1.
Villa de Leyva
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Villa de Leyva, also called Villa de Leiva, is a touristic colonial town and municipality, in the Ricaurte Province, part of the Boyacá department of Colombia. The town is located 37 kilometres west of the departmental capital Tunja and it is three and a half hours by car or bus from Bogotá. Located away from trade routes in a high altitude valley of semi-desert terrain, and with no mineral deposits nearby to exploit. This has resulted in Villa de Leyva becoming one of Colombias principal tourist attractions, the town and the surrounding countryside, which contains several sites of interest, are popular weekend destinations for citizens of Bogota, and attract an increasing number of foreign tourists. The urban centre of Villa de Leyva is located in a valley on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense at 2,149 metres. The area of Villa de Leyva was inhabited early in the inhabitation of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, the earliest archaeological evidence has been surfaced around El Infiernito, an archeoastronomical site dating back to pre-Herrera times. The Muisca were the inhabitants of the area at the time of the Spanish conquest, the town was founded on June 12,1572 by and named after the first president of the New Kingdom of Granada, Andrés Díaz Venero de Leiva. The focus of the town is the Plaza Mayor, which at 14,000 square meters is the largest square in Colombia and believed to be the largest entirely cobbled square in South America. The towns most famous son is Antonio Ricaurte, a captain in Simon Bolivars army fighting for independence, the house in which he was born, on the Plazuela de San Agustín, was acquired by Colombias Air Force in 1977 and turned into a military museum. Villa de Leyva has also been home to two other figures in Colombian history. Antonio Nariño, best known for translating The Rights of Man into Spanish, luis Alberto Acuña, one of the most important Colombian artists of the 20th century, also spent his final years in the town. The houses of men are now museums containing their personal properties, and in the case of Acuña. The House of the First Congress, where the First Congress of the United Provinces of Nueva Granada met on October 4,1812, is located on the corner of the main plaza. It is currently the site of the municipal council, near Villa de Leyva are several other sites of interest
2.
Venezuela
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Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a federal republic located on the northern coast of South America. It is bordered by Colombia on the west, Brazil on the south, Guyana on the east, Venezuela covers 916,445 km2 and has an estimated population of 31775371. The territory now known as Venezuela was colonized by Spain in 1522 amid resistance from indigenous peoples and it gained full independence as a separate country in 1830. During the 19th century, Venezuela suffered political turmoil and autocracy, since 1958, the country has had a series of democratic governments. This new constitution changed the name of the country to República Bolivariana de Venezuela. Venezuela is a presidential republic consisting of 23 states, the Capital District. Venezuela also claims all Guyanese territory west of the Essequibo River, oil was discovered in the early 20th century, and Venezuela has the worlds largest known oil reserves and has been one of the worlds leading exporters of oil. Previously an underdeveloped exporter of commodities such as coffee and cocoa, oil quickly came to dominate exports. The recovery of oil prices in the early 2000s gave Venezuela oil funds not seen since the 1980s, the Venezuelan government then established populist policies that initially boosted the Venezuelan economy and increased social spending, significantly reducing economic inequality and poverty. However, such policies later became controversial since they destabilized the economy, resulting in hyperinflation, an economic depression. According to the most popular and accepted version, in 1499, the stilt houses in the area of Lake Maracaibo reminded the navigator, Amerigo Vespucci, of the city of Venice, so he named the region Veneziola Piccola Venezia. The name acquired its current spelling as a result of Spanish influence, where the suffix -uela is used as a term, thus. The German language 16th century-term for the area, Klein-Venedig, also means little Venice, however, Martín Fernández de Enciso, a member of the Vespucci and Ojeda crew, gave a different account. In his work Summa de geografía, he states that they found people who called themselves the Veneciuela. Thus, the name Venezuela may have evolved from the native word and it is not known how many people lived in Venezuela before the Spanish conquest, it has been estimated at around one million. In addition to indigenous peoples known today, the population included historic groups such as the Kalina, Auaké, Caquetio, Mariche, the Timoto-Cuica culture was the most complex society in Pre-Columbian Venezuela, with pre-planned permanent villages, surrounded by irrigated, terraced fields. They also stored water in tanks and their houses were made primarily of stone and wood with thatched roofs. They were peaceful, for the most part, and depended on growing crops, regional crops included potatoes and ullucos
3.
Colombia
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Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a transcontinental country largely situated in the northwest of South America, with territories in Central America. Colombia shares a border to the northwest with Panama, to the east with Venezuela and Brazil and to the south with Ecuador and it shares its maritime limits with Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Jamaica, Haiti and the Dominican Republic. It is a unitary, constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments, the territory of what is now Colombia was originally inhabited by indigenous peoples including the Muisca, the Quimbaya and the Tairona. The Spanish arrived in 1499 and initiated a period of conquest and colonization ultimately creating the Viceroyalty of New Granada, independence from Spain was won in 1819, but by 1830 the Gran Colombia Federation was dissolved. What is now Colombia and Panama emerged as the Republic of New Granada, the new nation experimented with federalism as the Granadine Confederation, and then the United States of Colombia, before the Republic of Colombia was finally declared in 1886. Since the 1960s the country has suffered from an asymmetric low-intensity armed conflict, Colombia is one of the most ethnically and linguistically diverse countries in the world, and thereby possesses a rich cultural heritage. Cultural diversity has also influenced by Colombias varied geography. The urban centres are located in the highlands of the Andes mountains. Colombian territory also encompasses Amazon rainforest, tropical grassland and both Caribbean and Pacific coastlines, ecologically, it is one of the worlds 17 megadiverse countries, and the most densely biodiverse of these per square kilometer. Colombia is a power and a regional actor with the fourth-largest economy in Latin America, is part of the CIVETS group of six leading emerging markets and is an accessing member to the OECD. Colombia has an economy with macroeconomic stability and favorable growth prospects in the long run. The name Colombia is derived from the last name of Christopher Columbus and it was conceived by the Venezuelan revolutionary Francisco de Miranda as a reference to all the New World, but especially to those portions under Spanish and Portuguese rule. The name was adopted by the Republic of Colombia of 1819. When Venezuela, Ecuador and Cundinamarca came to exist as independent states, New Granada officially changed its name in 1858 to the Granadine Confederation. In 1863 the name was changed, this time to United States of Colombia. To refer to country, the Colombian government uses the terms Colombia. Owing to its location, the present territory of Colombia was a corridor of early human migration from Mesoamerica, the oldest archaeological finds are from the Pubenza and El Totumo sites in the Magdalena Valley 100 km southwest of Bogotá. These sites date from the Paleoindian period, at Puerto Hormiga and other sites, traces from the Archaic Period have been found
4.
Martyr
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A martyr is somebody who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, refusing to renounce, or refusing to advocate a belief or cause as demanded by an external party. This refusal to comply with the presented demands results in the punishment or execution of the martyr by the oppressor, originally applied only to those who suffered for their religious beliefs, the term is now often used in connection with people imprisoned or killed for espousing a political cause. Most martyrs are considered holy or are respected by their followers, becoming symbols of exceptional leadership, Martyrs play significant roles in religions. Similarly, martyrs have had effects in secular life, including specific figures such as Socrates, as well as in politics. In its original meaning, the martyr, meaning witness, was used in the secular sphere as well as in the New Testament of the Bible. The term, in this sense, entered the English language as a loanword. The death of a martyr or the value attributed to it is called martyrdom, the early Christians who first began to use the term martyr in its new sense saw Jesus as the first and greatest martyr, on account of his crucifixion. The early Christians appear to have seen Jesus as the archetypal martyr, the word martyr is used in English to describe a wide variety of people. However, the table presents a general outline of common features present in stereotypical martyrdoms. Examples of this are found in the Mahabharata, during the great war which commenced, even Arjuna was brought down with doubts, e. g. attachment, sorrow, fear. This is where Krishna instructs Arjuna how to carry out his duty as a righteous warrior, Martyrdom in Judaism is one of the main examples of Kiddush Hashem, meaning sanctification of Gods name through public dedication to Jewish practice. Religious martyrdom is considered one of the significant contributions of Hellenistic Judaism to Western Civilization. Frend, Judaism was itself a religion of martyrdom and it was this Jewish psychology of martyrdom that inspired Christian martyrdom. In Christianity, a martyr, in accordance with the meaning of the original Greek martys in the New Testament, is one who brings a testimony, in particular, the testimony is that of the Christian Gospel, or more generally, the Word of God. A Christian witness is a biblical witness whether or not death follows, however, over time many Christian testimonies were rejected, and the witnesses put to death, and the word martyr developed its present sense. Where death ensues, the follow the example of Jesus in offering up their lives for truth. The concept of Jesus as a martyr has recently received greater attention, analyses of the Gospel passion narratives have led many scholars to conclude that they are martyrdom accounts in terms of genre and style. Several scholars have concluded that Paul the Apostle understood Jesus death as a martyrdom
5.
Spanish Royal Crown
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The Spanish Royal Crown, known as Crown of Alfonso XII, is the symbol of the Spanish Monarchy and has been used in proclamation ceremonies since the 18th century. The current Spanish Royal Crown is the crown of the ruling Bourbon Dynasty, the Spanish branch of the House of Bourbon was founded by Philip V of Spain, Duke of Anjou, who was born in 1683 in Versailles. He was the son of the Grand Dauphin, son of Louis XIV. The last time the crown was shown at a ceremony was in the Cortes Generales during the swearing-in of King Felipe VI on 19 June 2014 after the abdication of his father. Since July 2014, the Crown and scepter are on permanent public display for the first time ever in the so-called Crown Room at the Royal Palace of Madrid. The last Spanish monarchs being solemnly crowned were John I of Castile, Ferdinand I of Aragon, joan III of Navarre was crowned as late as 1555, although she ruled Navarre beyond the Pyrenees. The crown, made of gold-plated silver and no gems, displays the seals of the kingdoms of Castile and León, with a turret. It was made by order of King Charles III in Madrid, a scepter, present of Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor, to King Philip II, made in Vienna in the 16th century. Media related to Spanish royal crown in art at Wikimedia Commons
6.
Scribe
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A scribe is a person who writes books or documents by hand in hieratics, cuneiform or other scripts and may help keep track of records for priests and government. The profession, previously found in all cultures in some form, lost most of its importance. Later the profession developed into public servants, journalists, accountants, typists, in societies with low literacy rates, street-corner letter-writers may still be found providing a service. The most important was a person educated in the arts of writing, sons of scribes were brought up in the same scribal tradition, sent to school and, upon entering the civil service, inherited their fathers positions. Much of what is known about ancient Egypt is due to the activities of its scribes, scribes were also considered part of the royal court, were not conscripted and did not have to pay taxes. The scribal profession had companion professions, the painters and artisans who decorated reliefs and other relics with scenes, personages, a scribe was exempt from the heavy manual labor required of the lower classes, or corvee labor. Thoth was a god associated by the Ancient Egyptians with the invention of writing, being the scribe of the gods, besides the scribal profession for accountancy and governmental politicking, the scribal professions immediately branched out into the socio-cultural areas of literature. The first stories probably related to religious stories, and gods. In ancient Egypt, an example of this is the Dispute between a man and his Ba, an example from the small list of Sumerian disputations is the debate between bird and fish. In the other Sumerian disputes, in the Debate between Summer and Winter, Winter wins, the other disputes are, cattle and grain, the tree and the reed, Silver and Copper, the pickax and the plough, and millstone and the gul-gul stone. Some scribes also copied documents, but this was not necessarily part of their job, the Jewish scribes used the following process for creating copies of the Torah and eventually other books in the Tanakh. They could only use animal skins, both to write on, and even to bind manuscripts. Each column of writing could have no less than forty-eight, the ink must be black, and of a special recipe. They must say each word aloud while they were writing and they must wipe the pen and wash their entire bodies before writing the most Holy Name of God, YHVH, every time they wrote it. There must be a review within thirty days, and if as many as three pages required corrections, the manuscript had to be redone. The letters, words, and paragraphs had to be counted, the middle paragraph, word and letter must correspond to those of the original document. The documents could be stored only in sacred places, as no document containing Gods Word could be destroyed, they were stored, or buried, in a genizah. Sofers are among the few scribes that still ply their trade by hand, renowned calligraphers, they produce the Hebrew Torah scrolls and other holy texts by hand to this day
7.
Infantry
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Infantry is the general branch of an army that engages in military combat on foot. As the troops who engage with the enemy in close-ranged combat, infantry units bear the largest brunt of warfare, Infantry can enter and maneuver in terrain that is inaccessible to military vehicles and employ crew-served infantry weapons that provide greater and more sustained firepower. In English, the 16th-century term Infantry describes soldiers who walk to the battlefield, and there engage, fight, the term arose in Sixteenth-Century Spain, which boasted one of the first professional standing armies seen in Europe since the days of Rome. It was common to appoint royal princes to military commands, and the men under them became known as Infanteria. in the Canadian Army, the role of the infantry is to close with, and destroy the enemy. In the U. S. Army, the closes with the enemy, by means of fire and maneuver, in order to destroy or capture him, or to repel his assault by fire, close combat. In the U. S. Marine Corps, the role of the infantry is to locate, close with, and destroy the enemy fire and maneuver. Beginning with the Napoleonic Wars of the early 19th century, artillery has become a dominant force on the battlefield. Since World War I, combat aircraft and armoured vehicles have become dominant. In 20th and 21st century warfare, infantry functions most effectively as part of a combined arms team including artillery, armour, Infantry relies on organized formations to be employed in battle. These have evolved over time, but remain a key element to effective infantry development and deployment, until the end of the 19th century, infantry units were for the most part employed in close formations up until contact with the enemy. This allowed commanders to control of the unit, especially while maneuvering. The development of guns and other weapons with increased firepower forced infantry units to disperse in order to make them less vulnerable to such weapons. This decentralization of command was made possible by improved communications equipment, among the various subtypes of infantry is Medium infantry. This refers to infantry which are heavily armed and armored than heavy infantry. In the early period, medium infantry were largely eliminated due to discontinued use of body armour up until the 20th century. In the United States Army, Stryker Infantry is considered Medium Infantry, since they are heavier than light infantry, Infantry doctrine is the concise expression of how infantry forces contribute to campaigns, major operations, battles, and engagements. It is a guide to action, not a set of hard, doctrine provides a very common frame of reference across the military forces, allowing the infantry to function cooperatively in what are now called combined arms operations. Doctrine helps standardise operations, facilitating readiness by establishing common ways of accomplishing infantry tasks, doctrine links theory, history, experimentation, and practice
8.
Royalist (Spanish American independence)
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The creation of juntas in Spanish America in 1810 was a direct reaction to developments in Spain during the previous two years. In 1808 Ferdinand VII had been convinced to abdicate by Napoleon in his favor, the Supreme Central Junta had led a resistance to Josephs government and the French occupation of Spain, but suffered a series of reverses resulting in the loss of the northern half of the country. On February 1,1810, French troops took Seville and gained control of most of Andalusia, the Supreme Junta retreated to Cadiz and dissolved itself in favor of a Regency Council of Spain and the Indies. As news of this arrived throughout Spanish America during the three weeks to nine months—depending on time it took goods and people to travel from Spain—political fault lines appeared. It is important to note that, at first, the claimed to carry out their actions in the name of the deposed king. Juntas were successfully established in Venezuela, Río de la Plata and New Granada, in the months following the establishment of the Regency, it became clear that Spain was not lost, and furthermore the government was effectively reconstituting itself. The Regency successfully convened the Cortes Generales, the parliament of the Spanish Monarchy. The Regency and Cortes began issuing orders to, and appointing and those who supported the new government came to be called royalists. Those that supported the idea of maintaining independent juntas called themselves patriots, as the Cortes instituted liberal reforms and worked on drafting a constitution, a new division appeared among royalists. Conservatives did not want to see any innovations in government, while liberals supported them and these differences would become more acute after the restoration of Ferdinand VII, because the king opted to support the conservative position. Regional rivalry also played an important role in the wars that broke out in Spanish America as a result of the juntas. The disappearance of a central, imperial authority—and in some cases of even a local, viceregal authority —initiated a prolonged period of balkanization in many regions of Spanish America. It was not clear which political units which should replace the empire, more often than not, juntas sought to maintain a provinces independence from the capital of the former viceroyalty or captaincy general, as much as from the Peninsula itself. Armed conflicts broke out between the provinces over the question of some provinces were to be subordinate to others in the manner that they had been under the crown. This phenomenon was particularly evident in New Granada and Río de la Plata and this rivalry also lead some regions to adopt the opposing political cause from their rivals. The creation of juntas in Río de la Plata allowed Peru to regain control of Upper Peru for the duration of the wars. Ferdinand justified his actions by stating that the Constitution and other changes had made by a Cortes assembled in his absence. He also declared all of the juntas and constitutions written in Spanish America invalid and restored the former law codes, most Spanish Americans were moderates who decided to wait and see what would come out of the restoration of normalcy
