Narasimha (Sanskrit: नरसिंह IAST: Narasiṁha, lit. man-lion), Narasingh, Narsingh and Narasingha in derivative languages is an avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu and one of Hinduism's most popular deities, as evidenced in early epics, iconography, and temple and festival worship for over a millennium.

 

Narasiṁha is often visualised as having a human-like torso and lower body, with a lion-like face and claws. This image is widely worshipped in deity form by a significant number of Vaiṣṇava groups. Vishnu assumed this form on top of Himvat mountain (Harivamsa). He is known primarily as the 'Great Protector' who specifically defends and protects his devotees in times of need. Vishnu is believed to have taken the avatar to destroy the demon king Hiranyakashipu.

 

ETYMOLOGY

The word Narasimha means 'lion-man' which usually means 'half man and half lion'. His other names are:

 

Agnilochana (अग्निलोचन) - the one who has fiery eyes

Bhairavadambara (भैरवडम्बर) - the one who causes terror by roaring

Karala (कराल) - the one who has a wide mouth and projecting teeth

Hiranyakashipudvamsa (हिरण्यकशिपुध्वंस) - the one who killed Hiranyakashipu

Nakhastra (नखास्त्र) - the one for whom nails are his weapons

Sinhavadana (सिंहवदन) - the whose face is of lion

Mrigendra (मृगेन्द्र) - king of animals or lion

 

SCRIPTURAL SOURCES

There are references to Narasiṁha in a variety of Purāṇas, with 17 different versions of the main narrative. The Bhagavata Purāṇa (Canto 7), Agni Purāṇa (4.2-3), Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa(2.5.3-29), Vayu Purāṇa (67.61-66), Harivaṁśa (41 & 3.41-47), Brahma-Purāṇa (213.44-79), Viṣṇudharmottara Purāṇa(1.54), Kūrma Purāṇa (1.15.18-72), Matsya Purāṇa(161-163), Padma Purāṇa(Uttara-khaṇḍa 5.42), Śiva Purāṇa (2.5.43 & 3.10-12), Liṅga Purāṇa (1.95-96), Skanda Purāṇa 7 (2.18.60-130) and Viṣṇu Purāṇa (1.16-20) all contain depictions of the Narasiṁha Avatāra. There is also a short reference in the Mahābhārata (3.272.56-60) and a Gopāla Tapani Upaniṣad (Narasiṁha tapani Upaniṣad), earliest of Vaiṣṇava Upaniṣads named in reference to him.

 

REFERENCES FROM VEDAS

The Ṛg Veda contains an epithet that has been attributed to Narasiṁha. The half-man, half-lion avatāra is described as:

 

like some wild beast, dread, prowling, mountain-roaming.

 

Source: (RV.I 154.2a).

 

There is an allusion to a Namuci story in RV.VIII 14.13:

 

With waters' foam you tore off, Indra, the head of Namuci, subduing all contending hosts.

 

This short reference is believed to have culminated in the full puranic story of Narasiṁha.

 

LORD NARASIMHA AND PRAHLADA

Bhagavata Purāṇa describes that in his previous avatar as Varāha, Viṣṇu killed the asura Hiraṇayakṣa. The younger brother of Hirṇayakṣa, Hiraṇyakaśipu wanted revenge on Viṣṇu and his followers. He undertook many years of austere penance to take revenge on Viṣṇu: Brahma thus offers the demon a boon and Hiraṇyakaśipu asks for immortality. Brahma tells him this is not possible, but that he could bind the death of Hiraṇyakaśipu with conditions. Hiraṇyakaśipu agreed:

 

O my lord, O best of the givers of benediction, if you will kindly grant me the benediction I desire, please let me not meet death from any of the living entities created by you.

 

Grant me that I not die within any residence or outside any residence, during the daytime or at night, nor on the ground or in the sky. Grant me that my death not be brought about by any weapon, nor by any human being or animal.

Grant me that I not meet death from any entity, living or nonliving created by you. Grant me, further, that I not be killed by any demigod or demon or by any great snake from the lower planets. Since no one can kill you in the battlefield, you have no competitor. Therefore, grant me the benediction that I too may have no rival. Give me sole lordship over all the living entities and presiding deities, and give me all the glories obtained by that position. Furthermore, give me all the mystic powers attained by long austerities and the practice of yoga, for these cannot be lost at any time.

 

Brahma said,

Tathāstu (so be it)

 

and vanished. Hiraṇyakaśipu was happy thinking that he had won over death.

 

One day while Hiraṇyakaśipu performed austerities at Mandarācala Mountain, his home was attacked by Indra and the other devatās. At this point the Devarṣi (divine sage) Nārada intervenes to protect Kayādu, whom he describes as sinless. Following this event, Nārada takes Kayādu into his care and while under the guidance of Nārada, her unborn child (Hiraṇyakaśipu's son) Prahālada, becomes affected by the transcendental instructions of the sage even at such a young stage of development. Thus, Prahlāda later begins to show symptoms of this earlier training by Nārada, gradually becoming recognised as a devoted follower of Viṣṇu, much to his father's disappointment.

 

Hiraṇyakaśipu furious at the devotion of his son to Viṣṇu, as the god had killed his brother. Finally, he decides to commit filicide. but each time he attempts to kill the boy, Prahlāda is protected by Viṣṇu's mystical power. When asked, Prahlāda refuses to acknowledge his father as the supreme lord of the universe and claims that Viṣṇu is all-pervading and omnipresent.

 

Hiraṇyakaśipu points to a nearby pillar and asks if 'his Viṣṇu' is in it and says to his son Prahlāda:

O most unfortunate Prahlāda, you have always described a supreme being other than me, a supreme being who is above everything, who is the controller of everyone, and who is all-pervading. But where is He? If He is everywhere, then why is He not present before me in this pillar?

 

Prahlāda then answers,

He was, He is and He will be.

 

In an alternate version of the story, Prahlāda answers,

He is in pillars, and he is in the smallest twig.

 

Hiraṇyakaśipu, unable to control his anger, smashes the pillar with his mace, and following a tumultuous sound, Viṣṇu in the form of Narasiṁha appears from it and moves to attack Hiraṇyakaśipu. in defence of Prahlāda. In order to kill Hiraṇyakaśipu and not upset the boon given by Brahma, the form of Narasiṁha is chosen. Hiraṇyakaśipu can not be killed by human, deva or animal. Narasiṁha is neither one of these as he is a form of Viṣṇu incarnate as a part-human, part-animal. He comes upon Hiraṇyakaśipu at twilight (when it is neither day nor night) on the threshold of a courtyard (neither indoors nor out), and puts the demon on his thighs (neither earth nor space). Using his sharp fingernails (neither animate nor inanimate) as weapons, he disembowels and kills the demon.

 

Kūrma Purāṇa describes the preceding battle between the Puruṣa and demonic forces in which he escapes a powerful weapon called Paśupāta and it describes how Prahlāda's brothers headed by Anuhrāda and thousands of other demons were led to the valley of death (yamalayam) by the lion produced from the body of man-lion avatar. The same episode occurs in the Matsya Purāṇa 179, several chapters after its version of the Narasiṁha advent.

 

It is said that even after killing Hiraṇyakaśipu, none of the present demigods are able to calm Narasiṁha's wrath.So the demigods requested Prahlada to calm down the Lord,and Narasimha,who had assumed the all-powerful form of Gandaberunda returned to more benevolent form after that. In other stories,all the gods and goddesses call his consort, Lakṣmī, who assumes the form of Pratyangira and pacifies the Lord. According to a few scriptures, at the request of Brahma, Shiva took the form of Sharabha and successfully pacified him. Before parting, Narasiṁha rewards the wise Prahlāda by crowning him as the king.

 

NARASIMHA AND ADI SANKARA

Narasiṁha is also a protector of his devotees in times of danger. Near Śrī Śailaṁ, there is a forest called Hatakeśvanam, that no man enters. Śaṅkarācārya entered this place and did penance for many days. During this time, a Kāpālika, by name Kirakashan appeared before him.

 

He told Śrī Śaṅkara that he should give his body as a human-sacrifice to Kālī. Śaṅkara happily agreed. His disciples were shocked to hear this and pleaded with Śaṅkara to change his mind, but he refused to do so saying that it was an honor to give up his body as a sacrifice for Kālī and one must not lament such things. The Kāpālika arranged a fire for the sacrifice and Śaṅkara sat beside it. Just as he lifted his axe to severe the head of Śaṅkara, Viṣṇu as Narasiṁha entered the body of the disciple of Śaṅkarācārya and Narasiṁha devotee, Padmapada. He then fought the Kāpālika, slayed him and freed the forest of Kapalikas. Ādi Śaṅkara composed the powerful Lakṣmī-Narasiṁha Karāvalambaṁ Stotram at the very spot in front of Lord Narasiṁha.

 

MODE OF WORSHIP

Due to the nature of Narasiṁha's form (divine anger), it is essential that worship be given with a very high level of attention compared to other deities. In many temples only lifelong celibates (Brahmācārya) will be able to have the chance to serve as priests to perform the daily puja. Forms where Narasiṁha appears sitting in a yogic posture, or with the goddess Lakṣmī are the exception to this rule, as Narasiṁha is taken as being more relaxed in both of these instances compared to his form when first emerging from the pillar to protect Prahlāda.

 

PRAYERS

A number of prayers have been written in dedication to Narasiṁha avatāra. These include:

 

The Narasiṁha Mahā-Mantra

Narasiṁha Praṇāma Prayer

Daśāvatāra Stotra by Jayadeva

Kāmaśikha Aṣṭakam by Vedānta Deśika

Divya Prabandham 2954

Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Karavalamba Stotram by Sri Adi Sankara

 

THE NARASIMHA MAHA-MANTRA

oṁ hrīṁ kṣauṁ

ugraṁ viraṁ mahāviṣṇuṁ

jvalantaṁ sarvatomukham ।

nṛsiṁhaṁ bhīṣaṇaṁ bhadraṁ

mṛtyormṛtyuṁ namāmyaham ॥

 

O' Angry and brave Mahā-Viṣṇu, your heat and fire permeate everywhere. O Lord Narasiṁha, you are everywhere. You are the death of death and I surrender to You.

 

NARASIMHA PRANAMA PRAYER

namaste narasiṁhāya,

prahlādahlāda-dāyine,

hiraṇyakaśipor vakṣaḥ,

śilā-ṭaṅka nakhālaye

 

I offer my obeisances to Lord Narasiṁha, who gives joy to Prahlāda Mahārāja and whose nails are like chisels on the stone like chest of the demon Hiraṇyakaśipu.

 

ito nṛsiṁhaḥ parato nṛsiṁho,

yato yato yāmi tato nṛsiṁhaḥ,

bahir nṛsiṁho hṛdaye nṛsiṁho,

nṛsiṁhaṁ ādiṁ śaraṇaṁ prapadye

 

Lord Nṛsiṁha is here and also there. Wherever I go Lord Narasiṁha is there. He is in the heart and is outside as well. I surrender to Lord Narasiṁha, the origin of all things and the supreme refuge.

 

DASAVATARA STOTRA BY JAYADEVA

tava kara-kamala-vare nakham adbhuta-śrṅgaṁ,

dalita-hiraṇyakaśipu-tanu-bhṛṅgam,

keśava dhṛta-narahari-rūpa jaya jagadiśa hare

 

O Keśava! O Lord of the universe. O Hari, who have assumed the form of half-man, half-lion! All glories to You! Just as one can easily crush a wasp between one's fingernails, so in the same way the body of the wasp-like demon Hiraṇyakaśipu has been ripped apart by the wonderful pointed nails on your beautiful lotus hands. (from the Daśāvatāra-stotra composed by Jayadeva)

 

KAMASIKHA ASTAKAM BY VEDANTA DESIKA

tvayi rakṣati rakṣakaiḥ kimanyaiḥ,

tvayi cārakṣāti rakṣākaiḥ kimanyaiḥ ।

iti niścita dhīḥ śrayāmi nityaṁ,

nṛhare vegavatī taṭāśrayaṁ tvam ॥8॥

 

O Kāmaśikhā Narasiṁha! you are sarva śakthan. When you are resolved to protect some one, where is the need to seek the protection of anyone else? When you are resolved not to protect some one, which other person is capable of protecting us?. There is no one. Knowing this fundamental truth, I have resolved to offer my śaraṇāgatī at your lotus feet alone that rest at the banks of Vegavatī river.

 

DIVYA PRABANDHAM 2954

āḍi āḍi agam karaindhu isai

pāḍip pāḍik kaṇṇīr malgi engum

nāḍi nāḍi narasingā endru,

vāḍi vāḍum ivvāl nuthale!

 

I will dance and melt for you, within my heart, to see you, I will sing in praise of you with tears in joy, I will search for Narasiṁha and I am a householder who still searches to reach you (to attain Salvation).

 

SYMBOLISM

Narasiṁha indicates God's omnipresence and the lesson is that God is everywhere. For more information, see Vaishnav Theology.

 

Narasiṁha demonstrates God's willingness and ability to come to the aid of His devotees, no matter how difficult or impossible the circumstances may appear to be.

 

Prahlāda's devotion indicates that pure devotion is not one of birthright but of character. Prahlāda, although born an asura, demonstrated the greatest bhakti to God, and endured much, without losing faith.

 

Narasiṁha is known by the epithet Mṛga-Śarīra in Sanskrit which translates to Animal-Man. From a philosophical perspective. Narasiṁha is the very icon of Vaiṣṇavism, where jñāna (knowledge) and Bhakti are important as opposed to Advaita, which has no room for Bhakti, as the object to be worshipped and the worshipper do not exist. As according to Advaita or Māyāvāda, the jīva is Paramātma.

 

SIGNIFICANCE

In South Indian art – sculptures, bronzes and paintings – Viṣṇu's incarnation as Narasiṁha is one of the most chosen themes and amongst [[Avatar]|Avatāra]]s perhaps next only to Rāma and Kṛṣṇa in popularity.

 

Lord Narasiṁha also appears as one of Hanuman's 5 faces, who is a significant character in the Rāmāyaṇa as Lord (Rāma's) devotee.

  

FORMS OF NARASIMHA

There are several forms of Narasiṁha, but 9 main ones collectively known as Nava-narasiṁha:

 

Ugra-narasiṁha

Kroddha-narasiṁha

Vīra-narasiṁha

Vilamba-narasiṁha

Kopa-narasiṁha

Yoga-narasiṁha

Aghora-narasiṁha

Sudarśana-narasiṁha

Lakṣmī-narasiṁha

 

In Ahobilam, Andhra Pradesh, the nine forms are as follows:

Chātra-vata-narasiṁha (seated under a banyan tree)

Yogānanda-narasiṁha (who blessed Lord Brahma)

Karañja-narasiṁha

Uha-narasiṁha

Ugra-narasiṁha

Krodha-narasiṁha

Malola-narasiṁha (With Lakṣmī on His lap)

Jvālā-narasiṁha (an eight armed form rushing out of the pillar)

Pavana-narasiṁha (who blessed the sage Bharadvaja)

 

Forms from Prahlad story:

 

Stambha-narasiṁha (coming out of the pillar)

Svayam-narasiṁha (manifesting on His own)

Grahaṇa-narasiṁha (catching hold of the demon)

Vidāraṇa-narasiṁha (ripping open of the belly of the demon)

Saṁhāra-narasiṁha (killing the demon)

 

The following three refer to His ferocious aspect:

 

Ghora-narasiṁha

Ugra-narasiṁha

Candā-narasiṁha

 

OTHERS

Pañcamukha-Hanumān-narasiṁha, (appears as one of Śrī Hanuman's five faces.)

Pṛthvī-narasiṁha, Vayu-narasiṁha, Ākāśa-narasiṁha, Jvalana-narasiṁha, and

Amṛta-narasiṁha, (representing the five elements)

Jvālā-narasiṁha (with a flame-like mane)

Lakṣmī-narasiṁha (where Lakṣmī pacifies Him)

Prasāda/Prahlāda-varadā-narasiṁha (His benign aspect of protecting Prahlad)

Chatrā-narasiṁha (seated under a parasol of a five-hooded serpent)

Yoga-narasiṁha or Yogeśvara-narasiṁha (in meditation)

Āveśa-narasiṁha (a frenzied form)

Aṭṭahasa-narasiṁha (a form that roars horribly and majestically strides across to destroy evil)

Cakra-narasiṁha, (with only a discus in hand)

Viṣṇu-narasiṁha, Brahma-narasiṁha and Rudra-narasiṁha

Puṣṭi narasiṁha, (worshipped for overcoming evil influences)

 

EARLY IMAGES

In Andhra Pradesh, a panel dating to third-fourth century AD shows a full theriomorphic squatting lion with two extra human arms behind his shoulders holding Vaiṣṇava emblems. This lion, flanked by five heroes (vīra), often has been identified as an early depiction of Narasiṁha. Standing cult images of Narasiṁha from the early Gupta period, survive from temples at Tigowa and Eran. These sculptures are two-armed, long maned, frontal, wearing only a lower garment, and with no demon-figure of Hiraṇyakaśipu. Images representing the narrative of Narasiṁha slaying the demon Hiraṇyakaśipu survive from slightly later Gupta-period temples: one at Madhia and one from a temple-doorway now set into the Kūrma-maṭha at Nachna, both dated to the late fifth or early sixth century A.D.

 

An image of Narasiṁha supposedly dating to second-third century AD sculpted at Mathura was acquired by the Philadelphia Museum of Art in 1987. It was described by Stella Kramrisch, the former Philadelphia Museum of Art's Indian curator, as "perhaps the earliest image of Narasiṁha as yet known". This figure depicts a furled brow, fangs, and lolling tongue similar to later images of Narasiṁha, but the idol's robe, simplicity, and stance set it apart. On Narasiṁha's chest under his upper garment appears the suggestion of an amulet, which Stella Kramrisch associated with Visnu's cognizance, the Kauṣtubha jewel. This upper garment flows over both shoulders; but below Hiranyakasipu, the demon-figure placed horizontally across Narasiṁha's body, a twisted waist-band suggests a separate garment covering the legs. The demon's hair streams behind him, cushioning his head against the man-lion's right knee. He wears a simple single strand of beads. His body seems relaxed, even pliant. His face is calm, with a slight suggestion of a smile. His eyes stare adoringly up at the face of Viṣṇu. There is little tension in this figure's legs or feet, even as Narasiṁha gently disembowels him. His innards spill along his right side. As the Matsya purana describes it, Narasiṁha ripped "apart the mighty Daitya chief as a plaiter of straw mats shreds his reeds". Based on the Gandhara-style of robe worn by the idol, Michael Meiste altered the date of the image to fourth century AD.

 

Deborah Soifer, a scholar who worked on texts in relation to Narasiṁha, believes that "the traits basic to Viṣṇu in the Veda remain central to Viṣṇu in his avataras" and points out, however, that:

 

we have virtually no precursors in the Vedic material for the figure of a man-lion, and only one phrase that simply does not rule out the possibility of a violent side to the benign Viṣṇu.

 

Soifer speaks of the enigma of Viṣṇu's Narasiṁha avatāra and comments that how the myth arrived at its rudimentary form [first recorded in the Mahābhārata], and where the figure of the man-lion came from remain unsolved mysteries.

 

An image of Narasiṁha, dating to the 9th century, was found on the northern slope of Mount Ijo, at Prambanan, Indonesia. Images of Trivikrama and Varāha avatāras were also found at Prambanan, Indonesia. Viṣṇu and His avatāra images follow iconographic peculiarities characteristic of the art of central Java. This includes physiognomy of central Java, an exaggerated volume of garment, and some elaboration of the jewelry. This decorative scheme once formulated became, with very little modification, an accepted norm for sculptures throughout the Central Javanese period (circa 730–930 A.D.). Despite the iconographic peculiarities, the stylistic antecedents of the Java sculptures can be traced back to Indian carvings as the Chalukya and Pallava images of the 6th–7th centuries AD.

 

CULTURAL TRADITION OF PROCESSION (SRI NRSIMHA YATRA)

In Rājopadhyāya Brahmins of Nepal, there is a tradition of celebrating the procession ceremony of the deity Narasiṁha avatar, in Lalitpur district of the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal. The Lunar fifth day of the waning phase of the moon, in the holy Soli-lunar Śrāvaṇa month i.e. on Śrāvaṇa Kṛṣṇa Pañcamī of the Hindu Lunar Calendar is marked as auspicious day for the religious procession, Nṛsiṁha Yātrā. This tradition of the holy procession has been held for more than a hundred years. This is one of the typical traditions of the Rājopadhyāya Bramhins, the Hindu Bramhans of the locality.

 

In this Nṛsiṁha Yātrā, each year one male member of the Rājopadhyāya community gets the chance to be the organizer each year in that particular day. He gets his turn according to the sequence in their record, where the names of Rājopadhyāya bramhins are registered when a brahmāṇa lad is eligible to be called as a Bramhan.

 

WIKIPEDIA

So I rented a truck, went to the dump, bought 2 cubic yards (which is a lot) of topsoil and compost, drive home, start shoveling and find.... a cowgirl g-string and christmas panties. Whu? Huh? How?

 

How did they get through the composting system unscathed? They were wadded up separately, but were uncovered in the same shovel-full... and they are different sizes. I wouldn't expect they would biodegrade as quickly as the green waste, but they look totally fine. Except for flecks of dirt, they barely look dirty.

It's interesting that Imperial Russia left the Swedish coat of arms intact after they took the sea fortress from Sweden in 1808. It is seen here above the gate.

 

More about the history on the fortress:

 

The Swedish era

Sweden lost its superpower status and its most important eastern fortresses in the wars with Russia in the first half of the 1700s. Reinforcing the defences of Finland was deemed necessary. In 1747, the Swedish parliament made a decision to build a central fortress including a naval base in Helsinki and a border fortress in Degerby, off Loviisa.

 

The fortification work began in the following year on the Susiluodot islands off Helsinki, the location of present-day Suomenlinna. In 1750, the fortress was named Sveaborg, rendered phonetically to Viapori in Finnish. The construction of a dry dock was launched in the fortress for building warships for the Archipelago Fleet.

 

Plans fail

The ambitious fortification plans had to be scaled down a few years after the construction began, and the resources were directed to building a sea fortress. The active phase of the Viapori fortification work ended just over 40 years after it began.

 

The fortress was actually never quite completed as planned, even though the original aim was to complete the construction in only four years. The Pomeranian war (1756–1763) put the construction on hold, although the battles did not extend to Viapori in the 1700s. The sea fortress had merits as a naval base in the Russo-Swedish War of 1788–1790 (‘Gustav III’s War’), but it was not involved in actual battles.

 

In 1808, Viapori was besieged by the Russian forces in the Russo-Swedish war. After just minor skirmishes, Commandant C.O. Cronstedt decided to surrender. The reasons for surrender remains an unsolved mystery. The surrendered sea fortress was taken over by the Russians, and a new era began for Viapori.

 

www.suomenlinna.fi/en/fortress/swedishera/

Dutch collectors card in the series 'Filmsterren: een portret' by Edito Service, 1995. Photo: Collection La Cinémathèque française. Publicity still for Der junge Törless/Young Törless (Volker Schlöndorf, 1966)

 

Handsome German actor Mathieu Carrière (1950) had his breakthrough at 16 in Volker Schlöndorf’s Der junge Törless/Young Törless (1966). In the 1970s and 1980s he appeared in many French arthouse films by directors like André Delvaux and Marguerite Duras. Carrière was very convincing in challenging roles in several literary film adaptations and he also incidentally worked as a director and a writer.

 

Mathieu Carrière was born in 1950 in Hanover, Germany. His parents were Bern Carrière, a neurologist and psychiatrist, and Jutta Carrière. His brother Till Carrière and sister Mareike Carrière would both become actors too. Carrière grew up in Berlin and Lübeck. The young Mathieu had his first stage riole as Emil in a school production of Erich Kästner's Emil and the detectives at the Gymnasium Katharineum in Lübeck. At the age of 13, he played the young Tonio in the film adaptation of Thomas Mann's Tonio Kröger (Rolf Thiele, 1964), with Jean-Claude Brialy as the adult Tonio. Mathieu attended the Jesuit boarding school Lycée Saint-François-Xavier in Vannes, France. This school had previously been attended by the director of Carrière's first major film, Volker Schlöndorff. Carrière played Torless, a student in a costly boarding school during the glory days of the Hapsburg empire in Der junge Törless/Young Törless (Volker Schlöndorff, 1966). The film was adapted from the autobiographical novel Die Verwirrungen des Zoglings Torless (The Confusions of Young Törless) by Robert Musil. It deals with the violent, sadistic and homoerotic tendencies at an Austrian military academy at the beginning of the 20th century. The film won the FIPRESCI Prize at the 1966 Cannes Film Festival. His next film was Vrata Raja/Gates to Paradise (1968) by Polish director Andrzej Wajda. Lionel Stander stars as a monk who leads a group of children from France to Jerusalem to protest the carnage of the Crusades between the Christians and Moslems for ownership of the holy land The film is based on a novel by Polish writer Jerzy Andrzejewski that seeks to expose the motives behind youthful religious zeal. In 1969, Carrière moved to Paris to study philosophy and continue his acting.

 

Mathieu Carrière played the leading role in the French-Italian-West German science fiction-drama L'Homme au cerveau greffé/Man with the Transplanted Brain (Jacques Doniol-Valcroze, 1971), the Belgian fantasy-horror Malpertuis/The Legend of Doom House (Harry Kümel, 1971) with Orson Welles, and the French-Belgian drama Rendez-vous à Bray/Rendezvous at Bray (André Delvaux, 1971), starring Anna Karina. After this impressive start in France, his career seemed to go nowhere when he appeared in one of the final Brigitte Bardot films, the flop Don Juan ou Si Don Juan était une femme.../Don Juan, or If Don Juan Were a Woman (Roger Vadim, 1973), and in another Vadim debacle, La jeune fille assassinée/Charlotte or The Murdered Young Girl (Roger Vadim, 1974) with Sirpa Lane as a nymphomaniac. In between, he had a supporting part in the interesting Italian film Giordano Bruno (Giuliano Montaldo, 1973), about the last years of the philosopher Giordano Bruno (Gian Maria Volonté) from 1592 to his execution in 1600. An arthouse hit was the French drama India Song (Marguerite Duras, 1975), with Delphine Seyrig. India Song was nominated for three César Awards in 1976. Other known films with Carrière were the French crime-thriller Police Python 357/The Case Against Ferro (Alain Corneau, 1976) starring Yves Montand and Simone Signoret, and the West German film Der Fangschuß/Coup de Grâce (Volker Schlöndorff, 1976) adapted from the novel by Marguerite Yourcenar. He also appeared in the French romantic drama Bilitis (1977) directed by photographer David Hamilton and shot in the his well-known soft focus style. Other films were the Swiss drama Les Indiens sont encore loin/The Indians Are Still Far Away (Patricia Moraz, 1977) with Isabelle Huppert, and the Belgian-French drama Een vrouw tussen hond en wolf/Woman Between Wolf and Dog (André Delvaux, 1979) with Marie-Christine Barrault and Rutger Hauer.

 

In 1980, Mathieu Carrière starred in Egon Schiele – Exzess und Bestrafung/Egon Schiele – Excess and Punishment (Herbert Vessely, 1981), based on the life of the Austrian expressionist painter. He then played a supporting part in the French film La femme de l'aviateur The Aviator's Wife (1981), written and directed by Éric Rohmer. Like many of Rohmer’s films, it deals with the ever-evolving love lives of a group of young Parisians. This was the first in Rohmer's Comedies & Proverbs series. He then appeared in the final film of Romy Schneider, La passante du Sans-Souci/The Passerby (Jacques Rouffio, 1982), based on a novel by Joseph Kessel. He followed it with the Belgian-French-Italian romantic drama Benvenuta (André Delvaux, 1983), with Fanny Ardant and Vittorio Gassman. He returned to Germany to play in Die flambierte Frau/A Woman in Flames (Robert van Ackeren, 1983), starring Gudrun Landgrebe. The film was a enormous moneymaker in Germany. Again with Landgrebe and with his sister Mareike, he appeared in the Hungarian drama Yerma (Imre Gyöngyössy, Barna Kabay, 1984), based on the play by Federico García Lorca. Later films include the Marguerite Yourcenar adaptation L'Œuvre au noir/The Abyss (André Delvaux, 1988), with Gian Maria Volonté and Sami Frey, and the West-German drama Zugzwang/Fool's Mate (1989), which he also wrote and directed.

 

During the following decades Mathieu Carrière started to work more and more for television, but there war still several film roles. In 1991, he appeared opposite Isabelle Huppert in the German-Austrian drama Malina (Werner Schroeter, 1991). The screenplay was adapted by Elfriede Jelinek from Ingeborg Bachmann's novel Malina. It was followed by a part opposite Bruno Ganz in the German drama Erfolg/Success (Franz Seitz Jr., 1991) based on the famous novel by Lion Feuchtwanger. His first American production was the historical adventure film Christopher Columbus: The Discovery (John Glen, 1992) with Marlon Brando, followed by the American World War II drama Shining Through (David Seltzer, 1992), starring Michael Douglas and Melanie Griffith. He returned to Germany to co-star with Nina Hoss in Das Mädchen Rosemarie/A Girl Called Rose Marie (Bernd Eichinger, 1997), a remake of the highly-regarded film Das Maedchen Rosemarie/Rosemary (1958). This fact-based drama follows the rise and fall of a German beauty who went from ex-convict to courtesan of some of Germany's most powerful men to the victim of an unsolved murder. Later films include the biopic Luther (Eric Till & Marc Canosa, 2003) starring Joseph Fiennes, the French crime-adventure film Arsène Lupin (Jean-Paul Salomé, 2004), based on the iconic series of novels about gentleman thief Arsène Lupin created by Maurice Leblanc, and the French thriller La marque des anges – Miserere/The Mark of the Angels – Miserere (Sylvain White, 2013), starring Gérard Depardieu. Despite a large budget, the latter film was poorly received by critics and failed to make an impact at the box office. Mathieu Carrière has two daughters, Alice Isabelle (1985) with Jennifer Bartlett; and Elena Carriere (1996) with Bettina Catharina Proske. After losing a legal battle over custody for his daughter, he became a strong activist for the rights of fathers. In a controversial performance, he was symbolically crucified in front of the German Ministery of Justice in 2006.

 

Sources: AllMovie, Wikipedia (English and German), and IMDb.

Scrapper Blackwell

 

Scrapper Blackwell (February 21, 1903 – October 7, 1962) was an American blues guitarist and singer; best known as half of the guitar-piano duo he formed with Leroy Carr in the late 1920s and early 1930s, he was an acoustic single-note picker in the Chicago blues and Piedmont blues style, with some critics noting that he veered towards jazz.

 

Kokomo Blues

 

Scrapper Blackwell also made solo recordings for Vocalion, including "Kokomo Blues" which was transformed into "Old Kokomo Blues" by Kokomo Arnold before being redone as "Sweet Home Chicago" by Robert Johnson.

    

Biography

Blackwell was born Francis Hillman Blackwell in Syracuse, North Carolina as one of sixteen children of Payton and Elizabeth Blackwell. Part Cherokee, he grew up and spent most of his life in Indianapolis, Indiana. His father played the fiddle, but Blackwell was a self-taught guitarist, building his first guitar out of cigar boxes, wood and wire. He also learned the piano, occasionally playing professionally. By his teens, Blackwell was a part-time musician, traveling as far as Chicago. Known for being withdrawn and hard to work with, Blackwell established a rapport with pianist Leroy Carr, whom he met in Indianapolis in the mid-1920s, creating a productive working relationship. Carr convinced Blackwell to record with him for the Vocalion label in 1928; the result was "How Long, How Long Blues", the biggest blues hit of that year.

Blackwell also made solo recordings for Vocalion, including "Kokomo Blues" which was transformed into "Old Kokomo Blues" by Kokomo Arnold before being redone as "Sweet Home Chicago" by Robert Johnson. Blackwell and Carr toured throughout the American Midwest and South between 1928 and 1935 as stars of the blues scene, recording over 100 sides. Well received numbers were "Prison Bound Blues" (1928), reportedly based on Carr's own stretch of time for bootlegging, "Mean Mistreater Mama" (1934) and "Blues Before Sunrise" (1934).[3] The duo moved to St. Louis, Missouri in the early 1930s, but were back in Indianopolis when Carr died.[3]

Blackwell made several solo excursions; a 1931 visit to Richmond, Indiana to record at Gennett studios is notable. Blackwell, dissatisfied with the lack of credit given his contributions with Carr, was remedied by Vocalion's Mayo Williams after his 1931 breakaway. In all future recordings, Blackwell received equal credit with Carr in terms of recording contracts and songwriting credits. Blackwell's last recording session with Carr was in February 1935 for the Bluebird label. The recording session ended bitterly, as both musicians left the studio mid-session and on bad terms, stemming from payment disputes. Two months later Blackwell received a phone call informing him of Carr's death due to heavy drinking and nephritis. Blackwell soon recorded a tribute to his musical partner of seven years ("My Old Pal Blues") before retiring from the music industry.

Blackwell returned to music in the late 1950s and was first recorded in June 1958 by Colin C. Pomroy (those recordings were released as late as 1967 on the Collector label). Soon afterwards he was recorded by Duncan P. Schiedt for Doug Dobell's 77 Records and Art Rosenbaum for the Prestige/Bluesville Records label.

He was ready to resume his blues career when he was shot and killed during a mugging in an Indianapolis alley. He was 59 years old. Although the crime remains unsolved, police arrested his neighbour at the time for the murder. Blackwell is buried in New Crown Cemetery, Indianapolis.

  

Key recording

•The Virtuoso Guitar of Scrapper Blackwell (Yazoo Records) - accompaniments and duets with Carr intersperse lean solo blues by the sharpest guitarist of his day.

  

youtu.be/Jg2dBSqjrwM

Pygmalion (1938), a film adaptation by Shaw and others, starring Leslie Howard as Higgins and Wendy Hiller as Eliza. and Theodore Bikel (as a Jewel Thief!?)

 

Pygmalion is a 1912 play by George Bernard Shaw.

 

Professor of phonetics Henry Higgins makes a bet that he can train a bedraggled Cockney flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, to pass for a duchess at an ambassador's garden party by teaching her to assume a veneer of gentility, the most important element of which, he believes, is impeccable speech. The play is a sharp lampoon of the rigid British class system of the day and a commentary on women's independence.

 

In ancient Greek mythology, Pygmalion was the creator of a statue which came to life and was a popular subject for Victorian era English playwrights, including one of Shaw's influences, W. S. Gilbert, who wrote a successful play based on the story in 1871, called Pygmalion and Galatea. Shaw also would have been familiar with the burlesque version, Galatea, or Pygmalion Reversed.

Shaw's play has been adapted numerous times, most notably as the musical My Fair Lady and the film of that name.

 

Shaw created Eliza Doolittle specifically for Mrs. Patrick Campbell, partly as a flirtatious challenge and partly to tease her for her social pretensions, which he felt hampered her growth as an artist. Her affected diction onstage (even in Shakespeare), which both he and Oscar Wilde instantly recognized as that of a suburban social climber, was at odds with her considerable abilities.

 

George Bernard Shaw, wrote the play Pygmalion between 1897 when he first came up with the idea, and 1911 when he completed the final version. He wrote several different rough drafts of the play during that time frame, some of which are lost.

 

One of the “lost” versions, is said to have had a different version of Act 3, adding an ambassadors’ ball instead of garden party , a different version of Act 5 Mrs. Higgins' drawing room , and included an act 6 for the final act.

 

This unemployed version had Eliza Doolittle, attending the ambassadors’ ball and meeting Higgins pupil, Nepommuck, who originally was portrayed as a tall dark handsomely mysterious gentleman. It turned out he was a scoundrel jewel thief who lures the mysterious Eliza into the garden under the pretext of finding out who she really is. He convinces her to dance with him under the moonlight in front of a statue of Pygmalion. As he makes her uncomfortable with his questioning, he manages to undo the clasp of Eliza’s magnificent (borrowed) tiffany bracelet, letting it fall at the statues feet. This symbolizes the eventual fall of Eliza her loss of Higgins and her valued pseudo social standing that was stolen away.

 

Back at the Ambassador’s Ball , Mrs. Higgins points out the missing bracelet, flustering Eliza in front of Prof. Higgins. Eliza is accused by Prof. Higgins of giving the bracelet to her father, Alfred Doolittle , who had been seen lurking about. Eliza, defending herself, slips out of character, exposing herself to the guests . Higgins loses his bet, and loses interest in Eliza, who returns to the streets. .

 

Later, when Higgins learns that Nepommuck had been caught stealing the jewels from a young Dutchess’s chambers, he refuses to listen to Colonel Pickering’s advice “to make it right old man” .

Much Later Higgins comes across Eliza, and realizes the listlessness that has overcome him is due to his love for her. But his own arrogance won’t allow him to act on those feelings.

 

Shaw was a fan of E. W. Hornung, which may explain his jewel thief motif.

 

E. W. Hornung, a brother-in-law to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes, created the character Arthur J. Raffles in the 1890s. Shaw had envisioned Nepommuck as an A J Raffles type of character. Shaw may been seeking to knock Mrs. Patrick Campbell down a few pegs by having a dashingly dapper young man fall madly in love with Eliza( the character he wrote with Cambell in mind) , only to find out it was her jewels he desired, and nothing more.

 

When Shaw wrote the screenplay for the 1938 film starring Leslie Howard, he attempted to resurrect the jewel thief version for the movie. He wrote in a new character for Nepommuck , calling him Zoltan KarpathyI (gentleman jewel thief ) , wrote in the Ballroom scene, Garden scene and revised ending.

 

The producers thought it was a bit too much, allowing Shaw to keep the Zoltan character (but only as an older, less roguish interpreter) and the lavish ballroom scene. Everything else, jewel thief plot, garden scene and ending were once again cut or modified. Eliza’s character was allowed to keep the tiffany bracelets as part of her costume.

  

Queensland State Archives Item ID ITM294496 Dept No.44

The murder of siblings Michael, Norah and Ellen Murphy near Gatton on Boxing Day 1898 sparked intense interest and speculation. All three were killed between 10pm and the early hours of the following morning on their way home from a dance that had been cancelled and the case remains unsolved to this day.

Contained within the QSA archived police files are pages of handwritten letters from across Queensland sent from members of the community convinced they could help solve the case using their spiritual gifts. Some are simply a few words on a scrap of paper, others take up many pages and go into lengthy detail about possible conspiracies. The police called the correspondence files ‘Astrologers, Dreamers, Theorists, etc’.

This morning we took the Queen City Underground Tour in Over-The-Rhine, and walked up Vine Street to several sites. We passed the building that once housed Wielert’s Beer Garden.

 

www.irhine.com/index.jsp?page=district_central

Henry Wielert built this structure in 1873. It became one of the most popular beer gardens in the days when such establishments lined Vine Street. Wielert provided a sheltered garden area in the rear and a forty-piece orchestra for entertainment. George Cox, Cincinnati’s political “Boss,” had his own special table, from which he conducted local politics and monitored party convention activities in the Central Turner Hall that backed up to Wielert’s at 1407 Walnut Street. The distinctive brick and stone front facade still features the initials “H. W.” and the date “1873.”.

 

www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=74

George Cox was born in 1853 in Cincinnati, Ohio. His father was an English immigrant, struggling to support his family. When Cox was only eight years old, his father died, forcing Cox to leave school to help support his family. He worked numerous different jobs, including newsboy, bootblack, steamboat cabin boy, grocery deliveryman, butcher boy and bartender, all before Cox turned eighteen years of age.

 

By the early 1870s, Cox had saved enough money to purchase a bar in Cincinnati. It was located in a notorious part of the city, famous for its unsolved murders, called "Dead Man's Corner." Cox also became involved in politics during this time period, drumming up illegal voters for candidates that he favored. He also won election to the Cincinnati City Council in 1879. Cox's reason for seeking office was because of the numerous raids Cincinnati police officers made against his bar. At this time, the Democratic Party controlled the Cincinnati city government. Cox ran as a Republican. He held office for two terms. Interestingly, upon assuming office, the police raids against Cox's bar immediately stopped.

 

While Cox never held political office after his second term as city councilman, he virtually ran the Cincinnati city government by becoming a city boss. Like other city bosses, Cox used gifts and money to build support for himself among the working class in Cincinnati. During elections, Cox would then have his followers vote for the candidate that he supported. As Cox once stated: "The people do the voting. I simply see that the right candidates are selected."

 

By 1905, Cox's dominance of Cincinnati government began to fall apart. Over the next several years, Cox encouraged his supporters in the city government to annex surrounding communities. Many of the people in these neighborhoods were middle-class residents. They opposed Cox's political corruption. Many of these people were supporters of the Progressive Movement and sought to return Americans to traditional and more moral values.

 

With this influx of new voters -- voters that Cox could not control -- the city boss failed to have his candidate elected mayor of Cincinnati in 1911.

 

Cox suffered a stroke in 1916, and he died that same year on May 20.

 

George Cox was quoted as saying: "I am the Boss of Cincinnati. I never dodged that statement in my life. I've got the best system of government in the country."

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_B._Cox_House

 

www.soapboxmedia.com/features/57soapdishbohemia.aspx

 

www.cincinnativiews.net/facts.htm

The area between Broadway, 6th, 7th, & Culvert Sts. around the years of the Civil War was known as Bucktown. There were so many murders at 6th & Broadway the area was called "Dead Man's Corner". By 1890 Bucktown had become almost civilized. It was written that "sometimes several nights would pass without anyone being killed" (W. P. Dabney).

 

The southwest corner of 5th and Vine was known as the "Nasty Corner" in the late 19th century. This was because there were so many saloons along that stretch that the sidewalks were filled with loiterers and drunks. Women were advised to avoid this area where they were likely to be exposed to bad language and squirts of tobacco juice. The name came from the corruption of the land owners name, Mr. Naste. The area was improved with the construction of the Carew Building (the building before the Carew Tower was built).

  

St Mary, Aldham, Suffolk

 

I pass this church often. Traffic rushes along the busy Ipswich to Sudbury road not far off, but there is a quieter, parallel road which not many people seem to know about. It leaves Ipswich via Bramford, and you can get all the way to Sudbury on it, taking in the likes of Burstall, Kersey and Waldingfield on the way. Aldham as a village is little more than a straggle of houses, but they lie along this road, and just beyond a cluster of houses you take a sudden turn to the left, on to a pretty track to Aldham Hall. Down through fruit trees you descend, until the walls become older, and there at the end are the farm buildings. Beyond them, is this pretty church.

 

If the church is pretty, the view from it is doubly so - to the south, the land drops away alarmingly, into a valley full of sheep. This is lovely, and splendidly English. Nothing could be more peaceful. But beyond, the land rises to a dark sea of trees, the mysteriously named Wolves Wood, now an RSPB reserve. Looking along to the right, the other hilltop is where the Protestant preacher Roland Taylor was burned at the stake in the 1550s, a site of pilgrimage for his many American descendants. Whatever your reading of the English Reformation, Taylor's burning was a terrible event. One imagines the villagers gathered outside this church, watching the flames and smoke rise.

 

I remembered the first time I came here, back in the 1990s. We came here on one of those humid, overcast summer days, on our way to the Bildeston Beer Festival. My young children scattered off to play hide and seek with their mother in the precipitous graveyard. An elderly man was pottering about, looking at 19th century graves, so I apologised for my family (as you do). But he seemed genuinely pleased that they were running about like mad things. He was tracing his family, and had come down from Norfolk to look for a particular grave of an ancestor. And he'd found it. He was pretty pleased about that, too. He was also following up a theory that his ancestor had been a Rector of this parish. His address had been Aldham Rectory. Did I have any idea how he could find out? I suggested that the church might have a board of 'Rectors of this Parish'. Most do. These are a pleasant Victorianism, intended to overcome the 16th century breach by claiming a history of the CofE that extended back before the Reformation. We could go inside, and take a look. And we did - the church was militantly open, the inner door wedged wide. We found the board - but the name wasn't there. So, the mystery remained unsolved.

 

This church was derelict by the mid 19th century, and underwent a fairly late restoration, in 1883. The tower was rebuilt, as was the south wall of the nave. The roofs were replaced, giving an overwhelmingly Victorian appearance - although Mortlock detected the Norman, and possibly Saxon, ancestor. The hill itself suggests a very early foundation, perhaps on a site of pagan worship.

 

The architect was W. M. Fawcett, and there was another restoration of the inside in the early 20th century. The resulting interior is one of those neat and shiny jobs that is certainly grand, and pleasant enough, but rather dated now. Our early 21st Century spirituality seems to respond more to dusty, ancient interiors than to these Victorian ritualisations. But I had a sense of a church that is much loved, well-cared for, and used regularly.

 

And that is still so today. Now, Aldham parish have gone one further than a wedged-open door, and a big sign has been erected at the bottom of the lane proclaiming that Our Church is Always Open, and so it is easy to step into its prayerful interior. And it is not without its medieval survivals, a couple of which are fascinating. For a start, there is the chancel, with its original roof, some fine windows, and a piscina in the sanctuary. But best of all are two bench ends. These are unlike anything else I've seen in Suffolk, and their primitive quality suggests a local origin. The one to the west apparently shows a bear, or possibly a lion. My first impulse was that it was some kind of heraldic device, but on reflection I think differently. Note the shaved off object it holds in its mouth. And is the pattern emerging from beneath the head really fur? Back in 1999, my six year old took one look at it and decided that the creature isn't eating the bird, but the bird is flying out of its mouth. Could it be a dove? And could the three objects issuing from beneath the head actually be tongues of fire? In which case, could this be some strange composition representing Pentecost, and the descent of the Holy Spirit?

 

In the spandrel above the bear, or whatever it is, there is a lily, the symbol of the Annunciation. But it is also a symbol of the crucifixion. It calls to mind the rare lily crucifixes, of which just two are known to survive in Suffolk, at Long Melford and Great Glemham. Could this be an unrecorded third? The other bench end is probably easier to read. The crown is obvious enough. The star and crescent are familiar from representations of the crucifixion. The pike is a familiar instrument of the Passion. And, if you look in the spandrel above, you'll see a crown of thorns, so this may well be a composition representing the Passion.

 

A third bench end, to the east, shows just a simple spiked tool, that looks as if it might have been used in thatching. So, what's it all about? It is a bit of a mystery, really.

 

And what of the font? This is mysterious, too. It appears to be Norman, but a second glance finds it too elegant, too finely detailed. The pillars are almost Classical in design, and the whole piece has a touch of the 18th century about it. Was it brought here from somewhere else in the 1880s? Or is it a Victorian recutting of a Norman predecessor? Whatever, the revealed brickwork of the late medieval tower arch looks most fitting behind it. The doors are, presumably, part of the 1930s interior restoration - indeed, they have a touch of Cautley about them.

 

To see early 20th century Anglican triumphalism in all its hideous glory, step up into the chancel, and examine the reredos and flanking niches. It looks like something out of a French cathedral. I suppose that it is really quite good, with the kind of neatness one associates with 1930s stonework used here to highlight medievalist detail. On the other hand, one wonders what they can have been thinking of, to impose it on this pretty little country church. Fortunately, the contemporary glass in the east window is very good, or else this confection would be rather embarrassing. The stonework must have cost a fortune, and it is rather hard to imagine the same thing happening today. Post dating it by a couple of decades is a set of arms for Elizabeth II, unusual, and rather good. Very Festival of Britain.

 

Standing in the nave and looking east, the splendour of the reredos imposing itself on our view, it is hard to imagine the real glory that once was here. But John Nunn contacted me, to tell me about a will he has a copy of. In 1525, his ancestor Robert Clifford declared: I bequeath I will have the rood there upon the candlebeam set up higher and Mary & John and two new angels and the breast under the rood korvyn and when that is done I will have all this painted and guilt whatsoever the cost. I will have bought two standards of brass stand in the choir and I will my executors bestow therein 40/-. I will my executors shall buy four candlesticks of brass for the candlebeam, I give six kine unto the church of Aldham to keep my obit with as long as the world stand.

 

What does all this mean? Firstly, you have to remember that England was a devoutly Catholic country in 1525, and the fittings of the church were for the actions of the Catholic liturgy. In the late 15th and early 16th centuries, all Suffolk churches had a rood in place. This was a representation of the crucifixion, set above the chancel arch. On one side of the cross always stood the Virgin Mary, and on the other side stood St John. Often, the wall behind was painted. The rood either hung on the wall, or was supported by a beam. However, there was always a beam that ran below it for candles to be lit on. This was called the candlebeam, or rood beam. The candles were placed on it by individuals or gilds as part of the process of prayer - particularly prayer for the souls of the dead. A rood loft ran beside it for access, and the space beneath was infilled with a rood screen. To make the rood even more glorious, the roof above was panelled, and the panels were painted blue, with gold stars, and perhaps Marian monograms. This was called the canopy of honour, or more simply, the coving (rendered delightfully in Suffolk dialect as Korvyn above.)

 

Robert Clifford was paying for a simple rood to be made more glorious. He was going to have it placed higher, with a new canopy of honour. He was paying for brass candlesticks to replace wooden candlestocks.

 

Why? Simply, the medieval economy of grace depended upon the living praying for the dead, and the dead praying for the living. In donating glorious things to his church, Clifford was ensuring that he would be remembered. The roodscreen would have a dedicatory inscription with his name on. He was saying - I won't forget you, don't you forget me. Catholics still say these prayers, and believe them answered. The Catholic liturgy formalised prayers for the dead in the form of obit masses.These were said on the anniversary of someone's death in perpetuity. The proceeds of the sale of the six cows (kine) would be invested, probably in land to be rented, to pay a priest to say these masses - as long as the world shall stand; that is, for ever.

 

Unfortunately, 'for ever' didn't last very long. Prayers for the dead were declared illegal by the protestant reformers in the late 1530s. By 1547, every single rood in the land had been toppled and burned. The rood lofts were hacked down, along with many of the candle beams (although about ten beams survive in Suffolk) and most of the rood screens were also destroyed (about 50 survive in Suffolk). Nothing of Robert Clifford's gifts survive at Aldham. All the gilt would have been stripped, the brass candlesticks melted down, and the proceeds sequestered by the King's commissioners. The collected glory of all the churches of England was squandered by Henry VIII on high living, and on the expensive and pointless siege of Boulogne. A sad thought.

 

When I came here in 1999, I remembered the graveyard full of wild thyme and especially sorrel, which we gathered in handfuls and ate later in the day with fresh trout and new potatoes. It was too late for the sorrel this year, and so instead I just stood, and looked out across the gentle valley, the sheep cropping their way slowly westward. I looked beyond to Wolves Wood, and the site of Roland Taylor's martyrdom. Hard to imagine so much history happening to such a modest little parish.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beamish_Museum

 

Beamish Museum is the first regional open-air museum, in England, located at Beamish, near the town of Stanley, in County Durham, England. Beamish pioneered the concept of a living museum. By displaying duplicates or replaceable items, it was also an early example of the now commonplace practice of museums allowing visitors to touch objects.

 

The museum's guiding principle is to preserve an example of everyday life in urban and rural North East England at the climax of industrialisation in the early 20th century. Much of the restoration and interpretation is specific to the late Victorian and Edwardian eras, together with portions of countryside under the influence of industrial revolution from 1825. On its 350 acres (140 ha) estate it uses a mixture of translocated, original and replica buildings, a large collection of artefacts, working vehicles and equipment, as well as livestock and costumed interpreters.

 

The museum has received a number of awards since it opened to visitors in 1972 and has influenced other living museums. It is an educational resource, and also helps to preserve some traditional and rare north-country livestock breeds.

 

History

Genesis

In 1958, days after starting as director of the Bowes Museum, inspired by Scandinavian folk museums, and realising the North East's traditional industries and communities were disappearing, Frank Atkinson presented a report to Durham County Council urging that a collection of items of everyday history on a large scale should begin as soon as possible, so that eventually an open air museum could be established. As well as objects, Atkinson was also aiming to preserve the region's customs and dialect. He stated the new museum should "attempt to make the history of the region live" and illustrate the way of life of ordinary people. He hoped the museum would be run by, be about and exist for the local populace, desiring them to see the museum as theirs, featuring items collected from them.

 

Fearing it was now almost too late, Atkinson adopted a policy of "unselective collecting" — "you offer it to us and we will collect it." Donations ranged in size from small items to locomotives and shops, and Atkinson initially took advantage of a surplus of space available in the 19th-century French chateau-style building housing the Bowes Museum to store items donated for the open air museum. With this space soon filled, a former British Army tank depot at Brancepeth was taken over, although in just a short time its entire complement of 22 huts and hangars had been filled, too.

 

In 1966, a working party was established to set up a museum "for the purpose of studying, collecting, preserving and exhibiting buildings, machinery, objects and information illustrating the development of industry and the way of life of the north of England", and it selected Beamish Hall, having been vacated by the National Coal Board, as a suitable location.

 

Establishment and expansion

In August 1970, with Atkinson appointed as its first full-time director together with three staff members, the museum was first established by moving some of the collections into the hall. In 1971, an introductory exhibition, "Museum in the Making" opened at the hall.

 

The museum was opened to visitors on its current site for the first time in 1972, with the first translocated buildings (the railway station and colliery winding engine) being erected the following year. The first trams began operating on a short demonstration line in 1973. The Town station was formally opened in 1976, the same year the reconstruction of the colliery winding engine house was completed, and the miners' cottages were relocated. Opening of the drift mine as an exhibit followed in 1979.

 

In 1975 the museum was visited by the Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, and by Anne, Princess Royal, in 2002. In 2006, as the Grand Master of the United Grand Lodge of England, The Duke of Kent visited, to open the town masonic lodge.

 

With the Co-op having opened in 1984, the town area was officially opened in 1985. The pub had opened in the same year, with Ravensworth Terrace having been reconstructed from 1980 to 1985. The newspaper branch office had also been built in the mid-1980s. Elsewhere, the farm on the west side of the site (which became Home Farm) opened in 1983. The present arrangement of visitors entering from the south was introduced in 1986.

 

At the beginning of the 1990s, further developments in the Pit Village were opened, the chapel in 1990, and the board school in 1992. The whole tram circle was in operation by 1993.[8] Further additions to the Town came in 1994 with the opening of the sweet shop and motor garage, followed by the bank in 1999. The first Georgian component of the museum arrived when Pockerley Old Hall opened in 1995, followed by the Pockerley Waggonway in 2001.

 

In the early 2000s two large modern buildings were added, to augment the museum's operations and storage capacity - the Regional Resource Centre on the west side opened in 2001, followed by the Regional Museums Store next to the railway station in 2002. Due to its proximity, the latter has been cosmetically presented as Beamish Waggon and Iron Works. Additions to display areas came in the form of the Masonic lodge (2006) and the Lamp Cabin in the Colliery (2009). In 2010, the entrance building and tea rooms were refurbished.

 

Into the 2010s, further buildings were added - the fish and chip shop (opened 2011)[28] band hall (opened 2013) and pit pony stables (built 2013/14) in the Pit Village, plus a bakery (opened 2013) and chemist and photographers (opened 2016) being added to the town. St Helen's Church, in the Georgian landscape, opened in November 2015.

 

Remaking Beamish

A major development, named 'Remaking Beamish', was approved by Durham County Council in April 2016, with £10.7m having been raised from the Heritage Lottery Fund and £3.3m from other sources.

 

As of September 2022, new exhibits as part of this project have included a quilter's cottage, a welfare hall, 1950s terrace, recreation park, bus depot, and 1950s farm (all discussed in the relevant sections of this article). The coming years will see replicas of aged miners' homes from South Shields, a cinema from Ryhope, and social housing will feature a block of four relocated Airey houses, prefabricated concrete homes originally designed by Sir Edwin Airey, which previously stood in Kibblesworth. Then-recently vacated and due for demolition, they were instead offered to the museum by The Gateshead Housing Company and accepted in 2012.

 

Museum site

The approximately 350-acre (1.4 km2) current site, once belonging to the Eden and Shafto families, is a basin-shaped steep-sided valley with woodland areas, a river, some level ground and a south-facing aspect.

 

Visitors enter the site through an entrance arch formed by a steam hammer, across a former opencast mining site and through a converted stable block (from Greencroft, near Lanchester, County Durham).

 

Visitors can navigate the site via assorted marked footpaths, including adjacent (or near to) the entire tramway oval. According to the museum, it takes 20 minutes to walk at a relaxed pace from the entrance to the town. The tramway oval serves as both an exhibit and as a free means of transport around the site for visitors, with stops at the entrance (south), Home Farm (west), Pockerley (east) and the Town (north). Visitors can also use the museum's buses as a free form of transport between various parts of the museum. Although visitors can also ride on the Town railway and Pockerley Waggonway, these do not form part of the site's transport system (as they start and finish from the same platforms).

 

Governance

Beamish was the first English museum to be financed and administered by a consortium of county councils (Cleveland, Durham, Northumberland and Tyne and Wear) The museum is now operated as a registered charity, but continues to receive support from local authorities - Durham County Council, Sunderland City Council, Gateshead Council, South Tyneside Council and North Tyneside Council. The supporting Friends of Beamish organisation was established in 1968. Frank Atkinson retired as director in 1987. The museum has been 96% self-funding for some years (mainly from admission charges).

 

Sections of the museum

1913

The town area, officially opened in 1985, depicts chiefly Victorian buildings in an evolved urban setting of 1913.

 

Tramway

The Beamish Tramway is 1.5 miles (2.4 km) long, with four passing loops. The line makes a circuit of the museum site forming an important element of the visitor transportation system.

 

The first trams began operating on a short demonstration line in 1973, with the whole circle in operation by 1993.[8] It represents the era of electric powered trams, which were being introduced to meet the needs of growing towns and cities across the North East from the late 1890s, replacing earlier horse drawn systems.

 

Bakery

Presented as Joseph Herron, Baker & Confectioner, the bakery was opened in 2013 and features working ovens which produce food for sale to visitors. A two-storey curved building, only the ground floor is used as the exhibit. A bakery has been included to represent the new businesses which sprang up to cater for the growing middle classes - the ovens being of the modern electric type which were growing in use. The building was sourced from Anfield Plain (which had a bakery trading as Joseph Herron), and was moved to Beamish in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The frontage features a stained glass from a baker's shop in South Shields. It also uses fittings from Stockton-on-Tees.

 

Motor garage

Presented as Beamish Motor & Cycle Works, the motor garage opened in 1994. Reflecting the custom nature of the early motor trade, where only one in 232 people owned a car in 1913, the shop features a showroom to the front (not accessible to visitors), with a garage area to the rear, accessed via the adjacent archway. The works is a replica of a typical garage of the era. Much of the museum's car, motorcycle and bicycle collection, both working and static, is stored in the garage. The frontage has two storeys, but the upper floor is only a small mezzanine and is not used as part of the display.

 

Department Store

Presented as the Annfield Plain Industrial Co-operative Society Ltd, (but more commonly referred to as the Anfield Plain Co-op Store) this department store opened in 1984, and was relocated to Beamish from Annfield Plain in County Durham. The Annfield Plain co-operative society was originally established in 1870, with the museum store stocking various products from the Co-operative Wholesale Society (CWS), established 1863. A two-storey building, the ground floor comprises the three departments - grocery, drapery and hardware; the upper floor is taken up by the tea rooms (accessed from Redman Park via a ramp to the rear). Most of the items are for display only, but a small amount of goods are sold to visitors. The store features an operational cash carrier system, of the Lamson Cash Ball design - common in many large stores of the era, but especially essential to Co-ops, where customer's dividends had to be logged.

 

Ravensworth Terrace

Ravensworth Terrace is a row of terraced houses, presented as the premises and living areas of various professionals. Representing the expanding housing stock of the era, it was relocated from its original site on Bensham Bank, having been built for professionals and tradesmen between 1830 and 1845. Original former residents included painter John Wilson Carmichael and Gateshead mayor Alexander Gillies. Originally featuring 25 homes, the terrace was to be demolished when the museum saved it in the 1970s, reconstructing six of them on the Town site between 1980 and 1985. They are two storey buildings, with most featuring display rooms on both floors - originally the houses would have also housed a servant in the attic. The front gardens are presented in a mix of the formal style, and the natural style that was becoming increasingly popular.

 

No. 2 is presented as the home of Miss Florence Smith, a music teacher, with old fashioned mid-Victorian furnishings as if inherited from her parents. No. 3 & 4 is presented as the practice and home respectively (with a knocked through door) of dentist J. Jones - the exterior nameplate having come from the surgery of Mr. J. Jones in Hartlepool. Representing the state of dental health at the time, it features both a check-up room and surgery for extraction, and a technicians room for creating dentures - a common practice at the time being the giving to daughters a set on their 21st birthday, to save any future husband the cost at a later date. His home is presented as more modern than No.2, furnished in the Edwardian style the modern day utilities of an enamelled bathroom with flushing toilet, a controllable heat kitchen range and gas cooker. No. 5 is presented as a solicitor's office, based on that of Robert Spence Watson, a Quaker from Newcastle. Reflecting the trade of the era, downstairs is laid out as the partner's or principal office, and the general or clerk's office in the rear. Included is a set of books sourced from ER Hanby Holmes, who practised in Barnard Castle.

 

Pub

Presented as The Sun Inn, the pub opened in the town in 1985. It had originally stood in Bondgate in Bishop Auckland, and was donated to the museum by its final owners, the Scottish and Newcastle Breweries. Originally a "one-up one down" cottage, the earliest ownership has been traced to James Thompson, on 21 January 1806. Known as The Tiger Inn until the 1850s, from 1857 to 1899 under the ownership of the Leng family, it flourished under the patronage of miners from Newton Cap and other collieries. Latterly run by Elsie Edes, it came under brewery ownership in the 20th Century when bought by S&N antecedent, James Deuchar Ltd. The pub is fully operational, and features both a front and back bar, the two stories above not being part of the exhibit. The interior decoration features the stuffed racing greyhound Jake's Bonny Mary, which won nine trophies before being put on display in The Gerry in White le Head near Tantobie.

 

Town stables

Reflecting the reliance on horses for a variety of transport needs in the era, the town features a centrally located stables, situated behind the sweet shop, with its courtyard being accessed from the archway next to the pub. It is presented as a typical jobmaster's yard, with stables and a tack room in the building on its north side. A small, brick built open air, carriage shed is sited on the back of the printworks building. On the east side of the courtyard is a much larger metal shed (utilising iron roof trusses from Fleetwood), arranged mainly as carriage storage, but with a blacksmith's shop in the corner. The building on the west side of the yard is not part of any display. The interior fittings for the harness room came from Callaly Caste. Many of the horses and horse-drawn vehicles used by the museum are housed in the stables and sheds.

 

Printer, stationer and newspaper branch office

Presented as the Beamish Branch Office of the Northern Daily Mail and the Sunderland Daily Echo, the two storey replica building was built in the mid-1980s and represents the trade practices of the era. Downstairs, on the right, is the branch office, where newspapers would be sold directly and distributed to local newsagents and street vendors, and where orders for advertising copy would be taken. Supplementing it is a stationer's shop on the left hand side, with both display items and a small number of gift items on public sale. Upstairs is a jobbing printers workshop, which would not produce the newspapers, but would instead print leaflets, posters and office stationery. Split into a composing area and a print shop, the shop itself has a number of presses - a Columbian built in 1837 by Clymer and Dixon, an Albion dating back to 1863, an Arab Platen of c. 1900, and a Wharfedale flat bed press, built by Dawson & Son in around 1870. Much of the machinery was sourced from the print works of Jack Ascough's of Barnard Castle. Many of the posters seen around the museum are printed in the works, with the operation of the machinery being part of the display.

 

Sweet shop

Presented as Jubilee Confectioners, the two storey sweet shop opened in 1994 and is meant to represent the typical family run shops of the era, with living quarters above the shop (the second storey not being part of the display). To the front of the ground floor is a shop, where traditional sweets and chocolate (which was still relatively expensive at the time) are sold to visitors, while in the rear of the ground floor is a manufacturing area where visitors can view the techniques of the time (accessed via the arched walkway on the side of the building). The sweet rollers were sourced from a variety of shops and factories.

 

Bank

Presented as a branch of Barclays Bank (Barclay & Company Ltd) using period currency, the bank opened in 1999. It represents the trend of the era when regional banks were being acquired and merged into national banks such as Barclays, formed in 1896. Built to a three-storey design typical of the era, and featuring bricks in the upper storeys sourced from Park House, Gateshead, the Swedish imperial red shade used on the ground floor frontage is intended to represent stability and security. On the ground floor are windows for bank tellers, plus the bank manager's office. Included in a basement level are two vaults. The upper two storeys are not part of the display. It features components sourced from Southport and Gateshead

 

Masonic Hall

The Masonic Hall opened in 2006, and features the frontage from a former masonic hall sited in Park Terrace, Sunderland. Reflecting the popularity of the masons in North East England, as well as the main hall, which takes up the full height of the structure, in a small two story arrangement to the front of the hall is also a Robing Room and the Tyler's Room on the ground floor, and a Museum Room upstairs, featuring display cabinets of masonic regalia donated from various lodges. Upstairs is also a class room, with large stained glass window.

 

Chemist and photographer

Presented as W Smith's Chemist and JR & D Edis Photographers, a two-storey building housing both a chemist and photographers shops under one roof opened on 7 May 2016 and represents the growing popularity of photography in the era, with shops often growing out of or alongside chemists, who had the necessary supplies for developing photographs. The chemist features a dispensary, and equipment from various shops including John Walker, inventor of the friction match. The photographers features a studio, where visitors can dress in period costume and have a photograph taken. The corner building is based on a real building on Elvet Bridge in Durham City, opposite the Durham Marriot Hotel (the Royal County), although the second storey is not part of the display. The chemist also sells aerated water (an early form of carbonated soft drinks) to visitors, sold in marble-stopper sealed Codd bottles (although made to a modern design to prevent the safety issue that saw the original bottles banned). Aerated waters grew in popularity in the era, due to the need for a safe alternative to water, and the temperance movement - being sold in chemists due to the perception they were healthy in the same way mineral waters were.

 

Costing around £600,000 and begun on 18 August 2014, the building's brickwork and timber was built by the museum's own staff and apprentices, using Georgian bricks salvaged from demolition works to widen the A1. Unlike previous buildings built on the site, the museum had to replicate rather than relocate this one due to the fact that fewer buildings are being demolished compared to the 1970s, and in any case it was deemed unlikely one could be found to fit the curved shape of the plot. The studio is named after a real business run by John Reed Edis and his daughter Daisy. Mr Edis, originally at 27 Sherburn Road, Durham, in 1895, then 52 Saddler Street from 1897. The museum collection features several photographs, signs and equipment from the Edis studio. The name for the chemist is a reference to the business run by William Smith, who relocated to Silver Street, near the original building, in 1902. According to records, the original Edis company had been supplied by chemicals from the original (and still extant) Smith business.

 

Redman Park

Redman Park is a small lawned space with flower borders, opposite Ravensworth Terrace. Its centrepiece is a Victorian bandstand sourced from Saltwell Park, where it stood on an island in the middle of a lake. It represents the recognised need of the time for areas where people could relax away from the growing industrial landscape.

 

Other

Included in the Town are drinking fountains and other period examples of street furniture. In between the bank and the sweet shop is a combined tram and bus waiting room and public convenience.

 

Unbuilt

When construction of the Town began, the projected town plan incorporated a market square and buildings including a gas works, fire station, ice cream parlour (originally the Central Cafe at Consett), a cast iron bus station from Durham City, school, public baths and a fish and chip shop.

 

Railway station

East of the Town is the Railway Station, depicting a typical small passenger and goods facility operated by the main railway company in the region at the time, the North Eastern Railway (NER). A short running line extends west in a cutting around the north side of the Town itself, with trains visible from the windows of the stables. It runs for a distance of 1⁄4 mile - the line used to connect to the colliery sidings until 1993 when it was lifted between the town and the colliery so that the tram line could be extended. During 2009 the running line was relaid so that passenger rides could recommence from the station during 2010.

 

Rowley station

Representing passenger services is Rowley Station, a station building on a single platform, opened in 1976, having been relocated to the museum from the village of Rowley near Consett, just a few miles from Beamish.

 

The original Rowley railway station was opened in 1845 (as Cold Rowley, renamed Rowley in 1868) by the NER antecedent, the Stockton and Darlington Railway, consisting of just a platform. Under NER ownership, as a result of increasing use, in 1873 the station building was added. As demand declined, passenger service was withdrawn in 1939, followed by the goods service in 1966. Trains continued to use the line for another three years before it closed, the track being lifted in 1970. Although in a state of disrepair, the museum acquired the building, dismantling it in 1972, being officially unveiled in its new location by railway campaigner and poet, Sir John Betjeman.

 

The station building is presented as an Edwardian station, lit by oil lamp, having never been connected to gas or electricity supplies in its lifetime. It features both an open waiting area and a visitor accessible waiting room (western half), and a booking and ticket office (eastern half), with the latter only visible from a small viewing entrance. Adorning the waiting room is a large tiled NER route map.

 

Signal box

The signal box dates from 1896, and was relocated from Carr House East near Consett. It features assorted signalling equipment, basic furnishings for the signaller, and a lever frame, controlling the stations numerous points, interlocks and semaphore signals. The frame is not an operational part of the railway, the points being hand operated using track side levers. Visitors can only view the interior from a small area inside the door.

 

Goods shed

The goods shed is originally from Alnwick. The goods area represents how general cargo would have been moved on the railway, and for onward transport. The goods shed features a covered platform where road vehicles (wagons and carriages) can be loaded with the items unloaded from railway vans. The shed sits on a triangular platform serving two sidings, with a platform mounted hand-crane, which would have been used for transhipment activity (transfer of goods from one wagon to another, only being stored for a short time on the platform, if at all).

 

Coal yard

The coal yard represents how coal would have been distributed from incoming trains to local merchants - it features a coal drop which unloads railway wagons into road going wagons below. At the road entrance to the yard is a weighbridge (with office) and coal merchant's office - both being appropriately furnished with display items, but only viewable from outside.

 

The coal drop was sourced from West Boldon, and would have been a common sight on smaller stations. The weighbridge came from Glanton, while the coal office is from Hexham.

 

Bridges and level crossing

The station is equipped with two footbridges, a wrought iron example to the east having come from Howden-le-Wear, and a cast iron example to the west sourced from Dunston. Next to the western bridge, a roadway from the coal yard is presented as crossing the tracks via a gated level crossing (although in reality the road goes nowhere on the north side).

 

Waggon and Iron Works

Dominating the station is the large building externally presented as Beamish Waggon and Iron Works, estd 1857. In reality this is the Regional Museums Store (see below), although attached to the north side of the store are two covered sidings (not accessible to visitors), used to service and store the locomotives and stock used on the railway.

 

Other

A corrugated iron hut adjacent to the 'iron works' is presented as belonging to the local council, and houses associated road vehicles, wagons and other items.

 

Fairground

Adjacent to the station is an events field and fairground with a set of Frederick Savage built steam powered Gallopers dating from 1893.

 

Colliery

Presented as Beamish Colliery (owned by James Joicey & Co., and managed by William Severs), the colliery represents the coal mining industry which dominated the North East for generations - the museum site is in the former Durham coalfield, where 165,246 men and boys worked in 304 mines in 1913. By the time period represented by Beamish's 1900s era, the industry was booming - production in the Great Northern Coalfield had peaked in 1913, and miners were relatively well paid (double that of agriculture, the next largest employer), but the work was dangerous. Children could be employed from age 12 (the school leaving age), but could not go underground until 14.

 

Deep mine

Reconstructed pitworks buildings showing winding gear

Dominating the colliery site are the above ground structures of a deep (i.e. vertical shaft) mine - the brick built Winding Engine House, and the red painted wooden Heapstead. These were relocated to the museum (which never had its own vertical shaft), the winding house coming from Beamish Chophill Colliery, and the Heapstead from Ravensworth Park Mine in Gateshead. The winding engine and its enclosing house are both listed.

 

The winding engine was the source of power for hauling miners, equipment and coal up and down the shaft in a cage, the top of the shaft being in the adjacent heapstead, which encloses the frame holding the wheel around which the hoist cable travels. Inside the Heapstead, tubs of coal from the shaft were weighed on a weighbridge, then tipped onto jigging screens, which sifted the solid lumps from small particles and dust - these were then sent along the picking belt, where pickers, often women, elderly or disabled people or young boys (i.e. workers incapable of mining), would separate out unwanted stone, wood and rubbish. Finally, the coal was tipped onto waiting railway wagons below, while the unwanted waste sent to the adjacent heap by an external conveyor.

 

Chophill Colliery was closed by the National Coal Board in 1962, but the winding engine and tower were left in place. When the site was later leased, Beamish founder Frank Atkinson intervened to have both spot listed to prevent their demolition. After a protracted and difficult process to gain the necessary permissions to move a listed structure, the tower and engine were eventually relocated to the museum, work being completed in 1976. The winding engine itself is the only surviving example of the type which was once common, and was still in use at Chophill upon its closure. It was built in 1855 by J&G Joicey of Newcastle, to an 1800 design by Phineas Crowther.

 

Inside the winding engine house, supplementing the winding engine is a smaller jack engine, housed in the rear. These were used to lift heavy equipment, and in deep mines, act as a relief winding engine.

 

Outdoors, next to the Heapstead, is a sinking engine, mounted on red bricks. Brought to the museum from Silksworth Colliery in 1971, it was built by Burlington's of Sunderland in 1868 and is the sole surviving example of its kind. Sinking engines were used for the construction of shafts, after which the winding engine would become the source of hoist power. It is believed the Silksworth engine was retained because it was powerful enough to serve as a backup winding engine, and could be used to lift heavy equipment (i.e. the same role as the jack engine inside the winding house).

 

Drift mine

The Mahogany Drift Mine is original to Beamish, having opened in 1855 and after closing, was brought back into use in 1921 to transport coal from Beamish Park Drift to Beamish Cophill Colliery. It opened as a museum display in 1979. Included in the display is the winding engine and a short section of trackway used to transport tubs of coal to the surface, and a mine office. Visitor access into the mine shaft is by guided tour.

 

Lamp cabin

The Lamp Cabin opened in 2009, and is a recreation of a typical design used in collieries to house safety lamps, a necessary piece of equipment for miners although were not required in the Mahogany Drift Mine, due to it being gas-free. The building is split into two main rooms; in one half, the lamp cabin interior is recreated, with a collection of lamps on shelves, and the system of safety tokens used to track which miners were underground. Included in the display is a 1927 Hailwood and Ackroyd lamp-cleaning machine sourced from Morrison Busty Colliery in Annfield Plain. In the second room is an educational display, i.e., not a period interior.

 

Colliery railways

The colliery features both a standard gauge railway, representing how coal was transported to its onward destination, and narrow-gauge typically used by Edwardian collieries for internal purposes. The standard gauge railway is laid out to serve the deep mine - wagons being loaded by dropping coal from the heapstead - and runs out of the yard to sidings laid out along the northern-edge of the Pit Village.

 

The standard gauge railway has two engine sheds in the colliery yard, the smaller brick, wood and metal structure being an operational building; the larger brick-built structure is presented as Beamish Engine Works, a reconstruction of an engine shed formerly at Beamish 2nd Pit. Used for locomotive and stock storage, it is a long, single track shed featuring a servicing pit for part of its length. Visitors can walk along the full length in a segregated corridor. A third engine shed in brick (lower half) and corrugated iron has been constructed at the southern end of the yard, on the other side of the heapstead to the other two sheds, and is used for both narrow and standard gauge vehicles (on one road), although it is not connected to either system - instead being fed by low-loaders and used for long-term storage only.

 

The narrow gauge railway is serviced by a corrugate iron engine shed, and is being expanded to eventually encompass several sidings.

 

There are a number of industrial steam locomotives (including rare examples by Stephen Lewin from Seaham and Black, Hawthorn & Co) and many chaldron wagons, the region's traditional type of colliery railway rolling stock, which became a symbol of Beamish Museum. The locomotive Coffee Pot No 1 is often in steam during the summer.

 

Other

On the south eastern corner of the colliery site is the Power House, brought to the museum from Houghton Colliery. These were used to store explosives.

 

Pit Village

Alongside the colliery is the pit village, representing life in the mining communities that grew alongside coal production sites in the North East, many having come into existence solely because of the industry, such as Seaham Harbour, West Hartlepool, Esh Winning and Bedlington.

 

Miner's Cottages

The row of six miner's cottages in Francis Street represent the tied-housing provided by colliery owners to mine workers. Relocated to the museum in 1976, they were originally built in the 1860s in Hetton-le-Hole by Hetton Coal Company. They feature the common layout of a single-storey with a kitchen to the rear, the main room of the house, and parlour to the front, rarely used (although it was common for both rooms to be used for sleeping, with disguised folding "dess" beds common), and with children sleeping in attic spaces upstairs. In front are long gardens, used for food production, with associated sheds. An outdoor toilet and coal bunker were in the rear yards, and beyond the cobbled back lane to their rear are assorted sheds used for cultivation, repairs and hobbies. Chalkboard slates attached to the rear wall were used by the occupier to tell the mine's "knocker up" when they wished to be woken for their next shift.

 

No.2 is presented as a Methodist family's home, featuring good quality "Pitman's mahogany" furniture; No.3 is presented as occupied by a second generation well off Irish Catholic immigrant family featuring many items of value (so they could be readily sold off in times of need) and an early 1890s range; No.3 is presented as more impoverished than the others with just a simple convector style Newcastle oven, being inhabited by a miner's widow allowed to remain as her son is also a miner, and supplementing her income doing laundry and making/mending for other families. All the cottages feature examples of the folk art objects typical of mining communities. Also included in the row is an office for the miner's paymaster.[11] In the rear alleyway of the cottages is a communal bread oven, which were commonplace until miner's cottages gradually obtained their own kitchen ranges. They were used to bake traditional breads such as the Stottie, as well as sweet items, such as tea cakes. With no extant examples, the museum's oven had to be created from photographs and oral history.

 

School

The school opened in 1992, and represents the typical board school in the educational system of the era (the stone built single storey structure being inscribed with the foundation date of 1891, Beamish School Board), by which time attendance at a state approved school was compulsory, but the leaving age was 12, and lessons featured learning by rote and corporal punishment. The building originally stood in East Stanley, having been set up by the local school board, and would have numbered around 150 pupils. Having been donated by Durham County Council, the museum now has a special relationship with the primary school that replaced it. With separate entrances and cloakrooms for boys and girls at either end, the main building is split into three class rooms (all accessible to visitors), connected by a corridor along the rear. To the rear is a red brick bike shed, and in the playground visitors can play traditional games of the era.

 

Chapel

Pit Hill Chapel opened in 1990, and represents the Wesleyan Methodist tradition which was growing in North East England, with the chapels used for both religious worship and as community venues, which continue in its role in the museum display. Opened in the 1850s, it originally stood not far from its present site, having been built in what would eventually become Beamish village, near the museum entrance. A stained glass window of The Light of The World by William Holman Hunt came from a chapel in Bedlington. A two handled Love Feast Mug dates from 1868, and came from a chapel in Shildon Colliery. On the eastern wall, above the elevated altar area, is an angled plain white surface used for magic lantern shows, generated using a replica of the double-lensed acetylene gas powered lanterns of the period, mounted in the aisle of the main seating area. Off the western end of the hall is the vestry, featuring a small library and communion sets from Trimdon Colliery and Catchgate.

 

Fish bar

Presented as Davey's Fried Fish & Chip Potato Restaurant, the fish and chip shop opened in 2011, and represents the typical style of shop found in the era as they were becoming rapidly popular in the region - the brick built Victorian style fryery would most often have previously been used for another trade, and the attached corrugated iron hut serves as a saloon with tables and benches, where customers would eat and socialise. Featuring coal fired ranges using beef-dripping, the shop is named in honour of the last coal fired shop in Tyneside, in Winlaton Mill, and which closed in 2007. Latterly run by brothers Brian and Ramsay Davy, it had been established by their grandfather in 1937. The serving counter and one of the shop's three fryers, a 1934 Nuttal, came from the original Davy shop. The other two fryers are a 1920s Mabbott used near Chester until the 1960s, and a GW Atkinson New Castle Range, donated from a shop in Prudhoe in 1973. The latter is one of only two known late Victorian examples to survive. The decorative wall tiles in the fryery came to the museum in 1979 from Cowes Fish and Game Shop in Berwick upon Tweed. The shop also features both an early electric and hand-powered potato rumblers (cleaners), and a gas powered chip chopper built around 1900. Built behind the chapel, the fryery is arranged so the counter faces the rear, stretching the full length of the building. Outside is a brick built row of outdoor toilets. Supplementing the fish bar is the restored Berriman's mobile chip van, used in Spennymoor until the early 1970s.

 

Band hall

The Hetton Silver Band Hall opened in 2013, and features displays reflecting the role colliery bands played in mining life. Built in 1912, it was relocated from its original location in South Market Street, Hetton-le-Hole, where it was used by the Hetton Silver Band, founded in 1887. They built the hall using prize money from a music competition, and the band decided to donate the hall to the museum after they merged with Broughtons Brass Band of South Hetton (to form the Durham Miners' Association Brass Band). It is believed to be the only purpose built band hall in the region. The structure consists of the main hall, plus a small kitchen to the rear; as part of the museum it is still used for performances.

 

Pit pony stables

The Pit Pony Stables were built in 2013/14, and house the museum's pit ponies. They replace a wooden stable a few metres away in the field opposite the school (the wooden structure remaining). It represents the sort of stables that were used in drift mines (ponies in deep mines living their whole lives underground), pit ponies having been in use in the north east as late as 1994, in Ellington Colliery. The structure is a recreation of an original building that stood at Rickless Drift Mine, between High Spen and Greenside; it was built using a yellow brick that was common across the Durham coalfield.

 

Other

Doubling as one of the museum's refreshment buildings, Sinker's Bait Cabin represents the temporary structures that would have served as living quarters, canteens and drying areas for sinkers, the itinerant workforce that would dig new vertical mine shafts.

 

Representing other traditional past-times, the village fields include a quoits pitch, with another refreshment hut alongside it, resembling a wooden clubhouse.

 

In one of the fields in the village stands the Cupola, a small round flat topped brick built tower; such structures were commonly placed on top of disused or ventilation shafts, also used as an emergency exit from the upper seams.

 

The Georgian North (1825)

A late Georgian landscape based around the original Pockerley farm represents the period of change in the region as transport links were improved and as agriculture changed as machinery and field management developed, and breeding stock was improved. It became part of the museum in 1990, having latterly been occupied by a tenant farmer, and was opened as an exhibit in 1995. The hill top position suggests the site was the location of an Iron Age fort - the first recorded mention of a dwelling is in the 1183 Buke of Boldon (the region's equivalent of the Domesday Book). The name Pockerley has Saxon origins - "Pock" or "Pokor" meaning "pimple of bag-like" hill, and "Ley" meaning woodland clearing.

 

The surrounding farmlands have been returned to a post-enclosure landscape with ridge and furrow topography, divided into smaller fields by traditional riven oak fencing. The land is worked and grazed by traditional methods and breeds.

 

Pockerley Old Hall

The estate of Pockerley Old Hall is presented as that of a well off tenant farmer, in a position to take advantage of the agricultural advances of the era. The hall itself consists of the Old House, which is adjoined (but not connected to) the New House, both south facing two storey sandstone built buildings, the Old House also having a small north–south aligned extension. Roof timbers in the sandstone built Old House have been dated to the 1440s, but the lower storey (the undercroft) may be from even earlier. The New House dates to the late 1700s, and replaced a medieval manor house to the east of the Old House as the main farm house - once replaced itself, the Old House is believed to have been let to the farm manager. Visitors can access all rooms in the New and Old House, except the north–south extension which is now a toilet block. Displays include traditional cooking, such as the drying of oatcakes over a wooden rack (flake) over the fireplace in the Old House.

 

Inside the New House the downstairs consists of a main kitchen and a secondary kitchen (scullery) with pantry. It also includes a living room, although as the main room of the house, most meals would have been eaten in the main kitchen, equipped with an early range, boiler and hot air oven. Upstairs is a main bedroom and a second bedroom for children; to the rear (i.e. the colder, north side), are bedrooms for a servant and the servant lad respectively. Above the kitchen (for transferred warmth) is a grain and fleece store, with attached bacon loft, a narrow space behind the wall where bacon or hams, usually salted first, would be hung to be smoked by the kitchen fire (entering through a small door in the chimney).

 

Presented as having sparse and more old fashioned furnishings, the Old House is presented as being occupied in the upper story only, consisting of a main room used as the kitchen, bedroom and for washing, with the only other rooms being an adjoining second bedroom and an overhanging toilet. The main bed is an oak box bed dating to 1712, obtained from Star House in Baldersdale in 1962. Originally a defensive house in its own right, the lower level of the Old House is an undercroft, or vaulted basement chamber, with 1.5 metre thick walls - in times of attack the original tenant family would have retreated here with their valuables, although in its later use as the farm managers house, it is now presented as a storage and work room, housing a large wooden cheese press.[68] More children would have slept in the attic of the Old House (not accessible as a display).

 

To the front of the hall is a terraced garden featuring an ornamental garden with herbs and flowers, a vegetable garden, and an orchard, all laid out and planted according to the designs of William Falla of Gateshead, who had the largest nursery in Britain from 1804 to 1830.

 

The buildings to the east of the hall, across a north–south track, are the original farmstead buildings dating from around 1800. These include stables and a cart shed arranged around a fold yard. The horses and carts on display are typical of North Eastern farms of the era, Fells or Dales ponies and Cleveland Bay horses, and two wheeled long carts for hilly terrain (as opposed to four wheel carts).

 

Pockerley Waggonway

The Pockerley Waggonway opened in 2001, and represents the year 1825, as the year the Stockton and Darlington Railway opened. Waggonways had appeared around 1600, and by the 1800s were common in mining areas - prior to 1800 they had been either horse or gravity powered, before the invention of steam engines (initially used as static winding engines), and later mobile steam locomotives.

 

Housing the locomotives and rolling stock is the Great Shed, which opened in 2001 and is based on Timothy Hackworth's erecting shop, Shildon railway works, and incorporating some material from Robert Stephenson and Company's Newcastle works. Visitors can walk around the locomotives in the shed, and when in steam, can take rides to the end of the track and back in the line's assorted rolling stock - situated next to the Great Shed is a single platform for passenger use. In the corner of the main shed is a corner office, presented as a locomotive designer's office (only visible to visitors through windows). Off the pedestrian entrance in the southern side is a room presented as the engine crew's break room. Atop the Great Shed is a weather vane depicting a waggonway train approaching a cow, a reference to a famous quote by George Stephenson when asked by parliament in 1825 what would happen in such an eventuality - "very awkward indeed - for the coo!".

 

At the far end of the waggonway is the (fictional) coal mine Pockerley Gin Pit, which the waggonway notionally exists to serve. The pit head features a horse powered wooden whim gin, which was the method used before steam engines for hauling men and material up and down mineshafts - coal was carried in corves (wicker baskets), while miners held onto the rope with their foot in an attached loop.

 

Wooden waggonway

Following creation of the Pockerley Waggonway, the museum went back a chapter in railway history to create a horse-worked wooden waggonway.

 

St Helen's Church

St Helen's Church represents a typical type of country church found in North Yorkshire, and was relocated from its original site in Eston, North Yorkshire. It is the oldest and most complex building moved to the museum. It opened in November 2015, but will not be consecrated as this would place restrictions on what could be done with the building under church law.

 

The church had existed on its original site since around 1100. As the congregation grew, it was replaced by two nearby churches, and latterly became a cemetery chapel. After closing in 1985, it fell into disrepair and by 1996 was burnt out and vandalised leading to the decision by the local authority in 1998 to demolish it. Working to a deadline of a threatened demolition within six months, the building was deconstructed and moved to Beamish, reconstruction being authorised in 2011, with the exterior build completed by 2012.

 

While the structure was found to contain some stones from the 1100 era, the building itself however dates from three distinct building phases - the chancel on the east end dates from around 1450, while the nave, which was built at the same time, was modernised in 1822 in the Churchwarden style, adding a vestry. The bell tower dates from the late 1600s - one of the two bells is a rare dated Tudor example. Gargoyles, originally hidden in the walls and believed to have been pranks by the original builders, have been made visible in the reconstruction.

 

Restored to its 1822 condition, the interior has been furnished with Georgian box pews sourced from a church in Somerset. Visitors can access all parts except the bell tower. The nave includes a small gallery level, at the tower end, while the chancel includes a church office.

 

Joe the Quilter's Cottage

The most recent addition to the area opened to the public in 2018 is a recreation of a heather-thatched cottage which features stones from the Georgian quilter Joseph Hedley's original home in Northumberland. It was uncovered during an archaeological dig by Beamish. His original cottage was demolished in 1872 and has been carefully recreated with the help of a drawing on a postcard. The exhibit tells the story of quilting and the growth of cottage industries in the early 1800s. Within there is often a volunteer or member of staff not only telling the story of how Joe was murdered in 1826, a crime that remains unsolved to this day, but also giving visitors the opportunity to learn more and even have a go at quilting.

 

Other

A pack pony track passes through the scene - pack horses having been the mode of transport for all manner of heavy goods where no waggonway exists, being also able to reach places where carriages and wagons could not access. Beside the waggonway is a gibbet.

 

Farm (1940s)

Presented as Home Farm, this represents the role of North East farms as part of the British Home Front during World War II, depicting life indoors, and outside on the land. Much of the farmstead is original, and opened as a museum display in 1983. The farm is laid out across a north–south public road; to the west is the farmhouse and most of the farm buildings, while on the east side are a pair of cottages, the British Kitchen, an outdoor toilet ("netty"), a bull field, duck pond and large shed.

 

The farm complex was rebuilt in the mid-19th century as a model farm incorporating a horse mill and a steam-powered threshing mill. It was not presented as a 1940s farm until early 2014.

 

The farmhouse is presented as having been modernised, following the installation of electric power and an Aga cooker in the scullery, although the main kitchen still has the typical coal-fired black range. Lino flooring allowed quicker cleaning times, while a radio set allowed the family to keep up to date with wartime news. An office next to the kitchen would have served both as the administration centre for the wartime farm, and as a local Home Guard office. Outside the farmhouse is an improvised Home Guard pillbox fashioned from half an egg-ended steam boiler, relocated from its original position near Durham.

 

The farm is equipped with three tractors which would have all seen service during the war: a Case, a Fordson N and a 1924 Fordson F. The farm also features horse-drawn traps, reflecting the effect wartime rationing of petrol would have had on car use. The farming equipment in the cart and machinery sheds reflects the transition of the time from horse-drawn to tractor-pulled implements, with some older equipment put back into use due to the war, as well as a large Foster thresher, vital for cereal crops, and built specifically for the war effort, sold at the Newcastle Show. Although the wartime focus was on crops, the farm also features breeds of sheep, cattle, pigs and poultry that would have been typical for the time. The farm also has a portable steam engine, not in use, but presented as having been left out for collection as part of a wartime scrap metal drive.

 

The cottages would have housed farm labourers, but are presented as having new uses for the war: Orchard Cottage housing a family of evacuees, and Garden Cottage serving as a billet for members of the Women's Land Army (Land Girls). Orchard Cottage is named for an orchard next to it, which also contains an Anderson shelter, reconstructed from partial pieces of ones recovered from around the region. Orchard Cottage, which has both front and back kitchens, is presented as having an up to date blue enameled kitchen range, with hot water supplied from a coke stove, as well as a modern accessible bathroom. Orchard Cottage is also used to stage recreations of wartime activities for schools, elderly groups and those living with dementia. Garden Cottage is sparsely furnished with a mix of items, reflecting the few possessions Land Girls were able to take with them, although unusually the cottage is depicted with a bathroom, and electricity (due to proximity to a colliery).

 

The British Kitchen is both a display and one of the museum's catering facilities; it represents an installation of one of the wartime British Restaurants, complete with propaganda posters and a suitably patriotic menu.

 

Town (1950s)

As part of the Remaking Beamish project, with significant funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the museum is creating a 1950s town. Opened in July 2019, the Welfare Hall is an exact replica of the Leasingthorne Colliery Welfare Hall and Community Centre which was built in 1957 near Bishop Auckland. Visitors can 'take part in activities including dancing, crafts, Meccano, beetle drive, keep fit and amateur dramatics' while also taking a look at the National Health Service exhibition on display, recreating the environment of an NHS clinic. A recreation and play park, named Coronation Park was opened in May 2022 to coincide with the celebrations around the Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II.

 

The museum's first 1950s terrace opened in February 2022. This included a fish and chip shop from Middleton St George, a cafe, a replica of Norman Cornish's home, and a hairdressers. Future developments opposite the existing 1950s terrace will see a recreation of The Grand Cinema, from Ryhope, in Sunderland, and toy and electricians shops. Also underdevelopment are a 1950s bowling green and pavilion, police houses and aged miner's cottages. Also under construction are semi-detached houses; for this exhibit, a competition was held to recreate a particular home at Beamish, which was won by a family from Sunderland.

 

As well as the town, a 1950s Northern bus depot has been opened on the western side of the museum – the purpose of this is to provide additional capacity for bus, trolleybus and tram storage once the planned trolleybus extension and the new area are completed, providing extra capacity and meeting the need for modified routing.

 

Spain's Field Farm

In March 2022, the museum opened Spain's Field Farm. It had stood for centuries at Eastgate in Weardale, and was moved to Beamish stone-by-stone. It is exhibited as it would have been in the 1950s.

 

1820s Expansion

In the area surrounding the current Pockerley Old Hall and Steam Wagon Way more development is on the way. The first of these was planned to be a Georgian Coaching Inn that would be the museum's first venture into overnight accommodation. However following the COVID-19 pandemic this was abandoned, in favour of self-catering accommodation in existing cottages.

 

There are also plans for 1820s industries including a blacksmith's forge and a pottery.

 

Museum stores

There are two stores on the museum site, used to house donated objects. In contrast to the traditional rotation practice used in museums where items are exchanged regularly between store and display, it is Beamish policy that most of their exhibits are to be in use and on display - those items that must be stored are to be used in the museum's future developments.

 

Open Store

Housed in the Regional Resource Centre, the Open Store is accessible to visitors. Objects are housed on racks along one wall, while the bulk of items are in a rolling archive, with one set of shelves opened, with perspex across their fronts to permit viewing without touching.

 

Regional Museums Store

The real purposes of the building presented as Beamish Waggon and Iron Works next to Rowley Station is as the Regional Museums Store, completed in 2002, which Beamish shares with Tyne and Wear Museums. This houses, amongst other things, a large marine diesel engine by William Doxford & Sons of Pallion, Sunderland (1977); and several boats including the Tyne wherry (a traditional local type of lighter) Elswick No. 2 (1930). The store is only open at selected times, and for special tours which can be arranged through the museum; however, a number of viewing windows have been provided for use at other times.

 

Transport collection

Main article: Beamish Museum transport collection

The museum contains much of transport interest, and the size of its site makes good internal transportation for visitors and staff purposes a necessity.

 

The collection contains a variety of historical vehicles for road, rail and tramways. In addition there are some modern working replicas to enhance the various scenes in the museum.

 

Agriculture

The museum's two farms help to preserve traditional northcountry and in some cases rare livestock breeds such as Durham Shorthorn Cattle; Clydesdale and Cleveland Bay working horses; Dales ponies; Teeswater sheep; Saddleback pigs; and poultry.

 

Regional heritage

Other large exhibits collected by the museum include a tracked steam shovel, and a coal drop from Seaham Harbour.

 

In 2001 a new-build Regional Resource Centre (accessible to visitors by appointment) opened on the site to provide accommodation for the museum's core collections of smaller items. These include over 300,000 historic photographs, printed books and ephemera, and oral history recordings. The object collections cover the museum's specialities. These include quilts; "clippy mats" (rag rugs); Trade union banners; floor cloth; advertising (including archives from United Biscuits and Rowntree's); locally made pottery; folk art; and occupational costume. Much of the collection is viewable online and the arts of quilting, rug making and cookery in the local traditions are demonstrated at the museum.

 

Filming location

The site has been used as the backdrop for many film and television productions, particularly Catherine Cookson dramas, produced by Tyne Tees Television, and the final episode and the feature film version of Downton Abbey. Some of the children's television series Supergran was shot here.

 

Visitor numbers

On its opening day the museum set a record by attracting a two-hour queue. Visitor numbers rose rapidly to around 450,000 p.a. during the first decade of opening to the public, with the millionth visitor arriving in 1978.

 

Awards

Museum of the Year1986

European Museum of the Year Award1987

Living Museum of the Year2002

Large Visitor Attraction of the YearNorth East England Tourism awards2014 & 2015

Large Visitor Attraction of the Year (bronze)VisitEngland awards2016

It was designated by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council in 1997 as a museum with outstanding collections.

 

Critical responses

In responding to criticism that it trades on nostalgia the museum is unapologetic. A former director has written: "As individuals and communities we have a deep need and desire to understand ourselves in time."

 

According to the BBC writing in its 40th anniversary year, Beamish was a mould-breaking museum that became a great success due to its collection policy, and what sets it apart from other museums is the use of costumed people to impart knowledge to visitors, rather than labels or interpretive panels (although some such panels do exist on the site), which means it "engages the visitor with history in a unique way".

 

Legacy

Beamish was influential on the Black Country Living Museum, Blists Hill Victorian Town and, in the view of museologist Kenneth Hudson, more widely in the museum community and is a significant educational resource locally. It can also demonstrate its benefit to the contemporary local economy.

 

The unselective collecting policy has created a lasting bond between museum and community.

James Blair had been found with two gaping wounds to the top of his head, he was drifting in and out of conciousness and largely incoherant. He passed away on the way to the hospital. It seems that his murder has yet to be solved.

 

FUNERAL OF VICTIM.

IMPRESSIVE PUBLIC TRIBUTES

LARGE CROWD ATTENDS. The funeral yesterday afternoon of Mr. James Hunter Blair, victim of the murder, was one of the largest seen in Auckland for many years. Long before 3 o'clock large crowds assembled near the victim's home in Abbey Street, Newton, and as the cortege moved off thousands lined the streets from Karangahape Road at various points right out to Point Chevalier.

The coffin, draped with the Union Jack and covered with many beautiful floral emblems, was borne by Messrs. A. Hynes, D. Thompson, F. F. C. Collett, L. Wilkinson, J. Nash, and W. Davidson, all Chess taxi-drivers and colleagues of the dead man. As the hearse moved into Karangahape Road from Gundry Street long lines of taxicabs moved into line behind and followed to Waikumete Cemetery. The cortege was two miles long. Many ex-servicemen followed the hearse to pay tribute to their late comrade in arms. The taxicabs of the various services were grouped according to the organisation to which they belonged, almost every Chess taxi in Auckland being behind the hearse, the others following. Each taxi carried a small strip of black ribbon front the radiator cap. The service at Waikumete was conducted by the Rev. Evan R. Harries, of St. James' Presbyterian Church. Mr. Blair was buried in the soldiers' section of the cemetery. "Thou knowest, O Lord, how our hearts are stirred to sympathy and to indignation. We are mindful of the frailty of life, of its subjection, not only to disease, but also to hatred and even to crime," said Mr. Harries, who recited an eloquent graveside prayer. "An enemy hath sown tares where Thou hast sown wheat. We remember that the devil was a murderer from the beginning. We thank Thee for the magnificent tribute paid to our brother at this graveside. Have compassion upon his wife and daughters. We pray that our minds may be freed from thoughts of personal revenge; help us to commit our cause to Him who judges righteously. give us grace to pray even for him whose hand has done this foul deed, that he may be brought to penitence."

The minister recited several verses from the. hymn "Now the Labourer's Task is O'er," and those present joined in the Lord's Prayer. The final and most impressive tribute was provided by a number of men, representatives of the Auckland Returned Soldiers' Association, who stepped forward and cast into the open grave replicas of the red poppies of Flanders.

paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AS19331018.2.14

 

Extraordinary Crime Arouses Auckland

POLICE HAVE LITTLE TO WORK ON

AUCKLAND, Last Night.

Without any apparent motive, the murder of James Hunter Blair while he was seated at the wheel of the taxicab in King's road, Mount Roskill, in the early hours of Sunday morning, still presents a deeply puzzling problem.

Information flooded into the central po.jiee station throughout the day and there was every indication that intense public concern and interest had been aroused over the extraordinary crime. Much of that divulged to the police had to do with men seen in the vicinity at varying times. The consequence was that the detectives and constables were given tremendous scope for inquiry. Great hope was held out by the investigators as a result of an examination of fingerprints on the vehicle. A remarkably thorough search was made and numbers of fingerprints, especially on the doors of the car, were recorded. The car was also examined thoroughly for other possible clues. There were indications of bark in the back of the vehicle, suggesting that a piece of timber could have been used as the lethal weapon. The bark, however, could easily have been in the cab for a considerable time.

paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/HC19331017.2.19

 

THE TAXICAB MURDER

Sir. —The murder of James Blair, taxi-driver, has left his dependants penniless. In the hope that you will open a subscription list in their aid, I enclose my small cheque. Surely many of those among us who call up taxis at any hour will find it not impossible to help to solve, if only for a while, the problem now facing Mrs. Blair. Inasmuch.

[Cheque for £3 3s received. Further contributions will be received at the Herald Office and forwarded to Mrs. Blair.—Editor, Herald.]

paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH19331019.2.160.2

 

THE BLAIR FUND

A total of £54 0s 3d has been received for the fund for the benefit of the widow of the murdered taxi-driver, Mr. James Hunter Blair. In addition to £43 9s 3d previously acknowledged £lO 11s has been received from the owner-drivers, shift-drivers and staff of the Atta Taxi Company, The fund is now closed.

paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH19331121.2.175

 

paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH19331016.2.24.2

 

paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH19331018.2.35.2

 

paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AS19331018.2.91.1

 

www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/local-blogs/tales-fro...

 

Plot 36: James Hunter Blair (53) 1933 – Taxi Driver – murdered

 

1st N.Z.E.F.

43717 Dvr

J. H. BLAIR

Army Service Corps

died (N.Z.) aged

15.10.1933 54 yrs

 

View James’ military personnel file on line:

ndhadeliver.natlib.govt.nz/delivery/DeliveryManagerServle...

 

View and/or contribute to James’ profile on the Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph data base:

www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph/recor...

  

SPAIN, Carthago Nova. Gaius (Caligula), with Caesonia. AD 37-41. Æ 26mm (14.07 g, 4h). Laureate head of Gaius (Caligula) right / Draped bust of Caesonia(?), as Salus, right. RPC 185.For more on Caligulan Numismatic Articles see: Coins courtesy cngoins.com

 

Related Articles of Caligula from American Numismatic Society Library Search

 

Library Catalog Search (Preliminary Version)

Full Record: Barrett, Anthony A. The invalidation of currency in the Roman Empire : the Claudian demonetization of Caligula's AES. (1999)

Full Record: Bost, Jean-Pierre. Routes, cits et ateliers montaires : quelques remarques sur les officines hispaniques entre les rgnes d'Auguste en de Caligula. (1999)

Full Record: Bibliothque Municipale d'Etude et d'Information de Grenoble. Grenoble : Bibliothque Municipale d'Etude et d'Information : catalogue des monnaies. II. Monnaies romaines. Monnaies impriales romaines. 2. Caligula - Neron . Index. / Bernard Rmy, Frdric Bontoux, Virginie Risler. (1998)

Full Record: Gainor, John R. The image of the Julio-Claudian dynasty from coins / by John R. Gainor.

Full Record: Martini, Rodolfo. Monete romane imperiali del Museo G. B. Adriani. Parte 3, Caius (37-41 d.C.) / Rodolfo Martini. (2001)

Full Record: ACCLA privy to presentation by Richard Baker on Caligula. (2002)

Full Record: Wend, David A. Caligula, the emperor as autocrat. Part 1. (2002)

Full Record: Wend, David A. Caligula, the emperor as autocrat. Part 2. (2002)

Full Record: Wend, David A. Caligula, the emperor as autocrat. Part 3. (2002)

Full Record: Kemmers, Fleur. Caligula on the Lower Rhine : Coin finds from the Roman Fort of Albaniana (The Netherlands) / Fleur Kemmers. (2004)

Full Record: Estiot, Sylviane. Le trsor de Meussia (Jura) : 399 monnaies d'argent d'poques rpublicaine et julio-claudienne / Sylviane Estiot, Isabelle Aymar. (2002)

Full Record: Gocht, Hans. Namenstilgungen an Bronzemünzen des Caligula und Claudius / Hans Gocht. (2003)

Full Record: Gomis Justo, Marivi. Ercavica : La emision de Caligula. Estimacion del numero de cunos originales.

Full Record: Sayles, Wayne G. Fakes on the Internet. (2002)

Full Record: Kemmers, Fleur. The coin finds from the Roman fort Albaniana, the Netherlands / Fleur Kemmers . (2005)

Full Record: Lopez Snchez, Fernando. La afirmacion soberana de Caligula y de Claudio y el fin de las acunaciones ciudadanas en occidente / Fernando Lopez Snchez. (2000)

Full Record: Besombes, Paul-Andr. Les monnaies hispaniques de Claude Ier des dpôts de la Vilaine (Rennes) et de Saint-Lonard (Mayenne) : tmoins de quel type de contact entre l'Armorique et la pninsule ibrique ? / Paul-Andr Besombes. (2005)

Full Record: Catalli, Fiorenzo. Le thesaurus de Sora / Fiorenzo Catalli et John Scheid.

Full Record: Giard, Jean-Baptiste. Faux deniers de Caligula de la Renaissance.

Full Record: Vermeule, Cornelius. Faces of Empire (Julius Caesar to Justinian). Part II(B), More young faces : Caligula again and Nero reborn / Cornelius Vermeule. (2005)

Full Record: Geranio, Joe. Portraits of Caligula : the seated figure? / Joe Geranio. (2007)

Full Record: Aguilera Hernandez, Alberto. Acerca de un as de Caligula hallado en Zaragoza / Alberto Aguilera Hernandez. (2007)

Full Record: Butcher, K. E. T. Caligula : the evil emperor. (1985)

Full Record: Fuchs, Michaela. Frauen um Caligula und Claudius : Milonia Caesonia, Drusilla und Messalina. (1990)

Full Record: Faur, Jean-Claude. Moneda de Caligula de Museo Arqueologico Provincial de Tarragona. (1979)

Full Record: British Museum. Dept. of coins and medals. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British museum. Vol. I: Augustus to Vitellius / by Harold Mattingly. (1976)

Full Record: Conrad, Edwin. A Caligula Isotope of Hadrian. (1968)

Full Record: Conrad, Edwin. The Metamorphosis of an Allegad 'As of Hadrian.' (1968)

Full Record: Bendall, Simon. A 'new' gold quinarius of Caligula. (1985)

Full Record: Cortellini, Nereo. Le monete di Caligola nel Cohen.

Full Record: Guey, Julien. Les "bains d'or" de Caligula "Immensi Avreorvm Acervi (Sutone, Cal., 42,3).

Full Record: Guey, J. Les "bains d'or" de Caligula : Sutone, Cal. 42, 3.

Full Record: Curry, Michael R. The Aes Quadrans of Caligula. (1968)

Full Record: Jonas, Elemr. L'emploi dar "damnatio memoriae" sur l'un des "dupondius" de Calgula. (1937)

Full Record: Julian, R. W. The coins of Caligula. (1994)

Full Record: Donciu, Ramiro. Cu privire la activitatea militara a lui Caius (Caligula) in anul 40 e.n. (1983)

Full Record: Hansen, Peter. A history of Caligula's Vesta. (1992)

Full Record: Kaenel, Hans-Markus von. Augustus, Caligula oder Caludius? (1978)

Full Record: Kaenel, Hans-Markus von. Die Organisation der Münzprgung Caligulas. (1987)

Full Record: Johansen, Flemming S. The sculpted portraits of Caligula. (1987)

Full Record: Carter, G. F. Chemical compositions of copper-based Roman coins. V : imitations of Caligula, Claudius, and Nero / G. F. Carter and others. (1978)

Full Record: Giard, Jean-Baptiste. L'atelier de Lyon sous Auguste : Tibre et Caligula. (1979)

Full Record: Giard, Jean-Baptiste. Les missions d'or et d'argent de Caligula dans l'atelier de Lyon. (1976)

Full Record: Giard, Jean-Baptiste. Le monnayage de l'atelier de Lyon des origines au rgne de Caligula (43 avant J.-C. - 41 aprs J.-C.). (1983)

Full Record: Nony, D. Quelques as d'imitation de Caligula trouves a Bordeaux (Gironde). (1981)

Full Record: Levy, Brooks Emmons. Caligula's radiate crown. (1988)

Full Record: Poulsen, Vagn. Un nouveau visage de Caligula. (1972)

Full Record: Price, Martin Jessop. Elephant in Crete? New light ona cistophorus of Caligula. (1973)

Full Record: MacInnis, H. Frank. Ego-driven emperor commits excesses. (1979)

Full Record: McKenna, Thomas P. The case of the curious coin of Caligula : a provincial bronze restruck with legend-only dies. (1994)

Full Record: Mowat, Robert. Bronzes remarquables de Tibre, de son fils, de ses petits-fils et de Caligula. (1911)

Full Record: Koenig, Franz E. Roma, monete dal Tevere : l'imperatore Gaio (Caligola). (1988)

Full Record: Kollgaard, Ron. Caligula's coins profile despot. (1993)

Full Record: Kollgaard, Ron. A numismatic mystery : "the Caligula quadrans." (1994)

Full Record: Martini, Rodolfo. Osservazioni su contromarche ed erosioni su assi de Caligula. (1980)

Full Record: Szaivert, Wolfgang. Moneta Imperii Romani. Band 2 und 3. Die Münzprgung der Kaiser Tiberius und Caius (Caligula) 14/41 / von Wolfgang Szaivert. (1984)

Full Record: Boschung, Dietrich. Die Bildnisse des Caligula. Kaenel, Hans-Markus von. Jucker, Hans. Deutsches Archaologisches Institut. Das Romische Herrscherbild. 1. Abt., Bd. 4, Die Bildnisse des Caligula / Dietrich Boschung ; mit einem Beitrag von Hans-Markus von Kaenel ; auf Grund der Vorarbeiten und Marterialsammlungen von Hans Jucker. (1989)

Full Record: Rosborough, Ruskin R. An epigraphic commentary on Suetonius's life of Gaius Caligula. A thesis...for the...Doctor of Philosophy. (1920)

Full Record: Richard, Jean-Claude. A propos de l'aureus de Caligula dcouvert Saint-Colomban-des-Villards (Savoie). (1982)

Full Record: Richard, Jean-Claude. Un aureus de Caligula dcouvert Saint-Colomban-des-Villards (Savoie). (1982)

Full Record: Ritter, Hans-Werner. Adlocutio und Corona Civica unter Caligula und Tiberius. (1971)

Full Record: Kumpikevicius, Gordon C. A numismatic look at Gaius. (1979)

Full Record: Savio, Adriano. La coerenza di Caligola nella gestione della moneta / Adriano Savio. (1988)

Full Record: Savio, Adriano. Note su alcune monete di Gaio-Caligola. (1973)

Full Record: Stylow, Armin U. Die Quadranten des Caligula als Propaganda-münzen.münzen" aus der stdtischen sammlung zu Osnabrück. (1971)

Full Record: Schwartz, Jacques. Le Monnayage Snatorial entre 37 et 42 P.C. (1951)

Full Record: Rodolfo Martini, ed. Sylloge nummorum Romanorum. Italia. Milano, Civiche Raccolte Numismatiche Vol. 1 Giulio-Claudii / a cura di Rodolfo Martini. (1990)

Full Record: Szaivert, Wolfgang. Zur Julisch-Claudischen Münzprgung. (1979)

Full Record: Vedrianus. The Roman Imperial series. V. Gaius. (1963)

Full Record: Tietze, Christian M. Kaiser Cajus Caesar, genannt Caligula. (1979)

Full Record: Wood, Susan. Diva Drusilla Panthea and the sisters of Caligula / Susan Wood. (1995)

Full Record: Sutherland, Carol Humphrey Vivian. Coinage in Roman imperial policy 31 B.C.-A.D. 68. (1951)

Full Record: Sutherland, C. H. V. The mints of Lugdunum and Rome under Gaius : an unsolved problem. (1981)

Full Record: Trillmich, Walter. Familienpropaganda der Kaiser Caligula und Claudius : Agrippina Maior und Antonia Augusta auf Münzen. (1978)

Full Record: Voirol, August. Eine Warenumsatzsteuer im antiken Rom und der numismatische Beleg inher Aufhebung : Centesima rerum venalium. (1943)

Full Record: Trillmich, Walter. Zur Münzprgung des Caligula von Caesaraugusta (Zaragoza). (1973)

 

GAIUS (CALIGULA), with AGRIPPINA. 37-41 AD. AR Denarius (3.74 gm). Rome mint. Struck 40 AD. Laureate head of Caligula right / Draped bust of Agrippina right. RIC I 22; Trillmich type 4D (pl.1, 45); RSC 6.For more on Caligulan Numismatic Articles see: Coins courtesy cngoins.com

 

Related Articles of Caligula from American Numismatic Society Library Search

 

Library Catalog Search (Preliminary Version)

Full Record: Barrett, Anthony A. The invalidation of currency in the Roman Empire : the Claudian demonetization of Caligula's AES. (1999)

Full Record: Bost, Jean-Pierre. Routes, cits et ateliers montaires : quelques remarques sur les officines hispaniques entre les rgnes d'Auguste en de Caligula. (1999)

Full Record: Bibliothque Municipale d'Etude et d'Information de Grenoble. Grenoble : Bibliothque Municipale d'Etude et d'Information : catalogue des monnaies. II. Monnaies romaines. Monnaies impriales romaines. 2. Caligula - Neron . Index. / Bernard Rmy, Frdric Bontoux, Virginie Risler. (1998)

Full Record: Gainor, John R. The image of the Julio-Claudian dynasty from coins / by John R. Gainor.

Full Record: Martini, Rodolfo. Monete romane imperiali del Museo G. B. Adriani. Parte 3, Caius (37-41 d.C.) / Rodolfo Martini. (2001)

Full Record: ACCLA privy to presentation by Richard Baker on Caligula. (2002)

Full Record: Wend, David A. Caligula, the emperor as autocrat. Part 1. (2002)

Full Record: Wend, David A. Caligula, the emperor as autocrat. Part 2. (2002)

Full Record: Wend, David A. Caligula, the emperor as autocrat. Part 3. (2002)

Full Record: Kemmers, Fleur. Caligula on the Lower Rhine : Coin finds from the Roman Fort of Albaniana (The Netherlands) / Fleur Kemmers. (2004)

Full Record: Estiot, Sylviane. Le trsor de Meussia (Jura) : 399 monnaies d'argent d'poques rpublicaine et julio-claudienne / Sylviane Estiot, Isabelle Aymar. (2002)

Full Record: Gocht, Hans. Namenstilgungen an Bronzemünzen des Caligula und Claudius / Hans Gocht. (2003)

Full Record: Gomis Justo, Marivi. Ercavica : La emision de Caligula. Estimacion del numero de cunos originales.

Full Record: Sayles, Wayne G. Fakes on the Internet. (2002)

Full Record: Kemmers, Fleur. The coin finds from the Roman fort Albaniana, the Netherlands / Fleur Kemmers . (2005)

Full Record: Lopez Snchez, Fernando. La afirmacion soberana de Caligula y de Claudio y el fin de las acunaciones ciudadanas en occidente / Fernando Lopez Snchez. (2000)

Full Record: Besombes, Paul-Andr. Les monnaies hispaniques de Claude Ier des dpôts de la Vilaine (Rennes) et de Saint-Lonard (Mayenne) : tmoins de quel type de contact entre l'Armorique et la pninsule ibrique ? / Paul-Andr Besombes. (2005)

Full Record: Catalli, Fiorenzo. Le thesaurus de Sora / Fiorenzo Catalli et John Scheid.

Full Record: Giard, Jean-Baptiste. Faux deniers de Caligula de la Renaissance.

Full Record: Vermeule, Cornelius. Faces of Empire (Julius Caesar to Justinian). Part II(B), More young faces : Caligula again and Nero reborn / Cornelius Vermeule. (2005)

Full Record: Geranio, Joe. Portraits of Caligula : the seated figure? / Joe Geranio. (2007)

Full Record: Aguilera Hernandez, Alberto. Acerca de un as de Caligula hallado en Zaragoza / Alberto Aguilera Hernandez. (2007)

Full Record: Butcher, K. E. T. Caligula : the evil emperor. (1985)

Full Record: Fuchs, Michaela. Frauen um Caligula und Claudius : Milonia Caesonia, Drusilla und Messalina. (1990)

Full Record: Faur, Jean-Claude. Moneda de Caligula de Museo Arqueologico Provincial de Tarragona. (1979)

Full Record: British Museum. Dept. of coins and medals. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British museum. Vol. I: Augustus to Vitellius / by Harold Mattingly. (1976)

Full Record: Conrad, Edwin. A Caligula Isotope of Hadrian. (1968)

Full Record: Conrad, Edwin. The Metamorphosis of an Allegad 'As of Hadrian.' (1968)

Full Record: Bendall, Simon. A 'new' gold quinarius of Caligula. (1985)

Full Record: Cortellini, Nereo. Le monete di Caligola nel Cohen.

Full Record: Guey, Julien. Les "bains d'or" de Caligula "Immensi Avreorvm Acervi (Sutone, Cal., 42,3).

Full Record: Guey, J. Les "bains d'or" de Caligula : Sutone, Cal. 42, 3.

Full Record: Curry, Michael R. The Aes Quadrans of Caligula. (1968)

Full Record: Jonas, Elemr. L'emploi dar "damnatio memoriae" sur l'un des "dupondius" de Calgula. (1937)

Full Record: Julian, R. W. The coins of Caligula. (1994)

Full Record: Donciu, Ramiro. Cu privire la activitatea militara a lui Caius (Caligula) in anul 40 e.n. (1983)

Full Record: Hansen, Peter. A history of Caligula's Vesta. (1992)

Full Record: Kaenel, Hans-Markus von. Augustus, Caligula oder Caludius? (1978)

Full Record: Kaenel, Hans-Markus von. Die Organisation der Münzprgung Caligulas. (1987)

Full Record: Johansen, Flemming S. The sculpted portraits of Caligula. (1987)

Full Record: Carter, G. F. Chemical compositions of copper-based Roman coins. V : imitations of Caligula, Claudius, and Nero / G. F. Carter and others. (1978)

Full Record: Giard, Jean-Baptiste. L'atelier de Lyon sous Auguste : Tibre et Caligula. (1979)

Full Record: Giard, Jean-Baptiste. Les missions d'or et d'argent de Caligula dans l'atelier de Lyon. (1976)

Full Record: Giard, Jean-Baptiste. Le monnayage de l'atelier de Lyon des origines au rgne de Caligula (43 avant J.-C. - 41 aprs J.-C.). (1983)

Full Record: Nony, D. Quelques as d'imitation de Caligula trouves a Bordeaux (Gironde). (1981)

Full Record: Levy, Brooks Emmons. Caligula's radiate crown. (1988)

Full Record: Poulsen, Vagn. Un nouveau visage de Caligula. (1972)

Full Record: Price, Martin Jessop. Elephant in Crete? New light ona cistophorus of Caligula. (1973)

Full Record: MacInnis, H. Frank. Ego-driven emperor commits excesses. (1979)

Full Record: McKenna, Thomas P. The case of the curious coin of Caligula : a provincial bronze restruck with legend-only dies. (1994)

Full Record: Mowat, Robert. Bronzes remarquables de Tibre, de son fils, de ses petits-fils et de Caligula. (1911)

Full Record: Koenig, Franz E. Roma, monete dal Tevere : l'imperatore Gaio (Caligola). (1988)

Full Record: Kollgaard, Ron. Caligula's coins profile despot. (1993)

Full Record: Kollgaard, Ron. A numismatic mystery : "the Caligula quadrans." (1994)

Full Record: Martini, Rodolfo. Osservazioni su contromarche ed erosioni su assi de Caligula. (1980)

Full Record: Szaivert, Wolfgang. Moneta Imperii Romani. Band 2 und 3. Die Münzprgung der Kaiser Tiberius und Caius (Caligula) 14/41 / von Wolfgang Szaivert. (1984)

Full Record: Boschung, Dietrich. Die Bildnisse des Caligula. Kaenel, Hans-Markus von. Jucker, Hans. Deutsches Archaologisches Institut. Das Romische Herrscherbild. 1. Abt., Bd. 4, Die Bildnisse des Caligula / Dietrich Boschung ; mit einem Beitrag von Hans-Markus von Kaenel ; auf Grund der Vorarbeiten und Marterialsammlungen von Hans Jucker. (1989)

Full Record: Rosborough, Ruskin R. An epigraphic commentary on Suetonius's life of Gaius Caligula. A thesis...for the...Doctor of Philosophy. (1920)

Full Record: Richard, Jean-Claude. A propos de l'aureus de Caligula dcouvert Saint-Colomban-des-Villards (Savoie). (1982)

Full Record: Richard, Jean-Claude. Un aureus de Caligula dcouvert Saint-Colomban-des-Villards (Savoie). (1982)

Full Record: Ritter, Hans-Werner. Adlocutio und Corona Civica unter Caligula und Tiberius. (1971)

Full Record: Kumpikevicius, Gordon C. A numismatic look at Gaius. (1979)

Full Record: Savio, Adriano. La coerenza di Caligola nella gestione della moneta / Adriano Savio. (1988)

Full Record: Savio, Adriano. Note su alcune monete di Gaio-Caligola. (1973)

Full Record: Stylow, Armin U. Die Quadranten des Caligula als Propaganda-münzen.münzen" aus der stdtischen sammlung zu Osnabrück. (1971)

Full Record: Schwartz, Jacques. Le Monnayage Snatorial entre 37 et 42 P.C. (1951)

Full Record: Rodolfo Martini, ed. Sylloge nummorum Romanorum. Italia. Milano, Civiche Raccolte Numismatiche Vol. 1 Giulio-Claudii / a cura di Rodolfo Martini. (1990)

Full Record: Szaivert, Wolfgang. Zur Julisch-Claudischen Münzprgung. (1979)

Full Record: Vedrianus. The Roman Imperial series. V. Gaius. (1963)

Full Record: Tietze, Christian M. Kaiser Cajus Caesar, genannt Caligula. (1979)

Full Record: Wood, Susan. Diva Drusilla Panthea and the sisters of Caligula / Susan Wood. (1995)

Full Record: Sutherland, Carol Humphrey Vivian. Coinage in Roman imperial policy 31 B.C.-A.D. 68. (1951)

Full Record: Sutherland, C. H. V. The mints of Lugdunum and Rome under Gaius : an unsolved problem. (1981)

Full Record: Trillmich, Walter. Familienpropaganda der Kaiser Caligula und Claudius : Agrippina Maior und Antonia Augusta auf Münzen. (1978)

Full Record: Voirol, August. Eine Warenumsatzsteuer im antiken Rom und der numismatische Beleg inher Aufhebung : Centesima rerum venalium. (1943)

Full Record: Trillmich, Walter. Zur Münzprgung des Caligula von Caesaraugusta (Zaragoza). (1973)

 

Queensland State Archives Item ID ITM294496 Dept No.44

The murder of siblings Michael, Norah and Ellen Murphy near Gatton on Boxing Day 1898 sparked intense interest and speculation. All three were killed between 10pm and the early hours of the following morning on their way home from a dance that had been cancelled and the case remains unsolved to this day.

Contained within the QSA archived police files are pages of handwritten letters from across Queensland sent from members of the community convinced they could help solve the case using their spiritual gifts. Some are simply a few words on a scrap of paper, others take up many pages and go into lengthy detail about possible conspiracies. The police called the correspondence files ‘Astrologers, Dreamers, Theorists, etc’.

"Ancient Order of United Workmen Temple

 

Portland, Oregon

 

Battle-scarred and masculine, a half-ruined shadow of its former self, botched reconstructive surgery layered onto what must have been a handsome facade, and looking both timelessly indestructible and like it might crumble any minute, the Ancient Order of United Workmen Temple is the Mickey Rourke of Portland architecture.

 

Like Mr. Rourke, the Temple has the attractive mystique of a ruin. You hate to have the mystery explained.

 

Luckily the story just gets weirder.

 

The Ancient Order of United Workmen was founded by John J. Upchurch, on October 27, 1868, in Meadsville, Pennsylvania. Upchurch was a mechanic, a Freemason, and a little unhappy with the lack of services provided by his previous fraternal organization, the League of Friendship of the Mechanical Order of the Sun.

 

So he founded his own secret society.

 

Upchurch brought some Masonic symbolism with him, namely the all-seeing eye, the square-and-compass, and the anchor emblem. To begin with Upchurch had 13 members and one new idea. When they got 1000 members, he was going to collect $1 from every member, and pay out $500 to the rightful heirs of any member who died. If they didn't have enough in the till, they'd collect $1 from everybody until they did.

 

Nothing much happened until 1873. Then, for some reason, it exploded.

 

By 1895 the A.O.U.W. had 6000 lodges all across the country, a membership of 318,000 in the U.S. and another 32,000 in Canada, and since its formation it had paid out to the widows and orphans of members some $70,000,000 -- in 1895 dollars. That's something like $1.79 billion today. Upchurch didn't invent life insurance in America, but directly (through the AOUW) and indirectly (through the Order's imitators), he brought life insurance within reach of hundreds of thousands of people. Incidentally the Order controlled an amazing amount of money.

 

In 1899, six million Americans were members of 350 different secret societies, representing 40% of the adult male population of the country, with lots of women's auxiliary organizations and black and Jewish parallel organizations.

 

These societies broke down into broad categories:

 

* mutual assessment fraternities, which were elementary insurance companies. Our A.O.U.W. was the first of these. Soon came many, many, many imitators. To pull a few evocative names from a long list: the Fraternal Mystic Circle, the Native Sons of the Golden West, the Empire Knights of Relief, the Mystic Workers of the World, and the Prudent Patricians of Pompeii.

 

* Masonic bodies, the biggest category, for instance the American Rite, the Scottish Rite, the Rosicrucians, and other splinter groups such as the Mystic Order of the Veiled Prophets of the Enchanted Realm

 

* military orders and societies, like the Grand Army of the Republic, which itself had half a million members in 1890

 

* patriotic and political orders, for instance the Loyal Men of American Liberty, the Knights of Reciprocity, and the Order of the Little Red School House

 

* Greek fraternities, including lots of familiar Greek letters and the infamous Skull and Bones

 

* benevolent or "friendly" societies, like the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Improved Order of Red Men, the International Concatenated Order of Hoo-hoo (half-ironic, Arkansas, founded 1892 during a drinking binge), the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, etc.

 

* mystic and theosophical societies: Brotherhood of the West Gate, the Hermetic Brothers of Luxor, and the Order of the White Shrine of Jerusalem

 

Judging from the buildings they left behind, these societies continued to flourish through the 1910s and the 1920s. There's indication that they worked the levers of power behind the curtain ran big parts of the country, or thought they did.

 

They certainly had money to invest.

 

The largest Masonic building in the country is in Detroit, dating from 1926, and a real skyscraper. The elaborate 1925 Elks Club in Los Angeles was known as City Hall West, because so many deals were done there and "So many politicans, judges and powerful figures haunted the opulent classrooms and halls."

 

In Phoenix, the relationship was even a little closer -- the old 1929 city hall WAS a Masonic lodge, the cornerstone proudly says so, and it was designed by a Masonic architect summoned all the way from Louisiana. If there was any embarrasment about blurring the distinction between the secret men's club and the local government, you'd never know it.

 

This isn't the only example in Portland: what is now the west building of the Governor Hotel was built as the Elks Temple, reportedly the largest Elks club in the country when constructed in 1923. The interior upstairs still features some of the Elks'...exotic preoccupations. The main Masonic Temple in Portland was terrifically expensive for 1924 and is now part of the art museum.

 

The founder Upchurch visited Portland in 1885, as part of a west coast tour, and was disappointed at what he found. "There was a fearful state of affairs in this Jurisdiction, especially in and around Portland.... It will take more than I am able to give to enthuse them."

 

The very existence of the 1892 building signals a dramatic turnaround in the local organization. Caused by what? No idea. It's only a guess to say that they needed all six of these stories for offices, records, publications, meeting rooms, self-improvement activities. Just maybe there's a ballroom-sized auditorium up there on the fifth floor behind those big arched windows. But we also know that the national AUOW conference came to Portland in June, 1902, eight hundred delegates from across the country.

 

The anchor in the rondel is accounted for, not by any particular nautical association, but from one of the AOUW's emblems. For better or worse, they didn't really indulge in the camels, scimitars, sphinxes, double-headed eagles, stern statues of Hammurabi, and other exotic details you might find elsewhere.

 

The large number of bricked-in windows and doors -- anybody's guess.

 

The architect was Justus (or Justice) Krumbein, who had a respectable career in Oregon, like designing the razed 1884 Kamm Block and the second Oregon State Capitol in Salem, the one that burned. The masonry contractor was one Edward Killfeather. No big clues there.

 

According to historical photos dating from 1981, it's been in this neglected condition for 30 years.

 

Mystery: unsolved.

 

Copyright 2009 Walt Lockley. All rights reserved."

 

From: www.waltlockley.com/ancientorder/ancientorder.htm

Unsolved Rubik's Cube.

I've never been on a modern cruise ship, and the way they look, I wouldn't want to.

 

Following Queen Mary's permanent docking in California, the ship became a subject of haunting rumors. Since the 1980s, the supposed "haunting" has figured significantly into the marketing and promotion of the ship, with various attractions and tours presenting the theme for visitors.

 

Anecdotal reports of paranormal activity have included children crying in the nursery room, used as the third-class playroom, and a mysterious splashing noise in the drained first-class swimming pool.

 

In 1966, 18-year-old engineer John Pedder was crushed by a watertight door in the engine room during a fire drill, and his ghost is said to haunt the ship. There is also said to be the spirit of a young girl named Jackie Korin who drowned in the second class pool and continues to haunt the first class pool room on board the ship. A young woman by the name of Sarah was said to have been murdered in the first class women's changing rooms by an unknown man and haunts the first class pool with Jackie. Some visitors say they have seen women wearing early 1930s bathing suits in the pool areas. It is also said that men screaming and the sound of metal crushing against metal can be heard below decks at the extreme front end of the bow. Those who have heard this believe it to be the screams of the sailors aboard Curacoa at the moment the light cruiser was split in half by the liner.

 

The ship and its disturbances, including those thought to be related to the Curacoa collision, were detailed in an episode of Unsolved Mysteries. In 2005 TAPS (The Atlantic Paranormal Society) investigated the ship for the TV series Ghost Hunters, the case was covered in the eleventh episode of the second season

 

If you are interested in Julio Claudian Iconography and portrait study you may enjoy these two links:

 

Julio Claudian Iconographic Association- Joe Geranio- Administrator at groups.yahoo.com/group/julioclaudian/

 

The Portraiture of Caligula- Joe Geranio- Administrator- at

portraitsofcaligula.com/

 

Both are non-profit sites and for educational use only.For more on Caligulan Numismatic Articles see: Coins courtesy cngoins.com

 

Related Articles of Caligula from American Numismatic Society Library Search

 

Library Catalog Search (Preliminary Version)

Full Record: Barrett, Anthony A. The invalidation of currency in the Roman Empire : the Claudian demonetization of Caligula's AES. (1999)

Full Record: Bost, Jean-Pierre. Routes, cits et ateliers montaires : quelques remarques sur les officines hispaniques entre les rgnes d'Auguste en de Caligula. (1999)

Full Record: Bibliothque Municipale d'Etude et d'Information de Grenoble. Grenoble : Bibliothque Municipale d'Etude et d'Information : catalogue des monnaies. II. Monnaies romaines. Monnaies impriales romaines. 2. Caligula - Neron . Index. / Bernard Rmy, Frdric Bontoux, Virginie Risler. (1998)

Full Record: Gainor, John R. The image of the Julio-Claudian dynasty from coins / by John R. Gainor.

Full Record: Martini, Rodolfo. Monete romane imperiali del Museo G. B. Adriani. Parte 3, Caius (37-41 d.C.) / Rodolfo Martini. (2001)

Full Record: ACCLA privy to presentation by Richard Baker on Caligula. (2002)

Full Record: Wend, David A. Caligula, the emperor as autocrat. Part 1. (2002)

Full Record: Wend, David A. Caligula, the emperor as autocrat. Part 2. (2002)

Full Record: Wend, David A. Caligula, the emperor as autocrat. Part 3. (2002)

Full Record: Kemmers, Fleur. Caligula on the Lower Rhine : Coin finds from the Roman Fort of Albaniana (The Netherlands) / Fleur Kemmers. (2004)

Full Record: Estiot, Sylviane. Le trsor de Meussia (Jura) : 399 monnaies d'argent d'poques rpublicaine et julio-claudienne / Sylviane Estiot, Isabelle Aymar. (2002)

Full Record: Gocht, Hans. Namenstilgungen an Bronzemünzen des Caligula und Claudius / Hans Gocht. (2003)

Full Record: Gomis Justo, Marivi. Ercavica : La emision de Caligula. Estimacion del numero de cunos originales.

Full Record: Sayles, Wayne G. Fakes on the Internet. (2002)

Full Record: Kemmers, Fleur. The coin finds from the Roman fort Albaniana, the Netherlands / Fleur Kemmers . (2005)

Full Record: Lopez Snchez, Fernando. La afirmacion soberana de Caligula y de Claudio y el fin de las acunaciones ciudadanas en occidente / Fernando Lopez Snchez. (2000)

Full Record: Besombes, Paul-Andr. Les monnaies hispaniques de Claude Ier des dpôts de la Vilaine (Rennes) et de Saint-Lonard (Mayenne) : tmoins de quel type de contact entre l'Armorique et la pninsule ibrique ? / Paul-Andr Besombes. (2005)

Full Record: Catalli, Fiorenzo. Le thesaurus de Sora / Fiorenzo Catalli et John Scheid.

Full Record: Giard, Jean-Baptiste. Faux deniers de Caligula de la Renaissance.

Full Record: Vermeule, Cornelius. Faces of Empire (Julius Caesar to Justinian). Part II(B), More young faces : Caligula again and Nero reborn / Cornelius Vermeule. (2005)

Full Record: Geranio, Joe. Portraits of Caligula : the seated figure? / Joe Geranio. (2007)

Full Record: Aguilera Hernandez, Alberto. Acerca de un as de Caligula hallado en Zaragoza / Alberto Aguilera Hernandez. (2007)

Full Record: Butcher, K. E. T. Caligula : the evil emperor. (1985)

Full Record: Fuchs, Michaela. Frauen um Caligula und Claudius : Milonia Caesonia, Drusilla und Messalina. (1990)

Full Record: Faur, Jean-Claude. Moneda de Caligula de Museo Arqueologico Provincial de Tarragona. (1979)

Full Record: British Museum. Dept. of coins and medals. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British museum. Vol. I: Augustus to Vitellius / by Harold Mattingly. (1976)

Full Record: Conrad, Edwin. A Caligula Isotope of Hadrian. (1968)

Full Record: Conrad, Edwin. The Metamorphosis of an Allegad 'As of Hadrian.' (1968)

Full Record: Bendall, Simon. A 'new' gold quinarius of Caligula. (1985)

Full Record: Cortellini, Nereo. Le monete di Caligola nel Cohen.

Full Record: Guey, Julien. Les "bains d'or" de Caligula "Immensi Avreorvm Acervi (Sutone, Cal., 42,3).

Full Record: Guey, J. Les "bains d'or" de Caligula : Sutone, Cal. 42, 3.

Full Record: Curry, Michael R. The Aes Quadrans of Caligula. (1968)

Full Record: Jonas, Elemr. L'emploi dar "damnatio memoriae" sur l'un des "dupondius" de Calgula. (1937)

Full Record: Julian, R. W. The coins of Caligula. (1994)

Full Record: Donciu, Ramiro. Cu privire la activitatea militara a lui Caius (Caligula) in anul 40 e.n. (1983)

Full Record: Hansen, Peter. A history of Caligula's Vesta. (1992)

Full Record: Kaenel, Hans-Markus von. Augustus, Caligula oder Caludius? (1978)

Full Record: Kaenel, Hans-Markus von. Die Organisation der Münzprgung Caligulas. (1987)

Full Record: Johansen, Flemming S. The sculpted portraits of Caligula. (1987)

Full Record: Carter, G. F. Chemical compositions of copper-based Roman coins. V : imitations of Caligula, Claudius, and Nero / G. F. Carter and others. (1978)

Full Record: Giard, Jean-Baptiste. L'atelier de Lyon sous Auguste : Tibre et Caligula. (1979)

Full Record: Giard, Jean-Baptiste. Les missions d'or et d'argent de Caligula dans l'atelier de Lyon. (1976)

Full Record: Giard, Jean-Baptiste. Le monnayage de l'atelier de Lyon des origines au rgne de Caligula (43 avant J.-C. - 41 aprs J.-C.). (1983)

Full Record: Nony, D. Quelques as d'imitation de Caligula trouves a Bordeaux (Gironde). (1981)

Full Record: Levy, Brooks Emmons. Caligula's radiate crown. (1988)

Full Record: Poulsen, Vagn. Un nouveau visage de Caligula. (1972)

Full Record: Price, Martin Jessop. Elephant in Crete? New light ona cistophorus of Caligula. (1973)

Full Record: MacInnis, H. Frank. Ego-driven emperor commits excesses. (1979)

Full Record: McKenna, Thomas P. The case of the curious coin of Caligula : a provincial bronze restruck with legend-only dies. (1994)

Full Record: Mowat, Robert. Bronzes remarquables de Tibre, de son fils, de ses petits-fils et de Caligula. (1911)

Full Record: Koenig, Franz E. Roma, monete dal Tevere : l'imperatore Gaio (Caligola). (1988)

Full Record: Kollgaard, Ron. Caligula's coins profile despot. (1993)

Full Record: Kollgaard, Ron. A numismatic mystery : "the Caligula quadrans." (1994)

Full Record: Martini, Rodolfo. Osservazioni su contromarche ed erosioni su assi de Caligula. (1980)

Full Record: Szaivert, Wolfgang. Moneta Imperii Romani. Band 2 und 3. Die Münzprgung der Kaiser Tiberius und Caius (Caligula) 14/41 / von Wolfgang Szaivert. (1984)

Full Record: Boschung, Dietrich. Die Bildnisse des Caligula. Kaenel, Hans-Markus von. Jucker, Hans. Deutsches Archaologisches Institut. Das Romische Herrscherbild. 1. Abt., Bd. 4, Die Bildnisse des Caligula / Dietrich Boschung ; mit einem Beitrag von Hans-Markus von Kaenel ; auf Grund der Vorarbeiten und Marterialsammlungen von Hans Jucker. (1989)

Full Record: Rosborough, Ruskin R. An epigraphic commentary on Suetonius's life of Gaius Caligula. A thesis...for the...Doctor of Philosophy. (1920)

Full Record: Richard, Jean-Claude. A propos de l'aureus de Caligula dcouvert Saint-Colomban-des-Villards (Savoie). (1982)

Full Record: Richard, Jean-Claude. Un aureus de Caligula dcouvert Saint-Colomban-des-Villards (Savoie). (1982)

Full Record: Ritter, Hans-Werner. Adlocutio und Corona Civica unter Caligula und Tiberius. (1971)

Full Record: Kumpikevicius, Gordon C. A numismatic look at Gaius. (1979)

Full Record: Savio, Adriano. La coerenza di Caligola nella gestione della moneta / Adriano Savio. (1988)

Full Record: Savio, Adriano. Note su alcune monete di Gaio-Caligola. (1973)

Full Record: Stylow, Armin U. Die Quadranten des Caligula als Propaganda-münzen.münzen" aus der stdtischen sammlung zu Osnabrück. (1971)

Full Record: Schwartz, Jacques. Le Monnayage Snatorial entre 37 et 42 P.C. (1951)

Full Record: Rodolfo Martini, ed. Sylloge nummorum Romanorum. Italia. Milano, Civiche Raccolte Numismatiche Vol. 1 Giulio-Claudii / a cura di Rodolfo Martini. (1990)

Full Record: Szaivert, Wolfgang. Zur Julisch-Claudischen Münzprgung. (1979)

Full Record: Vedrianus. The Roman Imperial series. V. Gaius. (1963)

Full Record: Tietze, Christian M. Kaiser Cajus Caesar, genannt Caligula. (1979)

Full Record: Wood, Susan. Diva Drusilla Panthea and the sisters of Caligula / Susan Wood. (1995)

Full Record: Sutherland, Carol Humphrey Vivian. Coinage in Roman imperial policy 31 B.C.-A.D. 68. (1951)

Full Record: Sutherland, C. H. V. The mints of Lugdunum and Rome under Gaius : an unsolved problem. (1981)

Full Record: Trillmich, Walter. Familienpropaganda der Kaiser Caligula und Claudius : Agrippina Maior und Antonia Augusta auf Münzen. (1978)

Full Record: Voirol, August. Eine Warenumsatzsteuer im antiken Rom und der numismatische Beleg inher Aufhebung : Centesima rerum venalium. (1943)

Full Record: Trillmich, Walter. Zur Münzprgung des Caligula von Caesaraugusta (Zaragoza). (1973)

 

St Mary, Aldham, Suffolk

 

I pass this church often. Traffic rushes along the busy Ipswich to Sudbury road not far off, but there is a quieter, parallel road which not many people seem to know about. It leaves Ipswich via Bramford, and you can get all the way to Sudbury on it, taking in the likes of Burstall, Kersey and Waldingfield on the way. Aldham as a village is little more than a straggle of houses, but they lie along this road, and just beyond a cluster of houses you take a sudden turn to the left, on to a pretty track to Aldham Hall. Down through fruit trees you descend, until the walls become older, and there at the end are the farm buildings. Beyond them, is this pretty church.

 

If the church is pretty, the view from it is doubly so - to the south, the land drops away alarmingly, into a valley full of sheep. This is lovely, and splendidly English. Nothing could be more peaceful. But beyond, the land rises to a dark sea of trees, the mysteriously named Wolves Wood, now an RSPB reserve. Looking along to the right, the other hilltop is where the Protestant preacher Roland Taylor was burned at the stake in the 1550s, a site of pilgrimage for his many American descendants. Whatever your reading of the English Reformation, Taylor's burning was a terrible event. One imagines the villagers gathered outside this church, watching the flames and smoke rise.

 

I remembered the first time I came here, back in the 1990s. We came here on one of those humid, overcast summer days, on our way to the Bildeston Beer Festival. My young children scattered off to play hide and seek with their mother in the precipitous graveyard. An elderly man was pottering about, looking at 19th century graves, so I apologised for my family (as you do). But he seemed genuinely pleased that they were running about like mad things. He was tracing his family, and had come down from Norfolk to look for a particular grave of an ancestor. And he'd found it. He was pretty pleased about that, too. He was also following up a theory that his ancestor had been a Rector of this parish. His address had been Aldham Rectory. Did I have any idea how he could find out? I suggested that the church might have a board of 'Rectors of this Parish'. Most do. These are a pleasant Victorianism, intended to overcome the 16th century breach by claiming a history of the CofE that extended back before the Reformation. We could go inside, and take a look. And we did - the church was militantly open, the inner door wedged wide. We found the board - but the name wasn't there. So, the mystery remained unsolved.

 

This church was derelict by the mid 19th century, and underwent a fairly late restoration, in 1883. The tower was rebuilt, as was the south wall of the nave. The roofs were replaced, giving an overwhelmingly Victorian appearance - although Mortlock detected the Norman, and possibly Saxon, ancestor. The hill itself suggests a very early foundation, perhaps on a site of pagan worship.

 

The architect was W. M. Fawcett, and there was another restoration of the inside in the early 20th century. The resulting interior is one of those neat and shiny jobs that is certainly grand, and pleasant enough, but rather dated now. Our early 21st Century spirituality seems to respond more to dusty, ancient interiors than to these Victorian ritualisations. But I had a sense of a church that is much loved, well-cared for, and used regularly.

 

And that is still so today. Now, Aldham parish have gone one further than a wedged-open door, and a big sign has been erected at the bottom of the lane proclaiming that Our Church is Always Open, and so it is easy to step into its prayerful interior. And it is not without its medieval survivals, a couple of which are fascinating. For a start, there is the chancel, with its original roof, some fine windows, and a piscina in the sanctuary. But best of all are two bench ends. These are unlike anything else I've seen in Suffolk, and their primitive quality suggests a local origin. The one to the west apparently shows a bear, or possibly a lion. My first impulse was that it was some kind of heraldic device, but on reflection I think differently. Note the shaved off object it holds in its mouth. And is the pattern emerging from beneath the head really fur? Back in 1999, my six year old took one look at it and decided that the creature isn't eating the bird, but the bird is flying out of its mouth. Could it be a dove? And could the three objects issuing from beneath the head actually be tongues of fire? In which case, could this be some strange composition representing Pentecost, and the descent of the Holy Spirit?

 

In the spandrel above the bear, or whatever it is, there is a lily, the symbol of the Annunciation. But it is also a symbol of the crucifixion. It calls to mind the rare lily crucifixes, of which just two are known to survive in Suffolk, at Long Melford and Great Glemham. Could this be an unrecorded third? The other bench end is probably easier to read. The crown is obvious enough. The star and crescent are familiar from representations of the crucifixion. The pike is a familiar instrument of the Passion. And, if you look in the spandrel above, you'll see a crown of thorns, so this may well be a composition representing the Passion.

 

A third bench end, to the east, shows just a simple spiked tool, that looks as if it might have been used in thatching. So, what's it all about? It is a bit of a mystery, really.

 

And what of the font? This is mysterious, too. It appears to be Norman, but a second glance finds it too elegant, too finely detailed. The pillars are almost Classical in design, and the whole piece has a touch of the 18th century about it. Was it brought here from somewhere else in the 1880s? Or is it a Victorian recutting of a Norman predecessor? Whatever, the revealed brickwork of the late medieval tower arch looks most fitting behind it. The doors are, presumably, part of the 1930s interior restoration - indeed, they have a touch of Cautley about them.

 

To see early 20th century Anglican triumphalism in all its hideous glory, step up into the chancel, and examine the reredos and flanking niches. It looks like something out of a French cathedral. I suppose that it is really quite good, with the kind of neatness one associates with 1930s stonework used here to highlight medievalist detail. On the other hand, one wonders what they can have been thinking of, to impose it on this pretty little country church. Fortunately, the contemporary glass in the east window is very good, or else this confection would be rather embarrassing. The stonework must have cost a fortune, and it is rather hard to imagine the same thing happening today. Post dating it by a couple of decades is a set of arms for Elizabeth II, unusual, and rather good. Very Festival of Britain.

 

Standing in the nave and looking east, the splendour of the reredos imposing itself on our view, it is hard to imagine the real glory that once was here. But John Nunn contacted me, to tell me about a will he has a copy of. In 1525, his ancestor Robert Clifford declared: I bequeath I will have the rood there upon the candlebeam set up higher and Mary & John and two new angels and the breast under the rood korvyn and when that is done I will have all this painted and guilt whatsoever the cost. I will have bought two standards of brass stand in the choir and I will my executors bestow therein 40/-. I will my executors shall buy four candlesticks of brass for the candlebeam, I give six kine unto the church of Aldham to keep my obit with as long as the world stand.

 

What does all this mean? Firstly, you have to remember that England was a devoutly Catholic country in 1525, and the fittings of the church were for the actions of the Catholic liturgy. In the late 15th and early 16th centuries, all Suffolk churches had a rood in place. This was a representation of the crucifixion, set above the chancel arch. On one side of the cross always stood the Virgin Mary, and on the other side stood St John. Often, the wall behind was painted. The rood either hung on the wall, or was supported by a beam. However, there was always a beam that ran below it for candles to be lit on. This was called the candlebeam, or rood beam. The candles were placed on it by individuals or gilds as part of the process of prayer - particularly prayer for the souls of the dead. A rood loft ran beside it for access, and the space beneath was infilled with a rood screen. To make the rood even more glorious, the roof above was panelled, and the panels were painted blue, with gold stars, and perhaps Marian monograms. This was called the canopy of honour, or more simply, the coving (rendered delightfully in Suffolk dialect as Korvyn above.)

 

Robert Clifford was paying for a simple rood to be made more glorious. He was going to have it placed higher, with a new canopy of honour. He was paying for brass candlesticks to replace wooden candlestocks.

 

Why? Simply, the medieval economy of grace depended upon the living praying for the dead, and the dead praying for the living. In donating glorious things to his church, Clifford was ensuring that he would be remembered. The roodscreen would have a dedicatory inscription with his name on. He was saying - I won't forget you, don't you forget me. Catholics still say these prayers, and believe them answered. The Catholic liturgy formalised prayers for the dead in the form of obit masses.These were said on the anniversary of someone's death in perpetuity. The proceeds of the sale of the six cows (kine) would be invested, probably in land to be rented, to pay a priest to say these masses - as long as the world shall stand; that is, for ever.

 

Unfortunately, 'for ever' didn't last very long. Prayers for the dead were declared illegal by the protestant reformers in the late 1530s. By 1547, every single rood in the land had been toppled and burned. The rood lofts were hacked down, along with many of the candle beams (although about ten beams survive in Suffolk) and most of the rood screens were also destroyed (about 50 survive in Suffolk). Nothing of Robert Clifford's gifts survive at Aldham. All the gilt would have been stripped, the brass candlesticks melted down, and the proceeds sequestered by the King's commissioners. The collected glory of all the churches of England was squandered by Henry VIII on high living, and on the expensive and pointless siege of Boulogne. A sad thought.

 

When I came here in 1999, I remembered the graveyard full of wild thyme and especially sorrel, which we gathered in handfuls and ate later in the day with fresh trout and new potatoes. It was too late for the sorrel this year, and so instead I just stood, and looked out across the gentle valley, the sheep cropping their way slowly westward. I looked beyond to Wolves Wood, and the site of Roland Taylor's martyrdom. Hard to imagine so much history happening to such a modest little parish.

A Girl And Some Tunes: The Girl And The Unsolved Investigation

 

Interpol "Specialist"

www.youtube.com/watch?v=2t6pTc_Va8o

 

She's a young investigator. You previously saw her in "A Girl And Some Tunes: The Girl And The Lost Village": www.flickr.com/photos/onesharpeye/sets/72157629100912500/

This time she's got to face a very strange case. A mud road has appeared in one night near the city. And no one saw or hear anything. This is the promise for a long run investigation!

After a long day of search in the area, she found nothing. There's many strange things here, but the answers won't come easily!

 

This is the end of this mini episode, but there will be a longer sequel during this winter, and you'll see her find the truth! So stay tuned!

 

Model: Tam

 

Strobe info: One Jinbei DC600 through a 46' softlighter at 2 meters high with a 45° angle. It was placed on the left. I've used the sun as a backlighting. The strobe was triggered with pocketwizard TT5, which allowed me to get a higher than 1/200 shutter speed.

Queensland State Archives Item ID ITM294496 Dept No.44

The murder of siblings Michael, Norah and Ellen Murphy near Gatton on Boxing Day 1898 sparked intense interest and speculation. All three were killed between 10pm and the early hours of the following morning on their way home from a dance that had been cancelled and the case remains unsolved to this day.

Contained within the QSA archived police files are pages of handwritten letters from across Queensland sent from members of the community convinced they could help solve the case using their spiritual gifts. Some are simply a few words on a scrap of paper, others take up many pages and go into lengthy detail about possible conspiracies. The police called the correspondence files ‘Astrologers, Dreamers, Theorists, etc’.

Queensland State Archives Item ID ITM294496 Dept No.44

The murder of siblings Michael, Norah and Ellen Murphy near Gatton on Boxing Day 1898 sparked intense interest and speculation. All three were killed between 10pm and the early hours of the following morning on their way home from a dance that had been cancelled and the case remains unsolved to this day.

Contained within the QSA archived police files are pages of handwritten letters from across Queensland sent from members of the community convinced they could help solve the case using their spiritual gifts. Some are simply a few words on a scrap of paper, others take up many pages and go into lengthy detail about possible conspiracies. The police called the correspondence files ‘Astrologers, Dreamers, Theorists, etc’.

Gaius (Caligula). AD 37-41. Æ As (29mm, 10.71 g, 7h). Rome mint. Struck AD 37-38. Bare head left / Vesta seated left, holding patera and scepter. RIC I 38. For more on Caligulan Numismatic Articles see: Coins courtesy cngoins.com

 

Related Articles of Caligula from American Numismatic Society Library Search

 

Library Catalog Search (Preliminary Version)

Full Record: Barrett, Anthony A. The invalidation of currency in the Roman Empire : the Claudian demonetization of Caligula's AES. (1999)

Full Record: Bost, Jean-Pierre. Routes, cits et ateliers montaires : quelques remarques sur les officines hispaniques entre les rgnes d'Auguste en de Caligula. (1999)

Full Record: Bibliothque Municipale d'Etude et d'Information de Grenoble. Grenoble : Bibliothque Municipale d'Etude et d'Information : catalogue des monnaies. II. Monnaies romaines. Monnaies impriales romaines. 2. Caligula - Neron . Index. / Bernard Rmy, Frdric Bontoux, Virginie Risler. (1998)

Full Record: Gainor, John R. The image of the Julio-Claudian dynasty from coins / by John R. Gainor.

Full Record: Martini, Rodolfo. Monete romane imperiali del Museo G. B. Adriani. Parte 3, Caius (37-41 d.C.) / Rodolfo Martini. (2001)

Full Record: ACCLA privy to presentation by Richard Baker on Caligula. (2002)

Full Record: Wend, David A. Caligula, the emperor as autocrat. Part 1. (2002)

Full Record: Wend, David A. Caligula, the emperor as autocrat. Part 2. (2002)

Full Record: Wend, David A. Caligula, the emperor as autocrat. Part 3. (2002)

Full Record: Kemmers, Fleur. Caligula on the Lower Rhine : Coin finds from the Roman Fort of Albaniana (The Netherlands) / Fleur Kemmers. (2004)

Full Record: Estiot, Sylviane. Le trsor de Meussia (Jura) : 399 monnaies d'argent d'poques rpublicaine et julio-claudienne / Sylviane Estiot, Isabelle Aymar. (2002)

Full Record: Gocht, Hans. Namenstilgungen an Bronzemünzen des Caligula und Claudius / Hans Gocht. (2003)

Full Record: Gomis Justo, Marivi. Ercavica : La emision de Caligula. Estimacion del numero de cunos originales.

Full Record: Sayles, Wayne G. Fakes on the Internet. (2002)

Full Record: Kemmers, Fleur. The coin finds from the Roman fort Albaniana, the Netherlands / Fleur Kemmers . (2005)

Full Record: Lopez Snchez, Fernando. La afirmacion soberana de Caligula y de Claudio y el fin de las acunaciones ciudadanas en occidente / Fernando Lopez Snchez. (2000)

Full Record: Besombes, Paul-Andr. Les monnaies hispaniques de Claude Ier des dpôts de la Vilaine (Rennes) et de Saint-Lonard (Mayenne) : tmoins de quel type de contact entre l'Armorique et la pninsule ibrique ? / Paul-Andr Besombes. (2005)

Full Record: Catalli, Fiorenzo. Le thesaurus de Sora / Fiorenzo Catalli et John Scheid.

Full Record: Giard, Jean-Baptiste. Faux deniers de Caligula de la Renaissance.

Full Record: Vermeule, Cornelius. Faces of Empire (Julius Caesar to Justinian). Part II(B), More young faces : Caligula again and Nero reborn / Cornelius Vermeule. (2005)

Full Record: Geranio, Joe. Portraits of Caligula : the seated figure? / Joe Geranio. (2007)

Full Record: Aguilera Hernandez, Alberto. Acerca de un as de Caligula hallado en Zaragoza / Alberto Aguilera Hernandez. (2007)

Full Record: Butcher, K. E. T. Caligula : the evil emperor. (1985)

Full Record: Fuchs, Michaela. Frauen um Caligula und Claudius : Milonia Caesonia, Drusilla und Messalina. (1990)

Full Record: Faur, Jean-Claude. Moneda de Caligula de Museo Arqueologico Provincial de Tarragona. (1979)

Full Record: British Museum. Dept. of coins and medals. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British museum. Vol. I: Augustus to Vitellius / by Harold Mattingly. (1976)

Full Record: Conrad, Edwin. A Caligula Isotope of Hadrian. (1968)

Full Record: Conrad, Edwin. The Metamorphosis of an Allegad 'As of Hadrian.' (1968)

Full Record: Bendall, Simon. A 'new' gold quinarius of Caligula. (1985)

Full Record: Cortellini, Nereo. Le monete di Caligola nel Cohen.

Full Record: Guey, Julien. Les "bains d'or" de Caligula "Immensi Avreorvm Acervi (Sutone, Cal., 42,3).

Full Record: Guey, J. Les "bains d'or" de Caligula : Sutone, Cal. 42, 3.

Full Record: Curry, Michael R. The Aes Quadrans of Caligula. (1968)

Full Record: Jonas, Elemr. L'emploi dar "damnatio memoriae" sur l'un des "dupondius" de Calgula. (1937)

Full Record: Julian, R. W. The coins of Caligula. (1994)

Full Record: Donciu, Ramiro. Cu privire la activitatea militara a lui Caius (Caligula) in anul 40 e.n. (1983)

Full Record: Hansen, Peter. A history of Caligula's Vesta. (1992)

Full Record: Kaenel, Hans-Markus von. Augustus, Caligula oder Caludius? (1978)

Full Record: Kaenel, Hans-Markus von. Die Organisation der Münzprgung Caligulas. (1987)

Full Record: Johansen, Flemming S. The sculpted portraits of Caligula. (1987)

Full Record: Carter, G. F. Chemical compositions of copper-based Roman coins. V : imitations of Caligula, Claudius, and Nero / G. F. Carter and others. (1978)

Full Record: Giard, Jean-Baptiste. L'atelier de Lyon sous Auguste : Tibre et Caligula. (1979)

Full Record: Giard, Jean-Baptiste. Les missions d'or et d'argent de Caligula dans l'atelier de Lyon. (1976)

Full Record: Giard, Jean-Baptiste. Le monnayage de l'atelier de Lyon des origines au rgne de Caligula (43 avant J.-C. - 41 aprs J.-C.). (1983)

Full Record: Nony, D. Quelques as d'imitation de Caligula trouves a Bordeaux (Gironde). (1981)

Full Record: Levy, Brooks Emmons. Caligula's radiate crown. (1988)

Full Record: Poulsen, Vagn. Un nouveau visage de Caligula. (1972)

Full Record: Price, Martin Jessop. Elephant in Crete? New light ona cistophorus of Caligula. (1973)

Full Record: MacInnis, H. Frank. Ego-driven emperor commits excesses. (1979)

Full Record: McKenna, Thomas P. The case of the curious coin of Caligula : a provincial bronze restruck with legend-only dies. (1994)

Full Record: Mowat, Robert. Bronzes remarquables de Tibre, de son fils, de ses petits-fils et de Caligula. (1911)

Full Record: Koenig, Franz E. Roma, monete dal Tevere : l'imperatore Gaio (Caligola). (1988)

Full Record: Kollgaard, Ron. Caligula's coins profile despot. (1993)

Full Record: Kollgaard, Ron. A numismatic mystery : "the Caligula quadrans." (1994)

Full Record: Martini, Rodolfo. Osservazioni su contromarche ed erosioni su assi de Caligula. (1980)

Full Record: Szaivert, Wolfgang. Moneta Imperii Romani. Band 2 und 3. Die Münzprgung der Kaiser Tiberius und Caius (Caligula) 14/41 / von Wolfgang Szaivert. (1984)

Full Record: Boschung, Dietrich. Die Bildnisse des Caligula. Kaenel, Hans-Markus von. Jucker, Hans. Deutsches Archaologisches Institut. Das Romische Herrscherbild. 1. Abt., Bd. 4, Die Bildnisse des Caligula / Dietrich Boschung ; mit einem Beitrag von Hans-Markus von Kaenel ; auf Grund der Vorarbeiten und Marterialsammlungen von Hans Jucker. (1989)

Full Record: Rosborough, Ruskin R. An epigraphic commentary on Suetonius's life of Gaius Caligula. A thesis...for the...Doctor of Philosophy. (1920)

Full Record: Richard, Jean-Claude. A propos de l'aureus de Caligula dcouvert Saint-Colomban-des-Villards (Savoie). (1982)

Full Record: Richard, Jean-Claude. Un aureus de Caligula dcouvert Saint-Colomban-des-Villards (Savoie). (1982)

Full Record: Ritter, Hans-Werner. Adlocutio und Corona Civica unter Caligula und Tiberius. (1971)

Full Record: Kumpikevicius, Gordon C. A numismatic look at Gaius. (1979)

Full Record: Savio, Adriano. La coerenza di Caligola nella gestione della moneta / Adriano Savio. (1988)

Full Record: Savio, Adriano. Note su alcune monete di Gaio-Caligola. (1973)

Full Record: Stylow, Armin U. Die Quadranten des Caligula als Propaganda-münzen.münzen" aus der stdtischen sammlung zu Osnabrück. (1971)

Full Record: Schwartz, Jacques. Le Monnayage Snatorial entre 37 et 42 P.C. (1951)

Full Record: Rodolfo Martini, ed. Sylloge nummorum Romanorum. Italia. Milano, Civiche Raccolte Numismatiche Vol. 1 Giulio-Claudii / a cura di Rodolfo Martini. (1990)

Full Record: Szaivert, Wolfgang. Zur Julisch-Claudischen Münzprgung. (1979)

Full Record: Vedrianus. The Roman Imperial series. V. Gaius. (1963)

Full Record: Tietze, Christian M. Kaiser Cajus Caesar, genannt Caligula. (1979)

Full Record: Wood, Susan. Diva Drusilla Panthea and the sisters of Caligula / Susan Wood. (1995)

Full Record: Sutherland, Carol Humphrey Vivian. Coinage in Roman imperial policy 31 B.C.-A.D. 68. (1951)

Full Record: Sutherland, C. H. V. The mints of Lugdunum and Rome under Gaius : an unsolved problem. (1981)

Full Record: Trillmich, Walter. Familienpropaganda der Kaiser Caligula und Claudius : Agrippina Maior und Antonia Augusta auf Münzen. (1978)

Full Record: Voirol, August. Eine Warenumsatzsteuer im antiken Rom und der numismatische Beleg inher Aufhebung : Centesima rerum venalium. (1943)

Full Record: Trillmich, Walter. Zur Münzprgung des Caligula von Caesaraugusta (Zaragoza). (1973)

 

"They are definitely not ready! There are too many unsolved, unsightly problems in those rooms."

Gaius (Caligula). AD 37-41. Æ Sestertius (35mm, 25.74 g, 7h). Rome mint. Struck AD 37-38. Laureate head left / Gaius standing left on daïs with camp chair behind, addressing five soldiers standing right, holding parazonia and shields; four aquilae behind. RIC I 32.

 

Before a battle, or on parade, the emperor would address his troops in an event known as an adlocutio cohortium (address to the cohorts). This was an important opportunity for the emperor to be present among his troops and inspire morale. This sestertius was issued on the occasion of a donative for the Praetorian Guard and was the first to employ the adlocutio as a reverse type.

If you are interested in Julio Claudian Iconography and portrait study you may enjoy these two links:

 

Julio Claudian Iconographic Association- Joe Geranio- Administrator at groups.yahoo.com/group/julioclaudian/

 

The Portraiture of Caligula- Joe Geranio- Administrator- at

portraitsofcaligula.com/

 

Both are non-profit sites and for educational use only.For more on Caligulan Numismatic Articles see: Coins courtesy cngoins.com

 

Related Articles of Caligula from American Numismatic Society Library Search

 

Library Catalog Search (Preliminary Version)

Full Record: Barrett, Anthony A. The invalidation of currency in the Roman Empire : the Claudian demonetization of Caligula's AES. (1999)

Full Record: Bost, Jean-Pierre. Routes, cits et ateliers montaires : quelques remarques sur les officines hispaniques entre les rgnes d'Auguste en de Caligula. (1999)

Full Record: Bibliothque Municipale d'Etude et d'Information de Grenoble. Grenoble : Bibliothque Municipale d'Etude et d'Information : catalogue des monnaies. II. Monnaies romaines. Monnaies impriales romaines. 2. Caligula - Neron . Index. / Bernard Rmy, Frdric Bontoux, Virginie Risler. (1998)

Full Record: Gainor, John R. The image of the Julio-Claudian dynasty from coins / by John R. Gainor.

Full Record: Martini, Rodolfo. Monete romane imperiali del Museo G. B. Adriani. Parte 3, Caius (37-41 d.C.) / Rodolfo Martini. (2001)

Full Record: ACCLA privy to presentation by Richard Baker on Caligula. (2002)

Full Record: Wend, David A. Caligula, the emperor as autocrat. Part 1. (2002)

Full Record: Wend, David A. Caligula, the emperor as autocrat. Part 2. (2002)

Full Record: Wend, David A. Caligula, the emperor as autocrat. Part 3. (2002)

Full Record: Kemmers, Fleur. Caligula on the Lower Rhine : Coin finds from the Roman Fort of Albaniana (The Netherlands) / Fleur Kemmers. (2004)

Full Record: Estiot, Sylviane. Le trsor de Meussia (Jura) : 399 monnaies d'argent d'poques rpublicaine et julio-claudienne / Sylviane Estiot, Isabelle Aymar. (2002)

Full Record: Gocht, Hans. Namenstilgungen an Bronzemünzen des Caligula und Claudius / Hans Gocht. (2003)

Full Record: Gomis Justo, Marivi. Ercavica : La emision de Caligula. Estimacion del numero de cunos originales.

Full Record: Sayles, Wayne G. Fakes on the Internet. (2002)

Full Record: Kemmers, Fleur. The coin finds from the Roman fort Albaniana, the Netherlands / Fleur Kemmers . (2005)

Full Record: Lopez Snchez, Fernando. La afirmacion soberana de Caligula y de Claudio y el fin de las acunaciones ciudadanas en occidente / Fernando Lopez Snchez. (2000)

Full Record: Besombes, Paul-Andr. Les monnaies hispaniques de Claude Ier des dpôts de la Vilaine (Rennes) et de Saint-Lonard (Mayenne) : tmoins de quel type de contact entre l'Armorique et la pninsule ibrique ? / Paul-Andr Besombes. (2005)

Full Record: Catalli, Fiorenzo. Le thesaurus de Sora / Fiorenzo Catalli et John Scheid.

Full Record: Giard, Jean-Baptiste. Faux deniers de Caligula de la Renaissance.

Full Record: Vermeule, Cornelius. Faces of Empire (Julius Caesar to Justinian). Part II(B), More young faces : Caligula again and Nero reborn / Cornelius Vermeule. (2005)

Full Record: Geranio, Joe. Portraits of Caligula : the seated figure? / Joe Geranio. (2007)

Full Record: Aguilera Hernandez, Alberto. Acerca de un as de Caligula hallado en Zaragoza / Alberto Aguilera Hernandez. (2007)

Full Record: Butcher, K. E. T. Caligula : the evil emperor. (1985)

Full Record: Fuchs, Michaela. Frauen um Caligula und Claudius : Milonia Caesonia, Drusilla und Messalina. (1990)

Full Record: Faur, Jean-Claude. Moneda de Caligula de Museo Arqueologico Provincial de Tarragona. (1979)

Full Record: British Museum. Dept. of coins and medals. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British museum. Vol. I: Augustus to Vitellius / by Harold Mattingly. (1976)

Full Record: Conrad, Edwin. A Caligula Isotope of Hadrian. (1968)

Full Record: Conrad, Edwin. The Metamorphosis of an Allegad 'As of Hadrian.' (1968)

Full Record: Bendall, Simon. A 'new' gold quinarius of Caligula. (1985)

Full Record: Cortellini, Nereo. Le monete di Caligola nel Cohen.

Full Record: Guey, Julien. Les "bains d'or" de Caligula "Immensi Avreorvm Acervi (Sutone, Cal., 42,3).

Full Record: Guey, J. Les "bains d'or" de Caligula : Sutone, Cal. 42, 3.

Full Record: Curry, Michael R. The Aes Quadrans of Caligula. (1968)

Full Record: Jonas, Elemr. L'emploi dar "damnatio memoriae" sur l'un des "dupondius" de Calgula. (1937)

Full Record: Julian, R. W. The coins of Caligula. (1994)

Full Record: Donciu, Ramiro. Cu privire la activitatea militara a lui Caius (Caligula) in anul 40 e.n. (1983)

Full Record: Hansen, Peter. A history of Caligula's Vesta. (1992)

Full Record: Kaenel, Hans-Markus von. Augustus, Caligula oder Caludius? (1978)

Full Record: Kaenel, Hans-Markus von. Die Organisation der Münzprgung Caligulas. (1987)

Full Record: Johansen, Flemming S. The sculpted portraits of Caligula. (1987)

Full Record: Carter, G. F. Chemical compositions of copper-based Roman coins. V : imitations of Caligula, Claudius, and Nero / G. F. Carter and others. (1978)

Full Record: Giard, Jean-Baptiste. L'atelier de Lyon sous Auguste : Tibre et Caligula. (1979)

Full Record: Giard, Jean-Baptiste. Les missions d'or et d'argent de Caligula dans l'atelier de Lyon. (1976)

Full Record: Giard, Jean-Baptiste. Le monnayage de l'atelier de Lyon des origines au rgne de Caligula (43 avant J.-C. - 41 aprs J.-C.). (1983)

Full Record: Nony, D. Quelques as d'imitation de Caligula trouves a Bordeaux (Gironde). (1981)

Full Record: Levy, Brooks Emmons. Caligula's radiate crown. (1988)

Full Record: Poulsen, Vagn. Un nouveau visage de Caligula. (1972)

Full Record: Price, Martin Jessop. Elephant in Crete? New light ona cistophorus of Caligula. (1973)

Full Record: MacInnis, H. Frank. Ego-driven emperor commits excesses. (1979)

Full Record: McKenna, Thomas P. The case of the curious coin of Caligula : a provincial bronze restruck with legend-only dies. (1994)

Full Record: Mowat, Robert. Bronzes remarquables de Tibre, de son fils, de ses petits-fils et de Caligula. (1911)

Full Record: Koenig, Franz E. Roma, monete dal Tevere : l'imperatore Gaio (Caligola). (1988)

Full Record: Kollgaard, Ron. Caligula's coins profile despot. (1993)

Full Record: Kollgaard, Ron. A numismatic mystery : "the Caligula quadrans." (1994)

Full Record: Martini, Rodolfo. Osservazioni su contromarche ed erosioni su assi de Caligula. (1980)

Full Record: Szaivert, Wolfgang. Moneta Imperii Romani. Band 2 und 3. Die Münzprgung der Kaiser Tiberius und Caius (Caligula) 14/41 / von Wolfgang Szaivert. (1984)

Full Record: Boschung, Dietrich. Die Bildnisse des Caligula. Kaenel, Hans-Markus von. Jucker, Hans. Deutsches Archaologisches Institut. Das Romische Herrscherbild. 1. Abt., Bd. 4, Die Bildnisse des Caligula / Dietrich Boschung ; mit einem Beitrag von Hans-Markus von Kaenel ; auf Grund der Vorarbeiten und Marterialsammlungen von Hans Jucker. (1989)

Full Record: Rosborough, Ruskin R. An epigraphic commentary on Suetonius's life of Gaius Caligula. A thesis...for the...Doctor of Philosophy. (1920)

Full Record: Richard, Jean-Claude. A propos de l'aureus de Caligula dcouvert Saint-Colomban-des-Villards (Savoie). (1982)

Full Record: Richard, Jean-Claude. Un aureus de Caligula dcouvert Saint-Colomban-des-Villards (Savoie). (1982)

Full Record: Ritter, Hans-Werner. Adlocutio und Corona Civica unter Caligula und Tiberius. (1971)

Full Record: Kumpikevicius, Gordon C. A numismatic look at Gaius. (1979)

Full Record: Savio, Adriano. La coerenza di Caligola nella gestione della moneta / Adriano Savio. (1988)

Full Record: Savio, Adriano. Note su alcune monete di Gaio-Caligola. (1973)

Full Record: Stylow, Armin U. Die Quadranten des Caligula als Propaganda-münzen.münzen" aus der stdtischen sammlung zu Osnabrück. (1971)

Full Record: Schwartz, Jacques. Le Monnayage Snatorial entre 37 et 42 P.C. (1951)

Full Record: Rodolfo Martini, ed. Sylloge nummorum Romanorum. Italia. Milano, Civiche Raccolte Numismatiche Vol. 1 Giulio-Claudii / a cura di Rodolfo Martini. (1990)

Full Record: Szaivert, Wolfgang. Zur Julisch-Claudischen Münzprgung. (1979)

Full Record: Vedrianus. The Roman Imperial series. V. Gaius. (1963)

Full Record: Tietze, Christian M. Kaiser Cajus Caesar, genannt Caligula. (1979)

Full Record: Wood, Susan. Diva Drusilla Panthea and the sisters of Caligula / Susan Wood. (1995)

Full Record: Sutherland, Carol Humphrey Vivian. Coinage in Roman imperial policy 31 B.C.-A.D. 68. (1951)

Full Record: Sutherland, C. H. V. The mints of Lugdunum and Rome under Gaius : an unsolved problem. (1981)

Full Record: Trillmich, Walter. Familienpropaganda der Kaiser Caligula und Claudius : Agrippina Maior und Antonia Augusta auf Münzen. (1978)

Full Record: Voirol, August. Eine Warenumsatzsteuer im antiken Rom und der numismatische Beleg inher Aufhebung : Centesima rerum venalium. (1943)

Full Record: Trillmich, Walter. Zur Münzprgung des Caligula von Caesaraugusta (Zaragoza). (1973)

 

Narasimha (Sanskrit: नरसिंह IAST: Narasiṁha, lit. man-lion), Narasingh, Narsingh and Narasingha in derivative languages is an avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu and one of Hinduism's most popular deities, as evidenced in early epics, iconography, and temple and festival worship for over a millennium.

 

Narasiṁha is often visualised as having a human-like torso and lower body, with a lion-like face and claws. This image is widely worshipped in deity form by a significant number of Vaiṣṇava groups. Vishnu assumed this form on top of Himvat mountain(Harivamsa). He is known primarily as the 'Great Protector' who specifically defends and protects his devotees in times of need. Vishnu is believed to have taken the avatar to destroy the demon king Hiranyakashipu.

 

ETYMOLOGY

The word Narasimha means 'lion-man' which usually means 'half man and half lion'. His other names are-

 

Agnilochana (अग्निलोचन) - the one who has fiery eyes

Bhairavadambara (भैरवडम्बर) - the one who causes terror by roaring

Karala (कराल) - the one who has a wide mouth and projecting teeth

Hiranyakashipudvamsa (हिरण्यकशिपुध्वंस) - the one who killed Hiranyakashipu

Nakhastra (नखास्त्र) - the one for whom nails are his weapons

Sinhavadana (सिंहवदन) - the whose face is of lion

Mrigendra (मृगेन्द्र) - king of animals or lion

 

SCRIPTURAL SOURCES

There are references to Narasiṁha in a variety of Purāṇas, with 17 different versions of the main narrative. The Bhagavata Purāṇa (Canto 7), Agni Purāṇa (4.2-3), Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa(2.5.3-29), Vayu Purāṇa (67.61-66), Harivaṁśa (41 & 3.41-47), Brahma-Purāṇa (213.44-79), Viṣṇudharmottara Purāṇa(1.54), Kūrma Purāṇa (1.15.18-72), Matsya Purāṇa(161-163), Padma Purāṇa(Uttara-khaṇḍa 5.42), Śiva Purāṇa (2.5.43 & 3.10-12), Liṅga Purāṇa (1.95-96), Skanda Purāṇa 7 (2.18.60-130) and Viṣṇu Purāṇa (1.16-20) all contain depictions of the Narasiṁha Avatāra. There is also a short reference in the Mahābhārata (3.272.56-60) and a Gopāla Tapani Upaniṣad (Narasiṁha tapani Upaniṣad), earliest of Vaiṣṇava Upaniṣads named in reference to him.

 

REFERENCES FROM VEDAS

The Ṛg Veda contains an epithet that has been attributed to Narasiṁha. The half-man, half-lion avatāra is described as:

 

like some wild beast, dread, prowling, mountain-roaming.

 

Source: (RV.I 154.2a).

 

There is an allusion to a Namuci story in RV.VIII 14.13:

 

With waters' foam you tore off, Indra, the head of Namuci, subduing all contending hosts.

 

This short reference is believed to have culminated in the full puranic story of Narasiṁha.

 

LORD NARASIMHA AND PRAHLADA

Bhagavata Purāṇa describes that in his previous avatar as Varāha, Viṣṇu killed the asura Hiraṇayakṣa. The younger brother of Hirṇayakṣa, Hiraṇyakaśipu wanted revenge on Viṣṇu and his followers. He undertook many years of austere penance to take revenge on Viṣṇu: Brahma thus offers the demon a boon and Hiraṇyakaśipu asks for immortality. Brahma tells him this is not possible, but that he could bind the death of Hiraṇyakaśipu with conditions. Hiraṇyakaśipu agreed:

 

O my lord, O best of the givers of benediction, if you will kindly grant me the benediction I desire, please let me not meet death from any of the living entities created by you.

 

Grant me that I not die within any residence or outside any residence, during the daytime or at night, nor on the ground or in the sky. Grant me that my death not be brought about by any weapon, nor by any human being or animal.

Grant me that I not meet death from any entity, living or nonliving created by you. Grant me, further, that I not be killed by any demigod or demon or by any great snake from the lower planets. Since no one can kill you in the battlefield, you have no competitor. Therefore, grant me the benediction that I too may have no rival. Give me sole lordship over all the living entities and presiding deities, and give me all the glories obtained by that position. Furthermore, give me all the mystic powers attained by long austerities and the practice of yoga, for these cannot be lost at any time.

 

Brahma said,

Tathāstu (so be it)

 

and vanished. Hiraṇyakaśipu was happy thinking that he had won over death.

 

One day while Hiraṇyakaśipu performed austerities at Mandarācala Mountain, his home was attacked by Indra and the other devatās. At this point the Devarṣi (divine sage) Nārada intervenes to protect Kayādu, whom he describes as sinless. Following this event, Nārada takes Kayādu into his care and while under the guidance of Nārada, her unborn child (Hiraṇyakaśipu's son) Prahālada, becomes affected by the transcendental instructions of the sage even at such a young stage of development. Thus, Prahlāda later begins to show symptoms of this earlier training by Nārada, gradually becoming recognised as a devoted follower of Viṣṇu, much to his father's disappointment.

 

Hiraṇyakaśipu furious at the devotion of his son to Viṣṇu, as the god had killed his brother. Finally, he decides to commit filicide. but each time he attempts to kill the boy, Prahlāda is protected by Viṣṇu's mystical power. When asked, Prahlāda refuses to acknowledge his father as the supreme lord of the universe and claims that Viṣṇu is all-pervading and omnipresent.

 

Hiraṇyakaśipu points to a nearby pillar and asks if 'his Viṣṇu' is in it and says to his son Prahlāda:

O most unfortunate Prahlāda, you have always described a supreme being other than me, a supreme being who is above everything, who is the controller of everyone, and who is all-pervading. But where is He? If He is everywhere, then why is He not present before me in this pillar?

 

Prahlāda then answers,

He was, He is and He will be.

 

In an alternate version of the story, Prahlāda answers,

He is in pillars, and he is in the smallest twig.

 

Hiraṇyakaśipu, unable to control his anger, smashes the pillar with his mace, and following a tumultuous sound, Viṣṇu in the form of Narasiṁha appears from it and moves to attack Hiraṇyakaśipu. in defence of Prahlāda. In order to kill Hiraṇyakaśipu and not upset the boon given by Brahma, the form of Narasiṁha is chosen. Hiraṇyakaśipu can not be killed by human, deva or animal. Narasiṁha is neither one of these as he is a form of Viṣṇu incarnate as a part-human, part-animal. He comes upon Hiraṇyakaśipu at twilight (when it is neither day nor night) on the threshold of a courtyard (neither indoors nor out), and puts the demon on his thighs (neither earth nor space). Using his sharp fingernails (neither animate nor inanimate) as weapons, he disembowels and kills the demon.

 

Kūrma Purāṇa describes the preceding battle between the Puruṣa and demonic forces in which he escapes a powerful weapon called Paśupāta and it describes how Prahlāda's brothers headed by Anuhrāda and thousands of other demons were led to the valley of death (yamalayam) by the lion produced from the body of man-lion avatar. The same episode occurs in the Matsya Purāṇa 179, several chapters after its version of the Narasiṁha advent.

 

It is said that even after killing Hiraṇyakaśipu, none of the present demigods are able to calm Narasiṁha's wrath.So the demigods requested Prahlada to calm down the Lord,and Narasimha,who had assumed the all-powerful form of Gandaberunda returned to more benevolent form after that. In other stories,all the gods and goddesses call his consort, Lakṣmī, who assumes the form of Pratyangira and pacifies the Lord. According to a few scriptures, at the request of Brahma, Shiva took the form of Sharabha and successfully pacified him. Before parting, Narasiṁha rewards the wise Prahlāda by crowning him as the king.

 

NARASIMHA AND ADI SANKARA

Narasiṁha is also a protector of his devotees in times of danger. Near Śrī Śailaṁ, there is a forest called Hatakeśvanam, that no man enters. Śaṅkarācārya entered this place and did penance for many days. During this time, a Kāpālika, by name Kirakashan appeared before him.

 

He told Śrī Śaṅkara that he should give his body as a human-sacrifice to Kālī. Śaṅkara happily agreed. His disciples were shocked to hear this and pleaded with Śaṅkara to change his mind, but he refused to do so saying that it was an honor to give up his body as a sacrifice for Kālī and one must not lament such things. The Kāpālika arranged a fire for the sacrifice and Śaṅkara sat beside it. Just as he lifted his axe to severe the head of Śaṅkara, Viṣṇu as Narasiṁha entered the body of the disciple of Śaṅkarācārya and Narasiṁha devotee, Padmapada. He then fought the Kāpālika, slayed him and freed the forest of Kapalikas. Ādi Śaṅkara composed the powerful Lakṣmī-Narasiṁha Karāvalambaṁ Stotram at the very spot in front of Lord Narasiṁha.

 

MODE OF WORSHIP

Due to the nature of Narasiṁha's form (divine anger), it is essential that worship be given with a very high level of attention compared to other deities. In many temples only lifelong celibates (Brahmācārya) will be able to have the chance to serve as priests to perform the daily puja. Forms where Narasiṁha appears sitting in a yogic posture, or with the goddess Lakṣmī are the exception to this rule, as Narasiṁha is taken as being more relaxed in both of these instances compared to his form when first emerging from the pillar to protect Prahlāda.

 

PRAYERS

A number of prayers have been written in dedication to Narasiṁha avatāra. These include:

 

The Narasiṁha Mahā-Mantra

Narasiṁha Praṇāma Prayer

Daśāvatāra Stotra by Jayadeva

Kāmaśikha Aṣṭakam by Vedānta Deśika

Divya Prabandham 2954

Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Karavalamba Stotram by Sri Adi Sankara

 

THE NARASIMHA MAHA-MANTRA

oṁ hrīṁ kṣauṁ

ugraṁ viraṁ mahāviṣṇuṁ

jvalantaṁ sarvatomukham ।

nṛsiṁhaṁ bhīṣaṇaṁ bhadraṁ

mṛtyormṛtyuṁ namāmyaham ॥

 

O' Angry and brave Mahā-Viṣṇu, your heat and fire permeate everywhere. O Lord Narasiṁha, you are everywhere. You are the death of death and I surrender to You.

 

NARASIMHA PRANAMA PRAYER

namaste narasiṁhāya,

prahlādahlāda-dāyine,

hiraṇyakaśipor vakṣaḥ,

śilā-ṭaṅka nakhālaye

 

I offer my obeisances to Lord Narasiṁha, who gives joy to Prahlāda Mahārāja and whose nails are like chisels on the stone like chest of the demon Hiraṇyakaśipu.

 

ito nṛsiṁhaḥ parato nṛsiṁho,

yato yato yāmi tato nṛsiṁhaḥ,

bahir nṛsiṁho hṛdaye nṛsiṁho,

nṛsiṁhaṁ ādiṁ śaraṇaṁ prapadye

 

Lord Nṛsiṁha is here and also there. Wherever I go Lord Narasiṁha is there. He is in the heart and is outside as well. I surrender to Lord Narasiṁha, the origin of all things and the supreme refuge.

 

DASAVATARA STOTRA BY JAYADEVA

tava kara-kamala-vare nakham adbhuta-śrṅgaṁ,

dalita-hiraṇyakaśipu-tanu-bhṛṅgam,

keśava dhṛta-narahari-rūpa jaya jagadiśa hare

 

O Keśava! O Lord of the universe. O Hari, who have assumed the form of half-man, half-lion! All glories to You! Just as one can easily crush a wasp between one's fingernails, so in the same way the body of the wasp-like demon Hiraṇyakaśipu has been ripped apart by the wonderful pointed nails on your beautiful lotus hands. (from the Daśāvatāra-stotra composed by Jayadeva)

 

KAMASIKHA ASTAKAM BY VEDANTA DESIKA

tvayi rakṣati rakṣakaiḥ kimanyaiḥ,

tvayi cārakṣāti rakṣākaiḥ kimanyaiḥ ।

iti niścita dhīḥ śrayāmi nityaṁ,

nṛhare vegavatī taṭāśrayaṁ tvam ॥8॥

 

O Kāmaśikhā Narasiṁha! you are sarva śakthan. When you are resolved to protect some one, where is the need to seek the protection of anyone else? When you are resolved not to protect some one, which other person is capable of protecting us?. There is no one. Knowing this fundamental truth, I have resolved to offer my śaraṇāgatī at your lotus feet alone that rest at the banks of Vegavatī river.

 

DIVYA PRABANDHAM 2954

āḍi āḍi agam karaindhu isai

pāḍip pāḍik kaṇṇīr malgi engum

nāḍi nāḍi narasingā endru,

vāḍi vāḍum ivvāl nuthale!

 

I will dance and melt for you, within my heart, to see you, I will sing in praise of you with tears in joy, I will search for Narasiṁha and I am a householder who still searches to reach you (to attain Salvation).

 

SYMBOLISM

Narasiṁha indicates God's omnipresence and the lesson is that God is everywhere. For more information, see Vaishnav Theology.

 

Narasiṁha demonstrates God's willingness and ability to come to the aid of His devotees, no matter how difficult or impossible the circumstances may appear to be.

 

Prahlāda's devotion indicates that pure devotion is not one of birthright but of character. Prahlāda, although born an asura, demonstrated the greatest bhakti to God, and endured much, without losing faith.

 

Narasiṁha is known by the epithet Mṛga-Śarīra in Sanskrit which translates to Animal-Man. From a philosophical perspective. Narasiṁha is the very icon of Vaiṣṇavism, where jñāna (knowledge) and Bhakti are important as opposed to Advaita, which has no room for Bhakti, as the object to be worshipped and the worshipper do not exist. As according to Advaita or Māyāvāda, the jīva is Paramātma.

 

SIGNIFICANCE

In South Indian art – sculptures, bronzes and paintings – Viṣṇu's incarnation as Narasiṁha is one of the most chosen themes and amongst [[Avatar]|Avatāra]]s perhaps next only to Rāma and Kṛṣṇa in popularity.

 

Lord Narasiṁha also appears as one of Hanuman's 5 faces, who is a significant character in the Rāmāyaṇa as Lord (Rāma's) devotee.

  

FORMS OF NARASIMHA

There are several forms of Narasiṁha, but 9 main ones collectively known as Nava-narasiṁha:

 

Ugra-narasiṁha

Kroddha-narasiṁha

Vīra-narasiṁha

Vilamba-narasiṁha

Kopa-narasiṁha

Yoga-narasiṁha

Aghora-narasiṁha

Sudarśana-narasiṁha

Lakṣmī-narasiṁha

 

In Ahobilam, Andhra Pradesh, the nine forms are as follows:

Chātra-vata-narasiṁha (seated under a banyan tree)

Yogānanda-narasiṁha (who blessed Lord Brahma)

Karañja-narasiṁha

Uha-narasiṁha

Ugra-narasiṁha

Krodha-narasiṁha

Malola-narasiṁha (With Lakṣmī on His lap)

Jvālā-narasiṁha (an eight armed form rushing out of the pillar)

Pavana-narasiṁha (who blessed the sage Bharadvaja)

 

Forms from Prahlad story:

 

Stambha-narasiṁha (coming out of the pillar)

Svayam-narasiṁha (manifesting on His own)

Grahaṇa-narasiṁha (catching hold of the demon)

Vidāraṇa-narasiṁha (ripping open of the belly of the demon)

Saṁhāra-narasiṁha (killing the demon)

 

The following three refer to His ferocious aspect:

 

Ghora-narasiṁha

Ugra-narasiṁha

Candā-narasiṁha

 

OTHERS

Pañcamukha-Hanumān-narasiṁha, (appears as one of Śrī Hanuman's five faces.)

Pṛthvī-narasiṁha, Vayu-narasiṁha, Ākāśa-narasiṁha, Jvalana-narasiṁha, and

Amṛta-narasiṁha, (representing the five elements)

Jvālā-narasiṁha (with a flame-like mane)

Lakṣmī-narasiṁha (where Lakṣmī pacifies Him)

Prasāda/Prahlāda-varadā-narasiṁha (His benign aspect of protecting Prahlad)

Chatrā-narasiṁha (seated under a parasol of a five-hooded serpent)

Yoga-narasiṁha or Yogeśvara-narasiṁha (in meditation)

Āveśa-narasiṁha (a frenzied form)

Aṭṭahasa-narasiṁha (a form that roars horribly and majestically strides across to destroy evil)

Cakra-narasiṁha, (with only a discus in hand)

Viṣṇu-narasiṁha, Brahma-narasiṁha and Rudra-narasiṁha

Puṣṭi narasiṁha, (worshipped for overcoming evil influences)

 

EARLY IMAGES

In Andhra Pradesh, a panel dating to third-fourth century AD shows a full theriomorphic squatting lion with two extra human arms behind his shoulders holding Vaiṣṇava emblems. This lion, flanked by five heroes (vīra), often has been identified as an early depiction of Narasiṁha. Standing cult images of Narasiṁha from the early Gupta period, survive from temples at Tigowa and Eran. These sculptures are two-armed, long maned, frontal, wearing only a lower garment, and with no demon-figure of Hiraṇyakaśipu. Images representing the narrative of Narasiṁha slaying the demon Hiraṇyakaśipu survive from slightly later Gupta-period temples: one at Madhia and one from a temple-doorway now set into the Kūrma-maṭha at Nachna, both dated to the late fifth or early sixth century A.D.

 

An image of Narasiṁha supposedly dating to second-third century AD sculpted at Mathura was acquired by the Philadelphia Museum of Art in 1987. It was described by Stella Kramrisch, the former Philadelphia Museum of Art's Indian curator, as "perhaps the earliest image of Narasiṁha as yet known". This figure depicts a furled brow, fangs, and lolling tongue similar to later images of Narasiṁha, but the idol's robe, simplicity, and stance set it apart. On Narasiṁha's chest under his upper garment appears the suggestion of an amulet, which Stella Kramrisch associated with Visnu's cognizance, the Kauṣtubha jewel. This upper garment flows over both shoulders; but below Hiranyakasipu, the demon-figure placed horizontally across Narasiṁha's body, a twisted waist-band suggests a separate garment covering the legs. The demon's hair streams behind him, cushioning his head against the man-lion's right knee. He wears a simple single strand of beads. His body seems relaxed, even pliant. His face is calm, with a slight suggestion of a smile. His eyes stare adoringly up at the face of Viṣṇu. There is little tension in this figure's legs or feet, even as Narasiṁha gently disembowels him. His innards spill along his right side. As the Matsya purana describes it, Narasiṁha ripped "apart the mighty Daitya chief as a plaiter of straw mats shreds his reeds". Based on the Gandhara-style of robe worn by the idol, Michael Meiste altered the date of the image to fourth century AD.

 

Deborah Soifer, a scholar who worked on texts in relation to Narasiṁha, believes that "the traits basic to Viṣṇu in the Veda remain central to Viṣṇu in his avataras" and points out, however, that:

 

we have virtually no precursors in the Vedic material for the figure of a man-lion, and only one phrase that simply does not rule out the possibility of a violent side to the benign Viṣṇu.

 

Soifer speaks of the enigma of Viṣṇu's Narasiṁha avatāra and comments that how the myth arrived at its rudimentary form [first recorded in the Mahābhārata], and where the figure of the man-lion came from remain unsolved mysteries.

 

An image of Narasiṁha, dating to the 9th century, was found on the northern slope of Mount Ijo, at Prambanan, Indonesia. Images of Trivikrama and Varāha avatāras were also found at Prambanan, Indonesia. Viṣṇu and His avatāra images follow iconographic peculiarities characteristic of the art of central Java. This includes physiognomy of central Java, an exaggerated volume of garment, and some elaboration of the jewelry. This decorative scheme once formulated became, with very little modification, an accepted norm for sculptures throughout the Central Javanese period (circa 730–930 A.D.). Despite the iconographic peculiarities, the stylistic antecedents of the Java sculptures can be traced back to Indian carvings as the Chalukya and Pallava images of the 6th–7th centuries AD.

 

CULTURAL TRADITION OF PROCESSION (SRI NRSIMHA YATRA)

In Rājopadhyāya Brahmins of Nepal, there is a tradition of celebrating the procession ceremony of the deity Narasiṁha avatar, in Lalitpur district of the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal. The Lunar fifth day of the waning phase of the moon, in the holy Soli-lunar Śrāvaṇa month i.e. on Śrāvaṇa Kṛṣṇa Pañcamī of the Hindu Lunar Calendar is marked as auspicious day for the religious procession, Nṛsiṁha Yātrā. This tradition of the holy procession has been held for more than a hundred years. This is one of the typical traditions of the Rājopadhyāya Bramhins, the Hindu Bramhans of the locality.

 

In this Nṛsiṁha Yātrā, each year one male member of the Rājopadhyāya community gets the chance to be the organizer each year in that particular day. He gets his turn according to the sequence in their record, where the names of Rājopadhyāya bramhins are registered when a brahmāṇa lad is eligible to be called as a Bramhan.

 

WIKIPEDIA

Jackie Cliff:

 

"Oh my God! [laughs] Selim Cattan. He was such a character. We all loved him - and we didn’t love him. We were all a bit nervous of him. He was the dirtiest old man. He owned the club and he made it really good. Every girl in it was as gorgeous as he could get, or else he wouldn’t have them. And he made all of them go to bed with him in this big round bed, in his stinky flat round the corner. I didn’t do it actually. I was supposed to go there the night of my birthday, but I wriggled out of it. The stories I was told about his stinky bed…[laughs]. He used to take these girls back when they were drunk and say, “If you don’t do it you’re fired.” But we also used to have lots of fun with him - pull his leg, joke."

I would highly recommend this method, the natural candle method of ear wax removal to anyone who's girlfriend is telling them they don't listen or have problems hearing.

 

Update: file this one away with Robert Stack in the Unsolved Mysteris bin until i do some more investigation - see below

I joined the Seattle Urban Sketchers outing.

blog: seattle.urbansketchers.org/

 

Other people were painting the beautiful building like the photo on the right but it was too difficult for me, I drew the small tree in the courtyard. I guess it's not quite Urban Sketchers' type of subject.

 

The tree looks a bit sad but I started to notice the interesting chractristic of the tree as I drew and by the time I hit the curled up branch at the bottom of the drawing, I was totally converted to loving this little tree. The dark area in the upper part of the drawing is where I couldn't figure out what branches are where and I just left it as an unsolved puzzle.

 

Queensland State Archives Item ID ITM294496 Dept No.44

The murder of siblings Michael, Norah and Ellen Murphy near Gatton on Boxing Day 1898 sparked intense interest and speculation. All three were killed between 10pm and the early hours of the following morning on their way home from a dance that had been cancelled and the case remains unsolved to this day.

Contained within the QSA archived police files are pages of handwritten letters from across Queensland sent from members of the community convinced they could help solve the case using their spiritual gifts. Some are simply a few words on a scrap of paper, others take up many pages and go into lengthy detail about possible conspiracies. The police called the correspondence files ‘Astrologers, Dreamers, Theorists, etc’.

LEARNED HELPLESSNESS:

ON AUTHORITY, OBEDIENCE, AND CONTROL

 

[…] in the 1940s, psychotic patients would express delusions about their brains being controlled by radio waves; now delusional patients commonly complain about implanted computer chips,”[1]

 

“The Matrix is everywhere, even now in this very room. You can see it when you look out your window or when you turn on your television. You can feel it when you go to work, when you go to church, when you pay your taxes. It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth.” (Morpheus);

“What truth?” (Neo);

“That you’re a slave. Like everyone else, you were born into a prison, a prison that you cannot smell or touch, a prison for your mind.” (Morpheus)[2]

 

Now, in fact, we already live largely in a negationist society. No event is ‘real’ any longer. Terror attacks, trials, wars, corruption, opinion polls – there’s nothing now that isn’t rigged or undecidable. Government, the authorities and institutions are the first victims of this fall from grace of the principles of truth and reality. Incredulity rages. The conspiracy theory merely adds a somewhat burlesque episode to this mental destabilization. Hence this urgent need to combat this creeping negationist and at all costs, safeguards a reality that is now kept alive on a drip.[3]

   

Humans constantly learn how do things, how to explain phenomena, how to model the world: how to minimize the difference between expectation and observation. To that end, not only learning from success has proven useful, but also learning from failures, realizing when it is time to give up trying something: Repeated failure frustrates us, the pain incurred by failed attempts undermines our self-esteem. We feel powerless and embarrassed in the face of an overwhelming difficulty. And eventually we give up. It is a sign of intelligence to do so; we have learned that something is impossible. The insight of impossibility gets encoded in an emotion, especially if punishment or pain is associated with a failed attempt. This internalized experience of incapability is often so traumatic that we never ever take another attempt, even if the conditions may have changed. We do not even take notice of them any longer. Even if all obstacles get removed: We don’t try anymore. We have given up. We have learned helplessness.

 

Humans learn not only from own experiences, but also by observing the successes and failures of their peers. There are numerous narrative forms for passing on frustrations, there is a tone reserved in every social group’s repertoire of jokes, sighs and lamentos for expressing it. We pat our shoulders and agree that it simply could not be done: We learn the helplessness of our ancestors and peers.

 

Moreover, the future can only be made from what is considered possible: We can only choose among the options for behaviour that we are aware of. Many of the possibilities that our ancestors have gotten frustrated with never become part of our world. They get buried on the cemetery of failed attempts, and pride and pain prevents the ancestors from telling stories about them. Especially when some attempt gets punished by psychological or physical violence, then the emotion that encodes the failure is not just frustration, but a deep injury of the soul: apathy, depression and despair are what the victim will suffer.

 

Human emotions are the material of which power is forged. A plethora of elaborate techniques exist to plant and dung them, stake or trim, harvest, lay, ferment and distil them. Especially learned helplessness has proven an extremely effective means of dressage, particularly in its indirect, socially mediated form: To the end of controlling and stabilizing a status quo, nothing is more powerful than the invisible leash that is formed from the almost instinctive flinching from change that we have developed from frustrated attempts.

 

To braid the invisible leash, it is necessary to create an initial frustration, or worse: a traumatic experience. The use of abasement, physical restraint and violence is unbearably effective at that. These are the knives with which traumata can be cut most directly into the fabric of the self. Alone the realization that these actions are in fact possible and have been applied during every single moment of mankind is deeply frustrating and embarrassing to everyone who has a hope in our propensity for learning.

 

The didactics of helplessness however knows much more subtle techniques, many of which exploit the dependence of the human self-model and self-esteem on the feedback of peers, and the self-evaluation in comparison to what is taught as exemplary by the textbook of the social. The key lesson that an organism needs to learn is one of own incapability: Human identity requires a sense of being in control of matters, such as of the own existence and fate. Make the students of helplessness poor – materially or symbolically; convince them that they are incapable; foster their existential fear; then offer them a straw: They will grasp it and have learnt that it is impossible for them to survive on their own. Give excessive help, function overly, and you shall receive helplessness.

 

The conviction (of an individual or a group) of being out of control needs to get reinforced, practiced and rehearsed. Repeat: We are incapable of dealing with the problem; the problem is overwhelmingly large; it is too complex for our simple minds to grasp; a solution is so improbable that it is impossible for all practical purposes. There is not only one problem: two more get reported every day. We don’t even know enough about the nature of the problems. A conspiracy might be pulling the strings, but there are conflicting theories about who is really, truly in control. No one can know what is going on behind the scenes. In fact, you cannot trust anyone; hence there is no truth. If you can’t convince them of their own helplessness, confuse them and overwhelm them: Immerse them in a constant stream of buzz, whirl their heads around until the liquid between their ears is spinning like an eddy.

 

The notion of “learned helplessness” can be summarized as a mental state that an individual or society arrives at when they internalize failure and stop trying to break out of an overpowering condition – even if that condition changes. Put forward by psychologist Martin Seligman in 1967, it has inspired a number of scholars working in the fields of gender politics, racism, genocide, authoritarianism and related subjects that are concerned with the dynamics of hegemony. It is through suppressive education processes, religious and moral principles (enacted both by families as well as institutions and cultures), violations of human rights and freedom, political pressure, and the continuous recall of the status quo by the media, that individuals and societies arrive at a fatal conclusion: That they do not have the necessary power to change the existing modus vivendi or the prevailing regimes.

 

The existing control mechanisms instrumentalise this aspect of human psychology in the form of social engineering and manipulation of societies. They employ the media, prisons, surveillance and security systems that operate on the basis of social psychology. They systematically manufacture a collective sense of helplessness. By using information overflow, normalizing corruption and injustice, monitoring privacy, manipulating law, operating a police system, applying psychological and physical violence, murdering, torturing, imprisoning, creating conflicts within societies, raising poverty and creating a financial need for their own existence, the ruling powers aggressively develop a system of even greater control.

 

In many of the so-called democratic countries of present day, large parts of society are reluctant about available alternatives in elections. Fewer and fewer people feel represented in parliaments. Often people think that their participation will not matter, given the strategies and games taking place in the election systems: Today, in many countries the notion of “free choice” has to be regarded an impossible dream. “The lesser of two evils”, “strategic voting”, or “voting grudgingly” are frequently heard utterances that give evidence of the lost hope.

 

Experiences of violence – massacres, military coup d’états, unsolved political murders, wars, terror attacks, etc. – are severe traumata in the collective memories of societies. They increasingly help cultivate a collective fear and justify the necessity for surveillance, as well as military and security forces. However, these comprehensible needs transform the role of the state from governing to ruling. This is where the abuse of power starts, and the security forces, media and monitoring agencies, which owe their existence to the collective anxiety, start functioning as tools for the defence of the ruling regime from its own public. It is through violence and an overflow of conflicting information that a society gets confused, loses its trust, and consequently its hope.

 

Is it possible to un-learn helplessness? The exhibition project “Learned Helplessness: On Authority, Obedience, and Control” is the result of a collective thinking process about this question. It brings together diverse positions analysing the phenomenon from the aspects of family, religion, psychology, politics, urbanism, gender, neuroscience and social education. The project encompasses a variety of artistic forms, including sound, video, object installations, photographs, graffiti and drawings – mainly produced for this exhibition. It aims at going beyond the artistic dialog that it suggests, and opening up a discussion platform for collective thinking and for debating the metaphor of unlearning helplessness.

 

CO-WRITERS OF THE CURATORIAL TEXT

Tobias Nöbauer & Işın Önol

St Mary, Aldham, Suffolk

 

I pass this church often. Traffic rushes along the busy Ipswich to Sudbury road not far off, but there is a quieter, parallel road which not many people seem to know about. It leaves Ipswich via Bramford, and you can get all the way to Sudbury on it, taking in the likes of Burstall, Kersey and Waldingfield on the way. Aldham as a village is little more than a straggle of houses, but they lie along this road, and just beyond a cluster of houses you take a sudden turn to the left, on to a pretty track to Aldham Hall. Down through fruit trees you descend, until the walls become older, and there at the end are the farm buildings. Beyond them, is this pretty church.

 

If the church is pretty, the view from it is doubly so - to the south, the land drops away alarmingly, into a valley full of sheep. You may even think you recognise it, and you could well be right, for the second season of the popular TV series The Detectorists was filmed here, as a small display in the porch of the church reminds you. The church appeared in the opening credits of each programme, the two main characters searching for buried treasure in Aldham Vale below the churchyard.

 

This is lovely, and splendidly English. Nothing could be more peaceful. But beyond, the land rises to a dark sea of trees, the mysteriously named Wolves Wood, now an RSPB reserve. Looking along to the right, the other hilltop is where the Protestant preacher Roland Taylor was burned at the stake in the 1550s, a site of pilgrimage for his many American descendants - and, more unhappily, for extremist protestants. Ian Paisley, the late former leader of the Democratic Ulster Unionists, was a regular visitor. Whatever your reading of the English Reformation, Taylor's burning was a terrible event. One imagines the villagers gathered outside this church, watching the flames and smoke rise.

 

I remembered the first time I came here, back in the 1990s. We arrived on one of those humid, overcast summer days, on our way to the Bildeston Beer Festival. My young children scattered off to play hide and seek with their mother in the precipitous graveyard. An elderly man was pottering about, looking at 19th century graves, so I apologised for my family (as you do). But he seemed genuinely pleased that they were running about like mad things. He was tracing his family, and had come down from Norfolk to look for a particular grave of an ancestor. And he'd found it. He was pretty pleased about that, too. He was also following up a theory that his ancestor had been a Rector of this parish. His address had been Aldham Rectory. Did I have any idea how he could find out? I suggested that the church might have a board of 'Rectors of this Parish'. Many do. These are a pleasant Victorianism, intended to overcome the 16th century breach by claiming a history of the CofE that extended back before the Reformation. We could go inside, and take a look. And we did - the church was militantly open, the inner door wedged wide. We found the board - but the name wasn't there. So, the mystery remained unsolved.

 

This church was derelict by the mid 19th century, and underwent a fairly late restoration, in 1883. The tower was rebuilt, as was the south wall of the nave. The roofs were replaced, giving an overwhelmingly Victorian appearance - although Mortlock detected the Norman, and possibly Saxon, ancestor. The hill itself suggests a very early foundation, perhaps on a site of pagan worship.

 

The architect was W. M. Fawcett, and there was another restoration of the inside in the early 20th century under the eyes of diocesan architect and renowned antiquarian H Munro Cautley. The resulting interior is one of those neat and shiny jobs that is certainly grand, and pleasant enough, but rather dated now. Our early 21st Century spirituality seems to respond more to dusty, ancient interiors than to these Victorian ritualisations. But I had a sense of a church that is much loved, well-cared for, and used regularly.

 

And that is still so today. Now, Aldham parish have gone one further than a wedged-open door, and a big sign has been erected at the bottom of the lane proclaiming that Our Church is Always Open, and so it is easy to step into its prayerful interior. And it is not without its medieval survivals, a couple of which are fascinating. For a start, there is the chancel, with its original roof, some fine windows, and a piscina in the sanctuary. But best of all are two bench ends. These are unlike anything else I've seen in Suffolk, and their primitive quality suggests a local origin. The one to the west apparently shows a bear, or possibly a lion. My first impulse was that it was some kind of heraldic device, but on reflection I thought differently. Note the shaved off object it holds in its mouth. And is the pattern emerging from beneath the head really fur? Back in 1999, my six year old took one look at it and decided that the creature isn't eating the bird, but the bird is flying out of its mouth. Could it be a dove? And could the three objects issuing from beneath the head actually be tongues of fire? In which case, could this be some strange composition representing Pentecost, and the descent of the Holy Spirit?

 

In the spandrel above the bear, or whatever it is, there is a lily, the symbol of the Annunciation. But it is also a symbol of the crucifixion. It calls to mind the rare lily crucifixes, of which just two are known to survive in Suffolk, at Long Melford and Great Glemham. Could this be an unrecorded third? The other bench end is probably easier to read. The crown is obvious enough. The star and crescent are familiar from representations of the crucifixion. The pike is a familiar instrument of the Passion. And, if you look in the spandrel above, you'll see a crown of thorns, so this may well be a composition representing the Passion.

 

A third bench end, to the east, shows just a simple spiked tool, that looks as if it might have been used in thatching. So, what's it all about? They are all a bit of a mystery, really. Coming back in 2019 I found no obvious or easy answers to offer.

 

And what of the font? This is mysterious too. It appears to be Norman, but a second glance finds it too elegant, too finely detailed. The pillars are almost Classical in design, and the whole piece has a touch of the 18th century about it. Was it brought here from somewhere else in the 1880s? Or is it a Victorian recutting of a Norman predecessor? Whatever, the revealed brickwork of the late medieval tower arch looks most fitting behind it. The doors are, presumably, part of the 1930s interior restoration - indeed, they have a touch of Cautley about them.

 

To see Cautley's work in its full glory, step up into the chancel, for the reredos and flanking niches. It looks like something out of a French cathedral. Cautley was usually a safe pair of hands in these churches he loved so well, but I wonder what he had been thinking to impose this triumphalism on this pretty little country church. Alfred Wilkinson's contemporary glass above it suits it well, but even so it is rather hard to imagine the same thing happening today. Postdating it by a couple of decades is a set of arms for Elizabeth II above the south doorway. Unusual, East Anglia has no more than half a dozen sets, and these ones are rather good.

 

Standing in the nave and looking east, the splendour of the reredos imposing itself on our view, it is hard to imagine the real glory that once was here. But John Nunn contacted me, to tell me about a will he has a copy of. In 1525, his ancestor Robert Clifford declared: I bequeath I will have the rood there upon the candlebeam set up higher and Mary & John and two new angels and the breast under the rood korvyn and when that is done I will have all this painted and guilt whatsoever the cost. I will have bought two standards of brass stand in the choir and I will my executors bestow therein 40/-. I will my executors shall buy four candlesticks of brass for the candlebeam, I give six kine unto the church of Aldham to keep my obit with as long as the world stand.

 

What does all this mean? Firstly, you have to remember that England was a devoutly Catholic country in 1525, and the fittings of the church were for the actions of the Catholic liturgy. In the late 15th and early 16th centuries, all Suffolk churches had a rood in place. This was a representation of the crucifixion, set above the chancel arch. On the left hand side of the cross always stood the Virgin Mary, and on the other side stood St John. Often, the wall behind was painted. The rood either hung on the wall, or was supported by a beam. However, there was always a beam that ran below it for candles to be lit on. This was called the candlebeam, or rood beam. The candles were placed on it by individuals or gilds as part of the process of prayer - particularly prayer for the souls of the dead. A rood loft ran beside it for access, and the space beneath was infilled with a rood screen. To make the rood even more glorious, the roof above was panelled, and the panels were painted blue, with gold stars, and perhaps Marian monograms. This was called the canopy of honour, or more simply, the coving (rendered delightfully in Suffolk dialect as Korvyn above.)

 

Robert Clifford was paying for a simple rood to be made more glorious. He was going to have it placed higher, with a new canopy of honour. He was paying for brass candlesticks to replace wooden candlestocks.

 

Why? Simply, the medieval economy of grace depended upon the living praying for the dead, and the dead praying for the living. In donating glorious things to his church, Clifford was ensuring that he would be remembered. The roodscreen would have a dedicatory inscription with his name on. He was saying - I won't forget you, don't you forget me. The Catholic liturgy formalised prayers for the dead in the form of obit masses.These were said on the anniversary of someone's death in perpetuity. The proceeds of the sale of the six cows (kine) would be invested, probably in land to be rented, to pay a priest to say these masses - as long as the world shall stand; that is, for ever.

 

Unfortunately, 'for ever' didn't last very long. Prayers for the dead were declared illegal by the protestant reformers in the late 1530s. By 1547, every single rood in the land had been toppled and burned. The rood lofts were hacked down, along with many of the candle beams (although about ten beams survive in Suffolk) and most of the rood screens were also destroyed (about 50 survive in Suffolk).

 

Nothing of Robert Clifford's gifts survive at Aldham. All the gilt would have been stripped, the brass candlesticks melted down, and the proceeds sequestered by the King's commissioners. The collected glory of all the churches of England was squandered by Henry VIII on high living, and on the expensive and pointless siege of Boulogne. A sad thought.

 

When I first came here in 1999, I remember the graveyard was full of wild thyme and especially sorrel, which we gathered in handfuls and ate later in the day with fresh trout and new potatoes. Twenty years have passed since then, and it was too early for the sorrel this year. Instead I just stood, and looked out across the gentle valley, the sheep cropping their way slowly westward. It was easy to recognise the opening of The Detectorists in the vale below. And I looked beyond to Wolves Wood, and the site of Roland Taylor's martyrdom. Hard to imagine such history happening to such a modest little parish.

Jean Paul Bourelly - JAMAALADEEN TACUMA - unsolved mysteries - live at Jazzit Musik Club Salzburg - www.jazzit.at - 28.09.2007 -

more pictures: JAMAALADEEN TACUMA - unsolved mysteries

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Part 1

A Study in Wickedness

Carpe Diem

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Follow the innocence, for whom the darkness dealt,

Swishing vibrancy vanished into the cruel abyss so very svelte,

Who dare to enter, without any fear felt?

Unbeknownst what beyond the pale dwelt.

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Caution, The tale told below is not for the squeamish. It is both dark and disturbing. It is only recorded in these chronicles to serve as a cautionary tale…..

Remember… You have been advised.

This recorded incident occurred at the now eastside Walden Oak Social Club. A once respectable west end private club founded almost 150 years ago. But due to the now decrepit neighborhood its reputation and membership has lessened. But it is a beautiful building, and its cheap rent for it’s still lavishly regal ballrooms will always attract upscale events for those too wealthy to know better.

It was late fall, when the evening light fades, rather early that this tale of woe takes place. The year will remain shrouded, as will the known names of the players.

A wedding reception had been going on since late afternoon. Anyone who had noticed the guests ( and they were watched) would have seen by their dress, the manner upon which they carried themselves, and the jewels of the gowned ladies, that this was a gathering of the wealthy privileged.

The girl (Marissa) was clad in the flowing designer gown her mother had bought for her when she entered her daughter in a American Hollywood style Children’s beauty Pageant.

It was a long gown of rich red satin with rhinestone straps and a large shimmering broach. Marissa had promised that if she was allowed to wear it to the reception that she would not soil it. She was to wear it in a Children’s beauty pageant to be held in Surry the next month ( and try to do better than third this time, Marissa, she was lectured) Marissa was also wearing the Swarovski crystal diamond set she would be wearing at that pageant ( her mother had bought it hoping it would give her daughter an added edge).

Marissa had done her best to behave, but as the party grew old, and her mother grew less watchful, she began to join into play with her younger cousin ( Samuel). Sam was quite a rumbustious lad who had been in the bridal party as a ring bearer, although he was a lot older than normal for the role. The pair soon started chasing each other around the spacious ballroom. And then down the hall, and finally out the double front doors and running around the twilight lit building.

At one point Sam chased Marissa to the corner, tagging her and then running back, with Marissa giving chase. He turned the corner, circled the building, outdistancing poor Marissa. He reached the front door, panting, waiting to let Marissa see him before running off. But Marissa did not reappear around the building.

He soon went looking for her, retracing his steps, but no sign of Marissa was to be had. There was nothing for it, he had to tell Marissa’s, mother, a task he did not relish. So after calling one last time, with still no response, he headed inside.

For more of the story of the story, please see the picture title:

Uncanny (to be posted next )

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Courtesy of Chatwick University Archives

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DISCLAIMER

All rights and copyrights observed by Chatwick University, Its contributors, associates and Agents

The purpose of these chronological photos and accompanying stories, articles is to educate, teach, instruct, and generally increase the awareness level of the general public as to the nature and intent of the underlying criminal elements that have historically plagued humankind.

No Part of this can reprinted, duplicated, or copied be without the express written permission and approval of Chatwick University.

These photos and stories are works of fiction. Any resemblance to people, living or deceased, is purely coincidental.

As with any work of fiction or fantasy the purpose is for entertainment and/or educational purposes only, and should never be attempted in real life.

We accept no responsibility for any events occurring outside this website.

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

 

The VicPD were down at Occupy, stopping every skateboarder, leash-less dog, and helmet-less cyclist in the vicinity. While watching this, I noticed the police didn't stop one of the hundreds of cars passing by who were obviously exceeding the speed-limit. What other crimes remain unsolved? Hmmm...

 

The VicPD is the most costly police department in British Columbia

The VicPD's crime-solving rate is one of the worst in all of Canada

The VicPD's officer response times have consistently worsened

VicPD's Chief Jamie Graham has been found guilty of discreditable conduct, again

 

(There was more property damage in the 2011 pro-child rape riots at Penn State than all 100+ Occupy protests combined.)

_______________ ______________________ _________________

 

Most Canadians support 'Occupy' protests, poll finds

 

"The Occupy Wall Street movement that has spread throughout the U.S. and Canada has the support of most of the Canadians who are aware of it, a new poll has found."

 

"The Nanos poll conducted for The Globe and Mail and La Presse finds that seven out of 10 Canadians have heard of the demonstrations."

 

Those unaware of the Occupy protests were found to be as equally clueless to those who object to the Occupy protests.

edmonton.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20111108/occupy-...

________________ _________________________ ____________________

 

Occupy Victoria (The Peoples' Assembly of Victoria)

 

Inspired by the rapidly growing Occupy Together (occupytogether.org/) movement across the US and Canada that has sprung up in solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street people’s assembly. Victoria is joining the October 15 movement for global change (15october.net/).

 

This is becoming more than a protest about the failure of global capitalism - rather, this a moment where people all around the world are coming together and beginning to globalize democracy.

 

This is our time to come together and create a genuine people’s assembly of Vancouver Island in the spirit of true participatory democracy. Direct democracy comes from the people living in the communities in which decisions are made. Real democracy means being mutually respectful of all the diverse voices that join the conversation. Radical democracy is 'from the grassroots' or from the ground up. It is non-violent, and committed to mutual aid and collective decision-making.

www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=166245523460861

Caligula (37-41) - Aureus - Lyon (40) - Av. : tête laurée de Caligula à droite. - Rv. : tête diadémée d’Auguste à droite. - Rarissime - Petit trait derrière le portrait d’avers. - 7.62g - C. 6 (150 Fr. or) - S. manque - Cal. 334 (S 3) - TTB

If you are interested in Julio Claudian Iconography and portrait study you may enjoy these two links:

 

Julio Claudian Iconographic Association- Joe Geranio- Administrator at groups.yahoo.com/group/julioclaudian/

 

The Portraiture of Caligula- Joe Geranio- Administrator- at

portraitsofcaligula.com/

 

Both are non-profit sites and for educational use only.For more on Caligulan Numismatic Articles see: Coins courtesy cngoins.com

 

Related Articles of Caligula from American Numismatic Society Library Search

 

Library Catalog Search (Preliminary Version)

Full Record: Barrett, Anthony A. The invalidation of currency in the Roman Empire : the Claudian demonetization of Caligula's AES. (1999)

Full Record: Bost, Jean-Pierre. Routes, cits et ateliers montaires : quelques remarques sur les officines hispaniques entre les rgnes d'Auguste en de Caligula. (1999)

Full Record: Bibliothque Municipale d'Etude et d'Information de Grenoble. Grenoble : Bibliothque Municipale d'Etude et d'Information : catalogue des monnaies. II. Monnaies romaines. Monnaies impriales romaines. 2. Caligula - Neron . Index. / Bernard Rmy, Frdric Bontoux, Virginie Risler. (1998)

Full Record: Gainor, John R. The image of the Julio-Claudian dynasty from coins / by John R. Gainor.

Full Record: Martini, Rodolfo. Monete romane imperiali del Museo G. B. Adriani. Parte 3, Caius (37-41 d.C.) / Rodolfo Martini. (2001)

Full Record: ACCLA privy to presentation by Richard Baker on Caligula. (2002)

Full Record: Wend, David A. Caligula, the emperor as autocrat. Part 1. (2002)

Full Record: Wend, David A. Caligula, the emperor as autocrat. Part 2. (2002)

Full Record: Wend, David A. Caligula, the emperor as autocrat. Part 3. (2002)

Full Record: Kemmers, Fleur. Caligula on the Lower Rhine : Coin finds from the Roman Fort of Albaniana (The Netherlands) / Fleur Kemmers. (2004)

Full Record: Estiot, Sylviane. Le trsor de Meussia (Jura) : 399 monnaies d'argent d'poques rpublicaine et julio-claudienne / Sylviane Estiot, Isabelle Aymar. (2002)

Full Record: Gocht, Hans. Namenstilgungen an Bronzemünzen des Caligula und Claudius / Hans Gocht. (2003)

Full Record: Gomis Justo, Marivi. Ercavica : La emision de Caligula. Estimacion del numero de cunos originales.

Full Record: Sayles, Wayne G. Fakes on the Internet. (2002)

Full Record: Kemmers, Fleur. The coin finds from the Roman fort Albaniana, the Netherlands / Fleur Kemmers . (2005)

Full Record: Lopez Snchez, Fernando. La afirmacion soberana de Caligula y de Claudio y el fin de las acunaciones ciudadanas en occidente / Fernando Lopez Snchez. (2000)

Full Record: Besombes, Paul-Andr. Les monnaies hispaniques de Claude Ier des dpôts de la Vilaine (Rennes) et de Saint-Lonard (Mayenne) : tmoins de quel type de contact entre l'Armorique et la pninsule ibrique ? / Paul-Andr Besombes. (2005)

Full Record: Catalli, Fiorenzo. Le thesaurus de Sora / Fiorenzo Catalli et John Scheid.

Full Record: Giard, Jean-Baptiste. Faux deniers de Caligula de la Renaissance.

Full Record: Vermeule, Cornelius. Faces of Empire (Julius Caesar to Justinian). Part II(B), More young faces : Caligula again and Nero reborn / Cornelius Vermeule. (2005)

Full Record: Geranio, Joe. Portraits of Caligula : the seated figure? / Joe Geranio. (2007)

Full Record: Aguilera Hernandez, Alberto. Acerca de un as de Caligula hallado en Zaragoza / Alberto Aguilera Hernandez. (2007)

Full Record: Butcher, K. E. T. Caligula : the evil emperor. (1985)

Full Record: Fuchs, Michaela. Frauen um Caligula und Claudius : Milonia Caesonia, Drusilla und Messalina. (1990)

Full Record: Faur, Jean-Claude. Moneda de Caligula de Museo Arqueologico Provincial de Tarragona. (1979)

Full Record: British Museum. Dept. of coins and medals. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British museum. Vol. I: Augustus to Vitellius / by Harold Mattingly. (1976)

Full Record: Conrad, Edwin. A Caligula Isotope of Hadrian. (1968)

Full Record: Conrad, Edwin. The Metamorphosis of an Allegad 'As of Hadrian.' (1968)

Full Record: Bendall, Simon. A 'new' gold quinarius of Caligula. (1985)

Full Record: Cortellini, Nereo. Le monete di Caligola nel Cohen.

Full Record: Guey, Julien. Les "bains d'or" de Caligula "Immensi Avreorvm Acervi (Sutone, Cal., 42,3).

Full Record: Guey, J. Les "bains d'or" de Caligula : Sutone, Cal. 42, 3.

Full Record: Curry, Michael R. The Aes Quadrans of Caligula. (1968)

Full Record: Jonas, Elemr. L'emploi dar "damnatio memoriae" sur l'un des "dupondius" de Calgula. (1937)

Full Record: Julian, R. W. The coins of Caligula. (1994)

Full Record: Donciu, Ramiro. Cu privire la activitatea militara a lui Caius (Caligula) in anul 40 e.n. (1983)

Full Record: Hansen, Peter. A history of Caligula's Vesta. (1992)

Full Record: Kaenel, Hans-Markus von. Augustus, Caligula oder Caludius? (1978)

Full Record: Kaenel, Hans-Markus von. Die Organisation der Münzprgung Caligulas. (1987)

Full Record: Johansen, Flemming S. The sculpted portraits of Caligula. (1987)

Full Record: Carter, G. F. Chemical compositions of copper-based Roman coins. V : imitations of Caligula, Claudius, and Nero / G. F. Carter and others. (1978)

Full Record: Giard, Jean-Baptiste. L'atelier de Lyon sous Auguste : Tibre et Caligula. (1979)

Full Record: Giard, Jean-Baptiste. Les missions d'or et d'argent de Caligula dans l'atelier de Lyon. (1976)

Full Record: Giard, Jean-Baptiste. Le monnayage de l'atelier de Lyon des origines au rgne de Caligula (43 avant J.-C. - 41 aprs J.-C.). (1983)

Full Record: Nony, D. Quelques as d'imitation de Caligula trouves a Bordeaux (Gironde). (1981)

Full Record: Levy, Brooks Emmons. Caligula's radiate crown. (1988)

Full Record: Poulsen, Vagn. Un nouveau visage de Caligula. (1972)

Full Record: Price, Martin Jessop. Elephant in Crete? New light ona cistophorus of Caligula. (1973)

Full Record: MacInnis, H. Frank. Ego-driven emperor commits excesses. (1979)

Full Record: McKenna, Thomas P. The case of the curious coin of Caligula : a provincial bronze restruck with legend-only dies. (1994)

Full Record: Mowat, Robert. Bronzes remarquables de Tibre, de son fils, de ses petits-fils et de Caligula. (1911)

Full Record: Koenig, Franz E. Roma, monete dal Tevere : l'imperatore Gaio (Caligola). (1988)

Full Record: Kollgaard, Ron. Caligula's coins profile despot. (1993)

Full Record: Kollgaard, Ron. A numismatic mystery : "the Caligula quadrans." (1994)

Full Record: Martini, Rodolfo. Osservazioni su contromarche ed erosioni su assi de Caligula. (1980)

Full Record: Szaivert, Wolfgang. Moneta Imperii Romani. Band 2 und 3. Die Münzprgung der Kaiser Tiberius und Caius (Caligula) 14/41 / von Wolfgang Szaivert. (1984)

Full Record: Boschung, Dietrich. Die Bildnisse des Caligula. Kaenel, Hans-Markus von. Jucker, Hans. Deutsches Archaologisches Institut. Das Romische Herrscherbild. 1. Abt., Bd. 4, Die Bildnisse des Caligula / Dietrich Boschung ; mit einem Beitrag von Hans-Markus von Kaenel ; auf Grund der Vorarbeiten und Marterialsammlungen von Hans Jucker. (1989)

Full Record: Rosborough, Ruskin R. An epigraphic commentary on Suetonius's life of Gaius Caligula. A thesis...for the...Doctor of Philosophy. (1920)

Full Record: Richard, Jean-Claude. A propos de l'aureus de Caligula dcouvert Saint-Colomban-des-Villards (Savoie). (1982)

Full Record: Richard, Jean-Claude. Un aureus de Caligula dcouvert Saint-Colomban-des-Villards (Savoie). (1982)

Full Record: Ritter, Hans-Werner. Adlocutio und Corona Civica unter Caligula und Tiberius. (1971)

Full Record: Kumpikevicius, Gordon C. A numismatic look at Gaius. (1979)

Full Record: Savio, Adriano. La coerenza di Caligola nella gestione della moneta / Adriano Savio. (1988)

Full Record: Savio, Adriano. Note su alcune monete di Gaio-Caligola. (1973)

Full Record: Stylow, Armin U. Die Quadranten des Caligula als Propaganda-münzen.münzen" aus der stdtischen sammlung zu Osnabrück. (1971)

Full Record: Schwartz, Jacques. Le Monnayage Snatorial entre 37 et 42 P.C. (1951)

Full Record: Rodolfo Martini, ed. Sylloge nummorum Romanorum. Italia. Milano, Civiche Raccolte Numismatiche Vol. 1 Giulio-Claudii / a cura di Rodolfo Martini. (1990)

Full Record: Szaivert, Wolfgang. Zur Julisch-Claudischen Münzprgung. (1979)

Full Record: Vedrianus. The Roman Imperial series. V. Gaius. (1963)

Full Record: Tietze, Christian M. Kaiser Cajus Caesar, genannt Caligula. (1979)

Full Record: Wood, Susan. Diva Drusilla Panthea and the sisters of Caligula / Susan Wood. (1995)

Full Record: Sutherland, Carol Humphrey Vivian. Coinage in Roman imperial policy 31 B.C.-A.D. 68. (1951)

Full Record: Sutherland, C. H. V. The mints of Lugdunum and Rome under Gaius : an unsolved problem. (1981)

Full Record: Trillmich, Walter. Familienpropaganda der Kaiser Caligula und Claudius : Agrippina Maior und Antonia Augusta auf Münzen. (1978)

Full Record: Voirol, August. Eine Warenumsatzsteuer im antiken Rom und der numismatische Beleg inher Aufhebung : Centesima rerum venalium. (1943)

Full Record: Trillmich, Walter. Zur Münzprgung des Caligula von Caesaraugusta (Zaragoza). (1973)

 

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!

  

Some background:

Due to increasing tensions in Europe which led to World War 2, AVRO Aircraft started developing combat aircraft, and as a subsidiary of Hawker, they had access to the Hurricane plans. At the time that the Hurricane was developed, RAF Fighter Command consisted of just 13 squadrons, each equipped with either the Hawker Fury, Hawker Demon, or the Bristol Bulldog – all of them biplanes with fixed-pitch wooden propellers and non-retractable undercarriages. After the Hurricane's first flight, Avro started working on a more refined and lighter aircraft, resulting in a similar if not higher top speed and improved maneuverability.

 

The result was Avro’s project 675, also known as the "Swallow". The aircraft’s profile resembled the Hawker Hurricane, but appeared more squatted and streamlined, almost like a race version. Compared with the Hurricane, overall dimensions were reduced and the structure lightened wherever possible. The wings were much thinner, too, and their shape reminded of the Supermarine Spitfire’s famous oval wings. The main landing gear was retractable and had a wide track. The tail wheel was semi-retractable on the prototype, but it was later replaced by a simpler, fixed tail wheel on production models.

 

The Swallow made its first flight on 30th December 1937 and the Royal Air Force was so impressed by its performance against the Hurricane that they ordered production to start immediately, after a few minor tweaks to certain parts of the aircraft had been made.

 

On 25 July 1939, the RAF accepted their first delivery of Avro Swallow Mk. Is. The first machines were allocated to No.1 Squadron, at the time based in France, where they were used in parallel to the Hurricanes for evaluation. These early machines were powered by a 1.030 hp (770 kW) Rolls-Royce Merlin Mk II liquid-cooled V-12, driving a wooden two-bladed, fixed-pitch propeller. The light aircraft achieved an impressive top speed of 347 mph (301 kn, 558 km/h) in level flight – the bigger and heavier Hurricane achieved only 314 mph (506 km/h) with a similar engine. Like the Hurricane, the Swallow was armed with eight unsynchronized 0.303 in (7.7 mm) Browning machine guns in the outer wings, outside of the propeller disc.

 

In spring 1940, Avro upgraded the serial production Swallow Mk.I's to Mk.IA standard: the original wooden propeller was replaced by a de Havilland or Rotol constant speed metal propeller with three blades, which considerably improved field performance. Many aircraft were retrofitted with this update in the field workshops until summer 1940.

 

In parallel, production switched to the Swallow Mk. II: This new version, which reached the front line units in July 1940, received an uprated engine, the improved Rolls-Royce Merlin III, which could deliver up to 1,310 hp (977 kW) with 100 octane fuel and +12 psi boost. With the standard 87 Octane fuel, engine performance did not improve much beyond the Merlin II's figures, though.

 

A more streamlined radiator bath was fitted, too, and altogether these measures boosted top speed to 371 mph (597 km/h) at 20,000 ft (6,096 m). This was a considerable improvement, and the contemporary Hurricane II achieved only 340 mph (547 km/h).

 

Despite this improvement, though, several fundamental weak points of the Swallow remained unsolved: its limited range could not be boosted beyond 300 miles (500 km) and the light machine gun armament remained unchanged, because the Swallow’s thin wings hardly offered more space for heavier weapons or useful external stores like drop tanks.

 

Despite these shortcomings, the pilots loved their agile fighter, which was described as an updated Hawker Fury biplane fighter and less of a direct competitor to the Hurricane. After War had been declared, the crews flew the early Mk.I well against the more experienced Luftwaffe fighters, and many of these aircraft were updated to Mk. IA standard.

 

Since the type was not operated in large numbers, Swallow aces were few. One of them was Flight Lieutenant Killian Murphy, an Irish Volunteer and Pilot of JX-M of RAF No. 1 Squadron. He scored two of his total 24 kills in a Mk. I, and 8 more in a Mk. II from August 1940 on. The initial scores were a Bf 109E and a Ju87, both shot down during the evacuation of Dunkirk. Most of his later victories were scored during the defense of London, before the squadron was completely re-equipped in early 1941 with Hurricane Mk. IIs and later Typhoons, rather focusing on ground attack and interdiction missions on Continental Europe.

 

Some work was done to improve the Swallow, but with limited success. For instance, in early 1941 a Swallow Mk. II was modified to carry a pair of 20mm Hispano cannons instead of the inner pair of machine guns. Due to the thin wings, this option necessitated bulged fairings and a modified internal structure for the cannons' ammunition drums, but the additional firepower was welcomed and led to the Swallow Mk. III, which was introduced in August 1941. It was the final production variant, still powered by the Rolls-Royce Merlin III from the swallow Mk. II. Beyond the armament changes, the wing tips were clipped in order to improve roll characteristics at low and medium altitude. Otherwise the Mk. III was virtually identical to the earlier Mk. II.

 

Another Mk. II was experimentally converted with a lowered spine and a framed bubble canopy (reminiscent of the Hawker Typhoon's design), but this experiment did not reach production status. The Swallow had already reached its limited development potential.

 

Since the Supermarine Spitfire had in the meantime proven its worth and promised a much bigger development potential, production of the Avro Swallow already ceased in late 1942 after 435 aircraft had been built. Around the same time, the Swallow was quickly phased out from front-line service, too.

 

Several machines were retained as trainers, messenger aircraft or instructional airframes. 20 late production Mk. IIs were sold to the Irish Air Corps, and a further 50 aircraft were sent to Canada as advanced fighter trainers, where they served until the end of the hostilities in 1945.

  

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length: 8.57 m (28 ft 1 in)

Wingspan: 10.85 m (35 ft 7 in)

Height: 2.60 m (8 ft 6 in)

Wing area: 17.00 m² (183 ft²)

Empty weight: 1,690 kg (3,726 lb)

Gross weight: 2,200 kg (4,850 lb)

 

Powerplant:

1× Rolls-Royce Merlin III liquid-cooled V-12, rated at 1,310 hp (977 kW) at 9,000 ft (2,700 m)

 

Performance:

Maximum speed: 371 mph (597 km/h) at 20,000 ft (6,096 m)

Range: 320 miles (515 km)

Service ceiling: 36,000 ft (10,970 m)

Rate of climb: 2,780 ft/min (14.1 m/s)

Wing loading: 29.8 lb/ft² (121.9 kg/m²)

Power/mass: 0.15 hp/lb (0.25 kW/kg)

 

Armament:

8× 0.303” (7,7mm) Browning machine guns with 350 RPG in the outer wings

  

The kit and its assembly:

Another entry to the Battle of Britain Group Build at whatifmodelers.com, and this time a collaboration. This fictional machine – or better: the model – is based on a 2D profile conceived by fellow forum member nighthunter: an Avia B.135, outfitted with a Merlin engine, a ventral radiator in the style of a Hawker Hurricane, and carrying RAF markings.

 

Since I had a spare B.35 sans engine left over from the recent Fokker D.XXIII conversion, I used the opportunity to take the virtual design to the hardware stage!

 

The basis is a vintage KP Models kit of the early B.35 fighter with a fixed landing gear. It’s a sleek and pretty aircraft, but the kit’s quality is rather so-so. Details are good, you get a mix of engraved and raised surface details, but fit is mediocre and there is lots of flash. But, with some effort, things can be mended.

 

Many donation parts for the Swallow, including the engine, propeller, landing gear and radiator, come from an AZ Models Spitfire Mk. I/II/V, from a recently bought Joy Pack which comes with three of these kits without decals.

 

New landing gear wells had to be drilled into the massive lower wing halves. Since the original Swallow profile did not indicate the landing gear design, I went for an inward-retracting solution, using parts from an early Spitfire. Due to the oil cooler in one of the wing roots, though, the stance ended up a little wide… The Merlin fitted very well onto the B.35 fuselage, and, inside of the cockpit, I added a tank behind the seat in order to fill the OOB void there.

 

Another internal change I made is the installation of my trademark propeller adapter: a styrene tube inside of the fuselage that holds a long metal axis with the propeller, so that it can spin freely.

  

Painting and markings:

Very conservative, but IMHO a good match for this fictional fighter: Standard RAF colors in Dark Green/Dark Earth (both enamels from the Modelmaster Authentic line), nothing fancy, and I had the profile as benchmark for what I wanted to achieve. Since the plane is placed historically in August 1940, Sky was about to be introduced, but only gradually and sometimes with “different” tones. Therefore, I painted the underside with Humbrol 23, Duck Egg Blue, and also added roundels under the wings.

 

The code letters should have been Medium Sea Grey, but the profile showed white letters – so I stuck with that, and AFAIK there had been exceptions to the rule. The code letters came from an Xtradecal RAF white letter sheet. Roundels and fin flash come from various sources, including a Matchbox Brewster Buffalo and a Trumpeter P-40C. The serial number was improvised, too.

 

As personal markings I painted a green shamrock under the cockpit on port side, while a list of air combat scores came under the starboard cockpit side (in style with the original profile). A green ring on the spinner was added, too, inspired by the real world No. 1 Squadron’s JX-B, flown by Arthur Clowes. His machine carried a bee nose art and a yellow spinner ring: for every victory, the bee would receive a new stripe, and he achieved eight during his career.

 

Some light weathering and panel shading was done, as well as some light soot stains around the exhausts and the gun ports on the wings. Finally, everything sealed under a coat of matt acrylic varnish (Revell), which unfortunately turned white in some seams! :-/

  

The Avro Swallow looked already promising in nighthunter's profile, almost like a missing link between the sturdy Hurricane and the more glorious Spitfire.

A quick build, but a conversion that has to be kept in mind, because the result looks so convincing! Seeing the completed aircraft, I am amazed how good this thing looks overall, with its elegant, oval wings and the sleek fuselage lines. Nice one! :D

This pub sign adorns the premises at 50 Bank Street in Kilmarnock, a town famous for its connection with Robert Burns as this was where his first collection of poetry 'Poems Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect' was printed and published in 1786. That edition is popularly known as 'the Kilmarnock Edition' to distinguish it from the second edition which was reprinted in Edinburgh. A close look at the sign shows a paperboy touting sales of The Scotsman one of the country's most revered newspapers. The Scotsman was founded in Edinburgh in 1817 and is still published daily in the capital. Why it is apparently celebrated here is not clear to me and my visit was out of opening hours so my mystery remains unsolved. There is another newspaper connection hereabouts as for many years the towns weeky newspaper- The Kilmarnock Standard was printed and published nearby. Also there is a commemorative statue 'Reading the Standard' a few yard along Bank Street.

SS Lane Victory is a U.S.A Victory-class cargo ship that served in 3 wars: WWII, Korean, and Vietnam. The ship was preserved in 1998 to serve as a fully operational museum ship in San Pedro (Port of Los Angeles), California. She is used in many film and TV productions. Some of her credits include:

Feature Films

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Deep Cover

Don Juan de Marco

Double Impact

Flags of Our Fathers

GI Jane

Gone in 60 Seconds

Naked Gun Two and 1/2

Outbreak

Pearl Harbor

The Thin Red Line

Titanic

U-571

 

TV Shows/Movies

Alias

Baywatch

The Burning Zone

Buffy, The Vampire Slayer

California'S Gold

Cold Case

JAG

Mail Call (episode #70)

McGyver

Murder She Wrote

The National Geographic Channel

NCIS

Return of the Pirates (History Channel)

Special Ops Mission

Unsolved Mysteries

The X Files

V.I.P.

Gaius (Caligula), with Agrippina Senior. AD 37-41. AR Denarius (3.75 g, 4h). Rome mint. Struck AD 37-38. Laureate head of Gaius (Caligula) right / Draped bust of Agrippina right. RIC I 14; RSC 2. For more on Caligulan Numismatic Articles see: Coins courtesy cngoins.com

 

Related Articles of Caligula from American Numismatic Society Library Search

 

Library Catalog Search (Preliminary Version)

Full Record: Barrett, Anthony A. The invalidation of currency in the Roman Empire : the Claudian demonetization of Caligula's AES. (1999)

Full Record: Bost, Jean-Pierre. Routes, cits et ateliers montaires : quelques remarques sur les officines hispaniques entre les rgnes d'Auguste en de Caligula. (1999)

Full Record: Bibliothque Municipale d'Etude et d'Information de Grenoble. Grenoble : Bibliothque Municipale d'Etude et d'Information : catalogue des monnaies. II. Monnaies romaines. Monnaies impriales romaines. 2. Caligula - Neron . Index. / Bernard Rmy, Frdric Bontoux, Virginie Risler. (1998)

Full Record: Gainor, John R. The image of the Julio-Claudian dynasty from coins / by John R. Gainor.

Full Record: Martini, Rodolfo. Monete romane imperiali del Museo G. B. Adriani. Parte 3, Caius (37-41 d.C.) / Rodolfo Martini. (2001)

Full Record: ACCLA privy to presentation by Richard Baker on Caligula. (2002)

Full Record: Wend, David A. Caligula, the emperor as autocrat. Part 1. (2002)

Full Record: Wend, David A. Caligula, the emperor as autocrat. Part 2. (2002)

Full Record: Wend, David A. Caligula, the emperor as autocrat. Part 3. (2002)

Full Record: Kemmers, Fleur. Caligula on the Lower Rhine : Coin finds from the Roman Fort of Albaniana (The Netherlands) / Fleur Kemmers. (2004)

Full Record: Estiot, Sylviane. Le trsor de Meussia (Jura) : 399 monnaies d'argent d'poques rpublicaine et julio-claudienne / Sylviane Estiot, Isabelle Aymar. (2002)

Full Record: Gocht, Hans. Namenstilgungen an Bronzemünzen des Caligula und Claudius / Hans Gocht. (2003)

Full Record: Gomis Justo, Marivi. Ercavica : La emision de Caligula. Estimacion del numero de cunos originales.

Full Record: Sayles, Wayne G. Fakes on the Internet. (2002)

Full Record: Kemmers, Fleur. The coin finds from the Roman fort Albaniana, the Netherlands / Fleur Kemmers . (2005)

Full Record: Lopez Snchez, Fernando. La afirmacion soberana de Caligula y de Claudio y el fin de las acunaciones ciudadanas en occidente / Fernando Lopez Snchez. (2000)

Full Record: Besombes, Paul-Andr. Les monnaies hispaniques de Claude Ier des dpôts de la Vilaine (Rennes) et de Saint-Lonard (Mayenne) : tmoins de quel type de contact entre l'Armorique et la pninsule ibrique ? / Paul-Andr Besombes. (2005)

Full Record: Catalli, Fiorenzo. Le thesaurus de Sora / Fiorenzo Catalli et John Scheid.

Full Record: Giard, Jean-Baptiste. Faux deniers de Caligula de la Renaissance.

Full Record: Vermeule, Cornelius. Faces of Empire (Julius Caesar to Justinian). Part II(B), More young faces : Caligula again and Nero reborn / Cornelius Vermeule. (2005)

Full Record: Geranio, Joe. Portraits of Caligula : the seated figure? / Joe Geranio. (2007)

Full Record: Aguilera Hernandez, Alberto. Acerca de un as de Caligula hallado en Zaragoza / Alberto Aguilera Hernandez. (2007)

Full Record: Butcher, K. E. T. Caligula : the evil emperor. (1985)

Full Record: Fuchs, Michaela. Frauen um Caligula und Claudius : Milonia Caesonia, Drusilla und Messalina. (1990)

Full Record: Faur, Jean-Claude. Moneda de Caligula de Museo Arqueologico Provincial de Tarragona. (1979)

Full Record: British Museum. Dept. of coins and medals. Coins of the Roman Empire in the British museum. Vol. I: Augustus to Vitellius / by Harold Mattingly. (1976)

Full Record: Conrad, Edwin. A Caligula Isotope of Hadrian. (1968)

Full Record: Conrad, Edwin. The Metamorphosis of an Allegad 'As of Hadrian.' (1968)

Full Record: Bendall, Simon. A 'new' gold quinarius of Caligula. (1985)

Full Record: Cortellini, Nereo. Le monete di Caligola nel Cohen.

Full Record: Guey, Julien. Les "bains d'or" de Caligula "Immensi Avreorvm Acervi (Sutone, Cal., 42,3).

Full Record: Guey, J. Les "bains d'or" de Caligula : Sutone, Cal. 42, 3.

Full Record: Curry, Michael R. The Aes Quadrans of Caligula. (1968)

Full Record: Jonas, Elemr. L'emploi dar "damnatio memoriae" sur l'un des "dupondius" de Calgula. (1937)

Full Record: Julian, R. W. The coins of Caligula. (1994)

Full Record: Donciu, Ramiro. Cu privire la activitatea militara a lui Caius (Caligula) in anul 40 e.n. (1983)

Full Record: Hansen, Peter. A history of Caligula's Vesta. (1992)

Full Record: Kaenel, Hans-Markus von. Augustus, Caligula oder Caludius? (1978)

Full Record: Kaenel, Hans-Markus von. Die Organisation der Münzprgung Caligulas. (1987)

Full Record: Johansen, Flemming S. The sculpted portraits of Caligula. (1987)

Full Record: Carter, G. F. Chemical compositions of copper-based Roman coins. V : imitations of Caligula, Claudius, and Nero / G. F. Carter and others. (1978)

Full Record: Giard, Jean-Baptiste. L'atelier de Lyon sous Auguste : Tibre et Caligula. (1979)

Full Record: Giard, Jean-Baptiste. Les missions d'or et d'argent de Caligula dans l'atelier de Lyon. (1976)

Full Record: Giard, Jean-Baptiste. Le monnayage de l'atelier de Lyon des origines au rgne de Caligula (43 avant J.-C. - 41 aprs J.-C.). (1983)

Full Record: Nony, D. Quelques as d'imitation de Caligula trouves a Bordeaux (Gironde). (1981)

Full Record: Levy, Brooks Emmons. Caligula's radiate crown. (1988)

Full Record: Poulsen, Vagn. Un nouveau visage de Caligula. (1972)

Full Record: Price, Martin Jessop. Elephant in Crete? New light ona cistophorus of Caligula. (1973)

Full Record: MacInnis, H. Frank. Ego-driven emperor commits excesses. (1979)

Full Record: McKenna, Thomas P. The case of the curious coin of Caligula : a provincial bronze restruck with legend-only dies. (1994)

Full Record: Mowat, Robert. Bronzes remarquables de Tibre, de son fils, de ses petits-fils et de Caligula. (1911)

Full Record: Koenig, Franz E. Roma, monete dal Tevere : l'imperatore Gaio (Caligola). (1988)

Full Record: Kollgaard, Ron. Caligula's coins profile despot. (1993)

Full Record: Kollgaard, Ron. A numismatic mystery : "the Caligula quadrans." (1994)

Full Record: Martini, Rodolfo. Osservazioni su contromarche ed erosioni su assi de Caligula. (1980)

Full Record: Szaivert, Wolfgang. Moneta Imperii Romani. Band 2 und 3. Die Münzprgung der Kaiser Tiberius und Caius (Caligula) 14/41 / von Wolfgang Szaivert. (1984)

Full Record: Boschung, Dietrich. Die Bildnisse des Caligula. Kaenel, Hans-Markus von. Jucker, Hans. Deutsches Archaologisches Institut. Das Romische Herrscherbild. 1. Abt., Bd. 4, Die Bildnisse des Caligula / Dietrich Boschung ; mit einem Beitrag von Hans-Markus von Kaenel ; auf Grund der Vorarbeiten und Marterialsammlungen von Hans Jucker. (1989)

Full Record: Rosborough, Ruskin R. An epigraphic commentary on Suetonius's life of Gaius Caligula. A thesis...for the...Doctor of Philosophy. (1920)

Full Record: Richard, Jean-Claude. A propos de l'aureus de Caligula dcouvert Saint-Colomban-des-Villards (Savoie). (1982)

Full Record: Richard, Jean-Claude. Un aureus de Caligula dcouvert Saint-Colomban-des-Villards (Savoie). (1982)

Full Record: Ritter, Hans-Werner. Adlocutio und Corona Civica unter Caligula und Tiberius. (1971)

Full Record: Kumpikevicius, Gordon C. A numismatic look at Gaius. (1979)

Full Record: Savio, Adriano. La coerenza di Caligola nella gestione della moneta / Adriano Savio. (1988)

Full Record: Savio, Adriano. Note su alcune monete di Gaio-Caligola. (1973)

Full Record: Stylow, Armin U. Die Quadranten des Caligula als Propaganda-münzen.münzen" aus der stdtischen sammlung zu Osnabrück. (1971)

Full Record: Schwartz, Jacques. Le Monnayage Snatorial entre 37 et 42 P.C. (1951)

Full Record: Rodolfo Martini, ed. Sylloge nummorum Romanorum. Italia. Milano, Civiche Raccolte Numismatiche Vol. 1 Giulio-Claudii / a cura di Rodolfo Martini. (1990)

Full Record: Szaivert, Wolfgang. Zur Julisch-Claudischen Münzprgung. (1979)

Full Record: Vedrianus. The Roman Imperial series. V. Gaius. (1963)

Full Record: Tietze, Christian M. Kaiser Cajus Caesar, genannt Caligula. (1979)

Full Record: Wood, Susan. Diva Drusilla Panthea and the sisters of Caligula / Susan Wood. (1995)

Full Record: Sutherland, Carol Humphrey Vivian. Coinage in Roman imperial policy 31 B.C.-A.D. 68. (1951)

Full Record: Sutherland, C. H. V. The mints of Lugdunum and Rome under Gaius : an unsolved problem. (1981)

Full Record: Trillmich, Walter. Familienpropaganda der Kaiser Caligula und Claudius : Agrippina Maior und Antonia Augusta auf Münzen. (1978)

Full Record: Voirol, August. Eine Warenumsatzsteuer im antiken Rom und der numismatische Beleg inher Aufhebung : Centesima rerum venalium. (1943)

Full Record: Trillmich, Walter. Zur Münzprgung des Caligula von Caesaraugusta (Zaragoza). (1973)

 

Queensland State Archives Item ID ITM294496 Dept No.44

The murder of siblings Michael, Norah and Ellen Murphy near Gatton on Boxing Day 1898 sparked intense interest and speculation. All three were killed between 10pm and the early hours of the following morning on their way home from a dance that had been cancelled and the case remains unsolved to this day.

Contained within the QSA archived police files are pages of handwritten letters from across Queensland sent from members of the community convinced they could help solve the case using their spiritual gifts. Some are simply a few words on a scrap of paper, others take up many pages and go into lengthy detail about possible conspiracies. The police called the correspondence files ‘Astrologers, Dreamers, Theorists, etc’.

Top 10 Thrillers Movies on Netflix right no||Netflix Thrillers Movies Hi Guys. This video about best Thriller movies on Netflix right now. Those movies are best and so amazing to watch.everyone should watch this list,until it's end. #Aboutmore Subscribe Us: bit.ly/2VPUPom Thriller is kind of a catch-all term for movies that bleed into multiple genres. It can describe films rich with drama, action, crime, and quite possibly horror. A good thriller, though, is going to be suspenseful for any number of reasons. An unstoppable killer. An unsolvable mystery. A gripping world that draws viewers into it. A sympathetic character fighting for survival. Something that can keep an audience on the edge of its seats. And based on that, here are the 10 best thrillers on Netflix right now. Here is The Movie titles: 10.#Cape Fear (1991) When attorney Sam Bowden (Nick Nolte) knowingly withholds evidence that would acquit violent offender Max Cady (Robert De Niro) of...charges, Max spends 14 years in prison. But after Max's release, knowing about Sam's deceit, he devotes his life to stalking and destroying the Bowden family. When practical attempts to stop Max fail, Sam realizes that he must act outside the law to protect his wife and daughter in Martin Scorsese's remake of the classic 1962 thriller. 9.#Bird Box (2018) When a mysterious force decimates the population, only one thing is certain -- if you see it, you die. The survivors must now avoid coming face to face with an entity that takes the form of their worst fears. Searching for hope and a new beginning, a woman and her children embark on a dangerous journey through the woods and down a river to find the one place that may offer sanctuary. To make it, they'll have to cover their eyes from the evil that chases them -- and complete the trip blindfolded. 8.#Under The Skin (2007) Disguising herself as a human female, an extraterrestrial (Scarlett Johansson) drives around Scotland and tries to lure unsuspecting men into her van. 7.#Green Room (2015) A punk rock band becomes trapped in a secluded venue after finding a scene of violence. For what they saw, the band themselves become targets of violence from a team of power skinheads who want to eliminate all evidence of the crime. 6.#L.A. Confidential (1997) Three policemen, each with his own motives and obsessions, tackle the corruption surrounding an unsolved cased at a downtown Los Angeles coffee shop in the early 1950s. Detective Lieutenant Exley (Guy Pearce), the son of a murdered detective, is out to avenge his father's killing. The ex-partner of Officer White (Russell Crowe), implicated in a scandal rooted out by Exley, was one of the victims. Sergeant Vincennes (Kevin Spacey) feeds classified information to a tabloid magnate (Danny DeVito). 5.#The Invisible Guest (2016) A young businessman wakes up in a locked hotel room next to the body of his lover. He hires a prestigious lawyer to defend him, and over the course of one night, they work together to find out what happened. 4.#Zodiac (2007) In the late 1960s and 1970s, fear grips the city of San Francisco as a serial killer called Zodiac stalks its residents. Investigators (Mark Ruffalo, Anthony Edwards) and reporters (Jake Gyllenhaal, Robert Downey Jr.) become obsessed with learning the killer's identity and bringing him to justice. Meanwhile, Zodiac claims victim after victim and taunts the authorities with cryptic messages, cyphers and menacing phone calls. 3.2.1=find on video facebook Id : ift.tt/2Y5oon1 Faceook Page : bit.ly/2O5chBO Twitter Id : twitter.com/ImtiazShihsir Linkedin ID : bit.ly/2u8cYBg More Related Playlist Below: 1.Netflix Playlist: bit.ly/2Gj0kYu 2.Hollywood Movies Playlist: bit.ly/2MVkW9D 3.Animated Movies Playlist: bit.ly/2MXer69 4.Beautiful World Playlist: bit.ly/2DmtkKR 5.Bollywood Movies Playlist: bit.ly/2SKm8C9 6.Tv series Playlist: bit.ly/2E1YKrC 7.Horror Movies Playlist : bit.ly/2I4cTs4 8.Hollywood Celebrity Playlist: bit.ly/2UOmS6s 9.Bollywood Celebrity Playlist: bit.ly/2I5u2lg 10.Actor Best Movies Playlist: bit.ly/2DpnCba 11.Action Special Playlist : bit.ly/2GjdX9J 12.Cast (Then And Now): bit.ly/2Gvn3zI For More regular updates,stay-tune with us. thanks everyone.

Hallelujah Mountains

 

•Location Information

oLocation: Pandora

oResidents: Mountain Banshee; Na’vi; Great Leonopteryx (possibly)

•Behind the Scenes:

oFirst Appearance: Avatar

 

The Hallelujah Mountains (Na’vi name: Ayram alusìng meaning “Floating Mountains”) are floating islands that circulate slowly in the magnetic currents like icebergs at sea, scraping against each other and the towering mesa-like mountains of the region. On Pandora, huge outcroppings of unobtanium rip loose from the surface and float in the magnetic vortices due to the Meissner Effect.

 

Physical Description

 

They are overgrown with foliage at the top and straggly beards of vines hang down beneath the mountains like the roots of air-ferns. Their sides are sheer cliffs. Waterfalls, originating on the mesa-like tops, stream down the sides and disperse into spray at the bottoms, like upside-down geysers. The mist then condenses on other floating mountains and flows over the side and disperses, renewing the process. The local peaks and mesas actually project above the level of the craggy undersides of the few floating mountains Jake Sully can see, so it seems obvious that collisions are inevitable.

 

It is also the place that Norm Spellman wants to visit the most on Pandora—his wish is fulfilled when Grace Augustine decides to move her avatar program operation to the region when she realizes Jake is being manipulated by Quaritch. Most human detection instruments are useless amidst the large magnetic fields. The mountains float like clouds among the fixed mountains and swirling cloud structures. When they are in clear sunlight they cast distinct shadows on the land below.

 

In Na’vi Culture

 

The mountains are home to several clans, including Ni’awve and the Tipani. The latter reside in the settlement of Vayaha Village. In 2154 the Omaticaya fled to the mountains, seeking sanctuary at the Tree of Souls. The tree is one of the most sacred sites on Pandora.

 

The Hallelujah Mountains are also where mountain banshees choose to roost. This location atop the 2,600m high Mons Veritatis makes the final challenge on the path to becoming a Na’vi hunter (known as Iknimaya) even more difficult and dangerous, as the route taken to the top of the mountains is treacherous. One wrong move will send a candidate plummeting to his or her death. The danger of wild mountain banshees is also present. The local Tipani also refer to the entire region around their village as Iknimaya.

 

Behind the Scenes

 

The mountains also bear a similar appearance to the Chinese Huang Shan Mountains. James Cameron said that it was the Huang Shan mountains that inspired him to create the Hallelujah Mountains, which would explain the similar appearance. On January 25, 2010 in China, hundreds of locals in ethnic Tujia costumes “officially” renamed the Qiankunzhu mountains after the Hallelujah Mountains as a tribute to Avatar.

  

Sacred Sites

 

The Hallelujah Mountains: Fragile Giants

 

For humans, the Hallelujah Mountains are a stunning vista, a true wonder of the natural world. For the Na’vi, they are so much more.

 

It’s hard to imagine. And trust us: pictures don’t do it justice.

 

Whole mountains lifted from the earth like children’s balloons. Billions of tons of rock floating in the air as though hung there deliberately—some the size of boulders, and some miles across. The Hallelujah Mountains are one of the definitive natural wonders of Pandora, objects of surreal delight for every human lucky enough to see them.

 

As enduring as they are in both fact and imagination, the truth is that the mountains perform a delicate balancing act within the region’s geology and ecology. Most significantly, they represent a cherished, essential part of Na’vi spiritual life. From their role in the iknimaya to the mysteries of Eywa herself, the mountains are a prime sacred site, offering a fascinating glimpse into indigenous belief.

 

But first, an answer to the question you’re all thinking.

 

Yes, They Really Float. But How?

 

Admittedly, it took some digging for RDA geologists to figure it out—literally. The intense magnetic fields covering Pandora—and clustering in this region in particular—were common knowledge during early exploration of the moon, and it was assumed they had something to do with how the mountains stayed in place. But it wasn’t until unobtanium was excavated that a full picture started to come together.

 

What we know is that, thanks to the superconductive properties of the unobtanium deposits within, each mountain is surrounded by its own magnetic field that effectively keeps the mass in place, as though fenced in. And conforming to the rules of a fence, the mountains can actually shift position within their boundaries—their occasional collisions inspired the Na’vi to nickname them “Thundering Mountains.”

 

The Eywa Theory

 

The alternate point of view belongs to the Na’vi. There is nothing unsolved in the Na’vi ontology: everything that exists does so within the system of interconnectedness controlled by Eywa. And by Na’vi accounts, the mountains were lifted as a part of Eywa’s plan. This puts things lightly; really, the Na’vi regard the mountains as one of the greatest symbols of Eywa’s organizing abilities. As we know, it’s extremely unlikely for a mountain to float. Isn’t the fact that these do prove that a higher power made it so?

 

One natural condition that gives the “sacred plan” idea credence is the interplay between life on the ground and life on the mountains, and how, depending how you look at it, the mountains almost need to be floating in order to sustain this interplay. Which brings us to one interplay in particular, which has risen to mythic levels on Pandora: that of the mainland Na’vi with the mountain banshee.

 

A Deadly Rite of Passage

A defining characteristic of the Na’vi is the ability to form neural links with some of the animal life of Pandora. And there is no bond more central to clan life—or that more captures the Na’vi imagination—than the one forged with the mountain banshee.

 

But this bond has to be earned. And that means a dangerous rite of passage called the iknimaya. When a young Omatikaya Na’vi comes of age, he or she may choose to make a long and treacherous solo climb up the vines connecting the floating mountains to the banshee rookeries found in the high peaks. There, the heart of the challenge begins. A banshee never relents to Na’vi bonding advances without resistance, and so the Na’vi only gets one chance; it will end either in free-fall or the banshee leaving its mountain habitat to nest near its rider, who now wears the title Ikran Makto—“Banshee Rider.”

 

Seeing the Mountains All Over Again

 

Obviously, the best way to feel the monumental power of the Hallelujah Mountains (and the other ranges of floating mountains on Pandora, such as the one hovering over the Mo’ara Valley) is to see them in person, in the way that the power of the Grand Canyon or the gorges of the Yangtze River can only be experienced when you’re really there. Like the Grand Canyon, the mountains are picturesque, often the first thing people think of when they think of Pandoran landscape. We love to look at the mountains—but to really see them, and all that they signify, you have to put them in perspective. Imagine if the Grand Canyon, in addition to being beautiful, defined how you entered into adulthood, in effect giving you your identity among friends and family. Imagine if the Grand Canyon represented an emblem of a spiritual force guiding every gesture of every day of your life—that its very existence was a spectacular visual proof of that force and its will. Do this, and you will have the briefest glimpse of what the mountains mean to the Na’vi, deeply and personally, and why we must do what we can to understand, respect, and celebrate them. When you consider the wonders of our two explored galaxies, they are literally irreplaceable.

13 December 2008. Muddy and grey in the afternoon rain.

People's feet have cut a path across the small green from Rawlinson Terrace to High Road, Tottenham.

________________________________________

 

§ "Back in the 1950s when plans started to appear for one-story, spread-out high schools instead of three or four storied traditional buildings, architects for one of these first new schools—in Connecticut if I remember correctly—weren’t sure where to locate walks for students and staff criss-crossing outdoor grounds between classrooms and other facilities like gyms, auditoriums, and cafeterias. Should they rely on guesswork? Or depend on neat geometric schemes? Should perhaps everything be paved? The architects let the problem stand unsolved until the school had been in use throughout its first winter, during which they mapped the paths which users had made in the snow. The architects let users inform them where paths should go." — Jane Jacobs. (Source)

§ Wikipedia page about Jane Jacobs

samoyeds are at times over protective....hey! anyone can make a mistake. with floating eye of bertrand cantat keeping things under...... well in perspective and perspective is all!

Hallelujah Mountains

 

•Location Information

oLocation: Pandora

oResidents: Mountain Banshee; Na’vi; Great Leonopteryx (possibly)

•Behind the Scenes:

oFirst Appearance: Avatar

 

The Hallelujah Mountains (Na’vi name: Ayram alusìng meaning “Floating Mountains”) are floating islands that circulate slowly in the magnetic currents like icebergs at sea, scraping against each other and the towering mesa-like mountains of the region. On Pandora, huge outcroppings of unobtanium rip loose from the surface and float in the magnetic vortices due to the Meissner Effect.

 

Physical Description

 

They are overgrown with foliage at the top and straggly beards of vines hang down beneath the mountains like the roots of air-ferns. Their sides are sheer cliffs. Waterfalls, originating on the mesa-like tops, stream down the sides and disperse into spray at the bottoms, like upside-down geysers. The mist then condenses on other floating mountains and flows over the side and disperses, renewing the process. The local peaks and mesas actually project above the level of the craggy undersides of the few floating mountains Jake Sully can see, so it seems obvious that collisions are inevitable.

 

It is also the place that Norm Spellman wants to visit the most on Pandora—his wish is fulfilled when Grace Augustine decides to move her avatar program operation to the region when she realizes Jake is being manipulated by Quaritch. Most human detection instruments are useless amidst the large magnetic fields. The mountains float like clouds among the fixed mountains and swirling cloud structures. When they are in clear sunlight they cast distinct shadows on the land below.

 

In Na’vi Culture

 

The mountains are home to several clans, including Ni’awve and the Tipani. The latter reside in the settlement of Vayaha Village. In 2154 the Omaticaya fled to the mountains, seeking sanctuary at the Tree of Souls. The tree is one of the most sacred sites on Pandora.

 

The Hallelujah Mountains are also where mountain banshees choose to roost. This location atop the 2,600m high Mons Veritatis makes the final challenge on the path to becoming a Na’vi hunter (known as Iknimaya) even more difficult and dangerous, as the route taken to the top of the mountains is treacherous. One wrong move will send a candidate plummeting to his or her death. The danger of wild mountain banshees is also present. The local Tipani also refer to the entire region around their village as Iknimaya.

 

Behind the Scenes

 

The mountains also bear a similar appearance to the Chinese Huang Shan Mountains. James Cameron said that it was the Huang Shan mountains that inspired him to create the Hallelujah Mountains, which would explain the similar appearance. On January 25, 2010 in China, hundreds of locals in ethnic Tujia costumes “officially” renamed the Qiankunzhu mountains after the Hallelujah Mountains as a tribute to Avatar.

  

Sacred Sites

 

The Hallelujah Mountains: Fragile Giants

 

For humans, the Hallelujah Mountains are a stunning vista, a true wonder of the natural world. For the Na’vi, they are so much more.

 

It’s hard to imagine. And trust us: pictures don’t do it justice.

 

Whole mountains lifted from the earth like children’s balloons. Billions of tons of rock floating in the air as though hung there deliberately—some the size of boulders, and some miles across. The Hallelujah Mountains are one of the definitive natural wonders of Pandora, objects of surreal delight for every human lucky enough to see them.

 

As enduring as they are in both fact and imagination, the truth is that the mountains perform a delicate balancing act within the region’s geology and ecology. Most significantly, they represent a cherished, essential part of Na’vi spiritual life. From their role in the iknimaya to the mysteries of Eywa herself, the mountains are a prime sacred site, offering a fascinating glimpse into indigenous belief.

 

But first, an answer to the question you’re all thinking.

 

Yes, They Really Float. But How?

 

Admittedly, it took some digging for RDA geologists to figure it out—literally. The intense magnetic fields covering Pandora—and clustering in this region in particular—were common knowledge during early exploration of the moon, and it was assumed they had something to do with how the mountains stayed in place. But it wasn’t until unobtanium was excavated that a full picture started to come together.

 

What we know is that, thanks to the superconductive properties of the unobtanium deposits within, each mountain is surrounded by its own magnetic field that effectively keeps the mass in place, as though fenced in. And conforming to the rules of a fence, the mountains can actually shift position within their boundaries—their occasional collisions inspired the Na’vi to nickname them “Thundering Mountains.”

 

The Eywa Theory

 

The alternate point of view belongs to the Na’vi. There is nothing unsolved in the Na’vi ontology: everything that exists does so within the system of interconnectedness controlled by Eywa. And by Na’vi accounts, the mountains were lifted as a part of Eywa’s plan. This puts things lightly; really, the Na’vi regard the mountains as one of the greatest symbols of Eywa’s organizing abilities. As we know, it’s extremely unlikely for a mountain to float. Isn’t the fact that these do prove that a higher power made it so?

 

One natural condition that gives the “sacred plan” idea credence is the interplay between life on the ground and life on the mountains, and how, depending how you look at it, the mountains almost need to be floating in order to sustain this interplay. Which brings us to one interplay in particular, which has risen to mythic levels on Pandora: that of the mainland Na’vi with the mountain banshee.

 

A Deadly Rite of Passage

A defining characteristic of the Na’vi is the ability to form neural links with some of the animal life of Pandora. And there is no bond more central to clan life—or that more captures the Na’vi imagination—than the one forged with the mountain banshee.

 

But this bond has to be earned. And that means a dangerous rite of passage called the iknimaya. When a young Omatikaya Na’vi comes of age, he or she may choose to make a long and treacherous solo climb up the vines connecting the floating mountains to the banshee rookeries found in the high peaks. There, the heart of the challenge begins. A banshee never relents to Na’vi bonding advances without resistance, and so the Na’vi only gets one chance; it will end either in free-fall or the banshee leaving its mountain habitat to nest near its rider, who now wears the title Ikran Makto—“Banshee Rider.”

 

Seeing the Mountains All Over Again

 

Obviously, the best way to feel the monumental power of the Hallelujah Mountains (and the other ranges of floating mountains on Pandora, such as the one hovering over the Mo’ara Valley) is to see them in person, in the way that the power of the Grand Canyon or the gorges of the Yangtze River can only be experienced when you’re really there. Like the Grand Canyon, the mountains are picturesque, often the first thing people think of when they think of Pandoran landscape. We love to look at the mountains—but to really see them, and all that they signify, you have to put them in perspective. Imagine if the Grand Canyon, in addition to being beautiful, defined how you entered into adulthood, in effect giving you your identity among friends and family. Imagine if the Grand Canyon represented an emblem of a spiritual force guiding every gesture of every day of your life—that its very existence was a spectacular visual proof of that force and its will. Do this, and you will have the briefest glimpse of what the mountains mean to the Na’vi, deeply and personally, and why we must do what we can to understand, respect, and celebrate them. When you consider the wonders of our two explored galaxies, they are literally irreplaceable.

Damsgård Manor (Norwegian: Damsgård hovedgård) is a landmark manor and estate in Bergen, Norway. It is noted for its distinct rococo style and is possibly the best preserved wooden building from 18th-century Europe.

 

History

The area surrounding the manor was most likely populated during the Viking era or earlier, but literary evidence shows it was a population center in 1427, listed as church property. Following the Reformation in 1536, the estate was taken over by the crown and then sold to foreign interests.

 

The name is most likely derived from Dam Tønneson, who in 1654 inherited the farm from his father Tønnes Klausson, who in turn received it from Frederick II of Denmark due to his service during the Northern Seven Years' War. The oldest sections of the structure, however, are probably from around 1720, when Severin Seehusen (1664-1726) owned the estate. At the time, the buildings were painted bright red and green. An estimate for the main house from 1731 exists and indicates the general layout of the structure. By all accounts, the estate was a year-round farm and a recreational property.

 

Joachim Christian Geelmuyden Gyldenkrantz (1730-1795), later knighted Gyldenkrantz, took over the farm in 1769 and quickly began the Rococo construction that exists to this day. He also rebuilt the main house to face the maritime approach to Bergen. Shortly after Gyldenkrantz died, the property was sold to Herman Didrich Janson, one of the wealthiest men of his time. He only completed minor external changes but thoroughly renovated the interior of the houses. The Janson family maintained ownership of the estate until 1983, when it was taken over by Vestlandske kunstindustrimuseum, which embarked on a 10-year restoration effort, in collaboration with the Directorate for Cultural Heritage in Norway. It was put on the protected list, and Bergen Museum took over the estate.

 

Architecture

Damsgård is one of the few buildings of the rococo architectural style in Norway, and is unusual as a rococo wooden structure in Europe. The facade of the main building exaggerates the dimensions of the house itself, and two windows are painted on to create symmetry. The building's interior layout has been restored to its original, early 18th century plan, and the interior to the different eras of Damsgård's history.

 

The estate has two gardens inside its walls and one outside. The eastern garden, located inside the walls, is known as the "Master's garden", the western garden, also located inside the walls, is known as the "Mistress's garden", while the garden outside the walls is known as the "English garden". After decades of deterioration, the gardens were restored to their 18th century state in 1998. Botanists from the University of Bergen helped decide which vegetables and flowers would be grown to make them as much like the original gardens as possible.

 

The eastern garden, also known as the Lord's garden, is strictly symmetric, with six squares of plants and pathways of white shingle. The western garden, known as the Lady's garden, is far less symmetric, with two ponds and a small statue of Neptune spouting water into one of the ponds. Both these gardens are surrounded by walls. This is not the case with the English garden. Laid out in the 18th century, it only became an English garden around 1830. This garden contains a small stream and a path, and is open all year.

 

Museum

The museum of Damsgård is open to the public by tour only. It is located on Alléen 29, in Laksevåg.

 

Bergen, historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. As of 2022, its population was roughly 289,330. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway after national capital Oslo. The municipality covers 465 square kilometres (180 sq mi) and is located on the peninsula of Bergenshalvøyen. The city centre and northern neighbourhoods are on Byfjorden, 'the city fjord'. The city is surrounded by mountains, causing Bergen to be called the "city of seven mountains". Many of the extra-municipal suburbs are on islands. Bergen is the administrative centre of Vestland county. The city consists of eight boroughs: Arna, Bergenhus, Fana, Fyllingsdalen, Laksevåg, Ytrebygda, Årstad, and Åsane.

 

Trading in Bergen may have started as early as the 1020s. According to tradition, the city was founded in 1070 by King Olav Kyrre and was named Bjørgvin, 'the green meadow among the mountains'. It served as Norway's capital in the 13th century, and from the end of the 13th century became a bureau city of the Hanseatic League. Until 1789, Bergen enjoyed exclusive rights to mediate trade between Northern Norway and abroad, and it was the largest city in Norway until the 1830s when it was overtaken by the capital, Christiania (now known as Oslo). What remains of the quays, Bryggen, is a World Heritage Site. The city was hit by numerous fires over the years. The Bergen School of Meteorology was developed at the Geophysical Institute starting in 1917, the Norwegian School of Economics was founded in 1936, and the University of Bergen in 1946. From 1831 to 1972, Bergen was its own county. In 1972 the municipality absorbed four surrounding municipalities and became a part of Hordaland county.

 

The city is an international centre for aquaculture, shipping, the offshore petroleum industry and subsea technology, and a national centre for higher education, media, tourism and finance. Bergen Port is Norway's busiest in terms of both freight and passengers, with over 300 cruise ship calls a year bringing nearly a half a million passengers to Bergen, a number that has doubled in 10 years. Almost half of the passengers are German or British. The city's main football team is SK Brann and a unique tradition of the city is the buekorps, which are traditional marching neighbourhood youth organisations. Natives speak a distinct dialect, known as Bergensk. The city features Bergen Airport, Flesland and Bergen Light Rail, and is the terminus of the Bergen Line. Four large bridges connect Bergen to its suburban municipalities.

 

Bergen has a mild winter climate, though with significant precipitation. From December to March, Bergen can, in rare cases, be up to 20 °C warmer than Oslo, even though both cities are at about 60° North. In summer however, Bergen is several degrees cooler than Oslo due to the same maritime effects. The Gulf Stream keeps the sea relatively warm, considering the latitude, and the mountains protect the city from cold winds from the north, north-east and east.

 

History

Hieronymus Scholeus's impression of Bergen. The drawing was made in about 1580 and was published in an atlas with drawings of many different cities (Civitaes orbis terrarum).

The city of Bergen was traditionally thought to have been founded by king Olav Kyrre, son of Harald Hardråde in 1070 AD, four years after the Viking Age in England ended with the Battle of Stamford Bridge. Modern research has, however, discovered that a trading settlement had already been established in the 1020s or 1030s.

 

Bergen gradually assumed the function of capital of Norway in the early 13th century, as the first city where a rudimentary central administration was established. The city's cathedral was the site of the first royal coronation in Norway in the 1150s, and continued to host royal coronations throughout the 13th century. Bergenhus fortress dates from the 1240s and guards the entrance to the harbour in Bergen. The functions of the capital city were lost to Oslo during the reign of King Haakon V (1299–1319).

 

In the middle of the 14th century, North German merchants, who had already been present in substantial numbers since the 13th century, founded one of the four Kontore of the Hanseatic League at Bryggen in Bergen. The principal export traded from Bergen was dried cod from the northern Norwegian coast, which started around 1100. The city was granted a monopoly for trade from the north of Norway by King Håkon Håkonsson (1217–1263). Stockfish was the main reason that the city became one of North Europe's largest centres for trade.[11] By the late 14th century, Bergen had established itself as the centre of the trade in Norway. The Hanseatic merchants lived in their own separate quarter of the town, where Middle Low German was used, enjoying exclusive rights to trade with the northern fishermen who each summer sailed to Bergen. The Hansa community resented Scottish merchants who settled in Bergen, and on 9 November 1523 several Scottish households were targeted by German residents. Today, Bergen's old quayside, Bryggen, is on UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites.

 

In 1349, the Black Death was brought to Norway by an English ship arriving in Bergen. Later outbreaks occurred in 1618, 1629 and 1637, on each occasion taking about 3,000 lives. In the 15th century, the city was attacked several times by the Victual Brothers, and in 1429 they succeeded in burning the royal castle and much of the city. In 1665, the city's harbour was the site of the Battle of Vågen, when an English naval flotilla attacked a Dutch merchant and treasure fleet supported by the city's garrison. Accidental fires sometimes got out of control, and one in 1702 reduced most of the town to ashes.

 

Throughout the 15th and 16th centuries, Bergen remained one of the largest cities in Scandinavia, and it was Norway's biggest city until the 1830s, being overtaken by the capital city of Oslo. From around 1600, the Hanseatic dominance of the city's trade gradually declined in favour of Norwegian merchants (often of Hanseatic ancestry), and in the 1750s, the Kontor, or major trading post of the Hanseatic League, finally closed. During the 17th and 18th centuries, Bergen was involved in the Atlantic slave trade. Bergen-based slave trader Jørgen Thormøhlen, the largest shipowner in Norway, was the main owner of the slave ship Cornelia, which made two slave-trading voyages in 1673 and 1674 respectively; he also developed the city's industrial sector, particularly in the neighbourhood of Møhlenpris, which is named after him. Bergen retained its monopoly of trade with northern Norway until 1789. The Bergen stock exchange, the Bergen børs, was established in 1813.

 

Modern history

Bergen was separated from Hordaland as a county of its own in 1831. It was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). The rural municipality of Bergen landdistrikt was merged with Bergen on 1 January 1877. The rural municipality of Årstad was merged with Bergen on 1 July 1915.

 

During World War II, Bergen was occupied on the first day of the German invasion on 9 April 1940, after a brief fight between German ships and the Norwegian coastal artillery. The Norwegian resistance movement groups in Bergen were Saborg, Milorg, "Theta-gruppen", Sivorg, Stein-organisasjonen and the Communist Party. On 20 April 1944, during the German occupation, the Dutch cargo ship Voorbode anchored off the Bergenhus Fortress, loaded with over 120 tons of explosives, and blew up, killing at least 150 people and damaging historic buildings. The city was subject to some Allied bombing raids, aimed at German naval installations in the harbour. Some of these caused Norwegian civilian casualties numbering about 100.

 

Bergen is also well known in Norway for the Isdal Woman (Norwegian: Isdalskvinnen), an unidentified person who was found dead at Isdalen ("Ice Valley") on 29 November 1970. The unsolved case encouraged international speculation over the years and it remains one of the most profound mysteries in recent Norwegian history.

 

The rural municipalities of Arna, Fana, Laksevåg, and Åsane were merged with Bergen on 1 January 1972. The city lost its status as a separate county on the same date, and Bergen is now a municipality, in the county of Vestland.

 

Fires

The city's history is marked by numerous great fires. In 1198, the Bagler faction set fire to the city in connection with a battle against the Birkebeiner faction during the civil war. In 1248, Holmen and Sverresborg burned, and 11 churches were destroyed. In 1413 another fire struck the city, and 14 churches were destroyed. In 1428 the city was plundered by the Victual Brothers, and in 1455, Hanseatic merchants were responsible for burning down Munkeliv Abbey. In 1476, Bryggen burned down in a fire started by a drunk trader. In 1582, another fire hit the city centre and Strandsiden. In 1675, 105 buildings burned down in Øvregaten. In 1686 another great fire hit Strandsiden, destroying 231 city blocks and 218 boathouses. The greatest fire in history was in 1702, when 90% of the city was burned to ashes. In 1751, there was a great fire at Vågsbunnen. In 1756, yet another fire at Strandsiden burned down 1,500 buildings, and further great fires hit Strandsiden in 1771 and 1901. In 1916, 300 buildings burned down in the city centre including the Swan pharmacy, the oldest pharmacy in Norway, and in 1955 parts of Bryggen burned down.

 

Toponymy

Bergen is pronounced in English /ˈbɜːrɡən/ or /ˈbɛərɡən/ and in Norwegian [ˈbæ̀rɡn̩] (in the local dialect [ˈbæ̂ʁɡɛn]). The Old Norse forms of the name were Bergvin [ˈberɡˌwin] and Bjǫrgvin [ˈbjɔrɡˌwin] (and in Icelandic and Faroese the city is still called Björgvin). The first element is berg (n.) or bjǫrg (n.), which translates as 'mountain(s)'. The last element is vin (f.), which means a new settlement where there used to be a pasture or meadow. The full meaning is then "the meadow among the mountains". This is a suitable name: Bergen is often called "the city among the seven mountains". It was the playwright Ludvig Holberg who felt so inspired by the seven hills of Rome, that he decided that his home town must be blessed with a corresponding seven mountains – and locals still argue which seven they are.

 

In 1918, there was a campaign to reintroduce the Norse form Bjørgvin as the name of the city. This was turned down – but as a compromise, the name of the diocese was changed to Bjørgvin bispedømme.

 

Bergen occupies most of the peninsula of Bergenshalvøyen in the district of Midthordland in mid-western Hordaland. The municipality covers an area of 465 square kilometres (180 square miles). Most of the urban area is on or close to a fjord or bay, although the urban area has several mountains. The city centre is surrounded by the Seven Mountains, although there is disagreement as to which of the nine mountains constitute these. Ulriken, Fløyen, Løvstakken and Damsgårdsfjellet are always included as well as three of Lyderhorn, Sandviksfjellet, Blåmanen, Rundemanen and Kolbeinsvarden. Gullfjellet is Bergen's highest mountain, at 987 metres (3,238 ft) above mean sea level. Bergen is far enough north that during clear nights at the solstice, there is borderline civil daylight in spite of the sun having set.

 

Bergen is sheltered from the North Sea by the islands Askøy, Holsnøy (the municipality of Meland) and Sotra (the municipalities of Fjell and Sund). Bergen borders the municipalities Alver and Osterøy to the north, Vaksdal and Samnanger to the east, Os (Bjørnafjorden) and Austevoll to the south, and Øygarden and Askøy to the west.

 

The city centre of Bergen lies in the west of the municipality, facing the fjord of Byfjorden. It is among a group of mountains known as the Seven Mountains, although the number is a matter of definition. From here, the urban area of Bergen extends to the north, west and south, and to its east is a large mountain massif. Outside the city centre and the surrounding neighbourhoods (i.e. Årstad, inner Laksevåg and Sandviken), the majority of the population lives in relatively sparsely populated residential areas built after 1950. While some are dominated by apartment buildings and modern terraced houses (e.g. Fyllingsdalen), others are dominated by single-family homes.

 

The oldest part of Bergen is the area around the bay of Vågen in the city centre. Originally centred on the bay's eastern side, Bergen eventually expanded west and southwards. Few buildings from the oldest period remain, the most significant being St Mary's Church from the 12th century. For several hundred years, the extent of the city remained almost constant. The population was stagnant, and the city limits were narrow. In 1702, seven-eighths of the city burned. Most of the old buildings of Bergen, including Bryggen (which was rebuilt in a mediaeval style), were built after the fire. The fire marked a transition from tar covered houses, as well as the remaining log houses, to painted and some brick-covered wooden buildings.

 

The last half of the 19th century saw a period of rapid expansion and modernisation. The fire of 1855 west of Torgallmenningen led to the development of regularly sized city blocks in this area of the city centre. The city limits were expanded in 1876, and Nygård, Møhlenpris and Sandviken were urbanized with large-scale construction of city blocks housing both the poor and the wealthy. Their architecture is influenced by a variety of styles; historicism, classicism and Art Nouveau. The wealthy built villas between Møhlenpris and Nygård, and on the side of Mount Fløyen; these areas were also added to Bergen in 1876. Simultaneously, an urbanization process was taking place in Solheimsviken in Årstad, at that time outside the Bergen municipality, centred on the large industrial activity in the area. The workers' homes in this area were poorly built, and little remains after large-scale redevelopment in the 1960s–1980s.

 

After Årstad became a part of Bergen in 1916, a development plan was applied to the new area. Few city blocks akin to those in Nygård and Møhlenpris were planned. Many of the worker class built their own homes, and many small, detached apartment buildings were built. After World War II, Bergen had again run short of land to build on, and, contrary to the original plans, many large apartment buildings were built in Landås in the 1950s and 1960s. Bergen acquired Fyllingsdalen from Fana municipality in 1955. Like similar areas in Oslo (e.g. Lambertseter), Fyllingsdalen was developed into a modern suburb with large apartment buildings, mid-rises, and some single-family homes, in the 1960s and 1970s. Similar developments took place beyond Bergen's city limits, for example in Loddefjord.

 

At the same time as planned city expansion took place inside Bergen, its extra-municipal suburbs also grew rapidly. Wealthy citizens of Bergen had been living in Fana since the 19th century, but as the city expanded it became more convenient to settle in the municipality. Similar processes took place in Åsane and Laksevåg. Most of the homes in these areas are detached row houses,[clarification needed] single family homes or small apartment buildings. After the surrounding municipalities were merged with Bergen in 1972, expansion has continued in largely the same manner, although the municipality encourages condensing near commercial centres, future Bergen Light Rail stations, and elsewhere.

 

As part of the modernisation wave of the 1950s and 1960s, and due to damage caused by World War II, the city government ambitiously planned redevelopment of many areas in central Bergen. The plans involved demolition of several neighbourhoods of wooden houses, namely Nordnes, Marken, and Stølen. None of the plans was carried out in its original form; the Marken and Stølen redevelopment plans were discarded and that of Nordnes only carried out in the area that had been most damaged by war. The city council of Bergen had in 1964 voted to demolish the entirety of Marken, however, the decision proved to be highly controversial and the decision was reversed in 1974. Bryggen was under threat of being wholly or partly demolished after the fire of 1955, when a large number of the buildings burned to the ground. Instead of being demolished, the remaining buildings were restored and accompanied by reconstructions of some of the burned buildings.

 

Demolition of old buildings and occasionally whole city blocks is still taking place, the most recent major example being the 2007 razing of Jonsvollskvartalet at Nøstet.

 

Billboards are banned in the city.

 

Culture and sports

Bergens Tidende (BT) and Bergensavisen (BA) are the largest newspapers, with circulations of 87,076 and 30,719 in 2006, BT is a regional newspaper covering all of Vestland, while BA focuses on metropolitan Bergen. Other newspapers published in Bergen include the Christian national Dagen, with a circulation of 8.936, and TradeWinds, an international shipping newspaper. Local newspapers are Fanaposten for Fana, Sydvesten for Laksevåg and Fyllingsdalen and Bygdanytt for Arna and the neighbouring municipality Osterøy. TV 2, Norway's largest private television company, is based in Bergen.

 

The 1,500-seat Grieg Hall is the city's main cultural venue, and home of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, founded in 1765, and the Bergen Woodwind Quintet. The city also features Carte Blanche, the Norwegian national company of contemporary dance. The annual Bergen International Festival is the main cultural festival, which is supplemented by the Bergen International Film Festival. Two internationally renowned composers from Bergen are Edvard Grieg and Ole Bull. Grieg's home, Troldhaugen, has been converted to a museum. During the 1990s and early 2000s, Bergen produced a series of successful pop, rock and black metal artists, collectively known as the Bergen Wave.

 

Den Nationale Scene is Bergen's main theatre. Founded in 1850, it had Henrik Ibsen as one of its first in-house playwrights and art directors. Bergen's contemporary art scene is centred on BIT Teatergarasjen, Bergen Kunsthall, United Sardines Factory (USF) and Bergen Center for Electronic Arts (BEK). Bergen was a European Capital of Culture in 2000. Buekorps is a unique feature of Bergen culture, consisting of boys aged from 7 to 21 parading with imitation weapons and snare drums. The city's Hanseatic heritage is documented in the Hanseatic Museum located at Bryggen.

 

SK Brann is Bergen's premier football team; founded in 1908, they have played in the (men's) Norwegian Premier League for all but seven years since 1963 and consecutively, except one season after relegation in 2014, since 1987. The team were the football champions in 1961–1962, 1963, and 2007,[155] and reached the quarter-finals of the Cup Winners' Cup in 1996–1997. Brann play their home games at the 17,824-seat Brann Stadion. FK Fyllingsdalen is the city's second-best team, playing in the Second Division at Varden Amfi. Its predecessor, Fyllingen, played in the Norwegian Premier League in 1990, 1991 and 1993. Arna-Bjørnar and Sandviken play in the Women's Premier League.

 

Bergen IK is the premier men's ice hockey team, playing at Bergenshallen in the First Division. Tertnes play in the Women's Premier Handball League, and Fyllingen in the Men's Premier Handball League. In athletics, the city is dominated by IL Norna-Salhus, IL Gular and FIK BFG Fana, formerly also Norrøna IL and TIF Viking. The Bergen Storm are an American football team that plays matches at Varden Kunstgress and plays in the second division of the Norwegian league.

 

Bergensk is the native dialect of Bergen. It was strongly influenced by Low German-speaking merchants from the mid-14th to mid-18th centuries. During the Dano-Norwegian period from 1536 to 1814, Bergen was more influenced by Danish than other areas of Norway. The Danish influence removed the female grammatical gender in the 16th century, making Bergensk one of very few Norwegian dialects with only two instead of three grammatical genders. The Rs are uvular trills, as in French, which probably spread to Bergen some time in the 18th century, overtaking the alveolar trill in the time span of two to three generations. Owing to an improved literacy rate, Bergensk was influenced by riksmål and bokmål in the 19th and 20th centuries. This led to large parts of the German-inspired vocabulary disappearing and pronunciations shifting slightly towards East Norwegian.

 

The 1986 edition of the Eurovision Song Contest took place in Bergen. Bergen was the host city for the 2017 UCI Road World Championships. The city is also a member of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network in the category of gastronomy since 2015.

 

Street art

Bergen is considered to be the street art capital of Norway. Famed artist Banksy visited the city in 2000 and inspired many to start creating street art. Soon after, the city brought up the most famous street artist in Norway: Dolk. His art can still be seen in several places in the city, and in 2009 the city council choose to preserve Dolk's work "Spray" with protective glass. In 2011, Bergen council launched a plan of action for street art in Bergen from 2011 to 2015 to ensure that "Bergen will lead the fashion for street art as an expression both in Norway and Scandinavia".

 

The Madam Felle (1831–1908) monument in Sandviken, is in honour of a Norwegian woman of German origin, who in the mid-19th century managed, against the will of the council, to maintain a counter of beer. A well-known restaurant of the same name is now situated at another location in Bergen. The monument was erected in 1990 by sculptor Kari Rolfsen, supported by an anonymous donor. Madam Felle, civil name Oline Fell, was remembered after her death in a popular song, possibly originally a folksong, "Kjenner Dokker Madam Felle?" by Lothar Lindtner and Rolf Berntzen on an album in 1977.

 

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway , is a Nordic , European country and an independent state in the west of the Scandinavian Peninsula . Geographically speaking, the country is long and narrow, and on the elongated coast towards the North Atlantic are Norway's well-known fjords . The Kingdom of Norway includes the main country (the mainland with adjacent islands within the baseline ), Jan Mayen and Svalbard . With these two Arctic areas, Norway covers a land area of ​​385,000 km² and has a population of approximately 5.5 million (2023). Mainland Norway borders Sweden in the east , Finland and Russia in the northeast .

 

Norway is a parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy , where Harald V has been king and head of state since 1991 , and Jonas Gahr Støre ( Ap ) has been prime minister since 2021 . Norway is a unitary state , with two administrative levels below the state: counties and municipalities . The Sami part of the population has, through the Sami Parliament and the Finnmark Act , to a certain extent self-government and influence over traditionally Sami areas. Although Norway has rejected membership of the European Union through two referendums , through the EEA Agreement Norway has close ties with the Union, and through NATO with the United States . Norway is a significant contributor to the United Nations (UN), and has participated with soldiers in several foreign operations mandated by the UN. Norway is among the states that have participated from the founding of the UN , NATO , the Council of Europe , the OSCE and the Nordic Council , and in addition to these is a member of the EEA , the World Trade Organization , the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development and is part of the Schengen area .

 

Norway is rich in many natural resources such as oil , gas , minerals , timber , seafood , fresh water and hydropower . Since the beginning of the 20th century, these natural conditions have given the country the opportunity for an increase in wealth that few other countries can now enjoy, and Norwegians have the second highest average income in the world, measured in GDP per capita, as of 2022. The petroleum industry accounts for around 14% of Norway's gross domestic product as of 2018. Norway is the world's largest producer of oil and gas per capita outside the Middle East. However, the number of employees linked to this industry fell from approx. 232,000 in 2013 to 207,000 in 2015.

 

In Norway, these natural resources have been managed for socially beneficial purposes. The country maintains a welfare model in line with the other Nordic countries. Important service areas such as health and higher education are state-funded, and the country has an extensive welfare system for its citizens. Public expenditure in 2018 is approx. 50% of GDP, and the majority of these expenses are related to education, healthcare, social security and welfare. Since 2001 and until 2021, when the country took second place, the UN has ranked Norway as the world's best country to live in . From 2010, Norway is also ranked at the top of the EIU's democracy index . Norway ranks third on the UN's World Happiness Report for the years 2016–2018, behind Finland and Denmark , a report published in March 2019.

 

The majority of the population is Nordic. In the last couple of years, immigration has accounted for more than half of population growth. The five largest minority groups are Norwegian-Poles , Lithuanians , Norwegian-Swedes , Norwegian-Syrians including Syrian Kurds and Norwegian-Pakistani .

 

Norway's national day is 17 May, on this day in 1814 the Norwegian Constitution was dated and signed by the presidency of the National Assembly at Eidsvoll . It is stipulated in the law of 26 April 1947 that 17 May are national public holidays. The Sami national day is 6 February. "Yes, we love this country" is Norway's national anthem, the song was written in 1859 by Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson (1832–1910).

 

Norway's history of human settlement goes back at least 10,000 years, to the Late Paleolithic , the first period of the Stone Age . Archaeological finds of settlements along the entire Norwegian coast have so far been dated back to 10,400 before present (BP), the oldest find is today considered to be a settlement at Pauler in Brunlanes , Vestfold .

For a period these settlements were considered to be the remains of settlers from Doggerland , an area which today lies beneath the North Sea , but which was once a land bridge connecting today's British Isles with Danish Jutland . But the archaeologists who study the initial phase of the settlement in what is today Norway reckon that the first people who came here followed the coast along what is today Bohuslân. That they arrived in some form of boat is absolutely certain, and there is much evidence that they could easily move over large distances.

 

Since the last Ice Age, there has been continuous settlement in Norway. It cannot be ruled out that people lived in Norway during the interglacial period , but no trace of such a population or settlement has been found.

 

The Stone Age lasted a long time; half of the time that our country has been populated. There are no written accounts of what life was like back then. The knowledge we have has been painstakingly collected through investigations of places where people have stayed and left behind objects that we can understand have been processed by human hands. This field of knowledge is called archaeology . The archaeologists interpret their findings and the history of the surrounding landscape. In our country, the uplift after the Ice Age is fundamental. The history of the settlements at Pauler is no more than fifteen years old.

 

The Fosna culture settled parts of Norway sometime between 10,000–8,000 BC. (see Stone Age in Norway ). The dating of rock carvings is set to Neolithic times (in Norway between 4000 BC to 1700 BC) and show activities typical of hunters and gatherers .

 

Agriculture with livestock and arable farming was introduced in the Neolithic. Swad farming where the farmers move when the field does not produce the expected yield.

 

More permanent and persistent farm settlements developed in the Bronze Age (1700 BC to 500 BC) and the Iron Age . The earliest runes have been found on an arrowhead dated to around 200 BC. Many more inscriptions are dated to around 800, and a number of petty kingdoms developed during these centuries. In prehistoric times, there were no fixed national borders in the Nordic countries and Norway did not exist as a state. The population in Norway probably fell to year 0.

 

Events in this time period, the centuries before the year 1000, are glimpsed in written sources. Although the sagas were written down in the 13th century, many hundreds of years later, they provide a glimpse into what was already a distant past. The story of the fimbul winter gives us a historical picture of something that happened and which in our time, with the help of dendrochronology , can be interpreted as a natural disaster in the year 536, created by a volcanic eruption in El Salvador .

 

In the period between 800 and 1066 there was a significant expansion and it is referred to as the Viking Age . During this period, Norwegians, as Swedes and Danes also did, traveled abroad in longships with sails as explorers, traders, settlers and as Vikings (raiders and pirates ). By the middle of the 11th century, the Norwegian kingship had been firmly established, building its right as descendants of Harald Hårfagre and then as heirs of Olav the Holy . The Norwegian kings, and their subjects, now professed Christianity . In the time around Håkon Håkonsson , in the time after the civil war , there was a small renaissance in Norway with extensive literary activity and diplomatic activity with Europe. The black dew came to Norway in 1349 and killed around half of the population. The entire state apparatus and Norway then entered a period of decline.

 

Between 1396 and 1536, Norway was part of the Kalmar Union , and from 1536 until 1814 Norway had been reduced to a tributary part of Denmark , named as the Personal Union of Denmark-Norway . This staff union entered into an alliance with Napoléon Bonaparte with a war that brought bad times and famine in 1812 . In 1814, Denmark-Norway lost the Anglophone Wars , part of the Napoleonic Wars , and the Danish king was forced to cede Norway to the king of Sweden in the Treaty of Kiel on 14 January of that year. After a Norwegian attempt at independence, Norway was forced into a loose union with Sweden, but where Norway was allowed to create its own constitution, the Constitution of 1814 . In this period, Norwegian, romantic national feeling flourished, and the Norwegians tried to develop and establish their own national self-worth. The union with Sweden was broken in 1905 after it had been threatened with war, and Norway became an independent kingdom with its own monarch, Haakon VII .

 

Norway remained neutral during the First World War , and at the outbreak of the Second World War, Norway again declared itself neutral, but was invaded by National Socialist Germany on 9 April 1940 .

 

Norway became a member of the Western defense alliance NATO in 1949 . Two attempts to join the EU were voted down in referendums by small margins in 1972 and 1994 . Norway has been a close ally of the United States in the post-war period. Large discoveries of oil and natural gas in the North Sea at the end of the 1960s led to tremendous economic growth in the country, which is still ongoing. Traditional industries such as fishing are also part of Norway's economy.

 

Stone Age (before 1700 BC)

When most of the ice disappeared, vegetation spread over the landscape and due to a warm climate around 2000-3000 BC. the forest grew much taller than in modern times. Land uplift after the ice age led to a number of fjords becoming lakes and dry land. The first people probably came from the south along the coast of the Kattegat and overland into Finnmark from the east. The first people probably lived by gathering, hunting and trapping. A good number of Stone Age settlements have been found which show that such hunting and trapping people stayed for a long time in the same place or returned to the same place regularly. Large amounts of gnawed bones show that they lived on, among other things, reindeer, elk, small game and fish.

 

Flintstone was imported from Denmark and apart from small natural deposits along the southern coast, all flintstone in Norway is transported by people. At Espevær, greenstone was quarried for tools in the Stone Age, and greenstone tools from Espevær have been found over large parts of Western Norway. Around 2000-3000 BC the usual farm animals such as cows and sheep were introduced to Norway. Livestock probably meant a fundamental change in society in that part of the people had to be permanent residents or live a semi-nomadic life. Livestock farming may also have led to conflict with hunters.

 

The oldest traces of people in what is today Norway have been found at Pauler , a farm in Brunlanes in Larvik municipality in Vestfold . In 2007 and 2008, the farm has given its name to a number of Stone Age settlements that have been excavated and examined by archaeologists from the Cultural History Museum at UiO. The investigations have been carried out in connection with the new route for the E18 motorway west of Farris. The oldest settlement, located more than 127 m above sea level, is dated to be about 10,400 years old (uncalibrated, more than 11,000 years in real calendar years). From here, the ice sheet was perhaps visible when people settled here. This locality has been named Pauler I, and is today considered to be the oldest confirmed human traces in Norway to date. The place is in the mountains above the Pauler tunnel on the E18 between Larvik and Porsgrunn . The pioneer settlement is a term archaeologists have adopted for the oldest settlement. The archaeologists have speculated about where they came from, the first people in what is today Norway. It has been suggested that they could come by boat or perhaps across the ice from Doggerland or the North Sea, but there is now a large consensus that they came north along what is today the Bohuslän coast. The Fosna culture , the Komsa culture and the Nøstvet culture are the traditional terms for hunting cultures from the Stone Age. One thing is certain - getting to the water was something they mastered, the first people in our country. Therefore, within a short time they were able to use our entire long coast.

 

In the New Stone Age (4000 BC–1700 BC) there is a theory that a new people immigrated to the country, the so-called Stone Ax People . Rock carvings from this period show motifs from hunting and fishing , which were still important industries. From this period, a megalithic tomb has been found in Østfold .

It is uncertain whether there were organized societies or state-like associations in the Stone Age in Norway. Findings from settlements indicate that many lived together and that this was probably more than one family so that it was a slightly larger, organized herd.

 

Finnmark

In prehistoric times, animal husbandry and agriculture were of little economic importance in Finnmark. Livelihoods in Finnmark were mainly based on fish, gathering, hunting and trapping, and eventually domestic reindeer herding became widespread in the Middle Ages. Archaeological finds from the Stone Age have been referred to as the Komsa culture and comprise around 5,000 years of settlement. Finnmark probably got its first settlement around 8000 BC. It is believed that the coastal areas became ice-free 11,000 years BC and the fjord areas around 9,000 years BC. after which willows, grass, heather, birch and pine came into being. Finnmarksvidda was covered by pine forest around 6000 BC. After the Ice Age, the land rose around 80 meters in the inner fjord areas (Alta, Tana, Varanger). Due to ice melting in the polar region, the sea rose in the period 6400–3800 BC. and in areas with little land elevation, some settlements from the first part of the Stone Age were flooded. On Sørøya, the net sea level rise was 12 to 14 meters and many residential areas were flooded.

 

According to Bjørnar Olsen , there are many indications of a connection between the oldest settlement in Western Norway (the " Fosnakulturen ") and that in Finnmark, but it is uncertain in which direction the settlement took place. In the earliest part of the Stone Age, settlement in Finnmark was probably concentrated in the coastal areas, and these only reflected a lifestyle with great mobility and no permanent dwellings. The inner regions, such as Pasvik, were probably used seasonally. The archaeologically proven settlements from the Stone Age in inner Finnmark and Troms are linked to lakes and large watercourses. The oldest petroglyphs in Alta are usually dated to 4200 BC, that is, the Neolithic . Bjørnar Olsen believes that the oldest can be up to 2,000 years older than this.

 

From around 4000 BC a slow deforestation of Finnmark began and around 1800 BC the vegetation distribution was roughly the same as in modern times. The change in vegetation may have increased the distance between the reindeer's summer and winter grazing. The uplift continued slowly from around 4000 BC. at the same time as sea level rise stopped.

 

According to Gutorm Gjessing, the settlement in Finnmark and large parts of northern Norway in the Neolithic was semi-nomadic with movement between four seasonal settlements (following the pattern of life in Sami siida in historical times): On the outer coast in summer (fishing and seal catching) and inland in winter (hunting for reindeer, elk and bear). Povl Simonsen believed instead that the winter residence was in the inner fjord area in a village-like sod house settlement. Bjørnar Olsen believes that at the end of the Stone Age there was a relatively settled population along the coast, while inland there was less settlement and a more mobile lifestyle.

 

Bronze Age (1700 BC–500 BC)

Bronze was used for tools in Norway from around 1500 BC. Bronze is a mixture of tin and copper , and these metals were introduced because they were not mined in the country at the time. Bronze is believed to have been a relatively expensive material. The Bronze Age in Norway can be divided into two phases:

 

Early Bronze Age (1700–1100 BC)

Younger Bronze Age (1100–500 BC)

For the prehistoric (unwritten) era, there is limited knowledge about social conditions and possible state formations. From the Bronze Age, there are large burial mounds of stone piles along the coast of Vestfold and Agder, among others. It is likely that only chieftains or other great men could erect such grave monuments and there was probably some form of organized society linked to these. In the Bronze Age, society was more organized and stratified than in the Stone Age. Then a rich class of chieftains emerged who had close connections with southern Scandinavia. The settlements became more permanent and people adopted horses and ard . They acquired bronze status symbols, lived in longhouses and people were buried in large burial mounds . Petroglyphs from the Bronze Age indicate that humans practiced solar cultivation.

 

Finnmark

In the last millennium BC the climate became cooler and the pine forest disappears from the coast; pine forests, for example, were only found in the innermost part of the Altafjord, while the outer coast was almost treeless. Around the year 0, the limit for birch forest was south of Kirkenes. Animals with forest habitats (elk, bear and beaver) disappeared and the reindeer probably established their annual migration routes sometime at that time. In the period 1800–900 BC there were significantly more settlements in and utilization of the hinterland was particularly noticeable on Finnmarksvidda. From around 1800 BC until year 0 there was a significant increase in contact between Finnmark and areas in the east including Karelia (where metals were produced including copper) and central and eastern Russia. The youngest petroglyphs in Alta show far more boats than the earlier phases and the boats are reminiscent of types depicted in petroglyphs in southern Scandinavia. It is unclear what influence southern Scandinavian societies had as far north as Alta before the year 0. Many of the cultural features that are considered typical Sami in modern times were created or consolidated in the last millennium BC, this applies, among other things, to the custom of burying in brick chambers in stone urns. The Mortensnes burial ground may have been used for 2000 years until around 1600 AD.

 

Iron Age (c. 500 BC–c. 1050 AD)

 

The Einangsteinen is one of the oldest Norwegian runestones; it is from the 4th century

 

Simultaneous production of Vikings

Around 500 years BC the researchers reckon that the Bronze Age will be replaced by the Iron Age as iron takes over as the most important material for weapons and tools. Bronze, wood and stone were still used. Iron was cheaper than bronze, easier to work than flint , and could be used for many purposes; iron probably became common property. Iron could, among other things, be used to make solid and sharp axes which made it much easier to fell trees. In the Iron Age, gold and silver were also used partly for decoration and partly as means of payment. It is unknown which language was used in Norway before our era. From around the year 0 until around the year 800, everyone in Scandinavia (except the Sami) spoke Old Norse , a North Germanic language. Subsequently, several different languages ​​developed in this area that were only partially mutually intelligible. The Iron Age is divided into several periods:

 

Early Iron Age

Pre-Roman Iron Age (c. 500 BC–c. 0)

Roman Iron Age (c. 0–c. AD 400)

Migration period (approx. 400–600). In the migration period (approx. 400–600), new peoples came to Norway, and ruins of fortress buildings etc. are interpreted as signs that there has been talk of a violent invasion.

Younger Iron Age

Merovingian period (500–800)

 

The Viking Age (793–1066)

Norwegian Vikings go on plundering expeditions and trade voyages around the coastal countries of Western Europe . Large groups of Norwegians emigrate to the British Isles , Iceland and Greenland . Harald Hårfagre starts a unification process of Norway late in the 8th century , which was completed by Harald Hardråde in the 1060s . The country was Christianized under the kings Olav Tryggvason , fell in the battle of Svolder ( 1000 ) and Olav Haraldsson (the saint), fell in the battle of Stiklestad in 1030 .

 

Sources of prehistoric times

Shrinking glaciers in the high mountains, including in Jotunheimen and Breheimen , have from around the year 2000 uncovered objects from the Viking Age and earlier. These are objects of organic material that have been preserved by the ice and that elsewhere in nature are broken down in a few months. The finds are getting older as the melting makes the archaeologists go deeper into the ice. About half of all archaeological discoveries on glaciers in the world are made in Oppland . In 2013, a 3,400-year-old shoe and a robe from the year 300 were found. Finds at Lomseggen in Lom published in 2020 revealed, among other things, well-preserved horseshoes used on a mountain pass. Many hundreds of items include preserved clothing, knives, whisks, mittens, leather shoes, wooden chests and horse equipment. A piece of cloth dated to the year 1000 has preserved its original colour. In 2014, a wooden ski from around the year 700 was found in Reinheimen . The ski is 172 cm long and 14 cm wide, with preserved binding of leather and wicker.

 

Pytheas from Massalia is the oldest known account of what was probably the coast of Norway, perhaps somewhere on the coast of Møre. Pytheas visited Britannia around 325 BC. and traveled further north to a country by the "Ice Sea". Pytheas described the short summer night and the midnight sun farther north. He wrote, among other things, that people there made a drink from grain and honey. Caesar wrote in his work about the Gallic campaign about the Germanic tribe Haruders. Other Roman sources around the year 0 mention the land of the Cimbri (Jutland) and the Cimbri headlands ( Skagen ) and that the sources stated that Cimbri and Charyds lived in this area. Some of these peoples may have immigrated to Norway and there become known as hordes (as in Hordaland). Sources from the Mediterranean area referred to the islands of Scandia, Scandinavia and Thule ("the outermost of all islands"). The Roman historian Tacitus wrote around the year 100 a work about Germania and mentioned the people of Scandia, the Sviones. Ptolemy wrote around the year 150 that the Kharudes (Hordes) lived further north than all the Cimbri, in the north lived the Finnoi (Finns or Sami) and in the south the Gutai (Goths). The Nordic countries and Norway were outside the Roman Empire , which dominated Europe at the time. The Gothic-born historian Jordanes wrote in the 5th century about 13 tribes or people groups in Norway, including raumaricii (probably Romerike ), ragnaricii ( Ranrike ) and finni or skretefinni (skrid finner or ski finner, i.e. Sami) as well as a number of unclear groups. Prokopios wrote at the same time about Thule north of the land of the Danes and Slavs, Thule was ten times as big as Britannia and the largest of all the islands. In Thule, the sun was up 40 days straight in the summer. After the migration period , southern Europeans' accounts of northern Europe became fuller and more reliable.

 

Settlement in prehistoric times

Norway has around 50,000 farms with their own names. Farm names have persisted for a long time, over 1000 years, perhaps as much as 2000 years. The name researchers have arranged different types of farm names chronologically, which provides a basis for determining when the place was used by people or received a permanent settlement. Uncompounded landscape names such as Haug, Eid, Vik and Berg are believed to be the oldest. Archaeological traces indicate that some areas have been inhabited earlier than assumed from the farm name. Burial mounds also indicate permanent settlement. For example, the burial ground at Svartelva in Løten was used from around the year 0 to the year 1000 when Christianity took over. The first farmers probably used large areas for inland and outland, and new farms were probably established based on some "mother farms". Names such as By (or Bø) show that it is an old place of residence. From the older Iron Age, names with -heim (a common Germanic word meaning place of residence) and -stad tell of settlement, while -vin and -land tell of the use of the place. Farm names in -heim are often found as -um , -eim or -em as in Lerum and Seim, there are often large farms in the center of the village. New farm names with -city and -country were also established in the Viking Age . The first farmers probably used the best areas. The largest burial grounds, the oldest archaeological finds and the oldest farm names are found where the arable land is richest and most spacious.

 

It is unclear whether the settlement expansion in Roman times, migrations and the Iron Age is due to immigration or internal development and population growth. Among other things, it is difficult to demonstrate where in Europe the immigrants have come from. The permanent residents had both fields (where grain was grown) and livestock that grazed in the open fields, but it is uncertain which of these was more important. Population growth from around the year 200 led to more utilization of open land, for example in the form of settlements in the mountains. During the migration period, it also seems that in parts of the country it became common to have cluster gardens or a form of village settlement.

 

Norwegian expansion northwards

From around the year 200, there was a certain migration by sea from Rogaland and Hordaland to Nordland and Sør-Troms. Those who moved settled down as a settled Iron Age population and became dominant over the original population which may have been Sami . The immigrant Norwegians, Bumen , farmed with livestock that were fed inside in the winter as well as some grain cultivation and fishing. The northern border of the Norwegians' settlement was originally at the Toppsundet near Harstad and around the year 500 there was a Norwegian settlement to Malangsgapet. That was as far north as it was possible to grow grain at the time. Malangen was considered the border between Hålogaland and Finnmork until around 1400 . Further into the Viking Age and the Middle Ages, there was immigration and settlement of Norwegian speakers along the coast north of Malangen. Around the year 800, Norwegians lived along the entire outer coast to Vannøy . The Norwegians partly copied Sami livelihoods such as whaling, fur hunting and reindeer husbandry. It was probably this area between Malangen and Vannøy that was Ottar from the Hålogaland area. In the Viking Age, there were also some Norwegian settlements further north and east. East of the North Cape are the scattered archaeological finds of Norwegian settlement in the Viking Age. There are Norwegian names for fjords and islands from the Viking Age, including fjord names with "-anger". Around the year 1050, there were Norwegian settlements on the outer coast of Western Finnmark. Traders and tax collectors traveled even further.

 

North of Malangen there were Norse farming settlements in the Iron Age. Malangen was considered Finnmark's western border until 1300. There are some archaeological traces of Norse activity around the coast from Tromsø to Kirkenes in the Viking Age. Around Tromsø, the research indicates a Norse/Sami mixed culture on the coast.

 

From the year 1100 and the next 200–300 years, there are no traces of Norwegian settlement north and east of Tromsø. It is uncertain whether this is due to depopulation, whether it is because the Norwegians further north were not Christianized or because there were no churches north of Lenvik or Tromsø . Norwegian settlement in the far north appears from sources from the 14th century. In the Hanseatic period , the settlement was developed into large areas specialized in commercial fishing, while earlier (in the Viking Age) there had been farms with a combination of fishing and agriculture. In 1307 , a fortress and the first church east of Tromsø were built in Vardø . Vardø became a small Norwegian town, while Vadsø remained Sami. Norwegian settlements and churches appeared along the outermost coast in the Middle Ages. After the Reformation, perhaps as a result of a decline in fish stocks or fish prices, there were Norwegian settlements in the inner fjord areas such as Lebesby in Laksefjord. Some fishing villages at the far end of the coast were abandoned for good. In the interior of Finnmark, there was no national border for a long time and Kautokeino and Karasjok were joint Norwegian-Swedish areas with strong Swedish influence. The border with Finland was established in 1751 and with Russia in 1826.

 

On a Swedish map from 1626, Norway's border is indicated at Malangen, while Sweden with this map showed a desire to control the Sami area which had been a common area.

 

The term Northern Norway only came into use at the end of the 19th century and administratively the area was referred to as Tromsø Diocese when Tromsø became a bishopric in 1840. There had been different designations previously: Hålogaland originally included only Helgeland and when Norse settlement spread north in the Viking Age and the Middle Ages, Hålogaland was used for the area north approximately to Malangen , while Finnmark or "Finnmarken", "the land of the Sami", lay outside. The term Northern Norway was coined at a cafe table in Kristiania in 1884 by members of the Nordlændingernes Forening and was first commonly used in the interwar period as it eventually supplanted "Hålogaland".

 

State formation

The battle in Hafrsfjord in the year 872 has long been regarded as the day when Norway became a kingdom. The year of the battle is uncertain (may have been 10-20 years later). The whole of Norway was not united in that battle: the process had begun earlier and continued a couple of hundred years later. This means that the geographical area became subject to a political authority and became a political unit. The geographical area was perceived as an area as it is known, among other things, from Ottar from Hålogaland's account for King Alfred of Wessex around the year 880. Ottar described "the land of the Norwegians" as very long and narrow, and it was narrowest in the far north. East of the wasteland in the south lay Sveoland and in the north lay Kvenaland in the east. When Ottar sailed south along the land from his home ( Malangen ) to Skiringssal, he always had Norway ("Nordveg") on his port side and the British Isles on his starboard side. The journey took a good month. Ottar perceived "Nordveg" as a geographical unit, but did not imply that it was a political unit. Ottar separated Norwegians from Swedes and Danes. It is unclear why Ottar perceived the population spread over such a large area as a whole. It is unclear whether Norway as a geographical term or Norwegians as the name of a ethnic group is the oldest. The Norwegians had a common language which in the centuries before Ottar did not differ much from the language of Denmark and Sweden.

 

According to Sverre Steen, it is unlikely that Harald Hårfagre was able to control this entire area as one kingdom. The saga of Harald was written 300 years later and at his death Norway was several smaller kingdoms. Harald probably controlled a larger area than anyone before him and at most Harald's kingdom probably included the coast from Trøndelag to Agder and Vestfold as well as parts of Viken . There were probably several smaller kingdoms of varying extent before Harald and some of these are reflected in traditional landscape names such as Ranrike and Ringerike . Landscape names of "-land" (Rogaland) and "-mark" (Hedmark) as well as names such as Agder and Sogn may have been political units before Harald.

 

According to Sverre Steen, the national assembly was completed at the earliest at the battle of Stiklestad in 1030 and the introduction of Christianity was probably a significant factor in the establishment of Norway as a state. Håkon I the good Adalsteinsfostre introduced the leasehold system where the "coastal land" (as far as the salmon went up the rivers) was divided into ship raiders who were to provide a longship with soldiers and supplies. The leidange was probably introduced as a defense against the Danes. The border with the Danes was traditionally at the Göta älv and several times before and after Harald Hårfagre the Danes had control over central parts of Norway.

 

Christianity was known and existed in Norway before Olav Haraldson's time. The spread occurred both from the south (today's Denmark and northern Germany) and from the west (England and Ireland). Ansgar of Bremen , called the "Apostle of the North", worked in Sweden, but he was never in Norway and probably had little influence in the country. Viking expeditions brought the Norwegians of that time into contact with Christian countries and some were baptized in England, Ireland and northern France. Olav Tryggvason and Olav Haraldson were Vikings who returned home. The first Christians in Norway were also linked to pre-Christian local religion, among other things, by mixing Christian symbols with symbols of Odin and other figures from Norse religion.

 

According to Sverre Steen, the introduction of Christianity in Norway should not be perceived as a nationwide revival. At Mostratinget, Christian law was introduced as law in the country and later incorporated into the laws of the individual jurisdictions. Christianity primarily involved new forms in social life, among other things exposure and images of gods were prohibited, it was forbidden to "put out" unwanted infants (to let them die), and it was forbidden to have multiple wives. The church became a nationwide institution with a special group of officials tasked with protecting the church and consolidating the new religion. According to Sverre Steen, Christianity and the church in the Middle Ages should therefore be considered together, and these became a new unifying factor in the country. The church and Christianity linked Norway to Roman Catholic Europe with Church Latin as the common language, the same time reckoning as the rest of Europe and the church in Norway was arranged much like the churches in Denmark, Sweden and England. Norway received papal approval in 1070 and became its own church province in 1152 with Archbishop Nidaros .

 

With Christianity, the country got three social powers: the peasants (organized through the things), the king with his officials and the church with the clergy. The things are the oldest institution: At allthings all armed men had the right to attend (in part an obligation to attend) and at lagthings met emissaries from an area (that is, the lagthings were representative assemblies). The Thing both ruled in conflicts and established laws. The laws were memorized by the participants and written down around the year 1000 or later in the Gulationsloven , Frostatingsloven , Eidsivatingsloven and Borgartingsloven . The person who had been successful at the hearing had to see to the implementation of the judgment themselves.

 

Early Middle Ages (1050s–1184)

The early Middle Ages is considered in Norwegian history to be the period between the end of the Viking Age around 1050 and the coronation of King Sverre in 1184 . The beginning of the period can be dated differently, from around the year 1000 when the Christianization of the country took place and up to 1100 when the Viking Age was over from an archaeological point of view. From 1035 to 1130 it was a time of (relative) internal peace in Norway, even several of the kings attempted campaigns abroad, including in 1066 and 1103 .

 

During this period, the church's organization was built up. This led to a gradual change in religious customs. Religion went from being a domestic matter to being regulated by common European Christian law and the royal power gained increased power and influence. Slavery (" servitude ") was gradually abolished. The population grew rapidly during this period, as the thousands of farm names ending in -rud show.

 

The urbanization of Norway is a historical process that has slowly but surely changed Norway from the early Viking Age to today, from a country based on agriculture and sea salvage, to increasingly trade and industry. As early as the ninth century, the country got its first urban community, and in the eleventh century we got the first permanent cities.

 

In the 1130s, civil war broke out . This was due to a power struggle and that anyone who claimed to be the king's son could claim the right to the throne. The disputes escalated into extensive year-round warfare when Sverre Sigurdsson started a rebellion against the church's and the landmen's candidate for the throne , Magnus Erlingsson .

 

Emergence of cities

The oldest Norwegian cities probably emerged from the end of the 9th century. Oslo, Bergen and Nidaros became episcopal seats, which stimulated urban development there, and the king built churches in Borg , Konghelle and Tønsberg. Hamar and Stavanger became new episcopal seats and are referred to in the late 12th century as towns together with the trading places Veøy in Romsdal and Kaupanger in Sogn. In the late Middle Ages, Borgund (on Sunnmøre), Veøy (in Romsdalsfjorden) and Vågan (in Lofoten) were referred to as small trading places. Urbanization in Norway occurred in few places compared to the neighboring countries, only 14 places appear as cities before 1350. Stavanger became a bishopric around 1120–1130, but it is unclear whether the place was already a city then. The fertile Jæren and outer Ryfylke were probably relatively densely populated at that time. A particularly large concentration of Irish artefacts from the Viking Age has been found in Stavanger and Nord-Jæren.

 

It has been difficult to estimate the population in the Norwegian medieval cities, but it is considered certain that the cities grew rapidly in the Middle Ages. Oscar Albert Johnsen estimated the city's population before the Black Death at 20,000, of which 7,000 in Bergen, 3,000 in Nidaros, 2,000 in Oslo and 1,500 in Tunsberg. Based on archaeological research, Lunden estimates that Oslo had around 1,500 inhabitants in 250 households in the year 1300. Bergen was built up more densely and, with the concentration of exports there, became Norway's largest city in a special position for several hundred years. Knut Helle suggests a city population of 20,000 at most in the High Middle Ages, of which almost half in Bergen.

 

The Bjarkøyretten regulated the conditions in cities (especially Bergen and Nidaros) and in trading places, and for Nidaros had many of the same provisions as the Frostating Act . Magnus Lagabøte's city law replaced the bjarkøretten and from 1276 regulated the settlement in Bergen and with corresponding laws also drawn up for Oslo, Nidaros and Tunsberg. The city law applied within the city's roof area . The City Act determined that the city's public streets consisted of wid

A) We know from Geography Bunker that Countries of the World is not completed, and now The Beatles in Latin tells us every image quiz was started. This means that Countries of the World is “Ran out of Time.”

 

B) The third row has only one unsolved square, and so 20th Century by Image tells us that Shakespeare Plays is “Ran out of Time.”

Macro shot from several days ago of my left eye.

 

For this photo I had my Canon 60D equipped with a 18-55mm kit lens assembled backwards via a macro reverse ring attachment.

 

Some of you probably are really sick of seeing my eye every other month on here but the eye interests me so much. Mine change all the time so it confuses me what my true eye color is.

 

For example, someone looked at a photo of me once and says "you have amazing baby blue eyes!" and then later I am staring at them in the mirror for myself like a weirdo, to see they are more gray; and hell, there is even some brown-yellow or hazel looking stuff in the middle. There are some instances where my eyes look more blue-green-gray, with the lighter brown-hazel-yellow in the middle turning into a dark green-brown ring like in my Flickr buddy icon/profile pic. I guess it's partially due to having a suspected heterochromia, something like that? I don't know but there is this unsolved mystery with myself and determining whether my eyes are BLUE or GRAY! Lol.

 

Other than that strange reading, I hope you enjoy this picture and not find it to be too gross or creepy. :P