Karen nuestra modelo del photoshoot Virtuous con Iram Lopez en Antigua Guatemala

maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Virtuous/188/163/24

American postcard by Universal Pictures Company, Inc., 1965. Photo: Universal. James Stewart in Shenandoah (Andrew V. McLaglen, 1965).

 

American actor James Stewart (1908-1997) is among the most honored and popular stars in film history. Known for his distinctive drawl and everyman screen persona, Stewart had a film career that spanned over 55 years and 80 films.

 

James Maitland Stewart was born in 1908, in Indiana, Pennsylvania. Stewart started acting while studying at Princeton University. After graduating in 1932, he began a career as a stage actor, appearing on Broadway and in summer stock productions. In 1935, he signed a film contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). The studio did not see leading man material in Stewart, but after three years of supporting roles and being loaned out to other studios, he had his big breakthrough in Frank Capra's ensemble comedy You Can't Take It with You (1938). Adapted from the Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart, the film is about a man (Stewart) from a family of rich snobs who becomes engaged to a woman (Jean Arthur) from a good-natured but decidedly eccentric family. The following year, Stewart got his first Oscar nomination for his portrayal of an idealised and virtuous man who becomes a senator in Capra's Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (Frank Capra, 1939), again opposite Jean Arthur. He won the Academy Award for his work in the screwball comedy The Philadelphia Story (George Cukor, 1940), which also starred Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant. A licensed amateur pilot, Stewart enlisted as a private in the Army Air Corps as soon as he could after the United States entered the Second World War in 1941. Although still an MGM star, his only public and film appearances in 1941—1945 were scheduled by the Air Corps. After fighting in the European theater of war, he had attained the rank of colonel and had received several awards for his service. He remained in the U.S. Air Force Reserve and was promoted to brigadier general in 1959. He retired in 1968 and was awarded the United States Air Force Distinguished Service Medal.

 

After the war, James Stewart had difficulties in adapting to changing Hollywood and even thought about ending his acting career. He became a freelancer, and had his first postwar role was as George Bailey in Capra's It's a Wonderful Life (Frank Capra, 1946) with Donna Reed. Although it earned him an Oscar nomination, the film was not a big success at first. It has gained in popularity in the decades since its release and is considered a Christmas classic and one of Stewart's most famous performances. In the 1950s, Stewart experienced a career revival by playing darker, more morally ambiguous characters in Westerns and thrillers. Some of his most important collaborations during this period were with directors Anthony Mann, with whom he made eight films including Winchester '73 (1950), The Glenn Miller Story (1954) and The Naked Spur (1953), and Alfred Hitchcock, with whom he collaborated on Rope (1948), Rear Window (1954), The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956), and Vertigo (1958) with Kim Novak. Vertigo was ignored by critics at its time of release, but has since been reevaluated and recognised as an American cinematic masterpiece. His other films in the 1950s included the Broadway adaptation Harvey (Henry Koster, 1950) and the courtroom drama Anatomy of a Murder (Otto Preminger, 1959), both of which landed him Oscar nominations. He was one of the most popular film stars of the decade, with most of his films becoming box office successes. Stewart's later Westerns included The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) and Cheyenne Autumn (1964), both directed by John Ford. He signed a lucrative multi-movie deal with 20th Century-Fox in 1962 and appeared in many popular family comedies during the decade. After a brief venture into television acting, Stewart semi-retired by the 1980s, although he remained a public figure due to the renewed interest in his films with Capra and Hitchcock and his appearances at President Reagan's White House. He received many honorary awards, including an honorary Academy Honorary Award and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, both in 1985. Stewart remained unmarried until his 40s and was dubbed "The Great American Bachelor" by the press. In 1949, he married former model Gloria Hatrick McLean. They had twin daughters, and he adopted her two sons from her previous marriage. The marriage lasted until McLean's death in 1994. James Stewart died of a pulmonary embolism three years later in Beverly Hills.

 

Source: Wikipedia.

 

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

...monument in St Mary's Church, Little Sampford.

 

MPP Micro Technical and Fujinon 150mm f6.3. Fomapan 100, f16 at 6 seconds.

 

Bridget had 10 children by the time she died at the age of 31 in 1712.

 

Enshrined beneath this marble lie ye mortal remains, to wit the beauty, grace & foremost elegant, noble & virtuous of Bridget, an excellent & singular example of womanhood. Her husband was William Peck, her father Morgan Randyll, both esquires, the latter of Chillworth, in the county of Surrey; the former of Samford Hall in the County of Essex. To them, while she survived she had been an exquisite ornament and delight, but now alas, long deceased, a woeful loss & cause for universal tears. Yet of her obsequies must be performed. with grief her thousand, nay more pleasing virtues, destin'd for an eternal existance will be rehearsed on the lips of all to whose ears their report has come, or some day yet, shall come. She was indeed endowed as if by heaven itself. her gifts most agreeably composed for the fulfilment of every duty, to God or neighbour or herself, who was daughter, spouse, parent, matron & all these to an excellent degree. She had, of marvel, a disposition without subterfuge or guile, & what rarer to be found in the weaker sex, a marvellour fortitude, which she displayed as often as some matter required in shaping the character of her offspring, she was a mother wise as SHE WAS FRUITFUL, INDEED AT HER DECEASE SHE LEFT 2 SONS & 8 DAUGHTERS, and to this task, she exercised herself with no little success, WHICH HAD TIME ALLOWED WOULD HAVE BECOME GREATER STILL (!!)l. In these pursuits engaged, neither desirous, nor yet fearful of the grave, only ripened for heaven and observant of its counsels being 31 years of age, she died on the 14th day of June in the year of Our Lord 1712.

That this monument should be forever sacred to the matchless virtues of this cherished form was the wish of her afflicted spouse"

Name: Crimson Cloak (The Cloak)

 

Secret Identity: Gage Garnet, One time reporter and writer, he has almost fully devoted his time to crime fighting in recent years nearly forsaking his true identity.

 

Age: late 30s.

 

Skills/Powers:

 

* Super human stamina

 

* Advanced strength from constant conditioning and exercise

 

* Advanced intellect, intelligence, and deductive reasoning skills

 

* Knowledge of various forms of martial arts and fighting styles

 

* No known “super powers”

 

Weapons:

***All of the Cloak’s weapons are provided by his friend and inventor William Watts, the owner of Watt Teach Industries and fellow hero Captain Electron.

 

The Crimson Cloak wears a suit of flexible fiber body armor. His red cape and cowl are both bullet proof and flame proof. He wears a set of goggles that help to magnify his night vision, aiding him in low light environments. His preferred weapon of choice is a high tech staff that detaches at the center to create two smaller batons for close quarter combat. The tip of each baton is slightly electrified to aid The Cloak in dispatching his foes in a non-lethal manner. The Cloak also has an optional "gun" that he can use to launch various non-lethal projectiles at his enemies.

 

For getting to the scene fast, the Cloak rides a highly modified and experimental Watt Tech Cycle www.flickr.com/photos/10211834@N07/9400169817/in/photostr.... In the past during his tenure on the original League of Heroes, he drove a self-modified car called the Crimson Cruiser.

 

Background/Origin Story:

 

Gage Garnet has always been a man obsessed with doing what is right, no matter the costs to himself or to others. During his youth, he was obsessed with comics and yearned to be like those men on the colorful pages. He and his brother Jack would spend hours dressing up like superheroes imagining that they were saving the world. As Gage matured, he showed more of an interest in writing and moved to the big city to pursue his interests. While working for The City Tribune, Gage covered a series of stories involving the rise of real heroes in the city. Men and women who put on costumes to fight crime, it was like his dream come true and here he was on the front lines documenting their rise to power.

 

Tragically, in the midst of Gage’s rise to success as a reporter, his family home is robbed. His parents are murdered by the robbers as they protect his younger brother Jack. Feeling helpless and partly responsible for not being there, Gage crafts his own costume and decides to track down those responsible for the murder, thus adopting his alter ego The Crimson Cloak.

 

It isn’t long before Gage is covering the stories of his own exploits, articles that soon reach the attention of a fledgling group of masked heroes known as the League of Heroes. The Cloak is invited to join the League. For the next few years, Gage fights crime along side the virtuous members of the League of Heroes. Keeping the city safe.

 

As the League of Heroes grows stronger and more powerful, Cobalt Cyclone, Silver Sentry, and Viridia all decide that it would be best to remove their masks publicly to gain the trust of the citizens and to remove any doubt that could be cast upon them by a growing crowd of skeptics. The Crimson Cloak disagrees with this measure, as he does not want his career in vigilantism to hurt his brother’s reputation at his new job on the police force. The Cloak declares that he will step down from the team and leave his career as a superhero behind. Gothic, a fellow teammate and also a detractor of this measure, does not wish to have his identity revealed though he will make an even more public statement of protest.

 

The day arrives for the big reveal, the heroes are all assembled on the steps of City Hall, Cobalt Cyclone steps up to the microphone and addresses the crowd… and BOOM! A bomb explodes from underneath the podium killing Cyclone, severely injuring Silver Sentry, and sending the crowd into a panic. The Crimson Cloak swings into action, and begins investigating the crime. By following the clues he soon comes to the conclusion that The Skull, the most powerful crime boss in the city was behind the plot. Though he is in for an even bigger surprise when he discovers that The Skull is in fact his former friend and teammate Gothic.

 

In the wake of the bombing, the League of Heroes falls apart. Public support for masked heroes hits an all time low. The Crimson Cloak decides that he will be all that stands between the evil that plagues the city and the justice that he feels the citizens deserve. Becoming darker and more detached, The Crimson Cloak becomes obsessed with his self-imposed duty even at the expense of losing his own identity in the process.

 

Relationship to Other Characters:

 

Allies - William Watts/Captain Electron, Detective Jack Garnet (His younger brother), Viridia, Silver Sentry II

 

Enemies - The Skull (Formerly his ally Gothic), Stiletta, The Vapor, Dr. Toxin, The Fire Bug, Barricade, Hard Wire

First run in ages tonight. Six miles. Not too bad.

The Bible in this still life is open to Proverbs 31, the passage about "the virtuous wife". A bridal portrait (one I took of my youngest daughter) reminds us of the deep meanings of the "Bride" in Scripture. Did you ever consider how those verses describe the Church as she should be, as well as describing an individual woman? Proverbs 31 will mean a whole lot more to you (men included), if you read it that way too.

 

View On Black

 

Her children rise up and call her blessed;

Her husband also, and he praises her:

"Many daughters have done well,

But you excel them all."

Give her of the fruit of her hands,

And let her own works praise her in the gates.

Proverbs 31:28-29, 31

The Temple of Ancient Virtues, Stowe, Bucks.

Angelika Kauffmann (1741-1807)

Oil on canvas

EKM VM 313

Kadriorg Art Museum, Tallinn, Estonia.

 

According to the museum labels:

========================================================

These two paintings, with their revealing titles, focus on a young woman clad in white: Beauty.

 

The first painting depicts a virtuous choice of Beauty: she resolutely pushes aside Folly, portrayed as a sensual follower of Dionysus, and stands with the motherly Prudence.

 

In the second painting, Beauty, having maintained her sensibility, is wreathed by the handsome youngster Perfection.

 

The titles of the paintings were selected by Koffmann herself; the characters are made even more recognisable through their attributes.

 

For instance, there is a mirror in Prudence's lap, which shows the true nature of things; there is also a bridle, which symbolises self-control and sensibility.

 

The pair of paintings was commissioned by Ann Bryer, the widow of the English publisher Henry Bryer, who had the pictures engraved by Jean-Marie Delattre (1745- 1840) and published them in l78l/84.

 

The prints made Kauffann's, Beauty and Prudence widely known and thus they became two of the best-loved subjects in 19th century applied art, particularly based on the products of a Vienna porcelain factory.

===================================================

The labels go on to say:

 

Angelika Kauffmann was one of the most interesting and distinguished women artists of the 18th century. She lived and worked in the decades that Europe remembers as the awakening of the bourgeoisie, of the Great French Revolution, and of the era of the Enlightenment.

 

Enlightened Europe admired the ancient times and prefered to think in noble, heroic categories.

 

At the same time, it was also an era of the idyll and of feelings, friendship and the romanticizing of nature.

 

Angelika Kauffmann was a portraitist and historical painter of Swiss origin, whose oeuvre wonderfully represents the values of theperiod, as it depicts sensitive characters from English poetry, grieving ancient Greek heroines, and beautiful ladies in the roles of Love, Prudence, Beauty and other virtues.

 

The charming painter,whose personal life was characterised by unrequited love, a circle of intellectual friends, distinguished patrons, and a luxurious life in the salons of London and Rome, became the embodiment of the ideal woman of the Enlightenment, Miss Angel, "the Muse with a brush."

 

Kauffmann's images, the slender beauties and androgynous heroes of her mythological and allegorical scenes, spread as prints all over Europe and America; they were printed on ladies' fans, on china and on silk fabric as patterns for embroidery.

 

The phrase 'the whole world is Angelica-mad', which was in common use in the late 18th century, is supported by numerous Kauffmann's prints in Baltic art collections, as well as by lovely watercolours of Cupids and Charities, copies of her paintings, and objects of applied art made after the example of her work.

Italian postcard by NMM, Milano.

 

Austrian born actress and writer Elissa Landi (1904–1948) was (falsely) rumoured to be a descendant of Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria. During the 1920s, she appeared in British, French, and German films before travelling to the United States. In Hollywood, she became a popular star of the 1930s.

 

According to several sources, Elissa Landi was born as Elisabeth Marie Christine Kühnelt in Venice, Italy, in 1904. She was the daughter of an Austrian military officer and the stepdaughter of an Italian nobleman and she was the grand-daughter of Elizabeth of Bavaria, wife of the Emperor Franz Josef of Austria, according to her mother. This information was false. Marlene Pilaete at La Collectionneuse recently researched Landi's history and discovered new facts: "She was not Italian-born. In fact, her birth certificate states that she was born on the 6th of December 1904 in Hart, Austria and not in Venice. Her birth certificate also states that she was born as Maria Christina Emilia Antonia Carolina Francisca Anna Kühnelt. As you can see, there is no trace of the first name 'Elisabeth'. Regarding her mother, who claimed to be a daughter of Sissi and to be born in France in 1882, her birth certificate plainly states that she was born in Vienna in 1879 from Jewish parents." Elissa was raised in Austria and later she was privately educated in England and Canada. Her first ambition was to be a writer, and she wrote her first novel at the age of twenty. She took up the stage merely as a means to an end. She had always wanted to be a novelist and playwright, but she found the technique of the theatre a little difficult, so in order to overcome this joined a repertory company. She started with the 1924 London stage production The Storm. The play lasted for five months and she received rave reviews for her performances. This led to meaty leads in Lavendar Ladies and other plays. Film producers took notice of the photogenic beauty and Elissa starred in eight European films over the next two years. Her first film was the British production London (Herbert Wilcox, 1926), starring Dorothy Gish. Other films were the working-class love story Underground (Anthony Asquith, 1928) and the Swedish production Synd/Sin (Gustaf Molander, 1928). Her career didn't impress critics, though, until she played Anthea Dane in The Price of Things (Elinor Glyn, 1930).

 

Elissa Landi felt that she would make more headway in the USA, so in 1931 she travelled to New York to star in a Broadway production of A Farewell to Arms, written by Ernest Hemingway. Although the play flopped, Hollywood sat up and took notice of the young star. She was signed to a contract by Fox Film Corporation, and she soon appeared in Body and Soul (Alfred Santell, 1931) opposite Charles Farrell, and in Wicked (Alan Dwan, 1931), opposite Victor McLaglen. Next, she played the heroine in Cecil B. De Mille's biblical epic The Sign of the Cross (1932). The film was a smash hit but Elissa's ethereal, virtuous performance as the early-Christian heroine was overshadowed by Claudette Colbert who played the flashier role of the temptress Poppea. Elissa scored again in The Warrior's Husband (Walter Lang, 1933), a film about the intrigues and intricacies of the old Roman Empire. Charming was her comedy By Candlelight (James Whale, 1933) about a butler (Paul Lukas) who pretends to be a Lord to seduce a great lady (Landi), who is actually a maid. Hal Erickson writes at AllMovie: "Based on a play by Siegfried Geyer, By Candlelight is chock full of delightfully double-entendre pre-Code dialogue and dextrous directorial touches." In 1934 Landi co-starred with Robert Donat in the box office hit The Count of Monte Cristo (Rowland V. Lee, 1934). The next year saw her in an odd bit of casting as an Opera prima donna in Enter Madame (Elliott Nugent, 1935). The film follows the turbulent relationship between the Opera singer and a wealthy fan (Cary Grant) as her career frequently interferes with the quality of their off-again/on-again marriage. Then Landi's contract with Fox was abruptly cancelled in 1936 as a result of her refusal to accept a particular role. MGM signed her to a contract and after a couple of romantic dramas, she played the cousin of Myrna Loy in the very popular After the Thin Man (W.S. Van Dyke, 1936). Her screen career came to an end in 1937. She spent her last acting years on Broadway save for an unexpected return before the cameras in the low-budget war film Corregidor (William Nigh, 1943) for Poverty Row Producers Releasing Corporation (PRC). She became a naturalized US citizen in 1943, and dedicated herself to writing, producing six novels and a series of poems. In 1948 Elissa Landi died of cancer in New York, only 43 years old. She left behind her husband, Curtiss Thomas, and their four-year-old daughter, Carolyn.

 

Sources: Marlene Pilaete (La Collectionneuse - French), Operator99 (Allure), Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Wikipedia, and IMDb.

 

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

These are the spires on the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' temple in Oakland, California. My wife and I visited the temple again today... and this time it was during the morning daylight hours. The marine layer (or cloud layer) was hanging low over the high ridge where the temple stands and I lined up the sun behind the main spire while I was standing on a sidewalk that runs along side of the cliff overlooking Oakland, the bay and San Francisco.

 

Compare the processed image above to the original one below. The one below almost appears to be black & white because of the overcast sky and the bright light behind the spire, but because I recorded it in RAW format instead of the standard JPEG format, all of the information is there and I was able to bring it out. (The only down side of shooting RAW is that each image takes up considerably more storage space on the camera's card.) After downloading the image, I ran that through Lightroom 4 with the result above. I moved the shadow slider up considerably to bring out the color and detail in the tree, as well as the clarity and vibrance settings. To bring out the gold in the spires, I had to increase the saturation slightly. These changes introduced some noise, so I also had to deal with that (I think that LR4 does a good job with that, too.) I then leveled the image, added the reflective frame and my signature by uploading the exported file into Picnik.com.

 

If you compare the original, unprocessed image below to the processed image above, there's quite a big difference! I think that shooting RAW and then processing the image is helping to move my photography to the next level. What do you think? (IMG_8281 LR4p)

 

© Stephen L. Frazier - All of my images are protected by copyright and may not be used on any site, blog, or forum without my permission.

“Adam Archer” (Rat Catcher)

Born in Bristol and the youngest son of ‘Saltbox’ and ‘Slogger Rose’, Adam has a keen eye for a mark. As a child he used every opportunity possible along with his virtuous gaze, to persuade the gullible to take pity on his poor soul, often using a crutch under his arm to improve his wretched image, in the hope it would earn him a few extra pennies for his troubles.

 

It’s not thought that Adam ventured into more serious criminal activities, though he was frequently in the company of known pick pockets and swindlers, instead he tried to earn a more respectable living collect rags to sell to the paper trade.

 

As he's got older he's continued to try and earn an honest living, catching rats and selling them to the highest bidder, usually landlords with rat pits used for sport. This is proving to be a very lucrative business, but unfortunately, with ‘Saltbox’ as his father, it seems only a matter of time before he starts to tread the formidable path leading to Newgate.

Source : Ragged Victorians Instagram

  

JV8A1996

(Candid street shot, Taunton UK).

 

Recently, a critical mass of research has provided what might be the most basic and irrefutable argument in favor of happiness: Happiness and good health go hand-in-hand. Indeed, scientific studies have been finding that happiness can make our hearts healthier, our immune systems stronger, and our lives longer.

 

Several of the studies cited below suggest that happiness causes better health; others suggest only that the two are correlated—perhaps good health causes happiness but not the other way around. Happiness and health may indeed be a virtuous circle, but researchers are still trying to untangle their relationship. In the meantime, if you need some extra motivation to get happier, check out these six ways that happiness has been linked to good health.

 

1. Happiness protects your heart

2. Happiness strengthens your immune system

3. Happiness combats stress

4. Happy people have fewer aches and pains

5. Happiness combats disease and disability

6. Happiness lengthens our lives

  

Well there may be some truth in all of this, but its difficult to prove.

 

A few years ago, I was speaking with a yoga instructor who told me, “I think people love my class because it’s the only time in their entire day when they just sit and breathe.”

 

That provides some interesting food for thought. From the time you wake up until the time you go to bed, do you ever take 15 minutes to just sit and breathe?

 

Although I don't do Yoga or meditate, I have noticed the same effect when I donate blood or get a hair cut. in both of these activities you have to sit fairly still and you cant do anything else for about 15 minutes. Normally just doing nothing for 15 minutes would seem like a waste of time and its this feeling of wasting time that generates a guilty feeling. So recently I have take to sneaking of and just sitting quietly for 15 minutes and just looking at what is around me. In general it makes me appreciate what I have got and not what I haven't got, and yes it does make me feel better.

 

No gimmicks no special equipment, just sit comfortably somewhere on your own (don't fall asleep) - give it a try.

"In his Libellus, Jordan of Saxony gives the names of Saint Dominic’s parents as Felix and Jane. She had three sons, of whom the first, it is reported, was from a previous marriage. Rodrigo of Serrato bears witness that she was a woman ‘virtuous, chaste, prudent, and full of compassion for the poor and the afflicted; among all the women of the region she was outstanding for her good reputation’. She died at the beginning of the 13th Century; her relics were at one time removed from Calaruega but once again rest there. Her cult was confirmed by Pope Leo XII on 1 October 1828."

 

Statue of Bl. Jane in the Dominican Nuns' church in Caleruega, Spain. Her feast day is on 2 August.

©JaneBrown2019 All Rights Reserved. This image is not available for use on websites, blogs or other media without explicit written permission

 

this was taken from my study window as I am spring cleaning (having not done this since we moved in 3.5 years ago, it isn't as virtuous as it sounds) but unfortunately before I had finished the series I was phoned by the social worker in Gloucester so had to put my camera down

 

this year I bought a bumper bag of meal worms and a large bag of suet covered meal worms for

robins, the wren, bluetits, sparrows, blackbirds, finches, jays etc

and hope they visit before the

starlings, magpies and pigeons

and hope they visit before the squirrels and foxes.

 

Christopher is now back in his flat and has been visited by manager of the retirement flats, a bridging careworker and Caroline, my sister-in-law. Fingers crossed all remains well.

East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 128/69, 1969. Photo: Unifrance-Film.

 

French actor of Spanish origin Louis de Funès (1914-1983) was one of the giants of French comedy alongside André Bourvil and Fernandel. In many of his over 130 films, he portrayed a humorously excitable, cranky man with a propensity to hyperactivity, bad faith, and uncontrolled fits of anger. Along with his short height (1.63 m) and his facial contortions, this hyperactivity produced a highly comic effect, especially opposite Bourvil, who always played calm, slightly naive, good-humored men.

 

Louis de Funès (French pronunciation: [lwi də fynɛs]) was born Louis Germain David de Funès de Galarza in Courbevoie, France in 1914. His father, Carlos Luis de Funès de Galarza had been a lawyer in Seville, Spain, but became a diamond cutter upon arriving in France. His mother, Leonor Soto Reguera was of Spanish and Portuguese extraction. Since the couple's families opposed their marriage, they settled in France in 1904. Known to friends and intimates as ‘Fufu’, the young De Funès was fond of drawing and piano playing and spoke French, Spanish, and English well. He studied at the prestigious Lycée Condorcet in Paris. He showed a penchant for tomfoolery, something which caused him trouble at school and later made it hard for him to hold down a job. He became a pianist, working mostly as a jazz pianist at Pigalle, the famous red-light district. There he made his customers laugh each time he made a grimace. He studied acting for one year at the Simon acting school. It proved to be a waste of time except for his meeting with actor Daniel Gélin, who would become a close friend. In 1936, he married Germaine Louise Elodie Carroyer with whom he had a son, Daniel (1937). In 1942, they divorced. During the occupation of Paris in the Second World War, he continued his piano studies at a music school, where he fell in love with a secretary, Jeanne Barthelémy de Maupassant, a grandniece of the famous author Guy de Maupassant. They married in 1943 and remained together for forty years until De Funès' death in 1983. The pair had two sons: Patrick (1944) and Olivier (1947). Patrick became a doctor who practiced in Saint-Germain en Laye. Olivier was an actor for a while, known for the son roles in his father's films, including Le Grand Restaurant/The Big Restaurant (Jacques Besnard, 1966), Fantômas se déchaine/Fantomas Strikes Back (André Hunebelle, 1965) starring Jean Marais, Les Grandes Vacances/The Big Vacation (Jean Girault, 1967), and Hibernatus (Edouard Molinaro, 1969) with Claude Gensac as De Funès’ wife, a role she played in many of his films. Olivier later worked as an aviator for Air France Europe.

 

Through the early 1940s, Louis de Funès continued playing piano at clubs, thinking there wasn't much call for a short, balding, skinny actor. His wife and Daniel Gélin encouraged him to overcome his fear of rejection. De Funès began his show business career in the theatre, where he enjoyed moderate success. At the age of 31, thanks to his contact with Daniel Gélin, he made his film debut with an uncredited bit part as a porter in La Tentation de Barbizon/The Temptation of Barbizon (1945, Jean Stelli) starring Simone Renant. For the next ten years, de Funès would appear in fifty films, but always in minor roles, usually as an extra, scarcely noticed by the audience. Sometimes he had a supporting part such as in the Fernandel comedy Boniface somnambule/The Sleepwalker (Maurice Labro, 1951) and the comedy-drama La vie d'un honnête homme/The Virtuous Scoundrel (Sacha Guitry, 1953) starring Michel Simon. In the meanwhile, he pursued a theatrical career. Even after he attained the status of a film star, he continued to play theatre. His stage career culminated in a magnificent performance in the play Oscar, a role which he would later reprise in the film version of 1967. During this period, De Funès developed a pattern of daily activities: in the morning he did dubbing for recognized artists such as Renato Rascel and the Italian comic Totò, during the afternoon he worked in film, and in the theater in the evening. A break came when he appeared as the black-market pork butcher Jambier (another small role) in the well-known WWII comedy, La Traversée de Paris/Four Bags Full (Claude Autant-Lara, 1956) starring Jean Gabin and Bourvil. In his next film, the mediocre comedy Comme un cheveu sur la soupe/Crazy in the Noodle (Maurice Régamey, 1957), De Funès finally played the leading role. More interesting was Ni vu, ni connu/Neither Seen Nor Recognized (Yves Robert, 1958). He achieved stardom with the comedy Pouic-Pouic (Jean Girault, 1963) opposite Mireille Darc. This successful film guaranteed De Funès top billing in all of his subsequent films.

 

Between 1964 and 1979, Louis de Funès topped France's box office of the year's most successful films seven times. At the age of 49, De Funès unexpectedly became a superstar with the international success of two films. Fantômas (André Hunebelle, 1964) was France's own answer to the James Bond frenzy and lead to a trilogy co-starring Jean Marais and Mylène Demongeot. The second success was the crime comedy Le gendarme de Saint-Tropez/The Gendarme of St. Tropez (Jean Girault, 1964) with Michel Galabru. After their first successful collaboration on Pouic-Pouic, director Girault had perceived De Funès as the ideal actor to play the part of the accident-prone gendarme. The film led to a series of six 'Gendarme' films. De Funès's collaboration with director Gérard Oury produced a memorable tandem of de Funès with Bourvil, another great comic actor, in Le Corniaud/The Sucker (Gérard Oury, 1964). The successful partnership was repeated two years later in La Grande Vadrouille/Don't Look Now - We're Being Shot At (Gérard Oury, 1966), one of the most successful and the largest grossing film ever made in France, drawing an audience of 17,27 million. It remains his greatest success. Oury envisaged a further reunion of the two comics in his historical comedy La Folie des grandeurs/Delusions of Grandeur (Gérard Oury, 1970), but Bourvil's death in 1970 led to the unlikely pairing of de Funès with Yves Montand in this film. Very successful, even in the USA, was Les aventures de Rabbi Jacob/The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob (Gérard Oury, 1973) with Suzy Delair. De Funès played a bigoted Frenchman who finds himself forced to impersonate a popular rabbi while on the run from a group of assassins. In 1975, Oury had scheduled to make Le Crocodile/The Crocodile with De Funès as a South American dictator, but in March 1975, the actor was hospitalised for heart problems and was forced to take a rest from acting. The Crocodile project was canceled.

 

After his recovery, Louis de Funès collaborated with Claude Zidi, in a departure from his usual image. Zidi wrote for him L'aile ou la cuisse/The Wing and the Thigh (Claude Zidi, 1976), opposite Coluche as his son. He played a well-known gourmet and publisher of a famous restaurant guide, who is waging a war against a fast-food entrepreneur. It was a new character full of nuances and frankness and arguably the best of his roles. In 1980, De Funès realised a long-standing dream to make a film version of Molière's play, L'Avare/The Miser (Louis de Funès, Jean Girault, 1980). In 1982, De Funès made his final film, Le Gendarme et les gendarmettes/Never Play Clever Again (Tony Aboyantz, Jean Girault, 1982). Unlike the characters he played, de Funès was said to be a very shy person in real life. He became a knight of France's Légion d'honneur in 1973. He resided in the Château de Clermont, a 17th-century monument, located in the commune of Le Cellier, which is situated near Nantes in France. In his later years, he suffered from a heart condition after having suffered a heart attack caused by straining himself too much with his stage antics. Louis de Funès died of a massive stroke in 1983, a few months after making Le Gendarme et les gendarmettes. He was laid to rest in the Cimetière du Cellier, the cemetery situated in the grounds of the château. Films de France: “Although fame was a long time coming, Louis de Funès is regarded today as not just a great comic actor with an unfaltering ability to make his audience laugh, but practically an institution in his own right. His many films bear testimony to the extent of his comic genius and demonstrate the tragedy that he never earned the international recognition that he certainly deserved.”

 

Sources: Steve Shelokhonov (IMDb), Films de France, Wikipedia, and IMDb.

 

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French postcard by Europe, no. 2384. Photo: Emelka. Max Pallenberg in Der brave Sünder / The Upright Sinner (Fritz Kortner, 1931).

 

Max Pallenberg (1877-1934) was an Austrian singer, actor and comedian. He was one of the most important comedians of his time and often played under the direction of Max Reinhardt. Although Pallenberg was successful as a stage comedian, he only incidentally accepted roles in films.

 

Max Pallenberg was born as Max Pollack in 1877 in Vienna, Austria. Max was the son of Markus Pallenberg, who immigrated to Galicia from Vienna, and his wife, Kressel (also Therese), born Korsower. Pallenberg's career started in 1904, and he played in provincial theatres and with touring companies. In 1908, he joined the then-famous Theater an der Wien as an operetta comedian and sang, inter alia, in the world premiere of Franz Lehár's operetta 'Der Graf von Luxemburg' (The Count of Luxembourg. He played in 1910-1911 at the Volkstheater in Vienna. From 1911 on, Pallenberg played in Munich at the Deutsches Theater. In 1914, he was committed by Max Reinhardt to the Deutsches Theater in Berlin. There, he achieved his artistic breakthrough. Under the direction of Max Reinhardt, he played brilliant roles such as Schluck in Gerhart Hauptmann's 'Schluck and Jau' and as Peachum in the 'Dreigroschenoper' (Threepenny Opera). Soon, he became one of the most famous character comedians of his time. Pallenberg's stellar role was in Erwin Piscator's dramatic adaptation of Jaroslav Hašek's novel 'Der brave Soldat Schwejk' (The Good Soldier Švejk). In 1917, he married Fritzi Massary, who became one of the operetta divas of the German stage of the 1920s. His first wife was Betty Franke (1903-1917). They had one child. Pallenberg's most important roles at the Salzburg Festival include Mephisto in Faust, Argan in Mollière's 'Der eingebildete Kranke' (The Imaginary Invalid), the Devil in Jedermann (Everyman), and Truffaldino in Turandot, all directed by Max Reinhardt.

 

Max Pallenberg also starred in several silent and sound films. He made his film debut in the German short Der fidele Bauer - Ich hab mein Zipfelhaubn/The Merry Farmer - I have my Zipfel hood (Franz Glawatsch, 1908) with Wilhelm Binder and Luise Kartousch. In the early 1910s, he had great success in the cinema with his figure Pampulik and appeared in such Austrian films as Pampulik als Affe/Pampulik as Ape (Alexander Kolowrat, 1912), Pampulik kriegt ein Kind/Pampulik gets a child (Alexander Kolowrat, 1912), and Pampulik hat Hunger/Pampulik is hungry (Alexander Kolowrat, 1913). During World War I followed films such as Max und seine zwei Frauen/Max and his two wives (Heinrich Bolten-Baeckers, 1915) with Martha Novelly, Der rasende Roland/The Racing Roland (Heinrich Bolten-Baeckers, 1915), and Kapellmeister Pflegekind/Conductor Pflegekind (1915). After the war, he appeared in Die Nacht und der Leichnam/The night and the corpse (Adolf Abter, 1921) with Ria Jende. Pallenberg also appeared in sound films. In Der brave Sünder/The Virtuous Sinner (Fritz Kortner, 1931), he co-starred with Heinz Rühmann. The film is based on the play 'The Embezzlers', which was in turn based on a novel by the Soviet writer Valentin Kataev. Pallenberg had previously rejected all offers to appear in films based on his theatre appearances. He was finally convinced by the producer Arnold Pressburger to try and film one of his stage successes. The film also offered Kortner a chance to fulfil his ambitions to become a director. In the 1930s, Max Pallenberg and Fritzi Massary became a butt of the anti-Semitic propaganda of the upcoming Nazis. The Jewish couple went into exile in Austria. A year later, Max died in an aeroplane crash near Karlovy Vary (Karlsbad) in today's Czech Republic. He had changed his ticket for the five o'clock flight against a ticket which left Prague already at three o'clock. The five o'clock flight arrived on time, but Pallenberg's flight, however, crashed a few minutes after takeoff. He was 56. Pallenberg was cremated at Feuerhalle Simmering, where his ashes are also buried.

 

Sources: Wikipedia (English and German) and IMDb.

 

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The Cathedral of Pisa , officially the Primate Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta , in the center of the Piazza del Duomo, also known as Piazza dei Miracoli , is the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Pisa as well as the Primate church .

 

A masterpiece of the Romanesque , in particular of the Pisan Romanesque , it represents the tangible testimony of the prestige and wealth achieved by the maritime republic of Pisa at the moment of its apogee.

 

Its construction began in 1063 ( 1064 according to the Pisan calendar in force at the time) by the architect Buscheto , with the tenth part of the spoils of the Palermo campaign in Sicily against the Muslims ( 1063 ) led by Giovanni Orlandi belonging to the Orlandi family [ 1] . Different stylistic elements blend together: classical, Lombard-Emilian , Byzantine and in particular Islamic, proving the international presence of Pisan merchants in those times. In that same year the reconstruction of the Basilica of San Marco in Venice also began , so it may also be that there was a rivalry between the two maritime republics at the time to create the most beautiful and sumptuous place of worship.

 

The church was built in an area outside the early medieval city walls , to symbolize the power of Pisa which did not require protection. The chosen area was already used in the Lombard era as a necropolis and, already in the early 11th century , an unfinished church was built which was to be dedicated to Santa Maria. The new large church of Buscheto, in fact, was initially called Santa Maria Maggiore until it was finally named after Santa Maria Assunta.

 

In 1092 the church changed from a simple cathedral to being primatial, the title of primate having been conferred on Archbishop Daiberto by Pope Urban II , an honor which today is only formal. The cathedral was consecrated in 1118 by Pope Gelasius II , as recorded by the inscription placed internally on the counter-façade at the top left.

 

In the first half of the 12th century the cathedral was enlarged under the direction of the architect Rainaldo , who lengthened the naves by adding three bays in front of the old facade [2] according to the Buscheto style, widened the transept and designed a new facade, completed by the workers led by the sculptors Guglielmo and Biduino . The date of the start of the works is uncertain: immediately after Buscheto's death around the year 1120 , according to some, around the year 1140 according to others. The end of the works dates back to 1180 , as documented by the date affixed to the bronze doors by Bonanno Pisano on the main door.

 

The current appearance of the complex building is the result of repeated restoration campaigns that took place in different eras. The first radical interventions followed the disastrous fire on the night between 24 and 25 October 1595 [3] , which destroyed many decorative interventions and following which the roof was rebuilt and the three bronze doors of the facade were made, the work of sculptors from the workshop of Giambologna , including Gasparo Mola and Pietro Tacca . Starting from the eighteenth century, the progressive covering of the internal walls began with large paintings on canvas, the "quadroni" with Stories of Pisan blesseds and saints , executed by the main artists of the time thanks to the initiative of some citizens who financed themselves by creating a special business.

 

The Napoleonic spoliations of the Cathedral of Pisa and the Opera del Duomo were significant, many works converged on the Louvre where they are exhibited today, including The Triumph of Saint Thomas Aquinas among the Doctors of the Church by Benozzo Gozzoli , now in the Louvre, Death of San Bernardo dell'Orcagna and San Benedetto , the work of Andrea del Castagno .

 

Among the various noteworthy interventions, it is worth mentioning the dismantling of Giovanni Pisano's pulpit which was reassembled only in 1926 in a different position and with several parts missing, including the staircase, and the dismantling of the monument to Henry VII created by Lupo di Francesco which was located in front of the door of San Ranieri and subsequently replaced by a simplified and symbolic version.

 

The subsequent interventions took place during the nineteenth century and affected both the internal and external decorations, which in many cases, especially the sculptures on the facade, were replaced by copies (the originals are in the Museo dell'Opera del duomo ).

 

The building has a Latin cross shape with a large dome at the intersection of the arms. The longitudinal body, divided into five naves , extends over ten bays . This plan continues in the choir with two more bays and a final apse crowning the central nave alone. The transept has 4 bays on each side (or six if we include the two in common with the longitudinal body) and has three naves with apses ending on both sides. In the center four large pillars delimit the rectangular cross ending at the top with a large elliptical dome.

 

The building, like the bell tower, has sunk perceptibly into the ground, and some defects in the construction are clearly visible, such as the differences in level between Buscheto's nave and the extension by Rainaldo (the bays towards the west and the facade) .

 

The exterior of the cathedral is mainly in white and gray marble although the older stones placed at the lower levels of the longitudinal body are of other poorer material. There is no shortage of valuable materials, especially on the facade, where there are multicolored marble inlays, mosaics and also bronze objects from war booty, including the Griffin used on the top of the roof at the back (east side), perhaps taken from Palermo in 1061 ( today there is a copy on the roof, the original is in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo ).

 

The longitudinal body, transept and choir have a rich facing punctuated by three orders or floors. On the lower floor, long rows of pilasters supporting blind arches , in turn enclosing lozenges or windows, punctuate the space on all sides of the building with very few interruptions (only the apse of the right transept). The second floor still has pilasters but this time these do not support blind arches and are rather architraved , a motif interrupted only in the apse of the right transept (where blind arches appear again) and in the main apse where two orders of loggias are visible . In addition to the windows and lozenges, inlaid oculi also appear between the pilasters . The third floor has columns or semi-columns which again support blind arches (longitudinal body and choir) or an architrave (transept) with the usual alternation of windows, lozenges and inlaid oculi.

 

The raised round arches on the facade and in the main apse recall elements of Muslim art from Sicily . The blind arches with lozenges recall the similar structures of the churches of Armenia . Even the ellipsoidal dome rebuilt after the fire of 1595, surmounted by a lantern, recalls Islamic architecture.

 

The gray and white marble façade , decorated with colored marble inserts, was built by master Rainaldo in the 12th century and finished by 1180. On the lower floor, the seven blind arches which enclose lozenges, one every two, echo the same motif which spreads over the remaining three sides of the Cathedral. On the façade, however, the ornamentation becomes richer: semi-columns placed against semi-rectangular pillars replace the slender pilaster strips on the sides and are surmounted by Corinthian or figurative capitals. The arches are embellished with a rich texture of vegetal motifs and the lozenges are also larger and inlaid with multicolored marble. The empty spaces between the three portals have marble slabs forming square or rectangular motifs and are embellished with horizontal ornamental bands with plant motifs. The empty spaces between the arches are also filled with marble tablets inlaid with geometric or animal motifs. Noteworthy is the one at the top right of the main portal which depicts a Christian brandishing the cross between two beasts and the writing of Psalm 21 : Salva me ex ore leonis et a cornibus unicornium humilitatem meam (Save me from the mouth of the lion Lord and my humility from the unicorn's horns), the original of which is preserved in the nearby Museo dell'Opera del Duomo .

 

Of the three portals , the central one has larger dimensions and is enclosed by two columns decorated with vegetal motifs which support, above the capitals, two lions to symbolize the two "faces" of Christ the Judge , the one who condemns on the left and the one who rewards and is merciful on the right (note the saved and protected lamb between the legs). All three portals have eighteenth-century mosaics by Giuseppe Modena da Lucca in their lunettes depicting the Assumption of the Virgin (centre), Santa Reparata (left) and Saint John the Baptist (right). The bronze doors were made by various artists of the caliber of Giambologna , after the fire of 1595, replacing the two wooden side doors and the bronze-covered wooden royal door by Bonanno Pisano which bore the date of 1180 (seen and described before the fire) to testify to the completion of the façade in that year. To the left of the north left portal, there is Buscheto's tomb.

 

The four upper floors are characterized by four orders of superimposed loggias, divided by finely sculpted frames, behind which there are single , double and triple lancet windows . Many of the friezes on the arches and frames were redone in the 17th century after the fire of 1595, while the polychrome marble inlays between the arches are original. Even higher up, to crown it, the Madonna and Child by Andrea Pisano and, in the corners, the four evangelists by Giovanni Pisano (early 14th century).

 

Contrary to what one might think, since ancient times the faithful have entered the Cathedral through the door of San Ranieri , located at the back in the transept of the same name, in front of the bell tower. This is because the nobles of the city went to the cathedral coming from via Santa Maria which leads to that transept. This door was cast around 1180 by Bonanno Pisano , and is the only door to escape the fire of 1595 which heavily damaged the church. The door is decorated with twenty-four panels depicting stories from the New Testament. This door is one of the first produced in Italy in the Middle Ages, after the importation of numerous examples from Constantinople , (in Amalfi , in Salerno , in Rome , in Montecassino , in Venice ...) and one admires an entirely Western sensitivity, which breaks away from the Byzantine tradition.

 

The original gràdule of the Duomo, designed by Giovanni Pisano and dating back to the end of the 13th century, were removed in 1865 and replaced by the current churchyard . These gràdule consisted of small walls, decorated with squares carved with figures of animals and heads, close to the external perimeter of the cathedral and served as a base for the numerous sarcophagi of the Roman era which, during the medieval era, were reused for the burials of nobles (among whom Beatrice of Canossa stands out ) and heroes. Currently some fragments are visible in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, while the sarcophagi were all moved within the enclosure of the monumental cemetery .

 

The lower register of the facade is not very rich in figurative sculptural decorations unlike other contemporary Romanesque cathedrals, but it still gives a rich meaning both to its unitary components and a complex allegory in its overall vision. To read the latter you need to start from the left where the outermost capital of the left side portal shows two ferocious lions devouring weak prey and two human figures further behind. The former represent the struggle between good and evil where evil dominates [6] , but behind them the figure of the old man stacking wood and the young man towering over a ram perhaps represent Abraham and Isaac and the sacrificial ram (or two peasants virtuous at work) which show preparation for God's plan of salvation. The arch that starts from the same capital shows a row of dragons that two virtuous human figures in the center are forced to face in the continuous struggle between good and evil. [6]

 

At the level of the central portal we enter the New Testament which concretizes the plan of salvation brought about by God starting from Abraham . It is the portal dedicated to the Virgin of the Assumption and her Son , whose divine judgment is represented by the two lions of justice, the one that condemns on the left and the one that protects and saves on the right with the little lamb protected between its legs, for Divine Mercy or Justice whatever it is. [6] The 42 stylized human figurines present on the decorated arch show the 42 generations that separate, according to the Gospel of Matthew , Abraham from Jesus Christ (the figurines are actually 43 but perhaps due to renovation needs or other reasons for filling the frieze ). This transition from the old to the new is strengthened by the two marble inlays in the intrados of the main arch where a ferocious dragon and a lion facing each other depicting the perennial struggle between the evil forces (left inlay) [6] become two equally ferocious unicorns but in the middle to whom a Christian appears brandishing a cross to defend himself from them (inlay on the right) and where we read in Latin:

 

de ore leonis libera me domine et a cornibus unicorni humilitatem mea ("Save me from the lion's mouth, Lord, and my humility from the unicorn's horns", psalm 21 ).

The last element of this complex narrative is the outermost capital of the right portal, which acts as a pendant to that of the left portal from which we started. We are well beyond the coming of Jesus where the evil lions, previously in the foreground, are relegated to a backward and out of the way position, always ready to strike as shown by the heads turned back and the tongue out, but in a contorted position due to the continuous escapes to which the Savior and the Church forces them to do. [6] In a prominent position there are now two naked human figurines, the souls of those saved by the Savior through the intercession of the Church , which are composed and serene figures with large eyes, well anchored with their arms to the garland of the capital and the feet resting well on the acanthus leaves, symbol of men of faith, victorious over sin and blessed by faith rather than merit.

 

The five- nave interior is covered in black and white marble, with monolithic columns of gray marble and capitals of the Corinthian order . The arches of the ten bays are round arches (those of the central nave) or raised arches in the Moorish style of the time (those of the side naves).

 

The central nave has a seventeenth-century gilded coffered ceiling, in gilded and painted wood, by the Florentines Domenico and Bartolomeo Atticciati ; it bears the Medici coat of arms in gold . Presumably the ancient ceiling had a structure with exposed wooden trusses. The four side naves have a cross-shaped plastered roof. The coffered roof is also present in the choir and in the central nave of the transept, while a plastered barrel roof is present in the side naves of the transept. The coverage of the lateral naves of the transept at the level of the two bays shared with the lateral naves of the longitudinal body is curious: these are cross-shaped (as in the lateral naves of the longitudinal body), but are higher (as in the lateral naves of the transept) . There is also a women's gallery of Byzantine origin that runs along the entire church, including the choir and transept and which has a coffered roof (central body) or wooden beams (transept). Even higher up, thin and deep windows allow the church to be lit.

 

The interior suggests a spatial effect that has some analogy with that of mosques , for the use of raised arches, for the alternation of white and green marble bands, for the unusual elliptical dome , of oriental inspiration, and for the presence of women's galleries with solid monolithic granite columns in the mullioned windows , a clear sign of Byzantine influence. The architect Buscheto had welcomed stimuli from the Islamic Levant and Armenia . [7]

 

Only part of the medieval decorative interventions survived the fire of 1595. Among these is the fresco with the Madonna and Child by the Pisan Master of San Torpè in the triumphal arch (late 13th-early 14th century), and below it the Cosmatesque flooring , of a certain rarity outside the borders of Lazio . It was made of marble inlays with geometric "opus alexandrinum" motifs (mid- 12th century ). Other late medieval fresco fragments have survived, among them Saint Jerome on one of the four central pillars and Saint John the Baptist , a Crucifix and Saint Cosimo and Damian on the pillar near the entrance door, partially hidden by the compass .

 

At the meeting point between the transept and the central body the dome rises, the decoration of which represented one of the last interventions carried out after the fire mentioned. Painted with the rare encaustic painting technique [8] (or wax on wall) [9] , the dome represents the Virgin in glory and saints ( 1627 - 1631 ), a masterpiece by the Pisan Orazio Riminaldi , completed after his death. which occurred in 1630 due to the plague, by his brother Girolamo . The decoration underwent a careful restoration which returned it to its original splendor in 2018.

 

The presbytery, ending in a curved apse, presents a great variety of ornaments. Above, in the basin, the large mosaic of Christ enthroned between the Virgin and Saint John is made famous by the face of Saint John, a work by Cimabue from 1302 which miraculously survived the fire of 1595. Precisely that Saint John the Evangelist was the The last work created by Cimabue before his death and the only one for which certified documentation exists. It evokes the mosaics of Byzantine churches and also Norman ones, such as Cefalù and Monreale , in Sicily . The mosaic, largely created by Francesco da Pisa, was finished by Vincino da Pistoia with the depiction of the Madonna on the left side ( 1320 ).

 

The main altar, from the beginning of the twentieth century, features six Angels contemporary with Ludovico Poliaghi , and in the center the bronze Crucifix by Giambologna , of which there are also the two candle-holder Angels at the end of the rich marble transenna, while the third Angel on the column to the left of the altar is by Stoldo Lorenzi .

 

Below, behind the main altar, there is the large decorative complex of the Tribune, composed of 27 paintings depicting episodes from the Old Testament and Christological stories. Begun before the fire with the works of Andrea del Sarto (three canvases, Saint Agnes , Saints Catherine and Margaret and Saints Peter and John the Baptist ) del Sodoma and Domenico Beccafumi ( Stories of Moses and the Evangelists ), it was completed after this calamity with the works of several Tuscan painters, including Orazio Riminaldi .

 

The pulpit , a masterpiece by Giovanni Pisano (1302-1310), survived the fire, but was dismantled during the restoration work and was not reassembled until 1926 . With its articulated architectural structure and complex sculptural decoration, the work is one of the largest narratives in fourteenth-century images that reflects the renewal and religious fervor of the era. The episodes from the Life of Christ are carved in an expressive language on the slightly curved panels . The structure is polygonal, as in the similar previous examples, in the baptistery of Pisa , in the cathedral of Siena and in the church of Sant'Andrea in Pistoia , but for the first time the panels are slightly curved, giving a new idea of ​​circularity in its type. Equally original are: the presence of caryatids , sculpted figures in place of simple columns, which symbolize the Virtues ; the adoption of spiral brackets instead of arches to support the mezzanine floor; the sense of movement, given by the numerous figures that fill every empty space.

 

For these qualities combined with the skilful narrative art of the nine scenes it is generally considered Giovanni's masterpiece and more generally of Italian Gothic sculpture. The pulpit commissioned from Giovanni replaced a previous one , created by Guglielmo ( 1157 - 1162 ), which was sent to the cathedral of Cagliari . Since there is no documentation of what the pulpit looked like before its dismantling, it was rebuilt in a different position from the original one and, certainly, with the parts not in the same order and orientation as had been thought. It is not known whether or not he had a marble staircase.

 

The right transept is occupied by the Chapel of San Ranieri , patron saint of the city, whose relics are preserved in the magnificent shrine on the altar. Also in the chapel, on the left, is preserved part of the fragmentary tomb of Henry VII of Luxembourg , Holy Roman Emperor , who died in 1313 in Buonconvento while besieging Florence in vain . The tomb, also dismantled and reassembled, (it was sculpted by Tino di Camaino in 1313 - 1315 ) and was originally placed in the center of the apse, as a sign of the Ghibelline faith of the city. It was also a much more complex sculptural monument, featuring various statues. Moved several times for political reasons, it was also separated into several parts (some inside the church, some on the facade, some in the Campo Santo). Today we find the sarcophagus in the church with the deceased depicted lying on it, according to the fashion in vogue at that time, and the twelve apostles sculpted in bas-relief. The lunette painted with curtain-holding angels is instead a later addition from the workshop of Domenico Ghirlandaio (end of the 15th century ). The other remains of the monument have been reassembled in the nearby Museo dell'Opera del Duomo . The left transept is occupied by the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, in the center of which is the large silver tabernacle designed by Giovan Battista Foggini (1678-86).

 

On the numerous side altars there are sixteenth-seventeenth century paintings. Among the paintings housed on the minor altars, we remember the Madonna delle Grazie with saints, by the Florentine mannerist Andrea del Sarto, and the Madonna enthroned with saints in the right transept, by Perin del Vaga , a pupil of Raphael , both finished by Giovanni Antonio Sogliani . The canvas with the Dispute of the Sacrament is in Baroque style, by the Sienese Francesco Vanni , and the Cross with saints by the Genoese Giovanni Battista Paggi . Particularly venerated is the image of the thirteenth-century Madonna and Child , known as the Madonna di sotto gli organi , attributed to the Volterra native Berlinghiero Berlinghieri .

 

Pisa is a city and comune in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower, the city contains more than twenty other historic churches, several medieval palaces, and bridges across the Arno. Much of the city's architecture was financed from its history as one of the Italian maritime republics.

 

The city is also home to the University of Pisa, which has a history going back to the 12th century, the Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa, founded by Napoleon in 1810, and its offshoot, the Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies.

 

History

For a chronological guide, see Timeline of Pisa.

Ancient times

The most believed hypothesis is that the origin of the name Pisa comes from Etruscan and means 'mouth', as Pisa is at the mouth of the Arno river.

 

Although throughout history there have been several uncertainties about the origin of the city of Pisa, excavations made in the 1980s and 1990s found numerous archaeological remains, including the fifth century BC tomb of an Etruscan prince, proving the Etruscan origin of the city, and its role as a maritime city, showing that it also maintained trade relations with other Mediterranean civilizations.

 

Ancient Roman authors referred to Pisa as an old city. Virgil, in his Aeneid, states that Pisa was already a great center by the times described; and gives the epithet of Alphēae to the city because it was said to have been founded by colonists from Pisa in Elis, near which the Alpheius river flowed. The Virgilian commentator Servius wrote that the Teuti founded the town 13 centuries before the start of the common era.

 

The maritime role of Pisa should have been already prominent if the ancient authorities ascribed to it the invention of the naval ram. Pisa took advantage of being the only port along the western coast between Genoa (then a small village) and Ostia. Pisa served as a base for Roman naval expeditions against Ligurians and Gauls. In 180 BC, it became a Roman colony under Roman law, as Portus Pisanus. In 89 BC, Portus Pisanus became a municipium. Emperor Augustus fortified the colony into an important port and changed the name to Colonia Iulia obsequens.

 

Pisa supposedly was founded on the shore, but due to the alluvial sediments from the Arno and the Serchio, whose mouth lies about 11 km (7 mi) north of the Arno's, the shore moved west. Strabo states that the city was 4.0 km (2.5 mi) away from the coast. Currently, it is located 9.7 km (6 mi) from the coast. However, it was a maritime city, with ships sailing up the Arno. In the 90s AD, a baths complex was built in the city.

 

Late Antiquity and Early Middle Ages

During the last years of the Western Roman Empire, Pisa did not decline as much as the other cities of Italy, probably due to the complexity of its river system and its consequent ease of defence. In the seventh century, Pisa helped Pope Gregory I by supplying numerous ships in his military expedition against the Byzantines of Ravenna: Pisa was the sole Byzantine centre of Tuscia to fall peacefully in Lombard hands, through assimilation with the neighbouring region where their trading interests were prevalent. Pisa began in this way its rise to the role of main port of the Upper Tyrrhenian Sea and became the main trading centre between Tuscany and Corsica, Sardinia, and the southern coasts of France and Spain.

 

After Charlemagne had defeated the Lombards under the command of Desiderius in 774, Pisa went through a crisis, but soon recovered. Politically, it became part of the duchy of Lucca. In 860, Pisa was captured by vikings led by Björn Ironside. In 930, Pisa became the county centre (status it maintained until the arrival of Otto I) within the mark of Tuscia. Lucca was the capital but Pisa was the most important city, as in the middle of tenth century Liutprand of Cremona, bishop of Cremona, called Pisa Tusciae provinciae caput ("capital of the province of Tuscia"), and a century later, the marquis of Tuscia was commonly referred to as "marquis of Pisa". In 1003, Pisa was the protagonist of the first communal war in Italy, against Lucca. From the naval point of view, since the ninth century, the emergence of the Saracen pirates urged the city to expand its fleet; in the following years, this fleet gave the town an opportunity for more expansion. In 828, Pisan ships assaulted the coast of North Africa. In 871, they took part in the defence of Salerno from the Saracens. In 970, they gave also strong support to Otto I's expedition, defeating a Byzantine fleet in front of Calabrese coasts.

 

11th century

The power of Pisa as a maritime nation began to grow and reached its apex in the 11th century, when it acquired traditional fame as one of the four main historical maritime republics of Italy (Repubbliche Marinare).

 

At that time, the city was a very important commercial centre and controlled a significant Mediterranean merchant fleet and navy. It expanded its powers in 1005 through the sack of Reggio Calabria in the south of Italy. Pisa was in continuous conflict with some 'Saracens' - a medieval term to refer to Arab Muslims - who had their bases in Corsica, for control of the Mediterranean. In 1017, Sardinian Giudicati were militarily supported by Pisa, in alliance with Genoa, to defeat the Saracen King Mugahid, who had settled a logistic base in the north of Sardinia the year before. This victory gave Pisa supremacy in the Tyrrhenian Sea. When the Pisans subsequently ousted the Genoese from Sardinia, a new conflict and rivalry was born between these major marine republics. Between 1030 and 1035, Pisa went on to defeat several rival towns in Sicily and conquer Carthage in North Africa. In 1051–1052, the admiral Jacopo Ciurini conquered Corsica, provoking more resentment from the Genoese. In 1063, Admiral Giovanni Orlandi, coming to the aid of the Norman Roger I, took Palermo from the Saracen pirates. The gold treasure taken from the Saracens in Palermo allowed the Pisans to start the building of their cathedral and the other monuments which constitute the famous Piazza del Duomo.

 

In 1060, Pisa had to engage in their first battle with Genoa. The Pisan victory helped to consolidate its position in the Mediterranean. Pope Gregory VII recognised in 1077 the new "Laws and customs of the sea" instituted by the Pisans, and emperor Henry IV granted them the right to name their own consuls, advised by a council of elders. This was simply a confirmation of the present situation, because in those years, the marquis had already been excluded from power. In 1092, Pope Urban II awarded Pisa the supremacy over Corsica and Sardinia, and at the same time raising the town to the rank of archbishopric.

 

Pisa sacked the Tunisian city of Mahdia in 1088. Four years later, Pisan and Genoese ships helped Alfonso VI of Castilla to push El Cid out of Valencia. A Pisan fleet of 120 ships also took part in the First Crusade, and the Pisans were instrumental in the taking of Jerusalem in 1099. On their way to the Holy Land, the ships did not miss the occasion to sack some Byzantine islands; the Pisan crusaders were led by their archbishop Daibert, the future patriarch of Jerusalem. Pisa and the other Repubbliche Marinare took advantage of the crusade to establish trading posts and colonies in the Eastern coastal cities of the Levant. In particular, the Pisans founded colonies in Antiochia, Acre, Jaffa, Tripoli, Tyre, Latakia, and Accone. They also had other possessions in Jerusalem and Caesarea, plus smaller colonies (with lesser autonomy) in Cairo, Alexandria, and of course Constantinople, where the Byzantine Emperor Alexius I Comnenus granted them special mooring and trading rights. In all these cities, the Pisans were granted privileges and immunity from taxation, but had to contribute to the defence in case of attack. In the 12th century, the Pisan quarter in the eastern part of Constantinople had grown to 1,000 people. For some years of that century, Pisa was the most prominent commercial and military ally of the Byzantine Empire, overcoming Venice itself.

 

12th century

In 1113, Pisa and Pope Paschal II set up, together with the count of Barcelona and other contingents from Provence and Italy (Genoese excluded), a war to free the Balearic Islands from the Moors; the queen and the king of Majorca were brought in chains to Tuscany. Though the Almoravides soon reconquered the island, the booty taken helped the Pisans in their magnificent programme of buildings, especially the cathedral, and Pisa gained a role of pre-eminence in the Western Mediterranean.

 

In the following years, the powerful Pisan fleet, led by archbishop Pietro Moriconi, drove away the Saracens after ferocious battles. Though short-lived, this Pisan success in Spain increased the rivalry with Genoa. Pisa's trade with Languedoc, Provence (Noli, Savona, Fréjus, and Montpellier) were an obstacle to Genoese interests in cities such as Hyères, Fos, Antibes, and Marseille.

 

The war began in 1119 when the Genoese attacked several galleys on their way home to the motherland, and lasted until 1133. The two cities fought each other on land and at sea, but hostilities were limited to raids and pirate-like assaults.

 

In June 1135, Bernard of Clairvaux took a leading part in the Council of Pisa, asserting the claims of Pope Innocent II against those of Pope Anacletus II, who had been elected pope in 1130 with Norman support, but was not recognised outside Rome. Innocent II resolved the conflict with Genoa, establishing Pisan and Genoese spheres of influence. Pisa could then, unhindered by Genoa, participate in the conflict of Innocent II against king Roger II of Sicily. Amalfi, one of the maritime republics (though already declining under Norman rule), was conquered on August 6, 1136; the Pisans destroyed the ships in the port, assaulted the castles in the surrounding areas, and drove back an army sent by Roger from Aversa. This victory brought Pisa to the peak of its power and to a standing equal to Venice. Two years later, its soldiers sacked Salerno.

 

New city walls, erected in 1156 by Consul Cocco Griffi

In the following years, Pisa was one of the staunchest supporters of the Ghibelline party. This was much appreciated by Frederick I. He issued in 1162 and 1165 two important documents, with these grants: Apart from the jurisdiction over the Pisan countryside, the Pisans were granted freedom of trade in the whole empire, the coast from Civitavecchia to Portovenere, a half of Palermo, Messina, Salerno and Naples, the whole of Gaeta, Mazara, and Trapani, and a street with houses for its merchants in every city of the Kingdom of Sicily. Some of these grants were later confirmed by Henry VI, Otto IV, and Frederick II. They marked the apex of Pisa's power, but also spurred the resentment of other cities such as Lucca, Massa, Volterra, and Florence, thwarting their aim to expand towards the sea. The clash with Lucca also concerned the possession of the castle of Montignoso and mainly the control of the Via Francigena, the main trade route between Rome and France. Last, but not least, such a sudden and large increase of power by Pisa could only lead to another war with Genoa.

 

Genoa had acquired a dominant position in the markets of southern France. The war began in 1165 on the Rhône, when an attack on a convoy, directed to some Pisan trade centres on the river, by the Genoese and their ally, the count of Toulouse, failed. Pisa, though, was allied to Provence. The war continued until 1175 without significant victories. Another point of attrition was Sicily, where both the cities had privileges granted by Henry VI. In 1192, Pisa managed to conquer Messina. This episode was followed by a series of battles culminating in the Genoese conquest of Syracuse in 1204. Later, the trading posts in Sicily were lost when the new Pope Innocent III, though removing the excommunication cast over Pisa by his predecessor Celestine III, allied himself with the Guelph League of Tuscany, led by Florence. Soon, he stipulated[clarification needed] a pact with Genoa, too, further weakening the Pisan presence in southern Italy.

 

To counter the Genoese predominance in the southern Tyrrhenian Sea, Pisa strengthened its relationship with its traditional Spanish and French bases (Marseille, Narbonne, Barcelona, etc.) and tried to defy the Venetian rule of the Adriatic Sea. In 1180, the two cities agreed to a nonaggression treaty in the Tyrrhenian and the Adriatic, but the death of Emperor Manuel Comnenus in Constantinople changed the situation. Soon, attacks on Venetian convoys were made. Pisa signed trade and political pacts with Ancona, Pula, Zara, Split, and Brindisi; in 1195, a Pisan fleet reached Pola to defend its independence from Venice, but the Serenissima soon reconquered the rebel sea town.

 

One year later, the two cities signed a peace treaty, which resulted in favourable conditions for Pisa, but in 1199, the Pisans violated it by blockading the port of Brindisi in Apulia. In the following naval battle, they were defeated by the Venetians. The war that followed ended in 1206 with a treaty in which Pisa gave up all its hopes to expand in the Adriatic, though it maintained the trading posts it had established in the area. From that point on, the two cities were united against the rising power of Genoa and sometimes collaborated to increase the trading benefits in Constantinople.

 

13th century

In 1209 in Lerici, two councils for a final resolution of the rivalry with Genoa were held. A 20-year peace treaty was signed, but when in 1220, the emperor Frederick II confirmed his supremacy over the Tyrrhenian coast from Civitavecchia to Portovenere, the Genoese and Tuscan resentment against Pisa grew again. In the following years, Pisa clashed with Lucca in Garfagnana and was defeated by the Florentines at Castel del Bosco. The strong Ghibelline position of Pisa brought this town diametrically against the Pope, who was in a dispute with the Holy Roman Empire, and indeed the pope tried to deprive Pisa of its dominions in northern Sardinia.

 

In 1238, Pope Gregory IX formed an alliance between Genoa and Venice against the empire, and consequently against Pisa, too. One year later, he excommunicated Frederick II and called for an anti-Empire council to be held in Rome in 1241. On May 3, 1241, a combined fleet of Pisan and Sicilian ships, led by the emperor's son Enzo, attacked a Genoese convoy carrying prelates from northern Italy and France, next to the isle of Giglio (Battle of Giglio), in front of Tuscany; the Genoese lost 25 ships, while about a thousand sailors, two cardinals, and one bishop were taken prisoner. After this major victory, the council in Rome failed, but Pisa was excommunicated. This extreme measure was only removed in 1257. Anyway, the Tuscan city tried to take advantage of the favourable situation to conquer the Corsican city of Aleria and even lay siege to Genoa itself in 1243.

 

The Ligurian republic of Genoa, however, recovered fast from this blow and won back Lerici, conquered by the Pisans some years earlier, in 1256.

 

The great expansion in the Mediterranean and the prominence of the merchant class urged a modification in the city's institutes. The system with consuls was abandoned, and in 1230, the new city rulers named a capitano del popolo ("people's chieftain") as civil and military leader. Despite these reforms, the conquered lands and the city itself were harassed by the rivalry between the two families of Della Gherardesca and Visconti. In 1237 the archbishop and the Emperor Frederick II intervened to reconcile the two rivals, but the strains continued. In 1254, the people rebelled and imposed 12 Anziani del Popolo ("People's Elders") as their political representatives in the commune. They also supplemented the legislative councils, formed of noblemen, with new People's Councils, composed by the main guilds and by the chiefs of the People's Companies. These had the power to ratify the laws of the Major General Council and the Senate.

 

Decline

The decline is said to have begun on August 6, 1284, when the numerically superior fleet of Pisa, under the command of Albertino Morosini, was defeated by the brilliant tactics of the Genoese fleet, under the command of Benedetto Zaccaria and Oberto Doria, in the dramatic naval Battle of Meloria. This defeat ended the maritime power of Pisa and the town never fully recovered; in 1290, the Genoese destroyed forever the Porto Pisano (Pisa's port), and covered the land with salt. The region around Pisa did not permit the city to recover from the loss of thousands of sailors from the Meloria, while Liguria guaranteed enough sailors to Genoa. Goods, however, continued to be traded, albeit in reduced quantity, but the end came when the Arno started to change course, preventing the galleys from reaching the city's port up the river. The nearby area also likely became infested with malaria. The true end came in 1324, when Sardinia was entirely lost to the Aragonese.

 

Always Ghibelline, Pisa tried to build up its power in the course of the 14th century, and even managed to defeat Florence in the Battle of Montecatini (1315), under the command of Uguccione della Faggiuola. Eventually, however, after a long siege, Pisa was occupied by Florentines in 1405.[9] Florentines corrupted the capitano del popolo ("people's chieftain"), Giovanni Gambacorta, who at night opened the city gate of San Marco. Pisa was never conquered by an army. In 1409, Pisa was the seat of a council trying to set the question of the Great Schism. In the 15th century, access to the sea became more difficult, as the port was silting up and was cut off from the sea. When in 1494, Charles VIII of France invaded the Italian states to claim the Kingdom of Naples, Pisa reclaimed its independence as the Second Pisan Republic.

 

The new freedom did not last long; 15 years of battles and sieges by the Florentine troops led by Antonio da Filicaja, Averardo Salviati and Niccolò Capponi were made, but they failed to conquer the city. Vitellozzo Vitelli with his brother Paolo were the only ones who actually managed to break the strong defences of Pisa and make a breach in the Stampace bastion in the southern west part of the walls, but he did not enter the city. For that, they were suspected of treachery and Paolo was put to death. However, the resources of Pisa were getting low, and at the end, the city was sold to the Visconti family from Milan and eventually to Florence again. Livorno took over the role of the main port of Tuscany. Pisa acquired a mainly cultural role spurred by the presence of the University of Pisa, created in 1343, and later reinforced by the Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa (1810) and Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies (1987).

 

Pisa was the birthplace of the important early physicist Galileo Galilei. It is still the seat of an archbishopric. Besides its educational institutions, it has become a light industrial centre and a railway hub. It suffered repeated destruction during World War II.

 

Since the early 1950s, the US Army has maintained Camp Darby just outside Pisa, which is used by many US military personnel as a base for vacations in the area.

 

Geography

Climate

Pisa has a borderline humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification: Cfa) and Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification: Csa). The city is characterized by cool to mild winters and hot summers. This transitional climate allows Pisa to have summers with moderate rainfall. Rainfall peaks in autumn. Snow is rare. The highest officially recorded temperature was 39.5 °C (103.1 °F) on 22 August 2011 and the lowest was −13.8 °C (7.2 °F) on 12 January 1985.

 

Culture

Gioco del Ponte

In Pisa there was a festival and game fr:Gioco del Ponte (Game of the Bridge) which was celebrated (in some form) in Pisa from perhaps the 1200s down to 1807. From the end of the 1400s the game took the form of a mock battle fought upon Pisa's central bridge (Ponte di Mezzo). The participants wore quilted armor and the only offensive weapon allowed was the targone, a shield-shaped, stout board with precisely specified dimensions. Hitting below the belt was not allowed. Two opposing teams started at opposite ends of the bridge. The object of the two opposing teams was to penetrate, drive back, and disperse the opponents' ranks and to thereby drive them backwards off the bridge. The struggle was limited to forty-five minutes. Victory or defeat was immensely important to the team players and their partisans, but sometimes the game was fought to a draw and both sides celebrated.

 

In 1677 the battle was witnessed by Dutch travelling artist Cornelis de Bruijn. He wrote:

 

"While I stayed in Livorno, I went to Pisa to witness the bridge fight there. The fighters arrived fully armored, wearing helmets, each carrying their banner, which was planted at both ends of the bridge, which is quite wide and long. The battle is fought with certain wooden implements made for this purpose, which they wear over their arms and are attached to them, with which they pummel each other so intensely that I saw several of them carried away with bloody and crushed heads. Victory consists of capturing the bridge, in the same way as the fistfights in Venice between the it:Castellani and the Nicolotti."

 

In 1927 the tradition was revived by college students as an elaborate costume parade. In 1935 Vittorio Emanuele III with the royal family witnessed the first revival of a modern version of the game, which has been pursued in the 20th and 21st centuries with some interruptions and varying degrees of enthusiasm by Pisans and their civic institutions.

 

Festivals and cultural events

Capodanno pisano (folklore, March 25)

Gioco del Ponte (folklore)

Luminara di San Ranieri (folklore, June 16)

Maritime republics regata (folklore)

Premio Nazionale Letterario Pisa

Pisa Book Festival

Metarock (rock music festival)

Internet Festival San Ranieri regata (folklore)

Turn Off Festival (house music festival)

Nessiáh (Jewish cultural Festival, November)

Main sights

 

The Leaning Tower of Pisa.

While the bell tower of the cathedral, known as "the leaning Tower of Pisa", is the most famous image of the city, it is one of many works of art and architecture in the city's Piazza del Duomo, also known, since the 20th century, as Piazza dei Miracoli (Square of Miracles), to the north of the old town center. The Piazza del Duomo also houses the Duomo (the Cathedral), the Baptistry and the Campo Santo (the monumental cemetery). The medieval complex includes the above-mentioned four sacred buildings, the hospital and few palaces. All the complex is kept by the Opera (fabrica ecclesiae) della Primaziale Pisana, an old non profit foundation that has operated since the building of the Cathedral in 1063 to maintain the sacred buildings. The area is framed by medieval walls kept by the municipal administration.

 

Other sights include:

Santo Stefano dei Cavalieri, church sited on Piazza dei Cavalieri, and also designed by Vasari. It had originally a single nave; two more were added in the 17th century. It houses a bust by Donatello, and paintings by Vasari, Jacopo Ligozzi, Alessandro Fei, and Pontormo. It also contains spoils from the many naval battles between the Cavalieri (Knights of St. Stephan) and the Turks between the 16th and 18th centuries, including the Turkish battle pennant hoisted from Ali Pacha's flagship at the 1571 Battle of Lepanto.

St. Sixtus. This small church, consecrated in 1133, is also close to the Piazza dei Cavalieri. It was used as a seat of the most important notarial deeds of the town, also hosting the Council of Elders. It is today one of the best preserved early Romanesque buildings in town.

St. Francis. The church of San Francesco may have been designed by Giovanni di Simone, built after 1276. In 1343 new chapels were added and the church was elevated. It has a single nave and a notable belfry, as well as a 15th-century cloister. It houses works by Jacopo da Empoli, Taddeo Gaddi and Santi di Tito. In the Gherardesca Chapel are buried Ugolino della Gherardesca and his sons.

San Frediano. This church, built by 1061, has a basilica interior with three aisles, with a crucifix from the 12th century. Paintings from the 16th century were added during a restoration, including works by Ventura Salimbeni, Domenico Passignano, Aurelio Lomi, and Rutilio Manetti.

San Nicola. This medieval church built by 1097, was enlarged between 1297 and 1313 by the Augustinians, perhaps by the design of Giovanni Pisano. The octagonal belfry is from the second half of the 13th century. The paintings include the Madonna with Child by Francesco Traini (14th century) and St. Nicholas Saving Pisa from the Plague (15th century). Noteworthy are also the wood sculptures by Giovanni and Nino Pisano, and the Annunciation by Francesco di Valdambrino.

Santa Maria della Spina. A small white marble church alongside the Arno, is attributed to Lupo di Francesco (1230), is another excellent Gothic building.

San Paolo a Ripa d'Arno. The church was founded around 952 and enlarged in the mid-12th century along lines similar to those of the cathedral. It is annexed to the Romanesque Chapel of St. Agatha, with an unusual pyramidal cusp or peak.

San Pietro in Vinculis. Known as San Pierino, it is an 11th-century church with a crypt and a cosmatesque mosaic on the floor of the main nave.

 

Borgo Stretto. This medieval borgo or neighborhood contains strolling arcades and the Lungarno, the avenues along the river Arno. It includes the Gothic-Romanesque church of San Michele in Borgo (990). There are at least two other leaning towers in the city, one at the southern end of central Via Santa Maria, the other halfway through the Piagge riverside promenade.

Medici Palace. The palace was once a possession of the Appiano family, who ruled Pisa in 1392–1398. In 1400 the Medici acquired it, and Lorenzo de' Medici sojourned here.

Orto botanico di Pisa. The botanical garden of the University of Pisa is Europe's oldest university botanical garden.

Palazzo Reale. The ("Royal Palace"), once belonged to the Caetani patrician family. Here Galileo Galilei showed to Grand Duke of Tuscany the planets he had discovered with his telescope. The edifice was erected in 1559 by Baccio Bandinelli for Cosimo I de Medici, and was later enlarged including other palaces. The palace is now a museum.

Palazzo Gambacorti. This palace is a 14th-century Gothic building, and now houses the offices of the municipality. The interior shows frescoes boasting Pisa's sea victories.

Palazzo Agostini. The palace is a Gothic building also known as Palazzo dell'Ussero, with its 15th-century façade and remains of the ancient city walls dating back to before 1155. The name of the building comes from the coffee rooms of Caffè dell'Ussero, historic meeting place founded on September 1, 1775.

Mural Tuttomondo. A modern mural, the last public work by Keith Haring, on the rear wall of the convent of the Church of Sant'Antonio, painted in June 1989.

Museums

Museo dell'Opera del Duomo: exhibiting among others the original sculptures of Nicola Pisano and Giovanni Pisano, the Islamic Pisa Griffin, and the treasures of the cathedral.

Museo delle Sinopie: showing the sinopias from the camposanto, the monumental cemetery. These are red ocher underdrawings for frescoes, made with reddish, greenish or brownish earth colour with water.

Museo Nazionale di San Matteo: exhibiting sculptures and paintings from the 12th to 15th centuries, among them the masterworks of Giovanni and Andrea Pisano, the Master of San Martino, Simone Martini, Nino Pisano and Masaccio.

Museo Nazionale di Palazzo Reale: exhibiting the belongings of the families that lived in the palace: paintings, statues, armors, etc.

Museo Nazionale degli Strumenti per il Calcolo: exhibiting a collection of instruments used in science, between a pneumatic machine of Van Musschenbroek and a compass which probably belonged to Galileo Galilei.

Museo di storia naturale dell'Università di Pisa (Natural History Museum of the University of Pisa), located in the Certosa di Calci, outside the city. It houses one of the largest cetacean skeletons collection in Europe.

Palazzo Blu: temporary exhibitions and cultural activities center, located in the Lungarno, in the heart of the old town, the palace is easy recognizable because it is the only blue building.

Cantiere delle Navi di Pisa - The Pisa's Ancient Ships Archaeological Area: A museum of 10,650 square meters – 3,500 archaeological excavation, 1,700 laboratories and one restoration center – that visitors can visit with a guided tour.[19] The Museum opened in June 2019 and has been located inside to the 16th-century Medicean Arsenals in Lungarno Ranieri Simonelli, restored under the supervision of the Tuscany Soprintendenza. It hosts a remarkable collection of ceramics and amphoras dated back from the 8th century BCE to the 2nd century BC, and also 32 ships dated back from the second century BCE and the seventh century BC. Four of them are integrally preserved and the best one is the so-called Barca C, also named Alkedo (written in the ancient Greek characters). The first boat was accidentally discovered in 1998 near the Pisa San Rossore railway station and the archeological excavations were completed 20 years later.

 

Churches

St. Francis' Church

San Francesco

San Frediano

San Giorgio ai Tedeschi

San Michele in Borgo

San Nicola

San Paolo a Ripa d'Arno

San Paolo all'Orto

San Piero a Grado

San Pietro in Vinculis

San Sisto

San Tommaso delle Convertite

San Zeno

Santa Caterina

Santa Cristina

Santa Maria della Spina

Santo Sepolcro

 

Palaces, towers and villas

Palazzo della Carovana or dei Cavalieri.

Pisa by Oldypak lp photo

Pisa

Palazzo del Collegio Puteano

Palazzo della Carovana

Palazzo delle Vedove

Torre dei Gualandi

Villa di Corliano

Leaning Tower of Pisa

 

Sports

Football is the main sport in Pisa; the local team, A.C. Pisa, currently plays in the Serie B (the second highest football division in Italy), and has had a top flight history throughout the 1980s and the 1990s, featuring several world-class players such as Diego Simeone, Christian Vieri and Dunga during this time. The club play at the Arena Garibaldi – Stadio Romeo Anconetani, opened in 1919 and with a capacity of 25,000.

 

Notable people

For people born in Pisa, see People from the Province of Pisa; among notable non-natives long resident in the city:

 

Giuliano Amato (born 1938), politician, former Premier and Minister of Interior Affairs

Alessandro d'Ancona (1835–1914), critic and writer.

Silvano Arieti (1914–1981), psychiatrist

Gaetano Bardini (1926–2017), tenor

Andrea Bocelli (born 1958), tenor and multi-instrumentalist.

Giosuè Carducci (1835–1907), poet and 1906 Nobel Prize in Literature winner.

Massimo Carmassi (born 1943), architect

Carlo Azeglio Ciampi (1920–2016), politician, former President of the Republic of Italy

Maria Luisa Cicci (1760–1794), poet

Giovanni Carlo Maria Clari (1677–1754), a musical composer and maestro di cappella at Pistoia.

Alessio Corti (born 1965), mathematician

Rustichello da Pisa (born 13th century), writer

Giovanni Battista Donati (1826–1873), an Italian astronomer.

Leonardo Fibonacci (1170–1250), mathematician.

Galileo Galilei (1564–1642), physicist.

Giovanni Gentile (1875–1944), philosopher and politician

Orazio Gentileschi (1563–1639), painter.

Count Ugolino della Gherardesca (1214–1289), noble (see also Dante Alighieri).

Giovanni Gronchi (1887–1978), politician, former President of the Republic of Italy

Giacomo Leopardi [1798–1837), poet and philosopher.

Enrico Letta (born 1966), politician, former Prime Minister of Italy

Marco Malvaldi (born 1974), mystery novelist

Leonardo Ortolani (born 1967), comic writer

Antonio Pacinotti (1841–1912), physicist, inventor of the dynamo

Andrea Pisano (1290–1348), a sculptor and architect.

Afro Poli (1902–1988), an operatic baritone

Bruno Pontecorvo (1913–1993), nuclear physicist

Gillo Pontecorvo (1919–2006), filmmaker

Ippolito Rosellini (1800–1843), an Egyptologist.

Paolo Savi (1798–1871), geologist and ornithologist.

Antonio Tabucchi (1943–2012), writer and academic

Sport

Jason Acuña (born 1973), Stunt performer

Sergio Bertoni (1915–1995), footballer

Giorgio Chiellini (born 1984), footballer

Camila Giorgi (born 1991), tennis player

TITLE FOR THIS PHOTOGRAPH: The Latin Admonition “Memento Mori,” on the Arm of a Girl as Beautiful and Sexy as Athena, a Young Woman in Full Flower, a Young Woman with Flesh on Her Bones, Does Not Call Me to a Virtuous Life So that I Might Avoid Eternal Punishment, But Advises Me, like Robert Herrick, to Gather My Rosebuds While I May

 

For more Athena, click on her album below. (To access her album on your iPhone, click on the information icon at the bottom of this screen; then, when your next screen appears, scroll down just a bit, and you'll see her "album.")

  

6:38 AM. I wish somebody had told me. Really, I do. Five o'clock. AM. Five -- that's what time I got out of bed this morning (last night?). By the time I stumbled around getting dressed as quietly as I could in the darkened house (wives don't take kindly be to being awakened at five...), and then drove through the goddam gloom to the Cove it was just short of 6:30 AM.

 

Before - well, before I became obsessed with this photography thing I was a late sleeper. I mean, if I got out of bed before noon on a weekend I felt just virtuous as hell. Wanted a medal and a parade. If I saw the sun come up it was because I had been up all night doing -- well, never mind what I was doing...

 

But you gotta get the light. The good light. Not that crappy, really harsh stuff you get in the afternoon. No, not that. That second rate, bush league light is for snapshots and just won't do for these great, arty photographs I make all my employees, friends and family admire. No, you gotta get that early morning, silky soft, golden, Park Avenue rarified Ansel Adams certified light. So you gotta get up with all those birds looking for that proverbial anxious premature worm.

 

I just wish somebody had told me. Really, before I bought all those lenses, tripods, doublers and other expensive stuff. I woulda taken up sea shell stacking, whiffle ball bowling, nematode racing or anything that didn't mean dragging my rose colored ass out the sack before even the stupidest dumbcluck chicken.

Gate of the Virtuous Kings, at Taiyuin Temple, Nikkō

"The Right Honorable & noble Lord John Earle of Rutland, Lord Rosse of Hamelac Trusbott & Belvoir lieth here buried. Hee succeeded his brother Edward in this said erledome and baronies and therein lived until Saturday the 24 day of February the next following in the same year 1588 on which day he deceased at Nottingham from whence his corps was hither brought & buried on the 2 day of Aprill following 1588.

Hee was made Liuetenant of ye countie of Nottingham 1587 . Hee had issue by his most honorable and virtuous ladie Elizabeth Charleton, daughter of Fraunces Charleton esquire, five sonnes to witte

Edward who died at his age of ...........

Roger now Erle of Rutland, Lord Rosse of Hamlack Trusbott & Belvoir

Fraunces, George & Oliver & 4 daughters Briget, Elizabeth, Mary (deade in her infancy) & Frances borne after her fathers death"

 

John Manners, 4th Earl of Rutland 1588 & wife Elizabeth Charlton

John was the son of Henry Manners, 2nd Earl of Rutland, and Margaret www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/34U08g daughter of Ralph Neville, 4th Earl of Westmorland.

He succeeded his elder brother Edward 3rd Earl in 1587

He m Elizabeth daughter of Francis Charlton of Apley Castle by Cicely Fitton of Gawsworth (her sister Margaret Chambre is at Myddle flic.kr/p/d3fZfE )

Children - 10 in all :

1. Edward - died young www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/a07k16

2. Roger 5th Earl of Rutland 1576 – 1612 m Elizabeth Sidney www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/g6Gj76

3. Francis 6th Earl of Rutland 1578 – 1632 m1 Frances Knyvett m2 Cecily www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/e5Ky1e daughter of Sir John Tufton of Hothfield flic.kr/p/47d7Yt

4. George 7th Earl of Rutland 1580 –dsp1641 www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/w1e736 m Frances Cary.

5. Sir Oliver 1582 – 1613

1. Bridget 1572-1604 ( who kneels at her parents heads) m Robert Tyrwhitt flic.kr/p/pL5uLw.

2. Elizabeth d1653 m Emanuel Scrope Earl of Sunderland flic.kr/p/fuUDCR 1630 only child of Thomas, Lord Scroope of Bolton 1609 and Philadelphia www.flickr.com/photos/52219527@N00/9509629009/ daughter of Henry Carey, 1st Lord Hunsdon (cousin of Elizabeth l) by Anne Morgan www.westminster-abbey.org/our-history/people/henry-carey

3. Mary died an infant

4. Frances 1588 – 1643 m William 3rd Baron Willoughby of Parham

Monument by Gerard Johanssen in 1591 - Church of St Mary the Virgin Bottesford Leicestershire

Greek mythology THE AETOS DIOS was a giant, golden eagle which served as Zeus' personal messenger and animal companion. According to some, the eagle was once a mortal king named Periphas, whose virtuous rule was so celebrated that he was came to be honoured like a god.

 

Celtic Mythology The Golden Eagle - The Golden Eagle once symbolized the soul…signifying resurrection and rebirth…the power of life over death. It also represented a metamorphosis or change of spirituality on all levels. Now almost extinct in Britain, this magnificent Bird is seldom seen except in the North of Scotland. Scottish Highland Chieftains still wear three golden-eagle feathers in their bonnets to proclaim their high rank. The Druids were believed to have the ability to change into the form of all birds and beasts, but among their favored choices was the Eagle, as well as the Raven and the Crow.

No wonder I couldn't find this on Bus Lists ...they've got the letters of the registration recorded as PDB. One always feels slightly pleased with one's self when one discovers such an error. With the smug, virtuous feeling that comes from being at the same time helpful and an insufferable clever-clogs, I attempted to notify the site, but clicking on "webmaster" on the "contact us" page achieved nothing, except that the screen gave a sort of shudder and then reverted to its normal appearance. Oh well ...I tried, God knows I tried. In any case I retain the original print of this, with full details recorded on the reverse. It was taken on Thursday 17th January 1980 and we appear to be on a bridge, so this is probably outside Northampton station. The bus is a Bristol VRTSL6G with Alexander body. I liked Alexander's earlier style of body for full-screen, front-entrance double-deckers, from which this design represented a lamentable declension. There had been a snowfall some days earlier, traces of which remained in the gutters; the lower body panels are mired with dirt drawn up from the road in slush. A centre exit door always looked untidy on the short-wheelbase VRT and the lower deck seating layout was always unsatisfactory.

Welcome to The Parnaroo Hall

The Parnaroo Hall, formerly the Wool Store of the Parnaroo Station Shearing Shed, was erected in 1875 and was part of Alexander McCulloch’s holdings.

The two acres on which the Hall stands was purchased from the Government in 1904 by the residents of the Hundred of Parnaroo for £400. The Hall was used by the community for church services, weddings and receptions, recreation, polling booths, dances, welcome homes, farewells as well as everything else the community engaged in until 1975.

 

The Hundred of Parnaroo comprises 127 square miles and the families who lived there are recognised on the pavers in front of the Hall.

Appreciative thanks go posthumously to Roma Schulz, nee Mattey, whose extraordinary research published in ‘Deceptive Lands’ 1968, provided much of the information for this project.

Current Trustees of the Parnaroo Hall are the Peterborough History Group SA Inc. Ref: Plaque near front of the hall.

 

The launch of the engraved pavers laid in front of the Parnaroo Community Hall was held 27 May 2023, commemorating the hall and the People of the Hundred of Parnaroo.

 

Following is some History of Parnaroo Hall from where Ration Books were issued during World War Two :-

*Parnaroo March 6

The Parnaroo Hall, recently purchased from the Government, was on the 3rd inst formally opened by Mr E E Kernot, in the presence of about 200 people. The building, which is a splendid stone one, with stage fixings and dressing rooms, measuring 100 x 50 feet, was most tastefully decorated, for which Mr and Mrs O'Toole are mainly to be thanked.

After speeches had been made dancing was indulged in.

Mr T Donellan ably acted as MC. [Ref: Petersburg Times (SA) 7-3-1905]

 

*Wedding at Parnaroo

The usually quiet but picturesque locality on which stands the Parnaroo head station was en fete on Thursday, May 2nd, the occasion being the marriage of Miss Ellen O'Toole, daughter of Mr John O'Toole, of Parnaroo, to Mr Michael Lennon, of Broken Hill.

 

The Parnaroo Institute Hall, lately acquired by the residents from the Government, was the rendezvous of the invited guests and the parties immediately concerned. For the present occasion the interior was beautifully decorated with evergreens, imitation horseshoes (for luck) and colours of all lands interlaced, making it a veritable fairy bower.

 

At one end a temporary altar had been erected, at which the impressive Catholic marriage service was conducted by the Rev J H Norton, of Petersburg. The bride was dressed in rich white satin with silk trimmings, which, with the usual orange blossoms and veil, looked pretty indeed. The Misses Lizzie and Mary O'Toole were the bridesmaids, and both were dressed in cream figured lustre with cream trimmings. Messrs John and Thomas O'Toole were groomsmen.

 

The Rev J H Norton gave the toast of "The Bride and Bridegroom”, and in a neat and appropriate speech gave good and homely advice to the newly-married couple.

 

The presents received were varied, valuable and numerous: a gift from the manager, overseer and employees of Ucolta and McCoy's Well Station, was a gold bracelet, set with rubies and pearls, and silver dinner cruet, suitably inscribed.

 

The intervening time before dancing commenced was filled by games and an impromptu concert. Dancing then commenced, and was kept up till morning. [Ref: Quorn Mercury (SA)16-5-1905]

 

*Parnaroo July 26th

When it became known that Mr and Mrs J Faulkner were leaving the district the residents decided to tender them a farewell social, which duly took place on the 21st inst, in the Parnaroo Hall. The attendance was large, and included many visitors from Terowie, Oodla Wirra, Dawson, Nackara, Gumbowie and surrounding districts.

 

Mr T J Donnellan, who presided, expressed his regret at the departure of Mr and Mrs Faulkner, who during a long residence in the district had earned the respect and esteem of the residents generally: he had always found Mr Faulkner an upright, and honest gentleman, and his place would be hard to fill. Mr H W Rasmus on behalf of the residents of Parnaroo and district, presented Mr Faulkner with a handsome silver mounted pipe, and Mrs Faulkner with a pretty silver cake stand. In a neat and appropriate speech, Mr Rasmus referred to the many excellent qualities of Mr and Mrs Faulkner, whom he described as ideal residents, they would be greatly missed by the people of Parnaroo.

 

Dancing was indulged in and kept going with vigour till broad daylight, when the singing of Auld Lang Syne concluded one of the most successful and enjoyable social functions ever held in the Parnaroo Hall. [Ref: Petersburg Times (SA) 3-8-1909]

 

*Wedding Bells McInerney – O’Toole

A wedding in which all the residents of Parnaroo and a large number of Petersburg took the utmost interest took place on Tuesday, in the Parnaroo Hall, when Mr John McInerney, youngest son of the late J J McInerney Esq of Petersburg, and Miss M J O’Toole, third daughter of Mr J J O’Toole of Panaroo were made one.

 

The Rev Father O'Rourke performed the ceremony. The ceremony took place at 10 am in the District Hall. Early in the morning the guests began to arrive, and by the appointed hour the hall was crowded. The bride looked sweetly pretty in a dress of cream figured silk, trimmed with orange blossom.

After the ceremony a wedding breakfast was partaken of, at which Father O'Rourke proposed the health of the couple.

The bridal party were photographed by Mr H Drew in a pretty spot near the creek.

The whole party then gave themselves up to the enjoyment of games which were kept up, almost without intermission, throughout the whole day.

 

In the evening, after a little rest and a meal which will linger in the memory of the guests for many the company again proceeded to the hall, where dancing was indulged in and continued until daylight. The newly wedded couple, accompanied by many of the guests, then drove nine miles to catch the express for Adelaide [Ref: Petersburg Times (SA)13-1-1911]

 

*A very enjoyable dance was held in the Parnaroo Institute on June 6th. Mr H Leaney acted as MC and Mr L Kloss supplied the music. [Ref: Petersburg Times (SA) 26-6-1914]

 

*Patriotic Parnaroo

A successful concert and dance was held in the Parnaroo Hall on Saturday night in aid of the Wounded Soldiers' Fund, as a result of which the handsome sum of £16 16/ has been handed Mr Alex Jamieson (Mayor of Petersburg). The hall was tastefully decorated with flags of the Allies.

 

At the close of the programme all the school children sang "Britannia," saluted the flag, and finished with the National Anthem. Great credit is due to the local teacher (Miss McLaughlin) for the manner in which the children were trained. [Ref: Petersburg Times (SA) 27-8-1915]

 

*Parnaroo - A welcome home social convened by Messrs Saunders, Darrah, and Skeen was given in the local spacious hall on August 1 to Sgt T Evans, Sgt R Evans, and Pte Nash. Pte W Sanders, born at Parnaroo. but enlisted from Tasmania, was also welcomed.

Mr R A Bohme (President Peterborough Cheer Ups) was in the chair. Other speakers were Mr H Rasmus and Mr S Saunders, who presented a gold medal to each of the returned soldiers, on behalf of the Parnaroo residents. Sgt T Evans suitably responded on behalf of comrades and himself.

 

Dancing, under management of Mr Donellan, was indulged. Thanks are due to the Parnaroo ladies for the supper arrangements. It was unanimously agreed that the social was a huge success. [Ref: Times and Northern Advertiser, Peterborough, South Australia (SA) 15-8-1919]

 

*Peterborough Country News

On Saturday evening last the band and a party travelled out to Parnaroo, where a dance was held in aid of the hospital funds. A most enjoyable evening was spent. The band supplied music for the dance, which was held in the old wool shed and comic recitations by Mr Clapp evoked considerable applause. The mayor and mayoress of Peterborough were present. Mrs O’Toole with other ladies, provided a supper. The takings were £37 10/. [Ref: Daily Herald (Adelaide SA) 26-7-1921]

 

*Parnaroo School Picnic

The annual school picnic was held at Parnaroo on Saturday, November 8. A euchre tournament and dance followed. The success of this picnic was due to Miss Giles, the sports committee, and the parents of the children.

The euchre tournament was won by J O'Dea. Supper was served by the ladies. [Ref: Chronicle (Adelaide SA) 22-11-1924]

 

*A dance was held in the Parnaroo Woolshed, on Saturday, December 19th, which proved to be an all round success. The most virtuous point was the select and sociable class who attended on that most auspicious occasion. It was totally free from undesirables and such like: even the only unwanted in the district, must have realised his position, as he made his presence felt by his absence.

 

The committee desire to thank those who patronised from Peterborough, Black Rock, Oodla Wirra, Yunta, Terowie, and Bendigo. They are determined to run their dances on clean, straight lines, free from larrikans and thieves. Our patrons will shortly find themselves dancing to piano music in this hall. Supper was provided by the ladies. Messrs O'Toole and Polomka supplied the music, while Mr Joe O'Toole made an efficient MC. Though the night was warm to hot, dancing continued until daybreak, when all returned to their homes perfectly satisfied. [Ref: Times and Northern Advertiser, Peterborough, South Australia (SA) 25-12-1936]

 

*Saturday January 20

Farewell dance to Peterborough and Paratoo Troops at Parnaroo. Good music and supper. Times and Northern Advertiser, Peterborough, South Australia (SA) 12-1-1940]

 

*Dance at Parnaroo

An enthusiastic and energetic committee is busily making final preparations for a dance to be held in the Parnaroo Hall on Saturday (tomorrow) June 5th.

There will be first class music and the usual delicious home made supper, assuring all patrons of a most enjoyable time. Proceeds of the function are for the Hall Fund. [Ref: Times and Northern Advertiser, Peterborough, South Australia (SA) 4-6-1948]

 

*Parnaroo Sports

We have pleasure in publishing, a little late, the results of the very successful sports held at Parnaroo on January 3rd. It was estimated that over 1,000 people were present, and with the very enjoyable dance in the Parnaroo Hall that night, £130 was cleared for the hall funds. We have been asked to express the thanks of the Committee to the donors of trophies and prizemoney, and to all those who helped in any way to make the day such a success. Sincere regret is expressed at the accidents which happened to Messrs Reg Howard and Ken Richards. [Ref: Times and Northern Advertiser, Peterborough, South Australia (SA) 4-2-1949]

 

La ópera china es el nombre que recibe el teatro tradicional en China. El director Wang Yida, definió el teatro chino como "arte que sintetiza actuación, acrobacia, artes marciales, bellas artes, música y poesía".1

Se remonta a la dinastía Tang con el Emperador Xuanzong (712-755), fundador del "Jardín de los Perales" (梨园), la primera compañía documentada en China, y casi exclusivamente al servicio de los emperadores.nota 1 Durante la dinastía Yuan (1279-1368), se introdujeron en la ópera las variedades como el Zaju (杂剧), con actuaciones basadas en esquemas de rima y personajes tipo: "Dan" (旦, femenino), "Sheng" (生, masculino) y "Chou" (丑, payaso). En el siglo XXI, las profesiones de la ópera son todavía llamadas Disciplinas del Jardín de los Perales (梨园子弟).

es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ópera_china

 

La Ópera de Pekín (en chino: 京剧 jīngjù o 京戏 jīngxì), es una clase de Ópera China que se inició a mediados del siglo XIX y que se hizo extremadamente popular entre la corte de la dinastía Qing. Está considerada como una de las máximas expresiones de la cultura de China.

El 16 de noviembre de 2010, la Unesco declaró la Ópera de Pekín como Patrimonio Cultural Inmaterial de la Humanidad1

La ópera de Pekín tiene cuatro tipos diferentes de personajes, tres masculinos y uno femenino:

Jing: Personaje masculino dotado de una gran fuerza de voluntad. Se le reconoce con facilidad ya que

siempre lleva un maquillaje excesivo.

Sheng: Personaje masculino que presenta tres variantes diferentes; el Sheng Guerrero, el Sheng joven y el Sheng mayor.

Ch’ou: Personaje masculino. Es el bufón de la obra.

Tan: Personaje femenino. Este personaje tiene también distintas variantes: Tan mayor, Tan flor (una joven alegre y un tanto descarada), Tan verde (mujer joven y de gran rectitud) y Tan del caballo y la espada (una mujer que domina tan bien la caligrafía como el arte de la guerra).

Es importante también el color del vestuario que utilizan los actores. Así el color negro representa un carácter atrevido; el blanco sirve para representar a una persona mentirosa; el azul indica a un personaje frío y calculador; y el rojo se utiliza para personajes valientes y leales. Los colores dorados y plateados se utilizan para representar a dioses.

Los argumentos de la ópera de Pekín son muy variados y van desde las intrigas de la corte hasta hazañas militares. Importa tanto la música como los gestos, las acrobacias y los cantos. Algunas representaciones pueden durar hasta seis horas.

es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ópera_de_Pekín

Yueju Opera (Chinese: 越剧),is a Chinese opera popular in China. It originated in Shengxian County(namely Shengzhou). The word "Yue" in Chinese means Zhejiang province and the regions around it. "ju" means (Chinese) opera. At present, Yueju Opera is the second most popular opera in China, after the Beijing Opera.

simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yueju_Opera

 

Traditional Chinese opera (Chinese: 戲曲; pinyin: xìqǔ; Jyutping: hei3 kuk1), or Xiqu, is a popular form of drama and musical theatre in China with roots going back to the early periods in China. It is a composite performance art that is an amalgamation of various art forms that existed in ancient China, and evolved gradually over more than a thousand years, reaching its mature form in the 13th century during the Song Dynasty. Early forms of Chinese theater are simple, but over time they incorporated various art forms, such as music, song and dance, martial arts, acrobatics, as well as literary art forms to become traditional Chinese opera.[1]

There are numerous regional branches of traditional Chinese opera, including the Beijing opera, Shaoxing opera, Cantonese opera and kunqu and Lvju.

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_opera

 

Peking opera, or Beijing opera (Chinese: 京剧; pinyin: Jīngjù), is a form of Chinese opera which combines music, vocal performance, mime, dance and acrobatics. It arose in the late 18th century and became fully developed and recognized by the mid-19th century.[1] The form was extremely popular in the Qing dynasty court and has come to be regarded as one of the cultural treasures of China.[2] Major performance troupes are based in Beijing and Tianjin in the north and Shanghai in the south.[3] The art form is also preserved in Taiwan (Republic of China), where it is known as Guójù (traditional Chinese: 國劇; simplified Chinese: 国剧; "National theatre"). It has also spread to other countries such as the United States and Japan.[4]

The roles on the Peking Opera stage fall into four major roles-Sheng (生), Dan (旦), Jing (净), Chou (丑).[44]

Sheng (生): refer to men, divided into Laosheng (老生)，Xiaosheng (小生)，Wusheng (武生)

Dan (旦): refer to women, divided into Zhengdan (正旦), Laodan (老旦), Huadan (花旦), Wudan (武旦), Daomadan (刀马旦)

Jing (净): refer to painted-face role, know popularly as Hualian, divided into Zhengjing (正净), Fujing (副净), Wujing (武净), Maojing (毛净)

Chou (丑): refer to painted-face role, know popularly as Xiao hualian, divided into Wenchou (文丑), Wuchou (武丑), Nüchou (女丑)

The Dan (旦) refers to any female role in Peking opera. Dan roles were originally divided into five subtypes. Old women were played by laodan, martial women were wudan, young female warriors were daomadan, virtuous and elite women were qingyi, and vivacious and unmarried women were huadan. One of Mei Lanfang's most important contributions to Peking opera was in pioneering a sixth type of role, the huashan. This role type combines the status of the qingyi with the sensuality of the huadan.[54] A troupe will have a young Dan to play main roles, as well as an older Dan for secondary parts.[49] Four examples of famous Dans are Mei Lanfang, Cheng Yanqiu, Shang Xiaoyun, and Xun Huisheng.[55] In the early years of Peking opera, all Dan roles were played by men. Wei Changsheng, a male Dan performer in the Qing court, developed the cai qiao, or "false foot" technique, to simulate the bound feet of women and the characteristic gait that resulted from the practice. The ban on female performers also led to a controversial form of brothel, known as the xianggong tangzi, in which men paid to have sex with young boys dressed as females. Ironically, the performing skills taught to the youths employed in these brothels led many of them to become professional Dan later in life.[56]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peking_opera

 

Gah, you can't get it right can you. I was feeling rather virtuous swapping my afternoon chocolate for a handful of pistachios, until I spotted the nutrition label on the tub which was almost all red. So I had another handful. Then I had a Wispa.

“Discovery consists in seeing what everyone else has seen and thinking what no one else has thought.”

 

“Too often we are so preoccupied with the destination, we forget the journey.”

 

“On life's journey faith is nourishment, virtuous deeds are a shelter, wisdom is the light by day and right mindfulness is the protection by night. If a man lives a pure life, nothing can destroy him.”

 

“The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them into the impossible.”

 

Kartikeya, also known as Skanda, Murugan and Subramaniyan, is the Hindu god of war. He is the commander-in-chief of the army of the devas (gods) and the son of Shiva and Parvati.

 

Murugan is often referred to as "Tamil Kadavul" (meaning "God of Tamils") and is worshiped primarily in areas with Tamil influences, especially South India, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Malaysia, Singapore and Reunion Island. His six most important shrines in India are the Arupadaiveedu temples, located in Tamil Nadu. In Sri Lanka, Hindus as well as Buddhists revere the sacred historical Nallur Kandaswamy temple in Jaffna and Katirkāmam Temple situated deep south.[1] Hindus in Malaysia also pray to Lord Murugan at the Batu Caves and various temples where Thaipusam is celebrated with grandeur.

 

In Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, Kartikeya is known as Subrahmanya with a temple at Kukke Subramanya known for Sarpa shanti rites dedicated to Him and another famous temple at Ghati Subramanya also in Karnataka. In Bengal and Odisha, he is popularly known as Kartikeya (meaning 'son of Krittika').[2]

Other names[edit]

Like most Hindu deities, Subrahmanya is known by many other names, including Senthil, Vēlaṇ, Kumāran (meaning 'prince or child or young one'), Swaminatha (meaning 'smart' or 'clever'), Saravaṇa, Arumugam or Shanmuga (meaning 'one with six faces'), Dhandapani (meaning God with a Club), Guhan or Guruguha (meaning 'cave-dweller'), Subrahmanya, Kartikeya and Skanda (meaning 'that which is spilled or oozed).[3][4] He was also known as Mahasena and the Kadamba Dynasty kings worshiped him by this name.[5]

Vedas[edit]

The Atharva Veda describes Kumaran as 'Agnibhuh' because he is form of 'Agni' (Fire God) & Agni hold in his hand when kumaran born. The Satapatha Brahmana refers to him as the son of Rudra and the six faces of Rudra. The Taittiriya Aranyaka contains the Gayatri mantra for Shanmukha. The Chandogya Upanishad refers to Skanda as the "way that leads to wisdom". The Baudhayana Dharmasutra mentions Skanda as 'Mahasena' and 'Subrahmanya.' The Aranya Parva canto of the Mahabharata relates the legend of Kartikeya Skanda in considerable detail. The Skanda Purana is devoted to the narrative of Kartikeya.[6] The Upanishads also constantly make a reference to a Supreme Being called Guha, the indweller.

The first elaborate account of Kartikeya's origin occurs in the Mahabharata. In a complicated story, he is said to have been born from Agni and Svaha, after the latter impersonated the six of the seven wives of the Saptarishi (Seven Sages). The actual wives then become the Pleiades. Kartikeya is said to have been born to destroy the Asura Mahisha.[7] (In later mythology, Mahisha became the adversary of Durga.) Indra attacks Kartikeya as he sees the latter as a threat, until Shiva intervenes and makes Kartikeya the commander-in-chief of the army of the Devas. He is also married to Devasena, Indra's daughter. The origin of this marriage lies probably in the punning of 'Deva-sena-pati'. It can mean either lord of Devasena or Lord of the army (sena) of Devas. But according to Shrii Shrii Anandamurti, in his master work on Shiva[8] and other works, Kartikeya was married to Devasenā and that is on the ground of his name as Devasena's husband, Devasenāpati, misinterpreted as Deva-senāpati (Deva's general) that he was granted the title general and made the Deva's army general.[9]

 

The Ramayana version is closer to the stories told in the Puranas discussed below.

Tolkappiyam, possibly the most ancient of the extant Sangam works, dated between the 3rd century BCE and 5th century CE glorified Murugan, "the red god seated on the blue peacock, who is ever young and resplendent," as "the favoured god of the Tamils."[10] The Sangam poetry divided space and Tamil land into five allegorical areas (tinai) and according to the Tirumurugarruppatai ( c. 400–450 AD) attributed to the great Sangam poet Nakkiirar, Murugan was the presiding deity the Kurinci region (hilly area). (Tirumurugaruppatai is a deeply devotional poem included in the ten idylls (Pattupattu) of the age of the third Sangam). The other Sangam era works in Tamil that refer to Murugan in detail include the Paripaatal, the Akananuru and the Purananuru. One poem in the Paripaatal describes the veneration of Murugan thus:

 

"We implore thee not for boons of enjoyment or wealth,

But for thy grace beatific, love and virtuous deeds."

 

According to the Tamil devotional work, Thiruppugazh, "Murugan never hesitates to come to the aid of a devotee when called upon in piety or distress". In another work, Thirumurukkarrupatai, he is described as a god of eternal youth;

 

His face shines a myriad rays light and removes the darkness from this world.[11]

The references to Murugan can be traced back to the first millennium BCE. There are references to Murugan in Kautilya's Arthashastra, in the works of Patanjali, in Kalidasa's epic poem the Kumarasambhavam. The Kushanas, who governed from what is today Peshawar, and the Yaudheyas, a republican clan in the Punjab, struck coins bearing the image of Skanda. The deity was venerated also by the Ikshvakus, an Andhra dynasty, and the Guptas.[6] The worship of Kumāra was one of the six principal sects of Hinduism at the time of Adi Shankara. The Shanmata system propagated by him included this sect. In many Shiva and Devi temples of Tamil Nadu, Murugan is installed on the left of the main deity. The story of His birth goes as follows:

 

Sati immolated herself in a pyre as her father King Daksha had insulted Shiva, her Lord. She was reborn as Parvathi or Uma, daughter of the King of Himalayas, Himavan. She then married her Lord Shiva. The Devas were under onslaught from the Asuras whose leader was Soorapadman. He had been granted boons that only Lord Shiva or his seed could kill him. Fearless he vanquished the Devas and made them his slaves. The Devas ran to Vishnu for help who told them that it was merely their fault for attending Daksha's yagna, without the presence of Lord Shiva. After this, they ran to Shiva for help. Shiva decided to take action against Soorapadman's increasing conceit. He frowned and his third eye- the eye of knowledge- started releasing sparks. These were six sparks in total. Agni had the responsibility to take them to Saravana Lake. As he was carrying them, the sparks were growing hotter and hotter that even the Lord of Fire could not withstand the heat. Soon after Murugan was born on a lotus in the Saravana Lake with six faces, giving him the name Arumukhan. Lord Shiva and Parvati visited and tears of joy started flowing as they witnessed the most handsome child. Shiva and Parvathi gave the responsibility of taking care of Muruga to the six Krittika sisters. Muruga grew up to be a handsome, intelligent, powerful, clever youth. All the Devas applauded at their saviour, who had finally come to release them from their woes. Murugan became the supreme general of the demi-gods, then escorted the devas and led the army of the devas to victory against the asuras.

Legends[edit]

Given that legends related to Murugan are recounted separately in several Hindu epics, some differences between the various versions are observed. Some Sanskrit epics and puranas indicate that he was the elder son of Shiva. This is suggested by the legend connected to his birth; the wedding of Shiva and Parvati being necessary for the birth of a child who would vanquish the asura named Taraka. Also, Kartikeya is seen helping Shiva fight the newborn Ganesha, Shiva's other son, in the Shiva Purana. In the Ganapati Khandam of the Brahma Vaivarta Purana, he is seen as the elder son of Shiva and Ganesha as the younger. In South India, it is believed that he is the younger of the two. A Puranic story has Ganesha obtain a divine fruit of knowledge from Narada winning a contest with Murugan. While Murugan speeds around the world thrice to win the contest for the fruit, Ganesha circumambulates Shiva and Parvati thrice as an equivalent and is given the fruit. After winning it, he offers to give the fruit to his upset brother. After this event, Ganesha was considered the elder brother owing as a tribute to his wisdom. Many of the major events in Murugan's life take place during his youth, and legends surrounding his birth are popular. This has encouraged the worship of Murugan as a child-God, very similar to the worship of the child Krishna in north India. He is married to two wives, Valli and Devasena. This lead to a very interesting name : Devasenapati viz. Pati (husband) of Devsena and/or Senapati (commander in chief) of Dev (gods)

Kartikeya symbols are based on the weapons – Vel, the Divine Spear or Lance that he carries and his mount the peacock. He is sometimes depicted with many weapons including: a sword, a javelin, a mace, a discus and a bow although more usually he is depicted wielding a sakti or spear. This symbolizes his purification of human ills. His javelin is used to symbolize his far reaching protection, his discus symbolizes his knowledge of the truth, his mace represents his strength and his bow shows his ability to defeat all ills. His peacock mount symbolizes his destruction of the ego.

 

His six heads represent the six siddhis bestowed upon yogis over the course of their spiritual development. This corresponds to his role as the bestower of siddhis.

In Tamil Nadu, Murugan has continued to be popular with all classes of society right since the Sangam age. This has led to more elaborate accounts of his mythology in the Tamil language, culminating in the Tamil version of Skanda Purana, called Kandha Purānam, written by Kacchiappa Sivachariyar (1350–1420 AD.) of Kumara Kottam in the city of Kanchipuram. (He was a scholar in Tamil literature, and a votary of the Shaiva Siddhanta philosophy.)

 

He is married to two deities, Valli, a daughter of a tribal chief and Deivayanai (also called Devasena), the daughter of Indhra. During His bachelorhood, Lord Murugan is also regarded as Kumaraswami (or Bachelor God), Kumara meaning a bachelor and Swami meaning God. Muruga rides a peacock and wields a bow in battle. The lance called Vel in Tamil is a weapon closely associated with him. The Vel was given to him by his mother, Parvati, and embodies her energy and power. His army's standard depicts a rooster. In the war, Surapadman was split into two, and each half was granted a boon by Murugan. The halves, thus turned into the peacock (his mount) and the rooster his flag, which also "refers to the sun".[12]

 

As Muruga is worshipped predominantly in Tamil Nadu, many of his names are of Tamil origin. These include Senthil, the red or formidable one; Arumugam, the six-faced one; Guhan and Maal-Marugan, the son-in-law of Vishnu. Murugan is venerated throughout the Tamil year. There is a six-day period of fast and prayer in the Tamil month of Aippasi known as the Skanda Shasti. He is worshipped at Thaipusam, celebrated by Tamil communities worldwide near the full moon of the Tamil month Thai. This commemorates the day he was given a Vel or lance by his mother in order to vanquish the asuras. Thirukarthigai or the full moon of the Tamil month of Karthigai signifies his birth. Each Tuesday of the Tamil month of Adi is also dedicated to the worship of Murugan. Tuesday in the Hindu tradition connotes Mangala, the god of planet Mars and war.

 

Other parts of India[edit]

Historically, God Kartikeya was immensely popular in the Indian subcontinent. One of the major Puranas, the Skanda Purana is dedicated to him. In the Bhagavad-Gita (Ch.10, Verse 24), Krishna, while explaining his omnipresence, names the most perfect being, mortal or divine, in each of several categories. While doing so, he says: "Among generals, I am Skanda, the lord of war."

 

Kartikeya's presence in the religious and cultural sphere can be seen at least from the Gupta age. Two of the Gupta kings, Kumaragupta and Skandagupta, were named after him. He is seen in the Gupta sculptures and in the temples of Ellora and Elephanta. As the commander of the divine armies, he became the patron of the ruling classes. His youth, beauty and bravery was much celebrated in Sanskrit works like the Kathasaritsagara. Kalidasa made the birth of Kumara the subject of a lyrical epic, the Kumaarasambhavam. In ancient India, Kartikeya was also regarded as the patron deity of thieves, as may be inferred from the Mrichchakatikam, a Sanskrit play by Shudraka, and in the Vetala-panchvimshati, a medieval collection of tales. This association is linked to the fact that Kartikeya had dug through the Krauncha mountain to kill Taraka and his brothers (in the Mrichchakatikam, Sarivilaka prays to him before tunnelling into the hero's house).

 

However, Kartikeya's popularity in North India receded from the Middle Ages onwards, and his worship is today virtually unknown except in parts of Haryana. There is a very famous temple dedicated to Him in the town of Pehowa in Haryana and this temple is very well known in the adjoining areas, especially because women are not allowed anywhere close to it. Women stay away from this temple in Pehowa town of Haryana because this shrine celebrates the Brahmachari form of Kartikeya. Reminders of former devotions to him include a temple at Achaleshwar, near Batala in Punjab, and another temple of Skanda atop the Parvati hill in Pune, Maharashtra. Another vestige of his former popularity can be seen in Bengal and Odisha, where he is worshipped during the Durga Puja festivities alongside Durga. Lord Subramanya is the major deity among the Hindus of northern Kerala. Lord Subramanya is worshipped with utmost devotion in districts of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi in the state of Karnataka. Rituals like nagaradhane are unique to this region.

Kartikeya also known as Kartik or Kartika is also worshipped in West Bengal, and Bangladesh on the last day of the Hindu month of 'Kartik'. However, the popularity of Kartik Puja (worshipping Kartik) is decreasing now, and Lord Kartik is primarily worshipped among those who intend to have a son. In Bengal, traditionally, many people drop images of Kartik inside the boundaries of different households, who all are either newly married, or else, intend to get a son to carry on with their ancestry. Lord Kartik is also associated to the Babu Culture prevailed in historic Kolkata, and hence, many traditional old Bengali paintings still show Kartik dressed in traditional Bengali style. Also, in some parts of West Bengal, Kartik is traditionally worshipped by the ancestors of the past royal families too, as in the district of Malda. Kartik Puja is also popular among the prostitutes. This can probably be linked to the fact that, the prostitutes mostly got clients from the upper class babu-s in old Kolkata, who all, in turn, had been associated to the image of Kartik (as discussed above). In Bansberia (Hooghly district) Kartik Puja festival is celebrated like Durga puja of Kolkata, Jagadhatri puja in Chandannagar for consecutive four days. The festival starts on 17 November every year and on 16 November in case of Leap year.[13] Some of the must see Puja committees are Bansberia Kundugoli Nataraj, Khamarapara Milan Samity RadhaKrishna, Kishor Bahini, Mitali Sangha, Yuva Sangha, Bansberia Pratap Sangha and many more.

 

In Durga Puja in Bengal, Kartikeya is considered to be a son of Parvati or Durga and Shiva along with his brother Ganesha and sisters Lakshmi and Saraswati.[14]

Kartikeya is worshiped during Durga Puja in Odisha as well as in various Shiva temples throughout the year. Kartik puja is celebrated in Cuttack along with various other parts of the state during the last phases of Hindu month of Kartik. Kartik purnima is celebrated with much joy and in a grand fashion in Cuttack and other parts in the state.

Murugan is adored by both Tamil Hindus and Sinhalese Buddhists in Sri Lanka. Numerous temples exist throughout the island. He is a favorite deity of the common folk everywhere and it is said he never hesitates to come to the aid of a devotee when called upon. In the deeply Sinhalese south of Sri Lanka, Murugan is worshipped at the temple in Katirkāmam, where he is known as Kathiravel or Katragama Deviyo (Lord of Katragama) . This temple is next to an old Buddhist place of worship. Local legend holds that Lord Murugan alighted in Kataragama and was smitten by Valli, one of the local aboriginal lasses. After a courtship, they were married. This event is taken to signify that Lord Murugan is accessible to all who worship and love him, regardless of their birth or heritage. The Nallur Kandaswamy temple, the Maviddapuram Kandaswamy Temple and the Sella Channithy Temple near Valvettiturai are the three foremost Murugan temples in Jaffna. The Chitravelayutha temple in Verukal on the border between Trincomalee and Batticaloa is also noteworthy as is the Mandur Kandaswamy temple in Batticaloa. The late medieval-era temple of the tooth in Kandy, dedicated to the tooth relic of the Buddha, has a Kataragama deiyo shrine adjacent to it dedicated to the veneration of Skanda in the Sinhalese tradition. Almost all buddhist temples house a shrine room for Kataragama deviyo(Murugan)reflecting the significance of Murugan in Sinhala Buddhism,

 

Based on archeological evidence found, it is believed that the Kiri Vehera was either renovated to build during the 1st century BCE. There are number of others inscriptions and ruins.[15]

 

By the 16th century the Kathiravel shrine at Katirkāmam had become synonymous with Skanda-Kumara who was a guardian deity of Sinhala Buddhism.[16] The town was popular as a place of pilgrimage for Hindus from India and Sri Lanka by the 15 the century. The popularity of the deity at the Kataragama temple was also recorded by the Pali chronicles of Thailand such as Jinkalmali in the 16th century. There are number of legends both Buddhist and Hindu that attribute supernatural events to the very locality.[16] Scholars such as Paul Younger and Heinz Bechert speculate that rituals practiced by the native priests of Kataragama temple betray Vedda ideals of propitiation. Hence they believe the area was of Vedda veneration that was taken over by the Buddhist and Hindus in the medieval period.[17]

Lord Murugan is one of the most important deities worshipped by Tamil people in Malaysia and other South-East Asian countries such as Singapore and Indonesia. Thai Poosam is one of the important festivals celebrated. Sri Subramanyar Temple at Batu Caves temple complex in Malaysia is dedicated to Lord Murugan.

The main temples of Murugan are located in Tamil Nadu and other parts of south India. They include the Aru Padaiveedu (six abodes) — Thiruchendur, Swamimalai, Pazhamudircholai, Thirupparangunram, Palani (Pazhani), Thiruthani and other important shrines like Mayilam, Sikkal, Marudamalai, Kundrathur, Vadapalani, Kandakottam, Thiruporur, Vallakottai, Vayalur, Thirumalaikoil, Pachaimalai and Pavalamalai near Gobichettipalayam. Malai Mandir, a prominent and popular temple complex in Delhi, is one of the few dedicated to Murugan in all of North India apart from the Pehowa temple in Haryana.

There are many temples dedicated to Lord Subramanya in Kerala. Amongst them are Atiyambur Sri Subramanya Temple in Kanhangad Kasaragod, Payyannur Subramanya Swamy temple in Payyanur, Panmana Subramanya Swamy temple in Panmana and the Subramanya temple in Haripad. There is a temple in Skandagiri, Secunderabad and one in Bikkavolu, East Godavari district in the state of Andhra Pradesh. In Karnataka there is the Kukke Subramanya Temple where Lord Murugan is worshiped as the Lord of the serpents. Aaslesha Bali, Sarpa Samskara with nagapathista samarpa are major prayers here. There is a temple called Malai Mandir in South Delhi. Malai means hill in Tamil. Mandir means temple in Hindi.

 

The key temples in Sri Lanka include the sylvan shrine in Kataragama / (Kadirgamam) or Kathirkamam in the deep south, the temple in Tirukovil in the east, the shrine in Embekke in the Kandyan region and the famed Nallur Kandaswamy temple in Jaffna. There are several temples dedicated to Lord Murugan in Malaysia, the most famous being the Batu Caves near Kuala Lumpur. There is a 42.7-m-high statue of Lord Murugan at the entrance to the Batu Caves, which is the largest Lord Murugan statue in the world. Sri Thandayuthapani Temple in Tank Road, Singapore is a major Hindu temple where each year the Thaipusam festival takes place with devotees of Lord Muruga carrying Kavadis seeking penance and blessings of the Lord.

 

In the United Kingdom, Highgate Hill Murugan temple is one of the oldest and most famous. In London, Sri Murugan Temple in Manor park is a well-known temple. In Midlands, Leicester Shri Siva Murugan Temple is gaining popularity recently. Skanda Vale in West Wales was founded by Guruji, a Tamil devotee of Subramaniam, and its primary deity is Lord Murugan. In Australia, Sydney Murugan temple in Parramatta (Mays Hill), Perth Bala Muruguan temple in Mandogalup and Kundrathu Kumaran temple in Rockbank, Melbourne are major Hindu temples for all Australian Hindus and Murugan devotees. In New Zealand, there is a Thirumurugan Temple in Auckland and a Kurinji Kumaran Temple in Wellington, both dedicated to Lord Murugan. In the USA, Shiva Murugan Temple in Concord, Northern California and Murugan Temple of North America[18] in Maryland, Washington DC region are popular. In Toronto, Canada, Canada Kanthasamy Temple is known amongst many Hindus in Canada. In Dollard-des-Ormeaux, a suburb of the city of Montreal in Canada, there is a monumental temple of Murugan. The Sri Sivasubramaniar Temple, located in the Sihl Valley in Adliswil, is the most famous and largest Hindu temple in Switzerland.[19]

Monument to William Gee 1562 - 1611 who kneels his 2 wives Thomasine & Mary Crompton with 6 children who survived the father: probably John, Thomas, William Jane, Mary or Elizabeth & Hannah www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/tKU74W (Erected by 2nd wife Mary )

Inscription:

BELOW: "Stay, gentle passenger, and read a sentence sent ye from ye dead.

If wisdom, wealth, honour or honesty,

Chastity, zeal, faith, hope or charity;

If universal learning, language, law,

Pure piety, religion's reverent awe,

Firm friends, fair issue; if a virtuous wife,

A quiet conscience, a contented life,

The clergy's prayers, or the poor man's tears,

Could have lent length to man's determined years,

Sure as the fate which for our fault we fear,

Proud death had ne'er advanced his trophy here;

In it behold thy doom, and tomb provide,

Sir WILLIAM GEE had all these pleas, yet dy'd.

William Gee of Bishop_Burton in the County of York, Knight, one of the Privy Council, and secretary to James I King of Great Britain: A man illustrious for piety, integrity, and beneficence, especially to the Minister of God's word. He was eminent for his skill in the Latin, Greek, and Hebrew languages: for his knowledge both of ecclesiastical and civil law, and especially for his acquaintance with theology both theoretical and practical. After he had married first Thomasine, daughter of the most Reverend father in Christ Doctor Hutton, Archbishop of York, and afterwards Mary, sprung from the illustrious family of the Crompton's, by each of which he had a fair and hopeful progeny over whom he exercised the tenderest care to form them to every excellence, he patiently continued in this vale of tears for near 50 years in the exercise of an unshaken faith in Christ, and an un-violated charity towards men. At length he fell asleep in Jesus, placidly resigning his soul to God his father, and his body to its mother earth, in the expectation that he shall one day receive it back from thence gloriously improved and beautified.

Mary Gee, who while they lived together, was the companion of his enjoyments, and, beyond the ordinary measure of her sex.... of his virtues too, now, after some years of widowhood, expecting when the will of God is such, to take part also of his grave, has erected this ineffectual monument of her tender affection and conjugal fidelity, desirous to perpetuate, as long as possible, that his wishes might endure for ever.

O death! His love still lives within my heart, And mocks the effort of thy feeble dart."

TOP; "What need of tears, or monumental praise,

Blessed shade! Thy actions or thy name to raise?

To souls like thine death with a smile appears,

And his grim form an Angels semblance wears.

What joy were ours had time but spared his rage,

O bright example for the future age.

Recorded virtue God-like warmth inspires,

The pious children emulate their sires.

Behold this stone; with heavenly ardor mov'd,

Act like its owner, and like him be loved.

Ah, why this tomb! Since from my sorrowing heart

his dear remembrance never shall depart:

Yet here, ev'n here his actions let me tell,

And on his praise with mournful fondness dwell,

I ask no more; then shall this marble prove

Sacred at once to virtue and to love.

  

Sir William of Bishop Burton was the son of William Gee 1603 alderman and merchant of Hull, and 2nd wife Elizabeth daughter of William Jubson of Snaith and Hull

He was educated at St. John’s, Cambridge in 1577 and at Lincoln's Inn in 1580. He was called to the bar.

He was a merchant and Alderman of HullHe served as MP for Hull 1589 He later acted as a banker to his fellow merchants, but his wealth was matched by his charitable benefactions, estimated at £2000 in 1595. Recorder for Beverley 1597; Member, High Commission, province of York 1599; On his father's death in 1603 he inherited property in Hull and Beverley which he sold. . He purchased the Bishop Burton estate in 1603 and built on it a hall later known as the Low Hall. He was MP for Beverley in 1604 the year he was knighted. Sir William was a member & later Secretary and keeper of the signet to the Council in the North from 1604 until his death.

He doubtless owed his return as MP for Hull to his father, a well-known local benefactor. Beverley was near his estate of Bishop Burton. Doubtless he was also helped in his career by his first father- in-law, who, in June 1595, gave him a lukewarm testimonial for the secretaryship to the council in the north, an appointment he secured early in the next reign.

 

He m1 Thomasine 1572-1599 daughter of Matthew Hutton, Archbishop of York www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/q75Yo7 & 2nd wife Beatrix 1582 daughter of Joane & Sir Thomas Fincham 1546 of Marske in Swaledale

(Thomasine was the sister of Sir Timothy Hutton at Richmond flic.kr/p/5nn5Pz & Thomas Hutton at Nether Poppleton flic.kr/p/7LMaxF

Children - 4 sons & 2 daughters

1. William b 1591 died young

2, Susan 1592 - 1600 born in Goodramgate, York

3. Philip b / d 1594 born in Beverley

4. William b 1595

5. Timothy b/d 1597 born in Beverley

6. JANE 1599 - 1628 born in Beverley (?) m ..... Gregory

  

He m2 1600 Mary 1571 /80 - 1649 daughter of Thomas Crompton 1601 of Bennington, Herts., Hounslow, Mdx. and Farringdon, London, MP (auditor to Queen Elizabeth) by Mary daughter of Henry Hudson; Grand daughter of John Crompton of Prestall in Deane, Lancs

Children - 5 sons & 3 daughters

1. Thomas 1602 / 03

2. JOHN 1603 - 1627 of Harthill Scorbrough m 1624 Frances 1605-1636 daughter of Sir John Hotham 1st Bart & Katherine daughter of Sir John Rodes of Barlborough by Catherine Constable; (Their daughter in law Rachel Parker is at Bishop Burton flic.kr/p/81khCd ) Frances m2 1627 Sir Philip Stapleton of Warter son of Henry Stapleton of Wighall & Mary Forster , brother of Robert Stapleton at Wighall flic.kr/p/efVoKz

3. WILLIAM 1604 - 1657 of Bentley m 1651 Frances daughter of Gervase Hammerton of Alkborough, Lincs

4. THOMAS b1605 - after 1657 of Killingrave born in Beverley m 1633 Catherine daughter of Philip Constable

5. Timothy 1609 - died pre 1628

1, MARY d pre 1628

7. ELIZABETH b Feb 1611 unmarried

6. HANNAH / ANNE Dec 1611 - 1691 m Sir Thomas Remington of Lund E. Yorks www.yorkmuseumstrust.org.uk/collections/search/item/?id=2...

 

Sir William died on 3rd December 1611 soon after making his will on 02 November 1611 He thanked God that he had come into this world ‘in the time when the glorious gospel did most brightly shine ... and not in the time of darkness, of poperies and superstition’. He enumerated various protestant victories, as he saw them, ending with the Gunpowder Plot. His bequests totaling over £1000 included money to St. John’s College, Cambridge, and to the poor of Beverley.

According to his wishes he was buried here and this monument was later erected by 2nd wife Mary Crompton next to the tomb his 1st father in law Archbishop Hutton.

First wife Thomasine Hutton was buried at Beverley.

 

After his death Mary was forced to buy the wardship of his eldest son John for £750 to maintain some family control over the estates

  

Second wife Mary died in 1649 and is buried here also

(Will of Dame Mary Gee July 16, 1628. "Dame Mary Gee, late wife of Sr Wm Gee, Kt. Of Bhp Bourton, deceased. To be buried in the Cathedral Church of St Peter in York. To the poor of Bishop Burton ₤10. To my eldest (surviving) son Wm Gee, Walkington Woods which I bought, and my own wedding ring. To my son Thomas Gee my best saddle horse. To his wife my ring with the gren stone in it. To Thos Gee, their son, my grandchild, that land I purchased in Elerby and Longriston. To my son John Gee’s son Wm Gee a messuage called the Baulkland House. To my daughter Hanna Remmington my coach and horses. To her husband a piece of gold of 50 s., and to her daughter Elizabeth a ring. To my daughter Jane Gregorie a gold and a rubie ring. To my sister Alice Glenham a silver salt and the bed and table and all the furniture in that chamber over my chamber. To my sister ffinebone ring enameled with black enamel. To my kinswoman Mary Glenham one bed and all furniture in room next me and ₤20 to her portion. To each of the servants 20 s., and to each of the maids 13s. 4d. The rest of my goods between my son William and my son Thomas Gee his children. To son Wm. And cosen Micklethwat, clerke, whom I make executors 30 angells each, and I appoint Mr. Thomas Bruster and my brother Rimmington, Esq., supervisors, and to have for a remembrance 4 angells. (Probated Feb. 6, 1655, by William Gee, Esq. son.)

 

Coats of Arms: - Top - Gee ;

Below: Gee impaling Hutton ; Gee: Gee impaling Crompton

 

The family continued to live at Bishop Burton until 1783, when the estate was sold to pay debts

 

Picture with thanks - copyright Jhttps://exhibitions.lib.cam.ac.uk/reformation/artifacts/o-bright-example-for-the-future-age-a-funeral-monument-to-sir-william-gee-1611/

www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1558-1603/member... www.ancestry.com/genealogy/records/sir-william-gee-esq-of... genealogy.links.org/links-cgi/readged?/home/ben/camilla-g... geesnmore.wordpress.com/gees-in-england/yorkshire/ - York Minster

Day Ten:

 

They must be getting used to you lurking there in the background. Hiding in the dark. Oh yes you may feel that you're safe. The many faces haven't turned on you yet but can you be sure they wont?

 

No monster can deny it's true nature indefinitely. They may be turning their backs on you now but all it takes is a little flicker of opportunity to awaken the beasts that they are. They're not demonic, they're not man, they're the thing that is driven by instinct and they will get you in the end if you drop you guard.

 

You have to wonder if they're always there, watching, waiting, hoping you'll put up a fight for they crave a good fight. It's the thing all monsters have in common. If they can cause you pain and despair they will leave you with those scars and then, as so many of them will try, you'll become one of them.

 

Although your own virtuous nature may save you.

Children detail: Alabaster & marble wall monument which has not fared well over time:

"Here lies buried the most virtuous Lady Catherine Graham wife of Sir Richard Graham of Netherby in the county of Cumberland, knight and Bart, daughter of Thomas Musgrove of Cumcach Esq and Susanna his wife. Well beloved in her country as being a very hospitable and charitable matron, she died March 1649 in the 48th year of her age leaving behind her 2 sons and 4 daughters namely George, Richard, Mary, Elizabeth, Susanna and Henrietta Maria."

 

Richard, bc.1583 was the 2nd son of Fergus Graham 1625 of Plump, Kirkandrews-upon-Esk and Sybil daughter of William Bell of Scotsbrig, Middlebie, Dumfries & Brockethouse by Elizabeth Bowmont

He was knighted on 9th January 1629 and created a baronet on 29th March 1629

He was groom to George, 1st Marquess (later Duke) of Buckingham by 1617, gentleman of the horse 1619-28;8 joint. clerk of customs bills 1619-21;9 equerry, King’s Stables 1629-?44; master of the harriers 1644- Member, Council in the North 1629-41 .......

Sir Richard came from one of the more obscure branches of a border clan, notorious for its participation in violent raiding, that settled at Plump by the middle of the sixteenth century His elder brother was deported to the Low Countries after a particularly audacious week of pillage in 1603, and his ‘debatable lands’ were granted to George Clifford, 3rd earl of Cumberland. Sir Richard himself ‘came on foot to London and got entertained into ... Buckingham’s service, having some spark of wit, and skill in moss-trooping and horse-coursing’. Despite a temporary loss of office in 1620 after a duel with his employer’s kinsman, a younger son of Basil Feilding*, he was able to lay out £3,955 on the purchase of property in Lincolnshire in 1621-2. As a part-time resident in Cumberland, he endeavoured to reform vice there by building a church and educating the young Appointed customer of Carlisle in 1623, he was granted permission to execute the office by deputy on account of his attendance at Court. In the same year, with Sir Francis Cottington* and Endymion Porter†, he accompanied Buckingham and Prince Charles on their ill-fated journey to Spain to woo the Infanta.

In 1624 the year of his marriage, Richard bought Norton Conyers from his wife’s father (whose own father had purchased it from the Crown in 1593 ) with 'all messuages, granges, mills, lands, tenements, tithes, waters, warrens, leet lawdays, views of frankpledge' and other liberties for £6,500.28 During the autumn he fought a duel with another follower of Buckingham, Sackville Crowe*, but again escaped serious consequences Graham took the credit for persuading Lord Robartes to buy a peerage for £3,000 in 1625, and Edward Clarke* heard that he had been rewarded with a suit valued at £500 a year.

 

He m 1624 Catherine daughter of Thomas Musgrove 1600 of 1600 of Cumcatch Manor, Brampton, Cumberland & Susanna Thwaites

Children

1. George 2nd Bart c1624-58 married Mary daughter of James Johnstone 1st Earl of Hartfell and 1st wife Margaret daughter of William Douglas, 1st Earl of Queensberry & Isabel Kerr

2. Richard 1635 - 1711 was made a baronet in 1662 for services to the royal cause in the Civil War . He m Elizabeth daughter of Chichester Fortescue & Elizabeth Slingsby

Elizabeth was the grand-daughter of William Slingsby www.flickr.com/photos/52219527@N00/6123004013/ and had a son Reginald 1728 who married Frances Bellingham

3. Mary m Edward 1st baron Musgrave 1673 of Hayton Castle, Cumberland

4. Elizabeth m (1st wife) Sir Cuthbert Heron of Chipchase Castle

5. Susanna

6. Henrietta Maria

 

Sir Richard was first elected MP for Carlisle, ten miles from his Cumbrian estate, in 1626, during the mayoralty of his kinsman Edward Aglionby*, who acted as returning officer. He left no trace on the records of the second Caroline Parliament, though he may have heard his transaction with Robartes mentioned in Sir John Eliot’s* report on 24 Mar. 1626 of the charges of corruption levelled against Buckingham. Graham attended his master on the expedition to the Ile de Ré in 1627, and with John Ashburnham* helped to rally a faltering regiment at the landing He was re-elected in 1628, but again went unnoticed in the parliamentary records. On 8 July he re-purchased Nicholl Forest and other ‘debatable lands’ formerly confiscated from his family, from the Cliffords at the favourable price of £7,050.33 After his Buckingham’s assassination he was granted a market and fair on his Cumberland estate, and rebuilt Kirkandrews church in 1637, though in a thoroughly shoddy manner.

 

Richard was created a baronet in 1629.

He fought on the side of Charles I at the Battle of Edgehill in 1642, where he was severely wounded and lived in the York garrison until 1 July when the city was relieved by Prince Rupert of the Rhine. However Rupert and Newcastle were defeated the next day at the decisive Battle of Marston Moor, where Richard suffered 26 wounds returning home on horseback more dead than alive .

Later taken prisoner while on his way from Oxford to Newark in November 1645, he promptly submitted to Parliament and was thus able to compound for his delinquency at a favourable rate, paying £2,385 on an estate of just under £1,250 a year.

 

Sir Richard made his will on 26 March 1653, leaving a portion of £1,500 for his only unmarried daughter , named after the queen, Henrietta Maria, and an annuity of £20 for a cousin at whose house in Newmarket he died on 28th January 1654 and was buried here at Wath.

His Cumberland property had been settled on his elder son George who died before the 1660 Restoration of King Charles ll , however his grandson Sir Richard Grahame reeped the rewards for their loyalty to the Crown, and was given a Scottish peerage and represented the county under James II.

 

His younger son Richard founded another branch of the family at Norton Conyers where they still live . He was created 1st Baronet Graham of Norton Conyers for his loyal services in the Civil War,

  

(The descendants of George & William seem to have intermarried in the 17c & 18c www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/88Rn92 )

 

Monument repaired by Sir Bellingham Graham Bart 1783 "

A brass inscription placed on the wall underneath, is said by Longstaffe to refer to Katherine - "..Enobled virtue lyes within this tombe, whose life & death inferiour was to none. Her soules in heaven, this tombe is but a tent. Her endless worth is her owne monument" www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/877569

www.histparl.ac.uk/volume/1604-1629/member/graham-richard... www.geni.com/people/Sir-Richard-Graham-of-Esk-1st-Baronet...

- Church of St Mary, Wath, Yorkshire

台南孔子廟 / 賢鄉祠龍吟石雕-光影乍現見神龍

Tainan Kong Zi temple / The virtuous township ancestral hall dragon recites of the stone carving - Light and shadow presently to see Dragon for the first time

Templo de Tainan Kong Zi / El dragón ancestral del pasillo del municipio virtuoso recita de la talla de piedra - Luz y sombra actualmente para ver el dragón por primera vez

台南の孔子廟 / 賢い郷祠の竜吟の石の彫刻-光影は急に現在神竜に会います

Tempel Tainan-Kong Zi / Vorträgt der ererbte Hallendrache der rechtschaffenen Gemeinde vom Steinschnitzen - Licht und Schatten momentan, zum des Drachen zum ersten Mal zu sehen

  

I used Yahoo translater. it is the joke don't worry be happy.

 

Confucian temple Tainan Taiwan / Tainan Taiwán / 台灣台南

"Woman" by Dennis Smith, at the Historic Nauvoo Visitor Center, Illinois.

 

Each statue has a quote from LDS scripture. This sculpture's scripture is

 

“Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies….Strength and honor are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come.” Proverbs 31:10

 

© 2009 Loren Zemlicka

lorenzemlicka.wordpress.com/

 

Cultivators of the earth are the most valuable citizens. They are the most vigorous, the most independant, the most virtuous, and they are tied to their country and wedded to it’s liberty and interests by the most lasting bands.

 

- Thomas Jefferson

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View Large On Black

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As finished (10 October 2022).

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www.munus.com/tempo-liberato?ln=2

 

Tempo Liberato

 

Perugia, Civic Museum of Palazzo della Penna - 10 November / 16 December 2018

 

The City of Perugia and Munus, the museum service provider company that’s working on a project for optimising and enhancing the value of the Civic Museum in Palazzo della Penna, of the Chapel of San Severo and of the Templar Complex of San Bevignate, are pleased to present Tempo Liberato. Curated by GMGProgettoCultura and Francesca Romana Pinzari and set up in the Civic Museum of Palazzo della Penna, this exhibition features 23 contemporary artists who employ paintings, sculptures, photographs and live performances to discuss the concept of Time and the relationship between the frenetic rhythms that dominate today’s globalised society, obsessed as it is with continuous productivity, and the free time that individuals find themselves increasingly having to sacrifice.

 

Our personal time – the time we have for meditating, the time we can call our own, so “free” – has become one of the most precious although least-prized commodities of our era. Yet despite often being considered to be a luxury, it is intangible and non-cumulative: we yearn for it, but cannot own it; we spend it, but cannot earn it.

 

Today’s constantly increasing technology has given us tools for slashing in half and sometimes practically eliminating the time it takes to produce things, yet those same devices have paradoxically only served the purpose of increasing, not decreasing, the personal time we devote to our work.

 

In short, time is not free any more, but the slave of our social superstructures, so that even in the air we breathe we can perceive an increasingly widespread need to take back control of the natural rhythms that govern mankind’s life.

Art is the place where time is set free of the mechanisms of consumption and usability, of calculations and of predestination, and can express itself in the principles of its cyclic nature, in the potential dichotomies of contingent and transcendent, of natural and arithmetic, of space and work.

 

Hence the title Tempo Liberato, a play on the Italian word combination between “Free Time” and “Time Set Free” that stresses how artists, architects and town planners both past and present manage to create places with the ability to enrich the social time we spend in meditative, evolutionary spaces, bringing together spirit and matter. And the fact is that artistic cities have long proved to be particularly suitable locations for achieving that magical coincidence between man, space and time.

 

The city of Perugia has always taken care to leave eloquent narrative traces of its evolution over the years, keeping faith with the gentle harmony of the landscape that surrounds it.

An early example is the Fontana Maggiore, or Great Fountain, with its depictions of agricultural tasks alternating with signs of the zodiac, followed by the seven liberal arts and Philosophy.

 

Then there’s Pope Gregory XIII, who decided to reform the Julian calendar and replace it with the Gregorian one. To do it, he called in Father Egnazio Danti, a mathematician and astronomer from Perugia who turned his hand directly to redesigning the way we measure the times of the world in which we live.

 

Perugia is the virtuous example of a city that has hosted enlightened industries like Perugina and the Luisa Spagnoli fashion group, which have paid attention to considering their employees’ needs, taking care not only of the time they devote to production, but also their private time; building recreational facilities and giving everyone a chance to spend pleasant time with their families, in a context at no great removed from their workplace.

 

Nowadays, Time generates fear and wounds, caught up in a bruising frenzy, wrapping fragments of moments up into isolated little parcels that shift us even further away from holistic understanding.

 

The artists in this show express themselves in their own highly personal idioms, making a gift of their working time, which we see as a creative, ritual act, a generating presence that balances contingency with transcendence, a conscious awareness of the correspondence between space and time, a moment of choice that is extended and held, an act of care and of memory.

 

Art reinforces the mythical idea of Time, simultaneously young and old, fast and slow, the impudent offspring of Earth and Sky, proud and stubborn in its inexorable forward march.

  

Specifically, civil virtue comes to mind (from an article I recently read at The Atlantic).

"War’s Lament: The Tragedy of Victims"

 

Tragedy seeks out vulnerability and inherent worth.

And kindness attracts those positioned to self-consume.

It is in fields of conflict where the virtuous can temporarily inflict dominion.

Whilst claiming righteousness as the essential prize.

And satiate struggle of the empowered over the objectified is given grace.

 

Advocates of justice and equality are silenced.

Decision-makers entangle themselves in the interconnected web of power and corruption.

Until ethical decisions become inoperable.

And the profound sense of loss and injustice engulfs all victims.

Then calls for action against the objectification and mistreatment of victims fall away.

So that righteousness of victory is systemically ritualised.

And the well-positioned can claim generational status.

  

Blogger

www.jjfbbennett.com/2023/07/wars-lament-tragedy-of-victim...

 

JJFBbennett Art Directory

jjfbbennett.taplink.ws/

 

Contemporary Positional Video Art and Socio-Fictional Writings

 

It is about being creative and innovative with knowledge

www.jjfbbennett.com

  

Dutch postcard. Photo: Metro Goldwyn Mayer.

 

American actor James Stewart (1908-1997) is among the most honored and popular stars in film history. Known for his distinctive drawl and everyman screen persona, Stewart had a film career that spanned over 55 years and 80 films.

 

James Maitland Stewart was born in 1908, in Indiana, Pennsylvania. Stewart started acting while studying at Princeton University. After graduating in 1932, he began a career as a stage actor, appearing on Broadway and in summer stock productions. In 1935, he signed a film contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). The studio did not see leading man material in Stewart, but after three years of supporting roles and being loaned out to other studios, he had his big breakthrough in Frank Capra's ensemble comedy You Can't Take It with You (1938). Adapted from the Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart, the film is about a man (Stewart) from a family of rich snobs who becomes engaged to a woman (Jean Arthur) from a good-natured but decidedly eccentric family. The following year, Stewart got his first Oscar nomination for his portrayal of an idealised and virtuous man who becomes a senator in Capra's Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (Frank Capra, 1939), again opposite Jean Arthur. He won the Academy Award for his work in the screwball comedy The Philadelphia Story (George Cukor, 1940), which also starred Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant. A licensed amateur pilot, Stewart enlisted as a private in the Army Air Corps as soon as he could after the United States entered the Second World War in 1941. Although still an MGM star, his only public and film appearances in 1941—1945 were scheduled by the Air Corps. After fighting in the European theater of war, he had attained the rank of colonel and had received several awards for his service. He remained in the U.S. Air Force Reserve and was promoted to brigadier general in 1959. He retired in 1968 and was awarded the United States Air Force Distinguished Service Medal.

 

After the war, James Stewart had difficulties in adapting to changing Hollywood and even thought about ending his acting career. He became a freelancer, and had his first postwar role was as George Bailey in Capra's It's a Wonderful Life (Frank Capra, 1946) with Donna Reed. Although it earned him an Oscar nomination, the film was not a big success at first. It has gained in popularity in the decades since its release and is considered a Christmas classic and one of Stewart's most famous performances. In the 1950s, Stewart experienced a career revival by playing darker, more morally ambiguous characters in Westerns and thrillers. Some of his most important collaborations during this period were with directors Anthony Mann, with whom he made eight films including Winchester '73 (1950), The Glenn Miller Story (1954) and The Naked Spur (1953), and Alfred Hitchcock, with whom he collaborated on Rope (1948), Rear Window (1954), The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956), and Vertigo (1958) with Kim Novak. Vertigo was ignored by critics at its time of release, but has since been reevaluated and recognised as an American cinematic masterpiece. His other films in the 1950s included the Broadway adaptation Harvey (Henry Koster, 1950) and the courtroom drama Anatomy of a Murder (Otto Preminger, 1959), both of which landed him Oscar nominations. He was one of the most popular film stars of the decade, with most of his films becoming box office successes. Stewart's later Westerns included The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) and Cheyenne Autumn (1964), both directed by John Ford. He signed a lucrative multi-movie deal with 20th Century-Fox in 1962 and appeared in many popular family comedies during the decade. After a brief venture into television acting, Stewart semi-retired by the 1980s, although he remained a public figure due to the renewed interest in his films with Capra and Hitchcock and his appearances at President Reagan's White House. He received many honorary awards, including an honorary Academy Honorary Award and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, both in 1985. Stewart remained unmarried until his 40s and was dubbed "The Great American Bachelor" by the press. In 1949, he married former model Gloria Hatrick McLean. They had twin daughters, and he adopted her two sons from her previous marriage. The marriage lasted until McLean's death in 1994. James Stewart died of a pulmonary embolism three years later in Beverly Hills.

 

Source: Wikipedia.

 

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

At 21:47 GMT, the equinox happened, and so from then on, light is destined to win over darkness. Which meant, of course, that the day before then was the shortest "day", or amount of daylight.

 

This is the end of the year, the build up and excitement before Christmas, and at the same time, looking back at the year, and what has happened in the previous 50 or so weeks. So, a time of mixed emotions, good and bad, happy and sad.

 

But I was on vacation, or not going to work.

 

I am not up to date, but I did all the tasks I was supposed to do, threw a few electronic grenades over the walls, and was now happy not to think of that shit for two whole weeks.

 

For Jools, however, there was half a day to do, and then her employers paid for all those employed at the factory to go to a fancy place in Folkestone for lunch, drinks at the bar and a bottle of wine between four folks.

 

It was, in short, a time for celebration. Something I realise has not happened in my job since I left operational quality, to be happy and give thanks to those we work with. And be recognised for the good job we do.

 

So, I was to take Jools to work, and have the car for the day.

 

Jools was conscious that my plan for the day involved driving to the far west of Kent, so realised I needed an early start, and not dropping her off in Hythe at seven.

 

We left after coffee just after six, driving through Dover and Folkestone on the main road and motorway before turning over the downs into Hythe. I dropped her off in the town, so she could get some walking in. She always didn't walk, as waves of showers swept over the town, and me as I drove back home for breakfast and do all the chores before leaving on a mini-churchcrawl.

 

So, back home for breakfast, more coffee, wash up, do the bird feeders and with postcodes, set out for points in the extreme west. Now, Kent is not a big county, not say, Texas big, but it takes some time to get to some parts of the west of the county. Main roads run mainly from London to the coast, so going cross-country or cross-county would take time.

 

At first it was as per normal up the A20 then onto the motorway to Ashford then to Maidstone until the junction before the M26 starts. One of the reasons for going later was to avoid rush hours in and around Maidstone, Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells.

 

As it was, after turning down the A road, things were fine until I got to Mereworth, but from there the road began to twist and turn until it lead me into Tonbridge. Once upon a time, this was a sleepy village or small town. The the railways came and it became a major junction. The road to Penshurt took me though the one way system, then down the wide High Street, over the river Medway and up the hill the other side.

 

Two more turns took me to my target, through what were once called stockbroker mansions, then down a hill, with the village laid out before me just visible through the trees.

 

The village was built around the outskirts of Penshurst Place, home to the Sidney family since Tudor times. Just about everything is named the Leicester something, the village having its own Leicester Square, though with no cinemas, and all timber framed houses and painfully picturesque.

 

The church lays behind the houses, the tower in golden sandstone topped with four spirelets.

 

I parked the car, and armed with two cameras, several lenses and a photographer's eye, walked to the church.

 

The reason for coming was I can only remember a little about my previous visit, but the Leicester name thing triggered in my head the thought the memorials and tombs might be worth a revisit.

 

So there I was.

 

Gilbert Scott was very busy here, so there is little of anything prior to the 19th century, but the memorials are there. Including one which features the heads of the children of Robert Sidney (d1702) in a cloud. Including the eldest son who died, apparently, so young he wasn't named, and is recorded as being the first born.

 

This is in the Sidney Chapel where the great and good are buried and remembered, it has a colourful roof, or roof beams, and heraldic shields. It has a 15th century font, which, sadly, has been brightly painted so is gaudy in the extreme.

 

I go around getting my shots, leave a fiver for the church. Go back to the car and program Speldhurst into the sat nav.

 

Its just a ten minute drive, but there is no place to park anywhere near the church. I could see from my slow drive-by the porch doors closed, and I convinced myself they were locked and not worth checking out.

 

I went on to Groombridge, where there is a small chapel with fabulous glass. I had been here before too, but wanted to redo my shots.

 

It was by now pouring with rain, and as dark as twilight, I missed the church on first pass, went to the mini-roundabout only to discover that it and the other church in the village were in Sussex. I turned round, the church looked dark and was almost certainly locked. I told myself.

 

I didn't stop here either, so instead of going to the final village church, I went straigh to Tunbridge Wells where there was another church to revisit.

 

I drove into the town, over the man road and to the car park with no waiting in traffic, how odd, I thought.

 

It was hard to find a parking space, but high up in the parking house there were finally spaced. I parked near the stairs down, grabbed my cameras and went down.

 

I guess I could have parked nearer the church, but once done it would be easier to leave the town as the road back home went past the exit.

 

I ambled down the hill leading to the station, over the bridge and down the narrow streets, all lined with shops. I think its fair to say that it is a richer town than Dover because on one street there were three stores offering beposke designer kitchens.

 

The church is across the road from the Georgian square known at The Pantiles, but it was the church I was here to visit.

 

I go in, and there is a service underway. I decide to sit at the back and observe.

 

And pray.

 

I did not take communion, though. The only one there who didn't.

 

About eight elderly parishioners did, though.

 

I was here to photograph the ceiling, and then the other details I failed to record when we were last here over a decade ago.

 

I was quizzed strongly by a warden as to why I was doing this. I had no answer other than I enjoyed it, and for me that is enough.

 

After getting my shots, I leave and begin the slog back up to the car, but on the way keeping my promise to a young man selling the Big Issue that I would come back and buy a copy. I did better than that in that I gave him a fiver and didn't take a copy.

 

He nearly burst into tears. I said, there is kindness in the world, and some of us do keep our promises.

 

By the time I got to the car park, it was raining hard again. I had two and a half hours to get to Folkestone to pick up Jools after her meal.

 

Traffic into Tunbridge Wells from this was was crazy, miles and miles of queues, so I was more than happy going the other way.

 

I get back to the M20, cruise down to Ashford, stopping at Stop 24 services for a coffee and something to eat. I had 90 minutes to kill, so eat, drink and scroll Twitter as I had posted yet more stuff that morning. In other news: nothing changed, sadly.

 

At quarter past four I went to pick up Jools, stopping outside the restaurant. When she got in she declared she had been drinking piña coladas. Just two, but she was bubby and jabbering away all the way home.

 

With Jools having eaten out, and with snacks I had, no dinner was needed, so when suppertime came round, we dined on cheese and crackers, followed by a large slice of Christmas cake.

 

She was now done for Christmas too.

 

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

 

A large sandstone church of nave, aisles, chancel and chapels that was restored by Sir George Gilbert Scott in 1864. It stands in an excellent position set back from the street in a large well-kept churchyard. The tower is of three stages with four pinnacles strangely set well back from the corners. Inside it is obvious that there have been many rebuildings and repairs, leaving a general character of the Victorian period. The good chancel screen is by Bodley and Garner and dates from 1897. Whilst it is well carved the florid design is more suited to a West Country church than to the Garden of England. The fifteenth-century font has been painted in bold colours in a way that can never have been imagined when it was new! Nearby is the Becket window designed by Lawrence Lee in 1970. It is quite unlike any other window in Kent and has an emphasis on heraldry - the figure of Becket and three knights are almost lost in the patchwork effect. Under the tower is the famous Albigensian Cross, a portion of thirteenth-century coffin lid with the effigy of a woman at prayer. The south chapel, which belongs to Penshurst Place, was rebuilt by Rebecca in 1820 and has a lovely painted ceiling. It contains some fine monuments including Sir Stephen de Pencester, a damaged thirteenth-century knight. Nearby is the large standing monument to the 4th Earl of Leicester (d. 1704) designed by William Stanton. It is a large urn flanked by two angels, above which are the heads of the earls children's floating in the clouds!

 

www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Penshurst

 

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PENSHURST.

THE next parish eastward from Chidingstone is Penhurst, called in the Textus Roffenfis, Pennesherst. It takes its name from the old British word Pen, the height or top of any thing, and byrst, a wood. (fn. 1) It is called in some antient records, Pen cestre, and more vulgarly, Penchester, from some sortified camp or fortress antiently situated here.

 

There is a district in this parish, called Hallborough, which is within the lowy of Tunbridge, the manerial rights of which belong to Thomas Streatfeild, esq. and there is another part of it, comprehending the estate of Chafford, which is within the jurisdiction of the duchy court of Lancaster.

 

THIS PARISH lies in the Weald, about four miles Southward from the foot of the sand hills, and the same distance from Tunbridge town, and the high London road from Sevenoke. The face of the country is much the same as in those parishes last described, as is the soil, for the most part a stiff clay, being well adapted to the large growth of timber for which this parish is remarkable; one of these trees, as an instance of it, having been cut down here, about twenty years ago, in the park, called, from its spreading branches, Broad Oak, had twenty-one ton, or eight hundred and forty feet of timber in it. The parish is watered by the river Eden, which runs through the centre of it, and here taking a circular course, and having separated into two smaller streams, joins the river Medway, which flows by the southern part of the park towards Tunbridge. At a small distance northward stands the noble mansion of Penshurst-place, at the south west corner of the park, which, till within these few years, was of much larger extent, the further part of it, called North, alias Lyghe, and South parks, having been alienated from it, on the grounds of the latter of which the late Mr. Alnutt built his seat of that name, from whence the ground rises northward towards the parish of Lyghe. Close to the north west corner of Penshurst-park is the seat of Redleaf, and at the south west corner of it, very near to the Place, is the village of Penshurst, with the church and parsonage. At a small distance, on the other side the river, southward, is Ford-place, and here the country becomes more low, and being watered by the several streams, becomes wet, the roads miry and bad, and the grounds much covered with coppice wood; whence, about a mile southward from the river, is New House, and the boroughs of Frendings and Kingsborough; half a mile southward from which is the river Medway; and on the further side of it the estate of Chafford, a little beyond which it joins the parish of Ashurst, at Stone cross. In a deep hole, in the Medway, near the lower end of Penshurst-park, called Tapner's-hole, there arises a spring, which produces a visible and strong ebullition on the surface of the river; and above Well-place, which is a farm house, near the south-east corner of the park, there is a fine spring, called Kidder's-well, which, having been chemically analized, is found to be a stronger chalybeate than those called Tunbridge-wells; there is a stone bason for the spring to rise in, and run to waste, which was placed here by one of the earls of Leicester many years ago. This parish, as well as the neighbouring ones, abounds with iron ore, and most of the springs in them are more or less chalybeate. In the losty beeches, near the keeper's lodge, in Penshurst-park, is a noted beronry; which, since the destruction of that in lord Dacre's park, at Aveley, in Effex, is, I believe, the only one in this part of England. A fair is held here on July I, for pedlary, &c.

 

The GREATEST PART of this parish is within the jurisdiction of the honour of Otford, a subordinate limb to which is the MANOR of PENSHURST HALIMOTE, alias OTFORD WEALD, extending likewise over parts of the adjoining parishes of Chidingstone, Hever, and Cowden. As a limb of that of honour, it was formerly part of the possessions of the see of Canterbury, and was held for a long time in lease of the archbishops, by the successive owners of Penhurst manor, till the death of the duke of Buckingham, in the 13th year of king Henry VIII. in the 29th year of which reign, Thomas Cranmer, archbishop of Canterbury, exchanging Otford with the crown, this, as an appendage, passed with it, and it remained in the hands of the crown till the death of king Charles I. 1648; after which the powers then in being, having seised on the royal estates, passed an ordinance to vest them in trustees, to be sold, to supply the necessities of the state; when, on a survey made of this manor, in 1650, it appeared that the quit-rents due to the lord, from the freeholders in free socage tenure, were 16l. 18s. 3½d. and that they paid a heriot of the best living thing, or in want thereof, 3s. 4d. in money. That there were copyholders holding of it, within this parish, by rent and fine certain; that there was a common fine due from the township or borough of Halebury, and a like from the township of Penshurst, a like from the townships or boroughts of Chidingstone, Standford, and Cowden; and that there was a court baron and a court leet. The total rents, profits, &c. of all which amounted to 23l. and upwards. (fn. 2) After this the manor was sold by the state to colonel Robert Gibbon, with whom it remained till the restoration of king Charles II. when the possession and inheritance of it returned to the crown, where it remains, as well as the honour of Otford, at this time, his grace the duke of Dorset being high steward of both; but the see farm rents of it, with those of other manors belonging to the above mentioned honour, were alienated from the crown in king Charles II.'s reign, and afterwards became the property of Sir James Dashwood, bart. in whose family they still continue.

 

SOON AFTER the reign of William the Conqueror Penshurst was become the residence of a family, who took their name from it, and were possessed of the manor then called the manor of Peneshurste; and it appears by a deed in the Registrum Roffense, that Sir John Belemeyns, canon of St. Paul, London, was in possession of this manor, as uncle and trustee, in the latter part of king Henry III.'s reign, to Stephen de Peneshurste or Penchester, who possessed it in the beginning of the reign of king Edward I. He had been knighted, and made constable of Dover castle and warden of the cinque ports by Henry III. in which posts he continued after the accession of king Edward I. (fn. 3) He died without issue male, and was buried in the south chancel of this church, under an altar tomb, on which lay his figure in armour, reclining on a cushion. He left Margery, his second wife, surviving, who held this manor at her death, in the 2d year of king Edward II. and two daughters and coheirs; Joane, married to Henry de Cobham of Rundale, second son of John de Cobham, of Cobham, in this county, by his first wife, daughter of Warine Fitz Benedict; (fn. 4) and Alice to John de Columbers, as appears by an inquisition, taken in the 3d year of king Edward II. His arms, being Sable, a bend or, a label of three points argent, still remain on the roof of the cloisters of Canterbury cathedral. Alice, above mentioned, had this manor, with that of Lyghe adjoining, assigned to her for her proportion of their inheritance; soon after which these manors were conveyed to Sir John de Pulteney, son of Adam de Pulteney of Misterton, in Leicestershire, by Maud his wife. In the 15th year of that reign he had licence to embattle his mansion houses of Penshurst, Chenle in Cambridgeshire, and in London. (fn. 5) In the 11th year of king Edward III. Thomas, son of Sir John de Columbers of Somersetshire, released to him all his right to this manor and the advowson of the chapel of Penshurst; (fn. 6) and the year following Stephen de Columbers, clerk, brother of Sir Philip, released to him likewise all his right in that manor and Yenesfeld, (fn. 7) and that same year he obtained a grant for free warren within his demesne lands within the former. He was a person greatly esteemed by that king, in whose reign he was four times lord mayor of London, and is noticed by our historians for his piety, wisdom, large possessions, and magnificent housekeeping. In his life time he performed several acts of public charity and munificence; and among others he founded a college in the church of St. Laurence, since from him named Poultney, in London. He built the church of Little Allhallows, in Thamesstreet, and the Carmelites church, and the gate to their monastery, in Coventry; and a chapel or chantry in St. Paul's, London. Besides which, by his will, he left many charitable legacies, and directed to be buried in the church of St. Laurence above mentioned. He bore for his arms, Argent a fess dancette gules, in chief three leopards heads sable.

 

By the inquisition taken after his death, it appears, that he died in the 23d year of that reign, being then possessed of this manor, with the advowson of the chapel, Lyghe, South-park, and Orbiston woods, with lands in Lyghe and Tappenash, and others in this county. He left Margaret his wife surviving, who married, secondly, Sir Nicholas Lovaine; and he, in her right, became possessed of a life estate in this manor and the others above mentioned, in which they seem afterwards jointly to have had the see; for Sir William Pulteney, her son, in his life time, vested his interest in these manors and estates in trustees, and died without issue in the 40th year of the same reign, when Robert de Pulteney was found to be his kinsman and next heir, who was ancestor to the late earl of Bath. The trustees afterwards, in the 48th year of it, conveyed them, together with all the other estates of which Sir John Pulteney died possessed, to Sir Nicholas Lovaine and Margaret his wife, and their heirs for ever. Sir Nicholas Lovaine above mentioned was a descendant of the noble family of Lovaine, a younger branch of the duke of Lorraine. Godfrey de Lovaine, having that surname from the place of his birth, possessed lands in England in right of his mother, grand daughter of king Stephen, of whose descendants this Nicholas was a younger branch. He bore for his arms, Gules, a fess argent between fourteen billets or; which arms were quartered by Bourchier earl of Bath, and Devereux earl of Essex. (fn. 8) He died possessed of this manor, leaving one son, Nicholas, who having married Margaret, eldest daughter of John de Vere, earl of Oxford, widow of Henry lord Beaumont, died without issue, and a daughter Margaret, who at length became her brother's heir.

 

Margaret, the widow of Nicholas the son, on his death, possessed this manor for her life, and was afterwards re-married to Sir John Devereux, who in her right held it. He was descended from a family which had their surname from Eureux, a town of note in Normandy, and there were several generations of them in England before they were peers of this realm, the first of them summoned to parliament being this Sir John Devereux, who being bred a soldier, was much employed in the wars both of king Edward III. and king Richard II. and had many important trusts conferred on him. In the 11th year of the latter reign, being then a knight banneret, he was made constable of Dover castle and warden of the cinque ports. In the 16th year of that reign, he had licence to fortify and embattle his mansion house at Penshurst, the year after which he died, leaving Margaret his wife, surviving, who had an assignation of this manor as part of her dower. She died possessed of it, with Yensfield, and other lands, about the 10th year of king Henry IV. and was succeeded in them by Margaret, sister and heir of her husband, Nicholas Lovaine, who was twice married, first to Rich. Chamberlayn, esq. of Sherburn, in Oxfordshire; and secondly to Sir Philip St. Clere, of Aldham, St. Clere, in Ightham. (fn. 9) Both of these, in right of their wife, seem to have possessed this manor, which descended to John St. Clere, son of the latter, who conveyed it by sale to John duke of Bedford, third son of king Henry IV. by Mary his wife, daughter and coheir of Humphry de Bohun, earl of Hereford, Essex, and Northampton.

 

The duke of Bedford was the great support and glory of this kingdom in the beginning of the reign of his infant nephew, king Henry VI. his courage was unequalled, and was followed by such rapid success in his wars in France, where he was regent, and commanded the English army in person, that he struck the greatest terror into his enemies. The victories he acquired so humbled the French, that he crowned king Henry VI. at Paris, in which city he died greatly lamented, in the 14th year of that reign, (fn. 10) and was buried in the cathedral church of Roan. He was twice married, but left issue by neither of his wives. He died possessed of the manors of Penshurst, Havenden-court, and Yensfield, as was then found by inquisition; in which he was succeeded by his next brother, Humphry duke of Gloucester, fourth son of king Henry IV. by Mary his wife, daughter and coheir of Humphry de Bohun, earl of Hereford, &c. who in the 4th year of king Henry V. had had the offices of constable of Dover castle and warden of the cinque ports, granted to him for the term of his life; and in the 1st year of king Henry VI. was, by parliament, made protector of England, during the king's minority; and the same year he was constituted chamberlain of England, at the coronation of that prince was appointed high steward of England.

 

The duke was, for his virtuous endowments, surnamed the Good, and for his justice was esteemed the father of his country, notwithstanding which, after he had, under king Henry VI. his nephew, governed this kingdom twenty-five years, with great applause, he was, by the means of Margaret of Aujou, his nephew's queen, who envied his power, arrested at the parliament held at St. Edmundsbury, by John lord Beaumont, then high constable of England, accompanied by the duke of Buckingham and others; and the night following, being the last of February, anno 25 king Henry VI. he was found dead in his bed, it being the general opinion that he was strangled; though his body was shewn to the lords and commons, with an account of his having died of an apoplexy or imposthume; after which he was buried in the abbey of St. Alban, near the shrine of that proto-martyr, and a stately monument was erected to his memory.

 

This duke married two wives; first Jaqueline, daughter and heir of William duke of Bavaria, to whom belonged the earldoms of Holand, Zeland, and Henault, and many other rich seignories in the Netherlands; after which he used these titles, Humphrey, by the grace of God, son, brother, and uncle to kings; duke of Gloucester; earl of Henault, Holand, Zeland, and Pembroke; lord of Friesland; great chamberlain of the kingdom of England; and protector and defender of the kingdom and church of England. But she having already been married to John duke of Brabant, and a suit of divorce being still depending between them, and the Pope having pronounced her marriage with the duke of Brabant lawful, the duke of Gloucester resigned his right to her, and forthwith, after this, married Eleanor Cobham, daughter of Reginald, lord Cobham of Sterborough, who had formerly been his concubine. A few years before the duke's death she was accused of witchcrast, and of conspiring the king's death; for which she was condemned to solemn pennance in London, for three several days, and afterwards committed to perpetual imprisonment in the isle of Man. He built the divinity schools at Oxford, and laid the foundation of that famous library over them, since increased by Sir Thomas Bodley, enriching it with a choice collection of manuscripts out of France and Italy. He bore for his arms, Quarterly, France and England, a berdure argent. (fn. 11)

 

By the inquisition, taken after his death, it appears, that he died possessed of the manors of Penshurst, Havenden-court, and Yensfield, in this county, and that dying, without issue, king Henry VI. was his cousin and next heir.

 

¶The manor of Penshurst thus coming into the hands of the crown, was granted that year to Humphrey Stafford, who, in consideration of his near alliance in blood to king Henry VI. being the son of Edmund earl of Stafford, by Anne, eldest daughter of Thomas of Woodstock, duke of Gloucester, sixth and youngest son of king Edward III. Mary, the other daughter and coheir, having married Henry of Bullingbroke, afterwards king Henry IV. and grandfather of king Henry VI. (fn. 12) as well as for his eminent services to his country, had been, in the 23d year of that reign, created duke of Buckingham. He was afterwards slain in the battle of Northampton, sighting valiantly there on the king's part. By the inquisition, taken after his death, it appears that he died in the 38th year of that reign possessed of this manor of Penshurst, among others in this county and elsewhere; which afterwards descended down to his great grandson, Edward duke of Buckingham, but in the 13th year of Henry VIII. this duke being accused of conspiring the king's death, he was brought to his trial, and being found guilty, was beheaded on Tower-hill that year. In the par liament begun April 15, next year, this duke, though there passed an act for his attainder, yet there was one likewise for the restitution in blood of Henry his eldest son, but not to his honors or lands, so that this manor, among his other estates, became forseited to the crown, after which the king seems to have kept it in his own hands, for in his 36th year, he purchased different parcels of land to enlarge his park here, among which was Well-place, and one hundred and seventy acres of land, belonging to it, then the estate of John and William Fry, all which he inclosed within the pale of it, though the purchase of the latter was not completed till the 1st year of king Edward VI. (fn. 13) who seems to have granted the park of Penshurst to John, earl of Warwick, for that earl, in the 4th year of that reign, granted this park to that king again in exchange for other premises. In which year the king granted the manor of Penshurst, with its members and appurtenances, late parcel of the possessions of the duke of Buckingham, to Sir Ralph Fane, to hold in capite by knight's service, being the grandson of Henry Vane, alias Fane, of Hilsden Tunbridge, esq. but in the 6th year of that reign, having zealously espoused the interests of the duke of Somersee, he was accused of being an accomplice with him, and being found guilty, was hanged on Tower-hill that year.

  

PENSHURST is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Rochester, and being a peculiar of the archbishop of Canterbury, is as such within the deanry of Shoreham.

 

The church, which is a large handsome building, is dedicated to St. John Baptist. It consists of three isles, a cross isle, and three chancels, having a tower steeple at the west end.

 

Among other monuments and inscriptions in this church are the following:—In the middle isle, a grave-stone, with the figure of a man and his two wives, now torn off, but the inscription remains in black letter, for Watur Draynowtt, and Johanna and Anne his wives, obt. 1507; beneath are the figures of four boys and three girls, at top, arms, two lions passant, impaling or, on a chief, two lions heads erased; a memorial for Oliver Combridge, and Elizabeth his wife, obt. 1698. In the chancel, memorials on brass for Bulman and Paire; within the rails of the altar a gravestone for William Egerton, LL. D. grandon of John, earl of Bridgwater, rector of Penshurst and Allhallows, Lombard-street, chancellor and prebendary of Hereford, and prebendary of Can terbury, he left two daughters and one son, by Anne, daughter of Sir Francis Head, obt. Feb. 26, 1737; on the south side of the altar, a memorial in brass for John Bust, God's painful minister in this place for twenty-one years; on the north side a mural monument for Gilbert Spencer, esq. of Redleafe-house, obt. 1709, arms, Spencer, an escutcheon of pretence for Combridge; underneath is another stone, with a brass plate, and inscription for William Darkenol, parson of this parish, obt. July 12, 1596; on grave-stones are these shields in brass, the figures and inscriptions on which are lost, parted per fess, in chief two lions passant guardant in base, two wolves heads erased; on another, the same arms, impaling a chevron between three padlocks; another, a lion rampant, charged on the shoulder with an annulet, and another, three lions passant impaling parted per chevron, the rest defaced. In the south chancel, on a stone, the figures of a man and woman in brass, and inscription in black letter, for Pawle Yden, gent. and Agnes his wife, son of Thomas Yden, esq. obt. 1564, beneath is the figure of a girl, arms, four shields at the corner of the stone, the first, Yden, a fess between three helmets; two others, with inscriptions on brass for infant children of the Sidney family; a small grave-stone, on which is a cross gradated in brass, and inscription in black letter, for Thomas Bullayen, son of Sir Thomas Bullayen; here was lately a monument for lady Mary . . . . . . eldest daughter of the famous John, duke of Northumberland, and sister to Ambrose, earl of Warwick, Robert, earl of Leicester, and Catharine, countess of Huntingdon, wife of the right hon. Sir Henry Sidney, knight of the garter, &c. at the west end of the chancel, a mural monument for Sir William Coventry, youngest son of Thomas, lord Coventry, he died at Tunbridge-wells, 1686; on the south side a fine old monument of stone, under which is an altar tomb, and on the wall above it a brass plate, with inscription in black letter, for Sir William Sidney, knightbanneret, chamberlain and steward to king Edward VI. and the first of the name, lord of the manor, of Penshurst, obt. 1553; on the front are these names, Sir William Dormer, and Mary Sidney, Sir William Fitzwilliam, Sir James Haninngton, Anne Sidney, and Lucy Sidney; on the south side a handsome monument, with the arms and quarterings of the Sidney family, and inscription for lord Philip Sidney, fifth earl of Leicester, &c. obt. 1705, and was succeeded by John, his brother and heir; for John, sixth earl of Leicester, cosin and heir of Henry Sidney, earl of Romney, &c. obt. 1737, his heirs Mary and Elizabeth Sidney, daughters and heirs of his brother the hon. Thomas Sidney, third surviving son of Robert, earl of Leicester, became his joint heirs, for Josceline, seventh earl of Leicester, youngest brother and heir male of earl John, died s. p. in 1743, with whom the title of earl of Leicester expired; the aforesaid Mary and Elizabeth, his nieces, being his heirs, of whom the former married Sir Brownlow Sherard, bart. and Elizabeth, William Perry, esq. on the monument is an account of the several personages of this noble family, their descent, marriages and issue, too long by far to insert here; on the north side is a fine monument for several of the infant children of this family, and beneath is an urn and inscriptions for Frances Sidney, fourth daughter, obt. 1692, æt. 6; for Robert Sidney, earl of Leicester, &c. fourth earl of this family, who married lady Elizabeth Egerton, by whom he had fifteen children, of whom nine died young, whose figures, as cherubims, are placed above, obt. 1702; Robert, the eldest son, obt. 1680, æt. 6; Elizabeth, countess of Leicester, obt. 1709, and buried here in the same vault with her lord. In the same chancel is a very antient figure in stone of a knight in armour, being for Sir Stephen de Penchester, lord warden and constable of Dover-castle in the reign of king Edward I. It was formerly laid on an altar tomb in the chancel, but is now placed erect against the door on the south side, with these words painted on the wall above it, SIR STEPHEN DE PENCHESTER. In the fourth window of the north isle, are these arms, very antient, within the garter argent a fess gules in chief, three roundels of the second, being those of Sir John Devereux, K. G. lord warden and constable, and steward of the king's house in king Richard II's reign; near the former was another coat, nothing of which now remains but the garter. In the same windows are the arms of Sidney; in the second window is this crest, a griffin rampant or. In the east window of the great chancel are the arms of England. In the east window of the south chancel are the arms of the Sidney family, with all the quarterings; there were also, though now destroyed, the arms of Sir Thomas Ratcliff, earl of Sussex, and lady Frances Sidney.

 

This church was of the antient patronage of the see of Canterbury, and continued so till the 3d year of queen Elizabeth, when Matthew, archbishop of Canterbury, granted it to that queen in exchange for the parsonage of Earde, alias Crayford; and though in the queen's letters patent dated that year, confirming this exchange, there is no value expressed, yet in a roll in the queen's office, it is there set down, the tenth deducted, at the clear yearly value of 32l. 1s. 9d. (fn. 24)

 

¶Soon after which the queen granted the church of Penshurst to Sir Henry Sidney, whose descendants, earls of Leicester, afterwards possessed it; from whom it passed, in like manner as Penshurst manor and place, to William Perry, esq. who died possessed of it in 1757, leaving Elizabeth his wife surviving, who continued proprietor of the advowson of this church at the time of her death in 1783; she by her last will devised it to trustees for the use of her eldest grandson, John Shelley, esq who has since taken the name of Sidney, and is the present owner of it.

 

In the 15th year of king Edward I. this church was valued at thirty marcs. By virtue of the commission of enquiry into the value of ecclesiastical livings, taken in 1650, issuing out of chancery, it was returned that the tithes belonging to the parsonage of Penshurst were one hundred and ten pounds per annum, and the parsonage house and glebe lands about fifty pounds per annum, the earl of Leicester being patron, and master Mawdell, minister, who received the profits for his salary. (fn. 25)

 

The annual value of it is now esteemed to be four hundred pounds and upwards. The rectory of Penshurst is valued in the king's books at 30l. 6s. 0½d. and the yearly tenths at 3l. 0s. 7½d. (fn. 26)

 

John Acton, rector of this parish, in 1429, granted a lease for ninety-nine years, of a parcel of his glebe land, lying in Berecroft, opposite the gate of the rectory, containing one acre one rood and twelve perches, to Thomas Berkley, clerk, Richard Hammond, and Richard Crundewell, of Penshurst, for the purpose of building on, at the yearly rent of two shillings, and upon deaths and alienations, one shilling to be paid for an heriot, which lease was confirmed by the archbishop and by the dean and chapter of Canterbury. (fn. 27)

 

www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-kent/vol3/pp227-257

British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. 1080. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

 

American actor James Stewart (1908-1997) is among the most honored and popular stars in film history. Known for his distinctive drawl and everyman screen persona, Stewart had a film career that spanned over 55 years and 80 films.

 

James Maitland Stewart was born in 1908, in Indiana, Pennsylvania. Stewart started acting while studying at Princeton University. After graduating in 1932, he began a career as a stage actor, appearing on Broadway and in summer stock productions. In 1935, he signed a film contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). The studio did not see leading man material in Stewart, but after three years of supporting roles and being loaned out to other studios, he had his big breakthrough in Frank Capra's ensemble comedy You Can't Take It with You (1938). Adapted from the Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart, the film is about a man (Stewart) from a family of rich snobs who becomes engaged to a woman (Jean Arthur) from a good-natured but decidedly eccentric family. The following year, Stewart got his first Oscar nomination for his portrayal of an idealised and virtuous man who becomes a senator in Capra's Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (Frank Capra, 1939), again opposite Jean Arthur. He won the Academy Award for his work in the screwball comedy The Philadelphia Story (George Cukor, 1940), which also starred Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant. A licensed amateur pilot, Stewart enlisted as a private in the Army Air Corps as soon as he could after the United States entered the Second World War in 1941. Although still an MGM star, his only public and film appearances in 1941—1945 were scheduled by the Air Corps. After fighting in the European theater of war, he had attained the rank of colonel and had received several awards for his service. He remained in the U.S. Air Force Reserve and was promoted to brigadier general in 1959. He retired in 1968 and was awarded the United States Air Force Distinguished Service Medal.

 

After the war, James Stewart had difficulties in adapting to changing Hollywood and even thought about ending his acting career. He became a freelancer, and had his first postwar role was as George Bailey in Capra's It's a Wonderful Life (Frank Capra, 1946) with Donna Reed. Although it earned him an Oscar nomination, the film was not a big success at first. It has gained in popularity in the decades since its release and is considered a Christmas classic and one of Stewart's most famous performances. In the 1950s, Stewart experienced a career revival by playing darker, more morally ambiguous characters in Westerns and thrillers. Some of his most important collaborations during this period were with directors Anthony Mann, with whom he made eight films including Winchester '73 (1950), The Glenn Miller Story (1954) and The Naked Spur (1953), and Alfred Hitchcock, with whom he collaborated on Rope (1948), Rear Window (1954), The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956), and Vertigo (1958) with Kim Novak. Vertigo was ignored by critics at its time of release, but has since been reevaluated and recognised as an American cinematic masterpiece. His other films in the 1950s included the Broadway adaptation Harvey (Henry Koster, 1950) and the courtroom drama Anatomy of a Murder (Otto Preminger, 1959), both of which landed him Oscar nominations. He was one of the most popular film stars of the decade, with most of his films becoming box office successes. Stewart's later Westerns included The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) and Cheyenne Autumn (1964), both directed by John Ford. He signed a lucrative multi-movie deal with 20th Century-Fox in 1962 and appeared in many popular family comedies during the decade. After a brief venture into television acting, Stewart semi-retired by the 1980s, although he remained a public figure due to the renewed interest in his films with Capra and Hitchcock and his appearances at President Reagan's White House. He received many honorary awards, including an honorary Academy Honorary Award and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, both in 1985. Stewart remained unmarried until his 40s and was dubbed "The Great American Bachelor" by the press. In 1949, he married former model Gloria Hatrick McLean. They had twin daughters, and he adopted her two sons from her previous marriage. The marriage lasted until McLean's death in 1994. James Stewart died of a pulmonary embolism three years later in Beverly Hills.

 

Source: Wikipedia.

 

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

Alabaster & marble wall monument which has not fared well over time:

"Here lies buried the most virtuous Lady Catherine Graham wife of Sir Richard Graham of Netherby in the county of Cumberland, knight and Bart, daughter of Thomas Musgrove of Cumcach Esq and Susanna his wife. Well beloved in her country as being a very hospitable and charitable matron, she died March 1649 in the 48th year of her age leaving behind her 2 sons and 4 daughters namely George, Richard, Mary, Elizabeth, Susanna and Henrietta Maria."

 

Richard, bc.1583 was the 2nd son of Fergus Graham 1625 of Plump, Kirkandrews-upon-Esk and Sybil daughter of William Bell of Scotsbrig, Middlebie, Dumfries & Brockethouse by Elizabeth Bowmont

He was knighted on 9th January 1629 and created a baronet on 29th March 1629

He was groom to George, 1st Marquess (later Duke) of Buckingham by 1617, gentleman of the horse 1619-28;8 joint. clerk of customs bills 1619-21;9 equerry, King’s Stables 1629-?44; master of the harriers 1644- Member, Council in the North 1629-41 .......

Sir Richard came from one of the more obscure branches of a border clan, notorious for its participation in violent raiding, that settled at Plump by the middle of the sixteenth century His elder brother was deported to the Low Countries after a particularly audacious week of pillage in 1603, and his ‘debatable lands’ were granted to George Clifford, 3rd earl of Cumberland. Sir Richard himself ‘came on foot to London and got entertained into ... Buckingham’s service, having some spark of wit, and skill in moss-trooping and horse-coursing’. Despite a temporary loss of office in 1620 after a duel with his employer’s kinsman, a younger son of Basil Feilding*, he was able to lay out £3,955 on the purchase of property in Lincolnshire in 1621-2. As a part-time resident in Cumberland, he endeavoured to reform vice there by building a church and educating the young Appointed customer of Carlisle in 1623, he was granted permission to execute the office by deputy on account of his attendance at Court. In the same year, with Sir Francis Cottington* and Endymion Porter†, he accompanied Buckingham and Prince Charles on their ill-fated journey to Spain to woo the Infanta.

In 1624 the year of his marriage, Richard bought Norton Conyers from his wife’s father (whose own father had purchased it from the Crown in 1593 ) with 'all messuages, granges, mills, lands, tenements, tithes, waters, warrens, leet lawdays, views of frankpledge' and other liberties for £6,500.28 During the autumn he fought a duel with another follower of Buckingham, Sackville Crowe*, but again escaped serious consequences Graham took the credit for persuading Lord Robartes to buy a peerage for £3,000 in 1625, and Edward Clarke* heard that he had been rewarded with a suit valued at £500 a year.

 

He m 1624 Catherine daughter of Thomas Musgrove 1600 of 1600 of Cumcatch Manor, Brampton, Cumberland & Susanna Thwaites

Children

1. George 2nd Bart c1624-58 married Mary daughter of James Johnstone 1st Earl of Hartfell and 1st wife Margaret daughter of William Douglas, 1st Earl of Queensberry & Isabel Kerr

2. Richard 1635 - 1711 was made a baronet in 1662 for services to the royal cause in the Civil War . He m Elizabeth daughter of Chichester Fortescue & Elizabeth Slingsby

Elizabeth was the grand-daughter of William Slingsby www.flickr.com/photos/52219527@N00/6123004013/ and had a son Reginald 1728 who married Frances Bellingham

3. Mary m Edward 1st baron Musgrave 1673 of Hayton Castle, Cumberland

4. Elizabeth m (1st wife) Sir Cuthbert Heron of Chipchase Castle

5. Susanna

6. Henrietta Maria

 

Sir Richard was first elected MP for Carlisle, ten miles from his Cumbrian estate, in 1626, during the mayoralty of his kinsman Edward Aglionby*, who acted as returning officer. He left no trace on the records of the second Caroline Parliament, though he may have heard his transaction with Robartes mentioned in Sir John Eliot’s* report on 24 Mar. 1626 of the charges of corruption levelled against Buckingham. Graham attended his master on the expedition to the Ile de Ré in 1627, and with John Ashburnham* helped to rally a faltering regiment at the landing He was re-elected in 1628, but again went unnoticed in the parliamentary records. On 8 July he re-purchased Nicholl Forest and other ‘debatable lands’ formerly confiscated from his family, from the Cliffords at the favourable price of £7,050.33 After his Buckingham’s assassination he was granted a market and fair on his Cumberland estate, and rebuilt Kirkandrews church in 1637, though in a thoroughly shoddy manner.

 

Richard was created a baronet in 1629.

He fought on the side of Charles I at the Battle of Edgehill in 1642, where he was severely wounded and lived in the York garrison until 1 July when the city was relieved by Prince Rupert of the Rhine. However Rupert and Newcastle were defeated the next day at the decisive Battle of Marston Moor, where Richard suffered 26 wounds returning home on horseback more dead than alive .

Later taken prisoner while on his way from Oxford to Newark in November 1645, he promptly submitted to Parliament and was thus able to compound for his delinquency at a favourable rate, paying £2,385 on an estate of just under £1,250 a year.

 

Sir Richard made his will on 26 March 1653, leaving a portion of £1,500 for his only unmarried daughter , named after the queen, Henrietta Maria, and an annuity of £20 for a cousin at whose house in Newmarket he died on 28th January 1654 and was buried here at Wath.

His Cumberland property had been settled on his elder son George who died before the 1660 Restoration of King Charles ll , however his grandson Sir Richard Grahame reeped the rewards for their loyalty to the Crown, and was given a Scottish peerage and represented the county under James II.

 

His younger son Richard founded another branch of the family at Norton Conyers where they still live . He was created 1st Baronet Graham of Norton Conyers for his loyal services in the Civil War,

  

(The descendants of George & William seem to have intermarried in the 17c & 18c www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/88Rn92 )

 

Monument repaired by Sir Bellingham Graham Bart 1783 "

A brass inscription placed on the wall underneath, is said by Longstaffe to refer to Katherine - "..Enobled virtue lyes within this tombe, whose life & death inferiour was to none. Her soules in heaven, this tombe is but a tent. Her endless worth is her owne monument" www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/877569

www.histparl.ac.uk/volume/1604-1629/member/graham-richard... www.geni.com/people/Sir-Richard-Graham-of-Esk-1st-Baronet...

- Church of St Mary, Wath, Yorkshire

[Exeter: Chapel of St Clare (Listed Grade II) - [Historic England List]]:

 

This tree (centre) is said to stand where Thomas Benet, the martyr, was burnt at the stake

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'The religious upheavals of the Reformation rocked the West Country. A Master of Arts from Cambridge, Thomas Benet, came to Exeter in 1 525 and ran a small school in Smythen Street. In 1 531 he began pinning placards to the cathedral door proclaiming such Lutheran sentiments as 'We ought to worship God only and no saints'. Benet was not discovered until he laughed during a cathedral service, when the 'heretic' was publicly cursed by bell, book and candle and condemned to be burnt. The mayor refused the use of Southernhay, Benet refused to retract his beliefs, and died at the stake at Livery Dole on 1 5 January 1532. By this time Henry VIII was already in the process of breaking with Rome. He soon sent Bishop Hugh Latimer on a tour to preach the Reformation, and he reached Exeter in June 1534.'

 

The Story of Exeter, p.47-48 [Reformation and Resistance], by Hazel Harvey

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'It is believed that Benet's death in the flames at Livery Dole was witnessed by an illiterate child called Agnes Prest. Years later she settled near Launceston with a husband, who welcomed the return of Catholicism under Queen Mary. He ordered Agnes to attend mass and confession, but she refused and fled to Exeter, returning because she missed her children. In Launceston she was accused of heresy against the sacrament of the altar and for speaking against idols. Bishop Turberville told her she should be burned to death, but she replied that calling a piece of bread God and then worshipping it was absurd and blasphemous. She was visited in prison by Walter Raleigh's mother. On 15 August 1557 Agnes was led outside the city walls to Southernhay and burnt at the stake. She and Thomas Benet are commemorated by a tall obelisk in Denmark Road [Exeter Memories]: the Protestant Alliance meets every October here, equidistant from the two martyrdom sites. They lay wreaths and remember the Protestant martyrs. Harry Hems created the memorial, and portl carved scenes and inscriptions on it. The inscription on the southern elevation reads:

 

IN GRATEFUL REMEMBRANCE OF THOMAS BENET, M.A. WHO, SUFFERED AT LIVERYDOLE, A.D. 1531. FOR DENYING THE SUPREMACY OF THE POPE, AND OF AGNES PREST, WHO SUFFERED ON SOUTHERNHAY, A.D. 1557, FOR REFUSING TO ACCEPT THE DOCTRINE OF TRANSUBSTANTIATION. 'FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH '. TO THE GLORY OF GOD & IN HONOUR OF HIS FAITHFUL WITNESSES WHO, NEAR THIS SPOT, YIELDED THEIR BODIES TO BE BURNED FOR LOVE TO CHRIST AND IN VINDICATION OF THE PRINCIPLES OF THE PROTESTANT REFORMATION, THIS MONUMENT WAS ERECTED BY PUBLIC SUBSCRIPTION, A.D. 1909.

 

THEY BEING DEAD YET SPEAK'

 

The Story of Exeter, p.54-55 [Reformation and Resistance], by Hazel Harvey

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'The King this year upon the persuasions and resolutions of the best learned divines that the marriage with his brother's wife was unlawful and against the law of god he forsaketh her bed and in the end by judgerment of the church he is divorced. And not long after he having good liking of the Lady Anne Boleyn he created her Marchioness of Pembroke and in the year following he married her. This year one Thomas Benet, a master of art, was detected, arrested and condemned for heresy. He came from Oxford secretly to this city and here lived in private manner by teaching of children but in the end notwithstanding he lived most godly and virtuously yet the same being not liking the papists he was convented before the bishop and his clergy, they condemned him and delivered him to the secular power to be burned and the execution whereof was committed to Sir Thomas Denys then Sheriff of Devon and Recorder of this city. And he having received his writ for the burning of heretics commended his petty officers to set up the stake in Southernhay for burning of him. But the mayor and common council of the city would not suffer it and therefore he was carried to Livery Dole where he was burned. The manner of this whole history the writer hereof hath penned and set down at large and it is recorded in the book of the acts and monuments set forth by Mr John Foxe. '

 

Book: The Chronicle of Exeter, p.80, [1531: Gilbert Kyrke], by Todd Gray

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'In 1531 Sir Thomas Denys (name also recorded as Dennys or Dennis), Sheriff of Devon, was involved in the execution on the grounds of heresy of a Thomas Benet at Livery Dole. Perhaps through a feeling of guilt Sir Robert Denys, being the next generation of the Denys family, founded the almshouses in 1591. In his will dated 15 July 1592 Denys requested that his son, Sir Thomas Denys, finish the almshouses3. Each almshouse consisted of a small room on the ground floor with a bedroom over and a small garden, the whole being enclosed by a wall.'

 

Book: Exeter's Almhouses, p.80 [Livery Dole Almshouses], by Jane Passmore

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'In 1517 Martin Luther protested against the power and wealth of the church by nailing his protests to the church door. A few years later in 1534, Henry VIII appointed himself head of the Church of England and, as protestantism replaced catholicism in England, iconoclasts went around destroying or removing anything connected to the Roman church.' - [Heavitree Local History Society - Newsletter 60 (March 2015)]

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Sadly, possibly Exeter's most famous martyr, Thomas Benet [Wikipedia], was ahead of his time in claiming the Pope was the Antichrist, as three years later his views were to be 'officially adopted' in the country, and this minor err in timing cost him his life:

'Benet's case marks the start of a new chapter in cathedral history: the age of the Reformation. The views he held were soon to be officially adopted. Within three years the pope's authority in England was to be abolished and so, within twenty years, was the worship. of saints. In 1531, however, such ideas were unfamiliar and rather unwelcome to most Exonians. There had been religious dissenters in England ever since Wycliffe in the 1370s, but scarcely any had appeared in Devon. Benet, significantly, was an immigrant scholar who had developed his opinions at Cambridge. He had a few in Exeter, but only a few. Most local people, whether devoutly religious or not, were traditionalists. They were used to the established system of things and resented attempts to change it.' [From book: Exeter Cathedral as it Was, 1050-1550, p.91, by Nicholas Orme]

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In the book Exeter's Almshouses, by Jane Passmore, there is mention of a '... pen and ink drawing by George Townsend in the WSL [Westcountry Studies Library].'

 

Townsend, George. Exeter. Almshouses Livery Dole. Rebuilt 1849,50. The site of the martyrdom of Thomas Benet, m.a.1531. [1880?]. (Image)

 

From the following ...

 

• Devon Archives and Local Studies Service

• Search the local studies illustration collections

• Search [Keywords]: 'Livery Dole'

 

Heavitree Toll Houses - [Heavitree Local History Society]

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In fact the Reformation was a movement with much earlier origins ...

 

'In 1164, Henry II framed the Constitutions of Clarendon here [at Clarendon Palace], which attempted to restrict ecclesiastical privileges and place limits on Papal authority in England. A memorial erected on the site in 1844 stated:

The spirit awakened within these walls ceased not until it had vindicated the authority of the laws and accomplished the Reformation of the Church of England.' [Clarendon Palace Wikipedia]

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'In August 1431, Drew Steyner was burnt at the stake at Livery Dole while a hundred years later, in 1531, Thomas Benet, the Protestant Martyr was the last to die there.' - ['Livery Dole' Exeter Memories]

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Tweet (26/11/2022):-

'The account of Katherine Raleigh’s vigil in the prison cells beneath Rougemount Castle . with Exeter martyr Agnes Prest in Foxe’s book of martyrs gave me the title for my novel - A Woman of Noble Wit.

 

#HistoryWritersDay22 #HistoricalFiction' - @RAGriggsauthor - [Rosemary Griggs]

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Panorama created using Microsoft Image Composite Editor (ICE) with minor adjustments made in Photoshop Elements. Photos taken using my Canon EOS 550D SLR camera.

.Earliest It's messagesIt is true that there exist one or two other explanations of the origin of things which introduce a personal creator. There is, for instance, the legend—first mentioned by Lieh Tzŭ (to whom we shall revert later)—which represents Nü Kua Shih (also called Nü Wa and Nü Hsi), said to have been the sister and successor of Fu Hsi, the mythical sovereign whose reign is ascribed to the years 2953–2838 B.C., as having been the creator of human beings when the earth first emerged from Chaos. She (or he, for the sex seems uncertain), who had the “body of a serpent and head of an ox” (or a human head and horns of an ox, according to some writers), “moulded yellow earth and made man.” Ssŭ-ma Chêng, of the eighth century A.D., author of the Historical Records and of another work on the three great legendary emperors, Fu Hsi, Shên Nung, and Huang Ti, gives the following account of her: “Fu Hsi was succeeded by Nü Kua, who like him had the surname Fêng. Nü Kua had the body of a serpent and a human head, with the virtuous endowments of a divine sage. Toward the end of her reign there was among the feudatory princes Kung Kung, whose functions were the administration of punishment. Violent and ambitious, he became a rebel, and sought by the influence of water to overcome that of wood [under which Nü Kua reigned]. He did battle with Chu Jung [said to have been one of the ministers of Huang Ti, and later the God of Fire], but was not victorious; whereupon he struck his head against the Imperfect Mountain, Page 82Pu Chou Shan, and brought it down. The pillars of Heaven were broken and the corners of the earth gave way. Hereupon Nü Kua melted stones of the five colours to repair the heavens, and cut off the feet of the tortoise to set upright the four extremities of the earth.5 Gathering the ashes of reeds she stopped the flooding waters, and thus rescued the land of Chi, Chi Chou [the early seat of the Chinese sovereignty].”

 

Another account separates the name and makes Nü and Kua brother and sister, describing them as the only two human beings in existence. At the creation they were placed at the foot of the K’un-lun Mountains. Then they prayed, saying, “If thou, O God, hast sent us to be man and wife, the smoke of our sacrifice will stay in one place; but if not, it will be scattered.” The smoke remained stationary.

 

But though Nü Kua is said to have moulded the first man (or the first human beings) out of clay, it is to be noted that, being only the successor of Fu Hsi, long lines of rulers had preceded her of whom no account is given, and also that, as regards the heavens and the earth at least, she is regarded as the repairer and not the creator of them.

 

Heaven-deaf (T’ien-lung) and Earth-dumb (Ti-ya), the two attendants of Wên Ch’ang, the God of Literature (see following chapter), have also been drawn into the cosmogonical net. From their union came the heavens and the earth, mankind, and all living things.

 

www.gutenberg.org/files/15250/15250-h/15250-h.htm#d0e946

EDWARD MONTAGU, second Earl of Manchester (Earl of SANDWICH ) (1602-1671), born in 1602, was the eldest son of Sir Henry Montagu, first Earl of Manchester, by Catherine, second daughter of Sir William Spencer of Yarnton in Oxfordshire, who was the third son of Sir John Spencer of Althorp, Lincolnshire. After a desultory education, he entered Sidney Sussex College Cambridge, on 27 Jan. 1618.1 He represented the county of Huntingdon in the parliaments of 1623-4, 1625, and 1625-6. In 1623 he attended Prince Charles in Spain, and was by him created a knight of the Bath at his coronation on 1 Feb. 1625-6. On 22 May 1626, through the influence of the Duke of Buckingham, he was raised to the Upper House with the title of Baron Montagu of Kimbolton. In the same year he became known by the courtesy title of Viscount Mandeville, on his father being created Earl of Manchester. Being allowed but a small income from his father, Mandeville resided little in London, and mixed much with the relations of his second wife, the daughter of Robert Rich, second Earl of Warwick. By them he was led to lean towards the puritan party, and to detach himself from the court.

 

On 24 April 1640, during the sitting of the Short Parliament, he voted with the minority against the king on the question of the precedency of supply.2 In June 1640 he signed the hesitating reply sent by some of the peers to Lord Warriston's curious appeal to them to aid the Scots in an invasion of England.3 Mandeville signed the petition of the twelve peers (28 Aug. 1640) urging the king to call a parliament, and with Lord Howard of Escrick presented it to Charles on 5 Sept. In the same month he obeyed the king's summons to the grand council of peers at York, and was one of those chosen to treat with the Scottish commissioners at Ripon on 1 Oct. In the negotiations he took an active part, passing frequently to and fro between Ripon and York, urging an accommodation,4 and drawing up the articles.5

 

Mandeville was during the early sittings of the Long Parliament an acknowledged leader of the popular and puritan party in the Lords. He was in complete accord with Pym, Hampden, Fiennes, and St. John, and he held constant meetings with them in his house at Chelsea.6On the discovery of the 'first army plot,' in May 1641, he was despatched by the Lords to Portsmouth with a warrant to examine the governor [see Goring, George, Lord Goring], and to send him up to London to appear before parliament.7 He was one of the sixteen peers chosen as a committee to transact business during the adjournment from 9 Sept. to 20 Oct. 1641. On 24 Dec. he protested against the adjournment of the debate on the removal of Sir Thomas Lunsford from the command of the Towering

His position was very clearly denned when his name was joined with those of the five members who were impeached by the king of high treason on 3 Jan. 1642, although his inclusion appears to have been an afterthought.8 When the articles of impeachment were read, Mandeville at once offered, 'with a great deal of cheerfulness,' to obey the commands of the house, and demanded that, 'as he had a public charge, so he might have a public clearing.'9 This demand he reiterated in the House on 11 Jan., and again on 13 Jan., notwithstanding the message from the king waiving the proceedings.10 A bill was finally passed by both houses in March 1642,11 clearing him from the accusation.12

 

Edward Montagu, 2nd Earl of Manchester. After Anthony Van Dyck's painting of the late 1630s.

Having thus identified himself with the popular party, he was among the few peers who remained with the parliament in August 1642, and in the following month he took command of a regiment of foot inEssex's army. When the king retired to Oxford, Mandeville (who had succeeded his father as Earl of Manchester in November) returned to London and occupied himself in raising money for the army,13 and in the negotiations for the cessation of arms. He was made Lord-Lieutenant of Huntingdonshire and Northamptonshire by the parliament in 1642. On the first suspicion of the Tomkins and Challoner plot [see Waller, Edmund], Manchester, with Viscount Save and Sele and others, managed (on Sunday, 28 May 1643) to elicit from Roe, a clerk of Tomkins, so many important secrets, that the whole conspiracy was speedily discovered. He afterwards acted as president in the resulting court-martial in June and July.14 Manchester was one of the ten peers nominated to sit as lay members in the Westminster Assembly of Divines in July of the same year.

 

The fortunes of the parliamentary forces in the eastern counties had in the early summer been seriously imperilled by local quarrels. Cromwell recognised the danger, and appealed to parliament to appoint a commander of high position and authority. On 9 Aug. accordingly the Commons resolved to make Manchester Major-General of the associated counties in the place of Lord Grey of Wark. The choice was confirmed by the Lords on the following day, and Essex at once complied with the request to give him the commission. Cromwell and Manchester were thus brought into close connection. They were already well acquainted with each other. Each belonged to a leading family of Huntingdonshire, had been educated at Sidney Sussex, Cambridge,16 and had been concerned in a dispute relating to the enclosing of common lands in the eastern counties, which had been before a committee of the House of Commons.17

 

By 28 Aug. Manchester, in his new capacity, was besieging Lynn-Regis in Norfolk; the town capitulated 16 Sept., and the governorship was bestowed upon him (21 Sept.). On 9 Oct. he joined Cromwell and Fairfax, then besieging Bolingbroke Castle, and the three commanders won Winceby or Horncastle fight on 11 Oct.18 On 20 Oct. the town of Lincoln surrendered to Manchester. On Cromwell's motion (22 Jan. 1644), Lord Willoughby of Parham, who had been commanding in Lincolnshire as Serjeant-Major-General of the county, was ordered to place himself under Manchester's orders. Charges of misconduct had been brought against Willoughby, who resented the position now forced on him, and challenged Manchester as he was on his way to the House of Lords. Both houses treated Willoughby's conduct as a breach of privilege, but after Manchester had defended himself against Willoughby's complaints, the subject dropped,19 and Willoughby returned to his duties under him.

 

On 22 Jan. 1644,20 Manchester was directed to 'regulate' the university of Cambridge, and to remove scandalous ministers in the associated counties. On 24 Feb. he accordingly issued his warrants to the heads of colleges, and began the work of reformation. About the same time (19 Dec. 1643) he authorised William Dowsing to destroy 'superstitious pictures and ornaments.' In February 1644 Manchester became a member of the new committee of both kingdoms, meeting at Derby House. In April he was again with his army watching the movements of Prince Rupert. The town of Lincoln had been retaken by the royalists in March, but Manchester successfully stormed the close on 6 May, and thus secured the county for the parliament.21 A bridge was thrown over the Trent at Gainsborough, and Manchester marched to the aid ofLord Fairfax and the Scots, who were besieging York. This junction was effected on 3 June. On the same day the committee of both kingdoms sent Vane to York, ostensibly to urge the generals to send a force into Lancashire to arrest Prince Rupert's progress, but in reality to propose the formation of a government from which Charles was to be excluded. Manchester and his colleagues rejected the suggestion, but Cromwell, Manchester's Lieutenant-General, probably accepted Vane's proposals, and to this difference of view may be traced the subsequent breach between the two.22Cromwell at the battle of Marston Moor (1 July) commanded Manchester's horse, while the earl himself exercised a general control as a field officer. Though carried away in the flight, he soon returned to the field, and successfully rallied some of the fugitives. After the surrender of the city of York on 16 July, the armies divided, and Manchester marched to Doncaster, which he reached on 23 July. While there Tickhill Castle surrendered (26 July) to John Lilburne, who had summoned it contrary to Manchester's orders, Sheffield Castle surrendered (10 Aug.) to Major-General Lawrence Crawford, and Welbeck House to Manchester himself (11 Aug.) But Pontefract Castle had been passed by, and Manchester paid no attention to the entreaty of the officers to blockade Newark.23 Proceeding leisurely to Lincoln, he subsided into inaction. The committee of both kingdoms (3 Aug.) directed him to march against Prince Rupert, but he (10 Aug.) shrank from 'so large a commission, and a worke so difficult,' in the unsatisfactory condition of his men, and the lateness of the season,24 and though constantly urged to make his way westward, the earl made no movement till the beginning of September.25 By 22 Sept. he was at Watford, on his way to the general rendezvous at Abingdon, and reached Reading on 29 Sept. Here he remained till the middle of October, notwithstanding the urgent desire of the committee in London that he should move forwards. He had reached Basingstoke by 17 Oct., was joined by Waller on the 19th, and by Essexon 21 Oct. For the command of the three armies thus united, a council of war, consisting of the three generals, with Johnston of Warriston and Crewe, had been appointed by the committee of both kingdoms.

 

At the second battle of Newbury, on 28 Oct., Manchester's lethargy became fatally conspicuous. Delaying to make the attack assigned to him till too late in the day, he failed in his attempt on Shaw House, and the royalist army under cover of the darkness made its escape westward, within 'little more than musket-shot' of the earl's position.26 At the council held the following day Manchester opposed Waller's and Cromwell's advice to pursue the enemy, and preferred to summon Donnington Castle. Failing in his attempt to storm it on 1 Nov. he leisurely withdrew, and the castle thus abandoned was relieved by the king on the 9th. At a council of war at Shaw Field on 10 Nov. Manchester plainly declared his horror of prosecution of the war. 'If we beat the king 99 times,' he said, 'he is king still, and so will his posterity be after him; but if the king beat us once, we shall be all hanged, and our posterity be made slaves.' On 17 Nov. he left Newbury for the purpose of protecting the besiegers of Basing House. But Basing was never reached. His starving men were deserting him, and with the remains of his army he made his way to Reading. The siege of Basing House was necessarily abandoned.27

 

Manchester's religious views, though sincere, were not very deep. He inclined to presbyterianism from circumstances rather than from conviction, and had not attempted to curtail Cromwell's efforts to 'seduce' the army 'to independency'.28 Discords among his officers were growing, and in September he had paid a hurried and fruitless visit to London in the hope of healing them, but the breach between him and Cromwell was soon irreparable.

 

On 25 Nov. Cromwell laid before the House of Commons a narrative, charging Manchester with neglect and incompetency in the prosecution of the war.29 He called attention to 'his Lordshipe's continued backwardness to all action, his aversenes to engagement or what tendes thereto, his neglecting of opportunityes and declineing to take or pursue advantages upon the enemy, and this (in many particulars) contrary to advice given him, contrary to commands received, and when there had been noe impediment or other employment for his army.'30 Cromwell's charges were probably not exaggerated. Manchester, a civilian at heart, was always of opinion 'that this war would not be ended by the sword, for if it were so concluded, it would be an occasion of rising again or of a future quarrel, but it would be better for the kingdom if it were ended by an accommodation.'31 Manchester defended himself in the House of Lords on 27 Nov., when a committee of inquiry was appointed,32 and made a vigorous attack on Cromwell.33 But the presentation of the bill for new modelling the army turned the course of public debate from the shortcomings of individuals to more general principles. The Commons (26 Dec., 30 Dec., and 1 Jan.), although urged by the lords to deliver their reports respecting Manchester, centred all their energies on the struggle for the passing of the self-denying ordinance, and on 2 April 1645 (the day before the ordinance passed the Lords) Manchester, like Essex and Denbigh, resigned his commission in the army. Forty of his officers in January 1645 signed a petition for his continuance in the service, fearing that his removal would 'breed a great confusion amongst them by reason of the differences between the Presbyterians and Independents.'34

Manchester, although relieved of military duty, still (4 April) retained his powers for regulating the university of Cambridge, was a constant attendant on the committee of both kingdoms, and frequently acted as Speaker of the House of Lords. In the propositions for peace at the end of 1645 it was recommended that he should be made a marquis. He was one of those to whom Charles on 26 Dec. 1645 expressed himself willing to entrust the militia, in accordance with the Uxbridge proposals, and was a commissioner for framing the articles of peace between the kingdoms of England and Scotland in July 1646.35 With William Lenthall he was entrusted with the charge of the Great Seal from 30 Oct. 1646 to 15 March 1648. Early in 1647 he was busy with other leading presbyterian peers in sketching out a pacification more likely to meet with the royal approval. When the houses of parliament were attacked by the London mob in July 1647, Manchester, notwithstanding his presbyterian leanings, fled to the army on Hounslow Heath with the independent members, and signed the engagement of 4 Aug. to stand by the army for the freedom of parliament.36 On 6 Aug. he returned to London escorted by Fairfax and resumed his duties as Speaker of the upper chamber.

 

Manchester stoutly opposed the ordinance for the king's trial in the House of Lords on 2 Jan. 1649, and retired from public life when the formation of a commonwealth grew inevitable. After the death of the Earl of Holland he was, on 15 March 1649, made chancellor of the university of Cambridge, a post of which he was deprived in November 1651 for refusing to take the engagement.37 Cromwell summoned him to sit in his Upper House in December 1657,38 but the summons was not obeyed. Manchester took an active part in bringing about the Restoration, and as Speaker of the Lords welcomed the king on his arrival (29 May). He was speedily invested with many honours. On 27 April 1660 he was appointed one of the commissioners of the Great Seal, on 22 May was restored to his Lord-Lieutenancy of the counties of Northampton and Huntingdon,39 and on the 26th to the chancellorship of Cambridge. He was made Lord Chamberlain of the household on 30 May, privy councillor on 1 June, and was also chamberlain of South Wales.

From 9 to 19 Oct. he was engaged on the trial of the regicides, and appears to have inclined to leniency.40 At the coronation of Charles II on 23 April 1661 he bore the sword of state, and was made a Knight of the Garter. He became joint commissioner for the office of Earl-Marshal on 26 May 1662, and was incorporated M.A. in the university of Oxford on 8 Sept. 1665. When, in 1667, the Dutch appeared in the Channel, Manchester was made a general, and a regiment was raised under his command (15 June). He was a fellow of the Royal Society from 1667 till his death. He died on 5 May 1671, and was buried in Kimbolton Church, Huntingdonshire.

 

Edward Montagu, 2nd Earl of Manchester. Studio of Peter Lely, after 1661. NPG

Manchester was of a generous and gentle disposition. Burnet speaks of him as 'of a soft and obliging temper, of no great depth, but universally beloved, being both a virtuous and a generous man,'41and this view is corroborated even by Clarendon.42 Sir Philip Warwick describes him as 'of a debonnair nature, but very facile and changeable,'43 while Baillie calls him 'a sweet, meek man.'44 Peace, a constitutional monarchy, and puritanism were the objects at which he aimed, and his inactivity in the army dated from the time when protracted war, the rule of the people, and independency seemed to be the inevitable outcome of the struggle. It was easy to begin a war, he was in the habit of saying, but no man knew when it would end, and a war was not the way to advance religion.45 When actually in the field, his sense of duty and his humanity prompted him to activity. To encourage his men he marched among them for many a weary mile,46 or spent the night after an engagement in riding from regiment to regiment, thanking the soldiers and endeavouring to supply their wants.47 The same longing for peace and accommodation is exemplified in his religious connections. A presbyterian member of the assembly of divines, he used his influence to have Philip Nye, the independent, appointed to the vicarage of Kimbolton, and in the hearing of Baxter pleaded for moderate episcopacy and a liturgy.48 Baxter, while designating him 'a good man,' complains that he would have drawn the presbyterians to yield more than they did, and was earnest in urging the suppression of passages that were 'too vehement.'49

 

Many of Manchester's letters on army business are in the British Museum50 and in the Bodleian Library.51Manchester married five times. His first wife was Susanna, daughter of John Hill of Honiley in Warwickshire, and of his wife Dorothy Beaumont, sister to the Duke of Buckingham's mother. Pecuniary arrangements between the duke and Manchester's father were amicably concluded by means of the match. The marriage ceremony, which took place early in February 1623, was performed in the king's bedchamber, where James was confined to his bed. He was not, however, incapable of throwing his shoe after the bridal party as they left the room. Susanna Montagu died in January 1625. As Lord Mandeville, Manchester married at Newington Church, on 1 July 1626, Anne, daughter of Robert Rich, second Earl of Warwick, Lord Admiral of the Long Parliament, by whom he had three children: Robert, his successor, noticed below; Frances, who married Henry, son of Dr. Robert Sanderson, Bishop of Lincoln; and Anne, who married Robert Rich, second Earl of Holland and fifth Earl of Warwick. Anne, Lady Mandeville, died on 14 or 19 Feb. 1641-2, and was buried at Kimbolton. There is a portrait of her at Kimbolton Castle. His third wife was Essex (d. 28 Sept. 1658), daughter of Sir Thomas Cheke of Pirgo in Essex, by his wife Essex Rich, daughter of Robert, first Earl of Warwick, and widow of Sir Robert Bevil (d. 1640) of Chesterton in Huntingdonshire, by whom he had six sons and two daughters. Of the daughters, Essex (born 1644) married, in June 1661, Henry Ingram, Viscount Irwin. Of the six sons, Edward, Henry, Charles, and Thomas were members of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. Manchester married a fourth wife in July 1659; she was Ellinor, daughter of Sir Richard Wortley of Wortley in Yorkshire, and he was her fourth husband. She had previously married Sir Henry Lee, first Baronet (d. 1631), of Ditchley in Oxfordshire; Edward Radcliffe, sixth Earl of Sussex (d. 1641); and Robert Rich, second Earl of Warwick (d. 1658) (the father of Manchester's second wife). She died in January 1666-7. In August 1667, at St. Martin's-in-the-Fields, Manchester married his fifth wife, Margaret, daughter of Francis Russell, fourth Earl of Bedford, a widow of James Hay, second Earl of Carlisle (d. 1660). She died in November 1676, and was buried at Chenies, Buckinghamshire.

  

1. Admission Registers.

2. Calendar of State Papers, 1640, p. 66.

3. Gardiner, Fall of Charles I, p. 402; Mandeville, MS. Memoirs in Addit. MS. 15567, ff. 7-8.

4. Harl. MS. 456, ff. 38-40.

5. Borough, Treaty of Ripon, pp. 44,55.

6. Evelyn, Diary of Correspondence, iv. 75-6.

7. Lords' Journals, iv. 238.

8. Nicholas Papers, Camden Society, i. 62.

9. Lords' Journals, iv. 501.

10. ib. pp. 505, 511.

11. ib. p. 649.

12. cf. v. 564.

13. Comm. for the Advance of Money, p. 1.

14. Sanford, Studies of the Great Rebellion, p. 561, quoting from D'Ewes.

15. Gardiner, History of the Great Civil War, i. 224-6.

16. Sanford, Studies, pp. 202-5.

17. Clarendon, Life, 1857, i. 73-4; Carlyle, Cromwell's Letters and Speeches, 1866, i. 90.

18. See Manchester's letter of 12 Oct. in Lords' Journals, vi. 255-6.

19. Harl. MS. 2224, ff. 12-16.

20. Husband, Ordinances of Parliament, 1646, folio, p. 415.

21. True Relation, E. 47 [2], Manchester's letter read in the House of Commons on 9 May.

22. Gardiner, Civil War, i. 431-3.

23. Pickering's Deposition, Cal. State Papers, 1644, p. 151.

24. Quarrel of Manchester and Cromwell, p. 9.

25. ib. pp. 20-4.

26. Watson's Deposition, Cal. State Papers, 1644-5, p. 150.

27. Gardiner, Civil War, p. 518.

28. Baillie, Letters and Journals, ii. 185.

29. Quarrel of Manchester and Cromwell, Camden Soc., pp. 178-95.

30. Cromwell's Narrative in Quarrel, p. 79.

31. Pickering's Deposition, Cal. State Papers, 1644-5, p. 152.

32. Lords' Journals, vii. 76.

33. Camden Miscellany, vol. viii.

34. Whitacre, Diary, British Library Addit. MS. 31116, f. 185.

35. Thurloe, State Papers, i. 77-9.

36. Rushworth, vii. 754.

37. See letters in Hist. MSS. Comm. 8th Rep. pt. ii. p. 64.

38. Parl. Hist. iii. col. 1518.

39. Hist. MSS. Comm. 8th Rep. pt. ii. p. 65.

40. Exact and most impartial Account. E. 1047 [3], p. 53 b.

41. Burnet's History of his Own Time,, 1875, i. 66.

42. History of the Rebellion, ed. Macray, i. 242, ii. 545.

43. Sir Philip Warwick, Memoires of the Reign of King Charles I, 1701. 246.

44. Baillie, Letters and Journals, ii. 229.

45. Cal. State Papers. 1644-5, Pickering's Deposition, p. 152.

46. Ashe, Particular Relation.

47. Sanford, Studies, p. 608.

48. Sylvester, Reliquae Baxterianae, p. 278.

49. ib. p. 365.

50. British Library Egerton MSS. 2643 ff. 9, 23, 2647 ff. 136, 229, 241, 319; Addit. MS. 18979, f. 158; Harl. MS. 7001, ff. 170, 172, 174, 202.

51. Bodleian Library Tanner MSS. lxiii. f. 130, lxiv. f. 91, lxii.'tf.43l, 471, lvii. f. 194.

"But “there is no partiality with God” (Rom 2:11) because God is perfectly just. He will, as St Paul says clearly and as we repeated in the psalm response, “repay everyone according to his works” (Rom 2:6). So, as St Paul goes on to say to the Romans, Man will be rewarded with heaven for his good works, and hell for his wicked works. Or to be more precise, for one’s unrepented evil deeds".

The rest of my sermon for today can be read here.

 

Detail from a medieval altarpiece in the Lille Museum of Fine Art.