1.
Houppelande
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A houppelande or houpelande is an outer garment, with a long, full body and flaring sleeves, that was worn by both men and women in Europe in the late Middle Ages. Sometimes the houppelande was lined with fur, the garment was later worn by professional classes, and has remained in Western civilization as the familiar academic and legal robes of today. The houppelande appeared around 1380 and was to remain well into the next century. It had its origins in the herigaut, a similar 13th-century garment with hanging sleeves, the edges of the houppelande were often dagged, or cut into decorative patterns such as scallops, embattled tabs or even leaf shapes
2.
Doublet (clothing)
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The doublet was hip length or waist length and worn over the shirt or drawers. Until the end of the 15th century, the doublet was worn under another layer of clothing such as a gown, mantle, originally it was a mere stitched and quilted lining, worn under a hauberk or cuirass to prevent bruising and chafing. Doublets were frequently opened to the waistline in a deep V, the edges might be left free or laced across the shirt front. If there was left it might be filled with a stomacher. By the 1520s, the edges of the doublet met at the center front, then, like many other originally practical items in the history of mens wear, from the late 15th century onward it became elaborated enough to be seen on its own. A similar jacket, the sherwani, is today in India. Throughout the 300 years of its use, the served the same purpose, to give fashionable shape and padding to the body, to support the hose by providing ties. The only thing that changed about the doublet over its history was its style, the doublet developed from the padded garments worn under armour, such as the gambeson, aketon, and arming doublet. Doublets of the 14th and 15th centuries were generally hip-length, sometimes, shorter, worn over the shirt and hose, with a houppelande or other form of overgown. From the late 14th century, doublets were cut and padded to give the wearer an egg-shaped or pigeon-breasted silhouette, in the early Elizabethan period, doublets were padded over the belly with bombast in a pouter pigeon or peascod silhouette. Sleeve attachments at the shoulder were disguised by decorative wings, tabs, or piccadills, padding gradually fell out of fashion again, and the doublet became close-fitting with a deep V-waistline. More images, Edward VI in an elaborately trimmed and pinked, long-skirted late Tudor doublet under a crimson gown with hanging sleeves, martin Frobisher in a peascod-bellied doublet under a buff jerkin. By the 17th century, doublets were short-waisted, a typical sleeve of this period was full and slashed to show the shirt beneath, a later style was full and paned or slashed to just below the elbow and snug below. Decorative ribbon points were pulled through eyelets on the breeches and the waist of the doublet to keep the breeches in place, and were tied in elaborate bows. 1500–1550 in fashion 1550–1600 in fashion 1600–1650 in fashion 1650-1700 in fashion Janet Arnold, Patterns of Fashion, the cut and construction of clothes for men and women 1560-1620, pajama 1985
3.
Hose (clothing)
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Hose are any of various styles of mens clothing for the legs and lower body, worn from the Middle Ages through the 17th century, when the term fell out of use in favor of breeches and stockings. The old plural form of hose was hosen, early wool hose were fitted to the leg, and 15th century hose were often made particolored or mi-parti, having each leg a different colour, or even one leg made of two colors. These early hose were footed, in the manner of modern tights, when very short doublets were in fashion, codpieces were added to cover the front opening. By the 16th century, hose had separated into two garments, upper hose or breeches and nether hose or stockings, from the mid-16th to early 17th centuries, a variety of styles of hose were in fashion. Popular styles included, Trunk hose or round hose, short padded hose, very short trunk hose were worn over cannions, fitted hose that ended above the knee. Slops or galligaskins, loose hose reaching just below the knee, Trunk hose and slops could be paned or pansied, with strips of fabric over a full inner layer or lining. Pansied slop is a round hose characterized by the addition of a layer of panes and these are commonly referred to as pumpkin pants. Pluderhosen, a Northern European form of pansied slops with a full inner layer pulled out between the panes and hanging below the knee. Originating in Germany, Pluderhosen soon spread to central and Eastern Europe, venetians, semi-fitted hose reaching just below the knee. 1500–1550 in fashion 1550–1600 in fashion Notes Bibliography Arnold, Janet, Patterns of Fashion, hose in the Middle Ages and Renaissance 13th–16th century hose, from illustrations and museums
4.
Italian Renaissance
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The term Renaissance is in essence a modern one that came into currency in the 19th century, in the work of historians such as Jules Michelet and Jacob Burckhardt. The French word renaissance means Rebirth, and the era is best known for the renewed interest in the culture of classical antiquity after the period that Renaissance humanists labeled the Dark Ages. Though today perhaps best known for Italian Renaissance art and architecture, the period saw major achievements in literature, music, philosophy, Italy became the recognized European leader in all these areas by the late 15th century, and to varying degrees retained this lead until about 1600. This was despite a turbulent and generally disastrous period in Italian politics, the European Renaissance began in Tuscany, and centred in the city of Florence. It later spread to Venice, where the remains of ancient Greek culture were brought together, the Renaissance later had a significant effect on Rome, which was ornamented with some structures in the new allantico mode, then was largely rebuilt by humanist sixteenth-century popes. The Italian Renaissance peaked in the century as foreign invasions plunged the region into the turmoil of the Italian Wars. However, the ideas and ideals of the Renaissance endured and spread into the rest of Europe, setting off the Northern Renaissance, the Italian Renaissance is best known for its cultural achievements. Accounts of Renaissance literature usually begin with Petrarch and his friend, famous vernacular poets of the 15th century include the renaissance epic authors Luigi Pulci, Matteo Maria Boiardo, and Ludovico Ariosto. 15th century writers such as the poet Poliziano and the Platonist philosopher Marsilio Ficino made extensive translations from both Latin and Greek, the same is true for architecture, as practiced by Brunelleschi, Leon Battista Alberti, Andrea Palladio, and Bramante. Their works include Florence Cathedral, St. Peters Basilica in Rome, yet cultural contributions notwithstanding, some present-day historians also see the era as one of the beginning of economic regression for Italy. By the Late Middle Ages, Latium, the heartland of the Roman Empire. Rome was a city of ancient ruins, and the Papal States were loosely administered, and vulnerable to external interference such as that of France, and later Spain. The Papacy was affronted when the Avignon Papacy was created in southern France as a consequence of pressure from King Philip the Fair of France, in the south, Sicily had for some time been under foreign domination, by the Arabs and then the Normans. Sicily had prospered for 150 years during the Emirate of Sicily, in contrast Northern and Central Italy had become far more prosperous, and it has been calculated that the region was among the richest of Europe. The Crusades had built lasting trade links to the Levant, the main trade routes from the east passed through the Byzantine Empire or the Arab lands and onwards to the ports of Genoa, Pisa, and Venice. Luxury goods bought in the Levant, such as spices, dyes, moreover, the inland city-states profited from the rich agricultural land of the Po valley. From France, Germany, and the Low Countries, through the medium of the Champagne fairs, land and river trade routes brought goods such as wool, wheat, and precious metals into the region. The extensive trade that stretched from Egypt to the Baltic generated substantial surpluses that allowed significant investment in mining, thus, while northern Italy was not richer in resources than many other parts of Europe, the level of development, stimulated by trade, allowed it to prosper
5.
Hat
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In the past, hats were an indicator of social status. In the military, hats may denote nationality, branch of service, rank, Police typically wear distinctive hats such as peaked caps or brimmed hats, such as those worn by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Some hats have a protective function, some hats are worn for ceremonial purposes, such as the mortarboard, which is worn during university graduation ceremonies. Some hats are worn by members of a profession, such as the Toque worn by chefs. Some hats have religious functions, such as the mitres worn by Bishops, while there are not many official records of hats before 3,000 BC, they probably were commonplace before that. Archaeologists think that the Venus of Brassempouy from 26,000 years ago may depict a hat. One of the earliest known confirmed hats was worn by a bronze age man whose body was frozen in a mountain between Austria and Italy, where hed been since around 3,300 BC. He was found wearing bearskin cap with a strap, made of several hides stitched together. One of the first pictorial depictions of a hat appears in a painting from Thebes, Egypt. Hats were commonly worn in ancient Egypt, many upper-class Egyptians shaved their head, then covered it in a headdress intended to help them keep cool. Ancient Mesopotamians often wore conical hats or ones shaped somewhat like an inverted vase. Other early hats include the Pileus, a skull like cap, the Phrygian cap, worn by freed slaves in Greece and Rome, and the Greek petasos. Women wore veils, kerchiefs, hoods, caps and wimples, like Otzi, Tollund Man was preserved to the present day with a hat on, probably having died around 400 BC in a Danish bog, which mummified him. He wore a cap made of sheepskin and wool, fastened under the chin by a hide thong. St. Clement, the saint of felt hatmakers, is said to have discovered wool felt when he filled his sandals with flax fibers to protect his feet. In the Middle Ages, hats were a marker of social status, the 1215 Fourth Council of the Lateran required that all Jews identify themselves by wearing the Judenhat, marking them as targets for anti-Semitism. The hats were usually yellow and were pointed or square. In the Middle Ages, hats for women ranged from simple scarves to elaborate hennin, structured hats for women similar to those of male courtiers began to be worn in the late 16th century
6.
Chaperon (headgear)
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Chaperon was a form of hood or, later, highly versatile hat worn in all parts of Western Europe in the Middle Ages. It was especially fashionable in mid-15th century Burgundy, before falling out of fashion in the late 15th century. It is the most commonly worn male headgear in Early Netherlandish painting, the chaperon began before 1200 as a hood with a short cape, put on by pulling over the head, or fastening at the front. The hood could be pulled off the head to hang behind, leaving the short cape round the neck, the edge of the cape was often trimmed, cut or scalloped for decorative effect. There were wool ones, used in weather, and lighter ones for summer. In this form it continued through to the end of the Middle Ages, worn by the classes, often by women as well as men. The hood was loose at the back, and sometimes ended in a tail that came to a point. Chaperon is a diminutive of chape, which derives, like the English cap, cape and cope, from the Late Latin cappa, the tail of the hood, often quite long, was called the tippit or liripipe in English, and liripipe or cornette in French. The cape element was a patte in French and in English cape, later a round bourrelet could form part of the assemblage. Patte, cornette and bourrelet were the terms in the French of the 15th century Burgundian court. In Italian the equivalent terms were foggia, becchetto, and mazzocchio, chaperon was sometimes used in English, and also German, for both the hood and hat forms. But the word never appears in the Paston Letters, where there are references to hats, hoods. In French chaperon was also the term in falconry for the hood placed over a head when held on the hand to stop it wanting to fly away. It is either this or the meaning that later extended figuratively to become chaperon meaning a protective escort. About 1300 the chaperon began to be worn by putting the hole intended for the face over the top of the head instead and this left the cornette tail and the cape or patte, hanging loose from the top of the head. This became fashionable, and chaperons began to be made to be worn in this style, some authorities only use the term chaperon for this type, calling the earlier forms hoods – which was certainly their usual name in English. This is a categorisation for modern discussions only, there is no dispute over whether chaperon was the contemporary term, see the wearing Colley-Weston-ward of the mandilion for an analogous development in a type of coat. Especially in Italy, the cornette was sometimes dispensed with, leaving just an un-flared tubular patte fixed to the all round
7.
Headdress
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Headgear, headwear or headdress is the name given to any element of clothing which is worn on ones head. Some styles of bonnets had peaks so large that they prevented women from looking right or left without turning their heads. Bonnets worn by men and boys are generally distinguished from hats by being soft, caps are generally soft and often have no brim or just a peak. For many centuries women wore a variety of head-coverings which were called caps, an ochipok is part of traditional Ukrainian costume. Some headgear, such as the crown, coronet, and tiara, have evolved into jewelry and these headgear are worn as a symbol of nobility or royal status. Kokoshnik is part of Russian traditional dress, often worn by nobility, a fillet or circlet is a round band worn around the head and over the hair. Elaborate and costly versions of these evolved into crowns, but fillets could be made from woven bands of fabric, leather. Fillets are unisex, and are prevalent in archaic to renaissance dress. Hairnets are used to prevent loose hair from contaminating food or work areas, a snood is a net or fabric bag pinned or tied on at the back of a womans head for holding the hair. Scarves are used to protect styled hair or keep it tidy, shower caps and swim caps prevent hair from becoming wet or entangled during activity. Hats often have an all the way around the rim. Depending on the type of hat, they may be worn by men. Helmets are designed to protect the head, and sometimes the neck and they are usually rigid, and offer protection from blows. Helmets are commonly worn in battle, on sites and in many contact sports. In most of the United States they are required by law for operating a range of vehicles including motorcycles. Modern hoods are generally soft headcoverings which are a part of a larger garment, like an overcoat. Historically, hoods were either similar to modern hoods, or a form of headgear. In medieval Europe hoods with short capes, called chaperons in French, were extremely common, a mask is worn over part or all of the face, frequently to disguise the wearer, but sometimes to protect the face
8.
Feather
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Feathers are epidermal growths that form the distinctive outer covering, or plumage, on birds. They are considered the most complex integumentary structures found in vertebrates and they are among the characteristics that distinguish the extant birds from other living groups. Although feathers cover most parts of the body of birds, they arise only from certain well-defined tracts on the skin and they aid in flight, thermal insulation, and waterproofing. In addition, coloration helps in communication and protection, plumology is the name for the science that is associated with the study of feathers. Feathers are among the most complex integumentary appendages found in vertebrates and are formed in tiny follicles in the epidermis, or outer skin layer, that produce keratin proteins. There are two types of feather, vaned feathers which cover the exterior of the body. The pennaceous feathers are vaned feathers, also called contour feathers, pennaceous feathers arise from tracts and cover the entire body. In some passerines, filoplumes arise exposed beyond the contour feathers on the neck, the remiges, or flight feathers of the wing, and rectrices, the flight feathers of the tail are the most important feathers for flight. A typical vaned feather features a main shaft, called the rachis, fused to the rachis are a series of branches, or barbs, the barbs themselves are also branched and form the barbules. These barbules have minute hooks called barbicels for cross-attachment, down feathers are fluffy because they lack barbicels, so the barbules float free of each other, allowing the down to trap air and provide excellent thermal insulation. At the base of the feather, the rachis expands to form the hollow tubular calamus which inserts into a follicle in the skin, the basal part of the calamus is without vanes. This part is embedded within the follicle and has an opening at the base. Hatchling birds of species have a special kind of natal down feathers which are pushed out when the normal feathers emerge. Flight feathers are stiffened so as to work against the air in the downstroke, feathers insulate birds from water and cold temperatures. They may also be plucked to line the nest and provide insulation to the eggs, the individual feathers in the wings and tail play important roles in controlling flight. Some species have a crest of feathers on their heads, although feathers are light, a birds plumage weighs two or three times more than its skeleton, since many bones are hollow and contain air sacs. Color patterns serve as camouflage against predators for birds in their habitats, as with fish, the top and bottom colors may be different, in order to provide camouflage during flight. Striking differences in patterns and colors are part of the sexual dimorphism of many bird species and are particularly important in selection of mating pairs
9.
Hundred Years' War
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Each side drew many allies into the war. It was one of the most notable conflicts of the Middle Ages, the war marked both the height of chivalry and its subsequent decline, and the development of strong national identities in both countries. After the Norman Conquest, the kings of England were vassals of the kings of France for their possessions in France, the French kings had endeavored, over the centuries, to reduce these possessions, to the effect that only Gascony was left to the English. Through his mother, Isabella of France, Edward III of England was the grandson of Philip IV of France and nephew of Charles IV of France, in 1316, a principle was established denying women succession to the French throne. When Charles IV died in 1328, Isabella, unable to claim the French throne for herself, the French rejected the claim, maintaining that Isabella could not transmit a right that she did not possess. Several overwhelming English victories in the war—especially at Crecy, Poitiers, however, the greater resources of the French monarchy precluded a complete conquest. Historians commonly divide the war into three separated by truces, the Edwardian Era War, the Caroline War, and the Lancastrian War. Later historians adopted the term Hundred Years War as a historiography periodization to encompass all of these events, the war owes its historical significance to multiple factors. By its end, feudal armies had been replaced by professional troops. Although primarily a conflict, the war gave impetus to ideas of French. The wider introduction of weapons and tactics supplanted the feudal armies where heavy cavalry had dominated, the war precipitated the creation of the first standing armies in Western Europe since the time of the Western Roman Empire and thus helping to change their role in warfare. With respect to the belligerents, in France, civil wars, deadly epidemics, famines, English political forces over time came to oppose the costly venture. The dissatisfaction of English nobles, resulting from the loss of their continental landholdings, the root causes of the conflict can be found in the demographic, economic and political crises of 14th century Europe. The outbreak of war was motivated by a rise in tension between the Kings of France and England about Guyenne, Flanders and Scotland. The dynastic question, which due to an interruption of the direct male line of the Capetians, was the official pretext. The question of succession to the French throne was raised after the death of Louis X in 1316. Louis X left only a daughter, and his posthumous son John I lived only a few days, Philip, Count of Poitiers, brother of Louis X, asserted that women were ineligible to succeed to the French throne. Through his political sagacity he won over his adversaries and succeeded to the French throne as Philip V of France, by the same law that he procured, his daughters were denied the succession, which passed to his younger brother, Charles IV, in 1322
10.
Wars of the Roses
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The conflict lasted through many sporadic episodes between 1455 and 1487, however, there was fighting before and after this period between the houses. With the Duke of Yorks passing, the transferred to his heir, Edward. His son reigned for 86 days as Edward V, but Parliament then decided that Edward and his brother Richard were illegitimate and offered the crown to Edward IVs younger brother, the two young princes disappeared within the confines of the Tower of London. The final victory went to a claimant of the Lancastrian party, Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, after assuming the throne as Henry VII, he married Elizabeth of York, the eldest daughter and heir of Edward IV, thereby uniting the two claims. The House of Tudor ruled the Kingdom of England until 1603, with the death of Elizabeth I, granddaughter of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. The name Wars of the Roses refers to the badges associated with the two royal houses, the White Rose of York and the Red Rose of Lancaster. Wars of the Roses came into use in the nineteenth century. Badges were not always distinct, at the Battle of Barnet, Edwards sun was very similar to the Earl of Oxfords Vere star, which caused fateful confusion. Another example, Henry Tudors forces at Bosworth fought under the banner of a red dragon, although the names of the rival houses derive from the cities of York and Lancaster, the corresponding duchies had little to do with these cities. Although minor armed clashes had occurred previously between supporters of York and Lancaster, the first open fighting broke out in 1455 at the First Battle of St Albans, several prominent Lancastrians died at the hands of the Yorkists. Although peace was restored, the Lancastrians were inspired by Margaret of Anjou to contest Yorks influence. Fighting resumed more violently in 1459, York and his supporters were forced to flee the country, but one of his most prominent supporters, the Earl of Warwick, invaded England from Calais and captured Henry VI at the Battle of Northampton. York returned to the country and became Protector of England, but was dissuaded from claiming the throne, Margaret and the remaining Lancastrian nobles gathered their army in the north of England. When York moved north to engage them, he and his second son Edmund were killed at the Battle of Wakefield in December 1460. The Lancastrian army advanced south and released Henry at the Second Battle of St Albans, but failed to occupy London, Yorks eldest son, Edward, Earl of March, was proclaimed King Edward IV. He gathered the Yorkist armies and won a victory at the Battle of Towton in March 1461. After Lancastrian revolts in the north were suppressed in 1464 and Henry was captured once again, Edward fell out with his chief supporter and adviser, the Earl of Warwick after Edwards unpopular and secretly conducted marriage with the widow of a Lancastrian supporter, Elizabeth Woodville. Within a few years, it clear that Edward was favoring his wifes family
11.
Duchy of Burgundy
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Upon the extinction of the line with the death of Duke Philip I in 1361, the duchy fell back to King John II of France and the royal House of Valois. The Burgundian duchy rose to a complex of a European scale after in 1363 King John II of France ceded the duchy to his younger son Philip of Valois. By his marriage with Countess Margaret of Flanders, he laid the foundation for a Burgundian realm further north in the Low Countries collectively known as the Burgundian Netherlands. The Burgundian sphere, in its own right, was one of the largest ducal territories that existed at the time of the emergence of Early Modern Europe. Including the thriving regions of Flanders and Brabant, it was a centre of trade. After about one hundred years of Valois-Burgundy rule, however, the last duke Charles the Bold rushed to the Burgundian Wars and was killed in the 1477 Battle of Nancy. With the abdication of the Habsburg emperor Charles V in 1556, the Burgundians settled in the area around Dijon, Chalon-sur-Saône, Mâcon, Autun and Châtillon-sur-Seine, and gave the name to the region. The Kingdom of the Burgundians was annexed by the Merovingian Kings of the Franks Childebert I in 534 following their defeat by the Franks and it was recreated, however, on several occasions when Frankish territories were redivided between the sons on the death of a Frankish king. As part of the Kingdom of the Franks, Burgundy maintained a semi-autonomous existence, with the Burgundians maintaining their own law code, however, southern Burgundy was pillaged by the Saracen invasion of the 8th century. When Charles Martel drove the invaders out, he divided Burgundy into four commands, Arles-Burgundy, Vienne-Burgundy, Alamanic Burgundy and he appointed his brother Childebrand governor of Frankish Burgundy. Under the Carolingians, Burgundian separatism lessened and Burgundy became a geographical term. As a vital military defender of the West Frankish border, Guerin was sometimes known by the Latin term for leader – Dux or Duke, by the time of Richard the Justiciar, the Duchy of Burgundy was beginning to emerge. Richard was officially recognised by the king as a duke, he stood as individual count of each county he held. As Duke of Burgundy, he was able to wield an increasing amount of power over his territory, to the collective body of his territory there came to be applied the term ducatus. Included in the ducatus of Richard were the regions of Autunais, Beaunois, Avalois, Lassois, Dijonais, Memontois, Attuyer, Oscheret, under Richard, these territories were given law and order, protected from the Normans, and served as a haven for persecuted monks. It was from his territories in Burgundy that he drew the resources needed to fight those who challenged his right to rule, under Hugh the Black came the beginning of what would be a long and troubled saga for Burgundy. His neighbours were the Robertian family, who held the title of Duke of Francia and this family, wanting to improve their standing in France and against the Carolingian kings, attempted to subject the duchy to the suzerainty of their own duchy. They failed, eventually, when they appeared close to success, they were forced to scrap the scheme, two brothers of Hugh Capet, the first Capetian King of France, took up the rule of Burgundy as duke
12.
Philip the Good
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Philip the Good was Duke of Burgundy as Philip III from 1419 until his death. He was a member of a line of the Valois dynasty. During his reign, Burgundy reached the apex of its prosperity and prestige, Philip is known in history for his administrative reforms, his patronage of Flemish artists such as Jan van Eyck and Franco-Flemish composers such as Gilles Binchois, and the capture of Joan of Arc. In political affairs, he alternated between alliances with the English and the French in an attempt to improve his dynastys position. As ruler of Flanders, Brabant, Limburg, Artois, Hainaut, Holland, Zeeland, Friesland and Namur, born in 1396 in Dijon, Philip was the son of John the Fearless and Margaret of Bavaria-Straubing. His father succeeded Philips grandfather Philip the Bold as Duke of Burgundy in 1404 and they were married in June 1409. Bonne of Artois lived only a year after Philip married her, Philip was married for a third time to Isabella of Portugal, a daughter of John I of Portugal and Philippa of Lancaster, in Bruges on 7 January 1430. Corneille and Anthony were his favorite bastard sons and successively bore the title Grand bâtard de Bourgogne, Philip became duke of Burgundy and count of Flanders, Artois and Franche-Comté upon the assassination of his father in 1419. Philip accused Charles, the Dauphin of France and Philips brother-in-law, of planning the murder of his father, because of this, he continued to prosecute the civil war between the Burgundians and Armagnacs. In 1420, Philip allied himself with Henry V of England under the Treaty of Troyes, in 1423, the marriage of Philips sister Anne to John, Duke of Bedford, regent for Henry VI of England, strengthened the English alliance. In 1430, Philips troops captured Joan of Arc at Compiègne and later handed her over to the English, Philip signed the treaty for a variety of reasons, one of which may have been a desire to be recognised as the preeminent duke in France. He then attacked Calais, a possession of the English, Philip supported the revolt of the French nobles the following year and offered shelter to the Dauphin Louis, who had rebelled against his father Charles VII. In 1456, Philip also managed to ensure his illegitimate son David was elected Bishop of Utrecht and it is not surprising that in 1435 Philip began to style himself the Grand Duke of the West. In 1463, Philip gave up some of his territory to King Louis XI of France and that year he also created an Estates-General for the Netherlands based on the French model. The first meeting of the Estates-General was to obtain a loan for a war against France, in 1465 and 1467, Philip crushed two rebellions in Liège. Philip died in Bruges in 1467, Philips court can only be described as extravagant. He declined membership in the English Order of the Garter in 1422, instead, he created his own Order of the Golden Fleece, based on the Knights of the Round Table and the myth of Jason, in 1430. Philip had no fixed capital and moved the court between various palaces, the urban ones being Brussels, Bruges, and Lille
13.
Flanders
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Flanders is the Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium, although there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, language, politics and history. It is one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium, the demonym associated with Flanders is Fleming, while the corresponding adjective is Flemish. The official capital of Flanders is Brussels, although Brussels itself has an independent regional government, in historical contexts, Flanders originally refers to the County of Flanders, which around AD1000 stretched from the Strait of Dover to the Scheldt estuary. In accordance with late 20th century Belgian state reforms the area was made two political entities, the Flemish Community and the Flemish Region. These entities were merged, although geographically the Flemish Community, which has a cultural mandate, covers Brussels. Flanders has figured prominently in European history, as a consequence, a very sophisticated culture developed, with impressive achievements in the arts and architecture, rivaling those of northern Italy. Belgium was one of the centres of the 19th century industrial revolution, geographically, Flanders is generally flat, and has a small section of coast on the North Sea. Much of Flanders is agriculturally fertile and densely populated, with a density of almost 500 people per square kilometer. It touches France to the west near the coast, and borders the Netherlands to the north and east, the Brussels Capital Region is an enclave within the Flemish Region. Flanders has exclaves of its own, Voeren in the east is between Wallonia and the Netherlands and Baarle-Hertog in the consists of 22 exclaves surrounded by the Netherlands. It comprises 6.5 million Belgians who consider Dutch to be their mother tongue, the political subdivisions of Belgium, the Flemish Region and the Flemish Community. The first does not comprise Brussels, whereas the latter does comprise the Dutch-speaking inhabitants of Brussels, the political institutions that govern both subdivisions, the operative body Flemish Government and the legislative organ Flemish Parliament. The two westernmost provinces of the Flemish Region, West Flanders and East Flanders, forming the central portion of the historic County of Flanders, a feudal territory that existed from the 8th century until its absorption by the French First Republic. Until the 1600s, this county also extended over parts of France, one of the regions conquered by the French in Flanders, namely French Flanders in the Nord department. French Flanders can be divided into two regions, Walloon Flanders and Maritime Flanders. The first region was predominantly French-speaking already in the 1600s, the latter became so in the 20th century, the city of Lille identifies itself as Flemish, and this is reflected, for instance, in the name of its local railway station TGV Lille Flandres. The region conquered by the Dutch Republic in Flanders, now part of the Dutch province of Zeeland, the significance of the County of Flanders and its counts eroded through time, but the designation remained in a very broad sense. In the Early modern period, the term Flanders was associated with the part of the Low Countries
14.
Textile
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A textile or cloth is a flexible material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibres. Yarn is produced by spinning raw fibres of wool, flax, cotton, hemp, Textiles are formed by weaving, knitting, crocheting, knotting, or felting. The words fabric and cloth are used in textile assembly trades as synonyms for textile, however, there are subtle differences in these terms in specialized usage. Textile refers to any material made of interlacing fibres, a fabric is a material made through weaving, knitting, spreading, crocheting, or bonding that may be used in production of further goods. Cloth may be used synonymously with fabric but is often a piece of fabric used for a specific purpose. The word textile is from Latin, from the adjective textilis, meaning woven, from textus, the word cloth derives from the Old English clað, meaning a cloth, woven or felted material to wrap around one, from Proto-Germanic kalithaz. The discovery of dyed flax fibres in a cave in the Republic of Georgia dated to 34,000 BCE suggests textile-like materials were made even in prehistoric times. The production of textiles is a craft whose speed and scale of production has been altered almost beyond recognition by industrialization, however, for the main types of textiles, plain weave, twill, or satin weave, there is little difference between the ancient and modern methods. Textiles have an assortment of uses, the most common of which are for clothing and for such as bags. In the household they are used in carpeting, upholstered furnishings, window shades, towels, coverings for tables, beds, and other flat surfaces, in the workplace they are used in industrial and scientific processes such as filtering. Textiles are used in traditional crafts such as sewing, quilting. Textiles for industrial purposes, and chosen for other than their appearance, are commonly referred to as technical textiles. Technical textiles include textile structures for applications, medical textiles, geotextiles, agrotextiles. In all these applications stringent performance requirements must be met, woven of threads coated with zinc oxide nanowires, laboratory fabric has been shown capable of self-powering nanosystems using vibrations created by everyday actions like wind or body movements. Fashion designers commonly rely on textile designs to set their fashion collections apart from others, armani, the late Gianni Versace, and Emilio Pucci can be easily recognized by their signature print driven designs. Textiles can be made from many materials and these materials come from four main sources, animal, plant, mineral, and synthetic. In the past, all textiles were made from natural fibres, including plant, animal, in the 20th century, these were supplemented by artificial fibres made from petroleum. Textiles are made in various strengths and degrees of durability, from the finest gossamer to the sturdiest canvas, microfibre refers to fibres made of strands thinner than one denier
15.
Bruges
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Bruges is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country. The area of the whole city amounts to more than 13,840 hectares, including 1,075 hectares off the coast, the historic city centre is a prominent World Heritage Site of UNESCO. It is oval and about 430 hectares in size, the citys total population is 117,073, of whom around 20,000 live in the city centre. The metropolitan area, including the commuter zone, covers an area of 616 km2 and has a total of 255,844 inhabitants as of 1 January 2008. Along with a few other canal-based northern cities, such as Amsterdam and Stockholm, Bruges has a significant economic importance thanks to its port and was once one of the worlds chief commercial cities. Bruges is well known as the seat of the College of Europe, the name probably derives from the Old Dutch for bridge, brugga. Also compare Middle Dutch brucge, brugge, and modern Dutch bruggehoofd, the form brugghe would be a southern Dutch variant. The Dutch word and the English bridge both derive from Proto-Germanic *brugjō-, Bruges was a location of coastal settlement during prehistory. This Bronze Age and Iron Age settlement is unrelated to medieval city development, in the Bruges area, the first fortifications were built after Julius Caesars conquest of the Menapii in the first century BC, to protect the coastal area against pirates. The Franks took over the region from the Gallo-Romans around the 4th century. The Viking incursions of the century prompted Count Baldwin I of Flanders to reinforce the Roman fortifications, trade soon resumed with England. Bruges received its city charter on 27 July 1128, and new walls and canals were built, in 1089 Bruges became the capital of the County of Flanders. Since about 1050, gradual silting had caused the city to lose its access to the sea. A storm in 1134, however, re-established this access, through the creation of a channel at the Zwin. The new sea arm stretched all the way to Damme, a city became the commercial outpost for Bruges. Bruges had a location at the crossroads of the northern Hanseatic League trade. They developed, or borrowed from Italy, new forms of merchant capitalism, whereby several merchants would share the risks and profits and they employed new forms of economic exchange, including bills of exchange and letters of credit. The city eagerly welcomed foreign traders, most notably the Portuguese traders selling pepper and other spices, the citys entrepreneurs reached out to make economic colonies of England and Scotlands wool-producing districts
16.
Antwerp
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Antwerp is a city in Belgium, the capital of Antwerp province in the region of Flanders. With a population of 510,610, it is the most populous city proper in Belgium and its metropolitan area houses around 1,200,000 people, which is second behind Brussels. Antwerp is on the River Scheldt, linked to the North Sea by the Westerschelde estuary, the Port of Antwerp is one of the biggest in the world, ranking second in Europe and within the top 20 globally. Antwerp has long been an important city in the Low Countries, the inhabitants of Antwerp are nicknamed Sinjoren, after the Spanish honorific señor or French seigneur, lord, referring to the Spanish noblemen who ruled the city in the 17th century. The city hosted the 1920 Summer Olympics, according to folklore, notably celebrated by a statue in front of the town hall, the city got its name from a legend about a giant called Antigoon who lived near the Scheldt river. He exacted a toll from passing boatmen, and for those who refused, he severed one of their hands, eventually the giant was killed by a young hero named Silvius Brabo, who cut off the giants own hand and flung it into the river. Hence the name Antwerpen, from Dutch hand werpen, akin to Old English hand and wearpan, a longstanding theory is that the name originated in the Gallo-Roman period and comes from the Latin antverpia. Antverpia would come from Ante Verpia, indicating land that forms by deposition in the curve of a river. Note that the river Scheldt, before a period between 600 and 750, followed a different track. This must have coincided roughly with the current ringway south of the city, however, many historians think it unlikely that there was a large settlement which would be named Antverpia, but more something like an outpost with a river crossing. However, John Lothrop Motley argues, and so do a lot of Dutch etymologists and historians, aan t werp is also possible. This warp is a hill or a river deposit, high enough to remain dry at high tide. Another word for werp is pol hence polders, historical Antwerp allegedly had its origins in a Gallo-Roman vicus. Excavations carried out in the oldest section near the Scheldt, 1952–1961, produced pottery shards, the earliest mention of Antwerp dates from the 4th century. In the 4th century, Antwerp was first named, having been settled by the Germanic Franks, the name was reputed to have been derived from anda and werpum. The Merovingian Antwerp was evangelized by Saint Amand in the 7th century, at the end of the 10th century, the Scheldt became the boundary of the Holy Roman Empire. Antwerp became a margraviate in 980, by the German emperor Otto I, in the 11th century Godfrey of Bouillon was for some years known as the marquis of Antwerp. In the 12th century, Norbert of Xanten established a community of his Premonstratensian canons at St. Michaels Abbey at Caloes
17.
Giovanni Arnolfini
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The Arnolfini were a powerful family in Lucca, involved in the politics and trade of the small but wealthy city, which specialised in weaving expensive cloth. He became wealthy trading in silk and other fabrics, tapestries and other objects, although in later years he seems to have suffered business reverses. His fame arises because he is the most likely candidate, out of a number of male Arnolfinis, to have been the subject of two portraits by Jan van Eyck, the famous Flemish painter. These are, The Arnolfini Portrait of Giovanni and his wife, dated 1434 and now in London and he was presumably born in Lucca, where his parents lived, but neither the place nor the date are documented. Since there was no fixed age for this, it gives no clue as to his date of birth. In the next few years Giovanni di Nicolao worked with a very successful Italian merchant, Marco Guidiccioni, records of some of his dealings with the Ducal court have survived, but these were probably only part of his business activities. Other sales to the Court are recorded, although he may have been acting on behalf of Guidiccioni. In 1426 he married Costanza Trenta, who is at first sight not the wife in the portrait and she was also from Lucca, and her aunt Ginevra Cavalcanti was married to Lorenzo de Medici, brother of Cosimo de Medici. On the other hand, Margaret Koster has recently proposed that the portrait may be a memorial one, including an image of Costanza. In 1442 he signed an agreement whereby, for a moderate fee and he was permitted to practise the small burgesss crafts, but whether he ever did is unknown. In 1446 and 1452 he is documented as an arbitrator in disputes between other Lucchese merchants over property, these are his last appearances in the documentary record, the double portrait remained in Flanders, which suggests that Giovanni died there. There is no evidence of a further marriage, but one has been assumed by art historians. The appearance of the woman in the double portrait perhaps suggests she was Flemish, a slightly younger first cousin of Giovanni, called Giovanni de Arrigo Arnolfini, also came to live in Bruges and was even more successful than Giovanni de Nicolao. Jane or Jeanne Arnolfini is documented further until her death in Bruges in 1480
18.
Sumptuary law
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Societies have used sumptuary laws for a variety of purposes. They were used as an attempt to regulate the balance of trade by limiting the market for imported goods. They made it easy to identify social rank and privilege, the laws frequently prevented commoners from imitating the appearance of aristocrats and also could be used to stigmatize disfavored groups. In the Late Middle Ages, sumptuary laws in cities were instituted as a way for the nobility to cap or limit the conspicuous consumption of the prosperous bourgeoisie. If bourgeois subjects appeared to be as wealthy or wealthier than the nobility, it could undermine the nobilitys presentation of themselves as powerful. This could call into question their ability to control and defend their fief, such laws continued to be used for these purposes well into the 17th century. It also banned the drinking of undiluted wine except for medical purposes, the Sumptuariae Leges of ancient Rome were various laws passed to prevent inordinate expense in banquets and dress, such as the use of expensive Tyrian purple dye. In the early years of the Empire, men were forbidden to wear silk and it was considered the duty of government to put a check upon extravagance in personal expenditure, and such restrictions are found in laws attributed to the kings of Rome and in the Twelve Tables. The Roman censors, who were entrusted with the disciplina or cura morum, in it were listed the names of everyone found guilty of a luxurious mode of living, a great many instances of this kind are recorded. As the Roman Republic wore on, further laws were passed, however, towards the end of the Republic. Any such laws which may have existed were ignored during the period of profligate luxury characterizing the height of the Roman Empire. During the height of the Empire, such vast quantities of silk were imported from Sinica along the Silk Road that Imperial advisers warned that Roman silver reserves were becoming exhausted, Sumptuary laws existed in China in one form or another from the Qin dynasty onwards. The Confucian virtue of restraint was embodied in the scholarly system central to Chinas bureaucracy, some laws concerned the size and decoration of graves and mausoleums. The location of graves, and the number of attendant statues depended on rank, after circa 1550, sumptuary law in China was reformed. According to Britannica Online, In feudal Japan sumptuary laws were passed with a frequency, during the Tokugawa period in Japan, people of every class were subject to strict sumptuary laws that included regulation of the types of clothing that could be worn. Islamic sumptuary laws are based upon teachings found in the Quran, males are exhorted not to wear silk clothes, nor have jewelry made of gold. Likewise, wearing clothes or robes that drag on the ground, seen as a sign of vanity and these rules do not apply to women, who are allowed all this. Prohibition of depictions of human and animal figures in general are similar to those of the Quranic prohibition on graven images, hadiths do allow the depiction of animals on clothing items
19.
Pomegranate
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The pomegranate, botanical name Punica granatum, is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub or small tree in the family Lythraceae that grows between 5 and 8 m tall. The fruit is typically in season in the Northern Hemisphere from September to February, as intact arils or juice, pomegranates are used in baking, cooking, juice blends, meal garnishes, smoothies, and alcoholic beverages, such as cocktails and wine. The pomegranate originated in the region of modern-day Iran, and has been cultivated since ancient times throughout the Mediterranean region and it was introduced into Spanish America in the late 16th century and California, by Spanish settlers, in 1769. It is also cultivated in parts of Arizona and California, in recent years, it has become more common in the commercial markets of Europe and the Western Hemisphere. The name pomegranate derives from medieval Latin pōmum apple and grānātum seeded, possibly stemming from the old French word for the fruit, pomme-grenade, the pomegranate was known in early English as apple of Grenada—a term which today survives only in heraldic blazons. This is a folk etymology, confusing the Latin granatus with the name of the Spanish city of Granada, garnet derives from Old French grenat by metathesis, from Medieval Latin granatum as used in a different meaning of a dark red color. This derivation may have originated from pomum granatum, describing the color of pomegranate pulp, or from granum, referring to red dye, the French term for pomegranate, grenade, has given its name to the military grenade. A shrub or small tree growing 6 to 10 m high, P. granatum leaves are opposite or subopposite, glossy, narrow oblong, entire, 3–7 cm long and 2 cm broad. The flowers are red and 3 cm in diameter, with three to seven petals. Some fruitless varieties are grown for the flowers alone, the edible fruit is a berry, intermediate in size between a lemon and a grapefruit, 5–12 cm in diameter with a rounded shape and thick, reddish skin. The number of seeds in a pomegranate can vary from 200 to about 1400, each seed has a surrounding water-laden pulp — the edible sarcotesta that forms from the seed coat — ranging in color from white to deep red or purple. The seeds are exarillate, i. e. unlike some species in the order, Myrtales. The sarcotesta of pomegranate seeds consists of cells derived from the integument. The seeds are embedded in a white, spongy, astringent membrane, P. granatum is grown for its fruit crop, and as ornamental trees and shrubs in parks and gardens. Mature specimens can develop sculptural twisted-bark multiple trunks and an overall form. Pomegranates are drought-tolerant, and can be grown in dry areas with either a Mediterranean winter rainfall climate or in summer rainfall climates, in wetter areas, they can be prone to root decay from fungal diseases. They can be tolerant of moderate frost, down to about −12 °C, Pomegranate grows easily from seed, but is commonly propagated from 25 to 50 cm hardwood cuttings to avoid the genetic variation of seedlings. Air layering is also an option for propagation, but grafting fails, P. granatum var. nana is a dwarf variety of P. granatum popularly planted as an ornamental plant in gardens and larger containers, and used as a bonsai specimen tree
20.
Artichoke
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The globe artichoke is a variety of a species of thistle cultivated as a food. The edible portion of the plant consists of the flower buds before the flowers come into bloom, the budding artichoke flower-head is a cluster of many budding small flowers together with many bracts, on an edible base. Once the buds bloom, the changes to a coarse. Another variety of the species is the cardoon, a perennial plant native to the Mediterranean region. Both wild forms and cultivated varieties exist and this vegetable grows to 1. 4–2 m tall, with arching, deeply lobed, silvery, glaucous-green leaves 50–82 cm long. The flowers develop in a head from an edible bud about 8–15 cm diameter with numerous triangular scales. These are inedible in older, larger flowers, Artichoke contains the bioactive agents apigenin and luteolin. The total antioxidant capacity of artichoke flower heads is one of the highest reported for vegetables, cynarine is a chemical constituent in Cynara. The majority of the found in artichoke is located in the pulp of the leaves, though dried leaves. It inhibits taste receptors, making water seem sweet, the artichoke is mentioned as a garden plant in the 8th century BC by Homer and Hesiod. The naturally occurring variant of the artichoke, the cardoon, which is native to the Mediterranean area, also has records of use as a food among the ancient Greeks and Romans. In North Africa, where it is found in the wild state. Varieties of artichokes were cultivated in Sicily beginning in the period of the ancient Greeks. In that period, the Greeks ate the leaves and flower heads, the Romans called the vegetable carduus. Further improvement in the form appears to have taken place in the medieval period in Muslim Spain. Names for the artichoke in many European languages today come from medieval Arabic الخرشوف Al Khurshuuf via late medieval Spain, towards 1480 it is noticed in Venice, as a curiosity. But very soon veers towards the northwest. Artichoke beds are mentioned in Avignon by the notaries from 1532 onward, appearing as carchofas at Cavaillon in 1541, at Chateauneuf du Pape in 1553, at Orange in 1554. The local name remains carchofas, from the Italian carciofo and they are very small, the size of a hens egg. and are still considered a luxury, a vaguely aphrodisiac tidbit that one preserved in sugar syrup
21.
Velvet
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Velvet is a type of woven tufted fabric in which the cut threads are evenly distributed, with a short dense pile, giving it a distinctive feel. By extension, the word velvety means smooth like velvet, Velvet can be made from either synthetic or natural fibers. Velvet is woven on a loom that weaves two thicknesses of the material at the same time. The two pieces are cut apart to create the pile effect, and the two lengths of fabric are wound on separate take-up rolls. This complicated process meant that velvet was expensive to make before industrial power looms became available, Velvet is difficult to clean because of its pile, but modern dry cleaning methods make cleaning more feasible. Velvet pile is created by warp or vertical yarns and velveteen pile is created by weft or fill yarns, Velvet can be made from several different kinds of fibers, traditionally, the most expensive of which is silk. Much of the velvet sold today as silk velvet is actually a mix of rayon, Velvet made entirely from silk is rare and usually has market prices of several hundred US dollars per yard. Cotton is also used to make velvet, though this results in a less luxurious fabric. Velvet can also be made from such as linen, mohair. A cloth made by the Kuba people of the Democratic Republic of Congo from raffia is often referred to as Kuba velvet. More recently, synthetic velvets have been developed, mostly from polyester, nylon, viscose, acetate, a small percentage of spandex is sometimes added to give the final material a certain amount of stretch. Because of its softness and appearance as well as its high cost of production. Velvet was introduced to Baghdad during the rule of Harun al-Rashid by Kashmiri merchants, in the Mamluk era, Cairo was the worlds largest producer of velvet. Much of it was exported to Venice, Al-Andalus and the Mali Empire, musa I of Mali, the ruler of the Mali Empire, visited Cairo on his pilgrimage to Mecca. Many Arab velvet makers accompanied him back to Timbuktu, later Ibn Battuta mentions how Suleyman, the ruler of Mali, wore a locally produced complete crimson velvet caftan on Eid. During the reign of Mehmed II, assistant cooks wore blue-coloured dresses, conical hats, king Richard II of England directed in his will that his body should be clothed in velveto in 1399. Chiffon velvet, Very lightweight velvet on a silk or rayon chiffon base. Ciselé, Velvet where the pile uses cut and uncut loops to create a pattern, crushed, This type of velvet can be produced by pressing the fabric down in different directions
22.
Woolen
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Woolen or woollen is a type of yarn made from carded wool. Woolen yarn is soft, light, stretchy, and full of air and it is thus a good insulator, and makes a good knitting yarn. Woolen yarn is in contrast to worsted yarn, in which the fibers are combed to lie rather than carded, producing a hard. The woolen and worsted process both require that the wool be cleaned before mechanical processing, woolen and worsted nomenclatures apply only to the textile processing of animal fibers, but it has become common to include fiber blends under these terms. The resultant fabrics will be classified as being either woolen or worsted and this feels like the fibers are directionally arranged. Woolen yarn formation is very common for knitwear, where the resultant garment has some bulk. The worsted processing route is complex and requires the removal of short fibers. The yarn formation process is more comprehensive and results in a very sleek yarn which will offer a clean looking woven fabric. The worsted process is more expensive and is seldom used for knitwear. Woolen yarn is handspun using the long draw technique, and the yarn is spun from a rolag, most handspinners make a blend of a woolen and worsted yarn, using techniques from both categories, and thus ending up with a mix. The first step to spin a true woolen yarn, however, is to card the fiber into a rolag using handcarders, the rolag is spun without much stretching of the fibers from the cylindrical configuration. This is done by allowing twist into a section of the rolag. The twist will concentrate in the thinnest part of the roving, thus when the yarn is pulled, once the yarn is the desired thickness, enough twist is added to make the yarn strong. Then the yarn is wound onto the bobbin, and the process starts again, barber, E. J. W. Prehistoric Textiles. Warp and Weft, A Textile Terminology, woolen, Semi-Woolen, Semi-Worsted, and Worsted Spinning - Gives a detailed explanation on the different ways fiber preparation and technique can create different yarns
23.
Linen
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Linen /ˈlɪnᵻn/ is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant. Linen is laborious to manufacture, but the fiber is very absorbent, many products are made of linen, aprons, bags, towels, napkins, bed linens, tablecloths, runners, chair covers, and mens and womens wear. The word linen is of West Germanic origin and cognate to the Latin name for the plant, linum. This word history has given rise to a number of terms in English, most notably line. Textiles in a linen weave texture, even made of cotton, hemp. Such fabrics generally also have their own names, for example fine cotton yarn in a linen-style weave is called Madapolam. The collective term linens is still used generically to describe a class of woven or knitted bed, bath, table. The inner layer of fine composite cloth garments was traditionally made of linen, Linen textiles appear to be some of the oldest in the world, their history goes back many thousands of years. Fragments of straw, seeds, fibers, yarns, and various types of dating to about 8000 BC have been found in Swiss lake dwellings. Dyed flax fibers found in a cave in Georgia suggest the use of woven linen fabrics from wild flax may date back even earlier to 36,000 BP. Linen was sometimes used as currency in ancient Egypt, egyptian mummies were wrapped in linen as a symbol of light and purity, and as a display of wealth. Some of these fabrics, woven from hand-spun yarns, were fine for their day. In 1923 the German city Bielefeld issued banknotes printed on linen, today, linen is usually an expensive textile produced in relatively small quantities. It has a long staple relative to cotton and other natural fibers, the word linen is derived from the Latin for the flax plant, which is linum, and the earlier Greek λίνον. The discovery of dyed flax fibers in a cave in Georgia dated to thirty-six thousand years ago suggests that ancient people used wild flax fibers to create linen-like fabrics from an early date, in ancient Mesopotamia, flax was domesticated and linen was first produced. It was used mainly by the class of the society. The Sumerian poem of the courtship of Inanna and Dumuzi, translated by Samuel Noah Kramer and Diane Wolkstein and published in 1983, mentions flax and linen. It opens with briefly listing the steps of preparing linen from flax, in a form of questions, in ancient Egypt, linen was used for mummification and for burial shrouds
24.
Hemp
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Hemp or industrial hemp, typically found in the northern hemisphere, is a variety of the Cannabis sativa plant species that is grown specifically for the industrial uses of its derived products. It is one of the fastest growing plants and was one of the first plants to be spun into usable fiber 10,000 years ago. It can be refined into a variety of items including paper, textiles, clothing, biodegradable plastics, paint, insulation, biofuel, food. Hemp has lower concentrations of THC and higher concentrations of cannabidiol, the legality of industrial hemp varies widely between countries. Some governments regulate the concentration of THC and permit only hemp that is bred with an especially low THC content, then it appears to have been borrowed into Latin, and separately into Slavic and from there into Baltic, Finnish, and Germanic languages. Following Grimms law, the k would have changed to h with the first Germanic sound shift, after which it may have been adapted into the Old English form, hænep. Another possible source of origin is Assyrian qunnabu, which was the name for a source of oil, fiber, cognates of hemp in other Germanic languages, include Dutch hennep, Danish and Norwegian, hamp, German, hanf, and Swedish, hampa. Hemp is used to make a variety of commercial and industrial products including rope, clothes, food, paper, textiles, plastics, insulation, the inner two fibers of the plant are more woody and typically have industrial applications, such as mulch, animal bedding and litter. When oxidized, hemp oil from the seeds becomes solid and can be used in the manufacture of oil-based paints, in creams as an agent, for cooking. Hemp seeds have been used in bird feed mix as well, a survey in 2003 showed that more than 95% of hemp seed sold in the European Union was used in animal and bird feed. Hemp seeds can be raw, ground into a meal, sprouted. The leaves of the plant can be consumed raw in salads. Hemp can also be made into a liquid and used for baking or for such as hemp milk, hemp juice. Hempseed oil is cold-pressed from the seed and is high in unsaturated fatty acids. In 2011, the U. S. imported $11.5 million worth of products, mostly driven by growth in demand for hemp seed. In the U. S. imported hemp can be used legally in food products,100 grams of hulled hemp seeds supply 586 calories. They are 5% water, 5% carbohydrates, 49% total fat, Hemp seeds are notable in providing 64% of the Daily Value of protein per 100 gram serving. Hempseed amino acid profile is comparable to other sources of such as meat, milk, eggs
25.
Broadcloth
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Broadcloth is a dense, plain woven cloth, historically made of wool. The defining characteristic of Broadcloth is not its finished width, but the fact that it was much wider. The effect of the process is to draw the yarns much closer together than could be achieved in the loom. This results in a dense, blind face cloth with a stiff drape which is highly weather-resistant, hard wearing and it was made in several parts of England at the end of the medieval period. The raw material was short staple wool, carded and spun into yarn and it was then fulled, usually in a fulling mill. When fulled, the fibres of the cloth would felt together, Broadcloth was first produced in Flanders from the 11th century and throughout the medieval period. After 1400 Leiden in Holland became the most important place for industry in Europe. There for the first time the production became industrialised and this means that the production process didnt take place entirely in one single factory anymore but according to a precise task allocation, where in several stages intermediate goods were produced. The entire process was supervised, resulting in a constantly high quality. In 1417 the Hanseatic League decided that only approved broadcloth from Leiden was to be sold, from 1500 competition from other parts of Europe, especially England, grew and Leiden lost its leading role. In Italy Florence was an important center of broadcloth industry and this was the best English cloth, and large quantities were exported by the merchants of the Company of Merchant Adventurers of London, principally to Antwerp as white cloth. It was finished and dyed in Flanders, and then marketed throughout northern Europe, the cloths might be short or long. The raw material for broadcloth from Worcester was wool from the Welsh border counties of Herefordshire and Shropshire and that for the West Country came from the Cotswolds. In both cases, the quality was the result of the comparatively poor pasture, which led the sheep to grow wool with the desired qualities. English exports of broadcloth reached their highest level in the mid 16th century, difficulties were encountered in export markets in the mid-1610s, partly due to currency difficulties in eastern Europe, and partly to the ill-conceived Cockayne Project. Broadcloth production thus declined in the 17th century, Worcester remained a centre for the production of white broadcloth. Other areas, such as Ludlow and parts of the Cotswolds started to produce similar cloth, the market suffered major setback in the 18th century, when the trade of the Levant Company with Turkey was obstructed by French competition. From this time, the production of broadcloth finally lost its importance, banat Wool broadcloth made in India
26.
Isatis tinctoria
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Isatis tinctoria, also called woad, dyers woad, or glastum, is a flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae. It is occasionally known as Asp of Jerusalem, Woad is also the name of a blue dye produced from the leaves of the plant. Woad is native to the steppe and desert zones of the Caucasus, Central Asia to eastern Siberia and Western Asia but is now found in southeastern and Central Europe. Long important as a source from which is obtained a blue dye, indigo, it has been cultivated throughout Europe, especially in Western and southern Europe, in medieval times there were important woad-growing regions in England, Germany and France. Towns such as Toulouse became prosperous from the woad trade, Woad was eventually replaced by the stronger Indigofera tinctoria and, in the early 20th century, both woad and Indigofera tinctoria were replaced by synthetic indigos. Used in traditional Chinese medicine for centuries, woad is now being studied for use in the treatment of cancer, there has also been some revival of the use of woad for craft purposes. The first archaeological finds of woad seeds date to the Neolithic, the seeds have been found in the French cave of lAudoste, Bouches-du-Rhône, France. Impressions of the seeds of Färberwaid or German indigo, of the plant family Brassicaceae, have found on pottery in the Iron Age settlement of the Heuneburg. Seed and pod fragments have also found in Iron Age pit at Dragonby, South Humberside. The Hallstatt burials of the Hochdorf Chieftains Grave and Hohmichele contained textiles dyed with woad dye, melo and Rondão write that woad was known as far back as the time of the ancient Egyptians, who used it to dye the cloth wrappings applied for the mummies. Skelton informs us that one of the early dyes discovered by the ancient Egyptians was blue woad, lucas writes, What has been assumed to have been Indian Indigo on ancient Egyptian fabrics may have been woad. Hall states that the ancient Egyptians created their blue dye by using indigotin, julius Caesar reported that the Britanni used to colour their bodies blue with vitrum, a word that roughly translates to glass, but has also been translated as woad. Carr suggests the translation of, dye themselves with glazes or infect themselves with glass, the latter could refer to using glass in the tattooing process or to scarification. It has also claimed that Caesar was referring to some form of copper- or iron-based pigment. Analysis done on the Lindow Man did return evidence of copper, the same study also noted that the earliest definite reference to the woad plant in the British Isles dates to a seed impression on an Anglo-Saxon pot. The authors theorized that vitrum could have referred to Copper sulfates naturally occurring variant Chalcanthite or to the mineral Azurite. A later study concluded the amount was not of sufficient magnitude to provide convincing evidence that the copper was applied as paint. In terms of usage, vitrum is more used to refer to glass rather than woad
27.
Indigo
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Indigo is a deep and rich color close to the color wheel blue, as well as to some variants of ultramarine. The color indigo is named after the indigo dye derived from the plant Indigofera tinctoria, the first known recorded use of indigo as a color name in English was in 1289. Species of Indigofera were cultivated in Peru, India, East Asia, the earliest direct evidence for the use of indigo dates to around 4000 BCE and comes from Huaca Prieta, in contemporary Peru. Pliny mentions India as the source of the dye, imported in small quantities via the Silk Road, the Greek term for the dye was Ἰνδικὸν φάρμακον, which, adopted to Latin as indicum and via Portuguese gave rise to the modern word indigo. El Salvador has lately been the biggest producer of indigo, Indigo was actually a plant that got its name because it came from the Indus Valley, discovered some 5,000 years ago, where it was called nila, meaning dark blue. And by the 7th Century BC, people starting using the plant as a dye — the Mesopotamians were even carving out recipes for making indigo dye onto clay tablets for record-keeping. By 1289, knowledge of the dye made its way to Europe, but it wasn’t until 1640 when demand started to pick up for indigo. Spanish explorers discovered an American species of Indigo and began to cultivate the product in Guatemala, the English and French subsequently began to encourage indigo cultivation in their colonies in the West Indies. Indigo dye could be made from two different types of plants — the indigo plant, which produced the best results, the British were producing indigo with woad, a plant that yielded a lesser quality dye, but a plant they could grow. They even tried to hold their monopoly on indigo dye by managing to ban the indigo plant for years, but eventually the British began to focus on tea and other crops — and meanwhile, the French started to get their fair share of the market. The French had gone to war with Britain, so the British could hardly rely on the French for this precious blue dye, consequently, the British had to turn to their colonies in America. It was Eliza Lucas from South Carolina who figured out how to grow the indigo plant, the same indigo dye is contained in the woad plant, Isatis tinctoria, for a long time the main source of blue dye in Europe. Woad was replaced by true indigo as trade routes opened up, the Early Modern English word indigo referred to the dye, and not to the color itself, and indigo is not traditionally part of the basic color-naming system. Modern sources place indigo in the spectrum between 420 and 450 nanometers, which lies on the side of color wheel blue. However, the correspondence of this definition with colors of actual indigo dyes is disputed, isaac Newton introduced indigo as one of the seven base colors of his work. In a pivotal experiment in the history of optics, the young Newton shone a narrow beam of sunlight through a prism to produce a band of colors on the wall. He linked the seven prismatic colors to the seven notes of a major scale, as shown in his color wheel, with orange. Indigo is therefore counted as one of the colors of the rainbow
28.
Lapis lazuli
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Lapis lazuli, or lapis for short, is a deep blue, semi-precious stone prized since antiquity for its intense color. As early as the 7th millennium BC, lapis lazuli was mined in the Sar-i Sang mines, in Shortugai, Lapis was highly valued by the Indus Valley Civilisation. Lapis beads have been found at burials in Mehrgarh, the Caucasus. It was used in the mask of Tutankhamun. At the end of the Middle Ages, lapis lazuli began to be exported to Europe, where it was ground into powder and made into ultramarine, today, mines in northeast Afghanistan and Pakistan are still the major source of lapis lazuli. Important amounts are produced from mines west of Lake Baikal in Russia. Smaller quantities are mined in Italy, Mongolia, the United States, the name Lapis lazuli came to be associated with its color. The English word azure, French azur, Italian azzurro, Polish lazur, Romanian azur and azuriu, Portuguese and Spanish azul, the most important mineral component of lapis lazuli is lazurite, a feldspathoid silicate mineral with the formula 861-2. Most lapis lazuli also contains calcite, sodalite, and pyrite, some samples of lapis lazuli contain augite, diopside, enstatite, mica, hauynite, hornblende, nosean, and sulfur-rich löllingite geyerite. Lapis lazuli usually occurs in marble as a result of contact metamorphism. The intense blue color is due to the presence of the radical anion in the crystal. An electronic excitation of one electron from the highest doubly filled molecular orbital into the lowest singly occupied orbital results in an intense absorption line at λmax ~617 nm. Lapis lazuli is found in limestone in the Kokcha River valley of Badakhshan province in northeastern Afghanistan, Afghanistan was the source of lapis for the ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations, as well as the later Greeks and Romans. Ancient Egyptians obtained this material through trade from Afghanistan, during the height of the Indus Valley Civilisation about 2000 BC, the Harappan colony now known as Shortugai was established near the lapis mines. In addition to the Afghan deposits, lapis is also extracted in the Andes and it is mined in smaller amounts in Angola, Argentina, Burma, Pakistan, Canada, Italy, India, and in the United States in California and Colorado. Lapis takes an excellent polish and can be made into jewelry, carvings, boxes, mosaics, ornaments, small statues, during the Renaissance, Lapis was ground and processed to make the pigment ultramarine for use in frescoes and oil painting. Its usage as a pigment in oil paint largely ended in the early 19th century when a chemically identical synthetic variety became available, Lapis lazuli is commercially synthesized or simulated by the Gilson process, which is used to make artificial ultramarine and hydrous zinc phosphates. It may also be substituted by spinel or sodalite, or by dyed jasper or howlite, Lapis lazuli has been mined in Afghanistan and exported to the Mediterranean world and South Asia since the Neolithic age
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Pigment
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A pigment is a material that changes the color of reflected or transmitted light as the result of wavelength-selective absorption. This physical process differs from fluorescence, phosphorescence, and other forms of luminescence, many materials selectively absorb certain wavelengths of light. Materials that humans have chosen and developed for use as pigments usually have properties that make them ideal for coloring other materials. A pigment must have a high tinting strength relative to the materials it colors and it must be stable in solid form at ambient temperatures. For industrial applications, as well as in the arts, permanence, pigments that are not permanent are called fugitive. Fugitive pigments fade over time, or with exposure to light, pigments are used for coloring paint, ink, plastic, fabric, cosmetics, food, and other materials. Most pigments used in manufacturing and the arts are dry colorants. This powder is added to a binder, a neutral or colorless material that suspends the pigment. A distinction is made between a pigment, which is insoluble in its vehicle, and a dye, which either is itself a liquid or is soluble in its vehicle. A colorant can act as either a pigment or a dye depending on the vehicle involved, in some cases, a pigment can be manufactured from a dye by precipitating a soluble dye with a metallic salt. The resulting pigment is called a lake pigment, the term biological pigment is used for all colored substances independent of their solubility. In 2006, around 7.4 million tons of inorganic, organic, asia has the highest rate on a quantity basis followed by Europe and North America. By 2020, revenues will have risen to approx, the global demand on pigments was roughly US$20.5 billion in 2009, around 1. 5-2% up from the previous year. It is predicted to increase in a growth rate in the coming years. The worldwide sales are said to increase up to US$24.5 billion in 2015, pigments appear the colors they are because they selectively reflect and absorb certain wavelengths of visible light. White light is an equal mixture of the entire spectrum of visible light with a wavelength in a range from about 375 or 400 nanometers to about 760 or 780 nm. When this light encounters a pigment, parts of the spectrum are absorbed by the molecules or ions of the pigment, in organic pigments such as diazo or phthalocyanine compounds the light is absorbed by the conjugated systems of double bonds in the molecule. Some of the inorganic pigments such as vermilion or cadmium yellow absorb light by transferring an electron from the ion to the positive ion
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Illuminated manuscript
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An illuminated manuscript is a manuscript in which the text is supplemented with such decoration as initials, borders and miniature illustrations. Comparable Far Eastern and Mesoamerican works are described as painted, islamic manuscripts may be referred to as illuminated, illustrated or painted, though using essentially the same techniques as Western works. This article covers the technical, social and economic history of the subject, for an art-historical account, the earliest surviving substantive illuminated manuscripts are from the period 400 to 600, produced in the Kingdom of the Ostrogoths and the Eastern Roman Empire. The significance of these works lies not only in their inherent artistic and historical value, had it not been for the monastic scribes of Late Antiquity, most literature of Greece and Rome would have perished in Europe. As it was, the patterns of textual survivals were shaped by their usefulness to the severely constricted literate group of Christians, the majority of surviving manuscripts are from the Middle Ages, although many survive from the Renaissance, along with a very limited number from Late Antiquity. The majority of manuscripts are of a religious nature. However, especially from the 13th century onward, a number of secular texts were illuminated. Most illuminated manuscripts were created as codices, which had superseded scrolls, a very few illuminated manuscript fragments survive on papyrus, which does not last nearly as long as vellum or parchment. Most medieval manuscripts, illuminated or not, were written on parchment, beginning in the late Middle Ages manuscripts began to be produced on paper. Illuminated manuscripts continued to be produced in the early 16th century, Manuscripts are among the most common items to survive from the Middle Ages, many thousands survive. They are also the best surviving specimens of medieval painting, indeed, for many areas and time periods, they are the only surviving examples of painting. There are a few examples from later periods, the type of book that was most often heavily and richly illuminated, sometimes known as a display book, varied between periods. In the first millennium, these were most likely to be Gospel Books, such as the Lindisfarne Gospels, the Romanesque period saw the creation of many huge illuminated complete Bibles – one in Sweden requires three librarians to lift it. Many Psalters were also illuminated in both this and the Gothic period. Finally, the Book of Hours, very commonly the personal book of a wealthy layperson, was often richly illuminated in the Gothic period. Other books, both liturgical and not, continued to be illuminated at all periods, the Byzantine world also continued to produce manuscripts in its own style, versions of which spread to other Orthodox and Eastern Christian areas. See Medieval art for other regions, periods and types, reusing parchments by scraping the surface and reusing them was a common practice, the traces often left behind of the original text are known as palimpsests. The Gothic period, which saw an increase in the production of these beautiful artifacts, also saw more secular works such as chronicles
31.
Mediterranean Sea
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The sea is sometimes considered a part of the Atlantic Ocean, although it is usually identified as a separate body of water. The name Mediterranean is derived from the Latin mediterraneus, meaning inland or in the middle of land and it covers an approximate area of 2.5 million km2, but its connection to the Atlantic is only 14 km wide. The Strait of Gibraltar is a strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates Gibraltar. In oceanography, it is called the Eurafrican Mediterranean Sea or the European Mediterranean Sea to distinguish it from mediterranean seas elsewhere. The Mediterranean Sea has a depth of 1,500 m. The sea is bordered on the north by Europe, the east by Asia and it is located between latitudes 30° and 46° N and longitudes 6° W and 36° E. Its west-east length, from the Strait of Gibraltar to the Gulf of Iskenderun, the seas average north-south length, from Croatia’s southern shore to Libya, is approximately 800 km. The Mediterranean Sea, including the Sea of Marmara, has an area of approximately 2,510,000 square km. The sea was an important route for merchants and travelers of ancient times that allowed for trade, the history of the Mediterranean region is crucial to understanding the origins and development of many modern societies. In addition, the Gaza Strip and the British Overseas Territories of Gibraltar and Akrotiri, the term Mediterranean derives from the Latin word mediterraneus, meaning amid the earth or between land, as it is between the continents of Africa, Asia and Europe. The Ancient Greek name Mesogeios, is similarly from μέσο, between + γη, land, earth) and it can be compared with the Ancient Greek name Mesopotamia, meaning between rivers. The Mediterranean Sea has historically had several names, for example, the Carthaginians called it the Syrian Sea and latter Romans commonly called it Mare Nostrum, and occasionally Mare Internum. Another name was the Sea of the Philistines, from the people inhabiting a large portion of its shores near the Israelites, the sea is also called the Great Sea in the General Prologue by Geoffrey Chaucer. In Ottoman Turkish, it has also been called Bahr-i Sefid, in Modern Hebrew, it has been called HaYam HaTikhon, the Middle Sea, reflecting the Seas name in ancient Greek, Latin, and modern languages in both Europe and the Middle East. Similarly, in Modern Arabic, it is known as al-Baḥr al-Mutawassiṭ, in Turkish, it is known as Akdeniz, the White Sea since among Turks the white colour represents the west. Several ancient civilisations were located around the Mediterranean shores, and were influenced by their proximity to the sea. It provided routes for trade, colonisation, and war, as well as food for numerous communities throughout the ages, due to the shared climate, geology, and access to the sea, cultures centered on the Mediterranean tended to have some extent of intertwined culture and history. Two of the most notable Mediterranean civilisations in classical antiquity were the Greek city states, later, when Augustus founded the Roman Empire, the Romans referred to the Mediterranean as Mare Nostrum
32.
Warp and weft
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In weaving, the weft is the term for the thread or yarn which is drawn through, inserted over-and-under, the lengthwise warp yarns that are held in tension on a frame or loom to create cloth. Warp is the lengthwise or longitudinal thread in a roll, while weft is the transverse thread, a single thread of the weft, crossing the warp, is called a pick. Each individual warp thread in a fabric is called an end or end. The weft is a thread or yarn usually made of spun fibre, the original fibres used were wool, flax or cotton. Today, man-made fibres are used in weaving. Because the weft does not have to be stretched on a loom in the way that the warp is, the weft is threaded through the warp using a shuttle, air jets or rapier grippers. Hand looms were the original weavers tool, with the shuttle being threaded through alternately raised warps by hand, inventions during the 18th century spurred the Industrial Revolution, with the picking stick and the flying shuttle speeding up production of cloth. The power loom patented by Edmund Cartwright in 1785 allowed sixty picks per minute, a useful way of remembering which is warp and which is weft is, one of them goes from weft to wight. The words woof and weft derive ultimately from the Old English word wefan, Warp means that which is thrown away. Very simple looms use a warp, in which a single. Because the warp is held under tension during the entire process of weaving and warp yarn must be strong, yarn for warp ends is usually spun. Traditional fibres for warping are wool, linen, alpaca, with the improvements in spinning technology during the Industrial Revolution, it became possible to make cotton yarn of sufficient strength to be used as the warp in mechanized weaving. Later, artificial or man-made fibres such as nylon or rayon were employed, while most people are familiar with weft-faced weavings, it is possible to create warp-faced weavings using densely arranged warp threads. In warp-faced weavings, the design for the textile is in the warp, warp-faced weavings are defined by length-wise stripes and vertical designs due to the limitations of color placement. The expression woof and warp is used metaphorically as one might similarly use fabric, e. g. the warp. The expression is used as a metaphor for the structure on which something is built. Warp or woof are also found in the Bible in the discussion of mildews found in cloth materials in Leviticus 13. Weft is also a term for temporary hair extensions
33.
Ottoman Empire
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After 1354, the Ottomans crossed into Europe, and with the conquest of the Balkans the Ottoman Beylik was transformed into a transcontinental empire. The Ottomans ended the Byzantine Empire with the 1453 conquest of Constantinople by Mehmed the Conqueror, at the beginning of the 17th century the empire contained 32 provinces and numerous vassal states. Some of these were later absorbed into the Ottoman Empire, while others were granted various types of autonomy during the course of centuries. With Constantinople as its capital and control of lands around the Mediterranean basin, while the empire was once thought to have entered a period of decline following the death of Suleiman the Magnificent, this view is no longer supported by the majority of academic historians. The empire continued to maintain a flexible and strong economy, society, however, during a long period of peace from 1740 to 1768, the Ottoman military system fell behind that of their European rivals, the Habsburg and Russian Empires. While the Empire was able to hold its own during the conflict, it was struggling with internal dissent. Starting before World War I, but growing increasingly common and violent during it, major atrocities were committed by the Ottoman government against the Armenians, Assyrians and Pontic Greeks. The word Ottoman is an anglicisation of the name of Osman I. Osmans name in turn was the Turkish form of the Arabic name ʿUthmān, in Ottoman Turkish, the empire was referred to as Devlet-i ʿAlīye-yi ʿOsmānīye, or alternatively ʿOsmānlı Devleti. In Modern Turkish, it is known as Osmanlı İmparatorluğu or Osmanlı Devleti, the Turkish word for Ottoman originally referred to the tribal followers of Osman in the fourteenth century, and subsequently came to be used to refer to the empires military-administrative elite. In contrast, the term Turk was used to refer to the Anatolian peasant and tribal population, the term Rūmī was also used to refer to Turkish-speakers by the other Muslim peoples of the empire and beyond. In Western Europe, the two names Ottoman Empire and Turkey were often used interchangeably, with Turkey being increasingly favored both in formal and informal situations and this dichotomy was officially ended in 1920–23, when the newly established Ankara-based Turkish government chose Turkey as the sole official name. Most scholarly historians avoid the terms Turkey, Turks, and Turkish when referring to the Ottomans, as the power of the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum declined in the 13th century, Anatolia was divided into a patchwork of independent Turkish principalities known as the Anatolian Beyliks. One of these beyliks, in the region of Bithynia on the frontier of the Byzantine Empire, was led by the Turkish tribal leader Osman, osmans early followers consisted both of Turkish tribal groups and Byzantine renegades, many but not all converts to Islam. Osman extended the control of his principality by conquering Byzantine towns along the Sakarya River and it is not well understood how the early Ottomans came to dominate their neighbours, due to the scarcity of the sources which survive from this period. One school of thought which was popular during the twentieth century argued that the Ottomans achieved success by rallying religious warriors to fight for them in the name of Islam, in the century after the death of Osman I, Ottoman rule began to extend over Anatolia and the Balkans. Osmans son, Orhan, captured the northwestern Anatolian city of Bursa in 1326 and this conquest meant the loss of Byzantine control over northwestern Anatolia. The important city of Thessaloniki was captured from the Venetians in 1387, the Ottoman victory at Kosovo in 1389 effectively marked the end of Serbian power in the region, paving the way for Ottoman expansion into Europe
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Bursa
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Bursa is a large city in Turkey, located in northwestern Anatolia, within the Marmara Region. It is the fourth most populous city in Turkey and one of the most industrialized metropolitan centres in the country, the city is also the administrative centre of Bursa Province. Bursa was the first major and second overall capital of the Ottoman State between 1335 and 1363, the ski resort of Mount Uludağ towers over it. The mountain was called the Mysian Olympus by the Romans who lived there before, Bursa has rather orderly urban growth and borders a fertile plain. The mausoleums of the early Ottoman sultans are located in Bursa, Bursa also has thermal baths and several museums, including a museum of archaeology. The shadow play characters Karagöz and Hacivat are based on historic personalities who lived and died in Bursa, Bursa is also home to some of the most famous Turkish dishes such as İskender kebap, specially candied marron glacés, peaches and Turkish Delight. Bursa houses the Uludağ University, and its population can claim one of the highest overall levels of education in Turkey, the historic towns of İznik, Mudanya and Zeytinbağı are all situated in Bursa Province. In 2015, Bursa had a population of 2,340,000, the earliest known human settlement near Bursas current location was at Ilıpınar Höyüğü around 5200 BC. It was followed by the ancient Greek city of Cius, which Philip V of Macedon granted to Prusias I, Prusias rebuilt the city and renamed it Prusa. After 128 years of Bithynian rule, Nicomedes IV, the last King of Bithynia, an early Roman Treasure was found in the vicinity of Bursa in the early 20th century. Composed of a womans silver toilet articles, it is now in the British Museum, Bursa became the first major capital city of the early Ottoman Empire following its capture from the Byzantines in 1326. As a result, the city witnessed a considerable amount of growth throughout the 14th century. After conquering Edirne in East Thrace, the Ottomans turned it into the new city in 1363. The Ottoman sultan Bayezid I built the Bayezid Külliyesi in Bursa between 1390 and 1395 and the Ulu Cami between 1396 and 1400, Bursa remained to be the most important administrative and commercial centre in the empire until Mehmed II conquered Constantinople in 1453. The population of Bursa was 45,000 in 1487, during the Ottoman period, Bursa continued to be the source of most royal silk products. Following the foundation of the Republic of Turkey in 1923, Bursa became one of the centres of the country. The economic development of the city was followed by population growth, the most recent arrival of Balkan Turks took place in the 1940s until the 1990s, when the communist regime in Bulgaria expelled approximately 150,000 Bulgarian Turks to Turkey. About one-third of these 150,000 Bulgarian Turkish refugees eventually settled in Bursa, Bursa is settled on the northwestern slopes of Mount Uludağ in the southern Marmara Region
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Florence
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Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the Metropolitan City of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants, Florence was a centre of medieval European trade and finance and one of the wealthiest cities of the time. It is considered the birthplace of the Renaissance, and has called the Athens of the Middle Ages. A turbulent political history includes periods of rule by the powerful Medici family, from 1865 to 1871 the city was the capital of the recently established Kingdom of Italy. The Historic Centre of Florence attracts 13 million tourists each year and it was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1982. The city is noted for its culture, Renaissance art and architecture, the city also contains numerous museums and art galleries, such as the Uffizi Gallery and the Palazzo Pitti, and still exerts an influence in the fields of art, culture and politics. Due to Florences artistic and architectural heritage, it has been ranked by Forbes as one of the most beautiful cities in the world, in 2008, the city had the 17th highest average income in Italy. Florence originated as a Roman city, and later, after a period as a flourishing trading and banking medieval commune. According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, it was politically, economically, and culturally one of the most important cities in Europe, the language spoken in the city during the 14th century was, and still is, accepted as the Italian language. Starting from the late Middle Ages, Florentine money—in the form of the gold florin—financed the development of all over Europe, from Britain to Bruges, to Lyon. Florentine bankers financed the English kings during the Hundred Years War and they similarly financed the papacy, including the construction of their provisional capital of Avignon and, after their return to Rome, the reconstruction and Renaissance embellishment of Rome. Florence was home to the Medici, one of European historys most important noble families, Lorenzo de Medici was considered a political and cultural mastermind of Italy in the late 15th century. Two members of the family were popes in the early 16th century, Leo X, catherine de Medici married king Henry II of France and, after his death in 1559, reigned as regent in France. Marie de Medici married Henry IV of France and gave birth to the future king Louis XIII, the Medici reigned as Grand Dukes of Tuscany, starting with Cosimo I de Medici in 1569 and ending with the death of Gian Gastone de Medici in 1737. The Etruscans initially formed in 200 BC the small settlement of Fiesole and it was built in the style of an army camp with the main streets, the cardo and the decumanus, intersecting at the present Piazza della Repubblica. Situated along the Via Cassia, the route between Rome and the north, and within the fertile valley of the Arno, the settlement quickly became an important commercial centre. Peace returned under Lombard rule in the 6th century, Florence was conquered by Charlemagne in 774 and became part of the Duchy of Tuscany, with Lucca as capital. The population began to again and commerce prospered
36.
Genoa
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Genoa is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015,594,733 people lived within the administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of Genoa, over 1.5 million people live in the wider metropolitan area stretching along the Italian Riviera. Genoa has been nicknamed la Superba due to its glorious past, part of the old town of Genoa was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2006. The citys rich history in notably its art, music. It is the birthplace of Christopher Columbus, Niccolò Paganini, Giuseppe Mazzini, Genoa, which forms the southern corner of the Milan-Turin-Genoa industrial triangle of north-west Italy, is one of the countrys major economic centres. The city has hosted massive shipyards and steelworks since the 19th century, the Bank of Saint George, founded in 1407, is among the oldest in the world and has played an important role in the citys prosperity since the middle of the 15th century. Today a number of leading Italian companies are based in the city, including Fincantieri, Selex ES, Ansaldo Energia, Ansaldo STS, Edoardo Raffinerie Garrone, Piaggio Aerospace, the Genoa area has been inhabited since the fifth or fourth millennium BC. In ancient times this area was frequented and inhabited by Ligures, Phoenicians, Phocaeans, Greeks, and Etruscans. The city cemetery, dating from the 6th and 5th centuries BC, testifies to the occupation of the site by the Greeks, but the fine harbour probably saw use much earlier, perhaps by the Etruscans. In the 5th century BC was founded the first oppidum at the foot of the today called the Castle Hill which now is inside the medieval old town. The ancient Ligurian city was known as Stalia, so referred to by Artemidorus Ephesius and Pomponius Mela, Ligurian Stalia was overshadowed by the powerful Marseille and Vada Sabatia, near modern Savona. Stalia had an alliance with Rome through a foedus aequum in the course of the Second Punic War, the Carthaginians accordingly destroyed it in 209 BC. The town was rebuilt and, after the Carthaginian Wars ended in 146 BC. it received municipal rights, the original castrum thenceforth expanded towards the current areas of Santa Maria di Castello and the San Lorenzo promontory. Trades included skins, wood, and honey, goods were shipped to the mainland, up to major cities like Tortona and Piacenza. Among the archeological remains from the Roman period, an amphitheatre was also found, another theory traces the name to the Etruscan word Kainua which means New City and still another from the Latin word ianua, related to the name of the God Janus, meaning door or passage. The latter is in reference to its position at the centre of the Ligurian coastal arch. The Latin name, oppidum Genua, is recorded by Pliny the Elder as part of the Augustean Regio IX Liguria, after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the Ostrogoths occupied Genoa
37.
Venice
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Venice is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is situated across a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and these are located in the shallow Venetian Lagoon, an enclosed bay that lies between the mouths of the Po and the Piave Rivers. Parts of Venice are renowned for the beauty of their settings, their architecture, the lagoon and a part of the city are listed as a World Heritage Site. In 2014,264,579 people resided in Comune di Venezia, together with Padua and Treviso, the city is included in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area, with a total population of 2.6 million. PATREVE is a metropolitan area without any degree of autonomy. The name is derived from the ancient Veneti people who inhabited the region by the 10th century BC, the city was historically the capital of the Republic of Venice. Venice has been known as the La Dominante, Serenissima, Queen of the Adriatic, City of Water, City of Masks, City of Bridges, The Floating City, and City of Canals. The City State of Venice is considered to have been the first real international financial center which gradually emerged from the 9th century to its peak in the 14th century and this made Venice a wealthy city throughout most of its history. It is also known for its several important artistic movements, especially the Renaissance period, Venice has played an important role in the history of symphonic and operatic music, and it is the birthplace of Antonio Vivaldi. Venice has been ranked the most beautiful city in the world as of 2016, the name Venetia, however, derives from the Roman name for the people known as the Veneti, and called by the Greeks Eneti. The meaning of the word is uncertain, although there are other Indo-European tribes with similar-sounding names, such as the Celtic Veneti, Baltic Veneti, and the Slavic Wends. Linguists suggest that the name is based on an Indo-European root *wen, so that *wenetoi would mean beloved, lovable, a connection with the Latin word venetus, meaning the color sea-blue, is also possible. The alternative obsolete form is Vinegia, some late Roman sources reveal the existence of fishermen on the islands in the original marshy lagoons. They were referred to as incolae lacunae, the traditional founding is identified with the dedication of the first church, that of San Giacomo on the islet of Rialto — said to have taken place at the stroke of noon on 25 March 421. Beginning as early as AD166 to 168, the Quadi and Marcomanni destroyed the center in the area. The Roman defences were again overthrown in the early 5th century by the Visigoths and, some 50 years later, New ports were built, including those at Malamocco and Torcello in the Venetian lagoon. The tribuni maiores, the earliest central standing governing committee of the islands in the Lagoon, the traditional first doge of Venice, Paolo Lucio Anafesto, was actually Exarch Paul, and his successor, Marcello Tegalliano, was Pauls magister militum. In 726 the soldiers and citizens of the Exarchate rose in a rebellion over the controversy at the urging of Pope Gregory II
38.
Valencia
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Its urban area extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of around 1. 5–1.6 million people. Valencia is Spains third largest metropolitan area, with a population ranging from 1.7 to 2.5 million, the Port of Valencia is the 5th busiest container port in Europe and the busiest container port on the Mediterranean Sea. The city is ranked at Gamma in the Globalization and World Cities Research Network, Valencia was founded as a Roman colony by the consul Decimus Junius Brutus Callaicus in 138 BC, and called Valentia Edetanorum. In 1238 the Christian king James I of Aragon reconquered the city and divided the land among the nobles who helped him conquer it and he also created a new law for the city, the Furs of Valencia, which were extended to the rest of the Kingdom of Valencia. In the 18th century Philip V of Spain abolished the privileges as punishment to the kingdom of Valencia for aligning with the Habsburg side in the War of the Spanish Succession, Valencia was the capital of Spain when Joseph Bonaparte moved the Court there in the summer of 1812. It also served as capital between 1936 and 1937, during the Second Spanish Republic, the city is situated on the banks of the Turia, on the east coast of the Iberian Peninsula, fronting the Gulf of Valencia on the Mediterranean Sea. Valencia is integrated into an area on the Costa del Azahar. Valencias main festival is the Falles, the traditional Spanish dish, paella, originated in Valencia. The original Latin name of the city was Valentia, meaning strength, or valour, the Roman historian Livy explains that the founding of Valentia in the 2nd century BC was due to the settling of the Roman soldiers who fought against an Iberian rebel, Viriatus. It is not clear if the term Balansiyya was reserved for the entire Taifa of Valencia or also designated the city, by gradual sound changes, Valentia /waˈlentia/ has become Valencia or in Castilian and València in Valencian. In Valencian, the grave accent <è> /ɛ/ contrasts with the acute accent <é> /e/—but the word València is an exception to this rule and it is spelled according to Catalan etymology, though its pronunciation is closer to Vulgar Latin. Valencia stands on the banks of the Turia River, located on the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula, at its founding by the Romans, it stood on a river island in the Turia,6.4 km from the sea. The Albufera, a lagoon and estuary about 11 km south of the city, is one of the largest lakes in Spain. The City Council bought the lake from the Crown of Spain for 1,072,980 pesetas in 1911, in 1986, because of its cultural, historical, and ecological value, the Generalitat Valenciana declared it a natural park. Valencia has a Mediterranean climate with short, very mild winters and long, hot and its average annual temperature is 18.4 °C.23.0 °C during the day and 13.8 °C at night. In the coldest month – January, the temperature typically during the day ranges from 14 to 21 °C. In the warmest month – August, the temperature during the day typically ranges from 28–34 °C. Generally, similar temperatures to those experienced in the part of Europe in summer last about 8 months
39.
Seville
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Seville is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville, Spain. It is situated on the plain of the river Guadalquivir, the inhabitants of the city are known as sevillanos or hispalenses, after the Roman name of the city, Hispalis. Its Old Town, with an area of 4 square kilometres, the Seville harbour, located about 80 kilometres from the Atlantic Ocean, is the only river port in Spain. Seville is also the hottest major metropolitan area in the geographical Western Europe, Seville was founded as the Roman city of Hispalis. It later became known as Ishbiliya after the Muslim conquest in 712, in 1519, Ferdinand Magellan departed from Seville for the first circumnavigation of the Earth. Spal is the oldest known name for Seville and it appears to have originated during the Phoenician colonisation of the Tartessian culture in south-western Iberia and, according to Manuel Pellicer Catalán, meant lowland in the Phoenician language. During Roman rule, the name was Latinised as Hispalis, nO8DO is the official motto of Seville. It is popularly believed to be a rebus signifying the Spanish No me ha dejado, meaning It has not abandoned me, the eight in the middle represents a madeja, or skein of wool. The emblem is present on the flag and features on city property such as manhole covers. Seville is approximately 2,200 years old, the passage of the various civilisations instrumental in its growth has left the city with a distinct personality, and a large and well-preserved historical centre. The city was known from Roman times as Hispalis, important archaeological remains also exist in the nearby towns of Santiponce and Carmona. The walls surrounding the city were built during the rule of Julius Caesar. Following Roman rule, there were successive conquests of the Roman province of Hispania Baetica by the Vandals, the Suebi, Seville was taken by the Moors, Muslims from North of Africa, during the conquest of Hispalis in 712. It was the capital for the kings of the Umayyad Caliphate, the Moorish urban influences continued and are present in contemporary Seville, for instance in the custom of decorating with herbaje and small fountains the courtyards of the houses. However, most buildings of the Moorish aesthetic actually belong to the Mudéjar style of Islamic art, developed under Christian rule and inspired by the Arabic style. Original Moorish buildings are the Patio del Yeso in the Alcázar, the city walls, in 1247, the Christian King Ferdinand III of Castile and Leon began the conquest of Andalusia. The decisive action took place in May 1248 when Ramon Bonifaz sailed up the Guadalquivir, the city surrendered on 23 November 1248. The citys development continued after the Castilian conquest in 1248, Public buildings constructed including churches, many of which were built in the Mudéjar style, and the Seville Cathedral, built during the 15th century with Gothic architecture
40.
Lining (sewing)
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In sewing and tailoring, a lining is an inner layer of fabric, fur, or other material inserted into clothing, hats, luggage, curtains, handbags and similar items. Linings provide a neat inside finish and conceal interfacing, padding, the raw edges of seams, a lining reduces the wearing strain on clothing, extending the useful life of the lined garment. A smooth lining allows a coat or jacket to slip on over other clothing easily, linings are typically made of solid colors to coordinate with the garment fabric, but patterned and contrasting-colored linings are also used. In tailoring, home sewing, and ready-to-wear clothing construction, linings are usually completed as a unit before being fitted into the garment shell, in haute couture, the sleeves and body are usually lined separately before assembly. Some specialized types of lining include the following, This is a layer of fabric between the lining and the outer garment shell. Insulating interlinings for winter garments are usually sewn to the individual lining pieces before the lining is assembled and this type lines only the upper back and front of the garment, concealing the shoulder pads and interfacings, with or without sleeves. This is a warm removable lining for a jacket, coat, or raincoat that is held in place with a zipper, snap fasteners, or buttons. Garments with removable linings are usually lined with a fabric as well. Tailoring, The Classic Guide to Sewing the Perfect Jacket
41.
Vair
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Vair is a fur, and a set of patterns in heraldry. It represents a kind of fur common in the Middle Ages, vair is the second-most common fur in heraldry, after ermine. The word vair, with its variant forms veir and vairé, was brought into Middle English from Old French, from Latin varius variegated, the squirrel in question is a variety of the Eurasian red squirrel, Sciurus vulgaris. In early heraldry, vair was represented by means of horizontal lines alternating with wavy lines. Later it mutated into a pattern of bell or pot-like shapes, the early form of the fur is still sometimes found, under the name vair ondé or vair ancien. The only mandatory rule concerning the choice of tincture is the respect of the rule of tincture, that orders the use of a metal. When vair occurs in two other than argent and azure, or when it includes three or even four distinct tinctures, it is blazoned vairy and. There are three forms of vair in which the pieces are arranged differently, countervair, vair in pale, the height of a row of vair is not strictly specified and thus can variate, but is typically about one-fifth that of the shield. Despite not being officially sized, the number of rows in a pattern is specific, for six rows or more. This is the origin of the English word miniver, which was the word for the fur lining used for robes of state. Vair of fewer than four rows is to be called beffroi, vair of two rows, called gros-vair, is also occasionally seen, although in most cases considered as a beffroi. Potent is a pattern, consisting of T-shapes. It is believed to originate from badly-drawn vair, the name comes from an old word for a crutch, based on the resemblance of a crutch to a T-shape. It is found but rarely, its variations being rarer still and it is widely believed that Perraults version of the fairytale Cinderella was mistranslated into English. The story says that the original French had the slippers made of vair, tincture This article incorporates text from A. C. Fox-Davies 1914 edition of Charles Boutells The Handbook to English Heraldry at Project Gutenberg, the English Fur Trade in the Later Middle Ages, 2nd Edition, London Folio Society 2005. ISBN 0-900952-38-5 comment about the translation in Cinderella
42.
Sable
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The sable is a marten species, a small carnivorous mammal inhabiting forest environments, primarily in Russia from the Ural Mountains throughout Siberia, northern Mongolia. Its habitat also leans the borders of eastern Kazakhstan, China, North and South Korea and its range in the wild originally extended through European Russia to Poland and Scandinavia. It has historically been hunted for its highly valued dark brown or black fur, while hunting of wild animals is still common in Russia, most fur in the market is now commercially farmed. The name sable appears to be of Slavic origin and to have entered most Western European languages via the medieval fur trade. The English and Medieval Latin word sabellum comes from the Old French sable or saible, the term has become a generic description for some black-furred animal breeds, such as sable cats or rabbits, and for the colour black in heraldry. Males measure 38–56 centimetres in length, with a tail measuring 9–12 centimetres. Females have a length of 35–51 centimetres, with a tail length of 7. 2–11.5 centimetres. The winter pelage is longer and more luxurious than the summer coat, different subspecies display geographic variation in fur colour, fur color ranges from light to dark brown, with individual fur color being lighter ventrally and darker on the back and legs. Japanese sables in particular are marked with black on their legs, individuals also display a light patch of fur on their throat which may be gray, white, or a pale yellow. The fur is softer and silkier than that of American martens, sables greatly resemble pine martens in size and appearance, but have more elongated heads, longer ears and proportionately shorter tails. Their skulls are similar to those of martens, but are larger. Sables inhabit dense forests dominated by spruce, pine, larch, cedar and they defend home territories that may be anything from 4 to 30 square kilometres in size, depending on the local terrain and availability of food. However, when resources are scarce they may move considerable distances in search of food, sables live in burrows near riverbanks and in the thickest parts of woods. These burrows are made more secure by being dug among tree roots. They are good climbers of cliffs and trees and they are primarily crepuscular, hunting during the hours of twilight, but become more active in the day during the mating season. Their dens are well hidden, and lined by grass and shed fur, but may be temporary, especially during the winter, sables are omnivores, and their diet varies seasonally. In the summer, they eat large numbers of hares and other small mammals, in winter, when they are confined in their retreats by frost and snow, they feed on wild berries, rodents, hares, and even small musk deer. They also hunt ermine, small weasels and birds, sometimes, sables follow the tracks of wolves and bears and feed on the remains of their kills
43.
Marten
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The martens constitute the genus Martes within the subfamily Mustelinae, in the family Mustelidae. Martens are slender, agile animals, adapted to living in taigas and they have bushy tails, and large paws with partially retractible claws. The fur varies from yellowish to brown, depending on the species. Martens are omnivorous animals related to wolverines, minks, badgers, ferrets and their diet consists of squirrels, mice, rabbits, birds, fish, insects, and eggs, and they will also eat fruit and nuts when these are available. Martens are solitary animals, meeting only to breed in spring or early summer. Litters of up to five blind and nearly hairless kits are born in early spring and they are weaned after around two months, and leave the mother to fend for themselves at about three to four months of age. The genus first evolved up to seven years ago during the Miocene epoch. During the fur trade, commissioned by the Hudson Bay Company in the 17th and 18th century, the marten is still traded locally. The locals place a value on this pelt, typically trading it for chips, pop. In the Middle Ages, marten pelts were highly valued goods used as a form of payment in Slavonia, the Croatian Littoral, the banovac, a coin struck and used between 1235 and 1384, included the image of a marten. This is one of the reasons why the Croatian word for marten, a marten is depicted on the obverse of the 1-, 2-, and 5-kuna coins, minted since 1993, and on the reverse of the 25-kuna commemorative coins. A running marten is shown on the coat of arms of Slavonia, the official seal of the Croatian Sabor from 1497 until the late 18th century had a similar design. The Finnish communications company Nokia derives its name, via the river Nokianvirta, data related to Martes at Wikispecies Media related to Martes at Wikimedia Commons
44.
Lynx
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A lynx is any of the four species within the Lynx genus of medium-sized wild cats, which includes the bobcat. The name lynx originated in Middle English via Latin from the Greek word λύγξ, neither the caracal, sometimes called the desert lynx, nor the jungle cat, called the jungle lynx, is a member of the Lynx genus. Lynx have a tail, characteristic tufts of black hair on the tips of their ears, large, padded paws for walking on snow. Under their neck, they have a ruff which has black bars resembling a bow tie although this is not visible. Body colour varies from brown to goldish to beige-white, and is occasionally marked with dark brown spots. All species of lynx have white fur on their chests, bellies and on the insides of their legs, fur which is an extension of the chest, the lynxs colouring, fur length and paw size vary according to the climate in their range. In the Southwestern United States, they are short-haired, dark in colour and their paws are smaller, as climates get colder and more northerly, lynx have progressively thicker fur, lighter colour, and their paws are larger and more padded to adapt to the snow. Their paws may be larger than a hand or foot. The smallest species are the bobcat and the Canada lynx, while the largest is the Eurasian lynx, the four living species of the Lynx genus are believed to have evolved from the Issoire lynx, which lived in Europe and Africa during the late Pliocene to early Pleistocene. Of the four species, the Eurasian lynx is the largest in size. It is native to European, Central Asian, and Siberian forests, while its conservation status has been classified as least concern, populations of Eurasian lynx have been reduced or extirpated from Europe, where it is now being reintroduced. The Eurasian lynx is the third largest predator in Europe after the brown bear and it is a strict carnivore, consuming about one or two kilograms of meat every day. The Eurasian lynx is one of the widest-ranging, during the summer, the Eurasian lynx has a relatively short, reddish or brown coat which is replaced by a much thicker silver-grey to greyish-brown coat during winter. The lynx hunts by stalking and jumping its prey, helped by the rugged, forested country in which it resides, a favorite prey for the lynx in its woodland habitat is roe deer. It will feed however on whatever animal appears easiest, as it is a predator much like its cousins. The Canada lynx, or Canadian lynx, is a North American felid that ranges in forest and tundra regions across Canada and into Alaska, historically, the Canadian lynx ranged from Alaska across Canada and into many of the northern U. S. states. In the eastern states, it resided in the zone in which boreal coniferous forests yielded to deciduous forests. By 2010, after an 11-year effort, it had successfully reintroduced into Colorado
45.
Stoat
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Originally from Eurasia, it crossed into North America some half million years ago, where it naturalized and joined the notably larger closely related native long-tailed weasel. The name ermine is often, but not always, used for the stoat in its white winter coat. In the late 19th century, stoats were introduced into New Zealand to control rabbits, the stoat is classed by the IUCN as least concern, due to its wide circumpolar distribution, and because it does not face any significant threat to its survival. It was nominated as one of the worlds top 100 worst invaders, Ermine luxury fur was used in the 15th century by Catholic monarchs, who sometimes used it as the mozzetta cape. It was also used in capes on images such as the Infant Jesus of Prague, the root word for stoat is likely either the Dutch word stout or the Gothic word stautan. This seems to come from the Lithuanian word šarmu, in Ireland, the stoat is referred to as a weasel, while in North America it is called a short-tailed weasel. A male stoat is called a dog, hob, or jack, the collective noun for stoats is either gang or pack. The stoat is the product of a process begun 5–7 million years ago, the stoats ancestors were larger than the current form, and underwent a reduction in size as they exploited the new food source. The stoat first arose in Eurasia, shortly after the long-tailed weasel arose as its image in North America 2 million years ago. The stoat thrived during the Ice Age, as its size and long body allowed it to easily operate beneath snow. The stoat and the long-tailed weasel remained separated until half a million years ago, combined phylogenetic analyses indicate the stoats closest living relative is the mountain weasel, though it is also closely related to the least weasel and long-tailed weasel. Its next closest relatives are the New World Colombian weasel and the Amazon weasel, as of 2005,37 subspecies are recognized. The stoat has a neck, the head being set exceptionally far in front of the shoulders. The trunk is cylindrical, and does not bulge at the abdomen. The greatest circumference of body is more than half its length. The skull, although similar to that of the least weasel, is relatively longer. The projections of the skull and teeth are developed. The eyes are round, black and protrude slightly, the whiskers are brown or white in colour, and very long
46.
Switzerland
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Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a federal republic in Europe. It consists of 26 cantons, and the city of Bern is the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in western-Central Europe, and is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland is a country geographically divided between the Alps, the Swiss Plateau and the Jura, spanning an area of 41,285 km2. The establishment of the Old Swiss Confederacy dates to the medieval period, resulting from a series of military successes against Austria. Swiss independence from the Holy Roman Empire was formally recognized in the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. The country has a history of armed neutrality going back to the Reformation, it has not been in a state of war internationally since 1815, nevertheless, it pursues an active foreign policy and is frequently involved in peace-building processes around the world. In addition to being the birthplace of the Red Cross, Switzerland is home to international organisations. On the European level, it is a member of the European Free Trade Association. However, it participates in the Schengen Area and the European Single Market through bilateral treaties, spanning the intersection of Germanic and Romance Europe, Switzerland comprises four main linguistic and cultural regions, German, French, Italian and Romansh. Due to its diversity, Switzerland is known by a variety of native names, Schweiz, Suisse, Svizzera. On coins and stamps, Latin is used instead of the four living languages, Switzerland is one of the most developed countries in the world, with the highest nominal wealth per adult and the eighth-highest per capita gross domestic product according to the IMF. Zürich and Geneva have each been ranked among the top cities in the world in terms of quality of life, with the former ranked second globally, according to Mercer. The English name Switzerland is a compound containing Switzer, a term for the Swiss. The English adjective Swiss is a loan from French Suisse, also in use since the 16th century. The name Switzer is from the Alemannic Schwiizer, in origin an inhabitant of Schwyz and its associated territory, the Swiss began to adopt the name for themselves after the Swabian War of 1499, used alongside the term for Confederates, Eidgenossen, used since the 14th century. The data code for Switzerland, CH, is derived from Latin Confoederatio Helvetica. The toponym Schwyz itself was first attested in 972, as Old High German Suittes, ultimately related to swedan ‘to burn’
47.
Battle of Grandson
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The Battle of Grandson, which took place on 2 March 1476, was part of the Burgundian Wars, and resulted in a major defeat for Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, at the hands of the Swiss. In late February 1476, Charles the Bold, also called Charles the Rash, besieged the castle of Grandson, Grandson belonged to Charles ally Jacques de Savoie, and the place had been brutally taken by the Swiss the previous year. The Swiss, under pressure from the canton of Bern. A boat approached the garrison with the news that an army was coming to its relief, the men in the boat gestured to the defenders in the fortress to inform them that help was on the way, but their gestures were misunderstood, and the garrison decided to surrender. Swiss sources are unanimous in stating that the men gave up when Charles assured them they would be spared. The historian Panigarola, who was with Charles, claimed that the garrison had thrown themselves on the mercy of the duke and he ordered all 412 men of the garrison to be executed. The Swiss had no news of the fate of the garrison and this army numbered a little over 20,000 men without artillery and probably slightly outnumbered the Burgundians. On 2 March 1476 the Swiss army approached the forces of Charles near the town of Concise, the Swiss advanced in three heavy columns, echeloned to the left rear, moving directly into combat without deploying, in typical Swiss fashion. Poor reconnaissance left Charles uninformed as to the size and deployment of the Swiss, the vanguard, consisting mainly of men from Schwyz, Bern, and Solothurn, realized they would soon be in battle and knelt to pray. When they said three Our Fathers and three Hail Marys, some of the Burgundian army reportedly mistook their actions as a sign of submission, in their zeal, they rode forward shouting, You will get no mercy, you must all die. The Burgundian knights soon surrounded the Swiss vanguard, but then Charles made a serious mistake, after brief skirmishing, Charles ordered his cavalry to pull back so the artillery could reduce the Swiss forces before the attacks were renewed. At this time, the body of the Swiss emerged from a forest which had hitherto obscured their approach. The Burgundian army, already pulling back, soon became confused when the second, the speed of the Swiss advance did not give the Burgundians time to make much use of their artillery and missile units. The withdrawal soon turned into a rout when the Burgundian army broke ranks, for a time, Charles rode among them shouting orders for them to stop and hitting fleeing soldiers with the flat of his sword. But once started the rout was unstoppable, and Charles was forced to flee as well, few casualties were suffered on either side, the Swiss did not have the cavalry necessary to chase the Burgundians far. At insignificant cost to themselves, the Swiss had humiliated the greatest duke in Europe, defeated one of the most feared armies, the booty Charles carried with him was immense, and included jewellery, silver and gold plate, tapestries and much of Charles artillery. The Swiss initially had little idea of its value, after the battle, the Swiss troops came upon the bodies of their countrymen still hanging from trees. An eyewitness, Peterman Etterlin, described the scene, There were found sadly the honorable men still freshly hanging on the trees in front of the castle whom the tyrant had hanged and it was a wretched, pitiable sight
48.
Landsknecht
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Consisting predominantly of German mercenary pikemen and supporting foot soldiers, they achieved the reputation for being the universal mercenaries of early modern Europe. The Germanic compound Landsknecht combines land land, country, here in the sense of lowlands and knecht servant, vassal, the compound Lantknecht was used during the 15th century of bailiffs or court ushers. As early as 1500, the term was re-etymologized as Lanzknecht, suggesting a derivation from Lanze lance, the modern term Landser is possibly based on Landsknecht, as is the name of the French card game Lansquenet. The more common English-language plural form is Landsknechts, but the original German form Landsknechte is also in use, since it is a common noun, it may also be written with lower-case l, landsknechts. Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor from 1493 to 1519, formed the first mercenary Landsknecht regiments in 1487 and he called upon Georg von Frundsberg, sometimes referred to as the Father of the Landsknechts, to assist him in their organization. Landsknechts later went on to fight in almost every 16th-century military campaign, French artillery or Spanish firepower dealt serious blows to the Swiss formations, and the Landsknecht pike blocks were there to fight off the depleted Swiss attack columns once this had occurred. The Landsknechts were conservative in their usage of weapons and contained a majority of pikemen. However, they inclined more to the use of firearms than the Swiss because Landsknechts relied less on the precipitous rush to close combat. As Imperial soldiers, they fought in formations mixed with Spaniards during the reign of King of Spain. These Spaniards made a widespread use of the arquebus and later. Landsknechte typically came from Swabia, Alsace, Tyrol and the Rhineland, in the 1490s, the well-trained Landsknechte managed to defeat significantly greater Frisian armies. Paul Dolstein wrote of the siege of Älfsborg in July 1502, fighting for the King of Denmark, We were 1800 Germans and we struck most of them dead. In 1521, the Spaniards recruited German infantrymen to defend their country against the French because, at the Battle of Bicocca and the Battle of Marignano, they performed well, defeating the famed Swiss Pikemen. The Imperial Landsknechts were instrumental in many of the Emperors victories, the same year, they also managed to defeat the peasants revolt in the Empire. At their peak in the early 16th century, the Landsknechte were considered as formidable soldiers who were often brave, however, these qualities may have declined afterward. Indeed, from the 1560s on, the reputation of the Landsknechte steadily decreased and their status also suffered from the rising reputation of the dreaded Spanish tercios which, however, were far less abundant and more expensive to train. It should also be noted that when serving in southern Europe, in the army of the Dutch rebels, many German mercenaries were hired but were forced to give up many Landsknechtes traditions in order to increase their discipline and their fighting abilities. They are attested as deployed in the armies of Kings John III of Navarre, in the same context, they are found fighting on Charles Vs side too where they performed strongly
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