In Gatchina, the former residence of the Russian emperors in the vicinity of St. Petersburg, on the shore of the "Black Lake", stands a small palace which bears the name "Priory Palace". Although it was originally intended to serve for only twenty years, it is already in its third century of existence. The Priory Palace is so exceptional that it surely ought to be in the "Guinness Book of Records". Everything about this building is unusual: its name, its architectural appearance, the materials and techniques of its construction, as well as the legends which are bound up with it.

 

Constructed for a prior of the Maltese Order, the palace never actually became a priory, although it was presented to the Order of St. John of Jerusalem by a decree of Paul I dated 23 August 1799. In the 19th century, the Priory was occupied first by the Court choristers, then by the master of the royal hunt; in Soviet times it became a place for outings, a "house of rest", a Pioneers' house, then a museum of local history. Then the palace was closed, being by now in a state of such disrepair that it seemed about to collapse into the Black Lake. At that time the palace bore a new name - people called it the "Crumbling Castle".

 

A romantic page of Russian history is bound up with the knights of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, Rhodes and Malta. The year 1999 was the 900th anniversary of the founding of the order, which today numbers about 12,000 members, as well as the 200th year since the election of Tsar Paul I as the order's Grand Master.

 

It is in Jerusalem, the "city of cities", that the tomb of Our Lord is located. Thousands of Christian pilgrims made their way to the Holy Land to visit it. In the pilgrims' refuge attached to the church of St. John the Baptist, not far from Jerusalem, monks tended the pilgrims and received donations from them as a mark of their gratitude. The emblem of the order is a white eight-pointed cross, symbolising the eight virtues - faith, charity, truth, justice, innocence, humility, sincerity and patience. The monks were bound by their rules not only to provide help for the injured, but also to defend Christianity against the followers of Islam. Thus the order became an order of warrior-monks, who were known as "Knights of St. John" or "Knights Hospitallers". But the crusades undertaken by the order ended in failure and they were forced to flee to the island of Rhodes, which was their home for two centuries. In the year 1522 the forces of the Turkish sultan Suleiman the Magnificent attempted to capture Rhodes. After a six-month siege the Grand Master of the order, Philippe de l'Isle-Adam, surrendered the island. Full of admiration for the knights' courage, Suleiman allowed them to leave the island by ship.

 

A new place of refuge for the knights was found in 1530, when Charles V, king of Spain and Sicily, gave the island of Malta to the order in return for a symbolic annual payment of one hunting falcon. During the years of its residence in Malta the order of St. John developed into a very powerful and wealthy community; its knights combined a high degree of monasticism with a code of knightly honour. In the north-east of the island they built a fortress which, during the 400 years of its history, no-one has ever succeeded in taking by storm. The name of its builder - Grand Master Jean de La Vallette - has been immortalised in the name of Malta's capital, Valletta.

 

The French Revolution drove the knights from Malta and deprived the order of its wealth; its estates were confiscated for the benefit of the people. On 6 June 1798 Napoleon Bonaparte, on the way to Egypt, raided Malta. The order allowed the general's forces to enter the harbour, and the invulnerable fortress of Valletta fell without a shot being fired. By Napoleon's decree, all the silver from the churches built by the Hospitallers was melted down. The Grand Master von Gompesch was exiled, and the knights were compelled to leave the island within 72 hours.

 

Relations between the Russian state and the Maltese order were first established in 1698, when Peter I's ambassador Boris Petrovich Sheremetev was received with honour in Valletta by the head of the order Grand Master Raymond de Pereylos, and, though he was not a Catholic, became the first Russian knight of this Catholic order. During the reign of Catherine II an alliance was formed between Russia and Malta against Turkey. In the Turkish war several officers of the order fought on Russia's side. One of these was Count Yuliy Pompeevich Litta, who received a golden sword "for valour" and the third degree of the Order of St. George. And it was Litta who brought the insignia of the order to Russia for Paul I, with the request that he should take the order under his patronage. On the 29th November 1798 the solemn ceremony took place by which the Russian emperor assumed the title of Grand Master. From Malta certain holy relics were brought to Gatchina - a piece of Christ's cross, the icon of the Mother of God from Philerma, the right hand of John the Baptist.

 

Paul I was a great admirer of the order. From childhood he had read and re-read the Abbot Vertot's "History of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem". He was shaken by the fate of Malta and came to the aid of the order. An agreement was signed by which the Polish priorate became the Great Russian priorate. Two priorates were established - a Polish, Catholic priorate and a Russian, Orthodox priorate. The Maltese knights came to Russia, where they were granted lands and high office. The residence of the order was transferred to St. Petersburg. Paul judged that this powerful knightly order would be of assistance in the struggle against the revolutionary ideas which were then spreading in Europe. An institute of honorary commanders was established, admission to which was not dependent on proof of noble origin. The cross of the order was awarded for services to the state, either military or civil.

 

Paul gave to the knights of the Russian priorate the church of St. John the Baptist on St. Petersburg's Stone Island, and the Vorontsov Palace (now the Suvorov Military Academy). Next to the Vorontsov Palace the architect Giovanni Quarenghi built a Maltese chapel, and in Gatchina the architect N. A. Lvov created the Priory Palace for the French emigre Prince Conde, a former prior of the order. (A "prior" is one of the main officials of the order, and "priory" is the designation of a prior's residence.) Before succeeding to the throne, during his travels in Europe Paul had visited the country residence of Prince Conde at Chantilly. He recalled that in Paris Louis XVI had received him as a friend, but that in Chantilly Prince Conde had received him as a king. Mindful of the prince's hospitality, Paul wanted to construct a palace for him in his beloved Gatchina. But Conde never came to Gatchina, and the palace was used by the Maltese knights for meetings of the order under the presidency of their Grand Master, and as a "spare" palace.

 

cult.gatchina.ru/priorat/eindex.htm

Beiteddine Palace Complex, Lebanon.

 

In the Middle Ages Lebanon was divided up into fiefs governed by emirs or hereditary sheikhs. But in the Dar El Harim façadeearly years of the 17th century, Emir Fakhr Ed Dine II Maan (d. 1635) succeeded in extending his power throughout these princedoms and eventually ruled an area corresponding to present-day Lebanon.

His first capital was at Baaqline but because of a chronic water shortage, he was forced to move to Deir El Qamar where there were copious springs.

When the Maan dynasty died out at the end of the 17th century, the land was inherited by the emirs of the Chehab family. It was Emir Bechir Chehab II who decided to leave Deir El Qamar and to construct his own palace at Beiteddine (House of faith), a druze hermitage which today is part of the palace.

In 1812, Emir Bechir obliged each of his able-bodied males subjects to provide two days of unpaid labor in order to ensure a plentiful supply of water at his new seat of government. Within two years the project was completed.

The palace remained the emir's residence until his forced exile in 1840. After the Ottomans suppressed the emirate in 1842 the building was used by the Ottoman authorities as the government residence. Later, under the French Mandate following World War I, it was used for local administrative purposes.

The General Directorate of Antiquities carefully restored Beiteddine to its original grandeur after it was declared a historic monument in 1934. Beginning in 1943, the year of Lebanon's independence, the palace became the summer residence of the president. Bechara El Khoury was the first president to use Beiteddine and he brought back the remains of Emir Bechir from Istanbul, where he had died in 1850.

Today Beiteddine, with its museums and its gardens, is one of Lebanon's major tourist attractions. Qualified guides are available for your tour through this monument, which is open daily. A visit to Beiteddine is ideally combined with nearby Dei Al Qamar.

 

For video, please visit youtu.be/--XHLL4vVmc

. . . but I succeeded!

Yesterday, I could have attempted to encourage my brother to succeed. I could tell him that with effort, with perseverance, with hard work, he could be anything he wants.

 

I could have told him all that, knowing it was not quite true. Knowing that the odds were stacked against him, that the field was not level. That, really, he couldn't be anything. He could be some things easily, some other things with difficulty. And some things, because of the way certain people think, would be beyond his grasp.

 

Today, it's a little bit different.

 

Things are still bad. Racism still exists. The country is in the midst of several crises. Human rights are not yet universal.

 

But my brother, with effort, with perseverance, with hard work, my brother could become president.

 

As corrupt as politics are, as hard as real change is to bring about, this is important. This is significant. There is a role model, now. Again. There is an opportunity for an entire people to take away from this election that it is possible to succeed in this world, that it is possible to become more than stereotypes, victims, exceptions to a rule.

 

Today we live in a different place. Today a black man can become leader of the free world. It is not theoretical, it is something that has happened, and can happen again.

 

My brother can become leader of the free world.

 

My sister, too.

Tomar today is a modern city with a population of about 40.000.

 

After the conquest of the area from the Moors by Portugal´s first king Afonso Henriques in 1147, the land was granted in 1159 as a fief to the Order of the Knights Templar, who erected the castle/monastery "Convento de Cristo" here, that later became the headquarters of the Order in Portugal.

 

Gualdim Pais, Grand Master of the Order, granted priviliges to the evolving town already in 1162. After the Order of the Knights Templar was suppressed in 1314 King Dinis was able to transfer the possessions and personnel of the Order in Portugal to a newly created Order of Christ. In the 15th century Henry the Navigator was made the Governor of the Order. He was the central figure in the early days of the European maritime discoveries and maritime expansion, later known as the "Age of Discovery", and he may have used resources and knowledge of the Order to succeed in his enterprises in Africa and in the Atlantic.

 

In 1492 the Jews were expelled from Spain. Many refugees settled in Tomar, what helped the town to develop. Jews lived here undisturbed for several decades until the Portuguese Inquisition got installed. Many could escape by migrating, but about 1000 were tortured and executed.

 

Tomar was occupied by the French during the Napoleonic invasions and was liberated by Portuguese and English troops commanded by the Duke of Wellington.

 

When Henry the Navigator was the Governor of the Order, much money was invested into the rebuilding of the "Convento de Cristo" in flamboyant Gothic / Manueline renaissance style.

 

Sissinghurst Castle Garden, at Sissinghurst in the Weald of Kent in England, was created by Vita Sackville-West, poet and writer, and her husband Harold Nicolson, author and diplomat. It is among the most famous gardens in England and is designated Grade I on Historic England's register of historic parks and gardens. It was bought by Sackville-West in 1930, and over the next thirty years, working with, and later succeeded by, a series of notable head gardeners, she and Nicolson transformed a farmstead of "squalor and slovenly disorder" into one of the world's most influential gardens. Following Sackville-West's death in 1962, the estate was donated to the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty. It is one of the Trust's most popular properties, with nearly 200,000 visitors in 2017.

 

The gardens contain an internationally respected plant collection, particularly the assemblage of old garden roses. The writer Anne Scott-James considered the roses at Sissinghurst to be "one of the finest collections in the world". A number of plants propagated in the gardens bear names related to people connected with Sissinghurst or the name of the garden itself. The garden design is based on axial walks that open onto enclosed gardens, termed "garden rooms", one of the earliest examples of this gardening style. Among the individual "garden rooms", the White Garden has been particularly influential, with the horticulturalist Tony Lord describing it as "the most ambitious ... of its time, the most entrancing of its type."

 

The site of Sissinghurst is ancient and has been occupied since at least the Middle Ages. The present-day buildings began as a house built in the 1530s by Sir John Baker. In 1554 Sir John's daughter Cecily married Thomas Sackville, 1st Earl of Dorset, an ancestor of Vita Sackville-West. By the 18th century the Baker's fortunes had waned, and the house, renamed Sissinghurst Castle, was leased to the government to act as a prisoner-of-war camp during the Seven Years' War. The prisoners caused great damage and by the 19th century much of Sir Richard's house had been demolished. In the mid-19th century, the remaining buildings were in use as a workhouse, and by the 20th century Sissinghurst had declined to the status of a farmstead. In 1928 the castle was advertised for sale but remained unsold for two years.

 

Sackville-West was born in 1892 at Knole, the ancestral home of the Sackvilles. But for her sex, Sackville-West would have inherited Knole on the death of her father in 1928. Instead, following primogeniture, the house and the title passed to her uncle, a loss she felt deeply. In 1930, after she and Nicolson became concerned that their home Long Barn was threatened by development, Sackville-West bought Sissinghurst Castle. On purchasing Sissinghurst, Sackville-West and Nicolson inherited little more than some oak and nut trees, a quince, and a single old rose. Sackville-West planted the noisette rose 'Madame Alfred Carrière' on the south face of the South Cottage even before the deeds to the property had been signed. Nicolson was largely responsible for planning the garden design, while Sackville-West undertook the planting. Over the next thirty years, working with her head gardeners, she cultivated some two hundred varieties of roses and large numbers of other flowers and shrubs. Decades after Sackville-West and Nicolson created "a garden where none was", Sissinghurst remains a major influence on horticultural thought and practice.

 

-Wikipedia

Joshua to Succeed Moses

 

Then Moses went out and spoke these words to all Israel: “I am now a hundred and twenty years old and I am no longer able to lead you. The Lord has said to me, ‘You shall not cross the Jordan.’ The Lord your God himself will cross over ahead of you. He will destroy these nations before you, and you will take possession of their land. Joshua also will cross over ahead of you, as the Lord said. And the Lord will do to them what he did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, whom he destroyed along with their land. The Lord will deliver them to you, and you must do to them all that I have commanded you. Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”

 

Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the presence of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you must go with this people into the land that the Lord swore to their ancestors to give them, and you must divide it among them as their inheritance. The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

 

[Deuteronomy 31:1-8 NIV]

 

5 THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW:

 

1. Like it or not, we are ALL sinners: As the Scriptures say, “No one is righteous—not even one. No one is truly wise; no one is seeking God. All have turned away; all have become useless. No one does good, not a single one.” (Romans 3:10-12 NLT)

 

2. The punishment for sin is death: When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned. (Romans 5:12 NLT)

 

3. Jesus is our only hope: But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. (Romans 5:8 NLT) For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23 NLT)

 

4. SALVATION is by GRACE through FAITH in JESUS: God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. (Ephesians 2:8-10 NLT)

 

5. Accept Jesus and receive eternal life: If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (Romans 10:9 NLT) But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. (John 1:12 NLT) And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life. (1 John 5:11-12 NLT)

 

Read the Bible for yourself. Allow the Lord to speak to you through his Word. YOUR ETERNITY IS AT STAKE!

38/52

 

When you try your best, but you don't succeed

When you get what you want, but not what you need

When you feel so tired, but you can't sleep

Stuck in reverse

 

And the tears come streaming down on your face

When you lose something you can't replace

When you love someone, but it goes to waste

Could it be worse?

 

And high up above or down below

When you're too in love to let it go

If you never try you'll never know

Just what you're worth

 

Tears stream down on your face

I promise you I will learn from my mistakes

Tears stream down your face

And I...

 

Lights will guide you home

And ignite your bones

And I will try to fix you

 

~Fix You by Coldplay: Listen

When we succeed in learning something we feel better, more confident in ourselves and our ability to tackle all sorts of new tasks.

Knowledge is power. ...

One of the most crucial reasons to learn something new is that you gain brain power when you do. You will improve your mental health.

 

Apples are extremely rich in important antioxidants, flavanoids, phytonutrients and dietary fiber. which may help reduce the risk of developing cancer, hypertension, diabetes, and heart disease. Apples also boost the brain by protecting against memory loss and lowering the occurrence of strokes.

 

Here's how your brain and body benefit when you crack open a book.

Reading gives muscle to your memory, gives your workout more staying power, keeps your brain young, can melt away stress, boosts your vocabulary, improves empathy, can encourage life goals.

 

ODC - Learning Objects

If at first you don't succeed... Okay, so here we go. I am going to take another whack at a year long project. If at any point I whine, please remind me that I chose this. If I seem absent, ping me. Above all, remind me that I really do love photography, no matter how much I may try to deny it.

 

Say 'Hello" to Roxy. She's our 16 week old Golden Retriever puppy. Seems she has something to say about New Years Resolutions as she got hold of my membership card for the Gym. Or perhaps she's saying 'Walk me instead?' This song always comes to mind this time of year, albeit with altered lyrics...

 

{Lightbox is something! - Type L to see for yourself}

 

Thank you for stopping by, looking and commenting. I will wade into your 'stream as well.

 

**Explore #60 for 1/1/2013. Wow, thank you all for your visits and interest!

So, I thought I'd try to make a Big Barda. I kinda succeeded, but I feel she's missing something. I gave her a spear for some reason, I honestly have no idea why. Might replace it with a sword or something.

 

I've been considering adding her to the Overlords-verse, but I'm not too sure, just as I feel she'd be a bit out of place. Might do an interlude with her leading the original Furies into battle with the Justice league. Or perhaps one where she's a prisoner of war, and in one of Supermans re-education centres?

 

So, that's Big Barda. As always, lemme know what you think :D

"The cowboy Baronet" - Sir Genille Cave-Browne-Cave, 12th Baronet of Cave (1869-1929). My colorization of a 1911 Bain News Service photo in the Library of Congress archive. Sir Genille, who called himself "Harrison" when working as a cowboy in the U.S., was an adventurer (in the positive sense of the word). He returned to his home country after succeeding his father as the 12th Baronet of Cave in 1907.

The Esoteric Curiosa blog has re-published an article from 1909 on Sir Genille. Here are a few extracts from the article:

"It may seem odd that an English tenderfoot, a member of the English aristocracy at that, should go out to the Wild West and beat expert lariat throwers from Wyoming, Arizona, and Colorado, at their own game; yet, Sir Genille Cave-Browne-Cave did it, and his world’s record of 19 ½ seconds, made in 1907 for chasing, catching, roping, throwing and tying a steer, stands and probably will stand until a better cowboy is found.

But there is no mystery in Sir Genille to those who know him. He was born with the spirit of adventure in his blood. Had he lived in the Middle Ages he would have been one of the boldest of the Crusader Knights, as in fact was one of his ancestors. As it was, the roughest life of the British cavalry in Indian and African campaigns was too tame for him. Then he heard the call of the Wild American West. He led a life of reckless daring, among kindred spirits." --

"When the eleventh Baronet of Stretton Hall, Stretton-en-le-Field, Derbyshire died in 1907, it was said that his son had been killed in a duel in Arizona. A cousin of the young man, serving in the British navy, would have succeeded to the estate, but the Crown is slow to bestow titles. It was so in this case. Search was instituted on the plains and in the canyons of the far west. Cave-Browne-Cave was found on a ranch in Colorado. There was nothing in his appearance to indicate that he had ever seen a baronial hall. He had the manner and the apparel of a bronco buster. The red of the sundown land was in his face. The dust from the wake of the coyote was in his hair." --

"The homecoming of the wanderer to Stretton Hall, Stretton-en-le-Field, Derbyshire was an unhappy one. Stretton Hall estate is six miles out from the village of Ashby-de-la-Zouche, an old Norman settlement, and the big rambling house goes back to the early history of England. Sadly, the house had fallen into disuse. It had been neglected so long that a light could not have been seen through the window pane. The halls were empty. The hedges of the grounds were untrimmed. The grass about the doors was tangled so that a hare could not have made its way through it. The opening of a door or a gate created reverberating echoes. The effect was ghostly. The dust on the mirrors in the great carved frames was so thick that the prodigal could see no reflection of his face. All that was left of the estates were huge mortgages and an empty title. A romantic touch is added by the fact the secret passages exist, although now blocked up, connecting Stretton Hall with a water mill, a quarter of a mile away, on the river Mease." --

"Last August when the RMS Lucania was warped into her dock in New York a steerage passenger came ashore. He had traveled incognito. But some of the passengers said he had spent more money for beer for his fellow passengers than a first class cabin ticket would have cost. The steerage passenger wore a bangle bracelet on his wrist. He talked in the lingo of the ranch. When his identity became known it made no difference in his manner. He laughed when somebody called him m’lord. He said that his estate was scattered, and then he added, “I guess I am going home.”

He quickly tired of talking of his estates. He held up the wrist from which the bangle bracelet dangled. “It was put there by the sweetest little blossom that ever bloomed,” he said, with charming abandon. “She lives in Denver,” he continued. “She locked the bracelet there. I am going back west to her get. In two months we will be back in England.”

He had met “the blossom” at a cattle puncher’s contest at which prizes were offered. She admired his riding, and he heard of it. With true gallantry he sought the young woman’s brother and asked permission to meet the sister. To her he was just plain Mr. Cave. So far as she knew all that he possessed was the horse which he rode. The acquaintances ripened into the sort of affection which seems to be stronger under Western skies than it is elsewhere, for the reason, perhaps, that the people out there are more ardent in their manner than they are elsewhere. Not until after he had won his “blossom” did he tell her his history.

When the young Baronet sailed from New York for Liverpool he had $100 to his name and his favorite horse, “Blue Dog.” He showed his true nature when he sailed traveling in a fashion quite characteristic of him on board a cattle ship of the Atlantic Transport Company, actually serving as a cattleman, roughing it as he had done for many year in the past, and in order that he might look after his horse during the voyage.

The finale of the story is pitiful. On his return from England, while he was waiting to begin his journey to the west to claim his “western blossom,” he received a letter which had been sent to him in England and which had been forwarded to New York. The letter told of the death of his sweetheart, Miss May Harrington. While driving her automobile near Denver in company with her brother Robert, the machine slid at a sharp curve, struck a tree and overturned. Miss Harrington and her brother were killed. The young girl’s heart was pierced by an iron rod from the steering gear." --

"Thus, once a cowboy, always a cowboy, and while visiting Liverpool in 1908, the “Bronco Baronet”, met two of his cowboy chums, who were with Colonel Cummins’s Wild West Show at New Brighton, the Coney Island of Liverpool; who with Frank Small, the Tody Hamilton of England, persuaded him to put on once again the cowboy togs and ride a mustang in the arena.

“Just for a lark,” he did it, making his return appearance as a circus performer.

Sir Genille Cave-Browne-Cave, bart., whose exploits were heralded across the Continent over the course of 1907-08, has now become a showman in England. After the Wild West entertainment of Colonel Cummins’s went out of business at New Brighton last fall, Sir Genille engaged some of the cowboy talent, girl riders, Indians and ponies and organized a “wild” venture of his own. It opened at the Hippodrome in London last December and to say the least, it was a “hit” from the send-off. Currently, it is keeping the pace at the Imperial exhibition. After its run is over at the Imperial, Sir Genille expects to tour the provinces with his exhibition. Then, if all goes according to his expectations he will bring the venture to America. He hopes to attain such success as will enable him to restore Stretton Hall to its former glory and rescue his ancestral estates from creditors."

(theesotericcuriosa.blogspot.com/.../bronco-buster...)

I have not found any information about whether Sir Genille was able to restore Stretton Hall to its former glory. Probably he was not able to do it, because after use in WWII to billet soldiers and house Italian prisoners of war, Stretton Hall was demolished in 1945, Sir Genille himself chose a less adventurous lifestyle - he became the Rector at the Alls Saints Church in Londesborough, Yorkshire.

El casco antiguo de Graz fue declarado Patrimonio de la Humanidad por la Unesco en 1999.

A orillas del río Mur se encuentra una colina llamada Schlossberg, que tiene una altura de 475 metros.

Hace más de 1.000 años se construyó un castillo que dio el nombre a la ciudad (que se deriva de la palabra eslovena gradec, que significa "pequeño castillo"). Desde el año 1125 la colina albergó una impresionante fortaleza. En 1809 Napoleón ordenó destruirla. En dicha colina se edificó en 1560 la Torre del reloj, uno de los símbolos de la ciudad. Entre las diferentes calles que forman parte del distrito Innere Stadt destaca la calle Sporgasse. La calle es más antigua que la ciudad ya que fueron los romanos, los primeros que trazaron una vía que iba desde el valle del río Mur hasta la ciudad romana de Savaria (actual Szombately, en Hungría). Los artesanos que trabajaban en esta calle son los que dieron el nombre a la calle. En la actualidad, la Sporgasse es una calle dedicada al comercio.

 

es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casco_histórico_de_Graz

  

Innere Stadt (German pronunciation: [ˈɪnəʀə ʃtat]) is the 1st district of the Austrian city of Graz, capital of the federal state of Styria. It is the part of the Old Town (in German: Altstadt) containing the Schloßberg and the city park (Stadtpark). The district borders are formed by the Mur river between Radetzkybrücke and Keplerbrücke, the Wickenburggasse, the Glacis, Jakominiplatz and the Radetzkystraße. The district covers an area of 1.16 km² and -as of 2011- has a population of 3,545.

In 1999, the Old Town was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Innere_Stadt_(Graz)

  

Graz [ˈɡʁaːt͡s] es una ciudad austríaca, capital del estado federado de Estiria (en alemán, Steiermark). Con una población de 269.997 habitantes (1-1-2014) es la segunda ciudad más grande del país. Ciudad universitaria por excelencia, fue nombrada Capital Europea de la Cultura en el año 2003.

Graz está situada a orillas del río Mura al sureste de Austria. Se encuentra a 189 kilómetros de Viena, la capital de país.

La primera mención de la ciudad apareció en un documento escrito por el margrave de Estiria Leopoldo I. En la actualidad no se dispone del original aunque existe una copia del siglo XV.

El último representante de la dinastía Otakar fue Otakar IV de Estiria, margrave de Estiria y duque desde 1180. Otakar no tenía descendencia y había contraído la lepra. En el año 1186 Otakar se reunió con el duque Leopoldo V, de la Casa de Babenberg, en la localidad de Enns donde firmaron el Pacto de Georgenberger mediante el cual Otokar designaba a los Babenberg como sucesores.

En 1379 Graz se convierte en la residencia de los Habsburgo al ser nombrada capital de la Austria interna (en alemán Innerösterreich), territorio que comprendía Estiria, Carintia, Carniola y algunas posesiones en Italia. La estancia de la familia imperial se prolongó hasta 1619.

El 10 de abril de 1797, las tropas francesas hicieron su entrada en Graz por primera vez. Dos días más tarde, Napoleón llegó a Graz, donde permaneció unos días hasta su marcha a Göss, cerca de Leoben. El 14 de noviembre de 1805, el ejército francés, al mando del general Marmont, invadió la ciudad por segunda vez. La ocupación finalizó el 11 de enero de 1806 con la retirada de las tropas galas. El 30 de mayo de 1809 se produjo la tercera incursión de la legión francesa, esta vez bajo las órdenes de MacDonald. El 4 de enero de 1810 los franceses abandonaron Graz definitivamente.

Durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial el 16 % de los edificios fueron destruidos y 1788 personas perdieron la vida como consecuencia de la ofensiva. El casco histórico no se vio afectado por los ataques, a excepción de la Tummelplatz. La estación central y las plantas industriales del sur y el oeste de la ciudad fueron los objetivos de los bombardeos.

En los años posteriores a la proclamación de la independencia del país en 1955, se produjeron muchos de los cambios que conformaron la imagen actual de la ciudad. En el plano cultural destaca la creación de varios festivales. En 1968 se celebró la primera edición del steirische herbst, el festival de arte contemporáneo más antiguo de Europa. En 1985 se inauguró el Styriarte, festival dedicado a la música clásica. Ambos festivales se celebran cada año y son de gran importancia para la capital de Estiria. La fisionomía de Graz va a experimentar sucesivas modificaciones y ampliaciones. Así pues, se construyeron nuevos puentes y en 1972 se abrió la primera zona peatonal. A finales de los años 80 tiene lugar un importante crecimiento de la zona sureste. En 1988, Puntigam fue considerado como distrito independiente de Straßgang, quedando establecidos los diecisiete distritos en los que se divide Graz hoy en día.

En 1993 la ciudad recibió un premio de la organización ecologista Greenpeace. Ese mismo año organizó el Mes de la cultura europeo por encargo de la Unión Europea.

El casco antiguo de Graz fue declarado Patrimonio de la Humanidad por la Unesco en 1999.

Graz cuenta con 4 universidades que reúnen a cerca de 40 000 estudiantes. Es la segunda ciudad universitaria más importante de Austria después de Viena. Uno de cada 7 habitantes de Graz estudia.

 

es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graz

 

Graz (/ɡrɑːts/ GRAHTS, German: [ɡʁaːts]) is the capital of the Austrian province Styria and the second-largest city in Austria after Vienna. On 1 January 2019, it had a population of 328,276 (292,269 of whom had principal residence status). In 2015, the population of the Graz larger urban zone who had principal residence status stood at 633,168. Graz has a long tradition as seat of universities: its six universities have almost 60,000 students. Its historic centre is one of the best-preserved city centres in Central Europe.[5]

For centuries, Graz was more important to Slovenes and Croats, both politically and culturally, than the capitals of Ljubljana, Slovenia and Zagreb, Croatia; it remains influential to this day.[6] In 1999, Graz's historic centre was added to the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites and in 2010, the site was extended with Eggenberg Palace (German: Schloss Eggenberg). Graz was the Cultural Capital of Europe in 2003 and became a City of Culinary Delights in 2008.

The name of the city, Graz, formerly spelled Gratz, most likely stems from the Slavic gradec, "small castle". Some archaeological finds point to the erection of a small castle by Alpine Slavic people, which over time became a heavily defended fortification. In literary Slovene and Croatian, gradec still means "small castle". The German name 'Graz' first appears in records in 1128.

Graz is situated on the Mur river in southeast Austria. It is about 200 km (120 mi) southwest of Vienna. The nearest larger urban centre is Maribor in Slovenia which is about 50 km (31 mi) away. Graz is the capital and largest city in Styria, a green and heavily forested area.

The oldest settlement on the ground of the modern city of Graz dates back to the Copper Age. However, no historical continuity exists of a settlement before the Middle Ages. During the 12th century, dukes under Babenberg rule made the town into an important commercial center. Later, Graz came under the rule of the Habsburgs and, in 1281, gained special privileges from King Rudolph I.

In the 14th century, Graz became the city of residence of the Inner Austrian line of the Habsburgs. The royalty lived in the Schlossberg castle and from there ruled Styria, Carinthia, most of today's Slovenia, and parts of Italy (Carniola, Gorizia and Gradisca, Trieste).

In the 16th century, the city's design and planning were primarily controlled by Italian Renaissance architects and artists. One of the most famous buildings built in this style is the Landhaus, designed by Domenico dell'Allio, and used by the local rulers as a governmental headquarters.

Karl-Franzens-Universität, also called the University of Graz, is the city's oldest university, founded in 1585 by Archduke Karl II. For most of its existence, it was controlled by the Catholic church, and was closed in 1782 by Joseph II in an attempt to gain state control over educational institutions. Joseph II transformed it into a lyceum where civil servants and medical personnel were trained. In 1827 it was re-instituted as a university by Emperor Franz I, thus gaining the name 'Karl-Franzens Universität,' meaning 'Charles-Francis University.' Over 30,000 students currently study at this university.

The astronomer Johannes Kepler lived in Graz for a short period. There, he worked as a math teacher and was a professor of mathematics at the University of Graz, but still found time to study astronomy. He left Graz to go to Prague when Lutherans were banned from the city.

Ludwig Boltzmann was Professor for Mathematical Physics from 1869 to 1890. During that time, Nikola Tesla studied electrical engineering at the Polytechnic in 1875. Nobel Laureate Otto Loewi taught at the University of Graz from 1909 until 1938. Ivo Andric, the 1961 Nobel Prize for Literature Laureate obtained his doctorate at the University of Graz. Erwin Schrödinger was briefly chancellor of the University of Graz in 1936.

Graz lies in Styria, or Steiermark in German. Mark is an old German word indicating a large area of land used as a defensive border, in which the peasantry is taught how to organize and fight in the case of an invasion. With a strategic location at the head of the open and fertile Mur valley, Graz was often assaulted (unsuccessfully), e.g. by the Hungarians under Matthias Corvinus in 1481, and by the Ottoman Turks in 1529 and 1532. Apart from the Riegersburg Castle, the Schlossberg was the only fortification in the region that never fell to the Ottoman Turks. Graz is home to the region's provincial armory, which is the world's largest historical collection of late medieval and Renaissance weaponry. It has been preserved since 1551, and displays over 30,000 items.

From the earlier part of the 15th century, Graz was the residence of the younger branch of the Habsburgs, which succeeded to the imperial throne in 1619 in the person of Emperor Ferdinand II, who moved the capital to Vienna. New fortifications were built on the Schlossberg at the end of the 16th century. Napoleon's army occupied Graz in 1797. In 1809, the city withstood another assault by the French army. During this attack, the commanding officer in the fortress was ordered to defend it with about 900 men against Napoleon's army of about 3,000. He successfully defended the Schlossberg against eight attacks, but they were forced to give up after the Grande Armée occupied Vienna and the Emperor ordered to surrender. Following the defeat of Austria by Napoleonic forces at the Battle of Wagram in 1809, the fortifications were demolished using explosives, as stipulated in the Peace of Schönbrunn of the same year. The belltower and the civic clock tower, often used as the symbol of Graz, were spared after the people of Graz paid a ransom for their preservation.

Archduke Karl II of Inner Austria had 20,000 Protestant books burned in the square of what is now a mental hospital, and succeeded in returning Styria to the authority of the Holy See. Archduke Franz Ferdinand was born in Graz, in what is now the Stadtmuseum (city museum).

The more recent population figures do not give the whole picture as only people with principal residence status are counted and people with secondary residence status are not. Most of the people with secondary residence status in Graz are students. At the end of 2016 there were 33,473 people with secondary residence status in Graz.

Oceanic climate is the type found in the city, but due to the 0 °C isotherm, the same occurs in a humid continental climate with based in Köppen system (Cfb/Dfb borderline). Wladimir Köppen himself was in town and conducted studies to see how the climate of the past influenced the Continental Drift theory. Due to its position southeast of the Alps, Graz is shielded from the prevailing westerly winds that bring weather fronts in from the North Atlantic to northwestern and central Europe. The weather in Graz is thus influenced by the Mediterranean, and it has more hours of sunshine per year than Vienna or Salzburg and also less wind or rain. Graz lies in a basin that is only open to the south, causing the climate to be warmer than would be expected at that latitude. Plants are found in Graz that normally grow much further south.

Politically, culturally, scientifically and religiously, Graz was an important centre for all Slovenes, especially from the establishment of the University of Graz in 1586 until the establishment of University of Ljubljana in 1919. In 1574, the first Slovene Catholic book [sl] was published in Graz, and in 1592, Hieronymus Megiser published in Graz the book Dictionarium quatuor linguarum, the first multilingual dictionary of Slovene.

The Styrian Slovenes did not consider Graz a German city, but their own, a place to study while living at their relatives' homes and to fulfill one's career ambitions. The student associations in Graz were a crucible of the Slovene identity, and the Slovene students in Graz were more nationally aware than some others. This led to fierce anti-Slovene efforts of German nationalists in Graz before and during World War II.

Many Slovenian Styrians study there. Slovenes are among the professors at the Institute for Jazz in Graz. Numerous Slovenes have found employment there, while being formerly unemployed in Slovenia. For the Slovene culture, Graz remains permanently important due to its university and the Universalmuseum Joanneum archives containing numerous documents from the Slovenian Styria.

A symposium on the relation of Graz and the Slovenes was held in Graz in 2010, at the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the establishment of the first and oldest chair of Slovene. It was established at the Lyzeum of Graz in July 1811 on the initiative of Janez Nepomuk Primic [sl]. A collection of lectures on the topic was published. The Slovenian Post commemorated the anniversary with a stamp.

For the year that Graz was Cultural Capital of Europe, new structures were erected. The Graz Museum of Contemporary Art (German: Kunsthaus) was designed by Peter Cook and Colin Fournier and is situated next to the Mur river. The Island in the Mur is a floating platform made of steel. It was designed by American architect Vito Acconci and contains a café, an open-air theatre and a playground.

The historic centre was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1999 due to the harmonious co-existence of typical buildings from different epochs and in different architectural styles. Situated in a cultural borderland between Central Europe, Italy and the Balkan States, Graz absorbed various influences from the neighbouring regions and thus received its exceptional townscape. Today the old town consists of over 1000 buildings, their age ranging from Gothic to contemporary.

The most important sights in the historic centre are:

Town Hall (Rathaus). The Schlossberg hill, a hill dominating the historic centre (475 m (1,558.40 ft) high), site of a demolished fortress, with views over Graz. The Clock Tower (Uhrturm) is a symbol of Graz, at the top of the Schlossberg hill. The New Gallery (Neue Galerie), a museum of art. The Schlossberg hill funicular (Schlossbergbahn), a funicular railway up the Schlossberg hill. The seat of Styria's provincial parliament (Landhaus), a palace in Lombardic style. It is one of the most important examples of Renaissance architecture in Austria and was built by Italian architect Domenico dell'Allio between 1557 and 1565.

The Armoury (Landeszeughaus) is the largest of its kind in the world.

The Graz Opera House (Opernhaus), the principal venue for opera, ballet, and operetta performances. It is the 2nd largest opera house in Austria.

The Graz Theatre (Schauspielhaus), Graz's principal theatre for productions of plays.

The Cathedral (Dom), a rare monument of Gothic architecture. Once, there were many frescos on the outer walls; today, only a few remain, like the Landplagenbild ("picture of plagues") painted in 1485, presumably by Thomas von Villach. The three plagues it depicts are locusts, pestilence and the invasion of the Turks, all of them striking the town in 1480. It features the oldest painted view of Graz.

The mausoleum of Emperor Ferdinand II next to the cathedral, the most important building of Mannerism in Graz. It includes both the grave where Ferdinand II and his wife are buried, and a church dedicated to St Catherine of Alexandria.

The Castle (Burg), with Gothic double staircase, built between 1438 and 1453 by Emperor Frederick III, because the old castle on the Schlossberg hill was too small and uncomfortable. The castle remained the residence of the Inner Austrian Court until 1619. Today, it serves as residence for the Styrian government.

The Painted House (Gemaltes Haus) in Herrengasse 3. It is completely covered with frescos (painted in 1742 by Johann Mayer).

The Museum of Contemporary Art Graz (Kunsthaus)

The Island in the Mur (Murinsel), an artificial island in the Mur river.

Buildings, inner courtyards (e. g. Early Renaissance courtyard of the Former House of Teutonic Knights in Sporgasse 22) and roofscape of the old town.

The Old Town and the adjacent districts are characterized by the historic residential buildings and churches found there. In the outer districts buildings are predominantly of the architectural styles from the second half of the 20th century.

In 1965 the Grazer Schule (School of Graz) was founded. Several buildings around the universities are of this style, for example the green houses by Volker Giencke and the RESOWI center by Günther Domenig.

Before Graz became the European Capital of Culture in 2003, several new projects were realized, such as the Stadthalle, the Kindermuseum (museum for children), the Helmut-List-Halle, the Kunsthaus and the Murinsel.

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graz

 

I could not succeed in finding a new coat but bought this dress and new pants.

I'll show the dress another time because i think it will be nice together with an legging

I took this photo by accident

TheDyingSun.

Photography by: Faran Hassan

© Faran Hassan Photography

www.facebook.com/faranhassanphotography/

Caistor a town near Market Rasen in West Lindsey, Lincolnshire.

 

The town grew out of a stronghold of the Romans, who themselves succeeded a hill fort of the early Britons who called it Caer-Egarry. The Roman camp was encircled by a massive wall, of which fragments remain. It was a site of trade and was recorded as a Royal Mint from 970 to 1042.

 

Built of golden stone, the Church of St Peter & St Paul retains something of Saxon and Norman times and some medieval building. Nearby is the original Grammar School building built from an endowment in 1630, which has seen many famous pupils such as the distinguished poet Sir Henry Newboult through its doors.

 

Caistor was involved in the 1536 Lincolnshire Rising and in 1590 burials due to the plague grew from 13 to 36. A disastrous fire in 1681 destroyed the town square, causing several deaths and making 45 families homeless. The Sessions House of 1662 was the sole survivor. The rebuilding of the square in brick in place of wood, in the 18th and 19th centuries gives us the present town centre. The Lion Pump was erected in 1897 to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee.

 

Caistor traders thrived in 19th century, with sheep, cattle and horse fairs taking place in the town. The 1858 sheep fair was the largest in England at the time.

 

The House of Industry was built in 1800, becoming the Caistor Union Workhouse from 1836 to 1937 and finally Caistor Hospital until its closure in 1990.

 

The population grew to 2166 in 1851 and various trades were carried out: craftsmen making chairs, clocks and candles to thriving inns and hotels. New Methodist and Congregational churches were built. In 1818 a savings bank opened and the fire engine was installed in 1869. Gas arrived in 1856, prompting the Lincolnshire Chronicle to write that it was “A city on a hill whose light cannot be hid.”

 

No railway came to Caistor, a canal constructed in 1793 was not used after 1855 and was officially abandoned in 1936.

 

Information Source:

parishes.lincolnshire.gov.uk/Caistor/section.asp?catId=31719

 

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Hamar Bulljump

 

The Hamar bulljump is a rite of passage where a young man (around his twenties) has to jump and run over a line of cattle. If he succeeds; he is considered to be a man.

During the night and early in the morning, the female relatives of the boy who has to jump the cattle (named Okuli) start drinking sorghum beer. Some say they do this to get in the right spirit; others say they do this to get a bit numb for what is to come. It is the tradition that the female relatives of the Okuli get whipped by the Maz (men who all recently jumped the cattle) to prove their strenght but also to prove their love and loyalty towards their male relative and family. Also, a woman without scars will most likely not be able to marry. Some people may think that the whipping of women is an act of inhumanity but do not forget that these Hamar women are not forced and ask/demand to get whipped. Pushing, hitting and calling the Maz names if they hesitate. The Maz initially do not want to hit the women. This demands a little bit more explanation about the Maz. After jumping the cattle; the boy will become a man and a Maza. The next couple of weeks/months he will spent with the other Maz; going from one bulljump to the other and not being able to go home to his family. This is actually a second passage rite they have to bring to a good end. At the bulljumps they have to prove to their father and future father-in-law that they can whip woman and gather cattle. This means that he is a “real” man that can take care of his family and his cattle. The whipping is the first part of the ceremony and always takes place on low ground. When this part is done; everybody moves to high ground for the actual bulljumping. First the Okuli will undergo a sacred and secret ceremony where rings will be placed over his penis. In the meanwhile the women surround the cattle, dancing, jumping and blowing horns. This offcourse makes the cattle restless. Then it is the job of the Maz to select and gather the right cattle and put them in line for the bulljump. The Okuli has to jump and run over the line of cattle 4 times before becoming a man. If an attempt is not well executed he will have to start over again untill he has done 4 succesfull runs. If he falls between thet catlle; it is possible he may die. If he survives; he will most likely be whipped himself by his female relatives. If they get whipped for him; he better not fall off.

 

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Operations image of the week:

 

It's thirty-seven days to launch of the Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite, and the mission control team at the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC), Darmstadt, Germany, are getting ready to handle any eventuality. Pressure is high, and even though ESOC is celebrating 50 years as Europe’s ‘Gateway to Space’ today, the launch team are keeping all eyes on Sentinel-5P.

 

Today's simulation, held in the Main Control Room, covers the engineers' worst nightmare: failure to acquire first signals from the spacecraft in space just after it separates from the rocket. This is vital, as the ground teams must immediately establish contact in order to initiate the procedures that will bring the satellite into its correct position.

 

To react to the failed contact, the Ground Operations team on console in the control room will conduct a sky search, pointing the ground station antenna, via remote control, at the points in the sky where the satellite could be. This is called ‘targeting in the blind’, transmitting commands to a position in space where the spacecraft is expected to pass.

 

This is not easy, since the satellite might pass too early or too late over the ground station if it is not on its planned trajectory (due to over- or under-performance of the launching rocket). This delicate phase is conducted with little information, relying on skill, experience and teamwork.

 

For the team at ESOC on this occasion, the simulation was successful. The ground station antenna 'saw' the satellite (but at a different location than expected) and contact was established.

 

The whole process will be repeated many times until the Flight Director is satisfied that any eventuality can be met.

 

Sentinel-5P is set for launch on 13 October from the Plesetsk cosmodrome in Russia.

 

More on ESOC's 50th anniversary.

 

Credit: ESA

Success doesn’t happen overnight. Keep your eye on the prize and don’t look back. – Erin Andrews

  

www.millionairemindset.net/success-doesnt-happen-overnigh...

“To succeed you need to find something to hold on to, something to motivate you, something to inspire you”

~Unknown

 

I need to take a moment and thank all of you for your inspiration and encouragement. I have been away from flickr most of the week...and will be on and off for a little while...sorry... hope to catch up soon.

 

Because of that encouragement, I have been working hard on a series of inspirational/motivational books. A series of 5...Peace, Faith, Hope, Love and Joy. I am particularly excited about the faith book, as it will showcase my country churches and cathedral images.

 

I also have been working on a professional website and getting my images on Imagekind..for sale...more to follow this week!

 

For a preview of the books...I have created a video on youtube www.youtube.com/watch?v=ss1q1zuAwu4

 

Thanks again to all of my flickr friends for your inspiration, encouragement but most of all your friendship.

Yuri Nikulin, Cementerio Novodévichi, Moscú – Yuri Nikulin , Novodevichy Cemetery, Moscow - Юрий Никулин , Новоде́вичье кла́дбище, Москва

 

Yuri Vladímirovich Nikulin (Demídov, Smolensk, 18 de diciembre de 1921 - Moscú, 21 de agosto de 1997) fue un actor de cine y cómico soviético, uno de los iconos del cine de la URSS en los años 60 y 70, intérprete en numerosas y conocidas películas soviéticas y, desde 1982, director general del Circo de Moscú.

Nació el 18 de diciembre de 1921 en Demídov, una pequeña población del área de Smolensk. Sus padres eran asimismo intérpretes y trabajaban en un centro de arte dramático en Demídov, pero en 1925 la familia se trasladó a Moscú. Desde pequeño, Nikulin siempre sintió interés y fascinación por el mundo del circo y especialmente por el humor de los payasos, habiendo decidido en plena adolescencia que de mayor quería dedicarse al mundo del espectáculo en el circo. Sin embargo, sus pretensiones se vieron temporalmente frustradas al ser llamado a filas en el Ejército Rojo en 1939, cuando contaba con 18 años, participando en la Guerra de Invierno contra Finlandia (1939- 1940). Estaba a punto de ser desmovilizado en 1941 cuando en julio el ejército alemán invadió la Unión Soviética, por lo que también combatió en la Gran Guerra Patriótica (1941-1945), sirviendo en una unidad de tanques, sobre todo en el frente de Leningrado. Manteniendo siempre su gran capacidad para los chistes, su primera experiencia como cómico tuvo lugar en 1944, cuando un comisario político de su batallón, impresionado por su talento, le encargó entretener y animar a la tropa.

Tras ser desmovilizado definitivamente en 1946, Nikulin intentó, sin éxito, entrar en varias compañías e institutos teatrales, recibiendo un rechazo tras otro, pues los Comités de dichos centros no veían en él dotes interpretativas. Pese a ello logró encontrar trabajo como ayudante secundario en el Circo de Moscú en 1950, tras haber pasado un curso de aprendizaje de dos años, durante el cual conoció a Tatiana Pokrovskaya, que sería su futura mujer, con la que tuvo un hijo, Maxim, en 1956. Nikulin comenzó a actuar como payaso profesional en varias ciudades de la Unión Soviética junto con su amigo Mijaíl Shuydin, con el que formó un dúo cómico que le permitió ganar fama y mejorar sus técnicas y experiencias en lo que él había considerado siempre como un oficio complicado. Durante toda su carrera, Nikulin nunca perdió sus lazos con el mundo del circo, dedicándole 50 años de trabajo.

Nikulin fue uno de los pocos artistas que se atrevían a parodiar la aparente perfección del sistema soviético que se intentaba reflejar en todos los ámbitos de la cultura, buscando siempre chistes innovadores que consiguieran burlar a la censura y llegar al público de forma inocente pero sugerente. Su capacidad de crear tanto personajes cómicos como fuertemente dramáticos y profundos, dotándolos de fuerte lirismo, le aportó una gran popularidad y carisma en el entorno del cine, que dejó en 1981, a los 60 años, para dedicarse exclusivamente al mundo al circo.

En ese mismo año se convirtió en el principal gerente del Circo de Moscú, y desde 1982 pasó a ser Director general del mismo, cargo que mantuvo hasta su muerte. Pese a dejar el cine, Nikulin hizo diversas apariciones en televisión y durante los años 90 dirigió el programa humorístico Loro Blanco (en ruso Beluyi popugay), en el que varios artistas se reunían y relataban chistes y anécdotas, algunos de los cuales eran del propio Nikulin. Falleció el 21 de Agosto en Moscú a los 75 años tras una operación del corazón, y fue enterrado en el cementerio Novodevichy.

Hoy en día, Yuri Nikulin sigue siendo recordado en Rusia como uno de los mayores cómicos que ha conocido el país. Sus películas han envejecido muy bien con el tiempo y siguen siendo grandes estrenos en las cadenas de televisión rusas. Pese a no haberse labrado una carrera fílmica como la de otros conocidos intérpretes soviéticos, el humor de Nikulin ha sido su influencia más importante en los cómicos actuales. El Circo de Moscú lleva el nombre de Yuri Nikulin desde su muerte en su honor.

 

es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuri_Nikulin

 

Yuri Vladimirovich Nikulin (Russian: Юрий Владимирович Никулин; 18 December 1921 – 21 August 1997) was a well-known Russian actor and comedian who starred in many popular films.

He was awarded the title of People's Artist of the USSR in 1973 and Hero of Socialist Labour in 1990. He also received a number of state awards, including the prestigious Order of Lenin, which he received twice in his lifetime.

Nikulin was born just after the end of the Russian civil war, in Smolensk in Western Russia. His mother was a garage supervisor and his father a writer of satirical plays – "a profession which may have influenced [Nikulin's] future career".

Nikulin fought in the Red Army in the Winter War with Finland and the World War II with Germany. He reportedly had a comparably "long period of military service, from 1939-46, preparing to be demobilised just when the German invasion of the Soviet Union began in 1941."

Nikulin's style and precise delivery, as well as his mastery of timing and his hilarious masks made him an outstanding comedian.

In the ring, Nikulin presented a phlegmatic temperament, slow and unsmiling, and to many in the West his personality was reminiscent of the great silent film comedian Buster Keaton. Rich in mimicry, doleful of expression, Nikulin was hailed as “a brainy clown” outside Russia.

Nikulin, affectionately called "Uncle Yura" by Russian children, relied mainly upon his wits to earn his place in history as one of the best clowns of the 20th century.

Nikulin first took up clowning in 1944 when a political officer in his battalion, impressed by his repertoire of jokes, ordered him to organize entertainment for the division, which he did with resounding success. Encouraged, once the war ended, Nikulin reportedly "tried unsuccessfully to enter drama college before answering a newspaper advertisement recruiting trainees for the Clown Studio at Moscow's Tsvetnoy Boulevard Circus."

The several acting schools and theatres rejected Nikulin allegedly due to "lacking artistic talent". However, he did find initial success at the Circus and qualified as a fully trained clown in 1950, and never abandoned his links with the circus. He met his wife, Tatyana, there, and in 1982 became the director of the Moscow Circus, a post he held until his death. His son, Maxim, is now a circus administrator.

His screen debut came in 1958 with the film The Girl with the Guitar. He appeared in almost a dozen major features, mainly in the 1960s and 1970s, "but his ascent to star status was assured by a handful of short films directed by Leonid Gaidai."

The first two of these, Dog Barbos and Unusual Cross and later Bootleggers (Russian: Samogonchiki or The Moonshine Makers, 1961) were also where Nikulin was featured as a character named Fool in The Three Stooges-like trio, along with Georgy Vitsyn as Coward and Yevgeny Morgunov as Experienced. In former Soviet republics he is particularly well known for his role in popular film series about the criminal trio. The series included such films as Operation Y and Other Shurik's Adventures and Kidnapping Caucassian Style.

His most popular films include comedies Brilliantovaia Ruka (Diamond Arm), 12 Stulyev (12 Chairs), Stariki-Razboiniki (Old Hooligans). He was also acclaimed for his roles in Andrey Tarkovsky's Andrei Rublev and several films on World War II themes (Sergei Bondarchuk's They Fought for Their Country, Aleksei German’s Twenty Days Without War).[citation needed]

Nikulin's "comic timing never faltered" even in old age and "he had no enemies and mixed with politicians from both the Soviet and post -Soviet eras". He reportedly was close to Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov and supported Boris Yeltsin's re-election campaign."

As mentioned, Nikulin was succeeded in his office at the Moscow Circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard by his son. There is a bronze monument to him in front of the circus, which now bears his name. He is buried in Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow.[

 

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuri_Nikulin

El Cementerio Novodévichi (en ruso Новодевичье кла́дбище, Novodévichiye kládbishche) es el cementerio más famoso de Moscú, Rusia. Forma parte del conjunto conventual del Monasterio Novodévichi, que data del siglo XVI, declarado en 2004 Patrimonio de la Humanidad por la Unesco.1

Fue inaugurado en 1898, cuando ya existían muchos enterramientos en los muros del monasterio. Uno de los primeros personajes notables en ser enterrado en el cementerio fue Antón Chéjov, cuya tumba es obra de Fiódor Shéjtel.

El cementerio alberga más de 27 000 tumbas, entre las que se encuentran las de distinguidos escritores, actores, poetas, científicos, líderes políticos y militares. Se asemeja a un parque, con pequeñas capillas y grandes conjuntos escultóricos. Es un lugar más para visitar en Moscú. Existe la posibilidad de solicitar un plano en la oficina del cementerio.

 

es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cementerio_Novodévichi

 

Novodevichy Cemetery (Russian: Новоде́вичье кла́дбище, Novodevichye kladbishche) is the most famous cemetery in Moscow. It lies next to the southern wall of the 16th-century Novodevichy Convent, which is the city's third most popular tourist site.[1]

The cemetery was designed by Ivan Mashkov and inaugurated in 1898.[2] Its importance dates from the 1930s, when the necropoleis of the medieval Muscovite monasteries (Simonov, Danilov, Donskoy) were scheduled for demolition. Only the Donskoy survived the Joseph Stalin era relatively intact. The remains of many famous Russians buried in other abbeys, such as Nikolai Gogol and Sergey Aksakov, were disinterred and reburied at the Novodevichy.

A 19th-century necropolis within the walls of the Novodevichy convent, which contained the graves of about 2000 Russian noblemen and university professors, also underwent reconstruction. The vast majority of graves were destroyed. It was at that time that the remains of Anton Chekhov were moved outside the monastery walls. His grave served as the kernel of the so-called "cherry orchard" – a section of the cemetery which contains the graves of Constantin Stanislavski and the leading actors of his company.

Under Soviet rule, burial in the Novodevichy Cemetery was second in prestige only to burial in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis. Among the Soviet leaders, only Nikita Khrushchev was buried at the Novodevichy rather than at the Red Square. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, the Kremlin Wall is no longer used for burials and the Novodevichy Cemetery is used for only the most symbolically significant burials. For example, in April 2007, within one week both the first President of the Russian Federation Boris Yeltsin and world-renowned cellist Mstislav Rostropovich were buried there.

Today, the cemetery holds the tombs of Russian authors, musicians, playwrights, and poets, as well as famous actors, political leaders, and scientists.[3][4] More than 27,000 are buried at Novodevichy. There is scant space for more burials. A new national cemetery is under construction in Mytishchi north of Moscow.

The cemetery has a park-like ambience, dotted with small chapels and large sculpted monuments. It is divided into the old (Divisions 1–4), new (Divisions 5–8) and newest (Divisions 9–11) sections; maps are available at the cemetery office.[5]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novodevichy_Cemetery

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burials_at_the_Novodevichy_Cemetery

 

Zoute Sale - Bonhams

Estimated : € 30.000 - 50.000

Sold for € 46.000

 

Zoute Grand Prix 2021

Knokke - Zoute

België - Belgium

October 2021

 

By the end of the 1970s, Bentleys accounted for a mere 3% of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars' production, clearly a situation that could not be tolerated if the once-famous marque was to avoid extinction. The solution was to seek to re-establish Bentley's credentials as the purveyor of high-performance luxury cars, and in a move calculated to evoke memories of the company's glorious past achievements at Le Mans, the name 'Mulsanne' was chosen for the Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit's counterpart. This strategy would succeed brilliantly. Launched at the Geneva Motor Show in March 1982, the Mulsanne Turbo provoked a rash of headlines in the motoring press hailing the return of the 'Blower Bentley' - the 'Silent Sports Car' was back.

 

Bentley's 1980s resurgence had hitherto relied exclusively on models whose basic architecture was shared with other Rolls-Royce products, but on display at Geneva in 1985 was 'Project 90': a mocked-up coupé, styled by Messrs John Heffernan and Ken Greenley, which was intended to gauge public response to the idea of a high-performance car unique to Bentley. When the real thing - the Bentley Continental R - was unveiled six years later, the waiting crowd burst into spontaneous applause. Again the work of Heffernan and Greenley, the Continental R benefited from computer-aided design and wind tunnel testing in the devising of its sleekly streamlined shape. Despite the need to incorporate non-traditional features such as doors recessed into the roof, the result looked every bit a Bentley, albeit one restated for the 1990s. Also new was the gearbox: a four-speed automatic with 'overdrive' top ratio, but the main focus of interest was the newcomer's performance. Needless to say, this was outstanding, the combination of the Turbo R engine in the new wind-cheating shape cutting the 0-60mph (0-97km/h) time to 6.2 seconds and boosting top speed in excess of 150mph (241km/h).

 

This particular Continental R was delivered new to Switzerland and has had only one owner from new. The car has covered circa 65,000 kilometres and has always been maintained by Bentley main dealer service centres. Finished in green with cream leather interior, it comes with its stamped service booklet and a Swiss Carte Grise.

Dutch postcard by Smeets & Schippers, Amsterdam. Photo: George Hurrell / MGM (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer).

 

Lupe Velez (1908-1944), was one of the first Mexican actresses to succeed in Hollywood. Her nicknames were 'The Mexican Spitfire' and 'Hot Pepper'. She was the leading lady in such silent films as The Gaucho (1927), Lady of the Pavements (1928), and Wolf Song (1929). During the 1930s, her well-known explosive screen persona was exploited in a series of successful films like Hot Pepper (1933), Strictly Dynamite (1934), and Hollywood Party (1934). In the 1940s, Vélez's popularity peaked after appearing in the Mexican Spitfire films, a series created to capitalise on Vélez's well-documented fiery personality. She had several highly publicised romances and a stormy marriage. In 1944, Vélez died of an intentional overdose of the barbiturate drug Seconal. Her death and the circumstances surrounding it have been the subject of speculation and controversy.

 

Lupe Vélez was born María Guadalupe Villalobos Vélez in 1908 in the city of San Luis Potosí in Mexico. She was the daughter of Jacobo Villalobos Reyes, a colonel in the army of the dictator Porfirio Diaz, and his wife Josefina Vélez, an opera singer according to some sources, or vaudeville singer according to others. She had three sisters: Mercedes, Reina and Josefina, and a brother, Emigdio. The family was financially comfortable and lived in a large home. At the age of 13, her parents sent her to study at Our Lady of the Lake (now Our Lady of the Lake University) in San Antonio, Texas. It was at Our Lady of the Lake that Vélez learned to speak English and began to dance. She later admitted that she liked dance class, but was otherwise a poor student. Denny Jackson at IMDb: "Life was hard for her family, and Lupe returned to Mexico to help them out financially. She worked as a salesgirl for a department store for the princely sum of $4 a week. Every week she would turn most of her salary over to her mother, but kept a little for herself so she could take dancing lessons. By now, she figured, with her mature shape and grand personality, she thought she could make a try at show business." She began her career as a performer in Mexican vaudeville in 1924. She initially performed under her paternal surname, but after her father returned home from the war, he was outraged that his daughter had decided to become a stage performer. She chose her maternal surname, "Vélez", as her stage name and her mother introduced Vélez and her sister Josefina to the popular Spanish Mexican vedette María Conesa, "La Gatita Blanca". Vélez debuted in a show led by Conesa, where she sang 'Oh Charley, My Boy' and danced the shimmy. Aurelio Campos, a young pianist, and friend of the Vélez sisters recommended Lupe to stage producers, Carlos Ortega and Manuel Castro. Ortega and Castro were preparing a season revue at the Regis Theatre and hired Vélez to join the company in March 1925. Later that year, Vélez starred in the revues 'Mexican Rataplan' and '¡No lo tapes!', both parodies of the Bataclan's shows in Paris. Her suggestive singing and provocative dancing was a hit with audiences, and she soon established herself as one of the main stars of vaudeville in Mexico. After a year and a half, Vélez left the revue after the manager refused to give her a raise. She then joined the Teatro Principal but was fired after three months due to her "feisty attitude". Vélez was quickly hired by the Teatro Lirico, where her salary rose to 100 pesos a day. In 1926, Frank A. Woodyard, an American who had seen Vélez perform, recommended her to stage director Richard Bennett, the father of actresses Joan and Constance Bennett. Bennett was looking for an actress to portray a Mexican cantina singer in his upcoming play 'The Dove'. He sent Vélez a telegram inviting her to Los Angeles to appear in the play. Vélez had been planning to go to Cuba to perform, but quickly changed her plans and traveled to Los Angeles. However, upon arrival, she discovered that she had been replaced by another actress.

 

While in Los Angeles, Lupe Vélez met the comedian Fanny Brice. Brice recommended her to Flo Ziegfeld, who hired her to perform in New York City. While Vélez was preparing to leave Los Angeles, she received a call from MGM producer Harry Rapf, who offered her a screen test. Producer and director Hal Roach saw Vélez's screen test and hired her for a small role in the comic Laurel and Hardy short Sailors, Beware! (Fred Guiol, Hal Yates, 1927). After her debut, Vélez appeared in another Hal Roach short, What Women Did for Me (James Parrott, 1927), opposite Charley Chase. Later that year, she did a screen test for the upcoming Douglas Fairbanks feature The Gaucho (F. Richard Jones, 1927). Fairbanks was impressed by Vélez and hired her to appear in the film with him. The Gaucho was a hit and critics were duly impressed with Vélez's ability to hold her own alongside Fairbanks, who was well known for his spirited acting and impressive stunts. Her second major film was Stand and Deliver (Donald Crisp, 1928), produced by Cecil B. DeMille. That same year, she was named one of the WAMPAS Baby Stars. Then she appeared in Lady of the Pavements (1929), directed by D. W. Griffith, and Where East Is East (Tod Browning, 1929), starring Lon Chaney as an animal trapper in Laos. In the Western The Wolf Song (Victor Fleming, 1929), she appeared alongside Gary Cooper. As she was regularly cast as 'exotic' or 'ethnic' women that were volatile and hot-tempered, gossip columnists took to referring to Vélez as "Mexican Hurricane", "The Mexican Wildcat", "The Mexican Madcap", "Whoopee Lupe" and "The Hot Tamale". Lupe Vélez made the transition to sound films without difficulty. Studio executives had predicted that her accent would likely hamper her ability to make the transition. That idea was dispelled after she appeared in the all-talking Rin Tin Tin vehicle, Tiger Rose (George Fitzmaurice, 1929). The film was a hit and Vélez's sound career was established. Vélez appeared in a series of Pre-Code films like Hell Harbor (Henry King, 1930), The Storm (William Wyler, 1930), and the crime drama East Is West (Monta Bell, 1930) opposite Edward G. Robinson. The next year, she appeared in her second film for Cecil B. DeMille, Squaw Man (Cecil B. DeMille, 1931), opposite Warner Baxter, in Resurrection (Edwin Carewe, 1931), and The Cuban Love Song (W.S. Van Dyke, 1931), with the popular singer Lawrence Tibbett. She had a supporting role in Kongo (William J. Cowen, 1932) with Walter Huston, a sound remake of West of Zanzibar (Tod Browning, 1928) which tries to outdo the Lon Chaney original in morbidity. She also starred in Spanish-language versions of Universal films like Resurrección (Eduardo Arozamena, David Selman, 1931), the Spanish version of Resurrection (1931), and Hombres en mi vida (Eduardo Arozamena, David Selman, 1932), the Spanish version of Men in Her Life (William Beaudine, 1931) in which Lois Moran had starred.

 

In 1932, Lupe Vélez took a break from her film career and traveled to New York City where she was signed by Broadway impresario Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr. to take over the role of "Conchita" in the musical revue 'Hot-Cha!'. The show also starred Bert Lahr, Eleanor Powell, and Buddy Rogers. Back in Hollywood, Lupe switched to comedy after playing dramatic roles for five years. Denny Jackson at IMDb: "In 1933 she played the lead role of Pepper in Hot Pepper (1933). This film showcased her comedic talents and helped her to show the world her vital personality. She was delightful." After Hot Pepper (John G. Blystone, 1933) with Edmund Lowe and Victor McLaglen, Lupe played beautiful but volatile, characters in a series of successful films like Strictly Dynamite (Elliott Nugent, 1934), Palooka (Benjamin Stoloff, 1934) both opposite Jimmy Durante, and Hollywood Party (Allan Dwan, a.o., 1934) with Laurel and Hardy. Although Vélez was a popular actress, RKO Pictures did not renew her contract in 1934. Over the next few years, Vélez worked for various studios as a freelance actress; she also spent two years in England where she filmed The Morals of Marcus (Miles Mander, 1935) and Gypsy Melody (Edmond T. Gréville, 1936). She returned to Los Angeles the following year where she appeared in the final part of the Wheeler & Woolsey comedy High Flyers (Edward F. Cline, 1937). In 1938, Vélez made her final appearance on Broadway in the musical You Never Know, by Cole Porter. The show received poor reviews from critics but received a large amount of publicity due to the feud between Vélez and fellow cast member Libby Holman. Holman was irritated by the attention Vélez garnered from the show with her impersonations of several actresses including Gloria Swanson, Katharine Hepburn, and Shirley Temple. The feud came to a head during a performance in New Haven, Connecticut after Vélez punched Holman in between curtain calls and gave her a black eye. The feud effectively ended the show. Upon her return to Mexico City in 1938 to star in her first Mexican film, Vélez was greeted by ten thousand fans. The film La Zandunga (Fernando de Fuentes, 1938) co-starring Arturo de Córdova, was a critical and financial success. Vélez was slated to appear in four more Mexican films, but instead, she returned to Los Angeles and went back to work for RKO Pictures. In 1939, Lupe Vélez was cast opposite Leon Errol and Donald Woods in the B-comedy, The Girl from Mexico (Leslie Goodwins, 1939). Despite being a B film, it was a hit with audiences and RKO re-teamed her with Errol and Wood for a sequel, Mexican Spitfire (Leslie Goodwins, 1940). That film was also a success and led to a series of eight Spitfire films. Wikipedia: "In the series, Vélez portrays Carmelita Lindsay, a temperamental yet friendly Mexican singer married to Dennis 'Denny' Lindsay (Woods), an elegant American gentleman. The Spitfire films rejuvenated Vélez's career. Moreover, they were films in which a Latina headlined for eight films straight –a true rarity." In addition to the Spitfire series, she was cast in such films as Six Lessons from Madame La Zonga (John Rawlins, 1941), Playmates (David Butler, 1941) opposite John Barrymore, and Redhead from Manhattan (Lew Landers, 1943). In 1943, the final film in the Spitfire series, Mexican Spitfire's Blessed Event (Leslie Goodwins, 1943), was released. By that time, the novelty of the series had begun to wane. Velez co-starred with Eddie Albert in the romantic comedy, Ladies' Day (Leslie Goodwins, 1943), about an actress and a baseball player. In 1944, Vélez returned to Mexico to star in an adaptation of Émile Zola's novel Nana (Roberto Gavaldón, Celestino Gorostiza, 1944), which was well-received. It would be her final film. After filming wrapped, Vélez returned to Los Angeles and began preparing for another stage role in New York.

 

Lupe Vélez's temper and jealousy in her often tempestuous romantic relationships were well documented and became tabloid fodder, often overshadowing her career. Vélez was straightforward with the press and was regularly contacted by gossip columnists for stories about her romantic exploits. Her first long-term relationship was with actor Gary Cooper. Vélez met Cooper while filming The Wolf Song in 1929 and began a two-year affair with him. The relationship was passionate but often stormy. Reportedly Vélez chased Cooper around with a knife during an argument and cut him severely enough to require stitches. By that time, the rocky relationship had taken its toll on Cooper who had lost 45 pounds and was suffering from nervous exhaustion. Paramount Pictures ordered him to take a vacation to recuperate. While he was boarding the train, Vélez showed up at the train station and fired a pistol at him. During her marriage to actor Johnny Weissmuller, stories of their frequent physical fights were regularly reported in the press. Vélez reportedly inflicted scratches, bruises, and love-bites on Weissmuller during their fights and "passionate love-making". In July 1934, after ten months of marriage, Vélez filed for divorce citing cruelty. She withdrew the petition a week later after reconciling with Weissmuller. In January 1935, she filed for divorce a second time and was granted an interlocutory decree that was dismissed when the couple reconciled a month later. In August 1938, Vélez filed for divorce for a third time, again charging Weissmuller with cruelty. Their divorce was finalised in August 1939. After the divorce became final, Vélez began dating actor Guinn "Big Boy" Williams in late 1940. They were reportedly engaged but never married. Vélez was also linked to author Erich Maria Remarque and the boxers Jack Johnson and Jack Dempsey. In 1943, Vélez began an affair with her La Zandunga co-star Arturo de Córdova. De Córdova had recently moved to Hollywood after signing with Paramount Pictures. Despite the fact that de Córdova was married to Mexican actress Enna Arana with whom he had four children, Vélez granted an interview to gossip columnist Louella Parsons in September 1943 and announced that the two were engaged. Vélez ended the engagement in early 1944, reportedly after de Córdova's wife refused to give him a divorce. Vélez then met and began dating a struggling young Austrian actor named Harald Maresch (who went by the stage name Harald Ramond). In September 1944, she discovered she was pregnant with Ramond's child. She announced their engagement in late November 1944. On 10 December, four days before her death, Vélez announced she had ended the engagement and kicked Ramond out of her home. On the evening of 13 December 1944, Vélez dined with her two friends, the silent film star Estelle Taylor and Venita Oakie. In the early morning hours of 14 December, Vélez retired to her bedroom, where she consumed 75 Seconal pills and a glass of brandy. Her secretary, Beulah Kinder, found the actress's body on her bed later that morning. A suicide note addressed to Harald Ramond was found nearby. Lupe Vélez was only 36 years old. More than four-thousand people filed past her casket during her funeral. Her body was interred in Mexico City, at Panteón Civil de Dolores Cemetery. Velez' estate, valued at $125,000 and consisting mostly of her Rodeo House home, two cars, jewelry, and personal effects were left to her secretary Beulah Kinder with the remainder in trust for her mother, Mrs. Josephine Velez. Together with Dolores del Rio, Ramon Novarro, and José Mojica, she was one of the few Mexican people who had made history in the early years of Hollywood.

 

Sources: Denny Jackson (IMDb), Wikipedia, and IMDb.

 

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

Block from the tomb of the 'Great Head of the Army' called Iwrkhy of Syrian origin. He began his military career under King Sethi I and succeeded to reach a high position in the time of King Ramses II and was responsible for the administrations of all the estates of the king: the Ramesseum.

The block was found buried in the sand beside the northeast wall of the room named 'Statue Room' because it contained on both sides of its western wall on each side of the door a base of statues.

Description of the block

It shows a scene in two registers. The upper one shows two chariots driven each by two men with two horses leading each of them. The chariots are separated by a waterway filled with crocodiles.

In the lowes registers, an army formed of five men of different nationalities according to their features and hair dress. The three first one to the left might represent the mDAyw police force formed of Nubians. They are carrying weapons (swords and sticks with shield). Following them a group of donkeys: two at the front with a child on the back of one of them and two at the back with a boy crouching on the back of one of them.

A man holding a long stick is leading the donkeys who seem to be crossing the waterway on a flat area beneath the water with crocodiles.

This block is an important discovery since it depicts for the second time the waterway with crocodiles which appeared for the first time on the relief of the northern outer wall of the hypostyle court at Karnak where Sethi I is depicted coming back victorious from a campaign against the SAsw Bedouins in Sinai.

The waterway in this relief is clearly filled with crocodiles and represents - like the one in Karnak - the fortress of Tharou, as clearly mentioned in the relief on the left side.

From the tomb of the 'Great Head of the Army' called Iwrkhy of Syrian origin

Saqqara, south of Unas Causeway

Season 2017/2018

 

Egyptian Museum, Cairo

Frankreich / Elsass - Hohkönigsburg

 

The Château du Haut-Koenigsbourg (French: [ʃɑto dy o kœniɡsbuʁ]; German: Hohkönigsburg), sometimes also Haut-Kœnigsbourg, is a medieval castle located in the commune of Orschwiller in the Bas-Rhin département of Alsace, France. Located in the Vosges mountains just west of Sélestat, situated in a strategic area on a rocky spur overlooking the Upper Rhine Plain, it was used by successive powers from the Middle Ages until the Thirty Years' War when it was abandoned. From 1900 to 1908 it was rebuilt at the behest of the German kaiser Wilhelm II. Today it is a major tourist site, attracting more than 500,000 visitors a year.

 

History

 

The Buntsandstein cliff was first mentioned as Stofenberk (Staufenberg) in a 774 deed issued by the Frankish king Charlemagne. Again certified in 854, it was then a possession of the French Basilica of St Denis and the site of a monastery.

 

Middle Ages

 

It is not known when the first castle was built. However, a Burg Staufen (Castrum Estufin) is documented in 1147, when the monks complained to King Louis VII of France about its unlawful construction by the Hohenstaufen Duke Frederick II of Swabia. Frederick's younger brother Conrad III had been elected King of the Romans in 1138, to be succeeded by Frederick's son Frederick Barbarossa in 1152, and by 1192 the castle was called Kinzburg (Königsburg, "King's Castle").

 

In the early thirteenth century, the fortification passed from the Hohenstaufen family to the dukes of Lorraine, who entrusted it to the local Rathsamhausen knightly family and the Lords of Hohenstein, who held the castle until the fifteenth century. As the Hohensteins allowed some robber barons to use the castle as a hideout, and their behaviour began to exasperate the neighbouring rulers, in 1454 it was occupied by Elector Palatine Frederick I and in 1462 was set ablaze by the unified forces of the cities of Colmar, Strasbourg, and Basel.

 

In 1479, the Habsburg emperor Frederick III granted the castle ruins in fief to the Counts of Thierstein, who rebuilt them with a defensive system suited to the new artillery of the time. When in 1517 the last Thierstein died, the castle became a reverted fief and again came into the possession of the Habsburg emperor of the day, Maximilian I. In 1633, during the Thirty Years' War in which Catholics forces fought Protestants, the Imperial castle was besieged by Protestant Swedish forces. After a 52-day siege, the castle was burned and looted by the Swedish troops. For several hundred years it was left unused, and the ruins became overgrown by the forest. Various romantic poets and artists were inspired by the castle during this time.

 

19th century renovation

 

The ruins had been listed as a monument historique of the Second French Empire since 1862 and were purchased by the township of Sélestat (or Schlettstadt) three years later. After the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 to 1871 the region was incorporated into the German Imperial Territory of Alsace-Lorraine, and in 1899 the citizens granted what was left of the castle to the German emperor Wilhelm II. Wilhelm wished to create a castle lauding the qualities of Alsace in the Middle Ages and more generally of German civilization stretching from Hohkönigsburg in the west to (likewise restored) Marienburg Castle in the east. He also hoped the restoration would reinforce the bond of Alsatians with Germany, as they had only recently been incorporated into the newly established German Empire. The management of the restoration of the fortifications was entrusted to the architect Bodo Ebhardt, a proven expert on the reconstruction of medieval castles. Work proceeded from 1900 to 1908. On May 13, 1908, the restored Hohkönigsburg was inaugurated in the presence of the Emperor. In an elaborate re-enactment ceremony, a historic cortege entered the castle, under a torrential downpour.

 

Ebhart's aim was to rebuild it, as near as possible, as it was on the eve of the Thirty Years' War. He relied heavily on historical accounts but, occasionally lacking information, he had to improvise some parts of the stronghold. For example, the Keep tower is now reckoned to be about 14 metres too tall. Wilhelm II, who regularly visited the construction site via a specially built train station in nearby Saint-Hippolyte, also encouraged certain modifications that emphasised a Romantic nostalgia for Germanic civilization. For example, the main dining hall has a higher roof than it did at the time, and links between the Hohenzollern family and the Habsburg rulers of the Holy Roman Empire are emphasized. The Emperor wanted to legitimise the House of Hohenzollern at the head of the Second Empire, and to assure himself as worthy heir of the Hohenstaufens and the Habsburgs.

 

The castle today

 

After World War I, the French state confiscated the castle in accordance with the 1919 Treaty of Versailles.

 

It has been listed since 1862 and classified since 1993 as a monument historique by the French Ministry of Culture. In 2007, ownership was transferred to the Bas-Rhin département. Today, it is one of the most famous tourist attractions in the region.

 

For many years it was considered fashionable in France to sneer at the castle because of its links to the German emperor. Many considered it to be nothing more than a fairy tale castle similar to Neuschwanstein. However, in recent years many historians have established that, although it is not a completely accurate reconstruction, it is at least interesting for what it shows about Wilhelm II's romantic nationalist ideas of the past and the architect's work. Indeed, Bodo Ebhardt restored the castle following a close study of the remaining walls, archives and other fortified castles built at the same period.

 

Parts of the 1937 film La Grande Illusion by Jean Renoir were shot at Haut-Koenigsbourg.

 

Château de l'Oedenbourg

 

Located just below Château du Haut-Koenigsbourg is the ruin of Château de l'Oedenbourg, which is also known as Petit-Koenigsbourg and is a historical monument in its own right. Construction of Château de l'Oedenbourg was started somewhere in the middle of the thirteenth century.

 

Copy in Malaysia

 

A copy of the castle has been built in the Berjaya Hills, 60 km north-east of Kuala Lumpur 3.404167°N 101.839155°E. A copy of the historic Alsatian city of Colmar is located next to it.

 

(Wikipedia)

 

Le château du Haut-Koenigsbourg — parfois Haut-Kœnigsbourg — est un château fort alsacien du XIIe siècle, profondément remanié au XVe siècle et restauré avant la Première Guerre mondiale sous le règne de Guillaume II. Le château se dresse sur le ban de la commune française d'Orschwiller, dans la circonscription administrative du Bas-Rhin et sur le territoire de la collectivité européenne d'Alsace.

 

Dénomination

 

Le nom actuel — le château du Haut-Koenigsbourg — est le résultat de l'adaptation du nom allemand Hohkönigsburg qui se traduit par « haut-château du roi ».

 

Situation géographique

 

Le château est situé dans le massif des Vosges à une altitude de 757 m à 12 km à l'ouest de Sélestat d'où il est visible. Il se trouve également à 26 km au nord de Colmar d'où il est également visible par temps clair et à 55 km au sud de Strasbourg.

 

Historique

Les Hohenstaufen

 

En 774, Charlemagne fait don du Stophanberch ou Staufenberg (nom du col où le Haut-Koenigsbourg a été construit) et des terres attenantes au prieuré de Lièpvre, dépendant de la basilique Saint-Denis.

 

En 1079, Frédéric Ier de Souabe — dit Frédéric l'Ancien — est nommé duc de Souabe par l'Empereur du Saint-Empire romain germanique Henri IV. Il fait construire le château Stauf sur le mont Hohenstaufen près de Göppingen, d'où le nom de la famille.

 

Afin de renforcer le pouvoir des Hohenstaufen en Alsace, Frédéric le Borgne crée une ligne de défense et pour cela, il fait construire de nombreux châteaux et certains d'entre eux sur des terres qui ne lui appartiennent pas. On dit de lui qu'il a constamment un château accroché à la queue de son cheval. Il aurait fait construire en toute illégalité le château du Haut-Koenigsbourg sur les terres confiées aux moines de l'abbaye de Lièpvre.

 

En 1147, Eudes de Deuil, moine de Saint-Denis, presse Louis VII d'intervenir auprès du roi Conrad III de Hohenstaufen afin de réparer cette injustice. C'est la première mention du château dans un document écrit. À cette date, le site comportait déjà deux tours permettant de surveiller la route d'Alsace du nord au sud, l'une appartenant à Conrad III de Hohenstaufen, l'autre à son neveu Frédéric Ier de Hohenstaufen, futur empereur du Saint-Empire romain germanique. Le nom de Königsburg (château du roi) apparaît dès 1157.

 

Les ducs de Lorraine

 

Dans la première moitié du XIIIe siècle, profitant de l'affaiblissement des Hohenstaufen, les ducs de Lorraine auraient pris possession du château. Celui-ci est confié aux sires de Rathsamhausen puis aux Hohenstein qui y règnent jusqu'au XVe siècle.

 

Devenu un repaire de chevaliers brigands, le château est conquis et incendié en 1462 par une coalition regroupant les villes de Colmar, Strasbourg et Bâle, fortes de 500 hommes et de pièces d'artillerie.

Les Thierstein

 

Les restes du Haut-Koenigsbourg sont alors confiés à la famille de Thierstein. Ils font bâtir, sur le côté ouest, un bastion formé de deux tours d'artillerie et d'un mur-bouclier, dotés de murs puissants. La basse cour est protégée par deux tours en fer à cheval et des courtines avec des murs épais. Le château est entouré d'un premier mur de protection afin de gêner la mise en batterie de l'artillerie ennemie.

 

En 1517, le dernier des Thierstein, croulant sous les dettes, s'éteint. La famille n'ayant pas de descendance, Maximilien Ier rachète le château. Ni l'empereur ni les propriétaires successifs ne feront face aux coûts d'entretien, d'autant que le premier ne finance pas les seconds pour ces réalisations.

 

Destruction

 

En 1633, durant la guerre de Trente Ans, qui a vu, entre autres, les Suédois opposés à l'Autriche, l'Alsace est ravagée. En juillet, les Suédois assiègent le Haut-Koenigsbourg qui n'est plus qu'une forteresse délabrée, est commandée par le capitaine Philippe de Liechtenau. Forts de canons et de mortiers, ils prennent le château après cinquante-deux jours de siège. Peu de temps après, la forteresse est détruite par un incendie. Le château est alors laissé à l'abandon.

 

Acquisition par la commune de Sélestat

 

Classé monument historique en 1862, le site et ses ruines sont rachetés trois ans plus tard à divers propriétaires par la commune de Sélestat.

 

Cadeau au Kaiser et reconstruction

 

Depuis 1871 et le traité de Francfort, l'Alsace est devenue allemande. Le 4 mai 1899, le château, alors en ruine, et les terres sommitales l'entourant sont offerts par la ville de Sélestat à l'empereur Guillaume II de Hohenzollern. Il souhaite y créer un musée promouvant la germanité de l'Alsace et, plus généralement, le monde germanique. La municipalité conserve la centaine d’hectares de forêt, économiquement rentables.

 

La direction de la restauration de ce château fort est confiée en 1900 à Bodo Ebhardt, architecte et archéologue berlinois âgé de 35 ans. Il commence par le déblaiement du site et les relevés des anciennes constructions. La restauration s'étalera de 1901 à 1908. L'objectif de Bodo Ebhardt est de le restaurer tel qu'il se présentait aux alentours de l'an 1500. En l’absence d’indices archéologiques, d’archives ou d’éléments de comparaison avec d’autres monuments contemporains, « la part d’interprétation, inévitable en pareille circonstance a été réduite au minimum et elle n’est en aucune façon l’objet d’un quelconque détournement ludique » (François Loyer, cf. bibliographie ci-dessous). Guillaume II vient régulièrement visiter le chantier, il est logé dans la gare de Saint-Hippolyte reconstruite spécialement pour l'accueillir en 1903.

 

Le nouvel édifice du Haut-Koenigsbourg est inauguré le 13 mai 1908, mais les finitions et achats de collections se poursuivirent jusqu'en 1918.

 

Pour le Kaiser, ce château marquait la limite occidentale de l'Empire allemand, comme le château de Marienbourg, aujourd'hui en Pologne, en marquait la limite oriental.

 

De nos jours

 

À l'issue de la Première Guerre mondiale en 1919, le château, bien privé de l'ancien empereur assimilé à une propriété de l'Empire allemand, entre en possession de l'État français lors de la restitution de l'Alsace-Lorraine, en application de l'article 56 du traité de Versailles.

 

Cependant, le blason de Guillaume II est toujours visible au sein du château. Il reste ainsi un des symboles en Alsace de la présence allemande entre 1871 et 1918, partagé entre la restauration majoritairement crédible de l'architecte et la vision romantique du Moyen Âge de Guillaume II.

 

Bâtiment civil - palais national en 1919, ses abords sont classés par arrêté du 16 février 1930. Mais alors que les ruines avaient été classées dès 1862, il faudra attendre le 10 septembre 1991 pour voir l’inscription de la station de pompage (ou pavillon de la source) construite en 1903, puis le 11 février 1993 pour qu’un arrêté ministériel procède au classement au titre des monuments historiques de l'intégralité du monument, y compris les parties restituées. Les ruines du château de l'Oedenbourg ou Petit-Koenigsbourg bénéficieront, elles aussi, d’une inscription puis du classement aux mêmes dates.

 

Dans le même temps, une attention particulière était portée à l’amélioration de l’accueil du public au château du Haut-Koenigsbourg, dont la priorité a été l’assainissement et l’alimentation en eau.

 

La propriété du château du Haut-Koenigsbourg est transférée de l'État au conseil général du Bas-Rhin en janvier 2007. Il s'agit du premier bien patrimonial transféré par l'État à une collectivité territoriale parmi une liste de 176 biens transférables arrêtée en 2004.

 

Le 16 décembre 2011, la toiture du château du Haut-Koenigsbourg subit des dommages lors du passage de la tempête Joachim.

 

Ce monument historique bénéficie d'une très forte fréquentation touristique, avec près de 550 000 visiteurs annuel.

 

Controverse sur une restauration

 

Cette cession historique à Guillaume II et les intentions de ce dernier — se légitimer comme successeur des Hohenstaufen et des Habsbourg et montrer la germanité de l'Alsace — sont sans doute, en partie, à l'origine des polémiques autour de cette restauration engagée sous la direction de Bodo Ebhardt.

 

Si aujourd'hui la reconstitution de Bodo Ebhardt est admise comme plausible, la rénovation du château était néanmoins sujette à polémique à l'époque. Les détracteurs de la reconstruction, préférant de loin le charme des ruines au château reconstruit, notèrent que certains éléments furent imaginés par l'architecte, car ils étaient complètement détruits. De nombreux ensembles étaient alors considérés comme fantaisistes :

 

le donjon carré. En effet dans une gravure ancienne, il est présenté comme rond mais les fondations prouvent bien que la vision de l'architecte était exacte ;

la salle du Kaiser et ses dimensions originelles non restituées. En effet, l'architecture en pierre et la présence du poêle et de la cheminée montrent qu'à l'origine cette pièce était composée de deux étages et plusieurs pièces. L'état actuel de cette pièce était une exigence de Guillaume II pour montrer la force et l'importance de l'État allemand ;

l'escalier d'honneur hexagonal — avec ses sculptures —, considéré comme trop décoré pour un élément du Moyen Âge ;

la porte d'honneur, entrée du château, et ses bas-reliefs. Lors de la restauration du château, cette porte était complètement détruite et absente ;

la présence du moulin à vent sur une tour d'artillerie et de la forge dans la cour basse.

 

Cependant, aujourd'hui, on considère que Bodo Ebhardt, au travers de cette restauration « est en tout cas resté dans les limites de la vraisemblance, ayant toujours eu le souci de s'inspirer des nombreux édifices qu'il avait étudiés avant d'élaborer son projet ».

 

Les caricaturistes de l'époque s'en donnèrent à cœur joie comme Henri Zislin ou Jean-Jacques Waltz qui réalisa plusieurs planches sur ce sujet. Elles sont actuellement visibles au musée de Hansi à Riquewihr.

 

Il y a cent ans, le restaurateur se permettait de traiter un monument comme une œuvre d’imagination, et il pouvait rêver d’un Moyen Âge idéal et d’une pureté de style tout à fait théorique. Dès lors s’affrontaient déjà deux conceptions. D’une part celle de Viollet-le-Duc, imprimant la marque de l’architecte-artiste à l’édifice, qui devait recevoir un fini parfait et « si nécessaire être corrigé et complété », quitte à être falsifié. D’autre part celle de Luca Beltrami, au château des Sforza à Milan, Bodo Ebhardt, au château impérial de Haut-Koenigsbourg, Conrad Steinbrecht, au château du grand-maître des chevaliers teutoniques à Malborg (Forteresse teutonique de Marienbourg). Cette seconde démarche constituait un pas décisif vers la restauration scientifique. Elle est plus proche des conceptions d’Arcisse de Caumont, qui demandait déjà au milieu du XIXe siècle que soit respecté le monument, que soit définie une doctrine scientifique. Si les nouveaux restaurateurs vers 1900 cherchent à intégrer toutes les époques, ils ne résistent pas à l’envie de remonter tous les murs même si certains de ceux-ci avaient été détruits anciennement lors de transformations intentionnelles.

 

Cependant, malgré ces critiques, on peut considérer, comme François Loyer que «… le souci archéologique est bien réel, la reconstitution crédible et les détails fondés. C’est même, probablement, la plus exacte des restitutions qui aient été jamais tentées ».

 

On regrette beaucoup de ne pas pouvoir distinguer plus aisément les parties reconstituées. Cependant, Bodo Ebhardt marque les parties restaurées par un signe distinctif ou travaille la pierre différemment. De plus, il faut louer ce restaurateur et ses contemporains d’avoir œuvré pour une très grande lisibilité et la plus exacte possible des plans généraux, de l’articulation des volumes et de la fonction des détails.

 

Visite

 

Le château a été construit sur un éperon rocheux orienté ouest-est. Les murailles, qui épousent les formes des rochers, ont une structure irrégulière. D'ouest en est, on trouve successivement :

 

les bastions - dont l'énorme grand bastion - destinés à protéger le château contre des tirs d'artillerie à partir d'emplacements plus à l'ouest sur l'éperon rocheux ;

le jardin supérieur, qui masque le logis plus à l'est de ces éventuels tirs d'artillerie ;

le logis avec les pièces d'habitation et le donjon ;

le bastion en étoile aux murs moins hauts protège le château seulement contre des tirs d'artillerie à partir d'emplacements plus à l'est, donc obligatoirement en contrebas de l'éperon rocheux.

 

Entrée

 

L'entrée est située en contrebas. La porte est surmontée d'un bas relief avec le blason de la famille Thierstein. Sur la droite se trouve un mur d'enceinte de faible épaisseur (XVe – XXe siècle) et, sur l'éperon rocheux à gauche, le logis sud (XIIe – XXe siècle).

 

Porte principale

 

On débouche sur une petite cour, où la porte principale équipée d'une herse donne accès au château. Au-dessus de la porte d'entrée, on trouve les armoiries des Hohenzollern et de Charles-Quint, rappelant que le château fut restauré par l'empereur Guillaume II. Sur le site avaient été retrouvés des restes d'armoiries originales dont il s'estimait l'héritier.

 

Cour basse

 

La cour basse est entourée de communs et de locaux de service (écurie). Un bâtiment attenant est surmonté d'un moulin à vent. Elle comprend en son milieu la copie d'une fontaine du XVe siècle conservée à Eguisheim, la forge et une maison alsacienne.

 

Un four à pain est attesté dans la basse-cour.

 

Entrée dans le logis et porte des Lions

 

Un escalier avec de grandes marches irrégulières permettent d'accéder au logis. Une dernière défense est constituée d'un pont-levis au niveau de la porte des Lions.

 

Cour intérieure et escalier hexagonal

 

Au sommet, une cour intérieure est surmontée de galeries en bois, ainsi qu'une citerne avec une margelle carrée et un toit surmonté d'une sculpture de sirène.

 

Un escalier hexagonal en hélice permet d'accéder aux étages supérieurs ; chaque étage a un balcon décoré de fresques de chevaliers donnant sur la cour.

 

Le puits, profond de 62,50 mètres, a été fortifié pour ne pas se trouver séparé du logis par une attaque d'artillerie.

 

Par la galerie, on accède aux cuisines et au cellier, dont la longueur indique la largeur de l'éperon rocheux sur lequel est construit le château.

 

Donjon

 

Le donjon repose sur une base carrée préexistante de 17 mètres. Il a été exhaussé d'autant lors de la restauration et protégé par une toiture.

 

Salle du Kaiser

 

La salle du Kaiser est la salle d'honneur du château. Pour disposer d'une grande hauteur de plafond, l'étage supérieur présent au Moyen Âge n'a pas été restauré afin d'en faire une salle de prestige pour son usage moderne. Il n'est visible que dans la mezzanine des musiciens. La principale décoration est une peinture d'aigle impériale au plafond, réalisée par Léo Schnug, avec la devise Gott mit uns (Dieu avec nous). Sur les ailes se trouvent les armoiries des électeurs du Saint-Empire romain germanique et sur son cœur celles des Hohenzollern. Sur le mur, de chaque côté de la cheminée, se trouve représentée une joute entre deux chevaliers. Les convives pouvaient prendre part à une réception autour d'une grande table surmontée de lustres décorés.

 

Chambre lorraine

 

Créée pour rappeler l'annexion de la Moselle, dénommée alors Lorraine, comme part de la région historique éponyme, elle présente une décoration et un mobilier typiquement lorrains : le plafond boisé et la cheminée de pierre rappellent l'architecture médiévale de la ville de Metz, reconstituée au musée de la Cour d'Or. Dans cette même idée, un Graoully, dragon du folklore de Metz, est suspendu au milieu de la pièce. Il est inspiré de celui présent dans la crypte de la cathédrale de Metz.

 

Jardin supérieur

 

Le jardin supérieur fait le lien entre le logis situé au centre et le Grand Bastion situé à l'ouest. Il est entouré par un chemin de ronde couvert et comporte un puits. C'est dans cette partie du château que se situaient les bains. La pièce était chauffée par un poêle.

 

L'existence d'un four à pain dans ce secteur est également attestée.

 

Grand bastion

 

Le grand bastion est la partie la plus fortifiée : il devait pouvoir s'opposer à de l'artillerie installée plus à l'ouest sur l'éperon rocheux et il est séparé du jardin par un pont-levis. Y sont conservés des copies de canons des XVIe et XVIIe siècles. Il était dépourvu de toit au XVIe siècle.

 

Dans la fiction

 

Roman et bande dessinée

 

En hommage au cinéma et par fascination pour le lieu, Jacques Martin a choisi d'installer le décor de la première série des aventures de Guy Lefranc autour du château. Cette bande-dessinée s'intitule : La Grande Menace, et aussi dans le 4e opus des voyages de Jhen avec Yves Plateau au dessin (ISBN 9782203066588)

L'illustrateur canadien John Howe s'est inspiré du château du Haut-Koenigsbourg pour illustrer la citadelle de Minas Tirith dans le livre Le Seigneur des anneaux écrit par Tolkien, plus tard adapté en film.

Philippe Matter, Mini-Loup et le château fort, Éditions Hachette Jeunesse, 2008 (ISBN 978-2-01-224411-5)

Jacques Fortier, Sherlock Holmes et le mystère du Haut-Koenigsbourg, Le Verger éditeur, 2009, 192 pages

Roger Seiter (scénariste) et Giuseppe Manunta (dessinateur), Sherlock Holmes et le mystère du Haut-Koenigsbourg, bande dessinée d'après le roman de Jacques Fortier, Le Verger éditeur, 2013, 54 planches

 

Cinéma et animation

 

Certaines scènes du film Le Petit Roi de Julien Duvivier ont été tournées au château du Haut-Koenigsbourg en 1933.

Le film La Grande Illusion de Jean Renoir a été tourné, pour les extérieurs, au château du Haut-Koenigsbourg en 1937.

Le château a également servi de décor au film Les Aventures d'Arsène Lupin de Jacques Becker (1956) et à Agent trouble de Jean-Pierre Mocky (1987).

Dix films ont été réalisés en 1991 à l’initiative du Conseil régional pour la promotion de l’Alsace. Ils portent sur la cathédrale de Strasbourg, le château du Haut-Koenigsbourg, les Ribeaupierre, les châteaux et les mines d’argent, le musée Unterlinden de Colmar ; mais ils abordent aussi des thèmes comme : les musées techniques de Mulhouse, la Décapole, les routes militaires, romanes, des châteaux et des orgues.

Le château du Haut-Koenigsbourg a également inspiré le réalisateur Hayao Miyazaki pour son film d'animation Le Château ambulant sorti en 2004.

 

(Wikipedia)

 

Die Hohkönigsburg (früher auch sowie umgangssprachlich Hochkönigsburg, französisch Château du Haut-Koenigsbourg – manchmal auch Haut-Kœnigsbourg – [okønɪgzˈbuʀ]) ist eine zu Beginn des 20. Jahrhunderts rekonstruierte Burg bei Orschwiller (Orschweiler) im Elsass (Département Bas-Rhin), gut 10 km westlich von Sélestat (Schlettstadt). Sie ist mit jährlich etwa 500.000 Besuchern die meistbesuchte Burg der Region und einer der am häufigsten frequentierten Touristenorte ganz Frankreichs.

 

Lage

 

Die 260 m lange Anlage thront als Kammburg in 757 m Höhe am Ostrand der Vogesen auf einem mächtigen Buntsandsteinfelsen hoch über der Oberrheinischen Tiefebene und ist eine der höchstgelegenen Burgen im Elsass. Zusammen mit der am gegenüberliegenden Ende des Bergrückens gelegenen, etwa 200 m entfernten Ruine der Ödenburg (Petit-Kœnigsbourg) bildet sie eine Burgengruppe.

 

Der Ausblick reicht weit über die Rheinebene bis zum Kaiserstuhl und auf mehrere benachbarte Burgruinen (unter anderem Ortenberg, Ramstein, Frankenburg, Kintzheim, Hohrappoltstein). Bei günstigen Sichtverhältnissen sind im Süden die knapp 200 Kilometer entfernten und rund vier Kilometer hohen Berner Alpen zu sehen, deren Gipfel wegen der Erdkrümmung ungefähr auf dem geometrischen Horizont von Hohkönigsburg liegen.

 

Geschichte

 

Mittelalter

 

Der Stophanberch (Staufenberg), auf welchem die Burg liegt, wird bereits 774 (als Schenkung Karls des Großen) und 854 beurkundet und befand sich ursprünglich im Besitz der Abtei Saint Denis.

 

Die Burg wurde in der ersten Hälfte des 12. Jahrhunderts als staufische Reichsburg erbaut und 1147 als Castrum Estufin erstmals urkundlich erwähnt. Von der Burg aus konnten die Orte und Handelswege in diesem Teil des Oberrheingrabens beherrscht werden. 1147 tauchte erstmals der Name Burg Staufen auf, die von Herzog Friedrich, dem Vater des deutschen Königs Friedrich Barbarossa, gegründet sein soll. Aus staufischer Zeit sind unter anderem eine vermauerte Fensterarkade und ein Löwenrelief erhalten. Ab 1192 wurde der Name Kinzburg (Königsburg) verwendet.

 

Im 13. Jahrhundert wurde der Herzog von Lothringen Eigentümer der Burg, der sie als Lehen den Grafen von Werd gab. 1359 verkauften die Grafen von Oettingen die Burg an den Bischof von Straßburg. 1454 eroberte der pfälzische Kurfürst Friedrich der Siegreiche die Burg, 1462 wurde sie wegen Raubritterei zerstört. 1479 gab Kaiser Friedrich III. die Burg als Lehnsgut an den Schweizer Grafen Oswald von Thierstein († 1488) und dessen Bruder Wilhelm.

 

Niedergang in der Neuzeit

 

1517 starben die Grafen von Thierstein aus; deshalb fiel die Burg an Kaiser Maximilian I. und somit an die Habsburger zurück. Während des Dreißigjährigen Krieges wurde sie 52 Tage von den Schweden belagert, am 7. September 1633 erobert und in Brand gesetzt. Zwischen 1648 und 1865 hatte die Ruine verschiedene Eigentümer. 1865 wurde sie Eigentum der Stadt Schlettstadt. In der Romantik wurde die Ruine wiederentdeckt. Christian Moritz Engelhardt beschrieb sie in seinen Reiseskizzen durch die Vogesen (1821). Ludwig Adolf Spach, der Präsident der Gesellschaft zur Erhaltung der historischen Monumente des Elsass, schlug schon eine Restaurierung vor.

 

Neuaufbau 1901 bis 1908

 

Infolge des Deutsch-Französischen Krieges wurde das Elsass, das zwischenzeitlich zu Frankreich gehört hatte, 1871 an das Deutsche Reich abgetreten. Im Jahre 1899 schenkte die Stadt Schlettstadt die Burg Kaiser Wilhelm II., der sie in den Jahren 1901–1908 durch den Berliner Architekten und Burgenforscher Bodo Ebhardt restaurieren ließ. Der Bau kostete über zwei Millionen Mark, die zum großen Teil von Elsass-Lothringen bezahlt werden mussten. Der Kaiser selbst finanzierte die ersten Arbeiten mit 100.000 Mark aus seiner Privatschatulle. Die Arbeiten wurden mit modernsten Mitteln durchgeführt. Vom Steinbruch zur Ruine wurde die ca. 2 km lange Feldbahn der Hohkönigsburg gebaut, die Lokomotive musste mit Pferden den Berg empor gezogen werden. Eine Dampfmaschine trieb einen Generator an, der elektrischen Strom für die Beleuchtung und zwei elektrische Kräne erzeugte.

 

Am 13. Mai 1908 fand im Rahmen einer großen Feier mit festlicher Musik und historischen Kostümen bei Regenwetter die Einweihung statt. Viktoria Luise von Preußen, die Tochter Kaiser Wilhelms II., schilderte von dieser in ihren Lebenserinnerungen:

 

„Die Hohkönigsburg, an der zahlreiche Erinnerungen deutscher Geschichte haften, war meinem Vater bei einem Besuch von Schlettstadt vom Bürgermeister als Geschenk geboten worden. Er hatte es angenommen und eine umfassende Restaurierung in die Wege geleitet. Rund zehn Jahre danach standen wir dann an einem Maitag zur Einweihung an der mächtigen Burg. Unser Blick glitt über die weite Ebene des Rheintals, hinüber zu den langgestreckten Höhen des Schwarzwaldes und bis zu der in der Ferne schimmernden Alpenkette. In seiner Ansprache wies mein Vater auf die ereignisreiche Vergangenheit hin: ‚Die Geschichte nennt uns eine ganze Reihe von Namen aus erlauchten Fürstenhäusern und edlen Geschlechtern als Eigentümer, Pfandbesitzer und Lehensträger, zuvörderst die Kaiser aus dem Hause Hohenstaufen und dem Hause Habsburg, dann die Herzöge von Lothringen und Unterelsaß, die Landgrafen von Werd, die Herren von Rathsamhausen, von Oettingen und von Berckheim, die Grafen von Thierstein, deren großartiger Bau nun wieder erstanden ist, die Ritter von Sickingen, deren Einzug in die Burg uns heute so trefflich vorgeführt ist, und die Freiherren von Bollweiler und Fugger. Nun ist die Burg wieder Eigentum des Deutschen Kaisers geworden.‘ Dann sagte er: ‚Möge die Hohkönigsburg hier im Westen des Reiches, wie die Marienburg im Osten, als ein Wahrzeichen deutscher Kultur und Macht bis in die fernsten Zeiten erhalten bleiben.‘“

 

Zwei Jahre später wurden an der Grenze zu Polen das Residenzschloss Posen sowie im Norden Deutschlands, nahe der Grenze zu Dänemark, die nach dem symbolträchtigen Vorbild der Marienburg geschaffene Marineschule Mürwik, das sogenannte Rote Schloss am Meer, vom Kaiser eingeweiht.

 

Der elsässische Künstler Jean-Jacques Waltz, der als frankophiler Elsässer kein Freund der deutschen Vereinnahmung der elsässischen Geschichte war, veröffentlichte kurze Zeit nach der Einweihung der Hohkönigsburg eine Serie von Bildern Die Hohkönigsburg im Wasgenwald und ihre Einweihung, die sich über den deutschtümelnden Pomp lustig machte, die Texte dazu soll ein Prof. Dr. Knatsche (Waltz selbst), verfasst haben.

 

Nach dem Ersten Weltkrieg bis heute

 

Seit 1919 ist die Hohkönigsburg Eigentum des französischen Staates, seit Januar 2007 des Départements Bas-Rhin. Heute gilt sie als die bedeutendste Burg der Region und ist das einzige im Elsass gelegene französische Nationaldenkmal (Monument national).

 

Anlage

 

Der Wiederaufbau durch Bodo Ebhardt ging mit der erhaltenen Bausubstanz für die damalige Zeit relativ rücksichtsvoll um, sodass sich die Burg immer noch als eine über die Jahrhunderte gewachsene Anlage zu erkennen gibt. Die verhältnismäßig kleine stauferzeitliche Kernburg mit unregelmäßigem Grundriss auf höchster Stelle des Felsplateaus hat einen durch Ebhardt wiederaufgemauerten quadratischen Bergfried (Donjon) mit südlich anschließendem Palas (Logis Seigneurial), an dem sich eine bereits im Spätmittelalter vermauerte Rundbogenarkade mit Würfelkapitellen erhalten hat. Nach 1479 wurde die Burg zu einer starken Festung ausgebaut. Westlich und östlich wurde die Kernburg gegen die aufkommende Artillerie durch mächtige Bollwerke verstärkt, die in Anlehnung an die stauferzeitliche Anlage in Buckelquadern ausgeführt wurden. Die von Ebhardt über alten Kragsteinen aufgemauerten Wehrgänge waren ursprünglich wahrscheinlich in Holz ausgeführt; nur an einem Turm im östlichen Burghof hat Ebhardt einen hölzernen Wehrgang rekonstruiert. Um die Hauptburg zieht sich eine Zwingermauer mit elf halbrunden Schalentürmen. An der Ostseite ist eine Vorburg (Tiergarten) mit zackenförmigem Abschluss vorgelagert. Von Ebhardt durch Weglassung einer Zwischendecke neu geschaffen wurde der repräsentative Festsaal, an dessen Kamingitter der Kommentar Wilhelms II. zum Ersten Weltkrieg zu lesen ist: „Ich habe es nicht gewollt!“ Ein eigens eingerichteter Saal zeigt kaiserliche Jagdtrophäen.

 

Hoch über dem Eingangsportal und unter dem Schutz des Adlers prangt das Wappen der letzten Herren der Burg.

 

Das eigentliche Schloss erreicht man über die Zugbrücke, der bewohnte Bereich kann durch das Löwentor betreten werden. Die Gemächer der Schlossherrin und der Ritter, die Schlosskapelle und der Rittersaal sind heute noch mit Möbeln aus dem 15–17. Jahrhundert ausgestattet und können besichtigt werden.

 

Etwa 200 m westlich liegt die Ruine der Ödenburg aus dem 13. Jahrhundert. Erhalten sind vor allem die Schildmauer aus Buckelquadern und die Fassade des Wohnbaues. Im Dreißigjährigen Krieg nahmen die Schweden von hier aus die Nachbarburg unter Artilleriebeschuss.

 

Rezeption

 

In Malaysia, 60 km nordöstlich von Kuala Lumpur, steht in den Berjaya Hills eine – sehr freie – Nachbildung der Burg als Luxushotel. Nicht weit entfernt wurde ein Teil der Colmarer Altstadt nachgebaut.

 

Bodo Ebhardts phantasiereiche Rekonstruktion der Burganlage inspirierte John Howe in seiner Arbeit als Illustrator der Werke J. R. R. Tolkiens.

 

(Wikipedia)

James Beaton was succeeded by his nephew, the celebrated Cardinal David Beaton. Celebrated by some, despised by many others, Beaton was an undeniably brilliant man, who made it his life's work to oppose the Reformation and the spread of Protestantism.

 

The story of his eventual assassination is well known. The cardinal had been actively engaged in strengthening the fortifications of the castle against the threatened attack from his implacable enemy, King Henry VIII. One morning in May 1546, a group of conspirators, some eight or ten in number, loitered about in the early morning near the entrance, and then taking advantage of the arrival of the masons employed at the castle, gained admittance via the postern door (see photo 5). They then stabbed the porter and threw his body into the moat, and sent the workmen quietly off the premises, leaving them in complete possession of the castle, before its inmates were astir, following which they dismissed the servants and other inmates one by one.

 

In this manner, says Tytler, a hundred workmen and fifty household servants were disposed of by a handful of men, who, closing the gates and dropping the portcullis, became complete masters of the castle. The Cardinal was then dispatched (and, some sources say, his body left hanging out of a window of the main tower), after which the murderers kept possession of the castle, their numbers being somewhat augmented. Assistance was sent by King Henry, which enabled the castle's occupants to withstand a siege that was to last nearly a year.

 

In October 1546, the Earl of Arran and the Scottish Privy Council met at St Andrews, and siege operations commenced in earnest. A tunnel was started by Arran's men, with the intention of undermining the Fore Tower, however the defenders heard the digging and started digging a counter-mine to intercept it and on the third attempt, they were successful. Both the mine and counter-mines were cut through solid rock and were rediscovered in 1879. They are open to the public today.

 

An account written by one of those besieged in the castle describes how:

 

"In the month of December, being about six months after the cardinal's murder, and immediately following an attempt at a compromise, the governor (Arran) sent to the west (siege) trenches, four cannons, a battering culverin, two smaller culverins, and some double falcons, in order to batter the sea-tower that is at the north-west and the west wall.

 

This was on a Friday, and on Wednesday, they began, and shot from seven in the morning continually, till four in the evening. That day they shot down all the battlements, and the tophouse of the sea-tower, and the whole roof of the chambers next the sea; and all this day, they shot upon the east side of the castle with fedderit ballatlis* at the hall and chapel, and dislodged us from that part by the down-putting of the roof and slates."

 

(*A balista was an enormous cross-bow that fired heavy iron bolts, fletched like arrows, to increase their accuracy.)

 

In the meanwhile, the English and French Governments were both active in their preparations, the former to succour the garrison in the castle, the latter to attack them, but the French were ready first. In the summer of 1547 they sent twenty-one galleys, under the command of Leon Stronzius, Prior of Capua, both a priest and a warrior, to assist the Governor of Scotland in reducing the castle.

 

The French mounted their lighter ordnance both upon the college steeple, and also upon the walls of the abbey kirk, from where they could see and fire into the castle courtyard "so that no man durst walk therein, or go up to the wall head."

 

The French captain told the governor, that "they had been unexpert warriors who had not mounted their ordnance on the steeple-heads in that manner earlier, and that he wondered at the keepers of the castle; that they had not first broken down the heads of the steeples." He then set up "the great battery", consisting of the two Scottish cannons and six French; and to prevent slaughter while they were being moved into position, he devised that the cannons should pass down the streets by engines, without any man with them.

 

Upon opening fire, the battery, within a few hours made such breaches in the wall that, despairing of their strength, after consultation, they yielded the castle and themselves to the King of France. The French captain entered and spoiled the castle very rigorously ; wherein they found great store of vivers, clothes, armour, silver, and plate, which, with the captives, they carried away in their galleys to France. The governor, by the advice of the council, demolished the castle, least it should be a receptacle of rebels."

 

Cardinal Beaton's successor, Archbishop John Hamilton, rebuilt the castle, building fine Renaissance style work on top of the remains of the earlier walls, but in 1587 the Act of Annexation was passed which transferred the castle of St. Andrews, along with other church property, to the Crown. In the mid-17th century, the Town Council ordered stone to be taken from the castle for use in repairing the harbour walls.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 44301/1, 1929-1930. Photo: United Artists.

 

Lupe Velez (1908-1944), was one of the first Mexican actresses to succeed in Hollywood. Her nicknames were 'The Mexican Spitfire' and 'Hot Pepper'. She was the leading lady in such silent films as The Gaucho (1927), Lady of the Pavements (1928), and Wolf Song (1929). During the 1930s, her well-known explosive screen persona was exploited in a series of successful films like Hot Pepper (1933), Strictly Dynamite (1934), and Hollywood Party (1934). In the 1940s, Vélez's popularity peaked after appearing in the Mexican Spitfire films, a series created to capitalise on Vélez's well-documented fiery personality. She had several highly publicised romances and a stormy marriage. In 1944, Vélez died of an intentional overdose of the barbiturate drug Seconal. Her death and the circumstances surrounding it have been the subject of speculation and controversy.

 

Lupe Vélez was born María Guadalupe Villalobos Vélez in 1908 in the city of San Luis Potosí in Mexico. She was the daughter of Jacobo Villalobos Reyes, a colonel in the army of the dictator Porfirio Diaz, and his wife Josefina Vélez, an opera singer according to some sources, or vaudeville singer according to others. She had three sisters: Mercedes, Reina and Josefina, and a brother, Emigdio. The family was financially comfortable and lived in a large home. At the age of 13, her parents sent her to study at Our Lady of the Lake (now Our Lady of the Lake University) in San Antonio, Texas. It was at Our Lady of the Lake that Vélez learned to speak English and began to dance. She later admitted that she liked dance class, but was otherwise a poor student. Denny Jackson at IMDb: "Life was hard for her family, and Lupe returned to Mexico to help them out financially. She worked as a salesgirl for a department store for the princely sum of $4 a week. Every week she would turn most of her salary over to her mother, but kept a little for herself so she could take dancing lessons. By now, she figured, with her mature shape and grand personality, she thought she could make a try at show business." She began her career as a performer in Mexican vaudeville in 1924. She initially performed under her paternal surname, but after her father returned home from the war, he was outraged that his daughter had decided to become a stage performer. She chose her maternal surname, "Vélez", as her stage name and her mother introduced Vélez and her sister Josefina to the popular Spanish Mexican vedette María Conesa, "La Gatita Blanca". Vélez debuted in a show led by Conesa, where she sang 'Oh Charley, My Boy' and danced the shimmy. Aurelio Campos, a young pianist, and friend of the Vélez sisters recommended Lupe to stage producers, Carlos Ortega and Manuel Castro. Ortega and Castro were preparing a season revue at the Regis Theatre and hired Vélez to join the company in March 1925. Later that year, Vélez starred in the revues 'Mexican Rataplan' and '¡No lo tapes!', both parodies of the Bataclan's shows in Paris. Her suggestive singing and provocative dancing was a hit with audiences, and she soon established herself as one of the main stars of vaudeville in Mexico. After a year and a half, Vélez left the revue after the manager refused to give her a raise. She then joined the Teatro Principal but was fired after three months due to her "feisty attitude". Vélez was quickly hired by the Teatro Lirico, where her salary rose to 100 pesos a day. In 1926, Frank A. Woodyard, an American who had seen Vélez perform, recommended her to stage director Richard Bennett, the father of actresses Joan and Constance Bennett. Bennett was looking for an actress to portray a Mexican cantina singer in his upcoming play 'The Dove'. He sent Vélez a telegram inviting her to Los Angeles to appear in the play. Vélez had been planning to go to Cuba to perform, but quickly changed her plans and traveled to Los Angeles. However, upon arrival, she discovered that she had been replaced by another actress.

 

While in Los Angeles, Lupe Vélez met the comedian Fanny Brice. Brice recommended her to Flo Ziegfeld, who hired her to perform in New York City. While Vélez was preparing to leave Los Angeles, she received a call from MGM producer Harry Rapf, who offered her a screen test. Producer and director Hal Roach saw Vélez's screen test and hired her for a small role in the comic Laurel and Hardy short Sailors, Beware! (Fred Guiol, Hal Yates, 1927). After her debut, Vélez appeared in another Hal Roach short, What Women Did for Me (James Parrott, 1927), opposite Charley Chase. Later that year, she did a screen test for the upcoming Douglas Fairbanks feature The Gaucho (F. Richard Jones, 1927). Fairbanks was impressed by Vélez and hired her to appear in the film with him. The Gaucho was a hit and critics were duly impressed with Vélez's ability to hold her own alongside Fairbanks, who was well known for his spirited acting and impressive stunts. Her second major film was Stand and Deliver (Donald Crisp, 1928), produced by Cecil B. DeMille. That same year, she was named one of the WAMPAS Baby Stars. Then she appeared in Lady of the Pavements (1929), directed by D. W. Griffith, and Where East Is East (Tod Browning, 1929), starring Lon Chaney as an animal trapper in Laos. In the Western The Wolf Song (Victor Fleming, 1929), she appeared alongside Gary Cooper. As she was regularly cast as 'exotic' or 'ethnic' women that were volatile and hot-tempered, gossip columnists took to referring to Vélez as "Mexican Hurricane", "The Mexican Wildcat", "The Mexican Madcap", "Whoopee Lupe" and "The Hot Tamale". Lupe Vélez made the transition to sound films without difficulty. Studio executives had predicted that her accent would likely hamper her ability to make the transition. That idea was dispelled after she appeared in the all-talking Rin Tin Tin vehicle, Tiger Rose (George Fitzmaurice, 1929). The film was a hit and Vélez's sound career was established. Vélez appeared in a series of Pre-Code films like Hell Harbor (Henry King, 1930), The Storm (William Wyler, 1930), and the crime drama East Is West (Monta Bell, 1930) opposite Edward G. Robinson. The next year, she appeared in her second film for Cecil B. DeMille, Squaw Man (Cecil B. DeMille, 1931), opposite Warner Baxter, in Resurrection (Edwin Carewe, 1931), and The Cuban Love Song (W.S. Van Dyke, 1931), with the popular singer Lawrence Tibbett. She had a supporting role in Kongo (William J. Cowen, 1932) with Walter Huston, a sound remake of West of Zanzibar (Tod Browning, 1928) which tries to outdo the Lon Chaney original in morbidity. She also starred in Spanish-language versions of Universal films like Resurrección (Eduardo Arozamena, David Selman, 1931), the Spanish version of Resurrection (1931), and Hombres en mi vida (Eduardo Arozamena, David Selman, 1932), the Spanish version of Men in Her Life (William Beaudine, 1931) in which Lois Moran had starred.

 

In 1932, Lupe Vélez took a break from her film career and traveled to New York City where she was signed by Broadway impresario Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr. to take over the role of "Conchita" in the musical revue 'Hot-Cha!'. The show also starred Bert Lahr, Eleanor Powell, and Buddy Rogers. Back in Hollywood, Lupe switched to comedy after playing dramatic roles for five years. Denny Jackson at IMDb: "In 1933 she played the lead role of Pepper in Hot Pepper (1933). This film showcased her comedic talents and helped her to show the world her vital personality. She was delightful." After Hot Pepper (John G. Blystone, 1933) with Edmund Lowe and Victor McLaglen, Lupe played beautiful but volatile, characters in a series of successful films like Strictly Dynamite (Elliott Nugent, 1934), Palooka (Benjamin Stoloff, 1934) both opposite Jimmy Durante, and Hollywood Party (Allan Dwan, a.o., 1934) with Laurel and Hardy. Although Vélez was a popular actress, RKO Pictures did not renew her contract in 1934. Over the next few years, Vélez worked for various studios as a freelance actress; she also spent two years in England where she filmed The Morals of Marcus (Miles Mander, 1935) and Gypsy Melody (Edmond T. Gréville, 1936). She returned to Los Angeles the following year where she appeared in the final part of the Wheeler & Woolsey comedy High Flyers (Edward F. Cline, 1937). In 1938, Vélez made her final appearance on Broadway in the musical You Never Know, by Cole Porter. The show received poor reviews from critics but received a large amount of publicity due to the feud between Vélez and fellow cast member Libby Holman. Holman was irritated by the attention Vélez garnered from the show with her impersonations of several actresses including Gloria Swanson, Katharine Hepburn, and Shirley Temple. The feud came to a head during a performance in New Haven, Connecticut after Vélez punched Holman in between curtain calls and gave her a black eye. The feud effectively ended the show. Upon her return to Mexico City in 1938 to star in her first Mexican film, Vélez was greeted by ten thousand fans. The film La Zandunga (Fernando de Fuentes, 1938) co-starring Arturo de Córdova, was a critical and financial success. Vélez was slated to appear in four more Mexican films, but instead, she returned to Los Angeles and went back to work for RKO Pictures. In 1939, Lupe Vélez was cast opposite Leon Errol and Donald Woods in the B-comedy, The Girl from Mexico (Leslie Goodwins, 1939). Despite being a B film, it was a hit with audiences and RKO re-teamed her with Errol and Wood for a sequel, Mexican Spitfire (Leslie Goodwins, 1940). That film was also a success and led to a series of eight Spitfire films. Wikipedia: "In the series, Vélez portrays Carmelita Lindsay, a temperamental yet friendly Mexican singer married to Dennis 'Denny' Lindsay (Woods), an elegant American gentleman. The Spitfire films rejuvenated Vélez's career. Moreover, they were films in which a Latina headlined for eight films straight –a true rarity." In addition to the Spitfire series, she was cast in such films as Six Lessons from Madame La Zonga (John Rawlins, 1941), Playmates (David Butler, 1941) opposite John Barrymore, and Redhead from Manhattan (Lew Landers, 1943). In 1943, the final film in the Spitfire series, Mexican Spitfire's Blessed Event (Leslie Goodwins, 1943), was released. By that time, the novelty of the series had begun to wane. Velez co-starred with Eddie Albert in the romantic comedy, Ladies' Day (Leslie Goodwins, 1943), about an actress and a baseball player. In 1944, Vélez returned to Mexico to star in an adaptation of Émile Zola's novel Nana (Roberto Gavaldón, Celestino Gorostiza, 1944), which was well-received. It would be her final film. After filming wrapped, Vélez returned to Los Angeles and began preparing for another stage role in New York.

 

Lupe Vélez's temper and jealousy in her often tempestuous romantic relationships were well documented and became tabloid fodder, often overshadowing her career. Vélez was straightforward with the press and was regularly contacted by gossip columnists for stories about her romantic exploits. Her first long-term relationship was with actor Gary Cooper. Vélez met Cooper while filming The Wolf Song in 1929 and began a two-year affair with him. The relationship was passionate but often stormy. Reportedly Vélez chased Cooper around with a knife during an argument and cut him severely enough to require stitches. By that time, the rocky relationship had taken its toll on Cooper who had lost 45 pounds and was suffering from nervous exhaustion. Paramount Pictures ordered him to take a vacation to recuperate. While he was boarding the train, Vélez showed up at the train station and fired a pistol at him. During her marriage to actor Johnny Weissmuller, stories of their frequent physical fights were regularly reported in the press. Vélez reportedly inflicted scratches, bruises, and love-bites on Weissmuller during their fights and "passionate love-making". In July 1934, after ten months of marriage, Vélez filed for divorce citing cruelty. She withdrew the petition a week later after reconciling with Weissmuller. In January 1935, she filed for divorce a second time and was granted an interlocutory decree that was dismissed when the couple reconciled a month later. In August 1938, Vélez filed for divorce for a third time, again charging Weissmuller with cruelty. Their divorce was finalised in August 1939. After the divorce became final, Vélez began dating actor Guinn "Big Boy" Williams in late 1940. They were reportedly engaged but never married. Vélez was also linked to author Erich Maria Remarque and the boxers Jack Johnson and Jack Dempsey. In 1943, Vélez began an affair with her La Zandunga co-star Arturo de Córdova. De Córdova had recently moved to Hollywood after signing with Paramount Pictures. Despite the fact that de Córdova was married to Mexican actress Enna Arana with whom he had four children, Vélez granted an interview to gossip columnist Louella Parsons in September 1943 and announced that the two were engaged. Vélez ended the engagement in early 1944, reportedly after de Córdova's wife refused to give him a divorce. Vélez then met and began dating a struggling young Austrian actor named Harald Maresch (who went by the stage name Harald Ramond). In September 1944, she discovered she was pregnant with Ramond's child. She announced their engagement in late November 1944. On 10 December, four days before her death, Vélez announced she had ended the engagement and kicked Ramond out of her home. On the evening of 13 December 1944, Vélez dined with her two friends, the silent film star Estelle Taylor and Venita Oakie. In the early morning hours of 14 December, Vélez retired to her bedroom, where she consumed 75 Seconal pills and a glass of brandy. Her secretary, Beulah Kinder, found the actress's body on her bed later that morning. A suicide note addressed to Harald Ramond was found nearby. Lupe Vélez was only 36 years old. More than four-thousand people filed past her casket during her funeral. Her body was interred in Mexico City, at Panteón Civil de Dolores Cemetery. Velez' estate, valued at $125,000 and consisting mostly of her Rodeo House home, two cars, jewelry, and personal effects were left to her secretary Beulah Kinder with the remainder in trust for her mother, Mrs. Josephine Velez. Together with Dolores del Rio, Ramon Novarro, and José Mojica, she was one of the few Mexican people who had made history in the early years of Hollywood.

 

Sources: Denny Jackson (IMDb), Wikipedia, and IMDb.

 

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

That's the expression I read from his face.

 

Nikon D500

AF-S DX Nikkor 35mm f/1.8G

The moon illuminates the sculpture tribute for the death of 13 paratroopers who died when jumping from a plane on a day of strong wind.

Nothing succeeds like excess! The Ann Starrett Mansion, an exhuberant Victorian in Port Townsend, Washington.

 

As of June, 2013, this is an inn. www.starrettmansion.com

 

Cluttersome objects flanking the bottom steps have been PhotoShopped away.

German cigarette card by Ross Verlag in the 'Künstler im Film' series for Zigarettenfabrik Monopol, Dresden, Serie 1, image 152 (of 200). Photo: Paramount. Lupe Velez in The Broken Wing (Lloyd Corrigan, 1932).

 

Lupe Velez (1908-1944), was one of the first Mexican actresses to succeed in Hollywood. Her nicknames were 'The Mexican Spitfire' and 'Hot Pepper'. She was the leading lady in such silent films as The Gaucho (1927), Lady of the Pavements (1928), and Wolf Song (1929). During the 1930s, her well-known explosive screen persona was exploited in a series of successful films like Hot Pepper (1933), Strictly Dynamite (1934), and Hollywood Party (1934). In the 1940s, Vélez's popularity peaked after appearing in the Mexican Spitfire films, a series created to capitalise on Vélez's well-documented fiery personality. She had several highly publicised romances and a stormy marriage. In 1944, Vélez died of an intentional overdose of the barbiturate drug Seconal. Her death and the circumstances surrounding it have been the subject of speculation and controversy.

 

Lupe Vélez was born María Guadalupe Villalobos Vélez in 1908 in the city of San Luis Potosí in Mexico. She was the daughter of Jacobo Villalobos Reyes, a colonel in the army of the dictator Porfirio Diaz, and his wife Josefina Vélez, an opera singer according to some sources, or vaudeville singer according to others. She had three sisters: Mercedes, Reina and Josefina and a brother, Emigdio. The family was financially comfortable and lived in a large home. At the age of 13, her parents sent her to study at Our Lady of the Lake (now Our Lady of the Lake University) in San Antonio, Texas. It was at Our Lady of the Lake that Vélez learned to speak English and began to dance. She later admitted that she liked dance class, but was otherwise a poor student. Denny Jackson at IMDb: "Life was hard for her family, and Lupe returned to Mexico to help them out financially. She worked as a salesgirl for a department store for the princely sum of $4 a week. Every week she would turn most of her salary over to her mother, but kept a little for herself so she could take dancing lessons. By now, she figured, with her mature shape and grand personality, she thought she could make a try at show business." She began her career as a performer in Mexican vaudeville in 1924. She initially performed under her paternal surname, but after her father returned home from the war, he was outraged that his daughter had decided to become a stage performer. She chose her maternal surname, "Vélez", as her stage name and her mother introduced Vélez and her sister Josefina to the popular Spanish Mexican vedette María Conesa, "La Gatita Blanca". Vélez debuted in a show led by Conesa, where she sang 'Oh Charley, My Boy' and danced the shimmy. Aurelio Campos, a young pianist and friend of the Vélez sisters, recommended Lupe to stage producers Carlos Ortega and Manuel Castro. Ortega and Castro were preparing a season revue at the Regis Theatre and hired Vélez to join the company in March 1925. Later that year, Vélez starred in the revues 'Mexican Rataplan' and '¡No lo tapes!', both parodies of the Bataclan's shows in Paris. Her suggestive singing and provocative dancing was a hit with audiences, and she soon established herself as one of the main stars of vaudeville in Mexico. After a year and a half, Vélez left the revue after the manager refused to give her a raise. She then joined the Teatro Principal, but was fired after three months due to her "feisty attitude". Vélez was quickly hired by the Teatro Lirico, where her salary rose to 100 pesos a day. In 1926, Frank A. Woodyard, an American who had seen Vélez perform, recommended her to stage director Richard Bennett, the father of actresses Joan and Constance Bennett. Bennett was looking for an actress to portray a Mexican cantina singer in his upcoming play 'The Dove'. He sent Vélez a telegram inviting her to Los Angeles to appear in the play. Vélez had been planning to go to Cuba to perform, but quickly changed her plans and traveled to Los Angeles. However, upon arrival, she discovered that she had been replaced by another actress.

 

While in Los Angeles, Lupe Vélez met the comedian Fanny Brice. Brice recommended her to Flo Ziegfeld, who hired her to perform in New York City. While Vélez was preparing to leave Los Angeles, she received a call from MGM producer Harry Rapf, who offered her a screen test. Producer and director Hal Roach saw Vélez's screen test and hired her for a small role in the comic Laurel and Hardy short Sailors, Beware! (Fred Guiol, Hal Yates, 1927). After her debut, Vélez appeared in another Hal Roach short, What Women Did for Me (James Parrott, 1927), opposite Charley Chase. Later that year, she did a screen test for the upcoming Douglas Fairbanks feature The Gaucho (F. Richard Jones, 1927). Fairbanks was impressed by Vélez and hired her to appear in the film with him. The Gaucho was a hit and critics were duly impressed with Vélez's ability to hold her own alongside Fairbanks, who was well known for his spirited acting and impressive stunts. Her second major film was Stand and Deliver (Donald Crisp, 1928), produced by Cecil B. DeMille. That same year, she was named one of the WAMPAS Baby Stars. Then she appeared in Lady of the Pavements (1929), directed by D. W. Griffith, and Where East Is East (Tod Browning, 1929), starring Lon Chaney as an animal trapper in Laos. In the Western The Wolf Song (Victor Fleming, 1929), she appeared alongside Gary Cooper. As she was regularly cast as 'exotic' or 'ethnic' women that were volatile and hot-tempered, gossip columnists took to referring to Vélez as "Mexican Hurricane", "The Mexican Wildcat", "The Mexican Madcap", "Whoopee Lupe" and "The Hot Tamale". Lupe Vélez made the transition to sound films without difficulty. Studio executives had predicted that her accent would likely hamper her ability to make the transition. That idea was dispelled after she appeared in the all-talking Rin Tin Tin vehicle, Tiger Rose (George Fitzmaurice, 1929). The film was a hit and Vélez's sound career was established. Vélez appeared in a series of Pre-Code films like Hell Harbor (Henry King, 1930), The Storm (William Wyler, 1930), and the crime drama East Is West (Monta Bell, 1930) opposite Edward G. Robinson. The next year, she appeared in her second film for Cecil B. DeMille, Squaw Man (Cecil B. DeMille, 1931), opposite Warner Baxter, in Resurrection (Edwin Carewe, 1931), and The Cuban Love Song (W.S. Van Dyke, 1931), with the popular singer Lawrence Tibbett. She had a supporting role in Kongo (William J. Cowen, 1932) with Walter Huston, a sound remake of West of Zanzibar (Tod Browning, 1928) which tries to outdo the Lon Chaney original in morbidity. She also starred in Spanish-language versions of Universal films like Resurrección (Eduardo Arozamena, David Selman, 1931), the Spanish version of Resurrection (1931), and Hombres en mi vida (Eduardo Arozamena, David Selman, 1932), the Spanish version of Men in Her Life (William Beaudine, 1931) in which Lois Moran had starred.

 

In 1932, Lupe Vélez took a break from her film career and traveled to New York City where she was signed by Broadway impresario Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr. to take over the role of "Conchita" in the musical revue 'Hot-Cha!'. The show also starred Bert Lahr, Eleanor Powell, and Buddy Rogers. Back in Hollywood, Lupe switched to comedy after playing dramatic roles for five years. Denny Jackson at IMDb: "In 1933 she played the lead role of Pepper in Hot Pepper (1933). This film showcased her comedic talents and helped her to show the world her vital personality. She was delightful." After Hot Pepper (John G. Blystone, 1933) with Edmund Lowe and Victor McLaglen, Lupe played beautiful, but volatile, characters in a series of successful films like Strictly Dynamite (Elliott Nugent, 1934), Palooka (Benjamin Stoloff, 1934) both opposite Jimmy Durante, and Hollywood Party (Allan Dwan, a.o., 1934) with Laurel and Hardy. Although Vélez was a popular actress, RKO Pictures did not renew her contract in 1934. Over the next few years, Vélez worked for various studios as a freelance actress; she also spent two years in England where she filmed The Morals of Marcus (Miles Mander, 1935) and Gypsy Melody (Edmond T. Gréville, 1936). She returned to Los Angeles the following year where she appeared in the final part of the Wheeler & Woolsey comedy High Flyers (Edward F. Cline, 1937). In 1938, Vélez made her final appearance on Broadway in the musical You Never Know, by Cole Porter. The show received poor reviews from critics but received a large amount of publicity due to the feud between Vélez and fellow cast member Libby Holman. Holman was irritated by the attention Vélez garnered from the show with her impersonations of several actresses including Gloria Swanson, Katharine Hepburn, and Shirley Temple. The feud came to a head during a performance in New Haven, Connecticut after Vélez punched Holman in between curtain calls and gave her a black eye. The feud effectively ended the show. Upon her return to Mexico City in 1938 to star in her first Mexican film, Vélez was greeted by ten thousand fans. The film La Zandunga (Fernando de Fuentes, 1938) co-starring Arturo de Córdova, was a critical and financial success. Vélez was slated to appear in four more Mexican films, but instead, she returned to Los Angeles and went back to work for RKO Pictures. In 1939, Lupe Vélez was cast opposite Leon Errol and Donald Woods in the B-comedy, The Girl from Mexico (Leslie Goodwins, 1939). Despite being a B film, it was a hit with audiences and RKO re-teamed her with Errol and Wood for a sequel, Mexican Spitfire (Leslie Goodwins, 1940). That film was also a success and led to a series of eight Spitfire films. Wikipedia: "In the series, Vélez portrays Carmelita Lindsay, a temperamental yet friendly Mexican singer married to Dennis 'Denny' Lindsay (Woods), an elegant American gentleman. The Spitfire films rejuvenated Vélez's career. Moreover, they were films in which a Latina headlined for eight films straight –a true rarity." In addition to the Spitfire series, she was cast in such films as Six Lessons from Madame La Zonga (John Rawlins, 1941), Playmates (David Butler, 1941) opposite John Barrymore, and Redhead from Manhattan (Lew Landers, 1943). In 1943, the final film in the Spitfire series, Mexican Spitfire's Blessed Event (Leslie Goodwins, 1943), was released. By that time, the novelty of the series had begun to wane. Velez co-starred with Eddie Albert in the romantic comedy, Ladies' Day (Leslie Goodwins, 1943), about an actress and a baseball player. In 1944, Vélez returned to Mexico to star in an adaptation of Émile Zola's novel Nana (Roberto Gavaldón, Celestino Gorostiza, 1944), which was well-received. It would be her final film. After filming wrapped, Vélez returned to Los Angeles and began preparing for another stage role in New York.

 

Lupe Vélez's temper and jealousy in her often tempestuous romantic relationships were well documented and became tabloid fodder, often overshadowing her career. Vélez was straightforward with the press and was regularly contacted by gossip columnists for stories about her romantic exploits. Her first long-term relationship was with actor Gary Cooper. Vélez met Cooper while filming The Wolf Song in 1929 and began a two-year affair with him. The relationship was passionate but often stormy. Reportedly Vélez chased Cooper around with a knife during an argument and cut him severely enough to require stitches. By that time, the rocky relationship had taken its toll on Cooper who had lost 45 pounds and was suffering from nervous exhaustion. Paramount Pictures ordered him to take a vacation to recuperate. While he was boarding the train, Vélez showed up at the train station and fired a pistol at him. During her marriage to actor Johnny Weissmuller, stories of their frequent physical fights were regularly reported in the press. Vélez reportedly inflicted scratches, bruises, and love-bites on Weissmuller during their fights and "passionate love-making". In July 1934, after ten months of marriage, Vélez filed for divorce citing cruelty. She withdrew the petition a week later after reconciling with Weissmuller. In January 1935, she filed for divorce a second time and was granted an interlocutory decree that was dismissed when the couple reconciled a month later. In August 1938, Vélez filed for divorce for a third time, again charging Weissmuller with cruelty. Their divorce was finalised in August 1939. After the divorce became final, Vélez began dating actor Guinn "Big Boy" Williams in late 1940. They were reportedly engaged but never married. Vélez was also linked to author Erich Maria Remarque and the boxers Jack Johnson and Jack Dempsey. In 1943, Vélez began an affair with her La Zandunga co-star Arturo de Córdova. De Córdova had recently moved to Hollywood after signing with Paramount Pictures. Despite the fact that de Córdova was married to Mexican actress Enna Arana with whom he had four children, Vélez granted an interview to gossip columnist Louella Parsons in September 1943 and announced that the two were engaged. Vélez ended the engagement in early 1944, reportedly after de Córdova's wife refused to give him a divorce. Vélez then met and began dating a struggling young Austrian actor named Harald Maresch (who went by the stage name Harald Ramond). In September 1944, she discovered she was pregnant with Ramond's child. She announced their engagement in late November 1944. On 10 December, four days before her death, Vélez announced she had ended the engagement and kicked Ramond out of her home. On the evening of 13 December 1944, Vélez dined with her two friends, the silent film star Estelle Taylor and Venita Oakie. In the early morning hours of 14 December, Vélez retired to her bedroom, where she consumed 75 Seconal pills and a glass of brandy. Her secretary, Beulah Kinder, found the actress's body on her bed later that morning. A suicide note addressed to Harald Ramond was found nearby. Lupe Vélez was only 36 years old. More than four-thousand people filed past her casket during her funeral. Her body was interred in Mexico City, at Panteón Civil de Dolores Cemetery. Velez' estate, valued at $125,000 and consisting mostly of her Rodeo House home, two cars, jewelry, and personal effects were left to her secretary Beulah Kinder with the remainder in trust for her mother, Mrs. Josephine Velez. Together with Dolores del Rio, Ramon Novarro, and José Mojica, she was one of the few Mexican people who had made history in the early years of Hollywood.

 

Sources: Denny Jackson (IMDb), Wikipedia and IMDb.

 

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In 1981 the Peugeot J7 was succeeded by the J9. In fact it was a modernized J7 but only very few parts were exchangeable.

Like the J7 also the Peugeot J9 was available in many models and body variations.

Along with the J9 also the 1981-1993 Peugeot J5 was built. It had a totally redesigned body which was developed in cooperation with Citroën, Fiat and Talbot UK.

After production of the J9 in France was ceased it was continued under license by Karsan in Turkey till 2010.

 

Found at the back yard of classic car specialist Garage Tinga.

This J9 was in a good condition and for sale.

Note the handy high roof and the bicycle carrying rack at the back.

 

2112 or 2304 cc Peugeot 504 Diesel engine.

2020 kg.

Original first reg. number: Nov. 30, 1984. (still valid, Dec. 2022).

New Dutch reg. number (probably after camper conversion): June 1990.

Sold on May 2, 2022,

 

Leimuiden, Burgemeester Bakhuizenlaan, June 15, 2018.

 

© 2018 Sander Toonen Amsterdam/Halfweg | All Rights Reserved

No word yet on whether Hughes believes his experiment proves or disproves flat-Earth theory, but he's always maintained that wasn't the goal. He believes the Earth is frisbee shaped.

 

Hughes is happy regardless. "Am I glad I did it? Yeah. I guess," he said. "I'll feel it in the morning. I won't be able to get out of bed. At least I can go home and have dinner and see my cats tonight."

 

The launch had its issues, which is why, according to Hughes, the rocket only managed to hit 1,875 feet. They had planned to hit 350 psi for thrust but could only hit 340 as a result of less-than-ideal conditions. The next step for Hughes is a "Rockoon", essentially a rocket that transforms into a balloon after launch, which will allow Hughes to fly higher. Sixty-eight miles up, Hughes believes. A film crew is following Hughes for a documentary set for release in August.

 

Hughes’s homemade rocket launches near Amboy, Calif., on Saturday. The self-taught rocket scientist, who believes Earth is flat, propelled himself about 1,875 feet into the air before a hard landing in the Mojave Desert. (Matt Hartman/AP)

Mike Hughes, a California man who is most known for his belief that the Earth is shaped like a Frisbee, finally blasted off into the sky in a steam-powered rocket he had built himself.

The 61-year-old limo driver and daredevil-turned-rocket-maker soared about 1,875 feet above the Mojave Desert on Saturday afternoon, the Associated Press reported. Hughes’s white-and-green rocket, bearing the words “FLAT EARTH,” propelled vertically about 3 p.m. Pacific time and reached a speed of about 350 mph, Waldo Stakes, who has been helping Hughes, told the AP. Hughes deployed two parachutes while landing, the second one just moments before he plopped down not far from his launching point. A video shows that the whole endeavor, from the moment his rocket went up to the moment he landed, lasted about a minute. The vertical launch, which happened without a countdown more than 200 miles east of Los Angeles, came amid growing skepticism that Hughes would ever lift himself off. The launch had been postponed multiple times, partly because Hughes said he couldn’t get permission from a federal agency to conduct it on public land.

 

After he landed Saturday, Hughes told the AP that he was “relieved” but that he expected to feel the physical toll of it all the next day.

 

“Am I glad I did it? Yeah. I guess. I’ll feel it in the morning. I won’t be able to get out of bed,” he said. “At least I can go home and have dinner and see my cats tonight.”

 

He also said he’d been frustrated with assumptions that he “chickened out,” so he “manned up and did it.”

 

Hughes had been on a mission to prove that the Earth is flat and that NASA astronauts such as John Glenn and Neil Armstrong were merely paid actors performing in front of a computer-generated image of a round globe. His previous failed attempts, as well as the successful one on Saturday, are all part of his ultimate goal to propel himself at least 52 miles above Earth by the end of the year — and to prove once and for all that the planet is flat.

  

On March 6, self-taught rocket scientist Mike Hughes began repairing a steam leak after scrubbing a launch attempt near Amboy, Calif. (James Quigg/Daily Press/AP)

Hughes had initially planned to launch his rocket in November, but he postponed it, claiming the Bureau of Land Management told him he couldn’t do so on federal land. A spokeswoman for the agency, however, said its field office has no record of speaking with Hughes.

 

The launch was postponed again later that month, as Hughes moved his launching point to a private property near Amboy, Calif., an unincorporated community in the Mojave Desert.

 

“It’s still happening. We’re just moving it three miles down the road,” Hughes told The Washington Post in late November, as he hauled the rocket to the new spot. “I don’t see [the launch] happening until about Tuesday, honestly. It takes three days to set up. . . . You know, it’s not easy because it’s not supposed to be easy.”

 

In February, Hughes finally attempted his flight, but his rocket didn’t ignite. He blamed technical difficulties.

 

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Mike Hughes planned to launch his homemade rocket on Feb. 3, after he canceled a launch in November. The second version failed, too. (Video: Patrick Martin/Photo: Courtesy of Mike Hughes/The Washington Post)

To Hughes’s credit, he has shown some skills in building rockets. He set a Guinness World Record in 2002 for a limousine jump, according to Ars Technica, and has been building rockets for years, albeit with mixed results. He built his first manned rocket in 2014, the AP reported, and managed to fly a quarter-mile over Winkelman, Ariz.

 

According to the AP, Hughes’s hard landing on Saturday left him injured, though it is unclear what type of injuries he suffered. Photos show paramedics carrying Hughes on a stretcher and into an ambulance.

 

Also among Hughes’s plans — aside from trying to get to space — is to run for governor.

 

“This is no joke,” he told the AP. “I want to do it.”

  

Mike Hughes is carried on a stretcher after his rocket landed in the Mojave Desert on Saturday. (Matt Hartman/AP)

  

A flat-earther finally tried to fly away. His rocket didn’t even ignite. This man is about to launch himself in his homemade rocket to prove the Earth is flat A flat-Earther’s plan to launch himself in a homemade rocket just hit a speed bump

Origins. The idea that the Earth was flat was typical of ancient European cosmologies until about the 4th century BCE, when the Ancient Greek philosophers proposed the idea that the Earth was a sphere, or at least rounded in shape. Aristotle was one of the first Greek thinkers to propose a spherical Earth in 330 BCE. By the early Middle Ages, it was widespread knowledge throughout Europe that the Earth was a sphere.

The Flat Earth model is an archaic belief that the Earth's shape is a plane or disk. Many ancient cultures have had conceptions of a flat Earth, including Greece until the classical period, the Bronze Age and Iron Age civilizations of the Near East until the Hellenistic period, India until the Gupta period (early centuries AD) and China until the 17th century. It was also typically held in the aboriginal cultures of the Americas, and a flat Earth domed by the firmament in the shape of an inverted bowl is common in pre-scientific societies.

 

The paradigm of a spherical Earth appeared in Greek philosophy with Pythagoras (6th century BC), although most Pre-Socratics retained the flat Earth model. Aristotle accepted the spherical shape of the Earth on empirical grounds around 330 BC, and knowledge of the spherical Earth gradually began to spread beyond the Hellenistic world from then on.

 

The modern misconception that educated Europeans at the time of Columbus believed in a flat Earth, and that his voyages refuted that belief, has been referred to as the myth of the flat Earth.

A flat Earth model depicting Antarctica as an ice wall surrounding a disk-shaped Earth.

Modern hypotheses supporting a flat Earth originated with English inventor Samuel Rowbotham (1816–1884). Based on his incorrect interpretation of experiments on the Bedford Level, Rowbotham published a 16-page pamphlet, called Zetetic Astronomy, which he later expanded into a 430-page book, Earth Not a Globe, expounding his views. According to Rowbotham's system, the earth is a flat disc centred at the North Pole and bounded along its southern edge by a wall of ice (Antarctica), with the sun and moon 3,000 miles (4,800 km) and the "cosmos" 3,100 miles (5,000 km) above earth.He also published a leaflet entitled "The inconsistency of Modern Astronomy and its Opposition to the Scriptures!!" which argued that the "Bible, alongside our senses, supported the idea that the earth was flat and immovable and this essential truth should not be set aside for a system based solely on human conjecture".

 

Rowbotham and his followers, like William Carpenter who continued his work, gained attention by engaging in public debates[when?] with leading scientists of the day. One such debate, involving the prominent naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace, concerned the Bedford Level experiment (and later led to several lawsuits for fraud and libel). Rowbotham created a Zetetic Society in England and New York, shipping over a thousand copies of Zetetic Astronomy. Council members in New York included the US Consul to China and the superintendent of Baltimore public schools. He also edited The Zetetic and Anti-Theorist: a monthly journal of practical cosmography.

 

After Rowbotham's death, Lady Elizabeth Blount, wife of the explorer Sir Walter de Sodington Blount, established a Universal Zetetic Society, whose objective was "the propagation of knowledge related to Natural Cosmogony in confirmation of the Holy Scriptures, based on practical scientific investigation". The society published a magazine entitled The Earth Not a Globe Review, and remained active well into the early part of the 20th century.[A flat Earth journal, Earth: a Monthly Magazine of Sense and Science, was published between 1901–1904, edited by Lady Blount. In 1901, she repeated Rowbotham's Bedford Level Experiment and photographed the effect, sparking a correspondence in the magazine English Mechanic with several counter-claims. Later it achieved some notoriety by being involved in a scam involving dental practices. After World War I, the movement underwent a slow decline.

Philosophers

 

Several pre-Socratic philosophers believed that the world was flat: Thales (c. 550 BC) according to several sources,[26] and Leucippus (c. 440 BC) and Democritus (c. 460 – 370 BC) according to Aristotle.

 

Thales thought the earth floated in water like a log.It has been argued, however, that Thales actually believed in a round Earth. Anaximander (c. 550 BC) believed the Earth was a short cylinder with a flat, circular top that remained stable because it was the same distance from all things. Anaximenes of Miletus believed that "the earth is flat and rides on air; in the same way the sun and the moon and the other heavenly bodies, which are all fiery, ride the air because of their flatness."Xenophanes of Colophon (c. 500 BC) thought that the Earth was flat, with its upper side touching the air, and the lower side extending without limit.

 

Belief in a flat Earth continued into the 5th century BC. Anaxagoras (c. 450 BC) agreed that the Earth was flat,and his pupil Archelaus believed that the flat Earth was depressed in the middle like a saucer, to allow for the fact that the Sun does not rise and set at the same time for everyone.

 

Historians

Hecataeus of Miletus believed the earth was flat and surrounded by water.Herodotus in his Histories ridiculed the belief that water encircled the world,yet most classicists agree he still believed the earth was flat because of his descriptions of literal "ends" or "edges" of the earth.

 

Ancient India

Ancient Jain and Buddhist cosmology held that the Earth is a disc consisting of four continents grouped around a central mountain (Mount Meru) like the petals of a flower. An outer ocean surrounds these continents. This view of traditional Buddhist and Jain cosmology depicts the cosmos as a vast, oceanic disk (of the magnitude of a small planetary system), bounded by mountains, in which the continents are set as small islands.[

 

Norse and Germanic

The ancient Norse and Germanic peoples believed in a flat earth cosmography of the earth surrounded by an ocean, with the axis mundi (a world-tree: Yggdrasil, or pillar: Irminsul) in the centre.The Norse believed that in the world-encircling ocean sat a snake called Jormungandr. In the Norse creation account preserved in Gylfaginning (VIII) it is stated that during the creation of the earth, an impassable sea was placed around the earth like a ring:

 

...And Jafnhárr said: "Of the blood, which ran and welled forth freely out of his wounds, they made the sea, when they had formed and made firm the earth together, and laid the sea in a ring round. about her; and it may well seem a hard thing to most men to cross over it."

 

The late Norse Konungs skuggsjá, on the other hand, states that:

 

...If you take a lighted candle and set it in a room, you may expect it to light up the entire interior, unless something should hinder, though the room be quite large. But if you take an apple and hang it close to the flame, so near that it is heated, the apple will darken nearly half the room or even more. However, if you hang the apple near the wall, it will not get hot; the candle will light up the whole house; and the shadow on the wall where the apple hangs will be scarcely half as large as the apple itself. From this you may infer that the earth-circle is round like a ball and not equally near the sun at every point. But where the curved surface lies nearest the sun's path, there will the greatest heat be; and some of the lands that lie continuously under the unbroken rays cannot be inhabited."

 

Ancient China

Further information: Chinese astronomy

In ancient China, the prevailing belief was that the Earth was flat and square, while the heavens were round,[48] an assumption virtually unquestioned until the introduction of European astronomy in the 17th century. The English sinologist Cullen emphasizes the point that there was no concept of a round Earth in ancient Chinese astronomy:

 

Chinese thought on the form of the earth remained almost unchanged from early times until the first contacts with modern science through the medium of Jesuit missionaries in the seventeenth century. While the heavens were variously described as being like an umbrella covering the earth (the Kai Tian theory), or like a sphere surrounding it (the Hun Tian theory), or as being without substance while the heavenly bodies float freely (the Hsüan yeh theory), the earth was at all times flat, although perhaps bulging up slightly.

 

The model of an egg was often used by Chinese astronomers like Zhang Heng (78-139 AD) to describe the heavens as spherical:

 

The heavens are like a hen's egg and as round as a crossbow bullet; the earth is like the yolk of the egg, and lies in the centre.

 

This analogy with a curved egg led some modern historians, notably Joseph Needham, to conjecture that Chinese astronomers were, after all, aware of the Earth's sphericity. The egg reference, however, was rather meant to clarify the relative position of the flat earth to the heavens:

 

In a passage of Zhang Heng's cosmogony not translated by Needham, Zhang himself says: "Heaven takes its body from the Yang, so it is round and in motion. Earth takes its body from the Yin, so it is flat and quiescent". The point of the egg analogy is simply to stress that the earth is completely enclosed by heaven, rather than merely covered from above as the Kai Tian describes. Chinese astronomers, many of them brilliant men by any standards, continued to think in flat-earth terms until the seventeenth century; this surprising fact might be the starting-point for a re-examination of the apparent facility with which the idea of a spherical earth found acceptance in fifth-century BC Greece.[54]

 

Further examples cited by Needham supposed to demonstrate dissenting voices from the ancient Chinese consensus actually refer without exception to the Earth's being square, not to its being flat.[55] Accordingly, the 13th-century scholar Li Ye, who argued that the movements of the round heaven would be hindered by a square Earth,[48] did not advocate a spherical Earth, but rather that its edge should be rounded off so as to be circular.[56]

 

As noted in the book Huai Nan Zu,[57] in the 2nd century BC Chinese astronomers effectively inverted Eratosthenes' calculation of the curvature of the Earth to calculate the height of the sun above the earth. By assuming the earth was flat, they arrived at a distance of 100,000 li, a value short by three orders of magnitude.

 

Declining support for the flat earth

 

Ancient Mediterranean

 

When a ship is at the horizon, its lower part is obscured due to the curvature of the Earth.

Semi-circular shadow of Earth on the Moon during the phases of a lunar eclipse

In The Histories, written 431–425 BC, Herodotus cast doubt on a report of the sun observed shining from the north. He stated that the phenomenon was observed during a circumnavigation of Africa undertaken by Phoenician explorers employed by Egyptian pharaoh Necho II c. 610–595 BC (The Histories, 4.42) who claimed to have had the sun on their right when circumnavigating in a clockwise direction. To modern historians aware of a spherical Earth, these details confirm the truth of the Phoenicians’ report.

 

After the Greek philosophers Pythagoras, in the 6th century BC, and Parmenides, in the 5th, recognized that the Earth is spherical,[58] the spherical view spread rapidly in the Greek world. Around 330 BC, Aristotle maintained on the basis of physical theory and observational evidence that the Earth was spherical.The Earth's circumference was first determined around 240 BC by Eratosthenes. By the second century CE. Ptolemy had derived his maps from a curved globe and developed the system of latitude, longitude, and climes. His Almagest was written in Greek and only translated into Latin in the 11th century from Arabic translations.

 

The Terrestrial Sphere of Crates of Mallus (c. 150 BC).

In the 2nd century BC, Crates of Mallus devised a terrestrial sphere that divided the Earth into four continents, separated by great rivers or oceans, with people presumed living in each of the four regions. Opposite the oikumene, the inhabited world, were the antipodes, considered unreachable both because of an intervening torrid zone (equator) and the ocean. This took a strong hold on the medieval mind.

 

Lucretius (1st. c. BC) opposed the concept of a spherical Earth, because he considered that an infinite universe had no center towards which heavy bodies would tend. Thus, he thought the idea of animals walking around topsy-turvy under the Earth was absurd. By the 1st century AD, Pliny the Elder was in a position to claim that everyone agrees on the spherical shape of Earth, though disputes continued regarding the nature of the antipodes, and how it is possible to keep the ocean in a curved shape. Pliny also considered the possibility of an imperfect sphere, "...shaped like a pinecone."

 

In late antiquity such widely read encyclopedists as Macrobius (5th century) and Martianus Capella (5th century) discussed the circumference of the sphere of the Earth, its central position in the universe, the difference of the seasons in northern and southern hemispheres, and many other geographical details. In his commentary on Cicero's Dream of Scipio, Macrobius described the Earth as a globe of insignificant size in comparison to the remainder of the cosmos.

 

Early Christian Church

During the early Church period, with some exceptions, most held a spherical view, for instance, Augustine, Jerome, and Ambrose to name a few.

 

In Book III of The Divine Institutes Lactantius ridicules the notion that there could be inhabitants of the antipodes "whose footsteps are higher than their heads." After presenting some arguments he attributes to advocates for a spherical heaven and Earth, he writes:

 

But if you inquire from those who defend these marvellous fictions, why all things do not fall into that lower part of the heaven, they reply that such is the nature of things, that heavy bodies are borne to the middle, and that they are all joined together towards the middle, as we see spokes in a wheel; but that the bodies that are light, as mist, smoke, and fire, are borne away from the middle, so as to seek the heaven. I am at a loss what to say respecting those who, when they have once erred, consistently persevere in their folly, and defend one vain thing by another.

 

Saint Augustine (354–430) took a more cautious approach in arguing against assuming that people inhabited the antipodes:

 

But as to the fable that there are Antipodes, that is to say, men on the opposite side of the earth, where the sun rises when it sets to us, men who walk with their feet opposite ours that is on no ground credible. And, indeed, it is not affirmed that this has been learned by historical knowledge, but by scientific conjecture, on the ground that the earth is suspended within the concavity of the sky, and that it has as much room on the one side of it as on the other: hence they say that the part that is beneath must also be inhabited. But they do not remark that, although it be supposed or scientifically demonstrated that the world is of a round and spherical form, yet it does not follow that the other side of the earth is bare of water; nor even, though it be bare, does it immediately follow that it is peopled.

 

Since these people would have to be descended from Adam, they would have had to travel to the other side of the Earth at some point; Augustine continues:

 

It is too absurd to say, that some men might have taken ship and traversed the whole wide ocean, and crossed from this side of the world to the other, and that thus even the inhabitants of that distant region are descended from that one first man.

 

Scholars of Augustine's work have traditionally understood him to have shared the common view of his educated contemporaries that the Earth is spherical, in line with the quotation above, and with Augustine's famous endorsement of science in De Genesi ad litteram. That tradition has, however, recently been challenged by Leo Ferrari, who concluded that many of Augustine's passing references to the physical universe imply a belief in an essentially flat Earth "at the bottom of the universe".

 

Cosmas Indicopleustes' world picture - flat earth in a Tabernacle.

Diodorus of Tarsus (d. 394) may have argued for a flat Earth based on scriptures; however, Diodorus' opinion on the matter is known to us only by a criticism of it by Photius.Severian, Bishop of Gabala (d. 408), wrote that the Earth is flat and the sun does not pass under it in the night, but "travels through the northern parts as if hidden by a wall". The Egyptian monk Cosmas Indicopleustes (547) in his Topographia Christiana, where the Covenant Ark was meant to represent the whole universe, argued on theological grounds that the Earth was flat, a parallelogram enclosed by four oceans.

 

In his Homilies Concerning the Statutes St. John Chrysostom (344–408) explicitly espoused the idea, based on his reading of Scripture, that the Earth floated on the waters gathered below the firmament, and St. Athanasius (c. 293 – 373) expressed similar views in Against the Heathen.

 

A very recent essay by Leone Montagnini, discussing the question of the shape of the Earth from the origins to the late Antiquity, has shown that the Fathers of the Church shared different approaches that paralleled their overall philosophical and theological visions. Those of them who were more close to Platonic visions, like Origen, shared peacefully the geosphericism. A second tradition, including Basil, Ambrose and Augustine, but also Philoponus, accepted the idea of the round Earth and the radial gravity, but in a critical way. In particular they pointed out a number of doubts about the physical reasons of the radial gravity, and hesitated in accepting the physical reasons proposed by Aristotle or Stoicism. However, a "flattist" approach was more or less shared by all the Fathers coming from the Syriac area, who were more inclined to follow the letter of the Old Testament. Diodorus, Severian, and Cosmas Indicopleustes, but also Chrysostom, belonged just to this latter tradition.

 

At least one early Christian writer, Basil of Caesarea (329–379), believed that the matter was theologically irrelevant.

 

Early Middle Ages

Early medieval Christian writers in the early Middle Ages felt little urge to assume flatness of the earth, though they had fuzzy impressions of the writings of Ptolemy, Aristotle, and relied more on Pliny.

9th-century Macrobian cosmic diagram showing the sphere of the Earth at the center, (globus terrae)

With the end of Roman civilization, Western Europe entered the Middle Ages with great difficulties that affected the continent's intellectual production. Most scientific treatises of classical antiquity (in Greek) were unavailable, leaving only simplified summaries and compilations. Still, many textbooks of the Early Middle Ages supported the sphericity of the Earth. For example: some early medieval manuscripts of Macrobius include maps of the Earth, including the antipodes, zonal maps showing the Ptolemaic climates derived from the concept of a spherical Earth and a diagram showing the Earth (labeled as globus terrae, the sphere of the Earth) at the center of the hierarchically ordered planetary spheres.Further examples of such medieval diagrams can be found in medieval manuscripts of the Dream of Scipio. In the Carolingian era, scholars discussed Macrobius's view of the antipodes. One of them, the Irish monk Dungal, asserted that the tropical gap between our habitable region and the other habitable region to the south was smaller than Macrobius had believed.

12th-century T and O map representing the inhabited world as described by Isidore of Seville in his Etymologiae. (chapter 14, de terra et partibus).

Europe's view of the shape of the Earth in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages may be best expressed by the writings of early Christian scholars:

 

Boethius (c. 480 – 524), who also wrote a theological treatise On the Trinity, repeated the Macrobian model of the Earth in the center of a spherical cosmos in his influential, and widely translated, Consolation of Philosophy.

Bishop Isidore of Seville (560 – 636) taught in his widely read encyclopedia, the Etymologies diverse views such as that the Earth "resembles a wheel"resembling Anaximander in language and the map that he provided. This was widely interpreted as referring to a flat disc-shaped Earth.An illustration from Isidore's De Natura Rerum shows the five zones of the earth as adjacent circles. Some have concluded that he thought the Arctic and Antarctic zones were adjacent to each other. He did not admit the possibility of antipodes, which he took to mean people dwelling on the opposite side of the Earth, considering them legendary and noting that there was no evidence for their existence.[87] Isidore's T and O map, which was seen as representing a small part of a spherical Earth, continued to be used by authors through the Middle Ages, e.g. the 9th-century bishop Rabanus Maurus who compared the habitable part of the northern hemisphere (Aristotle's northern temperate clime) with a wheel. At the same time, Isidore's works also gave the views of sphericity, for example, in chapter 28 of De Natura Rerum, Isidore claims that the sun orbits the earth and illuminates the other side when it is night on this side. See French translation of De Natura Rerum.[88] In his other work Etymologies, there are also affirmations that the sphere of the sky has earth in its center and the sky being equally distant on all sides. Other researchers have argued these points as well. "The work remained unsurpassed until the thirteenth century and was regarded as the summit of all knowledge. It became an essential part of European medieval culture. Soon after the invention of typography it appeared many times in print." However, "The Scholastics - later medieval philosophers, theologians, and scientists - were helped by the Arabic translators and commentaries, but they hardly needed to struggle against a flat-earth legacy from the early middle ages (500-1050). Early medieval writers often had fuzzy and imprecise impressions of both Ptolemy and Aristotle and relied more on Pliny, but they felt (with one exception), little urge to assume flatness."

 

Isidore's portrayal of the five zones of the earth

The monk Bede (c. 672 – 735) wrote in his influential treatise on computus, The Reckoning of Time, that the Earth was round ('not merely circular like a shield [or] spread out like a wheel, but resembl[ing] more a ball'), explaining the unequal length of daylight from "the roundness of the Earth, for not without reason is it called 'the orb of the world' on the pages of Holy Scripture and of ordinary literature. It is, in fact, set like a sphere in the middle of the whole universe." (De temporum ratione, 32). The large number of surviving manuscripts of The Reckoning of Time, copied to meet the Carolingian requirement that all priests should study the computus, indicates that many, if not most, priests were exposed to the idea of the sphericity of the Earth.[94] Ælfric of Eynsham paraphrased Bede into Old English, saying "Now the Earth's roundness and the Sun's orbit constitute the obstacle to the day's being equally long in every land."

St Vergilius of Salzburg (c. 700 – 784), in the middle of the 8th century, discussed or taught some geographical or cosmographical ideas that St Boniface found sufficiently objectionable that he complained about them to Pope Zachary. The only surviving record of the incident is contained in Zachary's reply, dated 748, where he wrote:

"As for the perverse and sinful doctrine which he (Virgil) against God and his own soul has uttered—if it shall be clearly established that he professes belief in another world and other men existing beneath the earth, or in (another) sun and moon there, thou art to hold a council, deprive him of his sacerdotal rank, and expel him from the Church."

 

Some authorities have suggested that the sphericity of the Earth was among the aspects of Vergilius's teachings that Boniface and Zachary considered objectionable. Others have considered this unlikely, and take the wording of Zachary's response to indicate at most an objection to belief in the existence of humans living in the antipodes. In any case, there is no record of any further action having been taken against Vergilius. He was later appointed bishop of Salzburg, and was canonised in the 13th century.

12th-century depiction of a spherical Earth with the four seasons (book "Liber Divinorum Operum" by Hildegard of Bingen)

A possible non-literary but graphic indication that people in the Middle Ages believed that the Earth (or perhaps the world) was a sphere, is the use of the orb (globus cruciger) in the regalia of many kingdoms and of the Holy Roman Empire. It is attested from the time of the Christian late-Roman emperor Theodosius II (423) throughout the Middle Ages; the Reichsapfel was used in 1191 at the coronation of emperor Henry VI. However the word 'orbis' means 'circle' and there is no record of a globe as a representation of the Earth since ancient times in the west till that of Martin Behaim in 1492. Additionally it could well be a representation of the entire 'world' or cosmos.

 

A recent study of medieval concepts of the sphericity of the Earth noted that "since the eighth century, no cosmographer worthy of note has called into question the sphericity of the Earth." However, the work of these intellectuals may not have had significant influence on public opinion, and it is difficult to tell what the wider population may have thought of the shape of the Earth, if they considered the question at all.

 

High and Late Middle Ages

Picture from a 1550 edition of On the Sphere of the World, the most influential astronomy textbook of 13th-century Europe.

By the 11th century Europe had learned of Islamic astronomy. The Renaissance of the 12th century from about 1070 started an intellectual revitalization of Europe with strong philosophical and scientific roots, and increased interest in natural philosophy.

 

Illustration of the spherical Earth in a 14th-century copy of L'Image du monde (c. 1246).

Hermannus Contractus (1013–1054) was among the earliest Christian scholars to estimate the circumference of Earth with Eratosthenes' method. Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274), the most important and widely taught theologian of the Middle Ages, believed in a spherical Earth; and he even took for granted his readers also knew the Earth is round.Lectures in the medieval universities commonly advanced evidence in favor of the idea that the Earth was a sphere. Also, "On the Sphere of the World", the most influential astronomy textbook of the 13th century and required reading by students in all Western European universities, described the world as a sphere. Thomas Aquinas, in his Summa Theologica, wrote, "The physicist proves the earth to be round by one means, the astronomer by another: for the latter proves this by means of mathematics, e.g. by the shapes of eclipses, or something of the sort; while the former proves it by means of physics, e.g. by the movement of heavy bodies towards the center, and so forth."

 

The shape of the Earth was not only discussed in scholarly works written in Latin; it was also treated in works written in vernacular languages or dialects and intended for wider audiences. The Norwegian book Konungs Skuggsjá, from around 1250, states clearly that the Earth is round—and that there is night on the opposite side of the Earth when there is daytime in Norway. The author also discusses the existence of antipodes—and he notes that (if they exist) they see the Sun in the north of the middle of the day, and that they experience seasons opposite those of people in the Northern Hemisphere.

 

However Tattersall shows that in many vernacular works in 12th- and 13th-century French texts the Earth was considered "round like a table" rather than "round like an apple". "In virtually all the examples quoted...from epics and from non-'historical' romances (that is, works of a less learned character) the actual form of words used suggests strongly a circle rather than a sphere.

 

Portuguese exploration of Africa and Asia, Columbus's voyage to the Americas (1492) and finally Ferdinand Magellan's circumnavigation of the Earth (1519–21) provided the final, practical proofs for the global shape of the Earth.

 

Islamic world

Further information: Spherical Earth § Medieval Islamic scholars

The Abbasid Caliphate saw a great flowering of astronomy and mathematics in the 9th century CE. in which Muslim scholars translated Ptolemy's work, which become the Almagest, and extended and updated his work based on spherical ideas, and these have generally been respected since. However after the decline of the Golden Age in the 13th century more traditional views were increasingly heard.

 

The Quran mentions that the world was "laid out" or "made flat". To this a classic Sunni commentary, the Tafsir al-Kabir (al-Razi) written in the late 12th century says "If it is said: Do the words “And the earth We spread out” indicate that it is flat? We would respond: Yes, because the earth, even though it is round, is an enormous sphere, and each little part of this enormous sphere, when it is looked at, appears to be flat. As that is the case, this will dispel what they mentioned of confusion. The evidence for that is the verse in which Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning): “And the mountains as pegs” [an-Naba’ 78:7]. He called them awtaad (pegs) even though these mountains may have large flat surfaces. And the same is true in this case."

 

A later classic Sunni commentary, the Tafsir al-Jalalayn written in the early 16th century says "As for His words sutihat, ‘laid out flat’, this on a literal reading suggests that the earth is flat, which is the opinion of most of the scholars of the [revealed] Law, and not a sphere as astronomers (ahl al-hay’a) have it, even if this [latter] does not contradict any of the pillars of the Law." Other translations render "made flat" as "spread out".

 

Ming China

As late as 1595, an early Jesuit missionary to China, Matteo Ricci, recorded that the Chinese say: "The earth is flat and square, and the sky is a round canopy; they did not succeed in conceiving the possibility of the antipodes."] The universal belief in a flat Earth is confirmed by a contemporary Chinese encyclopedia from 1609 illustrating a flat Earth extending over the horizontal diametral plane of a spherical heaven.

 

In the 17th century, the idea of a spherical Earth spread in China due to the influence of the Jesuits, who held high positions as astronomers at the imperial court.

  

Modern incarnation

In 1956, Samuel Shenton, a signwriter by trade, created the International Flat Earth Society as a successor to the Universal Zetetic Society and ran it as "organizing secretary" from his home in Dover, in Britain. Because of Shenton's interest in alternative science and technology, the emphasis on religious arguments was less than in the predecessor society.

 

This was just before the launch of the first artificial satellite, and when satellite images taken from outer space showed the Earth as a sphere rather than flat, the society was undaunted; Shenton remarked: "It's easy to see how a photograph like that could fool the untrained eye."

 

However it was not until the advent of manned spaceflight that Shenton managed to attract wide publicity, being featured in The New York Times in January and June 1964, when the epithet "flat-earther" was also slung across the floor of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom in both directions.[citation needed]

 

The society also took the position that the Apollo Moon landings were a hoax staged by Hollywood, a position also held by others not connected to the Flat Earth Society.

 

In 1969, Shenton persuaded Ellis Hillman, a Polytechnic lecturer, to become president of the Flat Earth Society, but there is little evidence of any activity on his part until after Shenton's death, when he added most of Shenton's library to the archives of the Science Fiction Foundation which he helped to establish.

 

Historical accounts and spoken history tell us the Land part may have been square, all in one mass at one time, then as now, the magnetic north being the Center. Vast cataclysmic events and shaking no doubt broke the land apart, divided the Land to be our present continents or islands as they exist today. One thing we know for sure about this world...the known inhabited world is Flat, Level, a Plain World.

 

-Flyer written by Charles K. Johnson, 1984.

Shenton died in 1971 and Charles K. Johnson, inheriting part of Shenton's library from Shenton's wife, established and became the president of the International Flat Earth Research Society of America and Covenant People's Church in California. Under his leadership, over the next three decades, the Flat Earth Society grew in size from a few members to a reported 3,500.Johnson distributed newsletters, flyers, maps, and other promotional materials to anyone who asked for them, and managed all membership applications together with his wife, Marjory. The most famous of these newsletters was Flat Earth News. Johnson paid for these publications through annual dues of members costing US$6 to US$10 over the course of his leadership. Johnson's beliefs were based on the Bible; he viewed scientists as pulling off a hoax which would replace religion with science.

 

United Nations flag

The most recent world model propagated by the Flat Earth Society holds that humanity lives on a disc, with the North Pole at its center and a 150-foot (45 m) high wall of ice at the outer edge. The resulting map resembles the symbol of the United Nations, which Johnson used as evidence for his position. In this model, the sun and moon are each 32 miles (52 km) in diameter.

 

The Flat Earth Society recruited members by attacking the United States government and all of its agencies, particularly NASA. Much of the society’s literature in its early days focused on interpreting the Bible literally to mean that the Earth is flat, although they did attempt to offer scientific explanations and evidence.

 

Old does not mean anything in this area, as it's very complicated to know or guess the age. Those women work like slaves for the men of the tribe, and cover their skin with clay, butter and animal fat, so they have a really scary look.

South Ethiopia Omo valley

  

The Hamar is a catlle herder tribe which lives on the Eastern side of the Omo Valley in Southern Ethiopia. Honey collection is their major activity and their cattle is the meaning of their life. There are at least 27 words for the subtle variations of colours and textures of a cattle ! And each man has three names: a human, a goat and a cow name.

The Hamar have very unique rituals such as a bull-leaping ceremony, that a young men has to succeed in order to get married. The cow jumping is an initiation rite of passage for boys coming of age in Hamar tribe. Cows are lined up in a row. The initiate, naked, has to leap on the back of the first cow, then from one bull to another, until he finally reaches the end of the row. He must not fall of the row and must repeat successfully the test four times to have the right to become a husband. While the boys walk on cows, Hamar women accompany him: they jump and sing. Totally committed to their initiated sons, the mothers are whipped to blood, in order to prove their courage and accompany their sons during the test.

The Hamar are very preoccupied with their beauty. They have at times spectular haidresses.

Men use a wooden head rest which prevents the hair from touching the ground. You can see them walking with it everywhere ! It is used as head rest to protect the clay wig that some do on the top of the head, but it is also usefulas a seat ! Even if there is a chair close to them, they prefer to use the head rest !

Women know many ways to do their hair. The most famous hair style is when their hair is in short tufts rolled in ochre and fat or in long twisted strands. These coppery coloured strands are called "goscha", it's a sign of health and welfare.

They also wear bead necklaces, iron bracelets around their arms, and decorate their breast with lots of cowry shells, like a natural bra.

Around married women's necks, you can see "esente": torques made of iron wrapped in leather. These are engagement presents; they are worn for life and indicate their husband's wealth. One of the necklaces catch more especially the attention: it is called the "bignere". It's also an iron and leather ring, which has a phallic-shape end. But this jewelry can only be worn by a man's first wife.

I remember a woman I have met. On her neck, there were three necklaces. According to what I just explained about the bignere, the biggest one at the top means she was "First Wife". This is important, as her statut is the higher one in Hamer society. But as she has two more simple necklaces around her neck: that means her husband took two more wives... The Hamar women who are not first wife have a really hard life and they are more slaves than wives... During my trip, I could see some of these women, working like slaves for the men: their skin were covered with clay, butter and animal fat... So they were a little scary ! Another thing to know about these women: the more scars one has on her back, the higher is her status.

The young unmarried girls, for their part, wear a kind of oval shape plate, in metal. It is used like a sunshield, but it tends to be rare in the tribe. Some of them have fund their future husband, but have to wait in their house until the so-called prentender can provide all the money for the ceremony: he has to pay for all the cows the bride-to-be's family asks for. These girls are called "Uta" and have to wait three months, entirely covered with red clay... And no right to take baths or showers ! They cannot go out of the house, let alone the village.That's why it is very rare to see or take a photo of a Uta. A cruel tradition still has currency for some Hamar: unmarried women can have babies to test their fertility, but some of them are just abandonned in the bush. This tradition tends to disapear but NGO still save abandonned new borns. Abandonments are all the more frequent than some Hamar believe that a child born out of formal marriages has "mingi", as to say something abnormal and unclean. For them, it is the expression of the devil, which may cause disasters such as epidemics or drought in the village. So, illegitimate children are abandoned. This kind of beliefs can also be observed in other Ethiopan tribes: many parents prefer to sacrifice their own child rather than risk being affected by the evil eye.

Something left me a really strong impression in Africa: football is of the highest importance, even in the most remote places !

I remember a boy, who was living several days-walk from the Turmi market. But as most of the young Hamar, he came there to watch football on television ! This guy was wearing a Chelsea tee-shirt, but still had to jump over ten bulls to be able to marry a girl in his tribe: a real culture shock! They are all really into Chelsea, Arsenal... such as many Ethiopians, who are just crazy about English football, because the national TV brodcasts every single match ! So, while I was in deep South Ethiopia, I still could ask “did Arsenal win?”, and always had an accurate answer: the score, the name of the scorers, etc...Strange, but true ! Meantime, the world economic crisis was at its high ! Even if you do not speak their language, you can exchange with those guys with few words like “Ribery, Thierry Henry, Drogba", etc. ! Of course, all the tribes do not go into this village, and only the ones who are not too far have this passion.

Other special feature in these tribes: their relation to the photos. I remember a day, in a restaurant in Dimeka -not to say the only one around there. I made a polaroid of a Hamar couple. The man was angry because, as he said, "the colors were not good" ; he threw the picture away. But the lady finally let him go, and took the picture with her ! It' was not the first time those people, from remote areas, do not have any pictures of themselves and so are very demanding about the quality of the picture they are on! For instance, the Mursi do not understand why the picture do not have their own real size !

Besides, it is not so easy to get smiles in this area. First, because people work really hard and second, because it is very difficult to share anything with them as we are seen as walking wallet with cameras !

  

© Eric Lafforgue

www.ericlafforgue.com

     

 

USS Wasp (CV-7)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other ships of the same name, see USS Wasp.

This article includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (March 2010)

USS Wasp (CV-7).jpg

USS Wasp entering Hampton Roads

Class overview

Name: Wasp-class aircraft carrier

Operators: United States Navy

Preceded by: Yorktown class

Succeeded by: Essex class

Built: 1936–40

In commission: 1940–42

Planned: 1

Completed: 1

Lost: 1

History

United States

Name: Wasp

Namesake: USS Wasp (1814)

Ordered: 19 September 1935

Builder: Fore River Shipyard

Laid down: 1 April 1936

Launched: 4 April 1939

Sponsored by: Mrs. Charles Edison[1]

Commissioned:

 

25 April 1940

(first Commanding Officer: Captain John W. Reeves, Jr.)

 

Struck: 15 September 1942

Honors and

awards: American Defense Service Medal ("A" device) / American Campaign Medal/European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal (1 star) / Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (1 star) / World War II Victory Medal

Fate: Sunk by IJN I-19, 15 September 1942

General characteristics

Type: Aircraft carrier

Displacement:

 

As built: 14,700 long tons (14,900 t) (standard)

19,116 long tons (19,423 t) (full load)

 

Length:

 

688 ft (210 m) (waterline)

741 ft 3 in (225.93 m) (overall)

 

Beam:

 

80 ft 9 in (24.61 m) (waterline)

109 ft (33 m) (overall)

 

Draft: 20 ft (6.1 m)

Installed power: 70,000 shp (52,000 kW)

Propulsion:

 

2 × Parsons steam turbines

6 × boilers at 565 psi

2 × shafts

 

Speed: 29.5 kn (54.6 km/h; 33.9 mph)

Range: 12,000 nmi (22,000 km; 14,000 mi) at 15 kn (28 km/h; 17 mph)

Complement:

 

1,800 officers and men (peacetime)

2,167 (wartime)

 

Sensors and

processing systems: CXAM-1 radar[2]

Armament:

 

As Built:

8 × 5 in (130 mm)/38 cal guns

16 × 1.1 in (28 mm)/75 cal anti-aircraft guns

24 × .50 in (13 mm) machine guns

 

Armor:

 

As Built:

60 lb (27 kg) STS conning tower

3.5 in side and 22 ft 6 in (6.86 m)50 lb deck over steering gear

 

Aircraft carried: As built: Up to 100

Aviation facilities:

 

3 × elevators

4 × hydraulic catapults (2 flight deck, 2 hangar deck)

 

USS Wasp (CV-7) was a United States Navy aircraft carrier commissioned in 1940 and lost in action in 1942. She was the eighth ship named USS Wasp, and the sole ship of a class built to use up the remaining tonnage allowed to the U.S. for aircraft carriers under the treaties of the time. As a reduced-size version of the Yorktown-class aircraft carrier hull, Wasp was more vulnerable than other United States aircraft carriers available at the opening of hostilities. Wasp was initially employed in the Atlantic campaign where Axis naval forces were perceived as less capable of inflicting decisive damage. After supporting the occupation of Iceland in 1941, Wasp joined the British Home Fleet in April 1942 and twice ferried British fighter aircraft to Malta. Wasp was then transferred to the Pacific in June 1942 to replace losses at the battles of Coral Sea and Midway. After supporting the invasion of Guadalcanal, Wasp was sunk by the Japanese submarine I-19 on 15 September 1942.

 

Contents

 

1 Design

2 Service history

2.1 Inter-war period

2.2 World War II

2.2.1 Atlantic Fleet

2.2.2 Pacific Fleet

3 Loss

4 Awards

5 References

6 External links

 

Design

 

Wasp was a product of the Washington Naval Treaty. After the construction of the carriers Yorktown and Enterprise, the U.S. was still permitted 15,000 long tons (15,000 t) to build a carrier.

Wasp was the first carrier fitted with a deck edge elevator.

 

The Navy sought to squeeze a large air group onto a ship with nearly 25% less displacement than the Yorktown-class. In order to save weight and space, Wasp was constructed with low-power machinery (compare Wasp's 75,000 shp (56,000 kW) machinery with Yorktown's 120,000 shp (89,000 kW), Essex-class's 150,000 shp (110,000 kW), and the Independence-class's 100,000 shp (75,000 kW)).

 

Additionally, Wasp was launched with almost no armor, modest speed and, more significantly, no protection from torpedoes. Absence of side protection of the boilers and internal aviation fuel stores "doomed her to a blazing demise". These were inherent design flaws that were recognized when constructed but could not be remedied within the allowed tonnage.[3] These flaws, combined with a relative lack of damage control experience in the early days of the war, were to prove fatal.[citation needed]

 

Wasp was the first carrier fitted with a deck edge elevator. The elevator consisted of a platform for the front wheels and an outrigger for the tail wheel. The two arms on the sides moved the platform in a half-circle up and down between the flight deck and the hangar deck.

Service history

Inter-war period

 

She was laid down on 1 April 1936 at the Fore River Shipyard in Quincy, Massachusetts; launched on 4 April 1939, sponsored by Carolyn Edison (wife of Assistant Secretary of the Navy Charles Edison), and commissioned on 25 April 1940 at the Army Quartermaster Base, South Boston, Massachusetts, Captain John W. Reeves, Jr. in command.

 

Wasp remained at Boston through May, fitting out, before she got underway on 5 June 1940 for calibration tests on her radio direction finder gear. After further fitting out while anchored in Boston harbor, the new aircraft carrier steamed independently to Hampton Roads, Virginia; anchoring there on 24 June. Four days later, she sailed for the Caribbean in company with destroyer Morris.

 

En route, she conducted the first of many carrier qualification tests. Among the earliest of the qualifiers was Lieutenant, junior grade David McCampbell, who later became the Navy's top-scoring "ace" in World War II. Wasp arrived at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in time to "dress ship" in honor of Independence Day.

 

A fatal incident marred the carrier's shakedown. On 9 July, one of her Vought SB2U-2 Vindicator dive bombers crashed 2 nautical miles (2.3 mi; 3.7 km) from the ship. Wasp bent on flank speed to close, as did the plane-guarding destroyer Morris. The latter's boats recovered items from the plane's baggage compartment, but the plane itself had gone down with its crew of two.

 

Wasp departed Guantanamo Bay on 11 July and returned to Hampton Roads four days later. There, she embarked planes from the 1st Marine Air Group and took them to sea for qualification trials. Operating off the southern drill grounds, the ship and her planes honed their skills for a week before the Marines and their planes were disembarked at Norfolk, and the carrier moved north to Boston for post-shakedown repairs.

 

While at Boston, she fired a 21-gun salute and rendered honors to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, whose yacht, Potomac, stopped briefly at the Boston Navy Yard on 10 August.

 

Wasp departed the Army Quartermaster Base on the 21st to conduct steering drills and full-power trials. Late the following morning, she got underway for Norfolk, Virginia. For the next few days, while destroyer Ellis operated as plane guard, Wasp launched and recovered her aircraft: fighters from Fighter Squadron 7 (VF-7) and scout bombers from Scouting Squadron 72 (VS-72). The carrier put into the Norfolk Navy Yard on 28 August for repair work on her turbines – alterations which kept the ship in dockyard hands into the following month. Drydocked from 12–18 September, Wasp ran her final sea trials in Hampton Roads on 26 September 1940.

 

Now ready to join the fleet and assigned to Carrier Division 3, Patrol Force, Wasp shifted to Naval Operating Base, Norfolk (NOB Norfolk) from the Norfolk Navy Yard on 11 October. There she loaded 24 Curtiss P-40 fighters from the Army Air Corps' 8th Pursuit Group and nine North American O-47A reconnaissance aircraft from the 2nd Observation Squadron, as well as her own spares and utility unit Grumman J2F Duck flying boats on the 12th. Proceeding to sea for maneuvering room, Wasp flew off the Army planes in a test designed to compare the take-off runs of standard Navy and Army aircraft. That experiment, the first time that Army planes had flown from a Navy carrier, foreshadowed the use of the ship in the ferry role that she performed so well in World War II.

 

Wasp then proceeded on toward Cuba in company with destroyers Plunkett and Niblack. Over the ensuing four days, the carrier's planes flew routine training flights, including dive-bombing and machine gun practices. Upon arrival at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Wasp's saluting batteries barked out a 13-gun salute to Rear Admiral Hayne Ellis, Commander, Atlantic Squadron, embarked in battleship Texas on 19 October.[1]

 

For the remainder of October and into November, Wasp trained in the Guantanamo Bay area. Her planes flew carrier qualification and refresher training flights, while her gunners sharpened up their skills in short-range battle practices at targets towed by the new fleet tug Seminole.

Wasp on 27 December 1940

 

Her work in the Caribbean finished, Wasp sailed for Norfolk and arrived shortly after noon on 26 November. She remained at the Norfolk Navy Yard through Christmas of 1940. Then, after first conducting degaussing experiments with the survey ship Hannibal, she steamed

independently to Cuba.

 

Arriving at Guantanamo Bay on 27 January 1941, Wasp conducted a regular routine of flight operations into February. With destroyer Walke as her plane guard, Wasp operated out of Guantanamo and Culebra, conducting her maneuvers with an impressive array of warships—battleship Texas, carrier Ranger, heavy cruisers Tuscaloosa, Wichita, and a host of destroyers. Wasp ran gunnery drills and exercises, as well as routine flight training evolutions into March. Underway for Hampton Roads on 4 March, the aircraft carrier conducted a night battle practice into the early morning hours of the 5th.

 

During the passage to Norfolk, heavy weather sprang up on the evening of 7 March. Wasp was steaming at standard speed, 17 knots (20 mph; 31 km/h). Off Cape Hatteras, a lookout spotted a red flare at 22:45, then a second set of flares at 22:59. At 23:29, with the aid of her searchlights, Wasp located the stranger in trouble. She was the lumber schooner George E. Klinck, bound from Jacksonville, Florida, to Southwest Harbor, Maine.

 

The sea, in the meantime, worsened from a state 5 to a state 7. Wasp lay to, maneuvering alongside at 00:07 on 8 March. At that time, four men from the schooner clambered up a swaying Jacob's ladder buffeted by gusts of wind. Then, despite the raging tempest, Wasp lowered a boat, at 00:16, and brought the remaining four men aboard from the foundering 152 ft (46 m) schooner.[1]

 

Later that day, Wasp disembarked her rescued mariners and immediately went into drydock at the Norfolk Navy Yard. The ship received vital repairs to her turbines. Portholes on the third deck were welded over to provide better watertight integrity, and steel splinter shielding around her 5 in (130 mm) and 1.1 in (28 mm) batteries was added. Wasp was one of 14 ships to receive the early RCA CXAM-1 radar.[2] After those repairs and alterations were finished, Wasp got underway for the Virgin Islands on 22 March, arriving at St. Thomas three days later. She soon shifted to Guantanamo Bay and loaded maritime supplies for transportation to Norfolk.[1]

 

Returning to Norfolk on 30 March, Wasp conducted routine flight operations out of Hampton Roads over the ensuing days, into April. In company with Sampson, the carrier conducted an abortive search for a downed patrol plane in her vicinity on 8 April. For the remainder of the month, Wasp operated off the eastern seaboard between Newport, Rhode Island, and Norfolk conducting extensive flight and patrol operations with her embarked air group. She shifted to Bermuda in mid-May, anchoring at Grassy Bay on the 12th. Eight days later, the ship got underway in company with the heavy cruiser Quincy and the destroyers Livermore and Kearny for exercises at sea before returning to Grassy Bay on 3 June. Wasp sailed for Norfolk three days later with the destroyer Edison as her anti-submarine screen.

 

After a brief stay in the Tidewater area, Wasp headed back toward Bermuda on 20 June. Wasp and her escorts patrolled the stretch of the Atlantic between Bermuda and Hampton Roads until 5 July, as the Atlantic Fleet's neutrality patrol zones were extended eastward. Reaching Grassy Bay on that day, she remained in port a week before returning to Norfolk, sailing on 12 July in company with heavy cruiser Tuscaloosa and destroyers Grayson, Anderson, and Rowan.

 

Following her return to Norfolk on 13 July 1941, Wasp and her embarked air group conducted refresher training off the Virginia Capes. Meanwhile, the situation in the Atlantic had taken on a new complexion, with American participation in the Battle of the Atlantic only a matter of time, when the United States took another step toward involvement on the side of the British. To protect American security and to free British forces needed elsewhere, the United States made plans to occupy Iceland. Wasp played an important role in the move.

 

Late on the afternoon of 23 July, while the carrier lay alongside Pier 7, NOB Norfolk, 32 Army Air Forces (AAF) pilots reported on board "for temporary duty". At 06:30 the following day, Wasp's crew watched an interesting cargo come on board, hoisted on deck by the ship's cranes: 30 P-40Cs and three PT-17 trainers from the AAF 33rd Pursuit Squadron, 8th Air Group, Air Force Combat Command, home-based at Mitchel Field, New York. Three days later, four newspaper correspondents – including the noted journalist Fletcher Pratt — came on board.

 

The carrier had drawn the assignment of ferrying those vital army planes to Iceland because of a lack of British aircraft to cover the American landings. The American P-40s would provide the defensive fighter cover necessary to watch over the initial American occupying forces. Wasp slipped out to sea on 28 July, with the destroyers O'Brien and Walke as plane guards. The heavy cruiser Vincennes later joined the formation at sea.

 

Within a few days, Wasp's group joined the larger Task Force 16—consisting of the battleship Mississippi, the heavy cruisers Quincy and Wichita, five destroyers, the auxiliary Semmes, the attack transport American Legion, the stores ship Mizar, and the amphibious cargo ship Almaack. Those ships, too, were bound for Iceland with the first occupation troops embarked. On the morning of 6 August, Wasp, Vincennes, Walke, and O'Brien parted company from Task Force 16 (TF 16). Soon thereafter, the carrier turned into the wind and commenced launching the planes from the 33rd Pursuit Squadron. As the P-40s and the trio of trainers droned on to Iceland, Wasp headed home for Norfolk, her three escorts in company. After another week at sea, the group arrived back at Norfolk on 14 August.

 

Wasp put to sea again on 22 August for carrier qualifications and refresher landings off the Virginia capes. Two days later, Rear Admiral H. Kent Hewitt, Commander Cruisers, Atlantic Fleet, shifted his flag from the light cruiser Savannah to Wasp while the ships lay anchored in Hampton Roads. Underway on the 25th, in company with Savannah and the destroyers Monssen and Kearny, the aircraft carrier conducted flight operations over the ensuing days. Scuttlebutt on board the carrier had her steaming out in search of the German heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper, which was reportedly roaming the western Atlantic in search of prey. Suspicions were confirmed for many on the 30th when the British battleship HMS Rodney was sighted some 20 nautical miles (37 km; 23 mi) away, on the same course as the Americans.

 

In any event, if they had been in search of a German raider, they did not make contact with her. Wasp and her escorts anchored in the Gulf of Paria, Trinidad on 2 September, where Admiral Hewitt shifted his flag back to Savannah. The carrier remained in port until 6 September, when she again put to sea on patrol "to enforce the neutrality of the United States in the Atlantic".

 

While at sea, the ship received the news of a German U-boat unsuccessfully attempting to attack the destroyer Greer. The U.S. had been getting more and more involved in the war; American warships were now convoying British merchantmen halfway across the Atlantic to the "mid-ocean meeting point" (MOMP).

 

Wasp's crew looked forward to returning to Bermuda on 18 September, but the new situation in the Atlantic meant a change in plans. Shifted to the colder climes of Newfoundland, the carrier arrived at Placentia Bay on 22 September and fueled from the oiler Salinas the following day. The respite in port was a brief one, however, as the ship got underway again, late on the 23rd, for Iceland. In company with Wichita, four destroyers, and the repair ship Vulcan, Wasp arrived at Hvalfjörður, Iceland, on the 28th. Two days earlier, Admiral Harold R. Stark, the Chief of Naval Operations had ordered American warships to do their utmost to destroy whatever German or Italian warships they found.

 

With the accelerated activity entailed in the US Navy's conducting convoy escort missions, Wasp put to sea on 6 October in company with Vincennes and four destroyers. Those ships patrolled the foggy, cold, North Atlantic until returning to Little Placentia Bay, Newfoundland on the 11th, anchoring during a fierce gale that lashed the bay with high winds and stinging spray. On 17 October, Wasp set out for Norfolk, patrolling en route, and arrived at her destination on the 20th. The carrier soon sailed for Bermuda and conducted qualifications and refresher training flights en route. Anchoring in Grassy Bay on 1 November, Wasp operated on patrols out of Bermuda for the remainder of the month.

 

October had seen the incidents involving American and German warships multiplying on the high seas. The Kearny was torpedoed on 17 October, the Salinas on the 28th, and in the most tragic incident that autumn, Reuben James was torpedoed and sunk with heavy loss of life on 30 October. Meanwhile, in the Pacific, tension between the U.S. and Japan increased almost with each passing day.

 

Wasp slipped out to sea from Grassy Bay on 3 December and rendezvoused with Wilson. While the destroyer operated as plane guard, Wasp's air group flew day and night refresher training missions. In addition, the two ships conducted gunnery drills before returning to Grassy Bay two days later, where she lay at anchor on 7 December 1941 during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.[1]

World War II

Atlantic Fleet

Wasp and the heavy cruiser Wichita in Scapa Flow.

 

Meanwhile, naval authorities felt considerable anxiety that French warships in the Caribbean and West Indies were prepared to make a breakout and attempt to get back to France. Accordingly, Wasp, the light cruiser Brooklyn, and the destroyers Sterett and Wilson, departed Grassy Bay and headed for Martinique. Faulty intelligence gave American authorities in Washington the impression that the Vichy French armed merchant cruiser Barfleur had gotten underway for sea. The French were accordingly warned that the auxiliary cruiser would be sunk or captured unless she returned to port and resumed her internment. As it turned out, Barfleur had not departed after all, but had remained in harbor. The tense situation at Martinique eventually dissipated, and the crisis abated.

 

With tensions in the West Indies lessened considerably, Wasp departed Grassy Bay and headed for Hampton Roads three days before Christmas, in company with the Long Island, and escorted by the destroyers Stack and Sterett. Two days later, the carrier moored at the Norfolk Navy Yard to commence an overhaul that would last into 1942.

 

After departing Norfolk on 14 January 1942, Wasp headed north and touched at NS Argentia, Newfoundland, and Casco Bay, Maine. On 16 March, as part of Task Group 22.6 (TG 22.6), she headed back toward Norfolk. During the morning watch the next day, visibility lessened considerably; and, at 06:50, Wasp's bow plunged into the Stack's starboard side, punching a hole and completely flooding the destroyer's number one fireroom. Stack was detached and proceeded to the Philadelphia Navy Yard, where her damage was repaired.

 

Meanwhile, Wasp made port at Norfolk on the 21st without further incident. Shifting back to Casco Bay three days later, she sailed for the British Isles on 26 March, with TF 39 under the command of Rear Admiral John W. Wilcox, Jr., on the Washington. That force was to reinforce the Home Fleet of the Royal Navy. While en route, Rear Admiral Wilcox was swept overboard from the battleship and drowned. Although hampered by poor visibility conditions, Wasp planes took part in the search. Wilcox's body was spotted an hour later, face down in the raging seas, but it was not recovered due to the weather and the heavy seas.[1]

 

Rear Admiral Robert C. Giffen, who flew his flag on the Wichita, assumed command of TF 39. The American ships were met by a force based around the light cruiser HMS Edinburgh on 3 April. Those ships escorted them to Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands. While there, a Gloster Gladiator flown by Captain Henry Fancourt of the Royal Navy made the first landing of the war by a British plane on an American aircraft carrier when it landed on Wasp.[citation needed]

 

While the majority of TF 39 joined the British Home Fleet — being renumbered to TF 99 in the process — to cover convoys routed to North Russia, Wasp departed Scapa Flow on 9 April, bound for the Clyde estuary and Greenock, Scotland. On the following day, the carrier sailed up the Clyde River, past the John Brown Clydebank shipbuilding facilities. There, shipyard workers paused long enough from their labors to accord Wasp a tumultuous reception as she passed. Wasp's impending mission was an important one – one upon which the fate of the island bastion of Malta hung. That key isle was then being pounded daily by German and Italian planes. The British, faced with the loss of air superiority over the island, requested the use of a carrier to transport planes that could wrest air superiority from the Axis aircraft. Wasp drew ferry duty once again to participate in Operation Calendar, one of many Malta Convoys.

Spitfires and Wildcats aboard Wasp on 19 April 1942.

 

Having landed her torpedo planes and dive bombers at Hatston in Orkney, Wasp loaded 47 Supermarine Spitfire Mk. V fighters of No. 603 Squadron RAF at Glasgow on 13 April, then departed on the 14th, this was the start of "Operation Calendar". Her screen consisted of Force "W" of the Home Fleet – a group that included the battlecruiser HMS Renown and the anti-aircraft cruisers HMS Cairo and Charybdis. Madison and Lang also served in Wasp's screen.

 

Wasp and her consorts passed through the Straits of Gibraltar under cover of the pre-dawn darkness on 19 April, avoiding the possibility of being discovered by Spanish or Axis agents. At 04:00 on 20 April, Wasp spotted 11 Grumman F4F Wildcat fighters on her deck and quickly launched them to form a combat air patrol (CAP) over Force "W". Meanwhile, the Spitfires were warming up their engines in the hangar deck spaces below. With the Wildcats patrolling overhead, the Spitfires were brought up singly on the after elevator, spotted for launch, and then given the go-ahead to take off. One by one, they roared down the deck and over the forward rounddown, until each Spitfire was aloft and winging toward Malta.

HMS Eagle accompanies Wasp on her second voyage to Malta

 

When the launch was complete, Wasp retired toward Gibraltar, having safely delivered her charges. However, those Spitfires, which flew in to augment the dwindling numbers of Gladiator and Hurricane fighters, were tracked by efficient Axis intelligence and their arrival pinpointed. Most of the Spitfires were destroyed by heavy German air raids which caught many planes on the ground.

 

As a result, it looked as if the acute situation required a second ferry run to Malta. Accordingly, Prime Minister Winston Churchill, fearing that Malta would be "pounded to bits", asked President Roosevelt to allow Wasp to have "another good sting." Roosevelt responded in the affirmative. Wasp loaded another contingent of Spitfire Vs at King George V Dock Glasgow and sailed for the Mediterranean on 3 May. Again, Wasp proceeded unmolested. This time, the British carrier HMS Eagle accompanied Wasp, and she, too, carried a contingent of Spitfires bound for Malta. The Spitfires for Eagle had been loaded at Greenock, James Watt Dock, from lighters. This was the start of Operation Bowery.

 

The two Allied carriers reached their launching points early on Saturday, 9 May, with Wasp steaming in column ahead of Eagle at a distance of 1,000 yards (910 m). At 06:30, Wasp commenced launching planes – 11 Wildcats of VF-71 to serve as CAP over the task force. First, Eagle flew off her 17 Spitfires in two waves; then Wasp flew off 47 more. The first Spitfire took off at 06:43, piloted by Sergeant-Pilot Herrington, but lost power soon after takeoff and plunged into the sea, with loss of pilot and aircraft. The other planes flew off safely and formed up to fly to Malta. An auxiliary fuel tank on another aircraft failed to draw; without the additional fuel the pilot could not make Malta, and his only alternatives were to land on board Wasp – with no tailhook – or to ditch and take his chances in the water.

 

Pilot Officer Jerrold Alpine Smith chose the former. Wasp bent on full speed and recovered the plane at 07:43. The Spitfire came to a stop just 15 feet (4.6 m) from the forward edge of the flight deck, making what one Wasp sailor observed to be a "one wire" landing. With her vital errand completed, Wasp set sail for the British Isles while a German radio station broadcast the startling news that the American carrier had been sunk; on 11 May, Prime Minister Churchill sent a message to Wasp: "Many thanks to you all for the timely help. Who said a wasp couldn't sting twice?"[1]

Pacific Fleet

 

Early in May 1942, almost simultaneously with Wasp's second Malta run—Operation Bowery—the Battle of the Coral Sea had been fought, then the Battle of Midway a month later. These battles reduced the U.S. to three carriers in the Pacific, and it became imperative to transfer Wasp.

 

Wasp was hurried back to the U.S. for alterations and repairs at the Norfolk Navy Yard. During the carrier's stay in the Tidewater region, Captain Reeves – who had been promoted to flag rank – was relieved by Captain Forrest P. Sherman on 31 May. Departing Norfolk on 6 June, Wasp sailed with TF 37 which was built around the carrier and the battleship North Carolina and escorted by Quincy, San Juan and six destroyers. The group transited the Panama Canal on 10 June, at which time Wasp and her consorts became TF 18, the carrier flying the two-star flag of Rear Admiral Leigh Noyes.

 

Arriving at San Diego on 19 June, Wasp embarked the remainder of her complement of aircraft, Grumman TBF-1 Avengers and Douglas SBD-3 Dauntlesses, the former replacing the old Vindicators. On 1 July, she sailed for the Tonga Islands as part of the convoy for the five transports carrying the 2nd Marine Regiment.

 

Meanwhile, preparations to invade the Solomon Islands were proceeding to disrupt the Japanese offensive to establish a defensive perimeter around the edge of their "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere".

Wasp's flight deck, 1942.

 

On 4 July, while Wasp was en route to the South Pacific, the Japanese landed on Guadalcanal. Allied planners realized Japanese operation of land-based aircraft from that key island would imperil Allied control of the New Hebrides and New Caledonia area. Plans were made to evict the Japanese before their Guadalcanal airfield became operational. Vice Admiral Robert L. Ghormley — with experience as Special Naval Observer in London— was detailed to take command of the operation; and he established his headquarters at Auckland, New Zealand. Since the Japanese had a foothold on Guadalcanal, time was of the essence; preparations for an allied invasion proceeded with secrecy and speed.

 

Wasp — together with the carriers Saratoga and Enterprise — was assigned to the Support Force under Vice Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher. Under the tactical command of Rear Admiral Noyes, embarked on Wasp, the carriers were to provide air support for the invasion and initiation of the Guadalcanal campaign.

 

Wasp and her airmen practiced day and night operations to hone their skills until Captain Sherman was confident that his airmen could perform their mission. "D-day" had originally been set for 1 August, but the late arrival of some of the transports carrying Marines pushed the date to 7 August.[1]

 

En route, Wasp's engines became a problem with a 14 July message from CTF 18 to CINCPAC reporting that she had suffered a casualty to her starboard high pressure turbine that even at lowest speeds was making a loud scraping noise limiting speed to only fifteen knots under her port engine thus making air operations entirely dependent on favorable wind. The ship's company was undertaking repairs, including lifting the turbine casing. Repairs to the rotor itself were proposed at "BLEACHER" (Tongatapu, Tonga Islands),[4] where the destroyer tender USS Whitney (AD-4) was stationed, with four days estimated for the work there. Wasp arrived 18 July for those repairs and on 21 July (21 0802 July) CTF 18 reported Wasp had successfully completed a trial making turns for twenty-seven knots with pre-casualty twenty-five knot operations possible with reduced reliability. Replacement blades available at Pearl Harbor and replacement of all three rows of blading was recommended after the ongoing operations were completed.[1][5][6]

 

Wasp, screened by the heavy cruiser San Francisco and Salt Lake City, and four destroyers, steamed westward toward Guadalcanal on the evening of 6 August until midnight. Then, she changed course to the eastward to reach her launch position 84 nautical miles (97 mi; 156 km) from Tulagi one hour before dawn. Wasp's first combat air patrol fighter took off at 05:57.

 

The early flights of Wildcats and Dauntlesses were assigned specific targets: Tulagi, Gavutu, Tanambogo, Halavo, Port Purvis, Haleta, Bungana, and the radio station dubbed "Asses' Ears".

 

The Wildcats, led by Lieutenant Shands and his wingman Ensign S. W. Forrer, patrolled the north coast toward Gavatu. The other two headed for the seaplane facilities at Tanambogo. The Grummans, arriving simultaneously at daybreak, surprised the Japanese and strafed patrol planes and fighter-seaplanes in the area. Fifteen Kawanishi H8K "Emily" flying boats and seven Nakajima A6M2-N "Rufe" floatplane fighters were destroyed by Shands' fighters during low-level strafing passes. Shands was credited with four "Rufes" and one "Emily", while his wingman, Forrer, was credited with three "Rufes" and an "Emily". Lieutenant Wright and Ensign Kenton were credited with three patrol planes apiece and a motorboat tending the "Emilys"; Ensigns Reeves and Conklin were each credited with two and shared a fifth patrol plane between them. The strafing Wildcats also destroyed an aviation fuel truck and a truck loaded with spare parts.

 

Post-attack assessment estimated that the antiaircraft and shore battery sites pinpointed by intelligence had been destroyed by the Dauntless dive bombers in their first attack. None of Wasp's planes was shot down; but Ensign Reeves, landed his Wildcat aboard Enterprise after running low on fuel.

 

At 07:04, Wasp launched 12 Avengers loaded with bombs for use against land targets, and led by Lieutenant H. A. Romberg. The Avengers silenced resistance by bombing Japanese troop concentrations east of the knob of land known as Hill 281, in the Makambo-Sasapi sector, and the prison on Tulagi Island.

 

Some 10,000 men had been put ashore during the first day's operations against Guadalcanal, and met only slight resistance. On Tulagi, however, the Japanese resisted stoutly, retaining about 1⁄5 of the island by nightfall. Wasp, Saratoga, and Enterprise — with their screens – retired to the southward at nightfall.

F4Fs launching off Guadalcanal, 7 August 1942.

 

Wasp fighters led by Lieutenant C. S. Moffett maintained a continuous CAP over the transport area until noon on 8 August. Meanwhile, a scouting flight of 12 Dauntlesses led by Lieutenant Commander E. M. Snowden searched a sector to a radius of 220 nautical miles (250 mi; 410 km) from their carrier, extending it to include all of the Santa Isabel Island and the New Georgia groups.

 

The Dauntless pilots made no contact with the Japanese during their two hours in the air; but at 08:15, Snowden sighted a "Rufe" some 40 nautical miles (46 mi; 74 km) from Rekata Bay and shot the plane down with fixed .50 in (13 mm) machine guns.

 

Meanwhile, a large group of Japanese planes approached from Bougainville to attack the transports off Lunga Point. Rear Admiral Richmond K. Turner ordered all transports to get underway and to assume cruising disposition. Eldridge was leading a formation of Dauntlesses from VS-71 against Mbangi Island, off Tulagi. His rear seat gunner, Aviation Chief Radioman L. A. Powers, assumed the formation of Japanese planes were friendly until six Zeroes bounced the first section with 12 unsuccessful firing passes.

 

Meanwhile, the leader of the last section of VS-71 – Lieutenant, junior grade Robert L. Howard – unsuccessfully attacked twin-engined Mitsubishi G4M "Betty" medium bombers heading for the American transports, and was engaged by four Zeroes escorting the bombers. Howard shot down one Zero with his fixed .50 in (13 mm) guns while his rear gunner, Seaman 2nd Class Lawrence P. Lupo, discouraged Japanese fighters attacking from astern.[1]

 

Wasp's casualties for the entire action on 7 and 8 August were:

 

One fighter pilot, Ens. Thaddeus J. Capowski, missing in action when he was separated from the formation. His parents (Mr and Mrs Walter Capowski of Yonkers NY) were notified of TJC's MIA status in early September 1942; shortly thereafter TJC was found safe and alive.

One scout bomber shot down; pilot Lieut. Dudley H. Adams wounded by explosive bullets and recovered by Dewey; Radioman-gunner Harry E. Elliott, ARM3c, missing, reported to have been killed before the crash.

One fighter landed in the water due to propeller trouble; pilot recovered.

One fighter crashed on deck; pilot injured; plane jettisoned overboard.

One fighter crashed into barrier first day; repaired and flown second day.

 

Total plane losses for Wasp were 3 Wildcat fighters and 1 Dauntless scout bomber. Against these, her planes destroyed 15 enemy flying boats, 8 floatplane fighters, and 1 Zero.[7]

 

At 18:07 on 8 August, Vice Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher recommended to Ghormley, at Nouméa, that the air support force be withdrawn. Fletcher, concerned by the large numbers of Japanese planes that had attacked on the 8th, reported that he had only 78 fighters left (he had started with 99) and that fuel for the carriers was running low. Ghormley approved the recommendation, and Wasp joined Enterprise and Saratoga in retiring from Guadalcanal. By midnight, the landing had attained the immediate objectives. Japanese resistance – except for a few snipers – on Gavutu and Tanombogo had been overcome. Early on 9 August, a Japanese surface force engaged an American one in the Battle of Savo Island and retired with minimal damage after sinking four Allied heavy cruisers off Savo Island, including two that had served with Wasp in the Atlantic: the Vincennes and the Quincy. The early and unexpected withdrawal of the support force, including Wasp, when coupled with Allied losses in the Battle of Savo Island, jeopardized the success of the operation in the Solomons.

 

After the initial day's action in the Solomons campaign, the carrier spent the next month engaged in patrol and covering operations for convoys and resupply units headed for Guadalcanal. The Japanese began transporting reinforcements to contest the Allied forces.

 

Wasp was ordered south by Vice Admiral Fletcher to refuel and did not participate in the Battle of the Eastern Solomons on 24 August. After fueling on 24 August Wasp hurried to the battle zone. Her total aircraft group was 26 Wildcats, 25 SBD Dauntlesses, and 11 TBF Avengers. (One SBD was earlier lost on 24 August by ditching in the sea because of engine trouble).[8] On the morning of 25 August, Wasp launched a search mission. The SBD of pilot Lieut. Chester V. Zalewski shot down two of Aichi E13A1 "Jake" floatplanes of the Atago (Vice Admiral Nobutake Kondō's flagship). But the SBDs sighted no ships. The Japanese fleet had withdrawn out of range. At 13:26 on 25 Augustus, Wasp launched a search/attack mission of 24 SBDs and 10 TBFs against the convoy of Rear Admiral Raizo Tanaka that seemed to be still within range. Although the SBDs shot down a flying boat, they couldn't find the enemy ships anymore.[8]

 

During the battle on 24 August Enterprise was damaged and had to return to port for repairs. Saratoga was torpedoed a week later and departed the South Pacific war zone for repairs as well. That left only two carriers in the southwest Pacific: Hornet—which had been in commission for only a year—and Wasp.[1]

Loss

 

On Tuesday, 15 September 1942, the carriers Wasp and Hornet and battleship North Carolina—with 10 other warships—were escorting the transports carrying the 7th Marine Regiment to Guadalcanal as reinforcements. Wasp had drawn the job of ready-duty carrier and was operating some 150 nautical miles (170 mi; 280 km) southeast of San Cristobal Island. Her gasoline system was in use, as planes were being refueled and rearmed for antisubmarine patrol missions; and Wasp had been at general quarters from an hour before sunrise until the time when the morning search returned to the ship at 10:00. Thereafter, the ship was in condition 2, with the air department at flight quarters. There was no contact with the Japanese during the day, with the exception of a Japanese four-engined flying boat downed by a Wasp Wildcat at 12:15.

 

About 14:20, the carrier turned into the wind to launch eight Wildcats and 18 Dauntlesses and to recover eight Wildcats and three Dauntlesses that had been airborne since before noon. Lt. (jg) Roland H. Kenton, USNR, flying a F4F3 of VF-71 was the last aircraft off the deck of Wasp. The ship rapidly completed the recovery of the 11 planes, she then turned easily to starboard, the ship heeling slightly as the course change was made. At 14:44 a lookout reported "three torpedoes ... three points forward of the starboard beam".[1]

 

A spread of six Type 95 torpedoes were fired at Wasp at about 14:44 from the tubes of the B1 Type submarine I-19. Wasp put over her rudder hard to starboard to avoid the salvo, but it was too late. Three torpedoes struck in quick succession about 14:45; one actually broached, left the water, and struck the ship slightly above the waterline. All hit in the vicinity of the ship's gasoline tanks and magazines. Two of the spread of torpedoes passed ahead of Wasp and were observed passing astern of Helena before O'Brien was hit by one at 14:51 while maneuvering to avoid the other. The sixth torpedo passed either astern or under Wasp, narrowly missed Lansdowne in Wasp's screen about 14:48, was seen by Mustin in North Carolina's screen about 14:50, and struck North Carolina about 14:52.[9]

Wasp on fire shortly after being torpedoed.

 

There was a rapid succession of explosions in the forward part of the ship. Aircraft on the flight and hangar decks were thrown about and dropped on the deck with such force that landing gears snapped. Planes suspended in the hangar overheads fell and landed upon those on the hangar deck; fires broke out almost simultaneously in the hangar and below decks. Soon, the heat of the intense gasoline fires detonated the ready ammunition at the forward anti-aircraft guns on the starboard side, and fragments showered the forward part of the ship. The number two 1.1 in (28 mm) mount was blown overboard.

 

Water mains in the forward part of the ship had been rendered inoperable: there was no water available to fight the fire forward, and the fires continued to set off ammunition, bombs, and gasoline. As the ship listed 10-15° to starboard, oil and gasoline, released from the tanks by the torpedo hit, caught fire on the water.

 

Captain Sherman slowed to 10 knots (12 mph; 19 km/h), ordering the rudder put to port to try to get the wind on the starboard bow; he then went astern with right rudder until the wind was on the starboard quarter, in an attempt to keep the fire forward. At that point, flames made the central station unusable, and communication circuits went dead. Soon, a serious gasoline fire broke out in the forward portion of the hangar; within 24 minutes of the initial attack, there were three additional major gasoline vapor explosions. Ten minutes later, Sherman decided to abandon ship, as all fire-fighting was proving ineffectual. The survivors would have to be disembarked quickly to minimise loss of life.

 

After consulting with Rear Admiral Leigh Noyes, Captain Sherman ordered "abandon ship" at 15:20. All badly injured men were lowered into rafts or rubber boats. Many unwounded men had to abandon from aft because the forward fires were burning with such intensity. The departure, as Sherman observed it, looked "orderly", and there was no panic. The only delays occurred when many men showed reluctance to leave until all the wounded had been taken off. The abandonment took nearly 40 minutes, and at 16:00—satisfied that no one was left on board—Sherman abandoned the ship.

 

Although the submarine hazard caused the accompanying destroyers to lie well clear or to shift position, they carried out rescue operations until Laffey, Lansdowne, Helena, and Salt Lake City had 1,946 men embarked. The fires on Wasp, drifting, traveled aft and there were four violent explosions at nightfall. Lansdowne was ordered to torpedo the carrier and stand by until she was sunk.[1] Lansdowne's Mark 15 torpedoes had the same unrecognized flaws reported for the Mark 14 torpedo. The first two torpedoes were fired perfectly, but did not explode, leaving Lansdowne with only three more. The magnetic influence exploders on these were disabled and the depth set at 10 feet (3.0 m). All three detonated, but Wasp remained afloat for some time, sinking at 21:00.[10] 193 men had died and 366 were wounded during the attack. All but one of her 26 airborne aircraft made a safe trip to carrier Hornet nearby before Wasp sank, but 45 aircraft went down with the ship. Another Japanese submarine, I-15, duly observed and reported the sinking of the Wasp, as other US destroyers kept I-19 busy avoiding 80 depth charges. I-19 escaped safely.[1][11]

Hadrian's Wall (Latin: Vallum Hadriani, also known as the Roman Wall, Picts' Wall, or Vallum Aelium in Latin), is a former defensive fortification of the Roman province of Britannia, begun in AD 122 in the reign of the Emperor Hadrian.[1] Running from Wallsend on the River Tyne in the east to Bowness-on-Solway in the west of what is now northern England, it was a stone wall with large ditches in front of it and behind it that crossed the whole width of the island. Soldiers were garrisoned along the line of the wall in large forts, smaller milecastles, and intervening turrets. In addition to the wall's defensive military role, its gates may have been customs posts.

 

Hadrian's Wall Path generally runs very close to the wall. Almost all of the standing masonry of the wall was removed in early modern times and used for local roads and farmhouses. None of it stands to its original height, but modern work has exposed much of the footings, and some segments display a few courses of modern masonry reconstruction. Many of the excavated forts on or near the wall are open to the public, and various nearby museums present its history. The largest Roman archaeological feature in Britain, it runs a total of 73 miles (117.5 kilometres) in northern England. Regarded as a British cultural icon, Hadrian's Wall is one of Britain's major ancient tourist attractions. It was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987. The turf-built Antonine Wall in what is now central Scotland, which briefly superseded Hadrian's Wall before being abandoned, was declared a World Heritage Site in 2008.

 

Hadrian's Wall marked the boundary between Roman Britannia and unconquered Caledonia to the north. The wall lies entirely within England and has never formed the Anglo-Scottish border, though it is sometimes loosely or colloquially described as being such.

 

Roman Britain was the territory that became the Roman province of Britannia after the Roman conquest of Britain, consisting of a large part of the island of Great Britain. The occupation lasted from AD 43 to AD 410.

 

Julius Caesar invaded Britain in 55 and 54 BC as part of his Gallic Wars. According to Caesar, the Britons had been overrun or culturally assimilated by the Belgae during the British Iron Age and had been aiding Caesar's enemies. The Belgae were the only Celtic tribe to cross the sea into Britain, for to all other Celtic tribes this land was unknown. He received tribute, installed the friendly king Mandubracius over the Trinovantes, and returned to Gaul. Planned invasions under Augustus were called off in 34, 27, and 25 BC. In 40 AD, Caligula assembled 200,000 men at the Channel on the continent, only to have them gather seashells (musculi) according to Suetonius, perhaps as a symbolic gesture to proclaim Caligula's victory over the sea. Three years later, Claudius directed four legions to invade Britain and restore the exiled king Verica over the Atrebates. The Romans defeated the Catuvellauni, and then organized their conquests as the province of Britain. By 47 AD, the Romans held the lands southeast of the Fosse Way. Control over Wales was delayed by reverses and the effects of Boudica's uprising, but the Romans expanded steadily northward.

 

The conquest of Britain continued under command of Gnaeus Julius Agricola (77–84), who expanded the Roman Empire as far as Caledonia. In mid-84 AD, Agricola faced the armies of the Caledonians, led by Calgacus, at the Battle of Mons Graupius. Battle casualties were estimated by Tacitus to be upwards of 10,000 on the Caledonian side and about 360 on the Roman side. The bloodbath at Mons Graupius concluded the forty-year conquest of Britain, a period that possibly saw between 100,000 and 250,000 Britons killed. In the context of pre-industrial warfare and of a total population of Britain of c. 2 million, these are very high figures.

 

Under the 2nd-century emperors Hadrian and Antoninus Pius, two walls were built to defend the Roman province from the Caledonians, whose realms in the Scottish Highlands were never controlled. Around 197 AD, the Severan Reforms divided Britain into two provinces: Britannia Superior and Britannia Inferior. During the Diocletian Reforms, at the end of the 3rd century, Britannia was divided into four provinces under the direction of a vicarius, who administered the Diocese of the Britains. A fifth province, Valentia, is attested in the later 4th century. For much of the later period of the Roman occupation, Britannia was subject to barbarian invasions and often came under the control of imperial usurpers and imperial pretenders. The final Roman withdrawal from Britain occurred around 410; the native kingdoms are considered to have formed Sub-Roman Britain after that.

 

Following the conquest of the Britons, a distinctive Romano-British culture emerged as the Romans introduced improved agriculture, urban planning, industrial production, and architecture. The Roman goddess Britannia became the female personification of Britain. After the initial invasions, Roman historians generally only mention Britain in passing. Thus, most present knowledge derives from archaeological investigations and occasional epigraphic evidence lauding the Britannic achievements of an emperor. Roman citizens settled in Britain from many parts of the Empire.

 

History

Britain was known to the Classical world. The Greeks, the Phoenicians and the Carthaginians traded for Cornish tin in the 4th century BC. The Greeks referred to the Cassiterides, or "tin islands", and placed them near the west coast of Europe. The Carthaginian sailor Himilco is said to have visited the island in the 6th or 5th century BC and the Greek explorer Pytheas in the 4th. It was regarded as a place of mystery, with some writers refusing to believe it existed.

 

The first direct Roman contact was when Julius Caesar undertook two expeditions in 55 and 54 BC, as part of his conquest of Gaul, believing the Britons were helping the Gallic resistance. The first expedition was more a reconnaissance than a full invasion and gained a foothold on the coast of Kent but was unable to advance further because of storm damage to the ships and a lack of cavalry. Despite the military failure, it was a political success, with the Roman Senate declaring a 20-day public holiday in Rome to honour the unprecedented achievement of obtaining hostages from Britain and defeating Belgic tribes on returning to the continent.

 

The second invasion involved a substantially larger force and Caesar coerced or invited many of the native Celtic tribes to pay tribute and give hostages in return for peace. A friendly local king, Mandubracius, was installed, and his rival, Cassivellaunus, was brought to terms. Hostages were taken, but historians disagree over whether any tribute was paid after Caesar returned to Gaul.

 

Caesar conquered no territory and left no troops behind, but he established clients and brought Britain into Rome's sphere of influence. Augustus planned invasions in 34, 27 and 25 BC, but circumstances were never favourable, and the relationship between Britain and Rome settled into one of diplomacy and trade. Strabo, writing late in Augustus's reign, claimed that taxes on trade brought in more annual revenue than any conquest could. Archaeology shows that there was an increase in imported luxury goods in southeastern Britain. Strabo also mentions British kings who sent embassies to Augustus, and Augustus's own Res Gestae refers to two British kings he received as refugees. When some of Tiberius's ships were carried to Britain in a storm during his campaigns in Germany in 16 AD, they came back with tales of monsters.

 

Rome appears to have encouraged a balance of power in southern Britain, supporting two powerful kingdoms: the Catuvellauni, ruled by the descendants of Tasciovanus, and the Atrebates, ruled by the descendants of Commius. This policy was followed until 39 or 40 AD, when Caligula received an exiled member of the Catuvellaunian dynasty and planned an invasion of Britain that collapsed in farcical circumstances before it left Gaul. When Claudius successfully invaded in 43 AD, it was in aid of another fugitive British ruler, Verica of the Atrebates.

 

Roman invasion

The invasion force in 43 AD was led by Aulus Plautius,[26] but it is unclear how many legions were sent. The Legio II Augusta, commanded by future emperor Vespasian, was the only one directly attested to have taken part. The Legio IX Hispana, the XIV Gemina (later styled Martia Victrix) and the XX (later styled Valeria Victrix) are known to have served during the Boudican Revolt of 60/61, and were probably there since the initial invasion. This is not certain because the Roman army was flexible, with units being moved around whenever necessary. The IX Hispana may have been permanently stationed, with records showing it at Eboracum (York) in 71 and on a building inscription there dated 108, before being destroyed in the east of the Empire, possibly during the Bar Kokhba revolt.

 

The invasion was delayed by a troop mutiny until an imperial freedman persuaded them to overcome their fear of crossing the Ocean and campaigning beyond the limits of the known world. They sailed in three divisions, and probably landed at Richborough in Kent; at least part of the force may have landed near Fishbourne, West Sussex.

 

The Catuvellauni and their allies were defeated in two battles: the first, assuming a Richborough landing, on the river Medway, the second on the river Thames. One of their leaders, Togodumnus, was killed, but his brother Caratacus survived to continue resistance elsewhere. Plautius halted at the Thames and sent for Claudius, who arrived with reinforcements, including artillery and elephants, for the final march to the Catuvellaunian capital, Camulodunum (Colchester). Vespasian subdued the southwest, Cogidubnus was set up as a friendly king of several territories, and treaties were made with tribes outside direct Roman control.

 

Establishment of Roman rule

After capturing the south of the island, the Romans turned their attention to what is now Wales. The Silures, Ordovices and Deceangli remained implacably opposed to the invaders and for the first few decades were the focus of Roman military attention, despite occasional minor revolts among Roman allies like the Brigantes and the Iceni. The Silures were led by Caratacus, and he carried out an effective guerrilla campaign against Governor Publius Ostorius Scapula. Finally, in 51, Ostorius lured Caratacus into a set-piece battle and defeated him. The British leader sought refuge among the Brigantes, but their queen, Cartimandua, proved her loyalty by surrendering him to the Romans. He was brought as a captive to Rome, where a dignified speech he made during Claudius's triumph persuaded the emperor to spare his life. The Silures were still not pacified, and Cartimandua's ex-husband Venutius replaced Caratacus as the most prominent leader of British resistance.

 

On Nero's accession, Roman Britain extended as far north as Lindum. Gaius Suetonius Paulinus, the conqueror of Mauretania (modern day Algeria and Morocco), then became governor of Britain, and in 60 and 61 he moved against Mona (Anglesey) to settle accounts with Druidism once and for all. Paulinus led his army across the Menai Strait and massacred the Druids and burnt their sacred groves.

 

While Paulinus was campaigning in Mona, the southeast of Britain rose in revolt under the leadership of Boudica. She was the widow of the recently deceased king of the Iceni, Prasutagus. The Roman historian Tacitus reports that Prasutagus had left a will leaving half his kingdom to Nero in the hope that the remainder would be left untouched. He was wrong. When his will was enforced, Rome[clarification needed] responded by violently seizing the tribe's lands in full. Boudica protested. In consequence, Rome[clarification needed] punished her and her daughters by flogging and rape. In response, the Iceni, joined by the Trinovantes, destroyed the Roman colony at Camulodunum (Colchester) and routed the part of the IXth Legion that was sent to relieve it. Paulinus rode to London (then called Londinium), the rebels' next target, but concluded it could not be defended. Abandoned, it was destroyed, as was Verulamium (St. Albans). Between seventy and eighty thousand people are said to have been killed in the three cities. But Paulinus regrouped with two of the three legions still available to him, chose a battlefield, and, despite being outnumbered by more than twenty to one, defeated the rebels in the Battle of Watling Street. Boudica died not long afterwards, by self-administered poison or by illness. During this time, the Emperor Nero considered withdrawing Roman forces from Britain altogether.

 

There was further turmoil in 69, the "Year of the Four Emperors". As civil war raged in Rome, weak governors were unable to control the legions in Britain, and Venutius of the Brigantes seized his chance. The Romans had previously defended Cartimandua against him, but this time were unable to do so. Cartimandua was evacuated, and Venutius was left in control of the north of the country. After Vespasian secured the empire, his first two appointments as governor, Quintus Petillius Cerialis and Sextus Julius Frontinus, took on the task of subduing the Brigantes and Silures respectively.[38] Frontinus extended Roman rule to all of South Wales, and initiated exploitation of the mineral resources, such as the gold mines at Dolaucothi.

 

In the following years, the Romans conquered more of the island, increasing the size of Roman Britain. Governor Gnaeus Julius Agricola, father-in-law to the historian Tacitus, conquered the Ordovices in 78. With the XX Valeria Victrix legion, Agricola defeated the Caledonians in 84 at the Battle of Mons Graupius, in north-east Scotland. This was the high-water mark of Roman territory in Britain: shortly after his victory, Agricola was recalled from Britain back to Rome, and the Romans initially retired to a more defensible line along the Forth–Clyde isthmus, freeing soldiers badly needed along other frontiers.

 

For much of the history of Roman Britain, a large number of soldiers were garrisoned on the island. This required that the emperor station a trusted senior man as governor of the province. As a result, many future emperors served as governors or legates in this province, including Vespasian, Pertinax, and Gordian I.

 

Roman military organisation in the north

In 84 AD

In 84 AD

 

In 155 AD

In 155 AD

 

Hadrian's Wall, and Antonine Wall

There is no historical source describing the decades that followed Agricola's recall. Even the name of his replacement is unknown. Archaeology has shown that some Roman forts south of the Forth–Clyde isthmus were rebuilt and enlarged; others appear to have been abandoned. By 87 the frontier had been consolidated on the Stanegate. Roman coins and pottery have been found circulating at native settlement sites in the Scottish Lowlands in the years before 100, indicating growing Romanisation. Some of the most important sources for this era are the writing tablets from the fort at Vindolanda in Northumberland, mostly dating to 90–110. These tablets provide evidence for the operation of a Roman fort at the edge of the Roman Empire, where officers' wives maintained polite society while merchants, hauliers and military personnel kept the fort operational and supplied.

 

Around 105 there appears to have been a serious setback at the hands of the tribes of the Picts: several Roman forts were destroyed by fire, with human remains and damaged armour at Trimontium (at modern Newstead, in SE Scotland) indicating hostilities at least at that site.[citation needed] There is also circumstantial evidence that auxiliary reinforcements were sent from Germany, and an unnamed British war of the period is mentioned on the gravestone of a tribune of Cyrene. Trajan's Dacian Wars may have led to troop reductions in the area or even total withdrawal followed by slighting of the forts by the Picts rather than an unrecorded military defeat. The Romans were also in the habit of destroying their own forts during an orderly withdrawal, in order to deny resources to an enemy. In either case, the frontier probably moved south to the line of the Stanegate at the Solway–Tyne isthmus around this time.

 

A new crisis occurred at the beginning of Hadrian's reign): a rising in the north which was suppressed by Quintus Pompeius Falco. When Hadrian reached Britannia on his famous tour of the Roman provinces around 120, he directed an extensive defensive wall, known to posterity as Hadrian's Wall, to be built close to the line of the Stanegate frontier. Hadrian appointed Aulus Platorius Nepos as governor to undertake this work who brought the Legio VI Victrix legion with him from Germania Inferior. This replaced the famous Legio IX Hispana, whose disappearance has been much discussed. Archaeology indicates considerable political instability in Scotland during the first half of the 2nd century, and the shifting frontier at this time should be seen in this context.

 

In the reign of Antoninus Pius (138–161) the Hadrianic border was briefly extended north to the Forth–Clyde isthmus, where the Antonine Wall was built around 142 following the military reoccupation of the Scottish lowlands by a new governor, Quintus Lollius Urbicus.

 

The first Antonine occupation of Scotland ended as a result of a further crisis in 155–157, when the Brigantes revolted. With limited options to despatch reinforcements, the Romans moved their troops south, and this rising was suppressed by Governor Gnaeus Julius Verus. Within a year the Antonine Wall was recaptured, but by 163 or 164 it was abandoned. The second occupation was probably connected with Antoninus's undertakings to protect the Votadini or his pride in enlarging the empire, since the retreat to the Hadrianic frontier occurred not long after his death when a more objective strategic assessment of the benefits of the Antonine Wall could be made. The Romans did not entirely withdraw from Scotland at this time: the large fort at Newstead was maintained along with seven smaller outposts until at least 180.

 

During the twenty-year period following the reversion of the frontier to Hadrian's Wall in 163/4, Rome was concerned with continental issues, primarily problems in the Danubian provinces. Increasing numbers of hoards of buried coins in Britain at this time indicate that peace was not entirely achieved. Sufficient Roman silver has been found in Scotland to suggest more than ordinary trade, and it is likely that the Romans were reinforcing treaty agreements by paying tribute to their implacable enemies, the Picts.

 

In 175, a large force of Sarmatian cavalry, consisting of 5,500 men, arrived in Britannia, probably to reinforce troops fighting unrecorded uprisings. In 180, Hadrian's Wall was breached by the Picts and the commanding officer or governor was killed there in what Cassius Dio described as the most serious war of the reign of Commodus. Ulpius Marcellus was sent as replacement governor and by 184 he had won a new peace, only to be faced with a mutiny from his own troops. Unhappy with Marcellus's strictness, they tried to elect a legate named Priscus as usurper governor; he refused, but Marcellus was lucky to leave the province alive. The Roman army in Britannia continued its insubordination: they sent a delegation of 1,500 to Rome to demand the execution of Tigidius Perennis, a Praetorian prefect who they felt had earlier wronged them by posting lowly equites to legate ranks in Britannia. Commodus met the party outside Rome and agreed to have Perennis killed, but this only made them feel more secure in their mutiny.

 

The future emperor Pertinax (lived 126–193) was sent to Britannia to quell the mutiny and was initially successful in regaining control, but a riot broke out among the troops. Pertinax was attacked and left for dead, and asked to be recalled to Rome, where he briefly succeeded Commodus as emperor in 192.

 

3rd century

The death of Commodus put into motion a series of events which eventually led to civil war. Following the short reign of Pertinax, several rivals for the emperorship emerged, including Septimius Severus and Clodius Albinus. The latter was the new governor of Britannia, and had seemingly won the natives over after their earlier rebellions; he also controlled three legions, making him a potentially significant claimant. His sometime rival Severus promised him the title of Caesar in return for Albinus's support against Pescennius Niger in the east. Once Niger was neutralised, Severus turned on his ally in Britannia; it is likely that Albinus saw he would be the next target and was already preparing for war.

 

Albinus crossed to Gaul in 195, where the provinces were also sympathetic to him, and set up at Lugdunum. Severus arrived in February 196, and the ensuing battle was decisive. Albinus came close to victory, but Severus's reinforcements won the day, and the British governor committed suicide. Severus soon purged Albinus's sympathisers and perhaps confiscated large tracts of land in Britain as punishment. Albinus had demonstrated the major problem posed by Roman Britain. In order to maintain security, the province required the presence of three legions, but command of these forces provided an ideal power base for ambitious rivals. Deploying those legions elsewhere would strip the island of its garrison, leaving the province defenceless against uprisings by the native Celtic tribes and against invasion by the Picts and Scots.

 

The traditional view is that northern Britain descended into anarchy during Albinus's absence. Cassius Dio records that the new Governor, Virius Lupus, was obliged to buy peace from a fractious northern tribe known as the Maeatae. The succession of militarily distinguished governors who were subsequently appointed suggests that enemies of Rome were posing a difficult challenge, and Lucius Alfenus Senecio's report to Rome in 207 describes barbarians "rebelling, over-running the land, taking loot and creating destruction". In order to rebel, of course, one must be a subject – the Maeatae clearly did not consider themselves such. Senecio requested either reinforcements or an Imperial expedition, and Severus chose the latter, despite being 62 years old. Archaeological evidence shows that Senecio had been rebuilding the defences of Hadrian's Wall and the forts beyond it, and Severus's arrival in Britain prompted the enemy tribes to sue for peace immediately. The emperor had not come all that way to leave without a victory, and it is likely that he wished to provide his teenage sons Caracalla and Geta with first-hand experience of controlling a hostile barbarian land.

 

Northern campaigns, 208–211

An invasion of Caledonia led by Severus and probably numbering around 20,000 troops moved north in 208 or 209, crossing the Wall and passing through eastern Scotland on a route similar to that used by Agricola. Harried by punishing guerrilla raids by the northern tribes and slowed by an unforgiving terrain, Severus was unable to meet the Caledonians on a battlefield. The emperor's forces pushed north as far as the River Tay, but little appears to have been achieved by the invasion, as peace treaties were signed with the Caledonians. By 210 Severus had returned to York, and the frontier had once again become Hadrian's Wall. He assumed the title Britannicus but the title meant little with regard to the unconquered north, which clearly remained outside the authority of the Empire. Almost immediately, another northern tribe, the Maeatae, went to war. Caracalla left with a punitive expedition, but by the following year his ailing father had died and he and his brother left the province to press their claim to the throne.

 

As one of his last acts, Severus tried to solve the problem of powerful and rebellious governors in Britain by dividing the province into Britannia Superior and Britannia Inferior. This kept the potential for rebellion in check for almost a century. Historical sources provide little information on the following decades, a period known as the Long Peace. Even so, the number of buried hoards found from this period rises, suggesting continuing unrest. A string of forts were built along the coast of southern Britain to control piracy; and over the following hundred years they increased in number, becoming the Saxon Shore Forts.

 

During the middle of the 3rd century, the Roman Empire was convulsed by barbarian invasions, rebellions and new imperial pretenders. Britannia apparently avoided these troubles, but increasing inflation had its economic effect. In 259 a so-called Gallic Empire was established when Postumus rebelled against Gallienus. Britannia was part of this until 274 when Aurelian reunited the empire.

 

Around the year 280, a half-British officer named Bonosus was in command of the Roman's Rhenish fleet when the Germans managed to burn it at anchor. To avoid punishment, he proclaimed himself emperor at Colonia Agrippina (Cologne) but was crushed by Marcus Aurelius Probus. Soon afterwards, an unnamed governor of one of the British provinces also attempted an uprising. Probus put it down by sending irregular troops of Vandals and Burgundians across the Channel.

 

The Carausian Revolt led to a short-lived Britannic Empire from 286 to 296. Carausius was a Menapian naval commander of the Britannic fleet; he revolted upon learning of a death sentence ordered by the emperor Maximian on charges of having abetted Frankish and Saxon pirates and having embezzled recovered treasure. He consolidated control over all the provinces of Britain and some of northern Gaul while Maximian dealt with other uprisings. An invasion in 288 failed to unseat him and an uneasy peace ensued, with Carausius issuing coins and inviting official recognition. In 293, the junior emperor Constantius Chlorus launched a second offensive, besieging the rebel port of Gesoriacum (Boulogne-sur-Mer) by land and sea. After it fell, Constantius attacked Carausius's other Gallic holdings and Frankish allies and Carausius was usurped by his treasurer, Allectus. Julius Asclepiodotus landed an invasion fleet near Southampton and defeated Allectus in a land battle.

 

Diocletian's reforms

As part of Diocletian's reforms, the provinces of Roman Britain were organized as a diocese governed by a vicarius under a praetorian prefect who, from 318 to 331, was Junius Bassus who was based at Augusta Treverorum (Trier).

 

The vicarius was based at Londinium as the principal city of the diocese. Londinium and Eboracum continued as provincial capitals and the territory was divided up into smaller provinces for administrative efficiency.

 

Civilian and military authority of a province was no longer exercised by one official and the governor was stripped of military command which was handed over to the Dux Britanniarum by 314. The governor of a province assumed more financial duties (the procurators of the Treasury ministry were slowly phased out in the first three decades of the 4th century). The Dux was commander of the troops of the Northern Region, primarily along Hadrian's Wall and his responsibilities included protection of the frontier. He had significant autonomy due in part to the distance from his superiors.

 

The tasks of the vicarius were to control and coordinate the activities of governors; monitor but not interfere with the daily functioning of the Treasury and Crown Estates, which had their own administrative infrastructure; and act as the regional quartermaster-general of the armed forces. In short, as the sole civilian official with superior authority, he had general oversight of the administration, as well as direct control, while not absolute, over governors who were part of the prefecture; the other two fiscal departments were not.

 

The early-4th-century Verona List, the late-4th-century work of Sextus Rufus, and the early-5th-century List of Offices and work of Polemius Silvius all list four provinces by some variation of the names Britannia I, Britannia II, Maxima Caesariensis, and Flavia Caesariensis; all of these seem to have initially been directed by a governor (praeses) of equestrian rank. The 5th-century sources list a fifth province named Valentia and give its governor and Maxima's a consular rank. Ammianus mentions Valentia as well, describing its creation by Count Theodosius in 369 after the quelling of the Great Conspiracy. Ammianus considered it a re-creation of a formerly lost province, leading some to think there had been an earlier fifth province under another name (may be the enigmatic "Vespasiana"), and leading others to place Valentia beyond Hadrian's Wall, in the territory abandoned south of the Antonine Wall.

 

Reconstructions of the provinces and provincial capitals during this period partially rely on ecclesiastical records. On the assumption that the early bishoprics mimicked the imperial hierarchy, scholars use the list of bishops for the 314 Council of Arles. The list is patently corrupt: the British delegation is given as including a Bishop "Eborius" of Eboracum and two bishops "from Londinium" (one de civitate Londinensi and the other de civitate colonia Londinensium). The error is variously emended: Bishop Ussher proposed Colonia, Selden Col. or Colon. Camalodun., and Spelman Colonia Cameloduni (all various names of Colchester); Gale and Bingham offered colonia Lindi and Henry Colonia Lindum (both Lincoln); and Bishop Stillingfleet and Francis Thackeray read it as a scribal error of Civ. Col. Londin. for an original Civ. Col. Leg. II (Caerleon). On the basis of the Verona List, the priest and deacon who accompanied the bishops in some manuscripts are ascribed to the fourth province.

 

In the 12th century, Gerald of Wales described the supposedly metropolitan sees of the early British church established by the legendary SS Fagan and "Duvian". He placed Britannia Prima in Wales and western England with its capital at "Urbs Legionum" (Caerleon); Britannia Secunda in Kent and southern England with its capital at "Dorobernia" (Canterbury); Flavia in Mercia and central England with its capital at "Lundonia" (London); "Maximia" in northern England with its capital at Eboracum (York); and Valentia in "Albania which is now Scotland" with its capital at St Andrews. Modern scholars generally dispute the last: some place Valentia at or beyond Hadrian's Wall but St Andrews is beyond even the Antonine Wall and Gerald seems to have simply been supporting the antiquity of its church for political reasons.

 

A common modern reconstruction places the consular province of Maxima at Londinium, on the basis of its status as the seat of the diocesan vicarius; places Prima in the west according to Gerald's traditional account but moves its capital to Corinium of the Dobunni (Cirencester) on the basis of an artifact recovered there referring to Lucius Septimius, a provincial rector; places Flavia north of Maxima, with its capital placed at Lindum Colonia (Lincoln) to match one emendation of the bishops list from Arles;[d] and places Secunda in the north with its capital at Eboracum (York). Valentia is placed variously in northern Wales around Deva (Chester); beside Hadrian's Wall around Luguvalium (Carlisle); and between the walls along Dere Street.

 

4th century

Emperor Constantius returned to Britain in 306, despite his poor health, with an army aiming to invade northern Britain, the provincial defences having been rebuilt in the preceding years. Little is known of his campaigns with scant archaeological evidence, but fragmentary historical sources suggest he reached the far north of Britain and won a major battle in early summer before returning south. His son Constantine (later Constantine the Great) spent a year in northern Britain at his father's side, campaigning against the Picts beyond Hadrian's Wall in the summer and autumn. Constantius died in York in July 306 with his son at his side. Constantine then successfully used Britain as the starting point of his march to the imperial throne, unlike the earlier usurper, Albinus.

 

In the middle of the century, the province was loyal for a few years to the usurper Magnentius, who succeeded Constans following the latter's death. After the defeat and death of Magnentius in the Battle of Mons Seleucus in 353, Constantius II dispatched his chief imperial notary Paulus Catena to Britain to hunt down Magnentius's supporters. The investigation deteriorated into a witch-hunt, which forced the vicarius Flavius Martinus to intervene. When Paulus retaliated by accusing Martinus of treason, the vicarius attacked Paulus with a sword, with the aim of assassinating him, but in the end he committed suicide.

 

As the 4th century progressed, there were increasing attacks from the Saxons in the east and the Scoti (Irish) in the west. A series of forts had been built, starting around 280, to defend the coasts, but these preparations were not enough when, in 367, a general assault of Saxons, Picts, Scoti and Attacotti, combined with apparent dissension in the garrison on Hadrian's Wall, left Roman Britain prostrate. The invaders overwhelmed the entire western and northern regions of Britannia and the cities were sacked. This crisis, sometimes called the Barbarian Conspiracy or the Great Conspiracy, was settled by Count Theodosius from 368 with a string of military and civil reforms. Theodosius crossed from Bononia (Boulogne-sur-Mer) and marched on Londinium where he began to deal with the invaders and made his base.[ An amnesty was promised to deserters which enabled Theodosius to regarrison abandoned forts. By the end of the year Hadrian's Wall was retaken and order returned. Considerable reorganization was undertaken in Britain, including the creation of a new province named Valentia, probably to better address the state of the far north. A new Dux Britanniarum was appointed, Dulcitius, with Civilis to head a new civilian administration.

 

Another imperial usurper, Magnus Maximus, raised the standard of revolt at Segontium (Caernarfon) in north Wales in 383, and crossed the English Channel. Maximus held much of the western empire, and fought a successful campaign against the Picts and Scots around 384. His continental exploits required troops from Britain, and it appears that forts at Chester and elsewhere were abandoned in this period, triggering raids and settlement in north Wales by the Irish. His rule was ended in 388, but not all the British troops may have returned: the Empire's military resources were stretched to the limit along the Rhine and Danube. Around 396 there were more barbarian incursions into Britain. Stilicho led a punitive expedition. It seems peace was restored by 399, and it is likely that no further garrisoning was ordered; by 401 more troops were withdrawn, to assist in the war against Alaric I.

 

End of Roman rule

The traditional view of historians, informed by the work of Michael Rostovtzeff, was of a widespread economic decline at the beginning of the 5th century. Consistent archaeological evidence has told another story, and the accepted view is undergoing re-evaluation. Some features are agreed: more opulent but fewer urban houses, an end to new public building and some abandonment of existing ones, with the exception of defensive structures, and the widespread formation of "dark earth" deposits indicating increased horticulture within urban precincts. Turning over the basilica at Silchester to industrial uses in the late 3rd century, doubtless officially condoned, marks an early stage in the de-urbanisation of Roman Britain.

 

The abandonment of some sites is now believed to be later than had been thought. Many buildings changed use but were not destroyed. There was a growing number of barbarian attacks, but these targeted vulnerable rural settlements rather than towns. Some villas such as Chedworth, Great Casterton in Rutland and Hucclecote in Gloucestershire had new mosaic floors laid around this time, suggesting that economic problems may have been limited and patchy. Many suffered some decay before being abandoned in the 5th century; the story of Saint Patrick indicates that villas were still occupied until at least 430. Exceptionally, new buildings were still going up in this period in Verulamium and Cirencester. Some urban centres, for example Canterbury, Cirencester, Wroxeter, Winchester and Gloucester, remained active during the 5th and 6th centuries, surrounded by large farming estates.

 

Urban life had generally grown less intense by the fourth quarter of the 4th century, and coins minted between 378 and 388 are very rare, indicating a likely combination of economic decline, diminishing numbers of troops, problems with the payment of soldiers and officials or with unstable conditions during the usurpation of Magnus Maximus 383–87. Coinage circulation increased during the 390s, but never attained the levels of earlier decades. Copper coins are very rare after 402, though minted silver and gold coins from hoards indicate they were still present in the province even if they were not being spent. By 407 there were very few new Roman coins going into circulation, and by 430 it is likely that coinage as a medium of exchange had been abandoned. Mass-produced wheel thrown pottery ended at approximately the same time; the rich continued to use metal and glass vessels, while the poor made do with humble "grey ware" or resorted to leather or wooden containers.

 

Sub-Roman Britain

Towards the end of the 4th century Roman rule in Britain came under increasing pressure from barbarian attacks. Apparently, there were not enough troops to mount an effective defence. After elevating two disappointing usurpers, the army chose a soldier, Constantine III, to become emperor in 407. He crossed to Gaul but was defeated by Honorius; it is unclear how many troops remained or ever returned, or whether a commander-in-chief in Britain was ever reappointed. A Saxon incursion in 408 was apparently repelled by the Britons, and in 409 Zosimus records that the natives expelled the Roman civilian administration. Zosimus may be referring to the Bacaudic rebellion of the Breton inhabitants of Armorica since he describes how, in the aftermath of the revolt, all of Armorica and the rest of Gaul followed the example of the Brettaniai. A letter from Emperor Honorius in 410 has traditionally been seen as rejecting a British appeal for help, but it may have been addressed to Bruttium or Bologna. With the imperial layers of the military and civil government gone, administration and justice fell to municipal authorities, and local warlords gradually emerged all over Britain, still utilizing Romano-British ideals and conventions. Historian Stuart Laycock has investigated this process and emphasised elements of continuity from the British tribes in the pre-Roman and Roman periods, through to the native post-Roman kingdoms.

 

In British tradition, pagan Saxons were invited by Vortigern to assist in fighting the Picts, Scoti, and Déisi. (Germanic migration into Roman Britannia may have begun much earlier. There is recorded evidence, for example, of Germanic auxiliaries supporting the legions in Britain in the 1st and 2nd centuries.) The new arrivals rebelled, plunging the country into a series of wars that eventually led to the Saxon occupation of Lowland Britain by 600. Around this time, many Britons fled to Brittany (hence its name), Galicia and probably Ireland. A significant date in sub-Roman Britain is the Groans of the Britons, an unanswered appeal to Aetius, leading general of the western Empire, for assistance against Saxon invasion in 446. Another is the Battle of Deorham in 577, after which the significant cities of Bath, Cirencester and Gloucester fell and the Saxons reached the western sea.

 

Historians generally reject the historicity of King Arthur, who is supposed to have resisted the Anglo-Saxon conquest according to later medieval legends.

 

Trade

During the Roman period Britain's continental trade was principally directed across the Southern North Sea and Eastern Channel, focusing on the narrow Strait of Dover, with more limited links via the Atlantic seaways. The most important British ports were London and Richborough, whilst the continental ports most heavily engaged in trade with Britain were Boulogne and the sites of Domburg and Colijnsplaat at the mouth of the river Scheldt. During the Late Roman period it is likely that the shore forts played some role in continental trade alongside their defensive functions.

 

Exports to Britain included: coin; pottery, particularly red-gloss terra sigillata (samian ware) from southern, central and eastern Gaul, as well as various other wares from Gaul and the Rhine provinces; olive oil from southern Spain in amphorae; wine from Gaul in amphorae and barrels; salted fish products from the western Mediterranean and Brittany in barrels and amphorae; preserved olives from southern Spain in amphorae; lava quern-stones from Mayen on the middle Rhine; glass; and some agricultural products. Britain's exports are harder to detect archaeologically, but will have included metals, such as silver and gold and some lead, iron and copper. Other exports probably included agricultural products, oysters and salt, whilst large quantities of coin would have been re-exported back to the continent as well.

 

These products moved as a result of private trade and also through payments and contracts established by the Roman state to support its military forces and officials on the island, as well as through state taxation and extraction of resources. Up until the mid-3rd century, the Roman state's payments appear to have been unbalanced, with far more products sent to Britain, to support its large military force (which had reached c. 53,000 by the mid-2nd century), than were extracted from the island.

 

It has been argued that Roman Britain's continental trade peaked in the late 1st century AD and thereafter declined as a result of an increasing reliance on local products by the population of Britain, caused by economic development on the island and by the Roman state's desire to save money by shifting away from expensive long-distance imports. Evidence has been outlined that suggests that the principal decline in Roman Britain's continental trade may have occurred in the late 2nd century AD, from c. 165 AD onwards. This has been linked to the economic impact of contemporary Empire-wide crises: the Antonine Plague and the Marcomannic Wars.

 

From the mid-3rd century onwards, Britain no longer received such a wide range and extensive quantity of foreign imports as it did during the earlier part of the Roman period; vast quantities of coin from continental mints reached the island, whilst there is historical evidence for the export of large amounts of British grain to the continent during the mid-4th century. During the latter part of the Roman period British agricultural products, paid for by both the Roman state and by private consumers, clearly played an important role in supporting the military garrisons and urban centres of the northwestern continental Empire. This came about as a result of the rapid decline in the size of the British garrison from the mid-3rd century onwards (thus freeing up more goods for export), and because of 'Germanic' incursions across the Rhine, which appear to have reduced rural settlement and agricultural output in northern Gaul.

 

Economy

Mineral extraction sites such as the Dolaucothi gold mine were probably first worked by the Roman army from c. 75, and at some later stage passed to civilian operators. The mine developed as a series of opencast workings, mainly by the use of hydraulic mining methods. They are described by Pliny the Elder in his Natural History in great detail. Essentially, water supplied by aqueducts was used to prospect for ore veins by stripping away soil to reveal the bedrock. If veins were present, they were attacked using fire-setting and the ore removed for comminution. The dust was washed in a small stream of water and the heavy gold dust and gold nuggets collected in riffles. The diagram at right shows how Dolaucothi developed from c. 75 through to the 1st century. When opencast work was no longer feasible, tunnels were driven to follow the veins. The evidence from the site shows advanced technology probably under the control of army engineers.

 

The Wealden ironworking zone, the lead and silver mines of the Mendip Hills and the tin mines of Cornwall seem to have been private enterprises leased from the government for a fee. Mining had long been practised in Britain (see Grimes Graves), but the Romans introduced new technical knowledge and large-scale industrial production to revolutionise the industry. It included hydraulic mining to prospect for ore by removing overburden as well as work alluvial deposits. The water needed for such large-scale operations was supplied by one or more aqueducts, those surviving at Dolaucothi being especially impressive. Many prospecting areas were in dangerous, upland country, and, although mineral exploitation was presumably one of the main reasons for the Roman invasion, it had to wait until these areas were subdued.

 

By the 3rd and 4th centuries, small towns could often be found near villas. In these towns, villa owners and small-scale farmers could obtain specialist tools. Lowland Britain in the 4th century was agriculturally prosperous enough to export grain to the continent. This prosperity lay behind the blossoming of villa building and decoration that occurred between AD 300 and 350.

 

Britain's cities also consumed Roman-style pottery and other goods, and were centres through which goods could be distributed elsewhere. At Wroxeter in Shropshire, stock smashed into a gutter during a 2nd-century fire reveals that Gaulish samian ware was being sold alongside mixing bowls from the Mancetter-Hartshill industry of the West Midlands. Roman designs were most popular, but rural craftsmen still produced items derived from the Iron Age La Tène artistic traditions. Britain was home to much gold, which attracted Roman invaders. By the 3rd century, Britain's economy was diverse and well established, with commerce extending into the non-Romanised north.

 

Government

Further information: Governors of Roman Britain, Roman client kingdoms in Britain, and Roman auxiliaries in Britain

Under the Roman Empire, administration of peaceful provinces was ultimately the remit of the Senate, but those, like Britain, that required permanent garrisons, were placed under the Emperor's control. In practice imperial provinces were run by resident governors who were members of the Senate and had held the consulship. These men were carefully selected, often having strong records of military success and administrative ability. In Britain, a governor's role was primarily military, but numerous other tasks were also his responsibility, such as maintaining diplomatic relations with local client kings, building roads, ensuring the public courier system functioned, supervising the civitates and acting as a judge in important legal cases. When not campaigning, he would travel the province hearing complaints and recruiting new troops.

 

To assist him in legal matters he had an adviser, the legatus juridicus, and those in Britain appear to have been distinguished lawyers perhaps because of the challenge of incorporating tribes into the imperial system and devising a workable method of taxing them. Financial administration was dealt with by a procurator with junior posts for each tax-raising power. Each legion in Britain had a commander who answered to the governor and, in time of war, probably directly ruled troublesome districts. Each of these commands carried a tour of duty of two to three years in different provinces. Below these posts was a network of administrative managers covering intelligence gathering, sending reports to Rome, organising military supplies and dealing with prisoners. A staff of seconded soldiers provided clerical services.

 

Colchester was probably the earliest capital of Roman Britain, but it was soon eclipsed by London with its strong mercantile connections. The different forms of municipal organisation in Britannia were known as civitas (which were subdivided, amongst other forms, into colonies such as York, Colchester, Gloucester and Lincoln and municipalities such as Verulamium), and were each governed by a senate of local landowners, whether Brythonic or Roman, who elected magistrates concerning judicial and civic affairs. The various civitates sent representatives to a yearly provincial council in order to profess loyalty to the Roman state, to send direct petitions to the Emperor in times of extraordinary need, and to worship the imperial cult.

 

Demographics

Roman Britain had an estimated population between 2.8 million and 3 million people at the end of the second century. At the end of the fourth century, it had an estimated population of 3.6 million people, of whom 125,000 consisted of the Roman army and their families and dependents.[80] The urban population of Roman Britain was about 240,000 people at the end of the fourth century. The capital city of Londinium is estimated to have had a population of about 60,000 people. Londinium was an ethnically diverse city with inhabitants from the Roman Empire, including natives of Britannia, continental Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. There was also cultural diversity in other Roman-British towns, which were sustained by considerable migration, from Britannia and other Roman territories, including continental Europe, Roman Syria, the Eastern Mediterranean and North Africa. In a study conducted in 2012, around 45 percent of sites investigated dating from the Roman period had at least one individual of North African origin.

 

Town and country

During their occupation of Britain the Romans founded a number of important settlements, many of which survive. The towns suffered attrition in the later 4th century, when public building ceased and some were abandoned to private uses. Place names survived the deurbanised Sub-Roman and early Anglo-Saxon periods, and historiography has been at pains to signal the expected survivals, but archaeology shows that a bare handful of Roman towns were continuously occupied. According to S.T. Loseby, the very idea of a town as a centre of power and administration was reintroduced to England by the Roman Christianising mission to Canterbury, and its urban revival was delayed to the 10th century.

 

Roman towns can be broadly grouped in two categories. Civitates, "public towns" were formally laid out on a grid plan, and their role in imperial administration occasioned the construction of public buildings. The much more numerous category of vici, "small towns" grew on informal plans, often round a camp or at a ford or crossroads; some were not small, others were scarcely urban, some not even defended by a wall, the characteristic feature of a place of any importance.

 

Cities and towns which have Roman origins, or were extensively developed by them are listed with their Latin names in brackets; civitates are marked C

 

Alcester (Alauna)

Alchester

Aldborough, North Yorkshire (Isurium Brigantum) C

Bath (Aquae Sulis) C

Brough (Petuaria) C

Buxton (Aquae Arnemetiae)

Caerleon (Isca Augusta) C

Caernarfon (Segontium) C

Caerwent (Venta Silurum) C

Caister-on-Sea C

Canterbury (Durovernum Cantiacorum) C

Carlisle (Luguvalium) C

Carmarthen (Moridunum) C

Chelmsford (Caesaromagus)

Chester (Deva Victrix) C

Chester-le-Street (Concangis)

Chichester (Noviomagus Reginorum) C

Cirencester (Corinium) C

Colchester (Camulodunum) C

Corbridge (Coria) C

Dorchester (Durnovaria) C

Dover (Portus Dubris)

Exeter (Isca Dumnoniorum) C

Gloucester (Glevum) C

Great Chesterford (the name of this vicus is unknown)

Ilchester (Lindinis) C

Leicester (Ratae Corieltauvorum) C

Lincoln (Lindum Colonia) C

London (Londinium) C

Manchester (Mamucium) C

Newcastle upon Tyne (Pons Aelius)

Northwich (Condate)

St Albans (Verulamium) C

Silchester (Calleva Atrebatum) C

Towcester (Lactodurum)

Whitchurch (Mediolanum) C

Winchester (Venta Belgarum) C

Wroxeter (Viroconium Cornoviorum) C

York (Eboracum) C

 

Religion

The druids, the Celtic priestly caste who were believed to originate in Britain, were outlawed by Claudius, and in 61 they vainly defended their sacred groves from destruction by the Romans on the island of Mona (Anglesey). Under Roman rule the Britons continued to worship native Celtic deities, such as Ancasta, but often conflated with their Roman equivalents, like Mars Rigonemetos at Nettleham.

 

The degree to which earlier native beliefs survived is difficult to gauge precisely. Certain European ritual traits such as the significance of the number 3, the importance of the head and of water sources such as springs remain in the archaeological record, but the differences in the votive offerings made at the baths at Bath, Somerset, before and after the Roman conquest suggest that continuity was only partial. Worship of the Roman emperor is widely recorded, especially at military sites. The founding of a Roman temple to Claudius at Camulodunum was one of the impositions that led to the revolt of Boudica. By the 3rd century, Pagans Hill Roman Temple in Somerset was able to exist peaceably and it did so into the 5th century.

 

Pagan religious practices were supported by priests, represented in Britain by votive deposits of priestly regalia such as chain crowns from West Stow and Willingham Fen.

 

Eastern cults such as Mithraism also grew in popularity towards the end of the occupation. The London Mithraeum is one example of the popularity of mystery religions among the soldiery. Temples to Mithras also exist in military contexts at Vindobala on Hadrian's Wall (the Rudchester Mithraeum) and at Segontium in Roman Wales (the Caernarfon Mithraeum).

 

Christianity

It is not clear when or how Christianity came to Britain. A 2nd-century "word square" has been discovered in Mamucium, the Roman settlement of Manchester. It consists of an anagram of PATER NOSTER carved on a piece of amphora. There has been discussion by academics whether the "word square" is a Christian artefact, but if it is, it is one of the earliest examples of early Christianity in Britain. The earliest confirmed written evidence for Christianity in Britain is a statement by Tertullian, c. 200 AD, in which he described "all the limits of the Spains, and the diverse nations of the Gauls, and the haunts of the Britons, inaccessible to the Romans, but subjugated to Christ". Archaeological evidence for Christian communities begins to appear in the 3rd and 4th centuries. Small timber churches are suggested at Lincoln and Silchester and baptismal fonts have been found at Icklingham and the Saxon Shore Fort at Richborough. The Icklingham font is made of lead, and visible in the British Museum. A Roman Christian graveyard exists at the same site in Icklingham. A possible Roman 4th-century church and associated burial ground was also discovered at Butt Road on the south-west outskirts of Colchester during the construction of the new police station there, overlying an earlier pagan cemetery. The Water Newton Treasure is a hoard of Christian silver church plate from the early 4th century and the Roman villas at Lullingstone and Hinton St Mary contained Christian wall paintings and mosaics respectively. A large 4th-century cemetery at Poundbury with its east–west oriented burials and lack of grave goods has been interpreted as an early Christian burial ground, although such burial rites were also becoming increasingly common in pagan contexts during the period.

 

The Church in Britain seems to have developed the customary diocesan system, as evidenced from the records of the Council of Arles in Gaul in 314: represented at the council were bishops from thirty-five sees from Europe and North Africa, including three bishops from Britain, Eborius of York, Restitutus of London, and Adelphius, possibly a bishop of Lincoln. No other early sees are documented, and the material remains of early church structures are far to seek. The existence of a church in the forum courtyard of Lincoln and the martyrium of Saint Alban on the outskirts of Roman Verulamium are exceptional. Alban, the first British Christian martyr and by far the most prominent, is believed to have died in the early 4th century (some date him in the middle 3rd century), followed by Saints Julius and Aaron of Isca Augusta. Christianity was legalised in the Roman Empire by Constantine I in 313. Theodosius I made Christianity the state religion of the empire in 391, and by the 5th century it was well established. One belief labelled a heresy by the church authorities — Pelagianism — was originated by a British monk teaching in Rome: Pelagius lived c. 354 to c. 420/440.

 

A letter found on a lead tablet in Bath, Somerset, datable to c. 363, had been widely publicised as documentary evidence regarding the state of Christianity in Britain during Roman times. According to its first translator, it was written in Wroxeter by a Christian man called Vinisius to a Christian woman called Nigra, and was claimed as the first epigraphic record of Christianity in Britain. This translation of the letter was apparently based on grave paleographical errors, and the text has nothing to do with Christianity, and in fact relates to pagan rituals.

 

Environmental changes

The Romans introduced a number of species to Britain, including possibly the now-rare Roman nettle (Urtica pilulifera), said to have been used by soldiers to warm their arms and legs, and the edible snail Helix pomatia. There is also some evidence they may have introduced rabbits, but of the smaller southern mediterranean type. The European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) prevalent in modern Britain is assumed to have been introduced from the continent after the Norman invasion of 1066. Box (Buxus sempervirens) is rarely recorded before the Roman period, but becomes a common find in towns and villas

 

Legacy

During their occupation of Britain the Romans built an extensive network of roads which continued to be used in later centuries and many are still followed today. The Romans also built water supply, sanitation and wastewater systems. Many of Britain's major cities, such as London (Londinium), Manchester (Mamucium) and York (Eboracum), were founded by the Romans, but the original Roman settlements were abandoned not long after the Romans left.

 

Unlike many other areas of the Western Roman Empire, the current majority language is not a Romance language, or a language descended from the pre-Roman inhabitants. The British language at the time of the invasion was Common Brittonic, and remained so after the Romans withdrew. It later split into regional languages, notably Cumbric, Cornish, Breton and Welsh. Examination of these languages suggests some 800 Latin words were incorporated into Common Brittonic (see Brittonic languages). The current majority language, English, is based on the languages of the Germanic tribes who migrated to the island from continental Europe

Succeeding the Franklin half dollar, the Kennedy half dollar is a coin of the United States first minted in 1964, the year following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. It features the face of President John F. Kennedy on the obverse and an eagle on the reverse. The obverse was designed by Gilroy Roberts and the reverse was designed by Frank Gasparro.

 

This coin was a souvenir from my first trip to the United States.

 

Today's Bible Verse:

 

If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

 

2 CHRONICLES 7:14

Banners during "Za slušné Slovensko" protest

*

Bratislava, Slovakia

 

Admiral George Hope died on 2 May 1818 and was succeeded by his son James, who was only ten at that time. James Hope was to be away for most of his life, pursuing his own military career, however he found time to continue the improvements at home - the most notable of which was the construction of a school for girls on the estate, which they maintained at their own expense.

 

The final touches were also made to the house. In 1849 the rather awkward access connection between the c.1570 block and the 1682 wing was overcome by placing a small rectangular, 3 storey insert into the courtyard. You can just see it here, with its flat lead roof, surrounded by a simple battlemented parapet. At the same the two-storey porch extension was put into the front re-entrant angle.

 

The armorial panel on the porch, containing a coat of arms over the date 1863, are those of James Hope, who in the 45 years since succeeding his father, had become Admiral Sir James Hope - not only was his father an admiral, his mother was the daughter of an admiral!. He led a fairly dashing career, his most famous exploit, when still a young lieutenant, occurring while stationed at the River Plate in South America. The enemy had thrown a cable across the river and under a tremendous fire he personally cut the boom with a chisel enabling the fleet to pass up the river.

 

In his retirement James Hope did much to improve the lot of those around Carriden. He bought up many of the poor-quality houses in the adjacent village of Muirhouses which belonged to the Cadell family and were occupied by miners. These were demolished and replaced by substantial stone cottages.

 

Admiral Sir James Hope died in 1881 without children, following which his wife lived here until her death in 1890. Carriden then passed to Colonel George Lloyd Verney, Sir James' great-nephew. The Colonel died in 1896 and was succeeded by his son James, who died in 1909 and was succeeded by his brother Harry Verney. Having estates elsewhere, the Verneys had spent little time at Carriden and it was put up for sale in 1912.

 

It was bought by Joseph Constant, a London businessman and entrepreneur (yes, they even had them back then!), who became an absentee landlord (surprise surprise!). His real interest lay in the shore line, on which he wanted to build ships. The estate farms were let and the contents of the house put up for auction.

 

Auctioning off the contents of a house in this day and age is an unremarkable event, but in those days, the contents of a grand house or castle were expected to remain with the house. The Motherwell Times of 3 October 1913 considered that this was a case of asset stripping and reported that Carriden House “is this week to be robbed of its internal splendor through the operations of the auctioneer.” All the contents, including the library of over a thousand books, were duly sold off!

 

Joseph Constant did not live to enjoy the fruits of the sale! With the outbreak of the Great War, his widow furnished the house as an auxiliary hospital for wounded soldiers. Following the war, the estate farms were sold off - the death knell for many a grand house, as without the farms, there is usually insufficient income to maintain the house. By 1925, the house was standing empty.

 

After the Second World War the demand for electricity soared. Coal-powered generating stations were built at Longannet and Kincardine on the north shore of the Forth and in anticipation of further demand, the South of Scotland Electricity Board bought what remained of the Carriden estate in the late 1960s. Carriden power station was never required and the house survived, although it was allowed to deteriorate further.

 

Since being sold by the Electricity Board in the late 1970s, Carriden has had three sets of owners, all of whom have played their parts in restoring it to its former glory.

At the end of 1901 the Sisters of St Joseph retired from Gawler, and were succeeded in January 1902, by the Good Samaritan Sisters from Sydney. On their arrival they established a high school for music and arts in conjunction with the existing primary school.

 

The convent of 1910 was built beside the convent previously used by the Sisters of St Joseph. After the Good Samaritan Sisters left the convent the property became private: at the moment it appears to be empty.

 

*Roman Catholic Convent

February 7 - The corner-stone of a new Roman Catholic Convent was blessed by the Archbishop of Adelaide (Most Rev Dr O'Reily) yesterday. The erection of a substantial structure to facilitate the educational work of the Sisters of the Good Samaritan has long been contemplated.

 

The site chosen is contiguous to the church and the school hall, and joins the present convent. The new building when completed will be large and attractive, and involve an expenditure of between £3.000 and £4,000. It will have a width of 52 ft, and a length of 73 ft.

 

The front and northern portion is being built of moulded brick and Smithfield freestone, and the back of limestone. The height from the ground to the top of the Celtic cross above the main entrance will be 42 ft.

 

The Archbishop, in a short address, referred to the Sisters of the Good Samaritan as an Australian order. They were founded in 1857 in Sydney, and had done excellent educational work. He first introduced them into South Australia at Port Pirie, and then at Gawler.

The ceremony of blessing the stone was then proceeded with. The Archbishop was assisted by the Revs Father O'Neill and Father Kelly. The collection realized £258, and the amount now in hand is about £1,000. [Ref: Register (Adelaide SA) 8-2-1910]

 

*The opening ceremony of the new Convent of the sisters of the Good Samaritan at Gawler was performed on Sunday afternoon by the Archbishop of Adelaide (Most Rev Dr O'Reily). The weather did not permit of the whole of the rites being observed in the open air, and, after the Archbishop had placed the seal of his approval on the new home for the nuns, an adjournment was made to S Peter's and S Paul’s Church.

The structure is imposing, well built, and beautifully fitted up.

The old building will be turned into a high school for the more advanced education of the young. Within a stone's throw of each other, there now stands the Roman Catholic manse, church, new convent, high school, and day school— a formidable block, and among the most handsome from an architectural point of view, in Gawler. [Ref: Register (Adelaide SA) 4-10-1910]

 

*The foundation stone was laid last February by His Grace the Archbishop, the inscription being commemorative of the inception of the building.

 

Externally the design of the convent can hardly be classed under any particular style of architecture, although its simplicity is largely inspired by the study of Italian and English Georgian domestic structures. The dominant feature, as seen from within and without is the chapel, which occupies the centre of the building.

The architects (says 'Southern Cross') treated the chapel, both in material and design, differently from the other parts of the building, with the roof rising clear above its surroundings, adopting this rendering to emphasize its importance, and to some extent its distinction from the rest of the buildings around. The south wing is for the present to be devoted to the accommodation of the boarding school, and nothing is overlooked to add to the comfort and pleasant surrounding of the children. This division contains refectory, music-room, dormitories, lavatory, bathrooms, etc. In the centre of the building is the chapel, sacristy, community-room, and staircase hall.

 

The north wing contains the reception-room and refectory, scullery, kitchen, laundry, cellar, and other out-offices.

 

The upper floor is sub-divided by fireproof interlocking steel and cement walls into handsome rooms for the accommodation of the members of the community. From the upper floor landing you pass out of the balcony leading to the roof terrace, affording ample space for the recreation of the Sisters.

 

The design adopted provides for duplication of the present structure when the requirements of the institution demand more ample accommodation. The hygienic aspects of the building have been carefully studied, and every provision made for light and perfect ventilation. Provision is also made for the drainage of the building by connection with a septic tank approved by the Board of Health.

 

The architects of the building were Messrs Woods and Bagot. Messrs Ligertwood and Parkes, of Maylands, were the contractors. Mr William Essery, of Norwood was responsible for the woodwork. Mr Alf Martin for the iron and plumbing, and Messrs W Robinson and W H Cox for the plastering and painting. [Ref: Bunyip (Gawler SA)11-11-1910]

   

Don't use this image on websites, blogs or other media without my explicit permission. © All rights reserved.

 

I succeeded to get this picture of a pupa of a ladybug. I did not know what it was, so I googled to find out.

 

The life of a ladybug goes through various stages from egg, larvae, pupa to adult. The average life expectancy of a ladybug is actually 1-2 years.

 

This picture is when the larvae starts to stick itself to a leaf. At this point, the larvae will attach itself belly-first and slowly cease all motions. It will stop eating, moving and after a while, it will even stop any wiggling motion. After the Ladybug has matured to adult form within the pupa, it will begin to break out from the front of the pupa with the help of its mandibles.

Once it breaks out, the Ladybug is still quite vulnerable. It will need around 2 to 3 hours for it’s shell to harden and for it’s colors to take shape.

 

Hier is de larve van een lieveheersbeestje in een pop veranderd. Voor het verpoppen hechten de larven zich met behulp van een schijnvoet vast. Daarom lijkt de pop vastgeplakt aan het blad, ze blijft daar onbeweeglijk liggen gedurende de hele verpoppingstijd. Dit duurt tussen 7 en 10 dagen. De pop is ongeveer 3,5 mm groot en ze variëren eveneens van kleur: geel, oranje, grijs, bruin of zwart met al dan niet stippen op de achtergrondkleur.

Uiteindelijk komt het volwassen dier tevoorschijn door de pophuid te scheuren. Op het moment dat het lieveheersbeestje uit de pop komt, heeft het gele dekschilden zonder patronen.

The eagle did not succeed and soon disappeared in the nerby forest.

 

Image is croped quite a bit, the sce was happening 300m away.

 

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If you are interested in a digital copy or a print of this photograph (or other photographs), please drop me an Email: derliebewolf@web.de

 

Wenn jemand Interesse an einem digitalen Abzug oder einem Ausdruck von diesem Foto (auch von anderen Fotos von mir) hat, schreibt mir einfach eine Email an derliebewolf@web.de

photo by me

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Soi'house