View allAll Photos Tagged execution
FuturPointe Dance – Guy Thorne and N’Jelle Gage
GUY THORNE is the co-founder, artistic director, choreographer and dancer at FuturPointe Dance. As artistic director, he has primary responsibility for the development and execution of the company’s artistic vision. Thorne’s current choreographic work explores the confluence of folklore as well as popular and contemporary dance forms infused with his short film and multi-media creations.
Mr. Thorne recently collaborated with 2013 McArthur Genius Award recipient Carrie Mae Weems on A Story Within A Story, which is a multi- media performance about social identity and visual imagery – with video by Weems, music by Gregory Wanamaker, choreography by Guy Thorne, and additional direction from Kimberley Bouchard. A Story Within a Story was presented at the Lougheed Festival of the Arts at SUNY-Potsdam.
Thorne also teaches for FuturPointe Dance educational programs as well as in master classes and residencies at colleges/universities and for youth in k-12 school outreach programs. Thorne was on the dance faculty at SUNY – Potsdam where he taught ballet, modern dance, and Caribbean urban and folkloric dance. In 2012, he was a Jubilation Foundation fellow. Guy used his Jubilation grant to introduce Rochester area children (ages 5 to 13) to Jonkanoo, a West African and Caribbean performing art that combines costume-making, singing, dancing and drumming.
Thorne has over 15 years of professional experience and has toured extensively and taught master classes throughout the world including in Italy, Germany, Hawaii, France, the United Kingdom and Austria. He received critical acclaim on several occasions from critics in the New York Times and from other major publications. Thorne has danced at world-class venues such as the Ted Shawn Theater at Jacob’s Pillow, Joyce Theater, and The Lincoln and Kennedy Centers, among others. Dance Theatre Production from the Edna Manley College of Visual and Performing Arts. He moved to the United States as a scholarship student at Dance Theater of Harlem in New York City before becoming a principal dancer with Garth Fagan Dance for 7 years. Thorne holds a BFA in Dance from SUNY-Brockport.
N’JELLE GAGE-THORNE FuturPointe Dance co-founder, president and choreographer N’Jelle Gage is an international dancer and educator that has worked extensively throughout the United States, Africa, Central America and the Caribbean. Although the directors of FuturPointe Dance run the company as a collaborative team, in addition to dancing and setting work on the company – Gage is specifically responsible for its administrative leadership.
N’Jelle Gage also teaches master classes in Caribbean contemporary dance techniques (Tecnica Cubana, L’Antech TM, Reggae ballet, Jamaican urban jazz) at college residencies, festivals, the Draper Center for Dance Education in New York State, and studios across the country.
In 2001, she directed and choreographed for Caribbean Performing Arts Ensemble in Florida and gained expertise from her work in music video production and ad campaigns with renowned international artists including Sean Paul, Mutabaruka, Damian Marley and Third World. She also worked as a cultural consultant for film in the United Kingdom.
Gage’s training began in classical ballet where she was the protégé of Norma Spence and performed as a soloist with Jamaica’s first amateur ballet company. During her early teens, she studied with acclaimed Polish ballerina Nina Novak at Academia Ballet Clasico in Caracas, Venezuela. She also studied with in Jamaica with Tatjana Sedunova, the artistic director of the Lithuanian Opera and Ballet Theater.
In 1991, N’Jelle was introduced to the work of Dr. L’Antoinette Stines and at 15 years old she became a professional dancer with Stines’ Avant garde modern dance company; performing in 16 international cities as a dancer with L’Acadco.
Her studies continued with the renowned Cuban ballet and contemporary dance faculty at Instituto Superior/Escuela Nacional de Artes in Havana where she studied modern technique and folklore/Orisha dance. She concluded her studies in Havana, Cuba with an internship with Danza Contemporanea de Cuba in 2000 and graduated with a teaching and performance degree.
Dozens of pickets protesting the pending execution of the Julius and Ethel Rosenberg file past the White House February 14, 1953 after Inaugural stands were removed.
A 24-hour vigil had earlier been restricted to East Executive Drive until the stands were removed.
Some of the picket signs read, “Mr. President The Rosenbergs Maintain Their Innocence!” “Afro-American says there are Grave Doubts in this Case!” “Mr. President 3000 Ministers Appealed to your Conscience! Reconsider Clemency for the Rosenbergs!” and “The electric chair can’t kill the doubts in the Rosenberg case.”
The vigil and picketers were seeking clemency for the Rosenbergs who were convicted of passing atomic secrets to the then wartime ally Soviet Union during 1943-44.
The signs read: “Millions All Over the World Plead: Spare the Rosenbergs,” “Wire-write to President Truman today: clemency for the Rosenbergs,” “While doubt of guilt remains commute the Rosenbergs’ death sentence” and “Justice in the United States must not be more vindictive than in other countries.”
The protest was sponsored by the Committee to Secure Justice for the Rosenbergs that vowed to organize 24-hour vigils until Truman granted clemency. Picket lines in and around the White House were in fact continuous until the Rosenberg’s execution.
The Rosenbergs and a third man, Morton Sobell, were tried together for passing classified information to the Soviet Union related to an atomic bomb.
Part of the prosecution strategy was to emphasize their ties to the Communist Party at a time when hysteria over communists in the U.S. was at an all-time high during the Cold War and with U.S. troops battling in Korea against forces aided by both the Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of China.
The Rosenbergs were convicted, sentenced to death and then executed June 19, 1953 despite an international outcry for clemency. Sobell served 17 ½ years of a 30-year sentence.
The Rosenbergs were the only people executed by the U.S. for espionage during the Cold War and the only U.S. citizen civilians in modern times executed by the U.S. for their role in passing secrets to another country.
The debate over their sentences continues today, with President Barack Obama refusing to grant posthumous clemency to Ethel Rosenberg while he was in office.
The political climate in the U.S. at the time of their arrest and conviction was one of fear--the onset of the Cold War with the Soviet Union following confrontation in Europe and the Soviet Union’s test of an atomic bomb in 1949.
Leadership at many levels of the Communist Party USA were being sentenced to jail for their beliefs while the rank and file members were blacklisted from employment and persecuted during the second red scare.
At the same time, U.S. forces were fighting in Korea against the communist-led regime centered in North Korea and aided by the People’s Republic of China and the Soviet Union.
While the U.S. and the Soviet Union were allies in World War II, the U.S. did not share information on the atom bomb project.
The Rosenbergs joined the Young Communist League in the late 1930s. According to his former Soviet handler Alexander Feklisov, Julius began passing classified documents to the Soviet Union while at the Army Signal Corps Engineering Laboratories at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey in 1940.
The prosecution saw Julius’ potential cooperation as a chance to break a larger Soviet intelligence group in the U.S. and believed the only way to break Julius was to expose his wife Ethel to the death penalty. The ploy didn’t work.
In imposing the death penalty, Judge Irving Kaufman noted that he held them responsible not only for espionage but also for the deaths of the Korean War:
“I consider your crime worse than murder... I believe your conduct in putting into the hands of the Russians the A-Bomb years before our best scientists predicted Russia would perfect the bomb has already caused, in my opinion, the Communist aggression in Korea, with the resultant casualties exceeding 50,000 and who knows but that millions more of innocent people may pay the price of your treason. Indeed, by your betrayal you undoubtedly have altered the course of history to the disadvantage of our country. No one can say that we do not live in a constant state of tension. We have evidence of your treachery all around us every day for the civilian defense activities throughout the nation are aimed at preparing us for an atom bomb attack.”
Commenting on the sentence given to them, Julius Rosenberg claimed the case was a political frame-up.
“This death sentence is not surprising. It had to be. There had to be a Rosenberg case, because there had to be an intensification of the hysteria in America to make the Korean War acceptable to the American people. There had to be hysteria and a fear sent through America in order to get increased war budgets. And there had to be a dagger thrust in the heart of the left to tell them that you are no longer gonna get five years for a Smith Act prosecution or one year for contempt of court, but we're gonna kill ya!”
An article by Norman Markowitz for Political Affairs in 2008 sums up another point of view.
“These were people who, for ill or for good, admired both Soviet leader Joseph Stalin and President Franklin Roosevelt as advancing the struggle for working-class liberation against fascism. They saw them as helping to bring about more than a “better world,” but a world with a socialist system that fostered equality, peace and social justice. If patriotism in its most simple definition means love of country, this was the America that communists defended and loved, rather than the America of Standard Oil, Herbert and J. Edgar Hoover, the corporate leadership ready and willing to do business with Hitler, Mussolini and the Japanese militarists both to make money and fight socialist revolutions.”
This point of view also holds that providing the Soviets with intelligence on the atomic bomb helped ensure that the U.S. would not launch nuclear weapons again after the bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima in 1945.
The question of the Rosenberg’s guilt has been debated since their arrest. Evidence uncovered in more recent years that convincingly indicates that Julius was involved in espionage. The evidence against Ethel is less convincing and more circumstantial.
Those charged or implicated with the Rosenbergs include:
Julius Rosenberg: executed June 19, 1953
Ethel Rosenberg: executed June 19, 1953
David Greenglass: served 9 and half years of a 15-year sentence
Ruth Greenglass: not charged, granted immunity
Morton Sobell: served 17 years, nine months of a 30-year sentence
Harry Gold: served 14 years of a 30-year sentence
Klaus Fuchs: served 9 years of a 14-year sentence in Great Britain
For more information and related images, see flic.kr/s/aHskkQha2c
Photo by Ranny Routt. The image is courtesy of the D.C. Public Library Washington Star Collection © Washington Post.
day 85 – Saddam’s execution has haunted me all day.
My TV is set to wake me in the morning; it is a more gentle way to wake up than the insipid beeping of an alarm clock which, as well as waking you, induces a coronary heart attack.
This morning I woke gently to the news that a man had been executed. At 6am Iraq time Saddam Hussein was hanged. I couldn't quite believe it had happened. I sat up and watched the continuous report on BBC news and all I could think of was that one more person had lost a life.
Saddam, from what little I know, was not a nice man. He was directly and indirectly responsible for literally millions of lost lives. His regime tortured and brutalised a nation and his legacy continues to infect what was once the centre of civilisation.
This presents me with a moral problem. I just can not condone capital punishment. It is a brutal way to carry out justice and no one, and I mean no one, deserves to die in that manner. But in taking that stance I am asking for mercy and compassion for a man that showed none to his victims. I have to admit I briefly thought that his death was a good thing but I quickly retracted that thought. In a modern society we should not execute people. Let’s face it, there is no punishment that befits genocide and mass murder and another death does little to help.
The other disturbing thing about this event is the display of the execution on TV. I remember the uproar when terrorists executed Kenneth Bigley by beheading him. They then distributed the video over the Internet. The world was outraged. Are we any different presenting Saddam’s execution? We need to take a step back and think about what we are looking at. I heard someone say “Oh the hanging is on the Internet, Can I look?” I said “Why?” The reply was slightly chilling “Oh I don’t know. It might be interesting, might be fun.” I was taken aback at the thought that someone I know well could actually see the death of another human as entertaining.
I wonder if we will ever learn.
Execution on the Old Town Square 21. 6. 1621
23-06-2001 | Olaf Barth, Katrin Bock
Olaf Barth and Katrin Bock now take a look at the events that took place on the Old Town Square 380 years ago.
Execution on the Old Town Square 21. 6. 1621
If you have ever been to Prague, you may have noticed the 27 crosses which have been embedded into the pavement at the foot of the Old Town Town Hall. Perhaps you have wondered about their origin. Well, in the following minutes you will learn more about the context of these crosses. First of all, listen to the Czech writer Alois Jirasek portraying the events at the end of the 19th century in one of his stories:
"In the night of 20 to 21 June 1621, fear and grief prevailed everywhere in Prague, and the roads had become like deserted, for on Prague restrictions had been imposed. Only the clash of the weapons and the heavy steps of foreign soldiers broke through the oppressive silence. On the Old Town Square there was a lot of activity, and boards and beams were unloaded from wagons and carried to the middle of the place, where a scaffold grew by the flickering light of numerous torches. By daybreak a gallows covered with red cloth was towering. At sunrise fulminated a cannon cracker showing that the execution had to begin. On the scaffold dark hooded people were visible, the assistents of the executioner and the gravedigger. Finally, the executioner, Jan Mydláø, also appeared. Immediately the imperial judges took their seats, and the names of the twenty-seven death-condemned noblemen were exclaimed. While foreign soldiers were drumming in the streets of Prague, in the houses people of Prague prayed for their faithful, the 27 men who were either beheaded or hanged at the same time. It is reported that once a year, always in the night from the 20th to the 21st of June, the noblemen and citizens appear on the Old Town Square. Silently they walk over the square to the church, where, kneeling before the altar, they receive the Last Supper in both forms. And as silently as they have come they disappear again."
The Hradschin 1618, in the year of the window-lintel (contemporary engraving)
So far the Czech writer Alois Jirasek about the events of that night 380 years ago, when the leaders of the insurrection of the Estates against the Catholic Habsburgs were judged. 27 nobles, gentlemen and citizens, Czechs and Germans, Protestants and a Catholic then left their lives. They were punished for having joined an uprising against the legal Habsburg emperor which had a religious background, for the Emperor had previously tried to restrict the freedom of religion which had been in force in the Bohemian lands since the middle of the fifteenth century. The revolt had begun on May 23, 1618, with the famous Prague defenestration, and ended with the battle Battle of White Mountain in November 1620, for the Czechs still today a national trauma. In that battle before the gates of Prague the army of the Catholic Habsburgs the Protestant Estates had utterly vanquished. What followed was a relentless persecution of all insurgents, regardless of their social position or nationality. Emperor Ferdinand II used his military victory to strengthen his position in the rebellious Bohemian lands, to suppress the Protestant faith and to break the power of the Estates once and for all.
Procession on the White Mountains (Josef Berka and A. Gustav, around 1800)
All persons who had somehow participated in the uprising of the Estates were punished. The worst punishment experienced three lords, seven knights and 17 citizens, who were executed in the early morning hours of June 21, 1621 on the Old Town Square. The execution took place conforming to the etiquette: first came the lords, then the knights, and finally the citizens. It is said the bloodthirsty torture to have lasted for four hours, while the executioner Jan Mydlar in the proces was to have beaten blunt four swords.
Joachim Andreas Graf Schlick was the first to be beheaded, whose family had grown rich thanks to the silver mines in the west Bohemian Jáchymov valley. Count Schlick had worked for many years at the Saxon court as an educator of the future ruler Johann Georg. During the Bohemian uprising of the Estates, Schlick had been quite active. Among other things, he was one of the participants of the famous 1618 defenestration. Next came Vaclav Budova from Budovec. Since the beginning of the 17th century, he had been strongly committed to the observance of the freedom of belief in the Bohemian lands and had been one of the spokesmen of the insurgents. As the third nobleman, Krystof Harant of Polzice and Bezdruzice lost his head. He had been court musician and companion of Rudolf at the court of Emperor Rudolf II. He was not very interested in politics, but he had been one of the military leaders of the insurgents, which now cost him his head. All three of them, without any doubt, belonged to the intellectual elite of the country, all three of them had been to many places, were well-educated, spoke several languages, and were Protestants.
Among the 7 knights was also the Catholic Divis Cernin of Chudenice. This one had made the fatal mistake of opening the gates of the castle to the representatives of the Estates on the 23rd of May, 1618, who then threw the three representatives of the Habsburg power out of a window in protest against the restriction of the rights of the Protestants.
Jan Jesensky
Jan Jessenius, the rector of the Charles University of Prague, was one of those who got the severest judgement. He was not only beheaded, his tongue had been cut off before, additionally he was also quartered after the execution. Emperor Ferdinand had expressed himself personally for this harsh judgment. The internationally respected scholar, who had carried out the first public autopsy in Prague in 1600, had aroused the wrath of the ruler as he had himself pronounced against the election of Ferdinand for the King of Bohemia as well as published a series of harsh writings against the Habsburgs.
The heads of twelve executed were hanged in iron baskets for deterrence and warning at the Old Town Bridge Tower. From there they were removed only 10 years later, when the Saxons 1631 occupied Prague for a short time.
Ferdinand II.
Emperor Ferdinand II took advantage of the victory over the rebellious Protestant estates, which had dethroned him, the legitimate heir, and elected another one, the "Winter King", Frederick of the Palatinate. 166 nobles Ferdinand had completely dispossessed, another 500 lost a large part of their estates. On the other hand, his faithful were rewarded. Those were given great lands in the Bohemian lands. In addition, monasteries were returned lands that they had lost during the Hussite wars in the 15th century.
The greatest winners were probably Albrecht von Waldstein, Karl von Liechtenstein, and Johann Ulrich von Eggenberg, who were now able to call great domains their own. But also other noble families then settled in the Bohemian lands, like the Trauttmansdorff, Thun, Metternich and Clary families.
Even ordinary citizens and peasants were affected: those who did not convert to the Catholic faith had to leave the country. In 1624 the Catholic faith became the only one recognized in the Bohemian lands - more and more subjects saw themselves forced to emigrate. Some 150,000 people are said to have left the Bohemian lands for religious reasons in the years after the defeat of the Protestant Estates. The probably most famous emigrant of that time is Jan Amos Komensky - Comenius. The pedagogue and bishop of the Unity of the Brotherhood settled down after a few journeys in Holland, where he died in 1670 at the age of 78.
Even in the eyes of most of today's Czechs, the "time of darkness" began with the defeat of the Protestant estates in the Battle of Weissenberg. As such, the almost 300 years of the unrestricted rule of the Habsburgs over the Bohemian countries were designated, which ended only with the independence of Czechoslovakia in 1918. The formerly proud kingdom of Bohemia had been degrated to a Habsburg province according to the new regional order of 1627, and had lost most of its rights, including the freedom of faith for which its inhabitants had fought since the death for heresy of Jan Hus in 1415. Today, not only the 27 crosses embedded on the Old Town Square, but also all the magnificent Baroque buildings in the country, are reminiscent of this historic epoch. With these the Catholic Habsburgs showed their Bohemian and Moravian subjects who is the boss in the country.
And so we are already at the end of our trip into the 17th century.
Hinrichtung auf dem Altstädter Ring 21. 6. 1621
23-06-2001 | Olaf Barth, Katrin Bock
Olaf Barth und Katrin Bock werfen heute einen Blick auf die Geschehnisse, die sich vor 380 Jahren auf dem Altstädter Ring ereigneten.
Hinrichtung auf dem Altstädter Ring 21. 6. 1621
Wer von Ihnen schon mal in Prag war, dem sind sie vielleicht aufgefallen, die 27 in das Pflaster eingelassenen Kreuze zu Füssen des Altstädter Rathausturmes. Vielleicht haben Sie sich über deren Ursprung gewundert. Nun in den folgenden Minuten erfahren Sie mehr über die Bewandtnis dieser Kreuze. Hören Sie zunächst einmal, wie der tschechische Schriftsteller Alois Jirasek die entsprechenden Ereignisse Ende des 19. Jahrhunderts in einer seiner Geschichten schilderte:
"In der Nacht vom 20. auf den 21. Juni 1621 herrschte überall in Prag Angst und Trauer. Die Strassen waren wie ausgestorben, denn über Prag war Ausgangsverbot verhängt worden. Nur das Klirren der Waffen und schwere Schritte fremder Soldaten durchbrachen die bedrückende Stille. Auf dem Altstädter Ring herrschte reger Betrieb. Bretter und Balken wurden von Wagen abgeladen und zur Platzmitte getragen, wo beim flackernden Licht zahlreicher Fackeln ein Gerüst wuchs. Als es zu dämmern begann, ragte da ein mit rotem Stoff überzogener Galgen empor. Beim Sonnenaufgang donnerte von der Prager Burg ein Kanonenschlag. Ein Zeichen dafür, dass die Exekution beginne. Auf dem Galgengerüst waren dunkle vermummte Gestalten zu sehen - die Henkershelfer und der Totengräber. Schliesslich erschien auch der Henker Jan Mydláø. Alsbald nahmen die kaiserlichen Richter ihre Sitze ein, und die Namen der 27 zum Tode verurteilten Standesherren wurden ausgerufen. Während in den Strassen Prags fremde Soldaten trommelten, beteten in den Häusern die Prager für ihre Getreuen, die 27 Herren, die zur selben Zeit geköpft oder gehängt wurden. Es wird berichtet, dass die hingerichteten Adeligen und Bürger einmal im Jahr, immer in der Nacht vom 20. auf den 21. Juni, auf dem Altstädter Ring erscheinen. Schweigend gehen sie über den Platz zur Kirche, wo sie, vor dem Altar knieend, das Abendmahl in beiderlei Gestalt empfangen. Und so lautlos wie sie gekommen verschwinden sie wieder."
Der Hradschin 1618, im Jahre des Fenstersturzes (Zeitgenössiger Stich)
Soweit der tschechische Schriftsteller Alois Jirasek über die Ereignisse jener Nacht vor 380 Jahren, als die Anführer des Ständeaufstandes gegen die katholischen Habsburger gerichtet wurden. 27 Adelige, Herren und Bürger, Tschechen und Deutsche, Protestanten und ein Katholik liessen damals ihr Leben. Bestraft wurden sie dafür, dass sie sich einem Aufstand gegen den rechtmässigen Habsburger Kaiser angeschlossen hatten, der einen religiösen Hintergrund hatte, denn der Kaiser hatte zuvor versucht, die seit Mitte des 15. Jahrhunderts in den Böhmischen Ländern geltende Religionsfreiheit einzuschränken. Der Aufstand hatte am 23. Mai 1618 mit dem berühmten Prager Fenstersturz begonnen und mit der für Tschechen noch heute ein nationales Trauma darstellenden Schlacht am Weissen Berg im November 1620 geendet. In jener Schlacht vor den Toren Prags hatte das Heer der katholischen Habsburger die protestantischen Stände vernichtend geschlagen. Was folgte war eine unbarmherzige Verfolgung aller Aufständischen, ungeachtet ihrer gesellschaftlichen Stellung oder Nationalität. Kaiser Ferdinand II. nutzte seinen militärischen Sieg, um seine Stellung in den aufständischen Böhmischen Ländern zu stärken, den protestantischen Glauben zurückzudrängen und die Macht der Stände ein für alle mal zu brechen.
Prozession am Weißen Berge (Josef Berka und A. Gustav, um 1800)
Alle Personen, die irgendwie an dem Ständeaufstand beteiligt gewesen waren, wurden bestraft. Am schlimmsten traf es dabei drei Herren, sieben Ritter und 17 Bürger, die in den frühen Morgenstunden des 21. Junis 1621 auf dem Altstädter Ring hingerichtet wurden. Bei der Hinrichtung wurde die Etike gewahrt: zuerst waren die Herren dran, dann die Ritter und schliesslich die Bürger. Vier Stunden lang soll die blutige Tortur gedauert haben, vier Schwerter soll der Henker Jan Mydlar dabei stumpf geschlagen haben.
Als erster wurde Joachim Andreas Graf Schlick geköpft, dessen Familie dank der Silberminen im westböhmischen Joachimsthal reich geworden war. Graf Schlick hatte jahrelang am sächsischen Hof als Erzieher des zukünftigen Herrschers Johann Georg gewirkt. Während des böhmischen Ständeaufstands war Schlick recht aktiv gewesen, unter anderem gehörte er zu den Teilnehmern des berühmten Fenstersturzes von 1618. Als nächstes kam Vaclav Budova von Budovec an die Reihe. Dieser hatte sich seit dem Beginn des 17. Jahrhunderts stark für die Einhaltung der Glaubensfreiheit in den Böhmischen Ländern eingesetzt und war einer der Wortführer der Aufständischen gewesen. Als dritter hochgestellter Adeliger verlor Krystof Harant von Polzice und Bezdruzice seinen Kopf. Dieser war am Hofe Kaiser Rudolfs II. Hofmusikant und Gesellschafter Rudolfs gewesen. Für Politik interessierte er sich nicht sehr, doch war er einer der Heerführer der Aufständischen gewesen, das kostete ihn nun seinen Kopf. Alle drei Herren gehörten ohne Zweifel zur geistigen Elite des Landes, alle drei waren weitgereist, hervorragend gebildet, sprachen mehrere Sprachen - und waren Protestanten.
Unter den 7 Rittern war auch der Katholik Divis Cernin von Chudenice. Dieser hatte den verhängnisvollen Fehler gemacht, am 23. Mai 1618 den Repräsentanten der Stände die Burgtore geöffnet zu haben, die dann die drei Vertreter der Habsburger Macht aus Protest gegen die Einschränkung der Rechte der Protestanten aus einem Fenster warfen.
Jan Jesensky
Eines der härtesten Urteile traf Jan Jessenius, den Rektor der Prager Karlsuniversität, der als 16. an die Reihe kam: er wurde nicht nur geköpft, zuvor wurde ihm die Zunge abgeschnitten, ausserdem wurde er nach der Hinrichtung noch geviertelt. Für dieses harte Urteil hatte sich Kaiser Ferdinand persönlich ausgesprochen. Der international angesehene Gelehrte, der 1600 in Prag die erste öffentliche Obduktion durchgeführt hatte, hatte den Zorn des Herrschers erregt, da er sich auf verschiedenen Landtagen gegen die Wahl Ferdinands zum böhmischen König ausgesprochen sowie eine Reihe von scharfen Schriften gegen die Habsburger veröffentlicht hatte.
Die Köpfe von zwölf Hingerichteten wurden in Eisenkörben zur Abschreckung und Warnung an den Altstädter Brückenturm gehängt. Von dort wurden sie erst 10 Jahre später entfernt, als die Sachsen 1631 Prag für kurze Zeit besetzten.
Ferdinand II.
Kaiser Ferdinand II. nutzte seinen Sieg über die aufständischen protestantischen Stände, die ihn, den rechtmässigen Erben, entthront hatten und einen anderen, den "Winterkönig" Friedrich von der Pfalz, gewählt hatten. 166 Adelige liess Ferdinand vollkommen enteignen, weitere 500 verloren einen Grossteil ihrer Güter. Belohnt wurden dagegen seine Getreuen. Diese erhielten grosse Ländereien in den Böhmischen Ländern. Ausserdem bekamen Klöster Ländereien zurück, die sie zur Zeit der Hussitenkriege im 15. Jahrhundert verloren hatten.
Die grössten Gewinner waren wohl Albrecht von Waldstein, Karl von Liechtenstein sowie Johann Ulrich von Eggenberg, die nun grosse Herrschaften ihr Eigen nennen konnten. Aber auch andere Adelsdfamilien setzten damals in den Böhmischen Ländern ihren Fuss, wie die Familien Trauttmansdorff, Thun, Metternich und Clary.
Auch einfache Bürger und Bauern waren betroffen: wer nicht zum katholischen Glauben übertrat, musste das Land verlassen. 1624 wurde der katholische Glaube der einzig anerkannte in den Böhmischen Ländern - immer mehr Untertanen sahen sich gezwungen, zu emigrieren. Rund 150.000 Menschen sollen in den Jahren nach der Niederlage der protestantischen Stände die Böhmischen Länder aus religiösen Gründen verlassen haben. Der wohl bekannteste Emigrant jener Zeit ist Jan Amos Komensky - Comenius. Der Pädagoge und Bischof der Brüderunität liess sich nach einigen Reisen in Holland nieder, wo er 1670 im Alter von 78 Jahren verstarb.
Auch in den Augen der meisten heutigen Tschechen begann damals mit der Niederlage der protestantischen Stände in der Schlacht am Weissen Berg die "Zeit der Finsternis". Als solche werden die knapp 300 Jahre der uneingeschränkten Herrschaft der Habsburger über die Böhmischen Länder bezeichnet, die erst mit der Unabhängigkeit der Tschechoslowakei 1918 endeten. Das einstmals stolze Königreich Böhmen war nach der neuen Landesordnung von 1627 zu einer Habsburger Provinz degradiert worden und hatte die meisten seiner Rechte verloren - auch das der Glaubensfreiheit, für das seine Bewohner seit dem Ketzertod des Jan Hus 1415 gekämpft hatten. Heute erinnern an diese Geschichtsepoche nicht nur die 27 in das Strassenpflaster eingelassenen Kreuze auf dem Altstädter Ring, sondern auch all die prächtigen Barockbauten im Lande. Mit diesen zeigten die katholischen Habsburger ihren böhmischen und mährischen Untertanen, wer der Herr im Lande ist.
Und damit sind wir bereits am Ende unseres Ausfluges in das 17. Jahrhundert.
www.radio.cz/de/rubrik/geschichte/hinrichtung-auf-dem-alt...
Taliban Execution - Three Northern Alliance soldiers fire simultaneously into a Taliban soldier who had been captured while attempting to resist their advance toward Kabul, Afghanistan. A small number of hardline Taliban soldiers chose to stay on the front line and fight the Northern Alliance, and those who didn't escape were killed immediately. The man yelling in the background was encouraging the soldiers in their actions.
Kurdish emigres protest Paris murders at Turkish & French embassies : London 11.01.2013
On 11.01.2013 Kurdish emigres in London protested at the Turkish embassy and then marched to the nearby French embassy to protest about the shocking mass murder on 09.01.2013 in Paris of three female Kurdish political activists including PKK co-founder Sakine Cansiz in what French police believe to be an execution a targeted assassination. The bodies of the three women - Brussels-based Kurdistan National Congress’ (KNK) Paris representative Fidan Doan, political activist Leyla Söylemez and Kurdish Worker's Party (PKK) co-founder and Women's Movement organiser Sakine Cansız - were discovered behind several combination-locked doors in the Information Center of Kurdistan in Paris on Wednesday by friends who had been trying since the previous evening to contact the women and who had broken into the centre after discovering bloodstains on the outer doors.
Very shortly after French police were called to the scene (and with what many claim to be suspicious haste), Huseyin Celik, the deputy chairman of Turkey’s ruling party claimed that the murders were the result of “an internal feud” within the PKK. Celik did not offer any evidence to substantiate his assertion, yet also went on to suggest that the slayings were an attempt to derail the peace talks which have been taking place in the notorious high security prison on mralı Island between PKK founder Abdullah Öcalan - sentenced to death for treason against the Turkish state in 1999 but whose sentence was commuted to life imprisonment when Turkey was forced to abolish the death sentence as part of it's application to join the EU - and the Turkish government.
The PKK have waged an often violent war against the Turkish government for the last 34 years as part of their campaign to establish an autonomous Kurdish enclave in South-East Turkey. Kurds make up almost 20% of the Turkish population, yet are forbidden by law to even speak their own language and have suffered greatly under Turkish suppression. Since the insurrection began in 1978 it is estimated that over 40,000 people on both sides have lost their lives in violent actions perpetrated in this conflict, and even though the PKK has been proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the USA, the EU, NATO, Syria and others, the cause of Kurdish nationalism enjoys a huge level of support in the region. Turkish authorities have been concerned about PKK fighters entering Turkey from the autonomous Kurdish enclave in Northern Syria.
Kurdish populations are present in Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran, and have experienced many decades of suppression by their respective states as the Kurds attempt to loosely re-establish their traditional Kurdistan, eradicated during the Ottoman reign, and it is against this long background of armed struggle that has seen large numbers of ethnic Kurds fleeing to Europe to find sanctuary. The Kurdish people I spoke to in Haringey last night said that they no longer feel safe anywhere in Europe after this execution which they lay firmly at the door of what they describe as the "dark, ultra-nationalistic shadow government" operating behind the scenes in Turkey who are violently opposed to any form of settlement or discussion with the Kurds.
Huddled around tables in the large hall adorned with photographs of fallen comrades and a large centrepiece display of their political figurehead, Abdullah Öcalan, the Kurds were subdued and in a measured, reflective mood. During the day it had been established by French police that the women had all been shot in the head through the throat using weapons with suppressors (silncers), and it is initially thought that there was possibly more than one gunman. There was no sign of forced entry to the building, so it seems that they were known to at least one of the women - two of whom were slaughtered as they were organising suitcases for their journeys back to Belgium and Germany.
All photos © 2013 Pete Riches
Do not reproduce, alter, re-transmit or blog my images without my written permission. I remain at all times the copyright owner of this image.
Hi-Res, un-watermarked versions of these files are available on application solely at my discretion
If you want to license an image, please Email me directly.
Standard industry rates apply.
Douggy Carpool: hey how r u doin
Kaycee Nightfire: ok
Douggy Carpool: wat u doin out there
Kaycee Nightfire: shooting a bear
Guess I'm not going to Disney World anytime soon .....
(more pictures and information you can get by copying the link at the end of page!)
St. Marien (Neunkirchen (Saar))
The St. Mary's Church in Neunkirchen
View of the western front with the bell tower
St. Mary's is the Roman Catholic parish church of the Saarland district town of Neunkirchen. In the list of monuments of the Saarland, the church building is listed as single monument.
History
The current church building is the successor building of an in 1751 emerged Baroque hall church, which was demolished in 1884.
In the years 1884-1885 was built on the same site by the architect Ferdinand Schorbach (Hannover) the still existing building. The overall site management was held by architect Johann Heinrich Kastenholz (Hannover), the execution followed by Nikolaus Zimmer (Heiligenwald) and Nikolaus Ballog. Client and part-financier of the church was Carl Ferdinand Stumm.
In 1930 took place a restoration of the church interior. 1945-1947 the interior in a further restoration measure got a new color version. 1954 followed a rebuilding in which Mary reliefs were placed over the portals. Mid-1960s, the chancel was rebuilt in the context of a renewed restoration.
The 1980s were marked by further restorations. So in the years 1981-1986 a colored interior painting was carried out, bricked the north transept portal and set up a new entrance in the south aisle. In the years 1986 to 1989 followed the restoration of the roof, apse, facade and tower. The plannings for this purpose predominantly stem from Rudolf Maria Birtel.
Built Description
A look inside the church
Architecture
The church was built in the style of neo-Romannesque. As to the basic architectural form of the church building, it is a basilica with cruciform floor plan. The nave, divided into a nave and two aisles, is divided into four bays. To the nave adjoins a transept, to it the choir terminating in a semi-circular apse. The ceiling of the nave is formed by groined vaults, the one of the aisles by cross vaults.
The interior of the church
On the side walls of the chancel and in the north arm of the transept there are scenic representations of the painter Franz Schilling (Munich) from 1930. The mid-1960s followed painting of the church in gray with a few splashes of color on the capitals was carried out by restorer Mrziglod (Tholey). At the same time the chancel was rebuilt. In the process was created a new tabernacle and ambo by architect Rudolf Maria Birtel (Neunkirchen).
To the equipment of the church belong also a crucifixion scene and a Pietà in the form of sculptural works. They are situated in the western portions of the two side aisles. In addition, can be found inside the church a picture of grace in the form of an icon of Mary and a large altar cross.
The church exterior
On the churchyard is a Marian column, which was made in 1954 by sculptor Hans Bogler (Neunkirchen). It is cast iron from the Neunkircher ironworks.
The bas-reliefs with themes of Marian devotion in the tympanum fields above the four portals have been designed in 1954 by Reverend John Schmitt (Neunkirchen). Were executed the reliefs of Willi Hahn.
Bell
In the tower of the church there is a peal of four bells. Of these, the three largest in 1952 by the bell-founder Albert Junker from Brilon (Westphalia) have been cast in bronze. The smallest bell was built in 1924 by Junker & Edelbrock, also from Brilon.
The church had two predecessors peals that also each of them consisted of four bells. The first was from 1885 and was delivered by Andreas Hamm from Frankenthal and in 1917 during the First World War it had to be handed over completely. From the second peal, that came from the bell foundry Junker & Edelbrock (Brilon/Westphalia), the three largest bells were confiscated during the Second World War in 1942. Only the smallest bell remained until today in the tower.
No. Name chime inscription
1 Christ b0 "O rex gloriae veni cum pace!"
(O King of glory, come with thy peace!)
2 Maria db1 "Regina in caelum assumpta, ora pro nobis!"
(You Queen, taken up in heaven, pray for us!)
3 Joseph es1 "Holy Joseph, model of workers, supporter of families, patron Saint of the Holy Church, pray for us!"
4 Andreas f1 "Holy Andrew, devotee of the Cross, pray for us!"
Organ
The church organ
The organ of the church stems from the House Roethinger (Strasbourg) and was built in two sections in 1952 and 1954, according to a specification draft of the then organist of St. Mary's Church, Alfons Erner. The instrument whose concept structurally and phonetically is based on the romantic orchestral organ type occupies a special place in the Saar-Palatinate organ landscape. This is due to the interaction of the convincing own characteristics of the organ with the fine acoustics of the church hall.
The instrument is set up on a loft and has a free standing console. The wind chests are slider chests with electrical key and stop action. The total number of organ pipes is 3090, the material of the front pipes is zinc, their different coloring being the result of a different lacquering with gold and silver bronze.
The instrument has 49 stops (from which 9 stops in pedal are extensions of other pedal stops or transmissions from the manual stops (Dulcian)), distributed over 3 manuals and pedal. As part of the interior renovation of the church in 1985, the organ by the company Hugo Mayer organ building (Heusweiler) has been undergone a major overhaul in the course of it a partial re-voicing (reinforcement of the expression pedal) and the new construction of the console followed. Unfortunately, in doing so, the original sub and super accessories of the rückpositiv and espression pedal (Schwellwerk) were removed.
A sound document of the organ with the CD recording "The Roethinger Organ of the Marienkirche of Neunkirchen/Saar - Christoph Keller plays works of the late French Romanticism" of Christoph Keller is available.
I Hauptwerk C-g3
First principal 16'
2 Principal 8'
3 Gedackt 8'
4 Dulziana 8'
5 octave 4'
6 Nachthorn 4'
7 Quinte 22.3'
8 doublet 2'
9 Cornet V
10 mixture IV-VI
11 Basson 16'
12 Trumpet 8'
13 Clairon 4'
II positive C-g3
14 bourdon 8'
15 Gemshorn 8'
16 reed flute 4'
17 Flageolet 2'
18 larigot 11.3'
19 Sesquialtera II
20 cymbal IV
21 Krummhorn 8'
III Swell C-g3
22 Quintadena 16'
23 Principal 8'
24 wooden flute 8'
25 Salizional 8'
26, beat 8'
27 Octave 4'
28 Recorder 4'
29 Nasard 3.22'
30 Forest Flute 2'
31 third, 3.13'
32 mixture V
33 dulcian 16'
34 Basson-Hautbois 8'
35 Shelf 4'
Pedal C-f1
36 Principal 16'
37th Subbass 16'
Echobaß 16' [n. 1]
38th Quintbaß 102/3'
Principal 8' [n. 2]
Spillpfeiffe 8' [n. 3]
Choralbaß 4' [n. 2]
Reed flute 4' [n. 3]
Soprano 2' [n. 3]
39 mixture VII
40 Trombone 16'
Dulcian 16' [n. 1]
Trumpet 8' [n. 4]
Cornet 4' [n. 4]
Coupling:
Normal pairing: II / I, III / I, III / II, I / P II / P III / P
Suboktavkoppeln: II / I, III / I
Superoktavkoppeln: III / I, III / P
Game Aids: two free combinations, Tutti
comments
↑ Jumping Up by: from transmission from the Swell
↑ Jumping Up by: from Oktavauszug from Principal 16 '
↑ Jumping Up by: abc Oktavauszug from Subbass 16 '
↑ Jumping Up by: from Oktavauszug from Trombone 16 '
de.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Marien_(Neunkirchen_(Saar))
Knight Elkcrown's squire won a fair battle. But no blood was to be spilled, said the bailiff, and the losing squire's life got spared.
An old penny arcade machine in pretty bad taste at North Somerset Museum. You put in money... and the guy gets executed.
Exécution sans jugement sous les rois Maures de Grenade (Execution without judgement under the Moorish Kings of Grenada)
1870
By Henri Regnault (1843 - 1871)
Oil on canvas, H. 3.02 ; L. 1.46 m
musée d'Orsay, Paris, France
Regnault’s grand canvas still unsettles many visitors to the Musée d’Orsay. Whereas other nearby paintings in the museum have long since lost their avant-garde capacity to disturb viewers’ expectations, Regnault’s canvas has retained its shock value. One major reason for this response is not so much the bloody scene in the foreground as the viewer’s position vis-à-vis this macabre subject. As Linda Nochlin has pointed out, when the canvas is hung at the correct height, the decapitated corpse rests at the viewer’s own eye level.
My entry for the Vignette 2012 Contest Historic theme. This vignette displays the execution of Murdock. Murdock has stolen food from a towns food reserves that it needed to help bring the folk through the winter. This is a serious crime and is punished by "The Hunger Chain". The thief is chained so that he can almost reach the food and water in front of him. Almost. He will die a slow and terrible death. The Guard ensures that nobody tries to free or kill him. This will teach people not to steal from the food reserves!
f.y.i.: this is a rebuild of an earlier version.
The Postcard
This is the reverse side of the Norris Modern Press postcard.
It was posted in Douglas, Isle of Man on Tuesday the 25th. June 1918.
The Military Execution of Private Walter Dosset
So what else happened on that day when Edie was enjoying herself on the Isle of Man? Don't read on if you are easily upset.
Private Walter Dosset aged 22 from Sheffield was shot at dawn on the 25th. June 1918 by a firing squad consisting of men from his own division. He fought as a machine gunner from 1916 up until he went absent during the Ludendorff offensive of 1918, and was sentenced to death.
The execution took place in the Ypres salient. An ambulance drew up and Walter was led out to a rifle range. He was bound to a chair, blindfolded, and shot.
chrishobbs.com tells us that nearly all executions conducted by the British Army in WW1 more or less followed the first-hand experience described below:
'The officer had loaded the rifles and had
left them laying on the ground at our position.
We were warned to fire straight, or we may
have to suffer the same fate.
The prisoner was taken out of a car (we saw
him get out, with a black cap over his head
and guarded) and placed on the other side
of a curtain.
If we did not kill him, the officer would have
to. As soon as the curtain dropped (the
prisoner was tied to a chair five paces away
from us, a black cap over his heart) we got
the order to fire. One blank and nine live
rounds. It went off as one. I did not have a
blank.
The prisoner did not feel it. His body moved
when we fired, then the curtain went up. The
firing squad only saw him for a few minutes.
We went back to the Battalion Orderly Room
and got a big tumbler of rum each, and we
went back to our billets, ate, and went to bed.
We had the rest of the day off. It was a job I
never wanted'.
(From 'It Made You Think of Home', the journal of Deward Barnes, on the execution of Private Harold Lodge on the 13th. March 1918).
Chris Hobbs goes on to say that even though the rate of desertion was 4.3 times higher in the UK, no soldier was ever executed for desertion at home, because executions abroad could be largely covered up by the military, whereas any conducted at home would have provoked riots.
This was especially the case after the large-scale and futile loss of life that occurred during the Somme offensive of 1916.
A Typical Execution
The condemned private spends his last night in a small room, alone with his thoughts before his execution at dawn. He might be writing painful letters to family and friends. He is also likely to be encouraged to drink heavily in order to be insensible during execution. The private is guarded by two military policemen (MPs or redcaps) and ministered by a chaplain.
The condemned man’s commanding officer (CO) orders a company of men to witness the execution, wanting to set an example to other would-be deserters. Meanwhile a firing squad assembles, sick with nerves, in the dawn light. Some of the men know the condemned and have mixed feelings about his fate, some even carrying deep resentment at having to execute him. Their rifles have been pre-loaded—one with a blank—to take some of the individual responsibility away from shooting their fighting pal.
The condemned man is led, blind drunk, to a post by two redcaps, his hands tied behind his back. The lieutenant waits at the side of the shooting party, with a medical officer (MO). The lieutenant (Lt.) gives the order to shoot the prisoner. Some deliberately shoot wide. Two of the men vomit on the spot. The MO checks the prisoner over and concludes that the private is mortally wounded, but not dead. The young lieutenant, with shaky hands, administers the coup de grâce: a bullet to the head.
A military ambulance stands by to take the corpse off to be buried. That same evening the battalion colonel writes a letter to the private’s parents informing them that their son has been shot at the front. He leaves the message deliberately ambiguous, sparing the man’s family any difficult feelings about his execution.
Posthumous Pardons
The 'Shot at Dawn' Memorial in Alrewas, Staffordshire, originally contained the names of 306 men who were executed for 'cowardice' or 'desertion'.
With many now recognised as having been suffering from mental illnesses such as post-traumatic stress disorder, these men were posthumously pardoned by Royal Assent in November 2006.
The Staffordshire memorial was created to honour their sacrifices, along with all those who died in combat fighting for the British Empire during the Great War.
200,000 serving soldiers were officially court-martialled by the British High Command during the Great War.
Of these, 20,000 were found guilty of offences that carried the death penalty. 3,000 officially received it, although most of these sentences were subsequently commuted.
In the end, of the 3,000, 346 executions were carried out by firing squad.
Now, of the 40 names left off the Shot at Dawn Memorial, three have been added, thanks to the persistence of memorial creator Andy DeComyn.
They are New Zealander Jack Braithwaite, Gunner William Lewis from Scotland, and Jesse Robert Short, from Newcastle-Upon-Tyne.
Jack Braithwaite
Braithwaite's 'mutiny', according to the Birmingham Mail, consisted of nothing more than a misdemeanour.
The bohemian former journalist, who'd confessed at his trial to not being a natural soldier, had tried to calm down a belligerent prisoner at Blargies prison in Rouen by taking the man to his tent to feed him.
The soldier, Private Little, had been a ringleader in a small uprising against the prison guards. But Little was an Australian, and couldn't be executed because Australia's government wouldn't allow Great Britain to execute its soldiers.
Unfortunately Braithwaite was a New Zealander, and could be executed. His attempt to defuse the potential riot (sparked by appalling conditions at the prison) involved him leading Little away from the custody of a staff sergeant, which officially amounted to mutiny.
Jack was subsequently shot by firing squad on the 28th. August 1916.
Gunner William Lewis
Jack's execution occurred within five minutes of Gunner William Lewis, who'd also been involved in the uprising at the prison.
Corporal Jesse Short
Meanwhile, Corporal Jesse Short was condemned to death for uttering:
"Put a rope around that bugger's neck,
tie a stone to it and throw him into the
river".
He was said to be inciting guards barring his exit from the infamous 'Bull Ring' training camp to rebel against their officer.
This was the September 1917 Étaples Mutiny, an uprising by around 80 servicemen rebelling against what are now acknowledged to have been harsh and unreasonable conditions at the camp.
The uprising was depicted in the 1978 book (and 1986 BBC series) 'The Monocled Mutineer', the lead character in which is said to have been based at least partially on Corporal Short.
Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig, confirmed Short's death sentence (as he had Lewis's a year earlier).
Short, Lewis, and Braithwaite received their pardons and have been honoured along with comrades who fell in battle.
The remaining 37 men who were shot, according to Richard Pursehouse of the Staffordshire military history research group the Chase Project, were not executed for mutiny, but murder.
As this also would have resulted in a death sentence even under civil law codes of the time, it was decided that their names should not be added to the memorial.
Free download under CC Attribution (CC BY 4.0). Please credit the artist and rawpixel.com.
Édouard Manet (1832–1883) was a French modernist painter and one of the first 19th century artists to paint modern life. His impressionist style is characterized by relatively small and thin brushstrokes that create emphasis on light depiction. Manet was one of the key artists in the transition from realism to impressionism, along with Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir. However, he resisted involvement in any one specific style of painting, and only presented his work to the Salon of Paris instead of impressionist exhibitions. His early masterworks, The Luncheon on the Grass and Olympia, created great controversy and served as a rallying point for other young painters. We have digitally enhanced some of his paintings and they are free to download under the CC0 license.
Higher resolutions with no attribution required can be downloaded: https://www.rawpixel.com/board/1327738/edouard-manet-paintings-i-premium-artworks-public-domain?sort=curated&mode=shop&page=1
Second weekend of the annual Heritage event. It seems wrong to call it a weekend as it now compromises two weekends and many meedweek events too.
And scanning the events, there were some in Canterbury, so we decide to head to the city for a wander: jools would go shopping while I would go and do some snapping.
Of course there is always shopping first. Off to Tesco to fill the car, then fill the fridge and larder. I am away for three days, nearly four, so not much needed on top of some ready meals for Jools. Still came to seventy quid, mind.
A tub of cheese footballs did fall into the trolley, which helped.
Back home for breakfast of fruit and more coffee, and then off to Canterbury, parking near St Augustine's Abbey, walking to the centre via a subway. We parted, Jools went to Body Shop and a couple of other shops, while I walked down High Street, past the Eastbridge Hospital, Westgate Tower, Canterbury West station to St Dunstan's.
I could say I walked straight there, but I had a quarter of an hour to play with, so when I walked past a pasty shop, I went in for a coffee, and although wasn't really hungry, I did have a pasty anyway.
Once fed and watered, I walk on, up the hill past the station, and on the left was the church, the door already open despite it being only five to nine.
I went in, and found I had the church to myself.
Last time I was here, the Roper Chapel was being renovated and so I couldn't get inside. Important as it is in the chapel that the head of Thomas Moor, beheaded on Tower Hill on orders of Henry VIII. The windows of the chapel have several representation of him and scenes from his life. I snap them all.
I go round with the wide angle lens, now the church is fully open again.
That done, I walk back down into the centre heading for Eastbridge Hospital.
-------------------------------------------
Dedicated to a former Archbishop of Canterbury, St Dunstan's stands outside the city walls. There is structural evidence of the Norman period, but most of the church is fourteenth century. The west tower dates from this time and is very oddly proportioned - about twice the height that its width can really cope with. The south chapel is constructed of brick and was completed in the early sixteenth century. It contains monuments to the More family and is the burial place of St. Thomas More's head, - brought here by his daughter after his execution. The family home stood opposite the church where its brick gateway may still be seen. There are two twentieth-century windows of note in the chapel, by Lawrence Lee and John Hayward.
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Canterbury+2
-------------------------------------------------
ST. DUNSTAN's, NEAR CANTERBURY,
LIES the next parish eastward from that of St. Michael, Harbledowne, by which only it is separated from that of Thanington, before described. It makes a part of the suburbs of the city of Canterbury on the western side of it, and is so called from the saint, to which the church is dedicated.
THIS PARISH adjoins eastward to that of Holy Cross, Westgate, about midway between the city gate and St. Dunstan's church. The street is built on each side of the high London road. It is unpaved, but very broad and sightly, and the houses are, many of them, though small, very neat and modern. On the north side of it is the gaol, for the eastern division of the county, but it is a gaol only for felons, and prisoners under the jurisdiction of the justices, and not for debtors, the sheriff of the county taking no cognizance of it. The antient Place-house of the Ropers stands opposite the church, at the west end of the street, the antient seat is said to have stood at some distance behind the present house and gateway, which are situated close to the side of the street, these having been only the inferior offices belonging to it. They have been for many years past converted into a dwelling and public brew-house, and are now tenanted by John Abbot, esq. who resides in it. A little further, on the opposite side of the way, at St. Dunstan's cross, there is a good new-built house, the property, and late the residence of John Baker, esq. but it is now occupied by colonel Smith, of the royal artillery. Here the road divides, that towards the south-west leading to London, along which this parish extends near a quarter of a mile, where the lands in it are exceedingly fertile, and planted with hops. The other road runs strait forward from the cross up St. Thomas's hill, (fn. 1) and so over Bleane common, at the beginning of which this parish ends, towards Whitstaple. The street of St. Dunstan's contains about two hundred houses, and near one thousand inhabitants. There is a synagogue belonging to the Jews, who inhabit mostly together in the eastern part of this parish, and in the part of Westgate adjoining to it, and with some few others in the different parts of Canterbury, are said to amount to near four hundred. They have a burying-ground in this parish, near the entrance of the Whitstaple road from St. Dunstan's cross; and there is another belonging to the Quakers near it.
There was a gallows for the public execution of criminals, on St. Thomas's hill; two of whom were executed here in 1698, and the like in 1700 and 1702, as appears by the parish register.
A fair is held in St. Dunstan's street on the Monday se'nnight after the feast of St. Peter ad Vincula.
THE MANOR OF WESTGATE, belonging to the archbishop, claims over the whole of this parish, in which there are only two houses deserving of a particular description, one of which is
THE PLACE-HOUSE, or St. Dunstan's place, situated near the church, on the north side of the London road. It is noted for having been the antient and most early residence in this county of the family of Roper, (fn. 2) whose burial place was afterwards in this church of St. Dunstan's; one of whom, William Roper, or Rosper, as the name was then sometimes spelt, resided here in king Henry III.'s reign, and was a great benefactor to St. Martin's priory, in Dover. John Roper, his descendant, was resident both here and at Swaycliffe, and was one of the surveyors of the customs of the cinque ports, under king Henry VII. whose son John Roper was sheriff in the 12th year of king Henry VIII. and was afterwards attorney-general and prothonotary of the court of king's bench; and having inherited from his mother Margery, daughter and coheir of John Tattersall, the manor of Wellhall, in Eltham, resided mostly at the mansion of it. He died in 1524, leaving two sons, William and Christopher, the latter of whom was seated at Linsted, from whom the Ropers, lords Teynham and Dacre, are descended. William Roper, the eldest son, whose lands were disgavelled by the act of the second and third of king Edward VI. was of Wellhall, and succeeded his father likewise in this antient family seat at St. Dunstan's, from which time they resided constantly at Wellhall, and in this family this estate continued down to Edward Roper, esq. of Wellhall, whose daughter, and at length sole surviving heir Elizabeth, having married Edward Henshaw, esq. of Hampshire, entitled her husband to it, among other estates. He left three daughters his coheirs, but on his death it came by the entail of it, into the possession of William Strickland, esq. who had married Catherine, the eldest of them, and on his death, s.p. in 1788, it devolved by the same entail to Sir Edward Dering, bart. son of Sir Edward Dering, by his wife Elizabeth, the other sister, and to Sir Rowland Wynne, bart. son of Sir Rowland Wynne, who had married the youngest sister; and their two sons of the same names are at this time the joint proprietors of this house, and the rest of the antient possessions of the family of Roper, in this parish and its neighbourhood.
ST. THOMAS'S HILL, is the other seat remaining to be noticed, which takes its name from the hill on which it is situated, on the road to Whitstaple, about half a mile from St. Dunstan's church. It was for many years in the possession of the family of Roberts, for Mr. William Roberts resided here in the reign of Philip and Mary, and died possessed of it in the 3d year of queen Elizabeth, and, as appears by the parish register, was buried in this church. And in his descendants, (from one of whom descended likewise the Roberts's of Harbledowne) this seat continued down to Mr. Drayton Roberts, who died possessed of it in 1738, leaving one sole daughter and heir Mary, who carried it in marriage to Mr. Jacob Sawkins, gent. of Liminge, whom she survived, and afterwards sold it to her late father's brother, Mr. Edward Roberts, who left his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Nathaniel Denew, esq. surviving, to whom he deviled this seat, which she afterwards alienated to Charles Webb, esq. who rebuilt it, and resided at it till his death in 1786, leaving his wife Sarah, daughter of Mr. Heaver, surviving, who now, by her husband's will, is entitled to it, and resides here.
Charities.
THOMAS STRENSHAM, by deed in 1584, gave certain houses and lands; the produce to be applied to the comforting of poor householders of this parish, clothing their children, or setting them to service. Which premises are vested in ten feoffees, and are of the annual produce of 17l. 11s. 8d.
THOMAS MANERINGE, by will in 1692, gave to two poor men of this parish, the yearly sum of 6s. 8d. to be paid to them at Easter, out of an estate in Broad-street, in Canterbury, now vested in Mr. Hammond.
The poor constantly relieved are about forty-five, casually thirty.
THIS PARISH is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of the same.
The church, which is dedicated to St. Dunstan, is large and handsome, consisting of two isles, two chancels at the east end, and a small one on the north side, near the west end. At the south-west corner is a tower steeple, in which there is a clock and a peal of six bells. This church is well pewed, and very neatly kept. In it is a monument and a burial place for the Rondeau's, the first of whom was a refugee in England for the Protestant religion; their arms, Azure, on a fess wavy, three burts, in base a star of many points, or; not far from which are memorials for several of this family, and for the Alkins. A small monument for Charles Webb, esq. of St. Thomas's hill, colonel of foot, obt. 1786, arms, Quarterly, gules, a cross between four birds, or; and paly, gules, and or, impaling gules, a plain cross argent, a label of three points, azure. In the north, or high chancel there are several memorials for the family of Scranton. Underneath, near the north side, is a large vault, wherein many of the family of Roberts are deposited. The altar cloth is very curious, made seemingly before the reformation, having on it several figures of cherubs, and in the middle a crucifix, with the figure of Christ on it; all elegantly wrought in needle-work embossed with gold, not unlikely by one of the ladies of the Roper family. The south chancel is called the Roper chancel, in a vault underneath which many of this family are deposited, and being full, it has been closed up. Against the south wall are two tombs of Bethersden marble, one of them partly within an arch in the wall, probably that of the founder of this chancel; over the other is a banner, of the arms of Roper, mostly torn off, and a helmet, and surcoat, with the arms of More on it, Argent, a chevron ermine, between three moor cocks, sable. Against a pillar is a handsome monument for Thomas Roper, esq. grandson of Sir Thomas More, by his daughter Margaret, obt. 1597; above are the arms of Roper, with quarterings. In the east window are some small remains of painted glass. Somner gives several inscriptions remaining in his time, for the Ropers, one of which is for William Roper, esq. son and heir of John Roper, esq. and for Margaret his wife, daughter of Sir Thomas More, lord chancellor. His monument is that with the banner over it, against the south wall. In a hollow in the wall of the vault underneath, having an iron grate before it, next to the coffin of the above Margaret, there is still remaining a scull, being that of Sir Thomas More; for after he was beheaded, anno 1535, though his body was permitted to be buried, first in the church of St. Peter in the Tower, and afterwards in Chelsea church, where it now lies, yet his head was set on a pole on London bridge, and was afterwards privily bought by his daughter Margaret, and for some time preserved by her in a leaden box, with much devotion, and placed in this vault, when she died, near her coffin. In the south isle are memorials for the Heatons, of St. Thomas's hill. The cover to the font is of a pyramidical shape, curiously carved in wood, in the gothic taste. On the north side of this church is a small chapel, now made use of as a vestry room, founded by Henry de Canterbury, the king's chaplain, in 1330, and dedicated to the Holy Trinity, in which he established a perpetual chantry, which he committed to the care of the hospital of the poor priests in Canterbury, who were to find the chaplain. And it remained in this state till the dissolution of such endowments, in king Edward VI.'s reign.
The chancel or chapel above-mentioned, belonging to the Ropers, was founded by John Roper, esq. as appears by patent 4th Henry IV. for two chaplains to sing mass in it, at the altar of St. Nicholas, for the souls of such of the family as were deceased, and the welfare of such as were living; each of which chaplains had eight pounds per annum allowed to them by him and his heirs, besides a house for their habitation, adjoining to the mansion-house of the family in this parish, on the west side of it; which house is still remaining, and is made use of as part of the mansion.
This church was part of the antient possessions of St. Gregory's priory, in Canterbury, founded by archbishop Lanfranc; and archbishop Hubert, in king Richard I.'s reign, confirmed the same, among the rest of the possessions of it. (fn. 3) After which, the church, with the advowson of the vicarage, remained with the priory till the dissolution of it, in king Henry VIII.'s reign, when coming into the king's hands, it was granted, with the scite and most of the possessions of the priory, that same year, in exchange, to the archbishop. Since which the whole of the premises above-mentioned, in which this parsonage was included, have been demised by the several archbishops in one great beneficial lease. George Gipps, esq. of Harbledowne, is the present lessee of it, as part of St. Gregories priory, under the archbishop. It is now of the value of only five pounds per annum.
Archbishop Walter Reynolds, in 1322, endowed the vicarage of this church, then appropriated to the priory of St. Gregory, decreeing, that the vicar of it should receive, for the maintenance of himself and his family, all small tithes, oblations, and other profits of every kind, the tithes of sheaves of every sort of corn growing in the fields only excepted, which he allotted to the religious in the name of the rectory, who should acknowledge all burthens, ordinary as well as extraordinary, of the chancel, books, and ornaments, as far as they were accustomed to belong to the rectors of places. (fn. 4) After which, on a representation to archbishop Stratford, that the above endowment was by no means sufficient for his support, the value of the vicarage amounting to only four marcs yearly, the archbishop's commissary assigned to the vicars, beyond the endowment above-mentioned, the house of the vicarage, which the vicars were wont of old to inhabit, and also the pension of two marcs sterling, to be paid yearly by the religious, in augmentation of the portion so assigned to him. And he decreed, that the vicar, in future should serve the church in divine rites, and should provide tapers, lights, and bread and wine for the celebration of masses; and should support the burthens of the church, estimated at four marcs for the moiety, in all payments whatsoever of tenths and other extraordinary impositions; and that the religious should rebuild and repair the chancel of the church, and find books, vestments, and ornaments, belonging to the rectors of places, all which the archbishop approved, and confirmed in 1342. (fn. 5)
In the 8th year of king Richard II. anno 1384, the vicarage was valued at four pounds, being one of those small benefices, which, on account of their slender income, were not taxed to the tenth. It is valued in the king's books at five pounds, and is now of the clear yearly certified value of eighteen pounds. In 1588 it was valued at twenty pounds, communicants one hundred and fifty-six. In 1640 it was valued at forty pounds, the like number of communicants.
Archbishop Juxon, in 1661, augmented the vicarages and curacies late belonging to St. Gregory's priory, and then of the patronage of the see of Canterbury, with the yearly sum of two hundred and ten pounds, out of the great tithes of the several parsonages; but this of St. Dunstan's, probably from the inefficient value of the parsonage for that purpose, did not receive any part of it.
Archbishop Tenison gave to the governors of queen Anne's bounty, which he confirmed by his will in 1715, the sum of two hundred pounds, to the augmentation of this vicarage, to which the governors added two hundred pounds more for the same purpose. It is now of the annual value of about fifty pounds.
There have been no remains of the vicarage-house for a long time.
¶THE CITY AND COUNTY OF THE CITY OF CANTERBURY lies the next adjoining to St. Dunstan's parish eastward, a district which was once accounted a hundred of itself, and within the jurisdiction of the justices of the county of Kent, and it continued so till it was made a county, and separate jurisdiction of itself, by king Edward the IVth in his first year, a copious description of it, as well as of the priory of Christ-church, and the cathedral, with an account of the archbishops, and the other members belonging to them, will be given in a separate volume at the conclusion of this history.
Execution Rocks Lighthouse is an active lighthouse, located in the Long Island Sound, protecting mariners traveling those waters.
Image © 2013 Clarence Holmes / Clarence Holmes Photography, All Rights Reserved. The image is protected by U.S. and International copyright laws, and is not to be downloaded or reproduced in any way without written permission.
If you would like to use this image for any purpose, please see the available licensing and/or print options for this image on my website or contact me with any questions that you may have.
The Rebels Return Wood Sculptures. Wat Tyler Park, Basildon, Essex.
Full size high quality images available on request.
Charcoal, wash, pencil and white chalk on paper; 42.3 x 28 cm.
After studying at the Vienna School of Decorative Arts, Klimt in 1883 opened an independent studio specializing in the execution of mural paintings. His early work was typical of late 19th-century academic painting, as can be seen in his murals for the Vienna Burgtheater (1888) and on the staircase of the Kunsthistorisches Museum.
In 1897 Klimt’s mature style emerged, and he founded the Vienna Sezession, a group of painters who revolted against academic art in favor of a highly decorative style similar to Art Nouveau. Soon thereafter he painted three allegorical murals for the ceiling of the University of Vienna auditorium that were violently criticized; the erotic symbolism and pessimism of these works created such a scandal that the murals were rejected. His later murals, the Beethoven Frieze (1902) and the murals (1909–11) in the dining room of the Stoclet House in Brussels, are characterized by precisely linear drawing and the bold and arbitrary use of flat, decorative patterns of color and gold leaf. Klimt’s most successful works include The Kiss (1907–08) and a series of portraits of fashionable Viennese matrons, such as Frau Fritza Riedler (1906) and Frau Adele Bloch-Bauer (1907). In these works he treats the human figure without shadow and heightens the lush sensuality of skin by surrounding it with areas of flat, highly ornamental, and brilliantly composed areas of decoration.
During World War II Frau Adele Bloch-Bauer and several other Klimt paintings belonging to the Bloch-Bauer family were confiscated by the Nazis and eventually added to the collection of the Österreichische Gallery in Vienna. These works later became the focus of a lengthy legal battle, and in 2006 they were finally returned to the family. Later that year Frau Adele Bloch-Bauer was sold to the Neue Galerie in New York City for a then-record price of $135 million.
This Glacial erratic in Jordbro has an interesting history. For centuries it was used as a place of execution. It has seen many decapitations and hangings. The last person to die here was Anders Gustav Pettersson, who murdered his boss, Fredrik Jaedren, the brutal owner of the old estate Näringsberg. I recently read a book about about the murder story.
I shot this with The Nifty Fifty. It is three photos stitched together.
This is a grim reminder of our past. Located in a glass case inside the church of St Sepulchre Without, is the Newgate Prison execution bell. The handbell would be rung outside the cell of the condemned prisioner, by the church clerk, at midnight on the eve of his execution. The great bell of the church would be rung when an execution was in progress. The former Newgate prison Gallows were nearby to the church. The main church bells are also one of those featured in the children's rhyme 'Oranges and Lemons' as they are the Bells of Old Bailey.
IT was an ancient practice, on the night preceding the execution of condemned criminals, for the bellman of the parish of St Sepulchre to go under Newgate and, ringing his bell, to repeat the following, as a piece of friendly advice to the unhappy wretches under sentence of death:--
"You prisoners that are within, who for wickedness and sin, after many mercies shown you, are now appointed to die tomorrow in the forenoon, give ear and understand that in the morning the greatest bell of St Sepulchre’s shall toll for you in form and manner of a passing bell, to the end that all godly people, hearing that bell and knowing that it is for your going to your deaths, may be stirred up heartily to pray to God to bestow His grace upon you while you live. I beseech you for Jesus Christ’s sake to keep this night in watching and prayer for the salvation of your own souls, while there is yet time for mercy, as knowing tomorrow you must appear before the judgement seat of your Creator, there to give an account of all things done in this life and to suffer eternal torments for your sins committed against Him, unless upon your hearty and unfeigned repentance you find mercy through the merits, death and passion of your only Mediator and Advocate, Jesus Christ, who now sits at the right hand of God to make intercession for as many of you as penitently return to Him."
The following extract from Stowe’s Survey of London, p. 125 of the quarto edition printed in 1618, will prove that the above verses ought to have been repeated by a clergyman instead of a bellman:--
"Robert Dow, Citizen and Merchant Taylor, of London, gave to the parish church of St Sepulchre's, the sum of 50L. That after the several sessions of London, when the prisoners remain in the gaol, as condemned men to death, expecting execution on the morning following; the clerk (that is, the parson) of the church should come in the night time, and likewise early in the morning, to the window of the prison where they lie, and there ringing certain tolls with a hand-bell, appointed for the purpose, he doth afterwards (in most Christian manner) put them in mind of their present condition, and ensuing execution, desiring them to be prepared therefor as they ought to be. When they are in the cart, and brought before the wall of the church, there he standeth ready with the same bell, and after certain tolls rehearseth an appointed prayer, desiring all the people there present to pray for them. The beadle also of Merchant Taylors Hall hath an honest stipend allowed to see that this is duly done."
executing someone's bug at the office because she stole away someone else's three-in-one instant coffee!