Berkeley Castle is a castle in the town of Berkeley, Gloucestershire, UK. The castle's origins date back to the 11th century, it has been designated by English Heritage as a grade I listed building; the castle has remained within the Berkeley family since they reconstructed it in the 12th century, except for a period of royal ownership by the Tudors. It is traditionally believed to have been the scene of the murder of King Edward II in 1327. In 1956 Berkeley Castle remains open today; the first castle at Berkeley was a motte-and-bailey, built around 1067 by William FitzOsbern shortly after the Conquest. This was subsequently held by three generations of the first Berkeley family, all called Roger de Berkeley, rebuilt by them in the first half of the 12th century; the last Roger de Berkeley was dispossessed in 1152 for withholding his allegiance from the House of Plantagenet during the conflict of The Anarchy, the feudal barony of Berkeley was granted to Robert Fitzharding, a wealthy burgess of Bristol and supporter of the Plantagenets.
He was the founder of the Berkeley family. In 1153–54, Fitzharding received a royal charter from King Henry II giving him permission to rebuild the castle. Fitzharding built the circular shell keep between 1153 and 1156 on the site of the former motte; the building of the curtain wall followed during 1160–90 by Robert and by his son Maurice. Much of the rest of the castle is 14th century and was built for Thomas de Berkeley, 3rd Baron Berkeley: Thorpe's Tower, to the north of the keep, the inner gatehouse to its southwest, other buildings of the inner bailey; the castle was ransacked in 1326 by the forces of Hugh Despenser, the favourite of Edward II. In 1327, Edward was deposed by his wife Queen Isabella and her ally Roger Mortimer, placed in the joint custody of Mortimer’s son-in-law, Thomas de Berkeley, de Berkeley‘s brother-in-law, John Maltravers, they brought Edward to Berkeley Castle, held him there for five months from April to September. During that time a band of Edward's supporters attacked, entered the castle and rescued him, only for him to be recaptured soon afterwards.
It is possible that his captors moved him around between several castles to make further rescue more difficult, before returning him to Berkeley Castle in September. Some commentators have claimed that Edward's escape was successful, that someone else was murdered in his place. Historical sources record that Edward was murdered there on 21 September 1327. Raphael Holinshed's Chronicles, drawing on earlier sources, describes Edward's murder in detail:they came suddenlie one night into the chamber where he laie in bed fast asléepe, with heauie featherbeds or a table being cast vpon him, they kept him down and withall put into his fundament an horne, through the same they thrust vp into his bodie an hot spit, or through the pipe of a trumpet a plumbers instrument of iron made verie hot, the which passing vp into his intrailes, being rolled to and fro, burnt the same, but so as no appearance of any wound or hurt outwardlie might be once perceiued, his crie did mooue manie within the castell and towne of Berkley to compassion, plainelie hearing him vtter a wailefull noise, as the tormentors were about to murther him, so that diuerse being awakened therewith praied heartilie to God to receiue his soule, when they vnderstood by his crie what the matter ment.
Christopher Marlowe's tragedy Edward II depicts the murder at Berkeley Castle, using props mentioned in Holinshed, popular stories of a red-hot poker or suffocation continue to circulate. The cell where Edward is supposed to have been imprisoned and murdered can still be seen, along with the adjacent 11 m deep dungeon, which echoes the events of the murder every year on 21 September. Holinshed's account records that, leading up to the murder, Edward's keepers "lodged the miserable prisoner in a chamber ouer a foule filthie dungeon, full of dead carrion, trusting so to make an end of him, with the abhominable stinch thereof: but he bearing it out stronglie, as a man of a tough nature, continued still in life."The account given to Parliament at the time was that Edward had met with a fatal accident, but Holinshed and other historical sources record that great effort was made to keep the murder secret. The body was embalmed and remained lying in state at Berkeley for a month, in the Chapel of St John within the castle keep, before Thomas de Berkeley escorted it to Gloucester Abbey for burial.
Thomas was charged with being an accessory to the murder, but his defence was that it was carried out by the agents of Roger Mortimer while he was away from the castle, in 1337 he was cleared of all charges. In the 14th century, the Great Hall was given a new roof and it is here the last court jester in England, Dickie Pearce, died after falling from the Minstrels' gallery, his tomb is in St Mary's churchyard. Adjoining the Great Hall was the Chapel of St Mary with its painted wooden vaulted ceilings and a biblical passage, written in Norman French. In the late 16th century Queen Elizabeth I played bowls on the bowling green. During the English Civil War, the castle still held sufficient significance for it to be captured in 1645 by Colonel Thomas Rainsborough for the Parliamentarian side.
Ragnhild Magerøy was a Norwegian novelist and poet. She is principally known as a historical novelist. Magerøy was born at Fræna in Møre og Romsdal as the youngest of six siblings. In 1958 she moved with her family to Oslo where she was given the opportunity to study historical material at the University of Oslo Library, she became focused in historic but forgotten female figures. Her female characters are high-spirited and center to the plot, she made her literary début in 1957 with the novel Gunhild, the first volume of a novel trilogy about the lives of women in a small rural village in the 19th century. Her subsequent novels were placed within the Norwegian Medieval Period, she was awarded the Dobloug Prize in 1975. Dronning uten rike, 1966, Mens nornene spinner, 1969 Himmelen er gul, 1970, Spotlight på sagaen, 1991, Den hvite steinen, 1995, Hallfrid, 1997
The Sikhs are adherents to Sikhism the fifth largest organized religion in the world, with around 27 million adherents. Sikh History is around 500 years and in that time the Sikhs have developed unique expressions of art and culture which are influenced by their faith and synthesize traditions from many other cultures. Sikhism is Punjab's only indigenous religion with all other religions coming from outside Punjab. All the Sikh gurus and majority of the martyrs in Sikh history were from Punjab and from the Punjabi people. Punjabi culture and Sikhism are considered inseparably intertwined. "Sikh" properly refers to adherents of Sikhism as a religion, not an ethnic group. However, because Sikhism has sought converts, most Sikhs share strong ethno-religious ties. Many countries, such as the U. K. therefore recognize Sikh as a designated ethnicity on their censuses. The American non-profit organization United Sikhs has fought to have Sikh included on the U. S. census as well, arguing that Sikhs "self-identify as an'ethnic minority'" and believe "that they are more than just a religion".
Sikh art and culture is synonymous with that of the Punjab region. The Punjab itself has been called "India’s melting pot", due to the confluence of invading cultures, such as Mughal and Persian, that mirrors the confluence of rivers from which the region gets its name. Thus, Sikh culture is to a large extent informed by this synthesis. Sikhism has forged a unique form of architecture which Bhatti describes as being "inspired by Guru Nanak’s creative mysticism" such that Sikh architecture "is a mute harbinger of holistic humanism based on pragmatic spirituality"; the keynote of Sikh architecture is the Gurdwara, the personification of the "melting pot" of Punjabi cultures, showing both Islamic and Hindu influences. The reign of the Sikh Empire was the single biggest catylst in creating a uniquely Sikh form of expression, with Maharajah Ranjit Singh patronising the building of forts, bungas, etc. that can be said to be of the Sikh Style. The "jewel in the crown" of the Sikh Style is the Harmandir Sahib.
Sikh culture is influenced by militaristic motifs, with Khanda being the most obvious. This motif is again evident in the Sikh festivals of Hola Mohalla and Vasakhi which feature marching and practicing displays of valor respectively; the art and culture of the Sikh diaspora has been merged with that of other indo-immigrant groups into categories such as'British Asian','Indo-Canadanian' and'Desi-Culture'. The art of prominent diaspora Sikhs such as Amarjeet Kaur Nandhra and Amrit and Rabindra Kaur Singh, is informed by their Sikh heritage and the current affairs of the Punjab. Although the Punjabi Sikhs form the majority of the Sikh population, the Sikh community is varied and includes people who speak the Assamese language, the Kashmiri language, the Telugu language and many more; the many communities following Sikhism is detailed below. The Sikhs of Afghanistan have a unique culture. Harbhajan Sing Puri is credited with raising awareness of Sikhism amongst the non Asian community of the United States of America.
This community is known as the white Sikh community which practices Sikhism and maintains a distinct culture. Although the ancestors of the Sikhs of Assam were from Punjab, the Assamese Sikhs have been living in Assam for over 200 years; the community traces its origins to the times of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. According to the 2001 census, there were 22,519 Sikhs in Assam, out of which 4,000 are Assamese Sikhs. Assamese Sikhs celebrate Sikh festivals. However, they celebrate local festivals such as Magh Bihu and wear traditional Assamese dress, their language is the Assamese language. Agrahari Sikh is a Sikh community found in eastern India including state West Bengal and Jharkhand. Agrahari Sikhs known as Bihari Sikhs, have lived for centuries in Bihar and Jharkhand. Bihari Sikhs share their culture with the local Bihari community; the men wear the local dhoti and women wear the Sari. They celebrate local festivals such as the Chath festival. Dakhni Sikhs are the descendants of the Sikh soldiers who came to the South in the early 19th century when the Nizam of Hyderabad raised a Sikh contingent in his army.
Dakhani Sikhs are the descendants of Sikh soldiers sent by Maharaja Ranjit Singh to support the Nizam. After the death of the Maharaja, the soldiers who remained there, married local women and adopted their language and culture; the traditional dress of women is the saree. The native language of Dakhni Sikhs is the Telugu language Ethnic Kashmiri Sikhs speak the Kashmiri language and observe Kashmiri culture, they trace their ancestry to the Sikh soldiers who settled in Kashmir under the Maharaja Ranjit Singh rule in 1819. However, the soldiers permanently settled in Kashmir. Punjabi Sikhs follow the Punjabi culture, their traditional dress includes the Punjabi Salwar Suit, Punjabi Tamba and Kurta, Punjabi juti and Patiala salwar. In addition to the Sikh festivals using the Nanakshahi calendar, Punjabi Sikhs observe traditional Punjabi festivals using the Punjabi calendar. Bhangra and the Giddha are two forms of indigenous Punjabi folk dance
The Saarland Football Association, the SFV, is one of 21 state organisations of the German Football Association, the DFB, covers the state of Saarland. The SFV is part of the Southwestern Regional Football Association, one of five regional federations in Germany; the other member of the regional association are the Southwest German Football Association and the Rhineland Football Association. In 2017, the SFV had 370 member clubs and 2,276 teams playing in its league system. Formed in 1948, in what was the Saar Protectorate, the Saarländischer Fußball Bund became the organising body of football in the region, when Saar was split from the rest of occupied Germany; the SFB rejected membership in the French Football Federation on 17 July 1949 when 67 per cent of the delegates of the association voted against it. Instead the SFB was admitted as a member of FIFA in June 1950. From 1950 onwards Hermann Neuberger to become president of the German Football Association, the DFB, led the SFB and negotiated the admission of the latter to FIFA.
The Saarland national football team took part in international competitions, among them the qualifying to the 1954 FIFA World Cup where it played against West Germany. In 1956, following the reunification of the protectorate with West Germany, the SFB became part of the DFB again and was renamed to Saarländischer Fußball-Verband. German FA website Southwestern Regional FA website SFV website
The Union Club of Phoenixville was a professional football team based in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. The team was the result of a 1919 merger between the Phoenixville Union Club and the upstart Phoenix Athletic Club. From 1907 until 1919, the Union Club was considered one of the best football teams in eastern Pennsylvania. However, in 1919 the upstart Phoenix Athletic Club signed many of the top players of the area, leaving the Union Club no choice but to merge with the Phoenix A. C; the team is best known for defeating the Canton Bulldogs 14-7, in 1920. The team however would fold in 1921. In 1907 the Phoenixville Union Club fielded its first football team; the team played rival clubs from Schuylkill County, as well as teams from Philadelphia and New Jersey. Within a few years, the Union Club became one of the strongest teams in the region. Several times they were declared the mythical "Champions of the Schuylkill Valley" and "Champions of Eastern Pennsylvania". However, the team experienced tragedy on occasion.
In November 1913, George Gay, a star player for the Ursinus College football team, died from a neck injury three days after it was broken in a Phoenixille-Pottstown game. He broke his neck after being tackled from behind. World War I and the 1918 flu pandemic had a severe impact on Phoenixville's 1917 football season; the team had only managed to schedule 5 games in 1917, while only one game was played in 1918. In 1919, the Union Club and the new Phoenix Athletic Club merged; the merger began. This left Union in a dilemma. In 1919, Union played; however that game resulted in scoreless tie. As a result, the Union Club merged with the Phoenix A. C. Meanwhile, the Union Club of Phoenixville ended their 1919 season with a 6-0-3 record; the final game of the season against the Conshohocken Athletic Club, ended in a scoreless tie. However Phoenixville, managed to sign many ex-college players to their roster including; the 1920 Phoenixville Club fielded many of the top players of the era. These players included Lou Little, Lud Wray, Fats Eyrich, Bodie Weldon, Heinie Miller, Earl Potteiger, Stan Cofall and future Hall of Famer, Fritz Pollard.
The club fielded several members of the Buffalo All-Americans of the National Football League. The NFL players would play a non-league game with Phoenixville on Saturdays hop the train for Buffalo or Ohio and the next day’s game; this arrangement helped. Incidentally, the team had been organized by Bert Bell, the future NFL commissioner and Philadelphia Eagles owner, but Bell had planned to play the team as the "Philadelphia Collegians" before Phoenixville's managers came and signed all of Bell's players; the Phoenixville club went 11-0 in 1920. The team defeated several local teams, including their rivals, the Conshohocken Athletic Club, Holmesburg Athletic Club, the pre-NFL Frankford Yellow Jackets. However, the team still had the biggest game of the year, in team history, to play. At the end of the 1920 season, Phoenixville fans began to wonder how their team stacked up to the best teams of the era. Prior to 1920, the Canton Bulldogs were considered the best pro football team in world; the team featured future Pro Football Hall of Famers.
The team was not only a member of the mythical Ohio League, which consisted of the best teams in pro football, but won the league's championship in 1916, 1917 and 1919. On either December 11 or December 12, 1920, an estimated 17,000 fans turned out to watch the Union Club and Canton Bulldogs play at the Baker Bowl. Despite the Bulldogs scoring first off of a Pete Calac touchdown, the Phoenixville soon gained control of the game with a fumble recovery by Heinie Miller; that play set up a Stan Cofall touchdown pass to Lou Hayes. In the third quarter, Cofall blocked a Guyon punt, returned for another touchdown by Hayes. While Canton did manage a late game drive to the Phoenixville 20 yard line, a Guyon fumble, was recovered by Phoenxiville's Heinie Miller. Phoenixville would go on to win the game 14-7. Despite their victory, the Union Club could not claim any national professional championship based upon the outcome of the Canton game; the 1920 Canton Bulldogs were just not the dominant football team that they had been in previous seasons.
In the NFL, the Akron Pros, Decatur Staleys and the Buffalo All-Americans had all placed higher ahead of the Bulldogs in the standings. Leo Conway appeared at the NFL's organizational meetings in April 1921, representing Phoenixville, where the league's championship was awarded to Akron by a vote. In 1921, the Union Club's status as a premier professional team disappeared; the club's board of directors rejected Heinie Miller's proposal to for the team to reform with a similar 1920 lineup for the 1921 season. The club instead opted to field a less costly team of local talent; the Big Red went on to a 5-2-0 record in. However Miller, managed to keep most of the 1920 team intact and fielded them in 1921 as the Union Quakers of Philadelphia in 1921. Union Squad off to Whitemarsh Canton Players Here for Game Thorpe Quits Canton Team Thorpe Upholds Pro Football Thorpe Not Ready to Retire Canton and Union Play Here Today Heine Miller Makes New Record on the Gridiron.
Los Straitjackets is an American instrumental rock band that formed in Nashville, United States, in 1988. Comprising guitarists Danny Amis, Eddie Angel and drummer L. J. "Jimmy" Lester under the name The Straitjackets, the band split up soon after forming, but reunited as Los Straitjackets in 1994 with the addition of bassist E. Scott Esbeck. Esbeck was replaced by Pete Curry; the current lineup features Greg Townson on guitar and Chris Sprague on drums. The band has released four collaboration albums and eight live albums. Eddie Angel was a noted rockabilly guitarist who moved to Nashville in the early 1980s to record and perform with the Planet Rockers. Danny Amis recorded and performed with the Raybeats worked as a sound engineer in Nashville; the two formed The Straitjackets in 1988 with Jimmy Lester, a Nashville session player who had worked and toured with Robert Gordon. They soon broke up. In 1994 they reformed as Los Straitjackets, their first album, The Utterly Fantastic and Totally Unbelievable Sound of Los Straitjackets, was released the following year on Upstart Records.
In the post-Pulp Fiction surf revival, the group began attracting a following, though their music is not surf-oriented. Over the next few years, the band developed a cult following through its tight instrumentation and stage shows. In its live performances, band members dress in identical black suits, gold Aztec medallions, personalized Mexican wrestling masks. Danny Amis, a fan of Luchador films and Mexican culture had suggested the band wear the masks he had purchased in Mexico at the band's first gig on a whim. Frontman Amis was the sole spokesperson of the band, would introduce the songs in fast accented Spanish. In 1998 Esbeck left the band during the recording of The Velvet Touch of Los Straitjackets and was replaced by Pete Curry of the Halibuts, a 1980s surf-revival group. In 2005 Lester was replaced by Jason "Teen Beat" Smay, they have become known as frequent collaborators, recording Sing Along with Los Straitjackets with a number of different artists. They were nominated for a Grammy Award for their collaboration with blues singer Eddy Clearwater, Rock'N' Roll City.
Their stage shows have become more elaborate and feature choreography, guest vocalists such as Eddy "The Chief" Clearwater, Kaiser George of the Scottish band the Kaisers, Big Sandy, the burlesque dancing troupe The World Famous Pontani Sisters. In recent years, they have staged festive Christmas shows during the holiday season. In 2010 Danny Amis was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, he was sidelined from touring while under treatment. Los Straitjackets recruited guitarist Greg "Gregorio El Grande" Townson to fill Amis' role during his absence. In 2012 Amis announced that his cancer was "under control" and he would return to recording and limited touring with Los Straitjackets in September 2012; this coincided with the band's new studio release Jet Set and debut of new drummer Chris "Sugar Balls" Sprague. Amis now lives in Mexico City. In late 2016, Los Straitjackets were due to embark on a tour with NRBQ. Prior to the tour, Pete Curry had to undergo shoulder replacement surgery. While he was recovering, his replacements consisted of Eddie's son, Todd Bradley of the Hi-Risers, Juan Ugalde of The Outta Sites.
On May 19, 2017, the band released What's So Funny About Peace, Love And... a tribute to the music of Nick Lowe, on Yep Roc Records. In 2019 the band embarked on a UK tour backing Lowe, their February 2019 single with Lowe, "Love Starvation," was described by Rolling Stone magazine as "a peppy-sounding old-school rock song that paints a bleak lyrical picture of romantic fallout." Lowe said of the band: "Apart from being a fantastic rock ‘n’ roll band, they know how to play tons of different styles well. They can knock you out a version of Bacharach and David's "The Look of Love" with no trouble at all." Los Straitjackets provided some of the music for the independent film Psycho Beach Party, appeared in the film. They recorded two albums of music for television and commercial use, their work is heard as filler or background music on radio and television shows. In the late 1990s, Conan O'Brien had the band perform Christmas music each holiday season on his late-night television program. History of Los Straitjackets Interview with Chris "Sugarballs" Sprague @ Rockerzine.com 2014 Official website Eddie Angel - Official Website Danny Amis - Official Website Encyclopedia Of Music Vol. 1 & Vol 2: 2 CDs by Los Straitjackets on LoveCat Music