they recreated the sanctity of this most holy place. Among the knights who would be buried in the Round was the most powerful man of his generation: William the Marshal, Earl of Pembroke (died 1219), adviser to King John and regent to Henry III. His sons’ effigies lie around his own. The Marshal himself (who lies recumbent and still) took the Cross as an old man; his sons (drawing their swords) did not. Their figures lie frozen in stone, forever alert in defence of their father’s long-forgotten cause. Such burial was devoutly to be desired; for to be buried in the Round was to be buried ‘in’ Jerusalem.

 

The Patriarch Heraclius may well have been the most ignorant, licentious and corrupt priest ever to hold his see. Our reports of his character, however, reach us from his enemies. The great Western chronicler of the Crusades, William of Tyre, was for decades Heraclius’ opponent and rival. In 1180 William had (and had been) expected to be appointed Patriarch of Jerusalem. But the king of Jerusalem was swayed by his mother, said to be a mistress of Heraclius – who was duly appointed Patriarch. William himself was honorably reticent in the face of this reverse. His followers were less restrained. ‘Ernoul’ tells (with more indignation, it seems, than accuracy) how his hero William was excommunicated by the new patriarch, went into exile and died at the hands of Heraclius’ own doctor in Rome. William’s narrative was expanded and continued in Old French as L’Estoire d’ Eracles: its story starts with the Emperor Heraclius who recovered the True Cross in 628 – and includes a prophecy that the Cross, secured by one Heraclius, would be lost (as it was) by another.

 

Can anything redeem our Heraclius’ reputation? Far more was at stake on his visit than at first appears. He was in London as part of a larger mission:- King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem was dying. His kingdom was riven by factions and under threat from Saladin. He had drawn up in his will the rules for the succession: if his nephew, due to become the child-king Baldwin V, were to die before the age of ten, a new ruler should be chosen through the arbitration of four potentates: the Pope, the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, the King of France and Henry II of England. Late in 1184 a deputation headed west from the Kingdom of Jerusalem: Heraclius, the Grand Master of the Templars and the Hospitallers’ Grand Prior. They visited the Pope, Frederick, Philip II Augustus – and finally Henry. The emissaries reached Reading. As credentials they brought the keys of the Tower of David and the Kingdom’s royal standard. According to some English chroniclers, they offered the Kingdom itself to Henry. The incident is hard to analyse. To plead for protection was to offer the power that would make such protection effective. Did that call for the Kingdom itself? The apparent offer of keys and standard may have been misread; for the ambassadors were reworking a performance already presented to Philip of France. (One French chronicler later derides Heraclius: he was offering the keys to any prince he met.) But the Kingdom of Jerusalem was in desperate straits; and behind the pageant may have lain hopes for the subtlest solution of all: to side-step Jerusalem’s factions; and instead to secure one – any one – of Europe’s leaders as king. How strange, to entrust any such delicate mission to the buffoonish Patriarch of myth.

 

The story offered welcome ammunition to Henry II’s enemies. Gerald of Wales, bitterly opposed to the Angevins, sees here the turning-point in Henry’s reign: the king failed to rise to this one supreme test; from then on his own and his sons’ adventures faced ruin. Gerald inherited the topos from an old story with a quite different cast. His new version gave Heraclius a starring role. The Patriarch confronted Henry, Gerald tells us, at Heraclius’ departure from Dover. Here is the king’s last chance. ‘Though all the men of my land,’ said the king, ‘were one body and spoke with one mouth, they would not dare speak to me as you have done.’ ‘Do by me,’ replied Heraclius, ‘as you did by that blessed man Thomas of Canterbury. I had rather be slain by you than by the Saracen, for you are worse than any Saracen.’ ‘I may not leave my land, for my own sons will surely rise against me in my absence.’ ‘No wonder, for from the devil they come and to the devil they shall go.’

 

Gerald’s Heraclius was no coward, and no fool. ‘That blessed man Thomas of Canterbury’ had been killed in 1170. The penance of the four knights who killed him was to serve with the Templars for fourteen years. Henry himself promised to pay for two hundred Templar knights for a year; and in 1172 he undertook to take the Cross himself. Thirteen years had passed. Henry was growing old. Such a vow, undischarged, threatened his immortal soul – as both Heraclius and he knew well. Henry must tread carefully. He summoned a Great Council at Clerkenwell. Surrounded by his advisers, he gave Heraclius his answer: ‘for the good of his realm and the salvation of his own soul’ he declared that he must stay in England. He would provide money instead. Heraclius was unimpressed: ‘We seek a man even without money – but not money without a man.’ Virum appetimus qui pecunia indigeat, non pecuniam quae viro.

 

***

 

Our church’s consecration was deep within the diplomatic labyrinth at whose centre lay the future of Jerusalem. The Templars had come a long way. The Order was founded in 1118-9 by a knight of Champagne, Hugh of Payns, who led a group of his fellow-knights in vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. At their foundation they were deeply suspect: it was unnatural for one man to be soldier and monk together. A handful of such ambivalent knights had little chance, it might seem, of attracting support. In the twelfth century the significance of their seal was well known: Matthew Paris, monk of St Albans, explained that the two knights on one horse recalled their lack of horses and poor beginnings.

 

In Champagne and Burgundy lay the Order’s origin and the seed of its success. Over the course of fifty years a star-burst of spiritual energy illumined all of Europe; and its centre lay in a small area of eastern France. Hugh’s town of Payns was near Troyes, the local city of one Robert, who became a Cluniac monk. In 1075 this Robert, already an abbot, left his monastery with a group of hermits to found a new house: at Molesme. The list of those influenced by Robert and his houses reads as a roll-call of Europe’s spiritual leaders. There was Bruno, who lived briefly as a hermit near Molesme before establishing the most ascetic of all houses, La Grande Chartreuse; Bruno had already been master to Odo, who later became Pope Urban II and preached the First Crusade. When Robert moved again, in search of a yet more rigorous life, he took with him Stephen Harding, later Archbishop of Canterbury. They set up their house at Citeaux.

 

Harding would in time become abbot. The rigour of the house made it few friends among the local nobility. Its future was uncertain. And then arrived as remarkable a monk as any of that remarkable age: Bernard. He spent three years at Citeaux before a local lord, Hugh Count of Champagne, gave him in 1116 an area of inhospitable woodland well to the north, back in the neighbourhood of Payns. It was known as the Valley of Gall. Bernard gave it a new name: Clairvaux, the Valley of Light.

 

Bernard secured single-handed the Templars’ future. Hugh of Champagne became a Templar; so did Bernard’s own uncle Andrew. The Templars’ constitution, the Rule, shows all the marks of Bernard’s influence; at the Council of Troyes in 1129 he spoke up for the Order; and, most influential support of all, at the repeated request of Hugh of Payns Bernard wrote In Praise of the New Knighthood.

 

The New Knighthood’s first half is well-known: in a text advising and praising and warning the knights, Bernard speaks as well to their critics. He is under no illusions: Europe was as glad to be rid of these warring knights as the Holy Land (in Bernard’s eyes) was glad to see them; their army could be a force for good – or for lawless violence. In the tract’s second half Bernard turns to the Holy Land and to Jerusalem itself. Here was his sharpest spur to the pilgrims’ understanding and to the Templars’ own.

Bernard reads Jerusalem itself like a book. In the tradition of Cassian’s fourfold reading of scripture, dominant throughout the Middle Ages, Bernard saw beneath the appearance of the city’s famous sites a far more important spiritual meaning. The land itself invited such a reading:- Bethlehem, ‘house of bread’, was the town where the living bread was first manifest. The ox and ass ate their food at the manger; we must discern there, by contrast, our spiritual food, and not chomp vainly at the Word’s ‘literal’ nourishment. Next, Nazareth, meaning ‘flower’: Bernard reminds us of those who were misled by the odour of flowers into missing the fruit.

And so to Jerusalem itself:- To descend from the Order’s headquarters on the Temple Mount across the Valley of Josaphat and up the Mount of Olives opposite, – this was itself an allegory for the dread of God’s judgement and our joy at receiving his mercy. The House of Martha, Mary and Lazarus offers a moral: the virtue of obedience and the fruits of penance. And above all: in the Holy Sepulchre itself the knight should be raised up to thoughts of Christ’s death and of the freedom from death that it had won for his people: ‘The death of Christ is the death of my death.’ Bernard draws on Paul’s famous account of baptism, and finds in the pilgrims’ weariness the process of their necessary ‘dying’: ‘For we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, so we shall be also in the likeness of the resurrection. How sweet it is for pilgrims after the great weariness of a long journey, after so many dangers of land and sea, there to rest at last where they know their Lord has rested!’

 

***

 

The Temple Church is now famous as a backwater, a welcome place of calm. The tides of history have shifted; their currents have dug deep channels far from our own Round Church. It was not always so. The effigies of the Marshal and his sons bear telling witness to the Temple’s role in the court’s and nation’s life. In the 16th century the chronicler Stow described the Templars’ seal. The story of their poverty was by then forgotten or incredible. Stow saw rather an emblem of Charity: a knight on horseback takes a fellow Christian out of danger. Perhaps there had always been romance in that picture of knights sharing a horse. The Order’s Rule, after all, allowed each knight three horses and a squire.

 

The effigies testify as well to a rich ‘reading’ of Jerusalem. The New Knighthood is double-edged: all that Bernard writes in praise of Jerusalem frees the faithful from the need to travel there: it is the spiritual sense of the city that matters – a sense as readily grasped at home. To find ‘Jerusalem’, as Bernard would have it, the faithful should rather come to Clairvaux, and not just on pilgrimage. So resolute a reading was hard to sustain. Bernard might detach Jerusalem from the benefits its contemplation could bring; but those around him sooner attached Jerusalem’s blessings to such places as fostered its contemplation.

 

Our effigies seem to us frozen in stone, their figures forever poised to fight battles that ended 700 years ago. But these knights’ eyes are open. They are all portrayed in their early thirties, the age at which Christ died and at which the dead will rise on his return. The effigies are not memorials of what has long since been and gone; they speak of what is yet to come, of these once and future knights who are poised to hear Christ’s summons and to spring again to war.

 

By 1145 the Templars themselves wore white robes with red crosses. White was linked with more than purity. In the Book of Revelation the martyrs of Christ, clad in white robes washed in the blood of the Lamb (Rev 7.14), are those who will be called to life at the ‘first resurrection’. For a millennium they will reign with Christ; at its end Satan will lead all the nations of the earth against ‘the beloved city’ (Rev 20.9). The final battle will be in Jerusalem. Our knights have good reason to draw their swords. For buried in ‘Jerusalem’, in Jerusalem they shall rise to join the Templars in the martyrs’ white and red. Here in the Temple, in our replica of the Sepulchre itself, the knights are waiting for their call to life, to arms and to the last, climactic defence of their most sacred place on earth.

 

Little more than fifty years after the consecration of the chancel, the Templars fell on evil times. The Holy Land was recaptured by the Saracens and so their work came to an end. The wealth they had accumulated made them the target of envious enemies, and in 1307, at the instigation of Philip IV King of France, the Order was abolished by the Pope. The papal decree was obeyed in England and King Edward II took control of the London Temple.

 

Eventually he gave it to the Order of St John – the Knights Hospitaller – who had always worked with the Templars. At the time, the lawyers were looking for a home in London in order to attend the royal courts in Westminster. So the Temple was rented to two colleges of lawyers, who came to be identified as the Inner and Middle Temples. The two colleges shared the use of the church. In this way, the Temple Church became the “college chapel” of those two societies and continues to be maintained by them to the present day.

 

It was King Henry VIII who brought about the next change in the church. In 1540 he abolished the Hospitallers and confiscated their property. The Temple again belonged to the Crown. It was then for Henry to provide a priest for the church, to whom he gave the title ‘Master of the Temple’.

 

‘Be of good comfort,’ said Hooker: ‘we have to do with a merciful God, rather to make the best of that little which we hold well; and not with a captious sophister who gathers the worst out of every thing in which we err.’

 

Richard Hooker was appointed Master of the Temple in 1585. England was in alarm. The threat from Catholic Europe had revived: there had been rebellion against the Queen and Settlement in 1569; in 1570 the Pope had excommunicated Elizabeth and declared her subjects free from their allegiance; Mary Queen of Scots was linked with ever further conspiracy against her cousin; and the danger of Spanish invasion was growing.

 

England’s radical reformers were convinced: England’s only hope of spiritual and political safety lay in the example of Calvin’s godly state, Geneva. The ‘head and neck’ of English Calvinism were Thomas Cartwright and Walter Travers. Since 1581 Travers had been the Reader (lecturer) of the Temple. In 1584 the Privy Council ordered the Inner Temple to continue his stipend ‘for his public labours and pains taken against the common adversaries, impugners of the state and the authorities under her Majesty’s gracious government.’ Hooker and Travers were to be colleagues. Their differences soon became clear. To recover the purity of the primitive church, Travers would be rid of all that intervened and would forge the English church anew. Hooker was steeped in classical and medieval thought; saw the roots of his own (and Travers’) understanding in Aristotle, Augustine, Thomas and Calvin himself; and acknowledged –even valued – the differences to which such a rich tradition could give rise: ‘Be it that Peter has one interpretation, and Apollos has another; that Paul is of this mind, and Barnabas of that. If this offend you, the fault is yours.’ As then, so now: ‘Carry peaceable minds, and you may have comfort by this variety.’ When Hooker carefully and bravely explored the possibility that individual Catholics could be saved, the scene was set for the most famous public debated of the day. ‘Surely I must confess unto you,’ said Hooker: ‘if it be an error to think that God may be merciful to save men, even when they err, my greatest comfort is my error. Were it not for the love I bear unto this “error”, I would neither wish to speak nor to live.’

 

We hear of Hooker’s preaching at the Temple: ‘his voice was low, stature little, gesture none at all, standing stone still in the pulpit, as if the posture of his body were the emblem of his mind, immovable in his opinions. Where his eye was left fixed at the beginning, it was found fixed at the end of the sermon. …The doctrine he delivered had nothing but itself to garnish it.’ Travers, by contrast, was a natural orator, and he was himself a distinguished thinker; he later became the first Provost of Trinity College, Dublin. Hooker held his ground and deepened his reasoning. It was to disclose and offer the comfort of faith that he spoke: ‘Have the sons of God a father careless whether they sink or swim?’ The Temple sermons that survive stress the simple conditions of salvation: ‘Infidelity, extreme despair, hatred of God and all godliness, obduration in sin – cannot stand where there is the least spark of faith, hope, love or sanctity; even as cold in the lowest degree cannot be where heat in the first degree is found.’

 

The debate was brought to an end by Archbishop Whitgift: In March 1586 Travers was forbidden to preach. In 1591 Hooker resigned, and was appointed vicar of Bishopsbourne in Kent. Here he developed his thought in his masterpiece, Ecclesiastical Polity, the foundational – and still, perhaps, the most important – exploration of doctrine in the history of the Anglican church. Hooker elaborated a theory of law based on the ‘absolute’ fundamental of natural law: this is the expression of God’s supreme reason and governs all civil and ecclesiastical polity. ‘Of Law there can be no less acknowledged, than that her seat is the bosom of God, her voice the harmony of the world: all things in heaven and earth do her homage, the very least as feeling her care, and the greatest as not exempted from her power: both angels and men and creatures of what condition soever, though each in different sort and manner, yet all with uniform consent, admiring her as the mother of their peace and joy.’ Hooker’s influence has pervaded English thought ever since. He was admired by Laud and by the puritan Baxter, extolled by the Restoration bishops, and brought once more to prominence by Keble and the Oxford Movement; he has now been rediscovered (in a recent monograph by Richard Atkinson) within the modern evangelical church. His reach has extended far beyond theologians. Ecclesiastical Polity was the starting-point for Clarendon’s History and seminal for Locke’s philosophy; its self-critical balance touched Andrew Marvell; and Samuel Pepys read it at the recommendation of a friend who declared it ‘the best book, and the only one that made him a Christian.’

   

THE BATTLE OF THE PULPIT

In 1585 the Master of the Temple, Richard Alvey, died. His deputy – the Reader, Walter Travers – expected to be promoted, but Queen Elizabeth I and her advisers regarded his views as too Calvinist, and Travers was passed over.

 

Instead a new Master, Richard Hooker, was appointed from Exeter College, Oxford. On Hooker’s arrival, a unique situation arose. Each Sunday morning he would preach his sermon; each Sunday afternoon Travers would contradict him. People came to call it the Battle of the Pulpit, saying mischievously that Canterbury was preached in the morning and Geneva in the afternoon. There was a lasting result of all this: Hooker published his teaching as Ecclesiastical Polity and came to be recognised as the founding father of Anglican theology.

 

By the end of the 16th century, the two Inns of Court had erected many fine buildings at the Temple, yet their position as tenants was not a secure one. In order to protect what they had built up from any future whims of the Crown, they petitioned King James I for a more satisfactory arrangement. On 13 August 1608 the King granted the two Inns a Royal Charter giving them use of the Temple in perpetuity.

 

One condition of this was that the Inns must maintain the church. The Temple and the church are still governed by that charter. In gratitude, the Inns gave King James a fine gold cup. Some years later, in the Civil war, his son Charles I needed funds to keep his army in the field. The cup was sold in Holland and has never been traced.

 

In February 1683, the treasurers of the two Societies of the Temple commissioned an organ from each of the two leading organ builders of the time, Bernhard Smith (1630-1708) and Renatus Harris (1652-1708). The organs were to be installed in the halls of the Middle and Inner Temple, to enable them to be played and judged. Smith was annoyed to discover that Harris was also invited to compete for the contract; he was under the impression that the job had already been offered to him. Smith petitioned the treasurers and won permission to erect his instrument in the church instead of in one of the halls. It was set on a screen which divided the round from the quire. This advantage was short-lived as Harris sought and obtained approval to place his organ at the opposite end of the church, to the south side of the communion table. It is thought that both organs were completed by May 1684.

 

Harris and Smith engaged the finest organists to show off their respective instruments and were put to great expense as the competition intensified and each instrument became more.

 

In 1841 the church was again restored, by Smirke and Burton, the walls and ceiling being decorated in the high Victorian Gothic style. The object of this was to bring the church back to its original appearance, for it would have been brightly decorated like this when first built. Nothing of the work remains, however, for it was destroyed by fire bombs exactly a century after its completion. After the Victorian restoration, a choir of men and boys was introduced for the first time. The first organist and choirmaster was Dr Edward John Hopkins who remained in this post for over 50 years, 1843-96, establishing the Temple Church choir as one of the finest in London, a city of fine choirs. This tradition of high-quality music was maintained by Hopkins’ well-known successor, Henry Walford Davies, who stayed until 1923.

 

In 1923 Dr GT Thalben-Ball was appointed organist and choirmaster. This musician, later world- renowned, was to serve the church even longer than his predecessor, John Hopkins, retiring in 1982 after 59 years in office. One reason for his fame was the record made in 1927 of Mendelssohn’s Hear My Prayer by Thalben-Ball and the boy soloist Ernest Lough. The recording became world-famous and brought visitors to the church from all parts of the globe.

 

In 1941 on the night of 10 May, when Nazi air raids on London were at their height, the church was badly damaged by incendiary bombs. The roof of the round church burned first and the wind soon spread the blaze to the nave and choir. The organ was completely destroyed, together with all the wood in the church. Restoration took a long time to complete. The choir, containing a new organ given by Lord Glentannar, was the first area of the church to be rededicated in March 1954. By a stroke of good fortune the architects, Walter and Emil Godfrey, were able to use the reredos designed by Wren for his 17th-century restoration. Removed by Smirke and Burton in 1841, it had spent over a century in the Bowes Museum, County Durham, and was now re-installed in its original position. The round church was rededicated in November 1958.

 

Probably the most notable feature of today’s church is the east window. This was a gift from the Glaziers’ Company in 1954 to replace that destroyed in the war. It was designed by Carl Edwards and illustrates Jesus’ connection with the Temple at Jerusalem. In one panel we see him talking with the learned teachers there, in another driving out the money-changers. The window also depicts some of the personalities associated with Temple Church over the centuries, including Henry II, Henry III and several of the medieval Masters of the Temple.

 

www.templechurch.com/history-2/timeline/

big on black | white

 

hera, queen of the gods, was forced by the titans to marry her brother zeus. it was not, to put it mildly, a happy marriage.

 

once, in a fit of rage against one of zeus' many indiscretions, hera banded together with the other gods and planned to kill him. (although just how you kill an immortal god is not well explained)

 

they kidnapped him while he was sleeping and tied him in a rope using one hundred knots. other gods realized that Zeus was missing, found him and freed him. all the gods who had kidnapped zeus begged for mercy. all, except hera., who in righteous indignation refused to apologize.

 

for this act, her punishment was to be hung by her ankles from the sky with heavy gold chains.

 

©2009 gideon ansell. all rights reserved. use without permission is illegal

British Real Photograph postcard, no. 68.A. Photo: Paramount Pictures.

 

Blonde Mae West (1895-1982) was a seductive, overdressed, endearing, intelligent, and sometimes vulgar American actress and sex symbol. She featured a come-hither voice, aggressive sexuality, and a genius for comedy. West started in Vaudeville and on the stage in New York, and later moved to Hollywood to star in such films as I’m No Angel (1933), She Done Him Wrong (1933), and Klondike Annie (1936). She was one of the first women in the cinema to consistently write the films she starred in.

 

Mary Jane West was born in 1892, in Brooklyn, New York, to Matilda and John West. Family members called her Mae. Her father was a prizefighter known around the Brooklyn area as ‘Battlin' Jack’ West. Later, he worked as a "special policeman" (most likely as muscle for local business and crime bosses) and then as a private detective. Mae began working as an entertainer at age five at a church social. After a few years in stock, she moved into burlesque, where she was billed as ‘The Baby Vamp’. In 1907, 14-year-old West began performing professionally in vaudeville in the Hal Claredon Stock Company. Her mother made all her costumes, drilled her on rehearsals, and managed her bookings and contracts. In 1909, West met Frank Wallace, an up-and-coming vaudeville song-and-dance man. They formed an act and went out on the burlesque circuit. In 1911, she married Frank Wallace. Only 17, she lied about her age on her marriage certificate and kept the marriage secret from the public and her parents. She broke up the act soon after they arrived back in New York and the union remained a secret until 1935. In 1911, West auditioned for, and got a part, in her first Broadway show, ‘A La Broadway’, a comedy review. The show folded after only eight performances, but West was a hit. In the audience on opening night were two successful Broadway impresarios, Lee and J.J. Shubert, and they cast her in the production of ‘Vera Violetta’, also featuring Al Jolson and Gaby Deslys. West got her big break in 1918 in the Shubert Brothers revue Sometime, playing opposite Ed Wynn. Her character, Mayme, danced the shimmy, a brazen dance move that involved shaking the shoulders back and forth and pushing the chest out. As more parts came her way, West began to shape her characters, often rewriting dialogue or character descriptions to better suit her persona. She eventually began writing her own plays, initially using the pen name Jane Mast. In 1926 her first play, ‘Sex’, which she wrote, produced, and directed on Broadway, caused a scandal and landed her in jail for ten days on obscenity charges. Media attention surrounding the incident enhanced her career, by crowning her the darling "bad girl" who "had climbed the ladder of success wrong by wrong". She wrote and directed her second play, ‘Drag’ (1927) about homosexuality. She was an early supporter of gay rights and publicly declared against police brutality that gay men experienced. The play was a smash hit during a series of try-outs in Connecticut and New Jersey, but she was warned by city officials, not to bring it to Broadway. Finally, her play ‘Diamond Lil’ (1928), about a racy, easygoing, and ultimately very smart lady of the 1890s, became a Broadway hit and cemented West's image in the public's eye. And, after two more successful stage productions, she was invited to Hollywood.

 

At Paramount Pictures, Mae West made her film debut in Night After Night (Archie Mayo, 1932), starring George Raft. At 38 years old, she might have been considered in her ‘advanced years’ for playing sexy harlots, but her persona and physical beauty seemed to overcome any doubt. At first, she balked at her small role in Night After Night but was appeased when allowed to rewrite her scenes. One scene became a sensation. When a coat check girl exclaims, "Goodness! What lovely diamonds!", after seeing Mae's jewelry. Mae replies, "Goodness had nothing to do with it, dearie". Mae was a hit and later George Raft said of Mae: "She stole everything but the cameras." In her second film, She Done Him Wrong (Lowell Sherman, 1933), West was able to bring her ‘Diamond Lil’ character to the screen in her first starring film role. Her co-star was newcomer Cary Grant in one of his first major roles. ‘Lil’ was renamed ‘Lady Lou’, and she uttered the famous West line, "Why don't you come up sometime and see me?" The film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture, and did tremendously well at the box office. She Done Him Wrong is attributed to saving Paramount from bankruptcy. In her next film, I'm No Angel (Wesley Ruggles, 1933), she was again paired with Grant. This film, too, was a financial blockbuster and West became the highest-paid woman in the United States. However, her reputation as a provocative sexual figure and the steamy settings of her films aroused the wrath and moral indignation of several groups. The new Hays Office had the power to pre-approve films' productions and change scripts. In 1934, the organisation began to seriously and meticulously enforce the Production Code on West's screenplays, and heavily edited them. West responded in her typical fashion by increasing the number of innuendos and double entendres, fully expecting to confuse the censors, which she did for the most part. Her film Klondike Annie (Raoul Walsh, 1936) with Victor McLaglen, concerned itself with religion and hypocrisy. William R. Hearst disagreed so vehemently with the film's context, and West's portrayal of a Salvation Army worker, that he personally forbade any stories or advertisements of the film to be published in any of his newspapers. However, the film did well at the box office and is considered the high-point of West's film career. Throughout the 1930s her films were anticipated as major events, but by the end of the decade she seemed to have reached her limit and her popularity waned. The few other films she did for Paramount — Go West, Young Man (Henry Hathaway, 1936) and Everyday's a Holiday (A. Edward Sutherland, 1937) — did not do well at the box office, and she found censorship was severely limiting her creativity. In 1937, she was banned from NBC Radio after a guest appearance with Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy that was loaded with flirtatious dialogue and double-entendres.

 

In 1939, Mae West was approached by Universal Pictures to star in a film opposite comedian W.C. Fields. The studio wanted to duplicate the success they had with another film, Destry Rides Again (George Marshall, 1939), a Western morality tale starring Marlene Dietrich and James Stewart. West, looking for a vehicle to make a comeback in films, accepted the part, demanding creative control over the film. Using the same Western genre, she wrote the script for My Little Chickadee (Edward F. Cline, 1940). Despite tension on the set between West and Fields (she was a teetotaler and he drank), the film was a box-office success, out-grossing Fields' previous two films. After making The Heat's On (Gregory Ratoff, 1943) for Columbia, she planned to retire from the screen and went back to Broadway and on a tour of English theatres. Among her popular stage performances was the title role in ‘Catherine Was Great’ (1944) on Broadway, in which she penned a spoof on the story of Catherine the Great of Russia, surrounding herself with an ‘imperial guard’ of tall, muscular young actors. The play was produced by theater and film impresario Mike Todd and ran for 191 performances and then went on tour. In 1954, when she was 62, she began a nightclub act in which she was surrounded by musclemen; it ran for three years and was a great success. In 1954, West formed a nightclub act which revived some of her earlier stage work, featuring her in song-and-dance numbers and surrounded by musclemen fawning over her for attention. The show ran for three years and was a great success. With this victory, she felt it was a good time to retire. In 1959, West released her bestselling autobiography, ‘Goodness Had Nothing To Do With It’, recounting her life in show business. She made a few guest appearances on the 1960s television comedy/variety shows like The Red Skelton Show and some situation comedies like Mister Ed. She also recorded a few albums in different genres including rock 'n' roll and a Christmas album which, of course, was more parody and innuendo than a religious celebration. In the 1970s, she appeared in two more films. She had s small part in Gore Vidal's Myra Breckenridge (Michael Sarne, 1970), starring Raquel Welch. She starred in Sextette (Ken Hughes, 1978), which she based on her own stage play. Both were box office flops, but are now seen as cult films. In 1980, Mae West died after suffering two strokes in Hollywood and was entombed in Brooklyn, New York. She was 88. Denny Jackson at IMDb: “The actress, who only appeared in 12 films in 46 years, had a powerful impact on us. There was no doubt she was way ahead of her time with her sexual innuendos and how she made fun of a puritanical society. She did a lot to bring it out of the closet and perhaps we should be grateful for that.”

 

Sources: Denny Jackson (IMDb), Biography.com, AllMovie, Wikipedia, and IMDb.

 

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards..

St Stephen's Green (Irish: Faiche Stiabhna)[1] is a city centre public park in Dublin, Ireland. The current landscape of the park was designed by William Sheppard, which officially opened to the public on Tuesday, 27 July 1880.

Until 1663 St Stephen's Green was a marshy common on the edge of Dublin, used for grazing. In that year Dublin Corporation, seeing an opportunity to raise much needed revenue, decided to enclose the centre of the common and to sell land around the perimeter for building. The park was enclosed with a wall in 1664. The houses built around the Green were rapidly replaced by new buildings in the Georgian style and by the end of the eighteenth century the Green was a place of resort for the better-off of the city. Much of the present-day landscape of the square comprises modern buildings, some in a replica Georgian style, and relatively little survives from the 18th and 19th centuries.

Fusiliers' Arch, erected in 1907

In 1814 control of St Stephen's Green park passed to Commissioners for the local householders, who redesigned its layout and replaced the walls with railings.

After the death of Prince Albert, Queen Victoria suggested that St Stephen's Green be renamed Albert Green and have a statue of Albert at its center – a suggestion rejected with indignation by the Dublin Corporation and the people of the city, to the Queen's chagrin.

Access to the Green was restricted to local residents, until 1877, when Parliament passed an Act to reopen St Stephen's Green to the public, at the initiative of Sir A.E. Guinness, a member of the Guinness brewing family who lived at St. Anne's Park, Raheny and at Ashford Castle. He later paid for the laying out of the Green in approximately its current form, which took place in 1880, and gave it to the Corporation, as representatives of the people. By way of thanks the city commissioned a statue of him, which faces the College of Surgeons. His brother Edward lived at Iveagh House, which his descendants gave in 1939 to the Department of External Affairs (now the Department of Foreign Affairs).

During the Easter Rising of 1916, a group of insurgents made up mainly of members of the Irish Citizen Army, under the command of Commandant Michael Mallin and his second-in-command Constance Markievicz, established a position in St Stephen's Green. They numbered between 200 and 250. They confiscated motor vehicles to establish road blocks on the streets that surround the park, and dug defensive positions in the park itself. This approach differed from that of taking up positions in buildings, adopted elsewhere in the city. It proved to have been unwise when elements of the British Army took up positions in the Shelbourne Hotel, at the northeastern corner of St Stephen's Green, overlooking the park, from which they could shoot down into the entrenchments. Finding themselves in a weak position, the Volunteers withdrew to the Royal College of Surgeons on the west side of the Green. During the Rising, fire was temporarily halted to allow the park's groundsman to feed the local ducks. (Excerpts from Wikepedia)

Dutch postcard, no. 576. Photo: Paramount.

 

Blonde Mae West (1895-1982) was a seductive, overdressed, endearing, intelligent, and sometimes vulgar American actress and sex symbol. She featured a come-hither voice, aggressive sexuality, and a genius for comedy. West started in Vaudeville and on the stage in New York, and later moved to Hollywood to star in such films as I’m No Angel (1933), She Done Him Wrong (1933), and Klondike Annie (1936). She was one of the first women in the cinema to consistently write the films she starred in.

 

Mary Jane West was born in 1892, in Brooklyn, New York, to Matilda and John West. Family members called her Mae. Her father was a prizefighter known around the Brooklyn area as ‘Battlin' Jack’ West. Later, he worked as a "special policeman" (most likely as muscle for local business and crime bosses) and then as a private detective. Mae began working as an entertainer at age five at a church social. After a few years in stock, she moved into burlesque, where she was billed as ‘The Baby Vamp’. In 1907, 14-year-old West began performing professionally in vaudeville in the Hal Claredon Stock Company. Her mother made all her costumes, drilled her on rehearsals, and managed her bookings and contracts. In 1909, West met Frank Wallace, an up-and-coming vaudeville song-and-dance man. They formed an act and went out on the burlesque circuit. In 1911, she married Frank Wallace. Only 17, she lied about her age on her marriage certificate and kept the marriage secret from the public and her parents. She broke up the act soon after they arrived back in New York and the union remained a secret until 1935. In 1911, West auditioned for, and got a part, in her first Broadway show, ‘A La Broadway’, a comedy review. The show folded after only eight performances, but West was a hit. In the audience on opening night were two successful Broadway impresarios, Lee and J.J. Shubert, and they cast her in the production of ‘Vera Violetta’, also featuring Al Jolson and Gaby Deslys. West got her big break in 1918 in the Shubert Brothers revue Sometime, playing opposite Ed Wynn. Her character, Mayme, danced the shimmy, a brazen dance move that involved shaking the shoulders back and forth and pushing the chest out. As more parts came her way, West began to shape her characters, often rewriting dialogue or character descriptions to better suit her persona. She eventually began writing her own plays, initially using the pen name Jane Mast. In 1926 her first play, ‘Sex’, which she wrote, produced, and directed on Broadway, caused a scandal and landed her in jail for ten days on obscenity charges. Media attention surrounding the incident enhanced her career, by crowning her the darling "bad girl" who "had climbed the ladder of success wrong by wrong". She wrote and directed her second play, ‘Drag’ (1927) about homosexuality. She was an early supporter of gay rights and publicly declared against police brutality that gay men experienced. The play was a smash hit during a series of try-outs in Connecticut and New Jersey, but she was warned by city officials, not to bring it to Broadway. Finally, her play ‘Diamond Lil’ (1928), about a racy, easygoing, and ultimately very smart lady of the 1890s, became a Broadway hit and cemented West's image in the public's eye. And, after two more successful stage productions, she was invited to Hollywood.

 

At Paramount Pictures, Mae West made her film debut in Night After Night (Archie Mayo, 1932), starring George Raft. At 38 years old, she might have been considered in her ‘advanced years’ for playing sexy harlots, but her persona and physical beauty seemed to overcome any doubt. At first, she balked at her small role in Night After Night but was appeased when allowed to rewrite her scenes. One scene became a sensation. When a coat check girl exclaims, "Goodness! What lovely diamonds!", after seeing Mae's jewelry. Mae replies, "Goodness had nothing to do with it, dearie". Mae was a hit and later George Raft said of Mae: "She stole everything but the cameras." In her second film, She Done Him Wrong (Lowell Sherman, 1933), West was able to bring her ‘Diamond Lil’ character to the screen in her first starring film role. Her co-star was newcomer Cary Grant in one of his first major roles. ‘Lil’ was renamed ‘Lady Lou’, and she uttered the famous West line, "Why don't you come up sometime and see me?" The film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture, and did tremendously well at the box office. She Done Him Wrong is attributed to saving Paramount from bankruptcy. In her next film, I'm No Angel (Wesley Ruggles, 1933), she was again paired with Grant. This film, too, was a financial blockbuster and West became the highest-paid woman in the United States. However, her reputation as a provocative sexual figure and the steamy settings of her films aroused the wrath and moral indignation of several groups. The new Hays Office had the power to pre-approve films' productions and change scripts. In 1934, the organisation began to seriously and meticulously enforce the Production Code on West's screenplays, and heavily edited them. West responded in her typical fashion by increasing the number of innuendos and double entendres, fully expecting to confuse the censors, which she did for the most part. Her film Klondike Annie (Raoul Walsh, 1936) with Victor McLaglen, concerned itself with religion and hypocrisy. William R. Hearst disagreed so vehemently with the film's context, and West's portrayal of a Salvation Army worker, that he personally forbade any stories or advertisements of the film to be published in any of his newspapers. However, the film did well at the box office and is considered the high-point of West's film career. Throughout the 1930s her films were anticipated as major events, but by the end of the decade she seemed to have reached her limit and her popularity waned. The few other films she did for Paramount — Go West, Young Man (Henry Hathaway, 1936) and Everyday's a Holiday (A. Edward Sutherland, 1937) — did not do well at the box office, and she found censorship was severely limiting her creativity. In 1937, she was banned from NBC Radio after a guest appearance with Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy that was loaded with flirtatious dialogue and double-entendres.

 

In 1939, Mae West was approached by Universal Pictures to star in a film opposite comedian W.C. Fields. The studio wanted to duplicate the success they had with another film, Destry Rides Again (George Marshall, 1939), a Western morality tale starring Marlene Dietrich and James Stewart. West, looking for a vehicle to make a comeback in films, accepted the part, demanding creative control over the film. Using the same Western genre, she wrote the script for My Little Chickadee (Edward F. Cline, 1940). Despite tension on the set between West and Fields (she was a teetotaler and he drank), the film was a box-office success, out-grossing Fields' previous two films. After making The Heat's On (Gregory Ratoff, 1943) for Columbia, she planned to retire from the screen and went back to Broadway and on a tour of English theatres. Among her popular stage performances was the title role in ‘Catherine Was Great’ (1944) on Broadway, in which she penned a spoof on the story of Catherine the Great of Russia, surrounding herself with an ‘imperial guard’ of tall, muscular young actors. The play was produced by theater and film impresario Mike Todd and ran for 191 performances and then went on tour. In 1954, when she was 62, she began a nightclub act in which she was surrounded by musclemen; it ran for three years and was a great success. In 1954, West formed a nightclub act which revived some of her earlier stage work, featuring her in song-and-dance numbers and surrounded by musclemen fawning over her for attention. The show ran for three years and was a great success. With this victory, she felt it was a good time to retire. In 1959, West released her bestselling autobiography, ‘Goodness Had Nothing To Do With It’, recounting her life in show business. She made a few guest appearances on the 1960s television comedy/variety shows like The Red Skelton Show and some situation comedies like Mister Ed. She also recorded a few albums in different genres including rock 'n' roll and a Christmas album which, of course, was more parody and innuendo than a religious celebration. In the 1970s, she appeared in two more films. She had s small part in Gore Vidal's Myra Breckenridge (Michael Sarne, 1970), starring Raquel Welch. She starred in Sextette (Ken Hughes, 1978), which she based on her own stage play. Both were box office flops, but are now seen as cult films. In 1980, Mae West died after suffering two strokes in Hollywood and was entombed in Brooklyn, New York. She was 88. Denny Jackson at IMDb: “The actress, who only appeared in 12 films in 46 years, had a powerful impact on us. There was no doubt she was way ahead of her time with her sexual innuendos and how she made fun of a puritanical society. She did a lot to bring it out of the closet and perhaps we should be grateful for that.”

 

Sources: Denny Jackson (IMDb), Biography.com, AllMovie, Wikipedia, and IMDb.

 

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards..

Hitherto unseen, alleged portrait of Charlotte Corday in Charenton, School of Davidish, 1793-ish.

 

Execution

 

Corday asked the court if her portrait could be painted, purportedly to record her 'true self'. She made her request pleading, "Since I still have a few moments to live, might I hope, citizens, that you will allow me to have myself painted."[22]: 75

 

After Corday's decapitation, a man named Legros lifted her head from the basket and slapped it on the cheek. Charles-Henri Sanson, the executioner, indignantly rejected published reports that Legros was one of his assistants. Sanson stated in his diary that Legros was in fact a carpenter who had been hired to make repairs to the guillotine.[27] Witnesses report an expression of "unequivocal indignation" on her face when her cheek was slapped. The oft-repeated anecdote has served to suggest that victims of the guillotine may in fact retain consciousness for a short while, including by Albert Camus in his Reflections on the Guillotine. ("Charlotte Corday's severed head blushed, it is said, under the executioner's slap.").[28]

 

Jacobin leaders had her body autopsied immediately after her death to see if she was a virgin. They believed there was a man sharing her bed and the assassination plans. To their dismay, she was found to be a virgin.[30]

 

(WIKI)-ish

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlotte_Corday

Verona (/vəˈroʊnə/ və-ROH-nə, Italian: [veˈroːna]; Venetian: Verona or Veròna) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Italy, with 259,610 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city municipality in the region and the second largest in northeast Italy. The metropolitan area of Verona covers an area of 1,426 km2 (550.58 sq mi) and has a population of 714,310 inhabitants. It is one of the main tourist destinations in northern Italy because of its artistic heritage and several annual fairs and shows as well as the opera season in the Arena, an ancient Roman amphitheater.

 

Between the 13th and 14th century the city was ruled by the Della Scala Family. Under the rule of the family, in particular of Cangrande I della Scala, the city experienced great prosperity, becoming rich and powerful and being surrounded by new walls. The Della Scala era is survived in numerous monuments around Verona.

 

Two of William Shakespeare's plays are set in Verona: Romeo and Juliet (which also features Romeo's visit to Mantua) and The Two Gentlemen of Verona. It is unknown if Shakespeare ever visited Verona or Italy, but his plays have lured many visitors to Verona and surrounding cities. Verona was also the birthplace of Isotta Nogarola, who is said to be the first major female humanist and one of the most important humanists of the Renaissance. In november of 2000 the city has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO because of its urban structure and architecture.

 

History

 

The precise details of Verona's early history remain a mystery along with the origin of the name. One theory is it was a city of the Euganei, who were obliged to give it up to the Cenomani (550 BCE). With the conquest of the Valley of the Po, the Veronese territory became Roman (about 300 BCE). Verona became a Roman colonia in 89 BCE. It was classified as a municipium in 49 BCE, when its citizens were ascribed to the Roman tribe Poblilia or Publicia.

 

The city became important because it was at the intersection of several roads. Stilicho defeated Alaric and his Visigoths here in 403. But, after Verona was conquered by the Ostrogoths in 489, the Gothic domination of Italy began. Theoderic the Great was said to have built a palace there. It remained under the power of the Goths throughout the Gothic War (535–552), except for a single day in 541, when the Byzantine officer Artabazes made an entrance. The defections of the Byzantine generals over the booty made it possible for the Goths to regain possession of the city. In 552 Valerian vainly endeavored to enter the city, but it was only when the Goths were fully overthrown that they surrendered it.

 

In 569, it was taken by Alboin, King of the Lombards, in whose kingdom it was, in a sense, the second most important city. There, Alboin was killed by his wife in 572. The dukes of Treviso often resided there. Adalgisus, son of Desiderius, in 774 made his last desperate resistance in Verona to Charlemagne, who had destroyed the Lombard kingdom. Verona became the ordinary residence of the kings of Italy, the government of the city becoming hereditary in the family of Count Milo, progenitor of the counts of San Bonifacio. From 880 to 951 the two Berengarii resided there. Otto I ceded to Verona the marquisate dependent on the Duchy of Bavaria, however, the increasing wealth of the burgher families eclipsed the power of the counts, and in 1135 Verona was organised as a free commune. In 1164 Verona joined with Vicenza, Padua and Treviso to create the Veronese League, which was integrated with the Lombard League in 1167 to battle against Frederick I Barbarossa. Victory was achieved at the Battle of Legnano in 1176, and the Treaty of Venice signed in 1177 followed by the Peace of Constance in 1183.

 

When Ezzelino III da Romano was elected podestà in 1226, he converted the office into a permanent lordship. In 1257 he caused the slaughter of 11,000 Paduans on the plain of Verona (Campi di Verona). Upon his death, the Great Council elected Mastino I della Scala as podestà, and he converted the "signoria" into a family possession, though leaving the burghers a share in the government. Failing to be re-elected podestà in 1262, he affected a coup d'état, and was acclaimed Capitano del Popolo, with the command of the communal troops. Long internal discord took place before he succeeded in establishing this new office, to which was attached the function of confirming the podestà. In 1277, Mastino della Scala was killed by the faction of the nobles.

 

The reign of his son Alberto as capitano (1277–1302) was a time of incessant war against the counts of San Bonifacio, who were aided by the House of Este. Of his sons, Bartolomeo, Alboino and Cangrande I, only the last shared the government (1308); he was great as warrior, prince, and patron of the arts; he protected Dante, Petrarch, and Giotto. By war or treaty, he brought under his control the cities of Padua (1328), Treviso (1308) and Vicenza. At this time before the Black death the city was home to more than 40,000 people.

 

Cangrande was succeeded by Mastino II (1329–1351) and Alberto, sons of Alboino. Mastino continued his uncle's policy, conquering Brescia in 1332 and carrying his power beyond the Po. He purchased Parma (1335) and Lucca (1339). After the King of France, he was the richest prince of his time. But a powerful league was formed against him in 1337 – Florence, Venice, the Visconti, the Este, and the Gonzaga. After a three years war, the Scaliger dominions were reduced to Verona and Vicenza (Mastino's daughter Regina-Beatrice della Scala married to Barnabò Visconti). Mastino's son Cangrande II (1351–1359) was a cruel, dissolute, and suspicious tyrant; not trusting his own subjects, he surrounded himself with Brandenburg mercenaries. He was killed by his brother Cansignorio (1359–1375), who beautified the city with palaces, provided it with aqueducts and bridges, and founded the state treasury. He also killed his other brother, Paolo Alboino. Fratricide seems to have become a family custom, for Antonio (1375–87), Cansignorio's natural brother, slew his brother Bartolomeo, thereby arousing the indignation of the people, who deserted him when Gian Galeazzo Visconti of Milan made war on him. Having exhausted all his resources, he fled from Verona at midnight (19 October 1387), thus putting an end to the Scaliger domination, which, however, survived in its monuments.

 

The year 1387 is also the year of the Battle of Castagnaro, between Giovanni Ordelaffi, for Verona, and John Hawkwood, for Padua, who was the winner.

 

Antonio's son Canfrancesco attempted in vain to recover Verona (1390). Guglielmo (1404), natural son of Cangrande II, was more fortunate; with the support of the people, he drove out the Milanese, but he died ten days after, and Verona then submitted to Venice (1405). The last representatives of the Scaligeri lived at the imperial court and repeatedly attempted to recover Verona by the aid of popular risings.

 

From 1508 to 1517, the city was in the power of the Emperor Maximilian I. There were numerous outbreaks of the plague, and in 1629–33 Italy was struck by its worst outbreak in modern times. Around 33,000 people died in Verona (over 60 per cent of the population at the time) in 1630–1631.

 

In 1776 was developed a method of bellringing called Veronese bellringing art. Verona was occupied by Napoleon in 1797, but on Easter Monday the populace rose and drove out the French. It was then that Napoleon made an end of the Venetian Republic. Verona became Austrian territory when Napoleon signed the Treaty of Campo Formio in October 1797. The Austrians took control of the city on 18 January 1798. It was taken from Austria by the Treaty of Pressburg in 1805 and became part of Napoleon's Kingdom of Italy, but was returned to Austria following Napoleon's defeat in 1814, when it became part of the Austrian-held Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia.

 

The Congress of Verona, which met on 20 October 1822, was part of the series of international conferences or congresses, opening with the Congress of Vienna in 1814–15, that marked the continuing enforcement of the "Concert of Europe".

 

In 1866, following the Third Italian War of Independence, Verona, along with the rest of Venetia, became part of United Italy.

 

The advent of fascism added another dark chapter to the annals of Verona. Throughout Italy, the Jewish population was hit by the Manifesto of Race, a series of anti-Semitic laws passed in 1938, and after the invasion by Nazi Germany in 1943, deportations to Nazi concentration camps. An Austrian Fort (now a church, the Santuario della Madonna di Lourdes), was used to incarcerate and torture Allied troops, Jews and anti-fascists, especially after 1943, when Verona became part of the Italian Social Republic.

 

As in Austrian times, Verona became of great strategic importance to the regime. Galeazzo Ciano, Benito Mussolini's son-in-law, was accused of plotting against the republic; in a show trial staged in January 1944 by the Nazi and fascist hierarchy at Castelvecchio (the Verona trial), Ciano was executed on the banks of the Adige with many other officers on what is today Via Colombo. This marked another turning point in the escalation of violence that would only end with the final liberation by allied troops and partisans in 1945. After World War II, as Italy joined the NATO alliance, Verona once again acquired its strategic importance, due to its geographical closeness to the Iron Curtain.

 

The city became the seat of SETAF (South European Allied Terrestrial Forces) and had during the whole duration of the Cold War period a strong military presence, especially American, which has since decreased.

 

(Wikipedia)

 

Verona ist eine Großstadt in der Region Venetien im Nordosten Italiens. Sie hat 259.608 Einwohner (Stand 31. Dezember 2019) und ist Hauptstadt der Provinz Verona. Verona liegt an der Etsch etwa 59 m über dem Meeresspiegel am Austritt des Etschtals und der Brenner-Transitroute in die Po-Ebene. Seit 2000 gehört die Altstadt von Verona zum UNESCO-Welterbe.

 

Geschichte

 

Frühgeschichte

 

Die erste vorübergehende Besiedlung Veronas kann zwischen dem 11. und dem 8. Jahrhundert v. Chr. angesiedelt werden, wie Grabbeigaben und vereinzelte Keramikfunde belegen. Besiedelt wurde zunächst das linke Etschufer rund um den Colle San Pietro, an dem eine Furt auf die andere Flussseite führte. Erst mit dem 4. Jahrhundert v. Chr. war der Hügel und seine nähere Umgebung erneut Ort einer festen Siedlung. Funde, die den Rätern, Euganeern und Cenomanen zugeordnet werden können, unterstreichen, dass die Siedlung an der Grenze verschiedener Kulturbereiche lag. Bereits römische Quellen hatten sich in dieser Richtung geäußert und Verona mit den genannten Völkern und Stämmen in Verbindung gebracht. Im 2. Jahrhundert v. Chr. tauchten die ersten römischen Siedler auf. Der Bau der Via Postumia 148 v. Chr. förderte die weitere römische Ansiedlung. Mit der Verleihung des latinischen Bürgerrechts an die Bewohner der Gallia cisalpina 89 v. Chr. wurde Verona zum Oppidum ausgebaut.

 

Mit der Verleihung der römischen Bürgerrechte unter Gaius Iulius Caesar wurde Verona 49 v. Chr. zum Municipium, was als offizieller Gründungsakt der Stadt angesehen wird. Mit der Ernennung erfuhr Verona auch einen radikalen städtebaulichen Schnitt. Lag das Zentrum des Ortes bis dahin am linken Etuschfer, wurde Verona nun am rechten Ufer innerhalb der Etschschleife neu angelegt und an der zur Po-Ebene offenen Seite mit Stadtmauern geschützt. Zwischen Etsch und den römischen Stadtmauern entstand bereits unter Kaiser Augustus die römische Stadt Verona, die bald über ihre Mauern hinaus wuchs. So wurde das gut erhaltene Amphitheater – die Arena von Verona – ein knappes Jahrhundert später bereits vor den Stadtmauern angelegt.

 

Im Vierkaiserjahr 69 n. Chr. entging Verona im Gegensatz zu Cremona der Verwüstung im Kampf zwischen den Legionen des Vespasian und den Legionen des Vitellius. Danach setzte bis zur Reichskrise des 3. Jahrhunderts eine friedlichere Phase ein. Der Usurpator Decius schlug hier 249 den Kaiser Philippus Arabs, Konstantin 312 den Pompejanus (Schlacht von Verona)

 

Während der Völkerwanderung wurde Verona 402 von den Westgoten unter Alarich bedroht. Zwar konnte Stilicho in der Schlacht bei Verona noch einen Sieg über Alarich erringen. Aber bereits 452 plünderten die Hunnen unter Attila die Stadt. Nach dem Sieg des Ostgotenkönigs Theoderich über Odoaker bei Verona 489 wurde die Stadt neben Pavia und Ravenna zur Residenz des Ostgotenkönigs, der später im deutschen Hoch- und Spätmittelalter zur Sagenfigur Dietrich von Bern stilisiert wurde. Aus dem Sagenkreis um Dietrich von Bern stammt auch der alte Name der Stadt: „Dietrichsbern“. Weiterhin war in alter Zeit die Bezeichnung „Welsch-Bern“ gebräuchlich (zimbrisch: Bearn). Im 5. und 6. Jahrhundert war Verona nicht nur Residenz der Ostgoten, sondern auch für den Langobardenkönig Alboin, bis es an das fränkische Reich kam.

 

Mittelalter und frühe Neuzeit

 

In der Folge der verheerenden Ungarneinfälle ab 899 in Oberitalien wurde die stark befestigte Stadt nach 900 Sitz einer Münzstätte, die zum Ausgangspunkt des Veroneser Währungsraums wurde. Ab 952 gehörte Verona zur Markgrafschaft Verona und damit zum Herzogtum Bayern und bzw. (ab 976) zu Kärnten. Erst zu Beginn des 12. Jahrhunderts wurde Verona selbständig und besaß eigene Stadtrechte. 1117 wurde die Stadt von einem Erdbeben getroffen, bei dem unter anderem Teile der Arena einstürzten. Die verheerenden Ausmaße, der von späteren Chronisten dargestellten Schäden, wurden in neueren Studien allerdings in Zweifel gestellt. Bei einem Stadtbrand 1172, ausgelöst durch Streitigkeiten zwischen Ghibellinen und Guelfen, brannten große Teile der Stadt ab. 1184 fand das Konzil von Verona statt.

 

m Kampf gegen Kaiser Friedrich I. stand Verona mit an der Spitze des Lombardischen Städtebundes. Darauf wurde es durch die Parteikämpfe der Adelsparteien, der Montecchi (Ghibellinen) und der San Bonifazios (Guelfen), erschüttert. Zu Anfang des 13. Jahrhunderts bemächtigten sich die Ezzelini, die Beschützer der Montecchi, der Stadt. Nach dem Tod Ezzelinos III. da Romano (1259) wählten die Veroneser 1260 Mastino I. della Scala zum Podestà. Die Scaliger herrschten fortan 127 Jahre lang über Verona und erreichten unter der Signoria von Cangrande I. ihre höchste Blüte und unter seinem Nachfolger Mastino II. die größte territoriale Ausdehnung.

 

1387 fiel Verona nach der Vertreibung von Antonio della Scala durch Gian Galeazzo Visconti an die Mailänder Viscontis. Nach dem Tod Gian Galeazzos 1402 nutzten die Carrarersi aus Padua das entstandene Machtvakuum und nahmen die Stadt 1404 in ihren Besitz. Aber bereits 1405 beendete die Republik Venedig die Träume eines paduanischen Herrschaftsgebietes auf der Terraferma und Francesco II. da Carrara musste Verona an die Serenissima übergeben. Mit dem von einer Vertretung der Stadt am 24. Juni 1405 geleisteten Treueid gegenüber der Republik Venedig begann die venezianische Herrschaft. Letztere wurde 1509 nach der Niederlage Venedigs in der Schlacht von Agnadello unterbrochen und die Stadt von den kaiserlichen Truppen Maximilian I. besetzt. Nach dem Ende des Krieges der Liga von Cambrai fiel Verona 1517 wieder an Venedig.

 

1630 wurde die Stadt erneut von der Pest heimgesucht, nachdem die Bevölkerung von Verona bereits im 14. und 15. Jahrhundert von Pestepidemien dezimiert worden war. Der im März 1630 ausgebrochenen Epidemie fielen bis November des gleichen Jahres etwa 30.000 der 50.000 Einwohner zum Opfer. An dem vom Geschichtsschreiber Francesco Pona abgefassten Bericht über die Epidemie inspirierte sich später Alessandro Manzoni für sein Werk I Promessi Sposi.

 

Moderne

 

Nach dem von Napoleon Bonaparte bedingten Ende der Republik Venedig fiel Verona im Frieden von Campo Formio 1797 an Österreich; der vorherige, antifranzösische Aufstand der Veroneser zu Ostern wurde blutig niedergeschlagen. Unter österreichischer Herrschaft war die Stadt Teil des oberitalienischen Festungsvierecks (it.: Quadrilatero), das 1815 zur Verteidigung der habsburgerischen Besitztümer in Italien in den Orten Peschiera, Mantua, Legnago und Verona errichtet wurde. Der Ausbau zur Festungsstadt wurde zwischen 1833 und 1866 nach Plänen des Ingenieurgenerals Franz von Scholl vorgenommen. 1866 kam Verona als Ergebnis des Deutschen Kriegs nach dem Dritten Italienischen Unabhängigkeitskrieg zum Königreich Italien.

 

1882 wurde die Stadt an der Etsch von einer schweren Flutkatastrophe heimgesucht, bei der mehrere Gebäude vollkommen zerstört, fast 200 beschädigt und 3000 Menschen obdachlos wurden. Der nachfolgende Wiederaufbau prägt nach wie vor das Stadtbild entlang des Etschufers. 1913 wurde zum 100. Geburtstags von Giuseppe Verdi in der römischen Arena die Oper Aida aufgeführt. Aus dem überwältigenden Erfolg entstanden nach dem Ersten Weltkrieg die Opernfestspiele in der Arena von Verona.

 

Nachdem Verona bereits im Ersten Weltkrieg zum Ziel der österreichisch-ungarischen Luftstreitkräfte geworden war, wurde die Stadt im Zweiten Weltkrieg mehrmals von den Alliierten bombardiert. Im Herbst 1943 fand im Castelvecchio der erste Parteitag der neugegründeten Republikanischen Faschistischen Partei statt, die nach dem Sturz Mussolinis im Juli 1943 und dem Verbot der Faschistischen Partei im September des gleichen Jahres gegründet worden war. An gleicher Stelle fand im Januar 1944 der sogenannte Prozess von Verona statt. In dem Schauprozess wurden sieben ehemalige Mitglieder des Großen Faschistischen Rats, die in der Sitzung vom 24./25. Juli 1943 im Rom im Palazzo Venezia für die Absetzung von Benito Mussolinis als Oberbefehlshaber der italienischen Streitkräfte gestimmt hatten, wegen Hochverrats zum Tode verurteilt, darunter Galeazzo Ciano, der Schwiegersohn Mussolinis. Am 26. April 1945 wurde Verona im Rahmen der alliierten Frühjahrsoffensive befreit. Zuvor hatten die abziehenden deutschen Truppen noch sämtliche zehn Etschbrücken der Stadt, darunter die Römerbrücke Ponte Pietra sowie die Scaligerbrücke, gesprengt.

 

Heute ist die Stadt durch die Nähe zum Gardasee und zu Venedig ein beliebtes Ausflugsziel für Touristen und wirtschaftliches Zentrum der Region Venetien. 2000 wurde die Altstadt von Verona in die Liste des UNESCO-Welterbes aufgenommen.

 

(Wikipedia)

Intaglio; rock crystal; disc; engraved

Materials

Carolingian rock crystal [855-869]

Metal frame, gold & copper [15th C]

Carolingian Empire

London BM AN 1855,1201.5

 

****************************************************************

with eight episodes from the Story of Susanna.

 

We read the story clockwise:

Top: temptation of Susanna, who stands with the Elders in an enclosed garden with a gate; she holds two vessels in her left hand; on right two servants in short tunics run to the aid of their mistress from a building with gabled roof.

 

Below, on right: Elders in house of Joachim, ordering the servants to bring Susanna before them.

 

Below: group with the Elders in their midst extending their hands over Susanna's head, while the remaining figures express amazement.

 

Bottom, right: official with staff leads off Susanna, but is confronted by Daniel;

to right and left two figures raise arms in astonishment;

to left: Daniel rebukes one of the Elders, while behind two figures express their indignation and approval of his words.

 

Above, left: Daniel convicts the second Elder of falsehood, while onlookers give vent to indignation;

 

over this scene is the stoning of the Elders.

 

Central medallion: liberated Susanna stands with hands extended before Daniel, who is on seat of judgement, two men stand to left, canopy covers all figures;

 

in later copper-gilt mount with foliate borders; perhaps later used as a morse. On the engraved side the crystal is slightly convex; but on the smooth side the central area, about 50mm across, is flat, while the edges are bevelled.

 

****************************************************************************

Latin inscriptions, their transliteration and translation

 

SURREXER SENES - surrexerunt senses

The old men have stood up

 

SCA SVSANA - Sancta Susanna

Holy Susanna

 

MITTITE AD SVSANAM - mittite ad Susannam

Send for Susanne

 

MISER MANVS - miserunt manus

(the Elders) extending their hands

 

CVQ DVCERET AD MORTE - cumque duceretur ad mortem

and she was led to death

 

INVETERATE DIER MALOR - inveterate dierum malorum

You have grown old amid wicked days

 

RECTE MENTITVS ES - recte mentitus es

Very well! This lie has cost (you your head)

 

FECER Q EIS SICVT MALE EGERANT - feceruntque eis sicut male egerant

they did to them as they had wickedly planned (to do to their neighbor)

 

ET SALVATVS E SANG.INNOXIVS IN D A - et salvatus est sanguis innoxius in die illa

Thus innocent blood was spared that day

 

LOTHARIVS REX FRANCORVM FIERI IVSSIT -

 

Lotharius Rex Francorum fieri iussit

Lothar, King of the Franks, caused me to be made.]

 

Verona (/vəˈroʊnə/ və-ROH-nə, Italian: [veˈroːna]; Venetian: Verona or Veròna) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Italy, with 259,610 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city municipality in the region and the second largest in northeast Italy. The metropolitan area of Verona covers an area of 1,426 km2 (550.58 sq mi) and has a population of 714,310 inhabitants. It is one of the main tourist destinations in northern Italy because of its artistic heritage and several annual fairs and shows as well as the opera season in the Arena, an ancient Roman amphitheater.

 

Between the 13th and 14th century the city was ruled by the Della Scala Family. Under the rule of the family, in particular of Cangrande I della Scala, the city experienced great prosperity, becoming rich and powerful and being surrounded by new walls. The Della Scala era is survived in numerous monuments around Verona.

 

Two of William Shakespeare's plays are set in Verona: Romeo and Juliet (which also features Romeo's visit to Mantua) and The Two Gentlemen of Verona. It is unknown if Shakespeare ever visited Verona or Italy, but his plays have lured many visitors to Verona and surrounding cities. Verona was also the birthplace of Isotta Nogarola, who is said to be the first major female humanist and one of the most important humanists of the Renaissance. In november of 2000 the city has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO because of its urban structure and architecture.

 

History

 

The precise details of Verona's early history remain a mystery along with the origin of the name. One theory is it was a city of the Euganei, who were obliged to give it up to the Cenomani (550 BCE). With the conquest of the Valley of the Po, the Veronese territory became Roman (about 300 BCE). Verona became a Roman colonia in 89 BCE. It was classified as a municipium in 49 BCE, when its citizens were ascribed to the Roman tribe Poblilia or Publicia.

 

The city became important because it was at the intersection of several roads. Stilicho defeated Alaric and his Visigoths here in 403. But, after Verona was conquered by the Ostrogoths in 489, the Gothic domination of Italy began. Theoderic the Great was said to have built a palace there. It remained under the power of the Goths throughout the Gothic War (535–552), except for a single day in 541, when the Byzantine officer Artabazes made an entrance. The defections of the Byzantine generals over the booty made it possible for the Goths to regain possession of the city. In 552 Valerian vainly endeavored to enter the city, but it was only when the Goths were fully overthrown that they surrendered it.

 

In 569, it was taken by Alboin, King of the Lombards, in whose kingdom it was, in a sense, the second most important city. There, Alboin was killed by his wife in 572. The dukes of Treviso often resided there. Adalgisus, son of Desiderius, in 774 made his last desperate resistance in Verona to Charlemagne, who had destroyed the Lombard kingdom. Verona became the ordinary residence of the kings of Italy, the government of the city becoming hereditary in the family of Count Milo, progenitor of the counts of San Bonifacio. From 880 to 951 the two Berengarii resided there. Otto I ceded to Verona the marquisate dependent on the Duchy of Bavaria, however, the increasing wealth of the burgher families eclipsed the power of the counts, and in 1135 Verona was organised as a free commune. In 1164 Verona joined with Vicenza, Padua and Treviso to create the Veronese League, which was integrated with the Lombard League in 1167 to battle against Frederick I Barbarossa. Victory was achieved at the Battle of Legnano in 1176, and the Treaty of Venice signed in 1177 followed by the Peace of Constance in 1183.

 

When Ezzelino III da Romano was elected podestà in 1226, he converted the office into a permanent lordship. In 1257 he caused the slaughter of 11,000 Paduans on the plain of Verona (Campi di Verona). Upon his death, the Great Council elected Mastino I della Scala as podestà, and he converted the "signoria" into a family possession, though leaving the burghers a share in the government. Failing to be re-elected podestà in 1262, he affected a coup d'état, and was acclaimed Capitano del Popolo, with the command of the communal troops. Long internal discord took place before he succeeded in establishing this new office, to which was attached the function of confirming the podestà. In 1277, Mastino della Scala was killed by the faction of the nobles.

 

The reign of his son Alberto as capitano (1277–1302) was a time of incessant war against the counts of San Bonifacio, who were aided by the House of Este. Of his sons, Bartolomeo, Alboino and Cangrande I, only the last shared the government (1308); he was great as warrior, prince, and patron of the arts; he protected Dante, Petrarch, and Giotto. By war or treaty, he brought under his control the cities of Padua (1328), Treviso (1308) and Vicenza. At this time before the Black death the city was home to more than 40,000 people.

 

Cangrande was succeeded by Mastino II (1329–1351) and Alberto, sons of Alboino. Mastino continued his uncle's policy, conquering Brescia in 1332 and carrying his power beyond the Po. He purchased Parma (1335) and Lucca (1339). After the King of France, he was the richest prince of his time. But a powerful league was formed against him in 1337 – Florence, Venice, the Visconti, the Este, and the Gonzaga. After a three years war, the Scaliger dominions were reduced to Verona and Vicenza (Mastino's daughter Regina-Beatrice della Scala married to Barnabò Visconti). Mastino's son Cangrande II (1351–1359) was a cruel, dissolute, and suspicious tyrant; not trusting his own subjects, he surrounded himself with Brandenburg mercenaries. He was killed by his brother Cansignorio (1359–1375), who beautified the city with palaces, provided it with aqueducts and bridges, and founded the state treasury. He also killed his other brother, Paolo Alboino. Fratricide seems to have become a family custom, for Antonio (1375–87), Cansignorio's natural brother, slew his brother Bartolomeo, thereby arousing the indignation of the people, who deserted him when Gian Galeazzo Visconti of Milan made war on him. Having exhausted all his resources, he fled from Verona at midnight (19 October 1387), thus putting an end to the Scaliger domination, which, however, survived in its monuments.

 

The year 1387 is also the year of the Battle of Castagnaro, between Giovanni Ordelaffi, for Verona, and John Hawkwood, for Padua, who was the winner.

 

Antonio's son Canfrancesco attempted in vain to recover Verona (1390). Guglielmo (1404), natural son of Cangrande II, was more fortunate; with the support of the people, he drove out the Milanese, but he died ten days after, and Verona then submitted to Venice (1405). The last representatives of the Scaligeri lived at the imperial court and repeatedly attempted to recover Verona by the aid of popular risings.

 

From 1508 to 1517, the city was in the power of the Emperor Maximilian I. There were numerous outbreaks of the plague, and in 1629–33 Italy was struck by its worst outbreak in modern times. Around 33,000 people died in Verona (over 60 per cent of the population at the time) in 1630–1631.

 

In 1776 was developed a method of bellringing called Veronese bellringing art. Verona was occupied by Napoleon in 1797, but on Easter Monday the populace rose and drove out the French. It was then that Napoleon made an end of the Venetian Republic. Verona became Austrian territory when Napoleon signed the Treaty of Campo Formio in October 1797. The Austrians took control of the city on 18 January 1798. It was taken from Austria by the Treaty of Pressburg in 1805 and became part of Napoleon's Kingdom of Italy, but was returned to Austria following Napoleon's defeat in 1814, when it became part of the Austrian-held Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia.

 

The Congress of Verona, which met on 20 October 1822, was part of the series of international conferences or congresses, opening with the Congress of Vienna in 1814–15, that marked the continuing enforcement of the "Concert of Europe".

 

In 1866, following the Third Italian War of Independence, Verona, along with the rest of Venetia, became part of United Italy.

 

The advent of fascism added another dark chapter to the annals of Verona. Throughout Italy, the Jewish population was hit by the Manifesto of Race, a series of anti-Semitic laws passed in 1938, and after the invasion by Nazi Germany in 1943, deportations to Nazi concentration camps. An Austrian Fort (now a church, the Santuario della Madonna di Lourdes), was used to incarcerate and torture Allied troops, Jews and anti-fascists, especially after 1943, when Verona became part of the Italian Social Republic.

 

As in Austrian times, Verona became of great strategic importance to the regime. Galeazzo Ciano, Benito Mussolini's son-in-law, was accused of plotting against the republic; in a show trial staged in January 1944 by the Nazi and fascist hierarchy at Castelvecchio (the Verona trial), Ciano was executed on the banks of the Adige with many other officers on what is today Via Colombo. This marked another turning point in the escalation of violence that would only end with the final liberation by allied troops and partisans in 1945. After World War II, as Italy joined the NATO alliance, Verona once again acquired its strategic importance, due to its geographical closeness to the Iron Curtain.

 

The city became the seat of SETAF (South European Allied Terrestrial Forces) and had during the whole duration of the Cold War period a strong military presence, especially American, which has since decreased.

 

(Wikipedia)

 

Verona ist eine Großstadt in der Region Venetien im Nordosten Italiens. Sie hat 259.608 Einwohner (Stand 31. Dezember 2019) und ist Hauptstadt der Provinz Verona. Verona liegt an der Etsch etwa 59 m über dem Meeresspiegel am Austritt des Etschtals und der Brenner-Transitroute in die Po-Ebene. Seit 2000 gehört die Altstadt von Verona zum UNESCO-Welterbe.

 

Geschichte

 

Frühgeschichte

 

Die erste vorübergehende Besiedlung Veronas kann zwischen dem 11. und dem 8. Jahrhundert v. Chr. angesiedelt werden, wie Grabbeigaben und vereinzelte Keramikfunde belegen. Besiedelt wurde zunächst das linke Etschufer rund um den Colle San Pietro, an dem eine Furt auf die andere Flussseite führte. Erst mit dem 4. Jahrhundert v. Chr. war der Hügel und seine nähere Umgebung erneut Ort einer festen Siedlung. Funde, die den Rätern, Euganeern und Cenomanen zugeordnet werden können, unterstreichen, dass die Siedlung an der Grenze verschiedener Kulturbereiche lag. Bereits römische Quellen hatten sich in dieser Richtung geäußert und Verona mit den genannten Völkern und Stämmen in Verbindung gebracht. Im 2. Jahrhundert v. Chr. tauchten die ersten römischen Siedler auf. Der Bau der Via Postumia 148 v. Chr. förderte die weitere römische Ansiedlung. Mit der Verleihung des latinischen Bürgerrechts an die Bewohner der Gallia cisalpina 89 v. Chr. wurde Verona zum Oppidum ausgebaut.

 

Mit der Verleihung der römischen Bürgerrechte unter Gaius Iulius Caesar wurde Verona 49 v. Chr. zum Municipium, was als offizieller Gründungsakt der Stadt angesehen wird. Mit der Ernennung erfuhr Verona auch einen radikalen städtebaulichen Schnitt. Lag das Zentrum des Ortes bis dahin am linken Etuschfer, wurde Verona nun am rechten Ufer innerhalb der Etschschleife neu angelegt und an der zur Po-Ebene offenen Seite mit Stadtmauern geschützt. Zwischen Etsch und den römischen Stadtmauern entstand bereits unter Kaiser Augustus die römische Stadt Verona, die bald über ihre Mauern hinaus wuchs. So wurde das gut erhaltene Amphitheater – die Arena von Verona – ein knappes Jahrhundert später bereits vor den Stadtmauern angelegt.

 

Im Vierkaiserjahr 69 n. Chr. entging Verona im Gegensatz zu Cremona der Verwüstung im Kampf zwischen den Legionen des Vespasian und den Legionen des Vitellius. Danach setzte bis zur Reichskrise des 3. Jahrhunderts eine friedlichere Phase ein. Der Usurpator Decius schlug hier 249 den Kaiser Philippus Arabs, Konstantin 312 den Pompejanus (Schlacht von Verona)

 

Während der Völkerwanderung wurde Verona 402 von den Westgoten unter Alarich bedroht. Zwar konnte Stilicho in der Schlacht bei Verona noch einen Sieg über Alarich erringen. Aber bereits 452 plünderten die Hunnen unter Attila die Stadt. Nach dem Sieg des Ostgotenkönigs Theoderich über Odoaker bei Verona 489 wurde die Stadt neben Pavia und Ravenna zur Residenz des Ostgotenkönigs, der später im deutschen Hoch- und Spätmittelalter zur Sagenfigur Dietrich von Bern stilisiert wurde. Aus dem Sagenkreis um Dietrich von Bern stammt auch der alte Name der Stadt: „Dietrichsbern“. Weiterhin war in alter Zeit die Bezeichnung „Welsch-Bern“ gebräuchlich (zimbrisch: Bearn). Im 5. und 6. Jahrhundert war Verona nicht nur Residenz der Ostgoten, sondern auch für den Langobardenkönig Alboin, bis es an das fränkische Reich kam.

 

Mittelalter und frühe Neuzeit

 

In der Folge der verheerenden Ungarneinfälle ab 899 in Oberitalien wurde die stark befestigte Stadt nach 900 Sitz einer Münzstätte, die zum Ausgangspunkt des Veroneser Währungsraums wurde. Ab 952 gehörte Verona zur Markgrafschaft Verona und damit zum Herzogtum Bayern und bzw. (ab 976) zu Kärnten. Erst zu Beginn des 12. Jahrhunderts wurde Verona selbständig und besaß eigene Stadtrechte. 1117 wurde die Stadt von einem Erdbeben getroffen, bei dem unter anderem Teile der Arena einstürzten. Die verheerenden Ausmaße, der von späteren Chronisten dargestellten Schäden, wurden in neueren Studien allerdings in Zweifel gestellt. Bei einem Stadtbrand 1172, ausgelöst durch Streitigkeiten zwischen Ghibellinen und Guelfen, brannten große Teile der Stadt ab. 1184 fand das Konzil von Verona statt.

 

m Kampf gegen Kaiser Friedrich I. stand Verona mit an der Spitze des Lombardischen Städtebundes. Darauf wurde es durch die Parteikämpfe der Adelsparteien, der Montecchi (Ghibellinen) und der San Bonifazios (Guelfen), erschüttert. Zu Anfang des 13. Jahrhunderts bemächtigten sich die Ezzelini, die Beschützer der Montecchi, der Stadt. Nach dem Tod Ezzelinos III. da Romano (1259) wählten die Veroneser 1260 Mastino I. della Scala zum Podestà. Die Scaliger herrschten fortan 127 Jahre lang über Verona und erreichten unter der Signoria von Cangrande I. ihre höchste Blüte und unter seinem Nachfolger Mastino II. die größte territoriale Ausdehnung.

 

1387 fiel Verona nach der Vertreibung von Antonio della Scala durch Gian Galeazzo Visconti an die Mailänder Viscontis. Nach dem Tod Gian Galeazzos 1402 nutzten die Carrarersi aus Padua das entstandene Machtvakuum und nahmen die Stadt 1404 in ihren Besitz. Aber bereits 1405 beendete die Republik Venedig die Träume eines paduanischen Herrschaftsgebietes auf der Terraferma und Francesco II. da Carrara musste Verona an die Serenissima übergeben. Mit dem von einer Vertretung der Stadt am 24. Juni 1405 geleisteten Treueid gegenüber der Republik Venedig begann die venezianische Herrschaft. Letztere wurde 1509 nach der Niederlage Venedigs in der Schlacht von Agnadello unterbrochen und die Stadt von den kaiserlichen Truppen Maximilian I. besetzt. Nach dem Ende des Krieges der Liga von Cambrai fiel Verona 1517 wieder an Venedig.

 

1630 wurde die Stadt erneut von der Pest heimgesucht, nachdem die Bevölkerung von Verona bereits im 14. und 15. Jahrhundert von Pestepidemien dezimiert worden war. Der im März 1630 ausgebrochenen Epidemie fielen bis November des gleichen Jahres etwa 30.000 der 50.000 Einwohner zum Opfer. An dem vom Geschichtsschreiber Francesco Pona abgefassten Bericht über die Epidemie inspirierte sich später Alessandro Manzoni für sein Werk I Promessi Sposi.

 

Moderne

 

Nach dem von Napoleon Bonaparte bedingten Ende der Republik Venedig fiel Verona im Frieden von Campo Formio 1797 an Österreich; der vorherige, antifranzösische Aufstand der Veroneser zu Ostern wurde blutig niedergeschlagen. Unter österreichischer Herrschaft war die Stadt Teil des oberitalienischen Festungsvierecks (it.: Quadrilatero), das 1815 zur Verteidigung der habsburgerischen Besitztümer in Italien in den Orten Peschiera, Mantua, Legnago und Verona errichtet wurde. Der Ausbau zur Festungsstadt wurde zwischen 1833 und 1866 nach Plänen des Ingenieurgenerals Franz von Scholl vorgenommen. 1866 kam Verona als Ergebnis des Deutschen Kriegs nach dem Dritten Italienischen Unabhängigkeitskrieg zum Königreich Italien.

 

1882 wurde die Stadt an der Etsch von einer schweren Flutkatastrophe heimgesucht, bei der mehrere Gebäude vollkommen zerstört, fast 200 beschädigt und 3000 Menschen obdachlos wurden. Der nachfolgende Wiederaufbau prägt nach wie vor das Stadtbild entlang des Etschufers. 1913 wurde zum 100. Geburtstags von Giuseppe Verdi in der römischen Arena die Oper Aida aufgeführt. Aus dem überwältigenden Erfolg entstanden nach dem Ersten Weltkrieg die Opernfestspiele in der Arena von Verona.

 

Nachdem Verona bereits im Ersten Weltkrieg zum Ziel der österreichisch-ungarischen Luftstreitkräfte geworden war, wurde die Stadt im Zweiten Weltkrieg mehrmals von den Alliierten bombardiert. Im Herbst 1943 fand im Castelvecchio der erste Parteitag der neugegründeten Republikanischen Faschistischen Partei statt, die nach dem Sturz Mussolinis im Juli 1943 und dem Verbot der Faschistischen Partei im September des gleichen Jahres gegründet worden war. An gleicher Stelle fand im Januar 1944 der sogenannte Prozess von Verona statt. In dem Schauprozess wurden sieben ehemalige Mitglieder des Großen Faschistischen Rats, die in der Sitzung vom 24./25. Juli 1943 im Rom im Palazzo Venezia für die Absetzung von Benito Mussolinis als Oberbefehlshaber der italienischen Streitkräfte gestimmt hatten, wegen Hochverrats zum Tode verurteilt, darunter Galeazzo Ciano, der Schwiegersohn Mussolinis. Am 26. April 1945 wurde Verona im Rahmen der alliierten Frühjahrsoffensive befreit. Zuvor hatten die abziehenden deutschen Truppen noch sämtliche zehn Etschbrücken der Stadt, darunter die Römerbrücke Ponte Pietra sowie die Scaligerbrücke, gesprengt.

 

Heute ist die Stadt durch die Nähe zum Gardasee und zu Venedig ein beliebtes Ausflugsziel für Touristen und wirtschaftliches Zentrum der Region Venetien. 2000 wurde die Altstadt von Verona in die Liste des UNESCO-Welterbes aufgenommen.

 

(Wikipedia)

Tipu Sultan ( Urdu:ٹیپو سلطان, Kannada : ಟಿಪ್ಪು ಸುಲ್ತಾನ್ ) (20 November 1750 – 4 May 1799), (Sultan Fateh Ali Khan Shahab) also known as the Tiger of Mysore, and Tipu Sahib, was a ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore. He was the eldest son of Sultan Hyder Ali of Mysore. Tipu introduced a number of administrative innovations during his rule, including his coinage, a new Mauludi lunisolar calendar, and a new land revenue system which initiated the growth of Mysore silk industry. Tipu expanded the iron-cased Mysorean rockets and wrote the military manual Fathul Mujahidin, considered a pioneer in the use of rocket artillery. He deployed the rockets against advances of British forces and their allies in their 1792 and 1799 Siege of Srirangapatna.

 

Tipu engaged in expansionist attacks against his neighbours. He remained an implacable enemy of the British East India Company, bringing them into renewed conflict with his attack on British-allied Travancore in 1789. In the Third Anglo-Mysore War, Tipu was forced into the humiliating Treaty of Seringapatam, losing a number of previously conquered territories, including Malabar and Mangalore. He sent emissaries to foreign states, including the Ottoman Turkey, Afghanistan, and France, in an attempt to rally opposition to the British. In the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War, the forces of the British East India Company, supported by the Marathas and the Nizam of Hyderabad, defeated Tipu and he was killed on 4 May 1799 while defending his fort of Srirangapatna. Tipu Sultan's image in India is complicated where he is regarded both as a secular ruler who fought against British colonialism as well as an anti-Hindu tyrant.

 

EARLY YEARS OF TIPU SULTAN

CHILDHOOD

Tipu Sultan was born on 20 November 1750 (Friday, 20th Dhu al-Hijjah, 1163 AH) at Devanahalli, in present-day Bengaluru Rural district, about 33 km north of Bengaluru city. He was named "Tipu Sultan" after the saint Tipu Mastan Aulia of Arcot. Tipu was also called "Fath Ali" after his grandfather Fatah Muhammad. Tipu was born at Devanhalli, the son of Haidar Ali. Himself illiterate, Haidar was very particular in giving his eldest son a prince's education and a very early exposure to military and political affairs. From the age of 17 Tipu was given independent charge of important diplomatic and military missions. He was his father's right arm in the wars from which Haidar emerged as the most powerful ruler of southern India.

 

Tipu's father, Hyder Ali, was a military officer in service to the Kingdom of Mysore; he rapidly rose in power, and became the de facto ruler of Mysore in 1761.

 

SECOND ANGLO-MYSORE WAR

In 1779, the British captured the French-controlled port of Mahé, which Tipu had placed under his protection, providing some troops for its defence. In response, Hyder launched an invasion of the Carnatic, with the aim of driving the British out of Madras.[13] During this campaign in September 1780, Tipu Sultan was dispatched by Hyder Ali with 10,000 men and 18 guns to intercept Colonel Baillie who was on his way to join Sir Hector Munro. In the Battle of Pollilur, Tipu decisively defeated Baillie. Out of 360 Europeans, about 200 were captured alive, and the sepoys, who were about 3800 men, suffered very high casualties. Munro was moving south with a separate force to join Baillie, but on hearing the news of the defeat he was forced to retreat to Madras, abandoning his artillery in a water tank at Kanchipuram.

 

Tipu Sultan defeated Colonel Braithwaite at Annagudi near Tanjore on 18 February 1782. Braithwaite's forces, consisting of 100 Europeans, 300 cavalry, 1400 sepoys and 10 field pieces, was the standard size of the colonial armies. Tipu Sultan seized all the guns and took the entire detachment prisoner. In December 1781 Tipu Sultan successfully seized Chittur from the British. Tipu Sultan had thus gained sufficient military experience by the time Hyder Ali died on Friday, 6 December 1782 – some historians put it at 2 or 3 days later or before, (Hijri date being 1 Muharram, 1197 as per some records in Persian – there may be a difference of 1 to 3 days due to the Lunar Calendar). Tipu Sultan realised that the British were a new kind of threat in India. He became the ruler of Mysore on Sunday, 22 December 1782 (The inscriptions in some of Tipu's regalia showing it as 20 Muharram, 1197 Hijri – Sunday), in a simple coronation ceremony. He then worked to check the advances of the British by making alliances with the Marathas and the Mughals.

 

The Second Mysore War came to an end with the 1784 Treaty of Mangalore. It was the last occasion when an Indian king dictated terms to the British, and the treaty is a prestigious document in the history of India.

 

RULER OF THE MYSORE STATE

Muhammad Falak Ali taught Tipu how to fight. While leading a predominantly Hindu country, Tipu remained strong in his Muslim faith, going daily to say his prayers and paying special attention to mosques in the area.

 

During his rule, he completed the project of Lal Bagh started by his father Hyder Ali, and built roads, public buildings, and ports in his kingdom. His dominion extended throughout North Bangalore including the Nandi Hills and Chickballapur. His trade extended to countries such as Sri Lanka, Oman, Durrani Afghanistan, France, Ottoman Turkey and Iran. Under his leadership, the Mysore army proved to be a school of military science to Indian princes. The serious blows that Tipu Sultan inflicted on the British in the First and Second Mysore Wars affected their reputation as an invincible power.

 

Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, the former President of India, in his Tipu Sultan Shaheed Memorial Lecture in Bangalore (30 November 1991), called Tipu Sultan the innovator of the world's first war rocket. Two of these rockets, captured by the British at Srirangapatna, are displayed in the Royal Artillery Museum in London. According to historian Dr Dulari Qureshi Tipu Sultan was a fierce warrior king and was so quick in his movement that it seemed to the enemy that he was fighting on many fronts at the same time. Tipu managed to subdue all the petty kingdoms in the south. He defeated the Nizams and was also one of the few Indian rulers to have defeated British armies. He is said to have started a new coinage, calendar, and a new system of weights and measures mainly based on the methods introduced by French technicians. He was well versed in Kannada, Urdu, Persian, Arabic, English and French. Tipu was supposed to become a Sufi, but his father Hyder Ali insisted he become a capable soldier and leader.

 

FOREIGN RELATIONS

Both Hyder Ali ismaael and Tipu Sultan were independent rulers of Mysore, but claimed some degree of loyalty to the Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II. Both of them are known to have maintained correspondence with the Mughal emperor. Unlike the Nawab of Carnatic, neither owed any allegiance to the Nizam of Hyderabad and often instead chose direct contact and relations with the Mughal emperor.

 

In the year 1787, Tipu Sultan sent an embassy to the Ottoman capital Istanbul, to the Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid I requesting urgent assistance against the British East India Company and had proposed an offensive and defensive consortium. Tipu Sultan requested the Ottoman Sultan to send him troops and military experts. Furthermore, Tipu Sultan also requested permission from the Ottomans to contribute to the maintenance of the Islamic shrines in Mecca, Medina, Najaf and Karbala. However, the Ottomans were themselves at crisis and still recuperating from the devastating Austro-Ottoman War and a new conflict with the Russian Empire had begun, for which Ottoman Turkey needed British alliance to keep off the Russians, hence it could not risk being hostile to the British in the Indian theatre. Due to the Ottoman-inability to organise a fleet in the Indian Ocean, Tipu Sultan's ambassadors returned home only with gifts from their Ottoman allies, this event caused his defeat and loss of much territory by the year 1792. Nevertheless, Tipu Sultan's correspondence with the Ottoman Turkish Empire and particularly it's new Sultan Selim III continued till his final battle in the year 1799.

 

Tipu sought support from the French, who had been his traditional allies, aimed at driving his main rivals, the British East India Company, out of the subcontinent. But back in France, the French revolution had broken out, the ruling Bourbon family was executed and the country was in chaos, hence the French did not support him. Napoleon, while still not the Emperor of France, sought an alliance with Tipu Sultan. Napoleon came as far as conquering Egypt in an attempt to link with Tipu Sultan against the British, their common enemy. In February 1798, Napoleon wrote a letter to Tipu Sultan appreciating his efforts of resisting the British annexation and plans, but this letter never reached Tipu and was seized by a British spy in Muscat. The idea of a possible Tipu-Napoleon alliance alarmed the British Governor General Sir Richard Wellesley (also known as Lord Wellesley) so much that he immediately started large scale preparations for a final battle against Tipu Sultan.

 

Both Tipu Sultan and Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte were defeated by the same person. In the Final siege and fall of Srirangapatna in 1799, General Arthur Wellesley led the British army into the City after the fall of Tipu Sultan. Arthur was the younger brother of Richard Wellesley, and was one of the British Generals in the Fourth Mysore War. Several years later in Europe, the same Arthur Wellesley, now the Duke of Wellington, led the armies of the Seventh Coalition and defeated the Imperial French army led by Napoleon Bonaparte in the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.

 

Like his father before him, Tipu Sultan maintained many embassies and made several contacts with Mohammad Ali Khan, ruler of the Zand Dynasty in Persia. Tipu Sultan also maintained correspondence with Hamad bin Said, the ruler of the Sultanate of Oman.

 

Regional interests and clever British diplomacy left Tipu with more enemies and betrayers, but no allies when he needed them the most – the final showdown with the British in the Fourth Mysore War.

 

WAR AGAINST THE MARATHA CONFEDERACY

The Maratha Empire, under its new Peshwa Madhavrao I, regained most of Indian subcontinent, twice defeating Tipu's father, who was forced to accept Maratha Empire as the supreme power in 1764 and then in 1767. In 1767 Maratha Peshwa Madhavrao defeated both Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan and entered Srirangapatna, the capital of Mysore. Hyder Ali accepted the authority of Madhavrao who gave him the title of Nawab of Mysore. However Tipu Sultan wanted to escape from the treaty of Marathas and therefore tried to take some Maratha forts in southern India. This brought Tipu in direct conflict with the Marathas, who sent an army towards Mysore under leadership of General Nana Phadnavis. The Marathas took many forts of Tipu Sultan in the Mysore region Badami, Kittur, and Gajendragad in June 1786. By the victory in this war, the border of the Maratha territory was extended to the Tungabhadra river. This forced Tipu to open negotiations with the Maratha leadership. He sent two of his agents to the Maratha capital of Pune. The deal that was finalised resulted in the Marathas recovering their territories which had been invaded by Mysore. Furthermore, the Nizam of Hyderabad received Adoni and Mysore was obligated to pay 4.8 million rupees as a war cost to the Marathas, and an annual tribute of 1.2 million rupees; in return the Marathas recognised the rule of Tipu in the Mysore region.

 

The Malabar Invasion of Sultanate of Mysore (1766–1790)

In 1766, when Tipu Sultan was just 15 years old, he got the chance to apply his military training in battle for the first time, when he accompanied his father on an invasion of Malabar. After the incident- Siege of Tellicherry in Thalassery in North Malabar, Hyder Ali started losing his territories in Malabar. Tipu came from Mysore to reinstate the authority over Malabar. After the Battle of the Nedumkotta (1789), due to the monsoon flood, the stiff resistance of the Travancore forces and news about the attack of British in Srirangapatnam he went back.

 

THIRD ANGLO-MYSORE-WAR

In 1789, Tipu Sultan disputed the acquisition by Dharma Raja of Travancore of two Dutch-held fortresses in Cochin. In December 1789 he massed troops at Coimbatore, and on 28 December made an attack on the lines of Travancore, knowing that Travancore was (according to the Treaty of Mangalore) an ally of the British East India Company. On account of the staunch resistance by the Travancore army, Tipu was unable to break through the Tranvancore lines and the Maharajah of Travancore appealed to the East India Company for help. In response, Lord Cornwallis mobilised company and British military forces, and formed alliances with the Marathas and the Nizam of Hyderabad to oppose Tipu. In 1790 the company forces advanced, taking control of much of the Coimbatore district. Tipu counterattacked, regaining much of the territory, although the British continued to hold Coimbatore itself. He then descended into the Carnatic, eventually reaching Pondicherry, where he attempted without success to draw the French into the conflict.In 1791 his opponents advanced on all fronts, with the main British force under Cornwallis taking Bangalore and threatening Srirangapatna. Tipu harassed the British supply and communication and embarked on a "scorched earth" policy of denying local resources to the invaders. In this last effort he was successful, as the lack of provisions forced Cornwallis to withdraw to Bangalore rather than attempt a siege of Srirangapatna. Following the withdrawal, Tipu sent forces to Coimbatore, which they retook after a lengthy siege.

 

The 1792 campaign was a failure for Tipu. The allied army was well-supplied, and Tipu was unable to prevent the junction of forces from Bangalore and Bombay before Srirangapatna. After about two weeks of siege, Tipu opened negotiations for terms of surrender. In the ensuing treaty, he was forced to cede half his territories to the allies, and deliver two of his sons as hostages until he paid in full three crores and thirty lakhs rupees fixed as war indemnity to the British for the campaign against him. He paid the amount in two instalments and got back his sons from Madras.

 

NAPOLEON´S ATTEMPT AT A JUNCTION

In 1794, with the support of French Republican officers, Tipu helped found the Jacobin Club of Mysore for 'framing laws comfortable with the laws of the Republic' He planted a Liberty Tree and declared himself Citizen Tipoo.

 

One of the motivations of Napoleon's Invasion of Egypt was to establish a junction with India against the British. Bonaparte wished to establish a French presence in the Middle East, with the ultimate dream of linking with Tippoo Sahib. Napoleon assured to the French Directory that "as soon as he had conquered Egypt, he will establish relations with the Indian princes and, together with them, attack the English in their possessions." According to a 13 February 1798 report by Talleyrand: "Having occupied and fortified Egypt, we shall send a force of 15,000 men from Suez to India, to join the forces of Tipu-Sahib and drive away the English." Napoleon was unsuccessful in this strategy, losing the Siege of Acre in 1799, and at the Battle of Abukir in 1801.

 

“Although I never supposed that he (Napoleon) possessed, allowing for some difference of education, the liberality of conduct and political views which were sometimes exhibited by old Hyder Ali, yet I did think he might have shown the same resolved and dogged spirit of resolution which induced Tipu Sahib to die manfully upon the breach of his capital city with his sabre clenched in his hand.”

— Sir Walter Scott, commenting on the abdication of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1814

 

DEATH

FOURTH ANGLO-MYSORE WAR

After Horatio Nelson had defeated François-Paul Brueys D'Aigalliers at the Battle of the Nile in Egypt in 1798, three armies, one from Bombay, and two British (one of which included Arthur Wellesley), marched into Mysore in 1799 and besieged the capital Srirangapatna in the Fourth Mysore War.

 

There were over 26,000 soldiers of the British East India Company comprising about 4000 Europeans and the rest Indians. A column was supplied by the Nizam of Hyderabad consisting of ten battalions and over 16,000 cavalry, and many soldiers were sent by the Marathas. Thus the soldiers in the British force numbered over 50,000 soldiers whereas Tipu Sultan had only about 30,000 soldiers. The British broke through the city walls, French Military advisers advised Tipu Sultan to escape from secret passages and live to fight another day but to their astonishment Tipu replied "One day of life as a Tiger is far better than thousand years of living as a Sheep". Tipu Sultan died defending his capital on 4 May. When the fallen Tipu was identified, Wellesley felt his pulse and confirmed that he was dead. Next to him, underneath his palankeen, was one of his most confidential servants, Rajah Cawn. Rajah was able to identify Tipu for the soldiers. Tipu Sultan was killed at the Hoally (Diddy) Gateway, which was located 270 m from the N.E. Angle of the Srirangapatna Fort. Tipu was buried the next afternoon, at the Gumaz, next to the grave of his father. In the midst of his burial, a great storm struck, with massive winds and rains. As Lieutenant Richard Bayly of the British 12th regiment wrote,

I have experienced hurricanes, typhoons, and gales of wind at sea, but never in the whole course of my existence had I seen anything comparable to this desolating visitation.Immediately after the death of Tipu Sultan many members of the British East India Company believed that Umdat Ul-Umra, the Nawab of Carnatic, secretly provided assistance to Tipu Sultan during the war and immediately sought his deposition after the year 1799.

 

LEADERSHIP, POLICY AND INNOVATIONS

Tipu introduced a new calendar, new coinage, and seven new government departments, during his reign, and made military innovations in the use of rocketry.

 

MYSOREAN ROCKETS

Tipu Sultan's father had expanded on Mysore's use of rocketry, making critical innovations in the rockets themselves and the military logistics of their use. He deployed as many as 1,200 specialised troops in his army to operate rocket launchers. These men were skilled in operating the weapons and were trained to launch their rockets at an angle calculated from the diameter of the cylinder and the distance to the target. The rockets had blades mounted on them, and could wreak significant damage when fired en masse against a large army. Tipu greatly expanded the use of rockets after Hyder's death, deploying as many as 5,000 rocketeers at a time. The rockets deployed by Tipu during the Battle of Pollilur were much more advanced than those the British East India Company had previously seen, chiefly because of the use of iron tubes for holding the propellant; this enabled higher thrust and longer range for the missiles (up to 2 km range).

 

British accounts describe the use of the rockets during the third and fourth wars. During the climactic battle at Srirangapatna in 1799, British shells struck a magazine containing rockets, causing it to explode and send a towering cloud of black smoke with cascades of exploding white light rising up from the battlements. After Tipu's defeat in the fourth war the British captured a number of the Mysorean rockets. These became influential in British rocket development, inspiring the Congreve rocket, which was soon put into use in the Napoleonic Wars.

 

RELIGIOUS POLICY

As a Muslim ruler in a largely Hindu domain, Tipu Sultan faced problems in establishing the legitimacy of his rule, and in reconciling his desire to be seen as a devout Islamic ruler with the need to be pragmatic to avoid antagonising the majority of his subjects. His religious legacy has become a source of considerable controversy in the subcontinent. Some groups proclaim him a great warrior for the faith or Ghazi, while others revile him as a bigot who massacred Hindus.

 

In 1780, he declared himself to be the Badshah or Emperor of Mysore, and struck coinage in his own name without reference to the reigning Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II. H. D. Sharma writes that, in his correspondence with other Islamic rulers such as Zaman Shah of the Afghan Durrani Empire, Tipu Sultan used this title and declared that he intended to establish an Islamic empire in the entire country, along the lines of the Mughal Empire, which was at its decline during the period in question. He even invited Zaman Shah to invade India to help achieve this mission. His alliance with the French was supposedly aimed at achieving this goal by driving his main rivals, the British, out of the subcontinent. During the early period of Tipu Sultan's reign in particular, he appears to have been as strict as his father against any non-Muslim accused of collaboration with the British East India Company or the Maratha.

 

ATTITUDE TOWARDS HINDUS

CNVERSIONS OF HINDUS OUTSIDE MYSORE TO ISLAM

KODAGU (COORG)

The battles between Kodavas and Tippu Sultan is one of the most bitter rivalries in South India. There were repeated attempts to capture Kodagu by the sultan and his father Hyder Ali before him. The primary reason for sultan's interest in Kodagu because annexing Kodagu would provide access to Mangalore port. The Kodavas knew their lands and mountains very well which made them excellent at guerrilla warfare. Kodavas were outnumbered 3 to 1 in most of Tippu's attempts to annex Kodagu but they managed to beat back Tippu most of the times by drawing his army towards hilly regions of their land. On few occasions Tippu's army managed to reach Madikeri(Capital of Kodagu) but the Kodavas always ambushed the contingent left behind by Tippu. Kodavas refusal to bow to the sultan was primarily because throughout their history they enjoyed independence, though there were Rajahs ruling over them, governance of the land mainly rested with Kodavas. After capturing Kodagu on another occasion, Tippu proclaimed, "If you ever dare to ambush my men again, I will honor everyone of you with Islam", undeterred, the resilient Kodavas ambushed his men yet again and drove them back to Mysore. By now Tippu realized conventional warfare would never yield him Kodagu. He devised a plan to annex Kodagu by offering his friendship. His offer of friendship was welcomed by Kodavas as the battles with the Sultan over the years had cost them dearly. When Kodavas welcomed Sultan to their land in the name of friendship, the Sultan and his men attacked them and took thousands as prisoners. Tipu got Runmust Khan, the Nawab of Kurnool, to launch a surprise attack upon the Kodava Hindus who were besieged by the invading Muslim army. 500 were killed and over 40,000 Kodavas fled to the woods and concealed themselves in the mountains. Thousands of Kodavas were seized along with the Raja and held captive at Seringapatam. Aguably, they were thought to be subjected to forcible conversions to Islam, death, and torture.

 

In Seringapatam, the young men were all forcibly circumcised and incorporated into the Ahmedy Corps, and were formed into eight Risalas or regiments. The actual number of Kodavas that were captured in the operation is unclear. The British administrator Mark Wilks gives it as 70,000, Historian Lewis Rice arrives at the figure of 85,000, while Mir Kirmani's score for the Coorg campaign is 80,000 men, women and child prisoners.

 

Mohibbul Hasan, Prof. Sheikh Ali, and other historians cast great doubt on the scale of the deportations and forced conversions in Coorg in particular. Hassan says that it is difficult to estimate the real number of Coorgs captured by Tipu.

 

MALABAR

NORTH MALABAR

In 1788, Tipu entered into Malabar to quell a rebellion. Nairs were surrounded with offers of death or circumcision. Chirakkal's Nair Raja who was received with distinctions for surrendering voluntarily was later hanged. Tipu then divided Malabar into districts, with three officers in each district given the task of numbering productive trees, collecting revenue and giving religious orders to Nairs.

 

INSCRIPTIONS

On the handle of the sword presented by Tipu to Marquess Wellesley was the following inscription:

 

"My victorious sabre is lightning for the destruction of the unbelievers. Ali, the Emir of the Faithful, is victorious for my advantage, and moreover, he destroyed the wicked race who were unbelievers. Praise be to him (God), who is the Lord of the Worlds! Thou art our Lord, support us against the people who are unbelievers. He to whom the Lord giveth victory prevails over all (mankind). Oh Lord, make him victorious, who promoteth the faith of Muhammad. Confound him, who refuseth the faith of Muhammad; and withhold us from those who are so inclined from the true faith. The Lord is predominant over his own works. Victory and conquest are from the Almighty. Bring happy tidings, Oh Muhammad, to the faithful; for God is the kind protector and is the most merciful of the merciful. If God assists thee, thou will prosper. May the Lord God assist thee, Oh Muhammad, with a mighty great victory."

 

During a search of his palace in 1795, some gold medals were found in the palace, on which the following was inscribed on one side in Persian: "Of God the bestower of blessings", and the other: "victory and conquest are from the Almighty". These were carved in commemoration of a victory after the war of 1780. The following is a translation of an inscription on the stone found at Seringapatam, which was situated in a conspicuous place in the fort:

 

"Oh Almighty God! dispose the whole body of infidels! Scatter their tribe, cause their feet to stagger! Overthrow their councils, change their state, destroy their very root! Cause death to be near them, cut off from them the means of sustenance! Shorten their days! Be their bodies the constant object of their cares (i.e., infest them with diseases), deprive their eyes of sight, make black their faces (i.e., bring shame)."

 

TEMPLES AND OFFICERS IN MYSORE

Tipu Sultan's treasurer was Krishna Rao, Shamaiya Iyengar was his Minister of Post and Police, his brother Ranga Iyengar was also an officer, and Purnaiya held the very important post of "Mir Asaf". Moolchand and Sujan Rai were his chief agents at the Mughal court, and his chief "Peshkar", Suba Rao, was also a Hindu. Editor of Mysore Gazettes Srikantaiah has listed 156 temples to which Tipu regularly paid annual grants. There is such evidence as grant deeds, and correspondence between his court and temples, and his having donated jewellery and deeded land grants to several temples, which some claim he was compelled to do to make alliances with Hindu rulers. Between 1782 and 1799 Tipu Sultan issued 34 "Sanads" (deeds) of endowment to temples in his domain, while also presenting many of them with gifts of silver and gold plate. The Srikanteswara Temple in Nanjangud still possesses a jewelled cup presented by the Sultan. He also gave a greenish linga; to Ranganatha temple at Srirangapatna he donated seven silver cups and a silver camphor burner. This temple was hardly a stone's throw from his palace from where he would listen with equal respect to the ringing of temple bells and the muezzin's call from the mosque; to the Lakshmikanta Temple at Kalale he gifted four cups, a plate and Spitoon in silver.

 

SRINGERI INCIDENT

In 1791, Maratha army raided the temple and matha of Sringeri Shankaracharya, killing and wounding many, and plundering the monastery of all its valuable possessions. The incumbent Shankaracharya petitioned Tipu Sultan for help. A bunch of about 30 letters written in Kannada, which were exchanged between Tipu Sultan's court and the Sringeri Shankaracharya were discovered in 1916 by the Director of Archaeology in Mysore. Tipu Sultan expressed his indignation and grief at the news of the raid:

 

"People who have sinned against such a holy place are sure to suffer the consequences of their misdeeds at no distant date in this Kali age in accordance with the verse: "Hasadbhih kriyate karma rudadbhir-anubhuyate" (People do [evil] deeds smilingly but suffer the consequences crying)."

 

He immediately ordered the Asaf of Bednur to supply the Swami with 200 rahatis (fanams) in cash and other gifts and articles. Tipu Sultan's interest in the Sringeri temple continued for many years, and he was still writing to the Swami in the 1790s CE.

 

CONTROVERSIAL FIGURE

In light of this and other events, B.A. Saletare has described Tipu Sultan as a defender of the Hindu dharma, who also patronised other temples including one at Melkote, for which he issued a Kannada decree that the Shrivaishnava invocatory verses there should be recited in the traditional form. The temple at Melkote still has gold and silver vessels with inscriptions indicating that they were presented by the Sultan. Tipu Sultan also presented four silver cups to the Lakshmikanta Temple at Kalale. Tipu Sultan does seem to have repossessed unauthorised grants of land made to Brahmins and temples, but those which had proper sanads were not. It was a normal practice for any ruler, Muslim or Hindu, on his accession or on the conquest of new territory. The portrayal of Tipu Sultan as a secular leader is disputed, and some sources, largely left-leaning scholars from the 20th century, suggest that he in fact often embraced religious pluralism.

 

Historian C. Hayavadana Rao wrote about Tipu in his encyclopaedic court history of Mysore. He asserted that Tipu's "religious fanaticism and the excesses committed in the name of religion, both in Mysore and in the provinces, stand condemned for all time. His bigotry, indeed, was so great that it precluded all ideas of toleration". He further asserts that the acts of Tipu that were constructive towards Hindus were largely political and ostentatious rather than an indication of genuine tolerance.

 

ATTITUDE TOWARDS CHRISTIANS

Tipu is regarded to be anti-Christian by some historians. The captivity of Mangalorean Catholics at Seringapatam, which began on 24 February 1784 and ended on 4 May 1799, remains the most disconsolate memory in their history.

 

The Barcoor Manuscript reports him as having said: "All Musalmans should unite together, and considering the annihilation of infidels as a sacred duty, labour to the utmost of their power, to accomplish that subject." Soon after the Treaty of Mangalore in 1784, Tipu gained control of Canara. He issued orders to seize the Christians in Canara, confiscate their estates, and deport them to Seringapatam, the capital of his empire, through the Jamalabad fort route. However, there were no priests among the captives. Together with Fr. Miranda, all the 21 arrested priests were issued orders of expulsion to Goa, fined Rupees 200,000, and threatened death by hanging if they ever returned.

 

Tipu ordered the destruction of 27 Catholic churches, all beautifully carved with statues depicting various saints. Among them included the Church of Nossa Senhora de Rosario Milagres at Mangalore, Fr Miranda's Seminary at Monte Mariano, Church of Jesu Marie Jose at Omzoor, Chapel at Bolar, Church of Merces at Ullal, Imaculata Conceicão at Mulki, San Jose at Perar, Nossa Senhora dos Remedios at Kirem, Sao Lawrence at Karkal, Rosario at Barkur, Immaculata Conceição at Baidnur. All were razed to the ground, with the exception of The Church of Holy Cross at Hospet, owing to the friendly offices of the Chauta Raja of Moodbidri.

 

According to Thomas Munro, a Scottish soldier and the first collector of Canara, around 60,000 people, nearly 92 percent of the entire Mangalorean Catholic community, were captured; only 7,000 escaped. Francis Buchanan gives the numbers as 70,000 captured, from a population of 80,000, with 10,000 escaping. They were forced to climb nearly 1,200 m through the jungles of the Western Ghat mountain ranges. It was 340 km from Mangalore to Seringapatam, and the journey took six weeks. According to British Government records, 20,000 of them died on the march to Seringapatam. According to James Scurry, a British officer, who was held captive along with Mangalorean Catholics, 30,000 of them were forcibly converted to Islam. The young women and girls were forcibly made wives of the Muslims living there. The young men who offered resistance were disfigured by cutting their noses, upper lips, and ears. According to Mr. Silva of Gangolim, a survivor of the captivity, if a person who had escaped from Seringapatam was found, the punishment under the orders of Tipu was the cutting off of the ears, nose, the feet and one hand. Gazetteer of South India describes Tipu Sultan forcibly circumcising 30,000 West Coast Christians and deporting them to Mysore

 

Tipu's persecution of Christians even extended to captured British soldiers. For instance, there were a significant number of forced conversions of British captives between 1780 and 1784. Following their disastrous defeat at the 1780 Battle of Pollilur, 7,000 British men along with an unknown number of women were held captive by Tipu in the fortress of Seringapatnam. Of these, over 300 were circumcised and given Muslim names and clothes and several British regimental drummer boys were made to wear ghagra cholis and entertain the court as nautch girls or dancing girls. After the 10-year-long captivity ended, James Scurry, one of those prisoners, recounted that he had forgotten how to sit in a chair and use a knife and fork. His English was broken and stilted, having lost all his vernacular idiom. His skin had darkened to the swarthy complexion of negroes, and moreover, he had developed an aversion to wearing European clothes.

 

During the surrender of the Mangalore fort which was delivered in an armistice by the British and their subsequent withdrawal, all the Mestizos and remaining non-British foreigners were killed, together with 5,600 Mangalorean Catholics. Those condemned by Tipu Sultan for treachery were hanged instantly, the gibbets being weighed down by the number of bodies they carried. The Netravati River was so putrid with the stench of dying bodies, that the local residents were forced to leave their riverside homes.

 

The Archbishop of Goa wrote in 1800, "It is notoriously known in all Asia and all other parts of the globe of the oppression and sufferings experienced by the Christians in the Dominion of the King of Kanara, during the usurpation of that country by Tipu Sultan from an implacable hatred he had against them who professed Christianity."

 

Tipu Sultan's invasion of the Malabar had an adverse impact on the Syrian Malabar Nasrani community of the Malabar coast. Many churches in the Malabar and Cochin were damaged. The old Syrian Nasrani seminary at Angamaly which had been the center of Catholic religious education for several centuries was razed to the ground by Tipu's soldiers. A lot of centuries old religious manuscripts were lost forever. The church was later relocated to Kottayam where it still exists to this date. The Mor Sabor church at Akaparambu and the Martha Mariam Church attached to the seminary were destroyed as well. Tipu's army set fire to the church at Palayoor and attacked the Ollur Church in 1790. Furthernmore, the Arthat church and the Ambazhakkad seminary was also destroyed. Over the course of this invasion, many Syrian Malabar Nasrani were killed or forcibly converted to Islam. Most of the coconut, arecanut, pepper and cashew plantations held by the Syrian Malabar farmers were also indiscriminately destroyed by the invading army. As a result, when Tipu's army invaded Guruvayur and adjacent areas, the Syrian Christian community fled Calicut and small towns like Arthat to new centres like Kunnamkulam, Chalakudi, Ennakadu, Cheppadu, Kannankode, Mavelikkara, etc. where there were already Christians. They were given refuge by Sakthan Tamburan, the ruler of Cochin and Karthika Thirunal, the ruler of Travancore, who gave them lands, plantations and encouraged their businesses. Colonel Macqulay, the British resident of Travancore also helped them.

 

TREATMENT OF PRISONERS

According to historian Professor Sheikh Ali, Tipu "took his stand on the bedrock of humanity, regarding all his subjects as equal citizen to live in peace, harmony and concord." However, during the storming of Srirangapatna by the British in 1799, thirteen murdered British prisoners were discovered, killed by either having their necks broken or nails driven into their skulls.

 

Tipu's palace in Seringapatam had a strictly guarded Zenana quarters for women. Many of the women in his Hareem were daughters of native princes and Brahmins, who had been abducted in infancy and brought up Muslim. In the same palace, the legitimate Wadiyar king Chamaraja Wodeyar IX was held captive. The prince having no children had adopted his relative, who was also imprisoned by the Sultan. The palaces and temples raised by the earlier Wadiyar kings were also pulled down by Tipu, on the pretext of strengthening the fortress.

 

LEGACY

Tipu Sultan was one of the first Indian kings to be martyred on the battlefield while defending his Kingdom against the Colonial British. In India, While many historians generally take a favourable view of his reign, others portray him as a Muslim fanatic. Tipu has been officially recognized by the Government of India as a freedom fighter. The 1990 Television Series The Sword of Tipu Sultan directed by Sanjay Khan was based on the Life and events of Tipu Sultan.

 

Tipu Sultan is held in high esteem in Pakistan which considers Tipu Sultan as a hero of the Indian independence movement. The country has honoured him by naming Pakistan Navy ship PNS Tippu Sultan after Tipu Sultan. Pakistan television aired a drama on Tipu Sultan directed by Qasim Jalali.

 

Tipu had several wives. Tipu Sultan's family was sent to Calcutta by the British. A descendent of one of Tipu Sultan's uncles Noor Inayat Khan was a British Special Operations Executive agent during the Second World War, murdered in the German Dachau concentration camp in 1944.

 

SWORD AND TIGER

Tipu Sultan had lost his sword in a war with the Nairs of Travancore during the Battle of the Nedumkotta (1789), in which he was forced to withdraw due to the severe joint attack from Travancore army and British army. The Nair army under the leadership of Raja Kesavadas again defeated the Mysore army near Aluva. The Maharaja, Dharma Raja, gave the famous sword to the Nawab of Arcot, from where the sword went to London. The sword was on display at the Wallace Collection, No. 1 Manchester Square, London.

 

Tipu was commonly known as the Tiger of Mysore and adopted this animal as the symbol (bubri/ babri) of his rule. It is said that Tipu Sultan was hunting in the forest with a French friend. He came face to face with a tiger. His gun did not work, and his dagger fell on the ground as the tiger jumped on him. He reached for the dagger, picked it up, and killed the tiger with it. That earned him the name "the Tiger of Mysore". He even had French engineers build a mechanical tiger for his palace. The device, known as Tipu's Tiger, is on display in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Not only did Tipu place relics of tigers around his palace and domain, but also had the emblem of a tiger on his banners and some arms and weapons. Sometimes this tiger was very ornate and had inscriptions within the drawing, alluding to Tipu's faith. Historian Alexander Beatson reported that "in his palace was found a great variety of curious swords, daggers, fusils, pistols, and blunderbusses; some were of exquisite workmanship, mounted with gold, or silver, and beautifully inlaid and ornamented with tigers' heads and stripes, or with Persian and Arabic verses".

 

The last sword used by Tipu in his last battle, at Sri Rangapatnam, and the ring worn by him were taken by the British forces as war trophies. Till April 2004, they were kept on display at the British Museum London as gifts to the museum from Maj-Gen Augustus W.H. Meyrick and Nancy Dowager.

 

At an auction in London in April 2004, Vijay Mallya purchased the sword of Tipu Sultan and some other historical artefacts, and brought them back to India.

 

In October 2013, another sword owned by Tipu Sultan and decorated with his babri (tiger stripe motif) surfaced and was auctioned by Sotheby's. It was purchased for 98,500 £ by a bidder on the phone.

 

WIKIPEDIA

The facility was founded following a 1908 report of The Maryland State Lunacy Commission which stated:

 

"It is with a feeling of shame and humiliation that the conditions which exist in the State among the negro insane are chronicled and known to the public. Righteous indignation cannot help being aroused when one sees or reads of the most horrible cruelties being practiced upon these unfortunates.... The most urgent need at this time is a hospital for the negro insane of Maryland..."

As early as 1899 the Maryland Lunacy Commission in its Annual Report stated

"At present there are no negro insane at the second hospital (Springfield) and the comparatively small number at Spring Grove is a distinct embarrassment to the institution."

Again in its 1900 report it stated:

"The condition of the negro insane at Montevue Hospital at Frederick is shameful and should at once be remedied. The beasts of the field are better cared for than the poor negroes at Montevue"

 

The first group of 12 patients arrived on 13 March 1911.

"Arise, ye who refuse to be bondslaves!

 

... Indignation fills the hearts of all our countrymen,

 

Arise! Arise! Arise!"

 

Philip Roth

www.holyspiritspeaks.org/videos/party-is-not-done-talking/

Introduction

Li Ming'ai is a Christian in mainland China. She is a woman of upright character who respects her parents-in-law, assists her husband and educates her child, and has a happy and harmonious family. In China, where atheism exercises control, however, the Chinese Communist government always wildly arrests and persecutes people who believe in God. In 2006, Li Ming'ai was arrested and fined because of her belief in God. After Li Ming'ai returned home, the Chinese Communist police often threatened and intimidated her and her family, and tried to prevent Li Ming'ai from continuing her belief in God. One day, when Li Ming'ai was away from home holding a meeting, she was reported by an informer. The police went to Li Ming'ai's home trying to arrest her. She was forced to leave home, and from that time on, Li Ming'ai's life hiding from place to place and fleeing from home began. The Chinese Communist police still won't leave her alone, always keeping watch on her home, and waiting for an opportunity to arrest her. One evening, Li Ming'ai stealthily goes home to see her family, but almost immediately the police hurry to arrest her. Luckily someone warns her, and Li Ming'ai escapes disaster.

 

Three years later, while Li Ming'ai is practicing her faith and doing her duty far from home, she is followed and arrested by Chinese Communist police. The Chinese Communist police carry out inhuman torture and torment on Li Ming'ai, and utilize family affection to try to lure her. They use threats such as denying her child a right to attend school, and blocking future access to jobs in the government that the child might have to try to force her to abandon her faith in God, to betray the leaders in the church, and to make known the finances of the church. During this time, Li Ming'ai prays to God and places her faith in God. In God's word she finds enlightenment and guidance. She endures torture and torment by the Chinese Communist police, sees through Satan's tricks, and resolves to not betray God. She stands firm witness for God. The interrogation by the Chinese Communist police bears no fruit, and they are shamed into anger. They lead Li Ming'ai dressed in prisoner's clothing to her village home, parading her for all to see. They do this to shame her, and then try to get her family members to tempt her to betray God, and sell out the church. Li Ming'ai is most enraged by how the Chinese Communists attribute the difficulties of her family to her belief in God. Filled with righteous indignation, Li Ming'ai angrily brings to light the evil reality of how the Chinese Communist government arrests and persecutes Christians. She states that the real destroyer of Christians' families is the Chinese Communist government, which is the arch-criminal who brings people all sorts of calamity. Thus she serves up a thorough and shameful defeat to the Chinese Communists.

 

Eastern Lightning,The Church of Almighty God was created because of the appearance and work of Almighty God, the second coming of the Lord Jesus, Christ of the last days. It is made up of all those who accept Almighty God's work in the last days and are conquered and saved by His words. It was entirely founded by Almighty God personally and is led by Him as the Shepherd. It was definitely not created by a person. Christ is the truth, the way, and the life. God's sheep hear God's voice. As long as you read the words of Almighty God, you will see God has appeared.

 

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Washington, D.C. (est. 1790, pop. ~690,000)

 

• Ford’s Theatre ( left of traffic light w/gable roof) [photo] • site of assassination of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln

 

• onlookers gather around reporters & actors at red carpet preview of the movie, “The Conspirator” (2010), story of Mary Surratt, lone female charged as a co-conspirator in Lincoln assassination

 

• theater’s site previously occupied by First Baptist Church of Washington (1834) [photo] • services held until 1859 • John Thompson Ford, Baltimore theatrical manager, leased the church bldg., converted it into a theatre • inaugurated Dec., 1861 as The "George Christy Opera House," presenting popular blackface troupe, Christy’s Minstrels

 

• following their final performance 27 Feb., 1862, further renovations made for presentation of theatrical (rather than musical) plays • 3 wks. later venue, renamed “Ford’s Atheneum,” entered Washington’s Civil War theater scene • presented excellent companies & first rate stars • Pres. Lincoln first attended Ford's on 28 May, 1862 • venue was profitable until the evening of 30 Dec, 1862, when it burned

 

• 2 mos.later, the cornerstone of a new theater was laid on this site by James J. Gifford, chief carpenter, architect & builder • the brick structure, modeled after the Late Victorian-style design of Baltimore’s Holliday Street Theatre [photo], seated ~1,700 w/ 8 private boxes, two upper, two lower, located on either side of stage

 

• opened evening of 27 Aug., 1863 with “The Naiad Queen,” a "Fairy Opera" [photo] presented to a capacity audience • became one of the most successful entertainment venues in Washington —Ford’s Theatre, National Historic Site

 

• as Ford’s ventures prospered, a future competitor was making history • Mary Francis Moss was born, 1826, in Winchester, England • during childhood was a frequent visitor to the studio of "old man" J.M.W, Turner, the celebrated painter —The Life of Laura Keene [photo]

 

• married at age 18 to former British Army officer, Henry Wellington Taylor • 7 yr. marriage produced 2 daughters • husband was arrested for an undocumented crime, sent to Australia on a prison ship • to support her family, Mary Taylor became British stage actress Laura Keene, who made her professional debut in London, Oct., 1851 —Wikipedia

 

• in 1852, less than a year into her acting career, accepted an offer from impresario J.W. Wallack to travel to New York City, to audition for leading lady of the Wallack’s Theater stock company • became a popular star performer [photo] • began considering a move into an entrepreneurial role

 

• took over Baltimore's Charles Street Theatre, 24 Dec, 1853, w/ financial assistance from wealthy Washingtonian, John Lutz • managed it for 2 months, qualifying her as USA’s first female theater manager • Lutz became her business manager & by some unverifiable accounts, her husband, though she was still married to Taylor — Androom Archives

 

• moved to San Francisco & the Metropolitan Theatre [photo] • played opposite Edwin Booth, brother of John Wilkes Booth • toured Australia with Edwin, 1854

 

• by 1855 she had returned to NYC • retained architect, John M. Trimble, a theater specialist • the new theater, built to her specifications, was named the Laura Keene’s Varieties [photo], aka Laura Keene’s Theatre [photo], or Third Olympic Theatre • opened at 622 Broadway on 18 Nov., 1856 • managed by Keene until 1863 when she assumed the lease & took over D.C.’s Washington Theatre [photo] [ad] from lessee, manager & self-proclaimed “People’s Favorite Tragedian,” John Wilkes Booth

 

• in 1858, having returned to Laura Keene's Theatre in NYC, premiered Our American Cousin,” [script] a 3-act farce starring Laura Keene [photo], written by English playwright Tom Taylor, U.S./Canada rights owned by Keene • with a run of 150 nights, set new standards for New York theater

 

• synopsis: a coarse but honest American, Asa Trenchard, arrives at the British Trenchard estate to claim an inheritance as the last named heir • meets Lord Dundreary & other snooty relatives who are trying to keep up appearances & marry off daughters • servants gossip, villains emerge from the shadows, true love conquers all in the end, a farce satirizing pretension & manners —Helytimes

 

• this is the play Laura Keene chose for her 14 Apr., 1865 Ford’s Theatre engagement, a benefit & farewell performance [ad] for the beloved star [playbill] • “Our Leading Lady,” is a 2007 comedy inspired by Keene’s role in the events surrounding this performance

 

• Laura Keene would play her usual role as Trenchard’s wife, Florence • Harry Hawk [photo], a member of Keene’s NY company, was to play the boorish American, Asa Trenchard • the classic role of brainless aristocrat Lord Dundreary was given to Edwin "Ned" Emerson [photo], leading man in the Ford Stock Company, brother of a Confederate soldier killed in action in 1862 & close friend of John Wilkes Booth

 

"I knew John Wilkes Booth well," wrote Edwin Emerson, "having played with him in dozens of cities, throughout the East and Middle West. He was a kind-hearted, genial person, and no cleverer gentleman ever lived. Everybody loved him on the stage, though he was a little excitable and eccentric."

 

• while Ford's was presenting Keene's famous play, arch-rival Grover's Theatre aka Grover’s National Theatre, offered “Aladin and The Wonderful Lamp” • Leonard Grover advertised his theatre as the capital’s only “Union” playhouse, highlighting John Ford’s more “Secesh” (secessionist) sentiments • “Doubtless [Ford’s] personal sympathies were with his State and with that portion of the country in which he was born and reared.” —Leonard Grover

 

• according to Grover, during the four years of [Lincoln’s] administration, he visited his theater “probably more than a hundred times. He often came alone, many times brought his little son Tad, and on special occasions, Mrs. Lincoln.” The President also once told Grover, ”I really enjoy a minstrel show," • when Grover responded that Hooley's Minstrels [photo] were soon to appear, Lincoln laughed. "Well, that was thoughtful of you." • “[Lincoln] was exceedingly conversant with Shakespeare. He enjoyed a classical representation, of which I gave many” —Lincoln's Interest in the Theater, Leonard Grover

 

• the National’s policy of segregating blacks began when it opened in 1835 • a portion of the gallery was set apart for "persons of color" • it is not known how many black theatergoers were in the 5 Mar., 1845 audience for “Beauty & the Beast,” “Stage Struck Nigger” & the Congo Melodists, a Boston blackface minstrel group [photo], but Washington’s 7 Mar. “National lntelligencer” reported that the cause of the fire which had demolished the theatre on the 5th was "a candle without a stick left burning on a table by a negro...."

 

• although the Grover-managed version of the National also had its "colored parterre,” Ford's Theatre, excluded blacks entirely from its performances • the exclusion of black Washingtonians from public places in the nation’s capital helped secure the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1875 which, in 1889, the Supreme Court held unconstitutional. —The National Theatre in Washington: Buildings and Audiences, 1835-1972

 

• Mary Lincoln had tickets to Grover’s but preferred seeing Laura Keene in “Our American Cousin” • with little interest, the president said he would take care of the tickets • a messenger was sent to the theatre around 10:30 A.M. to secure the state box for the evening • the Lincolns’ son, Tad, opted for Grover’s, thus would not be with his parents at Ford’s that night

 

• General Grant accepted Lincoln’s invitation to join them in the Presidential box, but when Julia Grant objected to spending the evening with the sharp-tongued First Lady, he canceled • Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, Speaker of the House Schuyler Colfax & son Robert Todd Lincoln also declined before Clara Harris (1834-1883), daughter of New York Senator Ira Harris (1802-1875), and her fiancé, Major Henry Rathbone (1837-1911), accepted. —History Channel

 

The theatre as it appeared the night of Lincoln's assassination:

• the stage

• presidential box

 

• “Laura Keene was on stage with E, A. Emerson when the Presidents' party entered the theatre. As the party made its way, Miss Keene halted the play, Conductor William Withers [photo] led the orchestra in Hail to the Chief,'

and the audience rose and greeted the President with 'vociferous cheering.' President Lincoln came to the front of the box, acknowledged the reception, [set his silk hat on the floor], and the actors resumed where they had left off.

 

“The fatal shot was fired during the second scene of the third act. Laura Keene was standing in the first entrance (wing), stage right, facing the audience, awaiting her cue for the next scene

 

“On stage, just prior to the shooting, Mrs. Mountchessington was squelching Asa Trenchard: I am aware, Mr. Trenchard, you are not used to the manners of good society, and that alone will excuse the impertinence of which you have been guilty. (Exit)

 

“This left Asa Trenchard (Harry Hawk) alone on the stage… The audience was silent, expectantly awaiting the punch line from Asa. Miss Harris and Major Rathbone were ‘intently observing’ the scene on stage.The President ‘was leaning upon one hand, and with the other was adjusting a portion of the drapery‘ which hung at the side of the box opening. [photo]

 

“At this moment John Wilkes Booth stood silently in the shadows of the state box, four or five feet directly behind the President. Probably the last words heard by Lincoln were spoken by Harry Hawk:

 

“ASA: Don’t know the manners of good society, eh? Wal, I guess I know enough to turn you inside out, old gal — you sockdologizing old mantrap.

 

“The audience roared. Then penetrating the laughter was the distinct sound of a shot. A puff of smoke drifted from the box, and Major Rathbone “saw through the smoke, a man between the door and the President. He ‘instantly sprang toward him,’ but the assassin wrested from his grasp and slashed Rathbone with a dagger across the left arm. Meanwhile, Harry Hawk looked up from the stage to see a man, knife in hand, leaping over the balustrade of the President's box onto the stage apron. Fearing he would be attacked Hawk ran off the stage.’ Booth ran across the stage, [illustration] brushed past Miss Keene in the wings…

—Harbin, Billy J. “Laura Keene at the Lincoln Assassination,” Educational Theatre Journal 18, no. 1 (1966): 47–54

 

• Edwin Emerson: “…near the beginning of the third act… I was standing in the wings, just behind a piece of scenery, waiting for my cue to go on, when I heard a shot. I was not surprised, nor was anyone else behind the scenes. Such sounds are too common during the shifting of the various sets to surprise an actor. For a good many seconds after that sound nothing happened behind the footlights. Then, as I stood there in the dimness, a man rushed by me, making for the stage door. I did not recognize Booth at the time, nor did anyone else, I think, unless, someone out on the stage, when he stood a moment and shouted with theatrical gesture, ‘Sic Semper Tyrannis!' (So perish all tyrants!) Even after he flashed by, there was quiet for a few moments among the actors and the stage hands. No one knew what had happened.”—Find a Grave

 

• running from the stage Booth exited the building into Baptist Alley, a public alleyway laid out in 1792 • grabbed the reins of his horse & rode off, turning right on F Street to head for the safety of of the Maryland night

 

• James S. Knox, witness: “…The shrill cry of murder from Mrs. Lincoln first roused the horrified audience, and in an instant the uproar was terrible. The silence of death was broken by shouts of "kill him," "hang him" and strong men wept, and cursed, and tore the seats in the impotence of their anger, while Mrs. Lincoln, on her knees uttered shriek after shriek at the feet of the dying President.” —Library of Congress

 

• video: Charles L. Willis, J.W. Epperson eyewitness accounts of the assassination

 

• according to legend, Laura Keene rushed to Lincoln’s box w/a pitcher of water • cradled his head, staining her cuff w/ his blood.

 

• The Night Lincoln Was Shot: Minute-by-Minute Backstage With John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theatre

 

“In the lobby of Grover’s, as Tad Lincoln awaited his parents' carriage to take him back to the White House, he learned that his father had been shot • Grover, who was in New York, received a telegram from his associate manager: President shot tonight at Ford's Theatre. Thank God it wasn't ours. C. D. Hess."

 

“[two doctors] now arrived and after a moments consultation we agreed to have him removed to the nearest house… I called out twice 'Guards clear the passage,' which was so soon done that we proceeded… with the President and were not in the slightest interrupted until he was placed in bed in the house of Mr. Peterson… During the night the room was visited by many of his friends. Mrs Lincoln with Mrs. Senator Dixon came into the room three or four times during the night. The Presidents son Captn R. Lincoln, remained with his father during the greater part of the night.

 

“At 7.20 a.m. he breathed his last and “the spirit fled to God who gave it… Immediately after death had taken place, we all bowed and the Rev. Dr. Gurley supplicated to God in behalf of the bereaved family and our afflicted country.” —Report on the Assassination of Abraham Lincoln by Dr. Charles Leale [photo]

 

• Secy. of War Stanton ordered guards posted at the building [photo] & future dramatic productions canceled • later that year, attempts by Ford to reopen the theatre aroused public indignation • War Dept. ordered it closed, Ford threatened legal action, federal government responded by leasing & later purchasing the bldg.

 

• American newspapers report the shocking news in a country still younger than some of its citizens

 

• Willie Clark, the Petersen House boarder who lived in the room in which President Lincoln died, wrote to his sister four days after Lincoln's death...

 

“The past few days have been of intense excitement. Arrests are numerously made, of any party heard to utter secesh sentiments. The time has come when people cannot say what they please, the people are awfully indignant. Leinency is no longer to be thought of. A new code must be adopted.

 

“They talk of the tyranical administration of Mr. Lincoln, but we have a man now for a president who will teach the south a lesson they will know well how to appreciate…

 

“…Everybody has a great desire to obtain some memento from my room so that whoever comes in has to be closely watched for fear they will steal something.

 

“I have a lock of his hair which I have had neatly framed, also a piece of linen with a portion of his brain, the pillow and case upon which he lay when he died and nearly all his wearing apparel but the latter I intend to send to Robt. Lincoln as soon as the funeral is over, as I consider him the one most justly entitled to them.

 

“The same matrass (sic.) is on my bed, and the same coverlit (sic.) covers me nightly that covered him while dying.

 

“Enclosed you will find a piece of lace that Mrs. Lincoln wore on her head during the evening and was dropped by her while entering my room to see her dying husband It is worth keeping for its historical value.

 

“The cap worked by Clara and the cushion by you, you little dreamed would be so historically connected with such an event.”

 

“They talk of the tyranical administration of Mr. Lincoln, but we have a man now for a president who will teach the south a lesson they will know well how to appreciate. — Remembering Lincoln

 

• Lincoln's death was not universally mourned by Northeners even though his decision to resupply Ft. Sumter forced the Confederates into firing the 1st shots, an attack that triggered anger, patriotism & widespread support from Northerners • nevertheless, some who thought him too dictatorial & some Radical Republicans who thought him too lenient toward the enemy welcomed his assassination • Congressman George Julian recorded in his diary that the “universal feeling among radical men here is that his death is a godsend” Michigan Senator Zachariah Chandler wrote to his wife that God had permitted Lincoln to live only “as long as he was useful and then substituted a better man (Johnson) to finish the work.”—History Channel

 

• In the 2 wks. following the assassination, hundreds were detained, questioned, & some imprisoned • nearly all the personnel at Ford’s (actors, stage hands, musicians, etc.) were arrested & questioned • John T. Ford was visiting Richmond the night of the assassination • he & 2 brothers spent 39 days in the Old Capitol Prison before being cleared & released

 

• the Old Capitol Prison [photo] gained an association with the Lincoln assassination when it lodged several (but not all) suspected Lincoln assassination conspirators who, by order of the Secty. Of War, wore cotton hoods —Smithsonian

.

• 5 days after the assassination, Laura Keene & 2 other cast members arrested in Harrisburg PA, returned to Washington & released by order of the Secretary of War the moment he heard of their unauthorized detention

 

• Louis J. Weichmann often stayed at the Surratt Boarding House, in contact with the Surratts, & John Wilkes Booth • arrested as a potential accomplice but became a star witness for the prosecution, his testimony helping to convict Mary Surratt

 

• Pres. Andrew Johnson & Secy. of War Edwin M. Stanton insisted on trying the conspirators before a nine-member military commission, where 5 of the 9 judges—rather than a unanimous vote like in a civilian trial—were required to establish guilt. 6 votes could impose the death penalty

 

• Federal authorities argued that because Washington, D.C., was a war zone in April 1865—Confederate troops were still in the field—the assassination was an act of war • opponents argued that a civilian court would allow for a fairer trial [photo]

 

• for 7 weeks in May & June 1865, nation’s attention riveted on the 3rd floor of Old Arsenal Penitentiary (now Fort McNair) [photo], where the alleged conspirators were on trial for their lives [photo]

 

• one of the first U.S. trials where “colored” Americans, e.g. Ford’s stagehand Joe Simms & cleaner Mary Anderson, were allowed to testify against white Americans in open court • their testimony was included throughout the trial —Ford’s Theatre

 

• accused were allowed by attorneys to question the 366 witnesses, but not permitted to speak on their own behalf —Ford’s Theatre

 

• All defendants found guilty, 30 June, 1865 • Mary Surratt, Lewis Powell, David Herold, & George Atzerodt sentenced to death by hanging [photo]

 

• Samuel Mudd, Samuel Arnold, & Michael O'Laughlen sentenced to life in prison • Ford’s stagehand Edmund Spangler sentenced to 6 yrs. in prison •all incarcerated at Fort Jefferson, off of Key West, Florida, pardoned by Pres. Johnson, 1869.

 

• trial of the conspirators.

 

• following the assassination, [photo]Ford attempted to reopen on 7 July, 1865 but public outcry & threats forced him to cancel the performance, issue refunds & close the still-unfinished theater • bldg. seized July, 1865 by order of the Secretary of War

 

• interior torn out in August, 1865 • converted into 3-story office bldg housing the Army Medical Museum & Surgeon General • used for govt. purposes for several decades. —Ford’s Theatre National Historic Site

 

• 40-foot section of the facade collapsed from the 3rd floor, killing 22 War Department personnel, 1893 • alterations, including the facade, 1894 • building repaired, continued as government warehouse & storeroom until 1911 • vacant until taken over by Office of Public Buildings & Public Parks of the National Capital, 1928 • Lincoln museum opened 12 Feb., 1932, 123rd anniversary of Lincoln’s birth

• bldg. transferred to National Parks Service through executive order, 1933 —Ford’s Theatre, Washington, D.C.

 

• funding for restoration approved, 1964 • original building plans lost • relied on investigative work to extrapolate floor levels & wall locations from known “good” points in the building, w/ photographs & drawings providing supplementary detail • project supervised by Charles W. Lessig • restoration to its 1865 appearance completed, 1968 • theatre reopened 30 Jan., 1968 • following restoration, Presidential Box never occupied. —Ford’s Theatre

 

• externally west facade & north & south walls remain of the original theatre, although subject to modification, repair & remodeling over time • rear (east) wall, site of Booth’s escape door, is completely rebuilt—Restoration of Ford’s Theatre, Washington

 

• now a popular tourist destination & working theatre presenting a varied schedule of theatrical & live entertainment events • over 650,000 visitors/yr.

 

• Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic Site National Register # 66000865, 1966

• Ford’s Theatre National Historic site, National Register # 66000034, 1966

Demonstration in Brussels, Belgium in support of Ukraine and against Russia starting a war in this country. More than 5000 were present on 6 March 2022 to show their indignation.

I went to the feed store yesterday and the baby chicks were in! They're always sooooooooooo cute. Except that when you actually get your camera close enough to see their faces, they get mad. (Note their sneers of indignation.) One even pecked my hand! Thusly, I titled this photo ;-)

Focus on...

 

Paris, cimetière du Père-Lachaise.

La tombe d'Yvon Salmon dit Victor Noir, journaliste né le 27 juillet 1848 à Attigny (Vosges) dont la mort à 22 ans suscita une forte indignation populaire et renforça l’hostilité envers le Second Empire.

Aimé-Jules Dalou sculpte Noir dans l’état où il aurait été trouvé après le coup de feu. La bouche est ouverte et les mains sont détendues. Le chapeau a roulé, les vêtements ont glissé. Le pantalon est dégrafé et gonflé par un membre de bonne taille. On dit que Victor Noir devait se marier le lendemain et on attribue les pouvoirs secrets de son gisant à cet amour.

 

Born in Attigny on 1848, july 27th, Victor Noir was a journalist killed at 22 y.o. A life-size bronze statue was sculpted by Jules Dalou to mark his grave, portrayed in a realistic style as though he had just fallen on the street, dropping his hat which is depicted beside him. The sculpture has a very noticeable protuberance in Noir's trousers. This has made it one of the most popular memorials for women to visit in the famous Pere-Lachaise cemetery. Myth says that placing a flower in the upturned top hat after kissing the statue on the lips and rubbing its genital area will enhance fertility, bring a blissful sex life, or, in some versions, a husband within the year. As a result of the legend, those particular components of the oxidized bronze statue are rather well-worn. Some visitors have seen women hike up their skirts and mount the statue as if engaging in intimate congress.

  

The Eiffel Tower (French: La Tour Eiffel, nickname La dame de fer, the iron lady) is an iron lattice tower located on the Champ de Mars in Paris, named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower. Erected in 1889 as the entrance arch to the 1889 World's Fair, it has become both a global cultural icon of France and one of the most recognizable structures in the world. The tower is the tallest structure in Paris and the most-visited paid monument in the world; 7.1 million people ascended it in 2011. The third level observatory's upper platform is at 279.11 m the highest accessible to public in the European Union and the highest in Europe as long as the platform of the Ostankino Tower, at 360 m, remains closed as a result of the fire of August 2000. The tower received its 250 millionth visitor in 2010.

The tower stands 320 metres (1,050 ft) tall, about the same height as an 81-storey building. During its construction, the Eiffel Tower surpassed the Washington Monument to assume the title of the tallest man-made structure in the world, a title it held for 41 years, until the Chrysler Building in New York City was built in 1930. However, because of the addition, in 1957, of the antenna atop the Eiffel Tower, it is now taller than the Chrysler Building. Not including broadcast antennas, it is the second-tallest structure in France, after the Millau Viaduct.

The tower has three levels for visitors. Tickets can be purchased to ascend, by stairs or lift (elevator), to the first and second levels. The walk from ground level to the first level is over 300 steps, as is the walk from the first to the second level. The third and highest level is accessible only by lift - stairs exist but they are not usually open for public use. Both the first and second levels feature restaurants.

The tower has become the most prominent symbol of both Paris and France, often in the establishing shot of films set in the city.

 

History

 

Origin

  

First drawing of the Eiffel Tower by Maurice Koechlin

The design of the Eiffel Tower was originated by Maurice Koechlin and Émile Nouguier, two senior engineers who worked for the Compagnie des Establissments Eiffel after discussion about a suitable centrepiece for the proposed 1889 Exposition Universelle, a World's Fair which would celebrate the centennial of the French Revolution. In May 1884 Koechlin, working at his home, made an outline drawing of their scheme, described by him as "a great pylon, consisting of four lattice girders standing apart at the base and coming together at the top, joined together by metal trusses at regular intervals". Initially Eiffel himself showed little enthusiasm, but he did sanction further study of the project, and the two engineers then asked Stephen Sauvestre, the head of company's architectural department, to contribute to the design. Sauvestre added decorative arches to the base, a glass pavilion to the first level and other embellishments. This enhanced version gained Eiffel's support, and he bought the rights to the patent on the design which Koechlin, Nougier and Sauvestre had taken out, and the design was exhibited at the Exhibition of Decorative Arts in the autumn of 1884 under the company name. On 30 March 1885 Eiffel read a paper on the project to the Société des Ingiénieurs Civils: after discussing the technical problems and emphasising the practical uses of the tower, he finished his talk by saying that the tower would symbolise "not only the art of the modern engineer, but also the century of Industry and Science in which we are living, and for which the way was prepared by the great scientific movement of the eighteenth century and by the Revolution of 1789, to which this monument will be built as an expression of France's gratitude."

Little happened until the beginning of 1886, when Jules Grévy was re-elected as President and Édouard Lockroy was appointed as Minister for Trade. A budget for the Exposition was passed and on 1 May Lockroy announced an alteration to the terms of the open competition which was being held for a centerpiece for the exposition, which effectively made the choice of Eiffel's design a foregone conclusion: all entries had to include a study for a 300 m (980 ft) four-sided metal tower on the Champ de Mars. On 12 May a commission was set up to examine Eiffel's scheme and its rivals and on 12 June it presented its decision, which was that all the proposals except Eiffel's were either impractical or insufficiently worked out. After some debate about the exact site for the tower, a contract was finally signed on 8 January 1887. This was signed by Eiffel acting in his own capacity rather than as the representative of his company, and granted him one and a half million francs toward the construction costs: less than a quarter of the estimated cost of six and a half million francs. Eiffel was to receive all income from the commercial exploitation of the tower during the exhibition and for the following twenty years. Eiffel later established a separate company to manage the tower, putting up half the necessary capital himself.

 

The "Artists Protest"

 

Caricature of Gustave Eiffel comparing the Eiffel tower to the Pyramids.

The projected tower had been a subject of some controversy, attracting criticism both from those who did not believe that it was feasible and also from those who objected on artistic grounds. Their objections were an expression of a longstanding debate about relationship between architecture and engineering. This came to a head as work began at the Champ de Mars: A "Committee of Three Hundred" (one member for each metre of the tower's height) was formed, led by the prominent architect Charles Garnier and including some of the most important figures of the French arts establishment, including Adolphe Bouguereau, Guy de Maupassant, Charles Gounod and Jules Massenet: a petition was sent to Charles Alphand, the Minister of Works and Commissioner for the Exposition, and was published by Le Temps.

"We, writers, painters, sculptors, architects and passionate devotees of the hitherto untouched beauty of Paris, protest with all our strength, with all our indignation in the name of slighted French taste, against the erection…of this useless and monstrous Eiffel Tower … To bring our arguments home, imagine for a moment a giddy, ridiculous tower dominating Paris like a gigantic black smokestack, crushing under its barbaric bulk Notre Dame, the Tour Saint-Jacques, the Louvre, the Dome of les Invalides, the Arc de Triomphe, all of our humiliated monuments will disappear in this ghastly dream. And for twenty years … we shall see stretching like a blot of ink the hateful shadow of the hateful column of bolted sheet metal"

Gustave Eiffel responded to these criticisms by comparing his tower to the Egyptian Pyramids : "My tower will be the tallest edifice ever erected by man. Will it not also be grandiose in its way ? And why would something admirable in Egypt become hideous and ridiculous in Paris ?" These criticisms were also masterfully dealt with by Édouard Lockroy in a letter of support written to Alphand, ironically saying "Judging by the stately swell of the rhythms, the beauty of the metaphors, the elegance of its delicate and precise style, one can tell that …this protest is the result of collaboration of the most famous writers and poets of our time", and going on to point out that the protest was irrelevant since the project had been decided upon months before and was already under construction. Indeed, Garnier had been a member of the Tower Commission that had assessed the various proposals, and had raised no objection. Eiffel was similarly unworried, pointing out to a journalist that it was premature to judge the effect of the tower solely on the basis of the drawings, that the Champ de Mars was distant enough from the monuments mentioned in the protest for there to be little risk of the tower overwhelming them, and putting the aesthetic argument for the Tower: "Do not the laws of natural forces always conform to the secret laws of harmony?"

Some of the protestors were to change their minds when the tower was built: others remained unconvinced. Guy de Maupassant[20] supposedly ate lunch in the Tower's restaurant every day. When asked why, he answered that it was the one place in Paris where one could not see the structure. Today, the Tower is widely considered to be a striking piece of structural art.

  

Construction

 

Foundations of the Eiffel Tower

  

Eiffel Tower under construction between 1887 and 1889

Work on the foundations started in January 1887. Those for the east and south legs were straightforward, each leg resting on four 2 m (6.6 ft) concrete slabs, one for each of the principal girders of each leg but the other two, being closer to the river Seine were more complicated: each slab needed two piles installed by using compressed-air caissons 15 m (49 ft) long and 6 m (20 ft) in diameter driven to a depth of 22 m (72 ft)[21] to support the concrete slabs, which were 6 m (20 ft) thick. Each of these slabs supported a block built of limestone each with an inclined top to bear a supporting shoe for the ironwork. Each shoe was anchored into the stonework by a pair of bolts 10 cm (4 in) in diameter and 7.5 m (25 ft) long. The foundations were complete by 30 June and the erection of the ironwork began. The very visible work on-site was complemented by the enormous amount of exacting preparatory work that was entailed: the drawing office produced 1,700 general drawings and 3,629 detailed drawings of the 18,038 different parts needed:

The task of drawing the components was complicated by the complex angles involved in the design and the degree of precision required: the position of rivet holes was specified to within 0.1 mm (0.04 in) and angles worked out to one second of arc. The finished components, some already riveted together into sub-assemblies, arrived on horse-drawn carts from the factory in the nearby Parisian suburb of Levallois-Perret and were first bolted together, the bolts being replaced by rivets as construction progressed. No drilling or shaping was done on site: if any part did not fit it was sent back to the factory for alteration. In all there were 18,038 pieces of puddle iron using two and a half million rivets.

At first the legs were constructed as cantilevers but about halfway to the first level construction was paused in order to construct a substantial timber scaffold. This caused a renewal of the concerns about the structural soundness of the project, and sensational headlines such as "Eiffel Suicide!" and "Gustave Eiffel has gone mad: he has been confined in an Asylum" appeared in the popular press. At this stage a small "creeper" crane was installed in each leg, designed to move up the tower as construction progressed and making use of the guides for the lifts which were to be fitted in each leg. The critical stage of joining the four legs at the first level was complete by March 1888. Although the metalwork had been prepared with the utmost precision, provision had been made to carry out small adjustments in order to precisely align the legs: hydraulic jacks were fitted to the shoes at the base of each leg, each capable of exerting a force of 800 tonnes, and in addition the legs had been intentionally constructed at a slightly steeper angle than necessary, being supported by sandboxes on the scaffold.

No more than three hundred workers were employed on site, and because Eiffel took safety precautions, including the use of movable stagings, guard-rails and screens, only one man died during construction.

  

Inauguration and the 1889 Exposition

 

The 1889 Exposition Universelle for which the Eiffel Tower was built

The main structural work was completed at the end of March 1889 and on the 31st Eiffel celebrated this by leading a group of government officials, accompanied by representatives of the press, to the top of the tower. Since the lifts were not yet in operation, the ascent was made by foot, and took over an hour, Eiffel frequently stopping to make explanations of various features. Most of the party chose to stop at the lower levels, but a few, including Nouguier, Compagnon, the President of the City Council and reporters from Le Figaro and Le Monde Illustré completed the climb. At 2.35 Eiffel hoisted a large tricolore, to the accompaniment of a 25-gun salute fired from the lower level. There was still work to be done, particularly on the lifts and the fitting out of the facilities for visitors, and the tower was not opened to the public until nine days after the opening of the Exposition on 6 May, and even then the lifts had not been completed.

The tower was an immediate success with the public, and lengthy queues formed to make the ascent. Tickets cost 2 francs for the first level, 3 for the second and 5 for the top, with half-price admission on Sundays, and by the end of the exhibition there had been nearly two million visitors.

Eiffel had a permit for the tower to stand for 20 years; it was to be dismantled in 1909, when its ownership would revert to the City of Paris. The City had planned to tear it down (part of the original contest rules for designing a tower was that it could be easily demolished) but as the tower proved valuable for communication purposes, it was allowed to remain after the expiry of the permit. In the opening weeks of the First World War the powerful radio transmitters using the tower were used to jam German communications, seriously hindering their advance on Paris and contributing to the Allied victory at the First Battle of the Marne.

 

Subsequent events

 

10 September 1889 Thomas Edison visited the tower. He signed the guestbook with the following message— To M Eiffel the Engineer the brave builder of so gigantic and original specimen of modern Engineering from one who has the greatest respect and admiration for all Engineers including the Great Engineer the Bon Dieu, Thomas Edison.

 

19 October 1901 Alberto Santos-Dumont in his Dirigible No.6 won a 10,000-franc prize offered by Henri Deutsch de la Meurthe for the first person to make a flight from St Cloud to the Eiffel tower and back in less than half an hour.

 

1910 Father Theodor Wulf measured radiant energy at the top and bottom of the tower. He found more at the top than expected, incidentally discovering what are today known as cosmic rays.[28]

 

4 February 1912 Austrian tailor Franz Reichelt died after jumping 60 metres from the first deck of Eiffel tower with his home-made parachute.

 

1914 A radio transmitter located in the tower jammed German radio communications during the lead-up to the First Battle of the Marne.

 

1925 The con artist Victor Lustig "sold" the tower for scrap metal on two separate, but related occasions.

 

1930 The tower lost the title of the world's tallest structure when the Chrysler Building was completed in New York City.

 

1925 to 1934 Illuminated signs for Citroën adorned three of the tower's four sides, making it the tallest advertising space in the world at the time.

 

1940–1944 Upon the German occupation of Paris in 1940, the lift cables were cut by the French so that Adolf Hitler would have to climb the steps to the summit. The parts to repair them were allegedly impossible to obtain because of the war. In 1940 German soldiers had to climb to the top to hoist the swastika[citation needed], but the flag was so large it blew away just a few hours later, and was replaced by a smaller one. When visiting Paris, Hitler chose to stay on the ground. It was said that Hitler conquered France, but did not conquer the Eiffel Tower. A Frenchman scaled the tower during the German occupation to hang the French flag. In August 1944, when the Allies were nearing Paris, Hitler ordered General Dietrich von Choltitz, the military governor of Paris, to demolish the tower along with the rest of the city. Von Choltitz disobeyed the order. Some say Hitler was later persuaded to keep the tower intact so it could later be used for communications. The lifts of the Tower were working normally within hours of the Liberation of Paris.

 

3 January 1956 A fire damaged the top of the tower.

 

1957 The present radio antenna was added to the top.

 

1980s A restaurant and its supporting iron scaffolding midway up the tower was dismantled; it was purchased and reconstructed on St. Charles Avenue and Josephine Street in the Garden District of New Orleans, Louisiana, by entrepreneurs John Onorio and Daniel Bonnot, originally as the Tour Eiffel Restaurant, later as the Red Room and now as the Cricket Club (owned by the New Orleans Culinary Institute). The restaurant was re-assembled from 11,000 pieces that crossed the Atlantic in a 40-foot (12 m) cargo container.

 

31 March 1984 Robert Moriarty flew a Beechcraft Bonanza through the arches of the tower.

 

1987 A.J. Hackett made one of his first bungee jumps from the top of the Eiffel Tower, using a special cord he had helped develop. Hackett was arrested by the Paris police upon reaching the ground.

 

27 October 1991 Thierry Devaux, along with mountain guide Hervé Calvayrac, performed a series of acrobatic figures of bungee jumping (not allowed) from the second floor of the Tower. Facing the Champ de Mars, Thierry Devaux was using an electric winch between each figure to go back up. When firemen arrived, he stopped after the sixth bungee jump.

 

New Year's Eve 1999 The Eiffel Tower played host to Paris's Millennium Celebration. On this occasion, flashing lights and four high-power searchlights were installed on the tower, and fireworks were set off all over it. An exhibition above a cafeteria on the first floor commemorates this event. Since then, the light show has become a nightly event. The searchlights on top of the tower make it a beacon in Paris's night sky, and the 20,000 flash bulbs give the tower a sparkly appearance every hour on the hour.

 

28 November 2002 The tower received its 200,000,000th guest.

 

2004 The Eiffel Tower began hosting an ice skating rink on the first floor each winter.

 

Design of the tower

 

Material

  

The Eiffel Tower from below

 

The puddle iron structure of the Eiffel Tower weighs 7,300 tonnes, while the entire structure, including non-metal components, is approximately 10,000 tonnes. As a demonstration of the economy of design, if the 7,300 tonnes of the metal structure were melted down it would fill the 125-metre-square base to a depth of only 6 cm (2.36 in), assuming the density of the metal to be 7.8 tonnes per cubic metre. Depending on the ambient temperature, the top of the tower may shift away from the sun by up to 18 cm (7.1 in) because of thermal expansion of the metal on the side facing the sun.

 

Wind considerations

 

At the time the tower was built many people were shocked by its daring shape. Eiffel was criticised for the design and accused of trying to create something artistic, or inartistic according to the viewer, without regard to engineering. Eiffel and his engineers, however, as experienced bridge builders, understood the importance of wind forces and knew that if they were going to build the tallest structure in the world they had to be certain it would withstand the wind. In an interview reported in the newspaper Le Temps, Eiffel said:

Now to what phenomenon did I give primary concern in designing the Tower? It was wind resistance. Well then! I hold that the curvature of the monument's four outer edges, which is as mathematical calculation dictated it should be […] will give a great impression of strength and beauty, for it will reveal to the eyes of the observer the boldness of the design as a whole.[37]

Researchers have found that Eiffel used empirical and graphical methods accounting for the effects of wind rather than a specific mathematical formula. Careful examination of the tower shows a basically exponential shape; actually two different exponentials, the lower section overdesigned to ensure resistance to wind forces. Several mathematical explanations have been proposed over the years for the success of the design; the most recent is described as a nonlinear integral equation based on counterbalancing the wind pressure on any point on the tower with the tension between the construction elements at that point. As a demonstration of the tower's effectiveness in wind resistance, it sways only 6–7 cm (2–3 in) in the wind.

 

Accommodation

 

When built, the first level contained two restaurants: an "Anglo-American Bar", and a 250 seat theatre. A 2.6 m (8 ft 6 in) promenade ran around the outside.

On the second level, the French newspaper Le Figaro had an office and a printing press, where a special souvenir edition, Le Figaro de la Tour, was produced. There was also a pâtisserie.

On the third level were laboratories for various experiments and a small apartment reserved for Gustave Eiffel to entertain guests. This is now open to the public, complete with period decorations and lifelike models of Gustave and some guests.

 

Engraved names

 

Gustave Eiffel engraved on the tower seventy-two names of French scientists, engineers and other notable people. This engraving was painted over at the beginning of the twentieth century but restored in 1986–1987 by the Société Nouvelle d'exploitation de la Tour Eiffel, a company contracted to operate business related to the Tower.

 

Maintenance

 

Maintenance of the tower includes applying 50 to 60 tonnes of paint every seven years to protect it from rust. The height of the Eiffel Tower varies by 15 cm due to temperature.

 

Aesthetic considerations

 

In order to enhance the impression of height, three separate colours of paint are used on the tower, with the darkest on the bottom and the lightest at the top. On occasion the colour of the paint is changed; the tower is currently painted a shade of bronze. On the first floor there are interactive consoles hosting a poll for the colour to use for a future session of painting.

The only non-structural elements are the four decorative grillwork arches, added in Stephen Sauvestre's sketches, which served to reassure visitors that the structure was safe, and to frame views of other nearby architecture.

One of the great Hollywood movie clichés is that the view from a Parisian window always includes the tower. In reality, since zoning restrictions limit the height of most buildings in Paris to 7 storeys, only a very few of the taller buildings have a clear view of the tower.

 

Popularity

 

More than 200,000,000 people have visited the tower since its construction in 1889, including 6,719,200 in 2006. The tower is the most-visited paid monument in the world.

 

Passenger lifts

 

Ground to the second level

The original lifts (elevators) to the first and second floors were provided by two companies. Both companies had to overcome many technical obstacles as neither company (or indeed any company) had experience with installing lifts climbing to such heights with large loads. The slanting tracks with changing angles further complicated the problems. The East and West lifts were supplied by the French company Roux Combaluzier Lepape, using hydraulically powered chains and rollers. The North and South lifts were provided by the American company Otis using car designs similar to the original installation but using an improved hydraulic and cable scheme. The French lifts had a very poor performance and were replaced with the current installations in 1897 (West Pillar) and 1899 (East Pillar) by Fives-Lille using an improved hydraulic and rope scheme. Both of the original installations operated broadly on the principle of the Fives-Lille lifts.

The Fives-Lille lifts from ground level to the first and second levels are operated by cables and pulleys driven by massive water-powered pistons. The hydraulic scheme was somewhat unusual for the time in that it included three large counterweights of 200 tonnes each sitting on top of hydraulic rams which doubled up as accumulators for the water. As the lifts ascend the inclined arc of the pillars, the angle of ascent changes. The two lift cabs are kept more or less level and indeed are level at the landings. The cab floors do take on a slight angle at times between landings.

The principle behind the lifts is similar to the operation of a block and tackle but in reverse. Two large hydraulic rams (over 1 metre diameter) with a 16 metre travel are mounted horizontally in the base of the pillar which pushes a carriage (the French word for it translates as chariot and this term will be used henceforth to distinguish it from the lift carriage) with 16 large triple sheaves mounted on it. There are 14 similar sheaves mounted statically. Six wire ropes are rove back and forth between the sheaves such that each rope passes between the 2 sets of sheaves 7 times. The ropes then leave the final sheaves on the chariot and pass up through a series of guiding sheaves to above the second floor and then through a pair of triple sheaves back down to the lift carriage again passing guiding sheaves.

This arrangement means that the lift carriage, complete with its cars and passengers, travels 8 times the distance that the rams move the chariot, the 128 metres from the ground to the second floor. The force exerted by the rams also has to be 8 times the total weight of the lift carriage, cars and passengers, plus extra to account for various losses such as friction. The hydraulic fluid was water, normally stored in three accumulators, complete with counterbalance weights. To make the lift ascend, water was pumped using an electrically driven pump from the accumulators to the two rams. Since the counterbalance weights provided much of the pressure required, the pump only had to provide the extra effort. For the descent, it was only necessary to allow the water to flow back to the accumulators using a control valve. The lifts were operated by an operator perched precariously underneath the lift cars. His position (with a dummy operator) can still be seen on the lifts today.

The Fives-Lille lifts were completely upgraded in 1986 to meet modern safety requirements and to make the lifts easier to operate. A new computer-controlled system was installed which completely automated the operation. One of the three counterbalances was taken out of use, and the cars were replaced with a more modern and lighter structure. Most importantly, the main driving force was removed from the original water pump such that the water hydraulic system provided only a counterbalancing function. The main driving force was transferred to a 320 kW electrically driven oil hydraulic pump which drives a pair of hydraulic motors on the chariot itself, thus providing the motive power. The new lift cars complete with their carriage and a full 92 passenger load weigh 22 tonnes.

Owing to elasticity in the ropes and the time taken to get the cars level with the landings, each lift in normal service takes an average of 8 minutes and 50 seconds to do the round trip, spending an average of 1 minute and 15 seconds at each floor. The average journey time between floors is just 1 minute.

The original Otis lifts in the North and South pillars in their turn proved to be inferior to the new (in 1899) French lifts and were scrapped from the South pillar in 1900 and from the North pillar in 1913 after failed attempts to repower them with an electric motor. The North and South pillars were to remain without lifts until 1965 when increasing visitor numbers persuaded the operators to install a relatively standard and modern cable hoisted system in the north pillar using a cable-hauled counterbalance weight, but hoisted by a block and tackle system to reduce its travel to one third of the lift travel. The counterbalance is clearly visible within the structure of the North pillar. This latter lift was upgraded in 1995 with new cars and computer controls.

The South pillar acquired a completely new fairly standard electrically driven lift in 1983 to serve the Jules Verne restaurant. This was also supplied by Otis. A further four-ton service lift was added to the South pillar in 1989 by Otis to relieve the main lifts when moving relatively small loads or even just maintenance personnel.

The East and West hydraulic (water) lift works are on display and, at least in theory, are open to the public in a small museum located in base of the East and West tower, which is somewhat hidden from public view. Because the massive mechanism requires frequent lubrication and attention, public access is often restricted. However, when open, the wait times are much less than the other, more popular, attractions. The rope mechanism of the North tower is visible to visitors as they exit from the lift.

 

Second to the third level

 

The original spiral stairs to the third floor which were only 80 centimetres wide. Note also the small service lift in the background.

The original lifts from the second to the third floor were also of a water-powered hydraulic design supplied by Léon Edoux. Instead of using a separate counterbalance, the two lift cars counterbalanced each other. A pair of 81-metre-long hydraulic rams were mounted on the second level reaching nearly halfway up to the third level. A lift car was mounted on top of the rams. Ropes ran from the top of this car up to a sheave on the third level and back down to a second car. The result of this arrangement was that each car only travelled half the distance between the second and third levels and passengers were required to change lifts halfway walking between the cars along a narrow gangway with a very impressive and relatively unobstructed downward view. The ten-ton cars held 65 passengers each or up to four tons.

One interesting feature of the original installation was that the hoisting rope ran through guides to retain it on windy days to prevent it flapping and becoming damaged. The guides were mechanically moved out of the way of the ascending car by the movement of the car itself. In spite of some antifreeze being added to the water that operated this system, it nevertheless had to close to the public from November to March each year.

The original lifts complete with their hydraulic mechanism were completely scrapped in 1982 after 97 years of service. They were replaced with two pairs of relatively standard rope hoisted cars which were able to operate all the year round. The cars operate in pairs with one providing the counterbalance for the other. Neither car can move unless both sets of doors are closed and both operators have given a start command. The commands from the cars to the hoisting mechanism are by radio obviating the necessity of a control cable. The replacement installation also has the advantage that the ascent can be made without changing cars and has reduced the ascent time from 8 minutes (including change) to 1 minute and 40 seconds. This installation also has guides for the hoisting ropes but they are electrically operated. The guide once it has moved out of the way as the car ascends automatically reverses when the car has passed to prevent the mechanism becoming snagged on the car on the downward journey in the event it has failed to completely clear the car. Unfortunately these lifts do not have the capacity to move as many people as the three public lower lifts and long lines to ascend to the third level are common. Most of the intermediate level structure present on the tower today was installed when the lifts were replaced and allows maintenance workers to take the lift halfway.

The replacement of these lifts allowed the restructuring of the criss-cross beams in upper part of the tower and further allowed the installation of two emergency staircases. These replaced the dangerous winding stairs that were installed when the tower was constructed.

Restaurants

The tower has two restaurants: Le 58 tour Eiffel, on the first floor 311 ft (95 m) above sea level; and the Le Jules Verne, a gastronomical restaurant on the second floor, with a private lift. This restaurant has one star in the Michelin Red Guide. In January 2007, the multi-Michelin star chef Alain Ducasse was brought in to run Jules Verne.

 

Attempted relocation

 

According to interviews given in the early 1980s, Montreal Mayor Jean Drapeau negotiated a secret agreement with French President Charles de Gaulle for the tower to be dismantled and temporarily relocated to Montreal to serve as a landmark and tourist attraction during Expo 67. The plan was allegedly vetoed by the company which operated the tower out of fear that the French government could refuse permission for the tower to be restored to its original location.

 

Economics

 

The American TV show Pricing the Priceless speculates that in 2011 the tower would cost about $480,000,000 to build, that the land under the tower is worth $350,000,000, and that the scrap value of the tower is worth $3,500,000. The TV show estimates the tower makes a profit of about $29,000,000 per year, though it is unlikely that the Eiffel Tower is managed so as to maximize profit.

It costs $5,300,000 to repaint the tower, which is done once every seven years. The electric bill is $400,000 per year for 7.5 million kilowatt-hours.

The Tokyo Tower in Japan is a very similar structure of very similar size. It was finished in 1958 at a final cost of ¥2.8 billion ($8.4 million in 1958).

 

Source Wikipedia

   

The Postcard

 

A postally unused carte postale bearing an image that is a glossy real photograph. The card has been hand-embossed with an image of the Eiffel Tower and the words:

 

'Souvenir de la Tour

Eiffel, Paris.'

 

The following is printed on the divided back of the card:

 

'Paris - La Tour Eiffel.

Vue Aérienne - Cliché

Robert Durandaud.

Construite de 1887 à 1889.

Hauteur 300 m.

Poids 7 millions de kilos.

Distance des piliers d'axe

104 m.

2,500 rivets relient ses

15,000 pièces de métal.

La première plate-forme

est à 57 m, la deuxième

à 115 m, et la troisième

à 280 m.

Les escaliers comportent

1719 marches.'

 

The Eiffel Tower

 

The Eiffel Tower is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower.

 

Locally nicknamed "La Dame de Fer" ("Iron Lady"), it was constructed from 1887 to 1889 as the entrance to the 1889 World's Fair.

 

The tower was initially criticised by some of France's leading artists and intellectuals for its design, but it has become a global cultural icon of France, and one of the most recognisable structures in the world. The Eiffel Tower is the most-visited paid monument in the world; 6.91 million people ascended it in 2015.

 

The tower is 324 metres tall, about the same height as an 81-storey building, and the tallest structure in Paris. Its base is square, measuring 125 metres on each side.

 

During its construction, the Eiffel Tower surpassed the Washington Monument to become the tallest man-made structure in the world, a title it held for 41 years until the Chrysler Building in New York City was finished in 1930. It was the first structure in the world to surpass both the 200 meter and 300 meter mark in height.

 

Due to the addition of a broadcasting aerial at the top of the tower in 1957, it is now taller than the Chrysler Building by 5.2 metres. Excluding transmitters, the Eiffel Tower is the second tallest free-standing structure in France after the Millau Viaduct.

 

The tower has three levels for visitors, with restaurants on the first and second levels. The top level's upper platform is 276 m above the ground – the highest observation deck accessible to the public in the European Union. The climb from ground level to the first level is over 300 steps, as is the climb from the first level to the second. Although there is a staircase to the top level, it is usually accessible only by lift.

 

Origin of The Eiffel Tower

 

The design of the Eiffel Tower is attributed to Maurice Koechlin and Émile Nouguier, two senior engineers working for the Compagnie des Établissements Eiffel. It was envisioned after discussion about a suitable centrepiece for the proposed 1889 Exposition Universelle, a world's fair to celebrate the centennial of the French Revolution.

 

Eiffel openly acknowledged that inspiration for a tower came from the Latting Observatory built in New York City in 1853.

 

In May 1884, working at home, Koechlin made a sketch of their idea, described by him as:

 

"A great pylon, consisting of four lattice girders

standing apart at the base and coming together

at the top, joined together by metal trusses at

regular intervals".

 

Eiffel initially showed little enthusiasm, but he did approve further study, and the two engineers then asked Stephen Sauvestre, the head of company's architectural department, to contribute to the design. Sauvestre added decorative arches to the base of the tower, a glass pavilion to the first level, and other embellishments.

 

The new version gained Eiffel's support: he bought the rights to the patent on the design which Koechlin, Nougier, and Sauvestre had taken out, and the design was exhibited at the Exhibition of Decorative Arts in the autumn of 1884 under the company name.

 

On the 30th. March 1885, Eiffel presented his plans to the Société des Ingénieurs Civils; after discussing the technical problems and emphasising the practical uses of the tower, he finished his talk by saying:

 

"The tower would symbolise not only the art

of the modern engineer, but also the century

of Industry and Science in which we are living,

and for which the way was prepared by the great

scientific movement of the eighteenth century

and by the Revolution of 1789, to which this

monument will be built as an expression of

France's gratitude".

 

Little progress was made until 1886, when Jules Grévy was re-elected as president of France and Édouard Lockroy was appointed as minister for trade. A budget for the exposition was passed and, on the 1st. May, Lockroy announced an alteration to the terms of the open competition being held for a centrepiece to the exposition.

 

This effectively made the selection of Eiffel's design a foregone conclusion, as entries had to include a study for a 300 m four-sided metal tower on the Champ de Mars. On the 12th. May, a commission was set up to examine Eiffel's scheme and its rivals, which, a month later, decided that all the proposals except Eiffel's were either impractical or lacking in details.

 

After some debate about the exact location of the tower, a contract was signed on the 8th. January 1887. This was signed by Eiffel acting in his own capacity rather than as the representative of his company. He was granted 1.5 million francs toward the construction costs: less than a quarter of the estimated 6.5 million francs.

 

Eiffel was to receive all income from the commercial exploitation of the tower during the exhibition and for the following 20 years. He later established a separate company to manage the tower, putting up half the necessary capital himself.

 

Artists' Criticism of The Tower Before it Was Built

 

The proposed tower drew criticism from those who did not believe it was feasible, and those who objected on artistic grounds. Prior to the Eiffel Tower's construction, no structure had ever been constructed to a height of 300 m, or even 200 m for the matter, and many people believed it was impossible.

 

These objections were an expression of a long-standing debate in France about the relationship between architecture and engineering. It came to a head as work began at the Champ de Mars: a "Committee of Three Hundred" (one member for each metre of the tower's height) was formed, led by the prominent architect Charles Garnier.

 

The committee included some of the most important figures of the arts, such as William-Adolphe Bouguereau, Guy de Maupassant, Charles Gounod and Jules Massenet. A petition called "Artists against the Eiffel Tower" was sent to the Minister of Works and Commissioner for the Exposition, Adolphe Alphand, and it was published by Le Temps on the 14th. February 1887:

 

"We, writers, painters, sculptors, architects and

passionate devotees of the hitherto untouched

beauty of Paris, protest with all our strength, with

all our indignation in the name of slighted French

taste, against the erection of this useless and

monstrous Eiffel Tower.

To bring our arguments home, imagine for a moment

a giddy, ridiculous tower dominating Paris like a

gigantic black smokestack, crushing under its barbaric

bulk Notre Dame, the Tour Saint-Jacques, the Louvre,

the Dome of Les Invalides, the Arc de Triomphe, all of

our humiliated monuments will disappear in this ghastly

dream.

And for twenty years we shall see stretching like a blot

of ink the hateful shadow of the hateful column of

bolted sheet metal".

 

Gustave Eiffel responded to these criticisms by comparing his tower to the Egyptian pyramids:

 

"My tower will be the tallest edifice ever erected

by man. Will it not also be grandiose in its way?

And why would something admirable in Egypt

become hideous and ridiculous in Paris?"

 

These criticisms were also dealt with by Édouard Lockroy in a letter of support written to Alphand, sardonically saying:

 

"Judging by the stately swell of the rhythms, the beauty

of the metaphors, the elegance of its delicate and precise style, one can tell this protest is the result of collaboration

of the most famous writers and poets of our time".

 

He went on to say that anyway, the protest was irrelevant since the project had been decided upon months before, and construction on the tower was already under way.

 

Indeed, Garnier was a member of the Tower Commission that had examined the various proposals, and had raised no objection. Eiffel was similarly unworried, pointing out to a journalist that it was premature to judge the effect of the tower solely on the basis of the drawings, that the Champ de Mars was distant enough from the monuments mentioned in the protest for there to be little risk of the tower overwhelming them, and putting the aesthetic argument for the tower:

 

"Do not the laws of natural forces always

conform to the secret laws of harmony?"

 

Some of the protesters changed their minds when the tower was built; others remained unconvinced. Guy de Maupassant supposedly ate lunch in the tower's restaurant every day because it was the one place in Paris where the tower was not visible.

 

By 1918, it had become a symbol of Paris and of France after Guillaume Apollinaire wrote a nationalist poem in the shape of the tower (a calligram) to express his feelings about the war against Germany. Today, it is widely considered to be a remarkable piece of structural art, and is often featured in films and literature.

 

Construction of The Eiffel Tower

 

Work on the foundations started on the 28th. January 1887. Those for the east and south legs were straightforward, with each leg resting on four 2 m concrete slabs, one for each of the principal girders of each leg.

 

The west and north legs, being closer to the river Seine, were more complicated: each slab needed two piles installed by using compressed-air caissons 15 m long and 6 m in diameter driven to a depth of 22 m. These were designed to support the concrete slabs, which were 6 m thick. Each of these slabs supported a block of limestone with an inclined top to bear a supporting shoe for the ironwork.

 

Each shoe was anchored to the stonework by a pair of bolts 10 cm in diameter and 7.5 m long. The foundations were completed on the 30th. June, and the erection of the ironwork began.

 

The visible work on-site was complemented by the enormous amount of exacting preparatory work that took place behind the scenes: the drawing office produced 1,700 general drawings and 3,629 detailed drawings of the different parts needed.

 

The task of drawing the components was complicated by the complex angles involved in the design and the degree of precision required: the position of rivet holes was specified to within 1 mm and angles worked out to one second of arc.

 

The finished components, some already joined together into sub-assemblies, arrived on horse-drawn carts from a factory in the nearby Parisian suburb of Levallois-Perret. They were first bolted together, with the bolts being replaced with rivets as construction progressed. No drilling or shaping was done on site: if any part did not fit, it was sent back to the factory for alteration. In all, 18,038 pieces were joined together using 2.5 million rivets.

 

At first, the legs were constructed as cantilevers, but about halfway to the first level construction was paused to create a substantial timber scaffold. This renewed concerns about the structural integrity of the tower, and sensational headlines such as "Eiffel Suicide!" and "Gustave Eiffel Has Gone Mad: He Has Been Confined in an Asylum" appeared in the tabloid press.

 

At this stage, a small "creeper" crane designed to move up the tower was installed in each leg. They made use of the guides for the lifts which were to be fitted in the four legs. The critical stage of joining the legs at the first level was completed by the end of March 1888.

 

Although the metalwork had been prepared with the utmost attention to detail, provision had been made to carry out small adjustments to precisely align the legs; hydraulic jacks were fitted to the shoes at the base of each leg, capable of exerting a force of 800 tonnes.

 

Although construction involved 300 on-site employees, due to Eiffel's safety precautions and the use of movable gangways, guardrails and screens, only one person died.

 

The Eiffel Tower Lifts

 

Equipping the tower with adequate and safe passenger lifts was a major concern of the government commission overseeing the Exposition. Although some visitors could be expected to climb to the first level, or even the second, lifts clearly had to be the main means of ascent.

 

Constructing lifts to reach the first level was relatively straightforward: the legs were wide enough at the bottom and so nearly straight that they could contain a straight track, and a contract was given to the French company Roux, Combaluzier & Lepape for two lifts to be fitted in the east and west legs.

 

Roux, Combaluzier & Lepape used a pair of endless chains with rigid, articulated links to which the car was attached. Lead weights on some links of the upper or return sections of the chains counterbalanced most of the car's weight. The car was pushed up from below, not pulled up from above. To prevent the chain buckling, it was enclosed in a conduit. At the bottom of the run, the chains passed around 3.9 m diameter sprockets.

 

Installing lifts to the second level was more of a challenge because a straight track was impossible. No French company wanted to undertake the work. The European branch of Otis Brothers & Company submitted a proposal, but this was rejected: the fair's charter ruled out the use of any foreign material in the construction of the tower.

 

The deadline for bids was extended, but still no French companies put themselves forward, and eventually the contract was given to Otis in July 1887. Otis were confident they would eventually be given the contract, and had already started creating designs.

 

The car was divided into two superimposed compartments, each holding 25 passengers, with the lift operator occupying an exterior platform on the first level. Motive power was provided by an inclined hydraulic ram 12.67 m long and 96.5 cm in diameter in the tower leg with a stroke of 10.83 m.

 

The original lifts for the journey between the second and third levels were supplied by Léon Edoux. A pair of 81 m hydraulic rams were mounted on the second level, reaching nearly halfway up to the third level. One lift car was mounted on top of these rams: cables ran from the top of this car up to sheaves on the third level and back down to a second car. Each car only travelled half the distance between the second and third levels and passengers were required to change lifts halfway by means of a short gangway. The 10-ton cars each held 65 passengers.

 

Inauguration and the 1889 exposition

 

The main structural work was completed at the end of March 1889 and, on the 31st. March, Eiffel celebrated by leading a group of government officials, accompanied by representatives of the press, to the top of the tower.

 

Because the lifts were not yet in operation, the ascent was made by foot, and took over an hour, with Eiffel stopping frequently to explain various features. Most of the party chose to stop at the lower levels, but a few, including the structural engineer, Émile Nouguier, the head of construction, Jean Compagnon, the President of the City Council, and reporters from Le Figaro and Le Monde Illustré, completed the ascent. At 2:35 pm, Eiffel hoisted a large Tricolour to the accompaniment of a 25-gun salute fired at the first level.

 

There was still work to be done, particularly on the lifts and facilities, and the tower was not opened to the public until nine days after the opening of the exposition on the 6th. May; even then, the lifts had not been completed.

 

The tower was an instant success with the public, and nearly 30,000 visitors made the 1,710-step climb to the top before the lifts entered service on 26 May. Tickets cost 2 francs for the first level, 3 for the second, and 5 for the top, with half-price admission on Sundays. By the end of the exhibition there had been 1,896,987 visitors.

 

After dark, the tower was lit by hundreds of gas lamps, and a beacon sent out three beams of red, white and blue light. Two searchlights mounted on a circular rail were used to illuminate various buildings of the exposition. The daily opening and closing of the exposition were announced by a cannon at the top.

 

On the second level, the French newspaper Le Figaro had an office and a printing press, where a special souvenir edition, Le Figaro de la Tour, was made. There was also a pâtisserie.

 

At the top of the tower there was a post office where visitors could send letters and postcards as a memento of their visit. Graffitists were also catered for: sheets of paper were mounted on the walls each day for visitors to record their impressions of the tower. Gustave Eiffel described some of the responses as vraiment curieuse ("truly curious").

 

Famous visitors to the tower included the Prince of Wales, Sarah Bernhardt, "Buffalo Bill" Cody (his Wild West show was an attraction at the exposition) and Thomas Edison. Eiffel invited Edison to his private apartment at the top of the tower, where Edison presented him with one of his phonographs, a new invention and one of the many highlights of the exposition. Edison signed the guestbook with this message:

 

"To M Eiffel the Engineer, the brave builder

of so gigantic and original specimen of

modern Engineering from one who has the

greatest respect and admiration for all

Engineers including the Great Engineer the

Bon Dieu.

Thomas Edison".

 

Eiffel had a permit for the tower to stand for 20 years. It was to be dismantled in 1909, when its ownership would revert to the City of Paris. The City had planned to tear it down (part of the original contest rules for designing a tower was that it should be easy to dismantle) but as the tower proved to be valuable for radio telegraphy, it was allowed to remain after the expiry of the permit, and from 1910 it also became part of the International Time Service.

 

Eiffel made use of his apartment at the top of the tower to carry out meteorological observations, and also used the tower to perform experiments on the action of air resistance on falling bodies.

 

Subsequent Events Associated With The Tower

 

On the 19th. October 1901, Alberto Santos-Dumont, flying his No.6 airship, won a 100,000-franc prize offered by Henri Deutsch de la Meurthe for the first person to make a flight from St. Cloud to the Eiffel Tower and back in less than half an hour.

 

Many innovations took place at the Eiffel Tower in the early 20th century. In 1910, Theodor Wulf measured radiant energy at the top and bottom of the tower. He found more at the top than expected, incidentally discovering what are known today as cosmic rays.

 

On the 4th. February 1912, Austrian tailor Franz Reichelt died after jumping from the first level of the tower (a height of 57 m) to demonstrate his parachute design.

 

In 1914, at the outbreak of the Great War, a radio transmitter located in the tower jammed German radio communications, seriously hindering their advance on Paris and contributing to the Allied victory at the First Battle of the Marne.

 

From 1925 to 1934, illuminated signs for Citroën adorned three of the tower's sides, making it the tallest advertising space in the world at the time. In April 1935, the tower was used to make experimental low-resolution television transmissions. On the 17th. November, an improved 180-line transmitter was installed.

 

On two separate occasions in 1925, the con artist Victor Lustig "sold" the tower for scrap metal.

 

In February 1926, pilot Leon Collet was killed trying to fly under the tower. His aircraft became entangled in an aerial belonging to a wireless station.

 

A bust of Gustave Eiffel by Antoine Bourdelle was unveiled at the base of the north leg on the 2nd. May 1929.

 

In 1930, the tower lost the title of the world's tallest structure when the Chrysler Building in New York City was completed.

 

In 1938, the decorative arcade around the first level was removed.

 

Upon the German occupation of Paris in 1940, the lift cables were cut by the French. In 1940, German soldiers had to climb the tower to hoist a swastika flag, but the flag was so large it blew away just a few hours later, and was replaced by a smaller one.

 

When visiting Paris, Hitler chose to stay on the ground. When the Allies were nearing Paris in August 1944, Hitler ordered General Dietrich von Choltitz, the military governor of Paris, to demolish the tower along with the rest of the city. Von Choltitz disobeyed the order.

 

On the 25th. June, before the Germans had been driven out of Paris, the German flag was replaced with a Tricolour by two men from the French Naval Museum, who narrowly beat three men led by Lucien Sarniguet, who had lowered the Tricolour on the 13th. June 1940 when Paris fell to the Germans.

 

The tower was closed to the public during the occupation, and the lifts were not repaired until 1946.

 

A fire started in the television transmitter on the 3rd. January 1956, damaging the top of the tower. Repairs took a year, and in 1957, the present radio aerial was added to the top. In 1964, the Eiffel Tower was officially declared to be a historical monument by the Minister of Cultural Affairs, André Malraux.

 

According to interviews, in 1967, Montreal Mayor Jean Drapeau negotiated a secret agreement with Charles de Gaulle for the tower to be dismantled and temporarily relocated to Montreal to serve as a landmark and tourist attraction during Expo 67.

 

The plan was allegedly vetoed by the company operating the tower out of fear that the French government could refuse permission for the tower to be restored in its original location.

 

In 1982, the original lifts between the second and third levels were replaced after 97 years in service. These had been closed to the public between November and March because the water in the hydraulic drive tended to freeze. The new cars operate in pairs, with one counterbalancing the other, and perform the journey in one stage, reducing the journey time from eight minutes to less than two minutes.

 

At the same time, two new emergency staircases were installed, replacing the original spiral staircases. In 1983, the south pillar was fitted with an electrically driven Otis lift to serve the Jules Verne restaurant.

 

The Fives-Lille lifts in the east and west legs, fitted in 1899, were extensively refurbished in 1986. The cars were replaced, and a computer system was installed to completely automate the lifts. The motive power was moved from the water hydraulic system to a new electrically driven oil-filled hydraulic system.

 

Robert Moriarty flew a Beechcraft Bonanza under the tower on the 31st. March 1984.

 

In 1987, A. J. Hackett made one of his first bungee jumps from the top of the Eiffel Tower, using a special cord he had helped develop. Hackett was arrested by the police.

 

On the 27th. October 1991, Thierry Devaux, along with mountain guide Hervé Calvayrac, performed a series of acrobatic figures while bungee jumping from the second floor of the tower. Facing the Champ de Mars, Devaux used an electric winch to go back up to the second floor. When firemen arrived, he stopped after the sixth jump.

 

The tower is the focal point for New Year's Eve and Bastille Day celebrations in Paris.

 

For its "Countdown to the Year 2000" celebration on the 31st. December 1999, flashing lights and high-powered searchlights were installed on the tower. During the last three minutes of the year, the lights were turned on starting from the base of the tower and continuing to the top to welcome 2000 with a huge fireworks show. The searchlights on top of the tower made it a beacon in Paris's night sky, and 20,000 flashing bulbs gave the tower a sparkly appearance for five minutes every hour on the hour.

 

The tower received its 200,000,000th guest on the 28th. November 2002. The tower has operated at its maximum capacity of about 7 million visitors per year since 2003.

 

In 2004, the Eiffel Tower began hosting a seasonal ice rink on the first level.

 

A glass floor was installed on the first level during the 2014 refurbishment.

 

In 2016, during Valentine's Day, the performance Un Battement by French artist Milène Guermont unfolds among the Eiffel Tower, the Montparnasse Tower and the contemporary artwork Phares installed on the Place de la Concorde. This interactive pyramid-shaped sculpture allows the public to transmit the beating of their hearts thanks to a cardiac sensor. The Eiffel Tower and the Montparnasse Tower also light up to the rhythm of Phares. This is the first time that the Eiffel Tower has interacted with a work of art.

 

The Metal of The Eiffel Tower

 

The wrought iron of the Eiffel Tower weighs 7,300 tons, and the addition of lifts, shops and antennae have brought the total weight to approximately 10,100 tons.

 

As a demonstration of the economy of design, if the 7,300 tons of metal in the structure were melted down, it would fill the square base, 125 metres (410 ft) on each side, to a depth of only 6.25 cm. A box surrounding the tower (324 m x 125 m x 125 m) would contain 6,200 tons of air, weighing almost as much as the iron itself.

 

Depending on the ambient temperature, the top of the tower may shift away from the sun by up to 18 cm (7 in) due to thermal expansion of the metal on the side facing the sun.

 

Wind Considerations

 

When it was built, many were shocked by the tower's daring form. Eiffel was accused of trying to create something artistic with no regard to the principles of engineering. However, Eiffel and his team – experienced bridge builders – understood the importance of wind forces, and knew that if they were going to build the tallest structure in the world, they had to be sure it could withstand them. In an interview with the newspaper Le Temps published on the 14th. February 1887, Eiffel said:

 

"Is it not true that the very conditions which give

strength also conform to the hidden rules of

harmony?

Now to what phenomenon did I have to give

primary concern in designing the Tower? It was

wind resistance.

Well then! I hold that the curvature of the monument's

four outer edges, which is as mathematical calculation

dictated it should be, will give a great impression of

strength and beauty, for it will reveal to the eyes of the

observer the boldness of the design as a whole".

 

Eiffel used graphical methods to determine the strength of the tower, and empirical evidence to account for the effects of wind, rather than a mathematical formula. All parts of the tower were over-designed to ensure maximum resistance to wind forces. The top half was even assumed to have no gaps in the latticework.

 

In the years since it was completed, engineers have put forward various mathematical hypotheses in an attempt to explain the success of the design. The most recent, devised in 2004 after letters sent by Eiffel to the French Society of Civil Engineers in 1885 were translated into English, is described as a non-linear integral equation based on counteracting the wind pressure on any point of the tower with the tension between the construction elements at that point.

 

The Eiffel Tower sways by up to 9 cm in the wind.

 

Facilities Within The Eiffel Tower

 

When originally built, the first level contained three restaurants – one French, one Russian and one Flemish — and an "Anglo-American Bar".

 

After the exposition closed, the Flemish restaurant was converted to a 250-seat theatre. A promenade 2.6-metres wide ran around the outside of the first level.

 

At the top, there were laboratories for various experiments, and a small apartment reserved for Gustave Eiffel to entertain guests, which is now open to the public, complete with period decorations and lifelike mannequins of Eiffel and some of his notable guests.

 

In May 2016, an apartment was created on the first level to accommodate four competition winners during the UEFA Euro 2016 football tournament in Paris in June. The apartment has a kitchen, two bedrooms, a lounge, and views of Paris landmarks including the Seine, the Sacre Coeur, and the Arc de Triomphe.

 

Engraved Names on The Tower

 

Gustave Eiffel engraved on the tower the names of 72 French scientists, engineers and mathematicians in recognition of their contributions to the building of the tower. Eiffel chose this "invocation of science" because of his concern over the artists' protest. At the beginning of the 20th. century, the engravings were painted over, but they were restored in 1986–87.

 

Aesthetics of The Tower

 

The tower is painted in three shades: lighter at the top, getting progressively darker towards the bottom to complement the Parisian sky. It was originally reddish brown; this changed in 1968 to a bronze colour known as "Eiffel Tower Brown".

 

The only non-structural elements are the four decorative grill-work arches, added in Sauvestre's sketches, which served to make the tower look more substantial and to make a more impressive entrance to the exposition.

 

A movie cliché is that the view from a Parisian window always includes the tower. In reality, since zoning restrictions limit the height of most buildings in Paris to seven storeys, only a small number of tall buildings have a clear view of the tower.

 

Maintenance of The Tower

 

Maintenance of the tower includes applying 60 tons of paint every seven years to prevent it from rusting. The tower has been completely repainted at least 19 times since it was built. Lead paint was still being used as recently as 2001 when the practice was stopped out of concern for the environment.

 

Popularity of The Tower

 

More than 250 million people have visited the tower since it was completed in 1889. The tower is the most-visited paid monument in the world. An average of 25,000 people ascend the tower every day which can result in long queues.

 

Restaurants in The Tower

 

The tower has two restaurants: Le 58 Tour Eiffel on the first level, and Le Jules Verne, a gourmet restaurant with its own lift on the second level. Additionally, there is a champagne bar at the top of the Eiffel Tower.

 

From 1937 until 1981, there was a restaurant near the top of the tower. It was removed due to structural considerations; engineers had determined it was too heavy, and was causing the tower to sag. This restaurant was sold to an American restaurateur and transported to New Orleans. It was rebuilt on the edge of New Orleans' Garden District as a restaurant and later an event hall.

 

Replicas of The Eiffel Tower

 

As one of the most iconic landmarks in the world, the Eiffel Tower has been the inspiration for the creation of many replicas and similar towers.

 

An early example is Blackpool Tower in England. The mayor of Blackpool, Sir John Bickerstaffe, was so impressed on seeing the Eiffel Tower at the 1889 exposition that he commissioned a similar tower to be built in his town. It opened in 1894, and is 158.1 m tall. Tokyo Tower in Japan, built as a communications tower in 1958, was also inspired by the Eiffel Tower.

 

There are various scale models of the tower in the United States, including a half-scale version at the Paris Las Vegas, Nevada. There is also a copy in Paris, Texas built in 1993, and two 1:3 scale models at Kings Island, located in Mason, Ohio, and Kings Dominion, Virginia, amusement parks opened in 1972 and 1975 respectively.

 

There is a 1:3 scale model in China, and one in Durango, Mexico that was donated by the local French community. There are also several across Europe.

 

In 2011, the TV show Pricing the Priceless on the National Geographic Channel speculated that a full-size replica of the tower would cost approximately US$480 million to build. This would be more than ten times the cost of the original.

 

Communications

 

The tower has been used for making radio transmissions since the beginning of the 20th. century. Until the 1950's, sets of aerial wires ran from the cupola to anchors on the Avenue de Suffren and Champ de Mars. These were connected to longwave transmitters in small bunkers.

 

In 1909, a permanent underground radio centre was built near the south pillar, which still exists today.

 

On the 20th. November 1913, the Paris Observatory, using the Eiffel Tower as an aerial, exchanged wireless signals with the United States Naval Observatory, which used an aerial in Arlington, Virginia. The object of the transmissions was to measure the difference in longitude between Paris and Washington, D.C. Today, radio and digital television signals are transmitted from the Eiffel Tower.

 

A television antenna was first installed on the tower in 1957, increasing its height by 18.7 m. Work carried out in 2000 added a further 5.3 m, giving the current height of 324 m.

 

Legal Issues Associated With The Tower

 

The tower and its image have been in the public domain since 1993, 70 years after Eiffel's death.

 

In June 1990 a French court ruled that a special lighting display on the tower in 1989 to mark the tower's 100th. anniversary was an "original visual creation" protected by copyright. The Société d'Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel (SETE) now considers any illumination of the tower to be a separate work of art that falls under copyright. As a result, the SNTE alleges that it is illegal to publish contemporary photographs of the lit tower at night without permission in France and some other countries for commercial use. For this reason, it is rare to find images or videos of the lit tower at night on stock image sites, and media outlets rarely broadcast images or videos of it.

 

The imposition of copyright has been controversial. The Director of Documentation for what was then called the Société Nouvelle d'Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel (SNTE), Stéphane Dieu, commented in 2005:

 

"It is really just a way to manage commercial

use of the image, so that it isn't used in ways

of which we don't approve".

 

SNTE made over €1 million from copyright fees in 2002.

 

The copyright claim itself has never been tested in courts to date, and there has never been an attempt to track down millions of netizens who have posted and shared their images of the illuminated tower on the Internet worldwide. However, the potential for litigation exists for the commercial use of such images, for example in a magazine, on a film poster, or on product packaging.

 

French law allows pictures incorporating a copyrighted work as long as their presence is incidental or accessory to the subject being represented. Therefore, SETE may be unable to claim copyright on photographs of Paris which happen to include the lit tower.

Occupy France, Paris

View On Black

 

Yesterday the Portuguese people protested against recent new austerity measures. There was a clear indignation of the people. See my CNN iReport Lisbon joins the Global Protest September 15th....

Mitchell’s Fold stone circle dates back some 4,000 years to the late Neolithic or early Bronze Age era and it is one of only three such structures that have been identified in the English county of Shropshire. It is located approximately 16 miles south-west of Shrewsbury (“fortified place of the scrubland region”), where it stands very close to the Welsh border, perched on a plateau of high ground that lies between Stapeley (“wood where posts are got” [?]) Hill and Corndon Hill (“hill of cranes” [?]).

 

Mitchell’s Fold stone circle is sometimes also referred to as “Medjices Fold” or “Madges Fold”. The name may possibly thus be derived from the Old English word “micel” [or “mycel”] and have the meaning of “large” or “great” stone circle. Certainly it must once have been an impressive religious/ritualistic site and it may originally have comprised as many as 30 stones, although only 15 of them still remain. The un-worked, dolerite stones are all thought to have been quarried from nearby Stapeley Hill. They are laid out in the form of an ellipse that measures approximately 89 feet north-west to south-east and 82 feet north-east to south-west. Most of the stones are quite short and barely protrude through the turf, although 3 of them are appreciably larger than the rest. The tallest stone is just over 6 feet tall. It is located at the south-east of the circle and is thought to have been one of a pair of such pillars that once flanked an entrance to the circle. There is also a stone at the centre of the circle but it now lies buried below ground.

 

An interesting story describing how Mitchell’s Fold stone circle was created has become part of local folklore. The story relates how once during a time of great famine a benevolent fairy [or giant] took pity on the local population and gave them a magical cow that lived upon Stapeley Hill. Apparently the cow could provide an endless supply of milk but that happy state of affairs would only persist if each person played by the rules and took no more than one bucket of milk at a time. With some depressing parallels to the banking crisis, however, a wicked witch heard of the scheme and set off to visit the cow on a stormy night when nobody else was around. She then milked the cow into a bucket with a perforated bottom so no matter how much milk the cow gave she could never fill the container. It seems, however, that a flash of lightning briefly illuminated the hillside and when the cow became aware of the scam she galloped away in disgust and indignation, never to be seen again. Many years of austerity now lay in store for the good country folk who were entirely innocent of the fraud and there was a great gnashing of teeth and an utterance of expressions that couldn't possibly be reproduced here on flickr. In fairy tales, however, if not in real life, there is such a thing as justice and the witch was turned into stone as a punishment for her anti-social behaviour. Feeling perhaps not in the best of humours and determined that the witch should never be allowed to do them any further harm, the locals surrounded the fossilized reprobate with a circle of stones to prevent her escape and that apparently is the circle we see today at Mitchell’s Fold.

 

The picture was taken looking southwards from Mitchell’s Fold towards Corndon hill, which lies just across the border in Wales. The stone circle is a Scheduled Ancient Monument and it is currently managed by English Heritage.

 

In Opuwo, Namibia, lot of Herero people were wandering around the central market. I started to ask for pictures, everything was ok. But as soon as i started to take the pictures, flocks of drunk (and more) men came, arguing they were the sons, the husbands, the uncle, of those women. And they asked for delirious amount of money.

So, now you're warned!

Of course, all the Herero people are not acting like this, but in this touristic part of Namibia, they do! Avoid!

The Hereros are an ethnic group belonging to the Bantu speaking group. The 320,000 Herero people mainly live in Namibia (representing about 7 per cent of the namibian population), but some of them live in Botswana and Angola. They mostly earn their money as workers on big farms or in the cities as merchants and tradesmen. They are famous for dressing in a victorian style with full length coloured dresses and hats.

 

According to their oral history, Hereros have come from Betschanaland (the current Botswana) with Himbas in the 15th and 16th centuries, and maybe formerly from eastern Africa from Tanganikya Lake area. Both ethnic groups used to be a unique one. Hereros belong to the bantu linguistic group, and as all Bantus, are sedentary farmers and pastoral people. Himbas and Hereros got different and went separate ways. One of the subgroups crossed the Okavango River and became known as the Mbanderu (Eastern Herero) while the other group went to the northwestern part of Namibia and became known as the Himba. During the 18th century, a group of the Himba migrated to central Namibia and there met again with the Mbanderu. The two combined groups settled in the Kalahari Desert and became known as the Herero. At the end of the 18th century Herero people settled in the area of Okahandja (nearby the current capital city : Windhoek). During the 19th century Hereros have been in perpetual conflict with the neighbouring tribes, in particular with the Oorlams and the Namas. Oorlams were an ethnic group of descendants of Boers and Khoikhois (the original inhabitants of south west Africa) migrating from Cape colony in order to escape from the discriminatory laws. They arrived in Okahandja area during the 1820 s led by their chief Jonker Afrikaner. Their modern military organization and the fact the had fire arms (rifles and guns) gave them a big advantage over the Hereros. The latter under Oorlam domination, however the conflict lasted for 50 years, with a break between 1842 and 1850, after a peace treaty was signed. After the death of Jonker Afrikaner in 1861, Hereros and Namas became allies against the Oorlam which led to a peace treaty in 1870, which confirmed the new supremacy of Hereros and their leader Maharero. A conflict the started with the Namas and their leader Hendrik Witbooi.

At the Berlin conference in 1884, which is the climax of the Scramble for Africa, western powers decided that South West Africa (current Namibia) would become a german protectorate, meant to protect Hereros from the neighbouring tribes (especially from the Namas who didn't sign any treaty with the Germans) in exchange of lands for German settlers. Numerous German settlers arrived on Hereros lands in addition to the missionaries that were already there for a few decades. In the beginning Samuel Maharero (who succeeded his father as chief in 1890) sold good lands and farms to German settlers for money. Soon after, conflicts between the German colonists and the Herero herdsmen began. Controversies frequently arose because of disputes about access to land and water, but also the legal discrimination against the native population by the white immigrants (with the creation of the first reservations in 1903) and the liberation of the Damaras slaves (a tribe which was under Herero rule). The growing dissatisfaction among Herero people led Samuel Mahaero to rise up his people against German colonialists in january 1904, by slaughtering about 150 german settlers during the attack of a garrison in Okahandja. In the beginning Hereros had some military successes against the Germans. But when General Von Trotha arrived with reinforcement troops (called Schutztruppe meaning Protective Force) from Germany in june 1904 in order to put down the uprising ; war became a genocide.

 

Herero were victims of the first genocide of the 20th century before the one suffered by armenians or Jews. Von Trotha gave the following order to his soldiers : "Any Herero found within the German borders with or without a gun, with or without cattle, will be shot". Herero resistance was broke down during the Waterberg battle. German troops encircled Herero warriors giving them no other choice than escaping in Omaheke desert. Von Trotha gave the order of poisoning all the waterholes and sources. Of an estimated 65,000 Herero, only 15,000 survived from hunger and thirst in the desert. The survivors became prisoners of war and were put in concentration camps (that were inspired by the ones used by the british during the war against the Boers in South Africa a few years earlier). When these exactions became public in Germany, it provoked protests and indignation which led the Chancellor to resign Von Trotha s duties. Germany made an apology in 2006 for the massacres that occurred, and proposed a multi million dollar development deal for Namibia. The remaining Hereros became tenant farmers in german farms and afterwards in south african ones. Indeed South West Africa switched under south african rule (as part of the british colonial empire) after the german defeat in World War I. Under south african rule Herero people also were also subjected to Apartheid policies. Lots of Hereros joined the SWANU and the NUDO which fought for the independence of Namibia from South Africa. In 1968, South african authorities create the bantustan ( a self governing homeland) of Hereroland to restrict Herero claims. Nevetherless Hereros kept fighting until the complete independence of Namibia.

Nowadays most of the Herero customs dates back to the times they were evangelized by german missionaries. It had an influence on the way Herero people dress, they wear victorian style clothes (hats and dresses), called Hererotracht. Most of the customs and the traditional beliefs are no longer observed by Hereros, as a result of active missionary work. Some of the traditional features of traditional religion (rituals that Himbas still respect and accomplish nowadays) has been mixed with christianity.

 

© Eric Lafforgue

www.ericlafforgue.com