1.
Canterbury
–
Canterbury is a historic English cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, which lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, a journey of pilgrims to Beckets shrine served as the frame for Geoffrey Chaucers 14th century classic The Canterbury Tales. Canterbury is a popular tourist destination, consistently one of the cities in the United Kingdom. The city has been occupied since Paleolithic times and served as the capital of the Celtic Cantiaci, modern additions include the Marlowe Theatre and the St Lawrence Ground, home of the Kent County Cricket Club. Canterbury remains, however, a city in terms of geographical size and population. In Sub-Roman Britain, it was known in Old Welsh as Cair Ceint, occupied by the Jutes, it became known in Old English as Cantwareburh, which developed into its present name. The Canterbury area has been inhabited since prehistoric times, lower Paleolithic axes, and Neolithic and Bronze Age pots have been found in the area. Canterbury was first recorded as the settlement of the Celtic tribe of the Cantiaci. In the 1st century AD, the Romans captured the settlement, the Romans rebuilt the city, with new streets in a grid pattern, a theatre, a temple, a forum, and public baths. In the late 3rd century, to defend against attack from barbarians, the Romans built an earth bank around the city and a wall with seven gates, which enclosed an area of 130 acres. Over the next 100 years, an Anglo-Saxon community formed within the city walls, as Jutish refugees arrived, in 597, Pope Gregory the Great sent Augustine to convert its King Æthelberht to Christianity. After the conversion, Canterbury, being a Roman town, was chosen by Augustine as the centre for his see in Kent. Augustine thus became the first Archbishop of Canterbury, the towns new importance led to its revival, and trades developed in pottery, textiles, and leather. By 630, gold coins were being struck at the Canterbury mint, in 672, the Synod of Hertford gave the see of Canterbury authority over the entire English Church. In 842 and 851, Canterbury suffered great loss of life during Danish raids, in 978, Archbishop Dunstan refounded the abbey built by Augustine, and named it St Augustines Abbey. A second wave of Danish attacks began in 991, and in 1011 the cathedral was burnt, remembering the destruction caused by the Danes, the inhabitants of Canterbury did not resist William the Conquerors invasion in 1066. William immediately ordered a wooden motte-and-bailey castle to be built by the Roman city wall, in the early 12th century, the castle was rebuilt with stone. After the murder of Archbishop Thomas Becket at the cathedral in 1170, Canterbury became one of the most notable towns in Europe and this pilgrimage provided the framework for Geoffrey Chaucers 14th-century collection of stories, The Canterbury Tales
2.
Kent
–
Kent /ˈkɛnt/ is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south west, the county also shares borders with Essex via the Dartford Crossing and the French department of Pas-de-Calais through the Channel Tunnel. France can be clearly in fine weather from Folkestone and the White Cliffs of Dover. Hills in the form of the North Downs and the Greensand Ridge span the length of the county, because of its relative abundance of fruit-growing and hop gardens, Kent is known as The Garden of England. The title was defended in 2006 when a survey of counties by the UKTV Style Gardens channel put Kent in fifth place, behind North Yorkshire, Devon. Haulage, logistics, and tourism are industries, major industries in north-west Kent include aggregate building materials, printing. Coal mining has played its part in Kents industrial heritage. Large parts of Kent are within the London commuter belt and its transport connections to the capital. Twenty-eight per cent of the county forms part of two Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the North Downs and The High Weald, the area has been occupied since the Palaeolithic era, as attested by finds from the quarries at Swanscombe. The Medway megaliths were built during the Neolithic era, There is a rich sequence of Bronze Age, Iron Age, and Roman era occupation, as indicated by finds and features such as the Ringlemere gold cup and the Roman villas of the Darent valley. The modern name of Kent is derived from the Brythonic word Cantus meaning rim or border and this describes the eastern part of the current county area as a border land or coastal district. Julius Caesar had described the area as Cantium, or home of the Cantiaci in 51 BC, the extreme west of the modern county was by the time of Roman Britain occupied by Iron Age tribes, known as the Regnenses. East Kent became a kingdom of the Jutes during the 5th century and was known as Cantia from about 730, the early medieval inhabitants of the county were known as the Cantwara, or Kent people. These people regarded the city of Canterbury as their capital, in 597, Pope Gregory I appointed the religious missionary as the first Archbishop of Canterbury. In the previous year, Augustine successfully converted the pagan King Æthelberht of Kent to Christianity, the Diocese of Canterbury became Britains first Episcopal See with first cathedral and has since remained Englands centre of Christianity. The second designated English cathedral was in Kent at Rochester Cathedral, in the 11th century, the people of Kent adopted the motto Invicta, meaning undefeated. This naming followed the invasion of Britain by William of Normandy, the Kent peoples continued resistance against the Normans led to Kents designation as a semi-autonomous county palatine in 1067. Under the nominal rule of Williams half-brother Odo of Bayeux, the county was granted powers to those granted in the areas bordering Wales
3.
St Martin's Church, Canterbury
–
As such, it is recognised, along with Canterbury Cathedral and St Augustines Abbey, as part of a World Heritage Site. Since 1668 the church has part of the benefice of St Martin. Both St Martins and nearby St Pauls churches are used for weekly services, the current rector of the parish is the Revd Canon Noelle Hall. St Martins was the chapel of Queen Bertha of Kent in the 6th century before Augustine arrived from Rome. Queen Bertha was a Christian Frankish princess who arrived in England with her Chaplain, as Bede specifically names it, this church was dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours, a city located near where Bertha grew up. Upon Augustines arrival he used St Martins as his headquarters, immediately enlarging it. With the quickly subsequent establishments of Canterbury Cathedral and St Augustines Abbey, St Martins lost prestige but retains its priority and historical importance. Local finds prove that Christianity did exist in this area of the city at the time, at the core of the church the brick remains of a Roman tomb were integrated into the structure. The apse that was originally at the east end has been removed, the tower is much later, in Perpendicular style. The church is a Grade I listed building, the churchyard contains the graves of many notable local families and well-known people including Thomas Sidney Cooper, RA and Mary Tourtel, the creator of Rupert Bear. The church has a continuing musical tradition from the monks of St Augustine to the present day. The choral director for the parish is Dom del Nevo, F. Haverfield, Early British Christianity The English Historical Review Vol.11, No.43
4.
Sandwich, Kent
–
Sandwich /ˈsændwᵻdʒ/ is a historic town and civil parish on the River Stour in the non-metropolitan district of Dover, within the ceremonial county of Kent, south-east England. It has a population of 4,985, Sandwich gave its name to the bread snack by way of John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, as described below. The word sandwich is now found in many languages, Sandwich was one of the Cinque Ports and still has many original medieval buildings, including several listed public houses and gates in the old town walls, churches, almshouses and the White Mill. While once a port, it is now two miles from the sea due to the disappearance of the Wantsum Channel. Its historic centre has been preserved, Sandwich Bay is home to nature reserves and two world-class golf courses, Royal St Georges and Princes. The town is home to educational and cultural events. The place-name Sandwich is first attested in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, where it appears as Sondwic in 851, in the Domesday Book of 1086 it appears as Sandwice. The name means town on sandy soil. In 1028 King Canute granted a charter to the monks of Christ Church, Canterbury to operate a ferry across the river, in 1192, returning from the Third Crusade, Richard the Lionheart was jailed by the Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI. Henry released Richard in February 1194. On 13 March 1194, Richard landed at the port of Sandwich, the coat of arms of Sandwich is Per pale Gules and Azure three demi-Lions passant guardant in pale Or conjoined with as many sterns of demi-Ships Argent. Before Sandwich became a Cinque Port, the ancient Saxon town of Stonar on the bank of the Wantsum estuary and it remained a place of considerable importance but it disappeared almost without trace in the 14th century. The ruins of the major Roman fort of Richborough are close by and it was the landing place of the Roman invasion of Britain in AD43. In 2008, an archaeological dig proved that this was a site of a Roman beachhead. On 21 May 1216, Prince Louis of France landed at Sandwich in support of the war against King John of England. The Port of Sandwich is no stranger to odd events in English history and it was here in 1255 that the first captive elephant was landed in England. The prize beast arrived at Sandwich quayside, delivered as a gift to the English monarch Henry III from the French king, and was then taken on foot to the kings menagerie in the Tower of London. The journey through Kent is reported to have proceeded without incident, except when a bull in a field by the roadside took umbrage at the great beast passing, in one move, the animal was thrown by the elephant and killed outright. The Fisher Gate on the dates from 1384, and has been scheduled as an Ancient Monument
5.
X-ray
–
X-radiation is a form of electromagnetic radiation. Most X-rays have a wavelength ranging from 0.01 to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 petahertz to 30 exahertz, X-ray wavelengths are shorter than those of UV rays and typically longer than those of gamma rays. Spelling of X-ray in the English language includes the variants x-ray, xray, X-rays with high photon energies are called hard X-rays, while those with lower energy are called soft X-rays. Due to their ability, hard X-rays are widely used to image the inside of objects, e. g. in medical radiography. The term X-ray is metonymically used to refer to an image produced using this method. Since the wavelengths of hard X-rays are similar to the size of atoms they are useful for determining crystal structures by X-ray crystallography. By contrast, soft X-rays are easily absorbed in air, the length of 600 eV X-rays in water is less than 1 micrometer. There is no consensus for a definition distinguishing between X-rays and gamma rays, one common practice is to distinguish between the two types of radiation based on their source, X-rays are emitted by electrons, while gamma rays are emitted by the atomic nucleus. This definition has problems, other processes also can generate these high-energy photons. One common alternative is to distinguish X- and gamma radiation on the basis of wavelength, with radiation shorter than some arbitrary wavelength, such as 10−11 m and this criterion assigns a photon to an unambiguous category, but is only possible if wavelength is known. Occasionally, one term or the other is used in specific contexts due to precedent, based on measurement technique. Thus, gamma-rays generated for medical and industrial uses, for radiotherapy, in the ranges of 6–20 MeV. X-ray photons carry enough energy to ionize atoms and disrupt molecular bonds and this makes it a type of ionizing radiation, and therefore harmful to living tissue. A very high radiation dose over a period of time causes radiation sickness. In medical imaging this increased risk is generally greatly outweighed by the benefits of the examination. The ionizing capability of X-rays can be utilized in treatment to kill malignant cells using radiation therapy. It is also used for material characterization using X-ray spectroscopy, hard X-rays can traverse relatively thick objects without being much absorbed or scattered. For this reason, X-rays are widely used to image the inside of visually opaque objects, the most often seen applications are in medical radiography and airport security scanners, but similar techniques are also important in industry and research
6.
Anglo-Saxons
–
The Anglo-Saxons are a people who have inhabited Great Britain from the 5th century. Historically, the Anglo-Saxon period denotes the period in Britain between about 450 and 1066, after their settlement and up until the Norman conquest. The early Anglo-Saxon period includes the creation of an English nation, with many of the aspects that survive today, including government of shires. During this period, Christianity was re-established and there was a flowering of literature, charters and law were also established. The term Anglo-Saxon is popularly used for the language that was spoken and written by the Anglo-Saxons in England, in scholarly use, it is more commonly called Old English. The history of the Anglo-Saxons is the history of a cultural identity and it developed from divergent groups in association with the peoples adoption of Christianity, and was integral to the establishment of various kingdoms. Threatened by extended Danish invasions and occupation of eastern England, this identity was re-established, the visible Anglo-Saxon culture can be seen in the material culture of buildings, dress styles, illuminated texts and grave goods. Behind the symbolic nature of these emblems, there are strong elements of tribal. The elite declared themselves as kings who developed burhs, and identified their roles and peoples in Biblical terms, above all, as Helena Hamerow has observed, local and extended kin groups remained. the essential unit of production throughout the Anglo-Saxon period. Use of the term Anglo-Saxon assumes that the words Angles, Saxons or Anglo-Saxon have the meaning in all the sources. Assigning ethnic labels such as Anglo-Saxon is fraught with difficulties and this term began to be used only in the 8th century to distinguish the Germanic groups in Britain from those on the continent. The Old English ethnonym Angul-Seaxan comes from the Latin Angli-Saxones and became the name of the peoples Bede calls Anglorum, Anglo-Saxon is a term that was rarely used by Anglo-Saxons themselves, it is not an autonym. It is likely they identified as ængli, Seaxe or, more probably, also, the use of Anglo-Saxon disguises the extent to which people identified as Anglo-Scandinavian after the Viking age or the conquest of 1016, or as Anglo-Norman after the Norman conquest. The earliest historical references using this term are from outside Britain, referring to piratical Germanic raiders, Saxones who attacked the shores of Britain, procopius states that Britain was settled by three races, the Angiloi, Frisones, and Britons. The term Angli Saxones seems to have first been used in writing of the 8th century. The name therefore seemed to mean English Saxons, the Christian church seems to have used the word Angli, for example in the story of Pope Gregory I and his remark, Non Angli sed angeli. The terms ænglisc and Angelcynn were also used by West Saxon King Alfred to refer to the people, at other times he uses the term rex Anglorum, which presumably meant both Anglo-Saxons and Danes. Alfred the Great used Anglosaxonum Rex, the term Engla cyningc is used by Æthelred
7.
World Museum
–
World Museum Liverpool and Liverpool Museum redirect here. For the similarly named museum, see Museum of Liverpool, World Museum is a large museum in Liverpool, England which has extensive collections covering archaeology, ethnology and the natural and physical sciences. Special attractions include the Natural History Centre and a planetarium, entry to the museum is free. The museum is part of National Museums Liverpool, the museum has recently undergone extensive refurbishment in order to double the size of the display spaces, making even more of the collections accessible for visitors. Major new galleries include World Cultures, the Bug House and the Weston Discovery Centre, a central entrance hall and six-storey atrium opened in 2005. The museum was started as the Derby Museum as it comprised the Earl of Derbys natural history collection. The museum opened originally in 1851, sharing two rooms on Duke Street with a library, however, the museum proved extremely popular and a new, purpose-built building was required. Around 400,000 people attended the opening of the new building in 1860, in the late 19th century, the museums collection was beginning to outgrow its building so a competition was launched to design a combined extension to the museum and college of technology. The competition was won by William Mountford and the College of Technology, Liverpool, being one of the UKs major ports, was heavily damaged by German bombing during the blitz. While much of the Museums collection was moved to less vulnerable locations during the war, parts of the museum only began to reopen fifteen years later. In the early first decade of the 21st century, the museum was again expanded, to better reflect its larger size, the museum was renamed World Museum Liverpool. The museum has been the site of three deaths since its 2005 reopening, on 15 May 2006, a 24-year-old man climbed over a balcony on the sixth floor and fell to his death. On 26 November 2006, a 17-year-old mother was stabbed to death by her 21-year-old former male partner, the coroner has since recorded verdicts of unlawful killing and suicide. The physical sciences collection of World Museum was built after the devastation caused by the fire of 1941. The collection has expanded, in part, due to transfers from the Decorative Arts Department, Regional History Department, Walker Art Gallery, as a consequence the collection is small but contains a number of significant items. The planetarium opened in 1970 and has 62 seats and it currently attracts about 90,000 people per year. Shows cover various aspects of science, including the Solar System. World Museum is home to a planetarium, the Egyptology collection contains approximately 15,000 objects from Egypt and Sudan and is the most important single component of the Antiquities departments collections
8.
Solidus (coin)
–
The solidus, nomisma, or bezant was originally a relatively pure gold coin issued in the Late Roman Empire. Under Constantine, who introduced it on a scale, it had a weight of about 4.5 grams. The Byzantine solidus also inspired the originally slightly less pure Arabian dinar, in late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, the solidus also functioned as a unit of weight equal to 1/72 of a pound. The solidus was introduced by Diocletian in AD301 as a replacement of the aureus, composed of solid gold. His minting was on a scale, however, and the coin only entered widespread circulation under Constantine I after AD312. Constantines solidus was struck at a rate of 72 to a Roman pound of gold, each coin weighed 24 Greco-Roman carats. By this time, the solidus was worth 275,000 increasingly debased denarii, with the exception of the early issues of Constantine the Great and the odd usurpers the Solidus today is a much more affordable Gold Roman Coin to collect compared to the Older Aureus. Especially those of Valens Honorius and later Byzantine issues, the solidus was maintained essentially unaltered in weight, dimensions and purity until the 10th century. During the 6th and 7th centuries lightweight solidi of 20,22 or 23 siliquae were struck along with the weight issues. Many of these coins have been found in Europe, Russia and Georgia. The lightweight solidi were distinguished by different markings on the coin, usually in the exergue for the 20 and 22 siliquae coins and by stars in the field for the 23 siliquae coins. In theory the solidus was struck from pure gold, but because of the limits of refining techniques, in the Greek-speaking world during the Roman period, and then in the Byzantine economy, the solidus was known as the νόμισμα nomisma. Initially it was difficult to distinguish the two coins, as they had the design, dimensions and purity, and there were no marks of value to distinguish the denominations. The only difference was the weight, the tetarteron nomisma was a lighter coin, about 4.05 grams, but the histamenon nomisma maintained the traditional weight of 4.5 grams. To eliminate confusion between the two, from the reign of Basil II the solidus was struck as a coin with a larger diameter. From the middle of the 11th century the larger diameter histamenon nomisma was struck on a concave flan, former money changer Michael IV the Paphlagonian assumed the throne of Byzantium in 1034 and began the slow process of debasing both the tetarteron nomisma and the histamenon nomisma. Alexius reformed the coinage in 1092 and eliminated the solidus altogether, in its place he introduced a new gold coin called the hyperpyron nomisma at about 20. 5k fine. The weight, dimensions and purity of the hyperpyron nomisma remained stable until the fall of Constantinople to the Crusaders in 1204, after that time the exiled Empire of Nicea continued to strike a debased hyperpyron nomisma
9.
Liudhard medalet
–
The Liudhard medalet is a gold Anglo-Saxon coin or small medal found some time before 1844 near St Martins Church in Canterbury, England. It was part of the Canterbury-St Martins hoard of six items, the coin, along with other items found with it, now resides in the World Museum Liverpool. The coin is set in a mount so that it could be worn as jewellery, the inscription refers to Liudhard, a bishop who accompanied Bertha to England when she married Æthelberht the king of Kent. The reverse side of the coin has a cross, or patriarchal cross. The coin was struck at Canterbury in the late 6th century. Although it could have used as a coin, it was more likely made as a medallion to proclaim the wearers conversion to Christianity. The coin is the oldest surviving example of Anglo-Saxon coinage, the medalet was first revealed to the public on 25 April 1844 by Charles Roach Smith, who presented it along with other coins found with it, to a meeting of the Numismatic Society. About the origins and circumstances of the finding of the hoard, Smith only knew that they had found a few years since. There may have been further items that were found but not preserved, the whole collection, including the medalet, passed from Rolfes collection to the collection of Joseph Mayer, and then passed to the Rolfe-Mayer collection in the City of Liverpool Public Museums. This now forms part of the World Museum Liverpool, hawkes argues that the eight items in the hoard were found in different graves, basing this on x-ray and fluorescent analysis of the coins. The medalet is part of the only late-6th or early-7th century find of gold jewellery in a grave in a churchyard, all of the coins in the hoard were probably part of a necklace that was buried in a womans grave. The medalet itself is the earliest surviving Anglo-Saxon coin, the medalet itself is a gold coin, set in a loop mount so that it could be worn as jewellery. On the obverse side is a bust of a man wearing a diadem, written on this side is the legend LEV·DΛR·DV~·EPS. The inscription runs backwards from right to left, the letters are also inscribed backwards. Both the initial L and terminal S of LEUDARDUS are to some degree shifted sideways on their axes, the second grouping, EPS is a standard abbreviation for the ecclesiastical Latin word, EPiscopuS, which means bishop. On the reverse side of the coin appears a patriarchal cross set on a base with two pendants descending from the arm of the cross. A circle and two half-circles intersect the cross, above the cross, upside down, are the letters AA. The cross is flanked by two inscriptions, each one reading NINΛ, under the cross are the letters VΛV
10.
Justin II
–
Justin II was Eastern Roman Emperor from 565 to 574. He was the husband of Sophia, nephew of Justinian I and the Empress Theodora and his reign is marked by war with Sasanian Iran and the loss of the greater part of Italy. He presented the Cross of Justin II to Saint Peters, Rome and he was a son of Vigilantia and Dulcidio, respectively the sister and brother-in-law of Justinian. His siblings included Marcellus and Praejecta, Justinian I died on the night of 14 to 15 November 565. The clarification was needed because there was another nephew and candidate for the throne, Justin, modern historians suspect Callinicus may have fabricated the last words of Justinian to secure the succession for his political ally. As Robert Browning observed, Did Justinian really bring himself in the end to make a choice, in any case, Callinicus started alerting those most interested in the succession, originally various members of the Byzantine Senate. Then they jointly informed Justin and Vigilantia, offering the throne, Justin accepted after the traditional token show of reluctance, and with his wife Sophia, he was escorted to the Great Palace of Constantinople. The Excubitors blocked the palace entrances during the night, and early in the morning, John Scholasticus, Patriarch of Constantinople, only then was the death of Justinian and the succession of Justin publicly announced in the Hippodrome of Constantinople. Both the Patriarch and Tiberius, commander of the Excubitors, had recently appointed, with Justin having played a part in their respective appointments. Their willingness to elevate their patron and ally to the throne was hardly surprising, in the first few days of his reign Justin paid his uncles debts, administered justice in person, and proclaimed universal religious toleration. Contrary to his uncle, Justin relied completely on the support of the aristocratic party, proud of character, and faced with an empty treasury, he discontinued Justinians practice of buying off potential enemies. Immediately after his accession, Justin halted the payment of subsidies to the Avars and they quickly overran the Po valley, and within a few years they had made themselves masters of nearly the entire country. The Avars themselves crossed the Danube in 573 or 574, when the Empires attention was distracted by troubles on the Persian frontier and they were only placated by the payment of a subsidy of 60,000 silver pieces by Justins successor Tiberius. The North and East frontiers were the focus of Justins attention. In 572 his refusal to pay tribute to the Persians in combination with overtures to the Turks led to a war with the Sassanid Empire, after two disastrous campaigns, in which the Persians overran Syria and captured the strategically important fortress of Dara, Justin reportedly lost his mind. Istämi refused the first request, but when he sanctioned the second one and had the Sogdian embassy sent to the Sassanid king, Justin agreed and sent an embassy to the Turkic Khaganate, ensuring the direct silk trade desired by the Sogdians. Previte-Orton continues, In foreign affairs he took the attitude of the invincible, unbending Roman, the temporary fits of insanity into which Justin fell warned him to name a colleague. Passing over his own relatives, he raised, on the advice of Sophia, the general Tiberius to be Caesar in December 574, adopting him as his son, in 574, Sophia paid 45,000 solidi to Chosroes in return for a years truce
11.
Joseph Mayer (antiquary)
–
Joseph Mayer was an English goldsmith, antiquary and collector. The son of Samuel Mayer, a tanner and currier, he was born at Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, at the age of 20 he settled in Liverpool as a jeweller and goldsmith, successful in business, he was able to indulge his passion for collecting. In 1860 he devoted himself to the movement, and was captain of the Liverpool borough guard. He raised and clothed at his own expense a corps of volunteers at Bebington, near Birkenhead, Cheshire, Mayer retired from business in 1873, and died unmarried at Pennant House, Bebington, Cheshire, on 19 January 1886, aged 82. His private library, prints and manuscripts were dispersed by auction in 1867, Mayer acquired many thousands of drawings, engravings, and autograph letters relating to the history of art in England. He became the possessor of large portions of the collections of William Upcott and of Thomas Dodd, Dodd was befriended in his latter days by Mayer, in whose house he died. In 1861 Mayer was deceived into purchasing some spurious papyri of the gospel of Matthew and other scriptures, concocted by the impostor Simonides, one of Mayers earliest studies was Greek coins, his cabinet of which he sold to the French government in 1844. He opened his own museum in Colquitt Street, Liverpool, H. Rolfes collection and that of Saxon sepulchral remains made by Bryan Faussett. For this collection Mayer printed in 1856 a catalogue and history, compiled for him by Charles Roach Smith, other sections of the museum contained antique ivories, gems and rings, enamels, miniatures, and metalwork. A number of books were printed wholly or in part at Mayers expense, among them being, Sprotts Chronicle, anglo-Saxon and Old English Vocabularies, edited by Thomas Wright,2 vols. 1857 and 1873, an edition, edited by Richard Paul Wülcker, was brought out in 1884. Feudal Manuals of English History, edited by Thomas Wright,1872, Mayer was one of the founders of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, of which he was president from 1866 to 1869. He contributed the following among other papers to its Transactions, The Mock Mayor at Newcastle-under-Lyme, roscoe and the Influence of his Writings on the Fine Arts. The Arming of Levies in the Hundred of Wirral, the Preparations of the County of Kent to resist the Spanish Armada. In 1876, he printed a volume on Early Exhibitions of Art in Liverpool and his museum, valued at £80,000, was presented by Mayer to the corporation of Liverpool in 1867, and became part of the public museum in William Brown Street there. It is now at the World Museum and he had previously disposed of a collection of objects of art relating to the Bonaparte family, but at the death of the owner it was bequeathed to the corporation. In 1866, Mayer established a library of twenty thousand volumes in Bebington. The library stood in grounds, which he also dedicated to the use of the people
12.
Hoard
–
A hoard or wealth deposit is an archaeological term for a collection of valuable objects or artifacts, sometimes purposely buried in the ground, in which case it is sometimes also known as a cache. Forgetfulness and physical displacement from the location of the hoard may contribute to failing to retrieve it, hoards provide a useful method of providing dates for artifacts through association as they can usually be assumed to be contemporary and therefore used in creating chronologies. Hoards can also be considered an indicator of the degree of unrest in ancient societies. Prudence Harper of the Metropolitan Museum of Art voiced some reservations about hoards at the time of the Soviet exhibition of Scythian gold in New York City in 1975. Hoards may be of precious metals, coinage, tools or less commonly, there are various classifications depending on the nature of the hoard. A founders hoard contains broken or unfit metal objects, ingots, casting waste and these were probably buried with the intention to be recovered at a later time. A merchants hoard is a collection of various functional items which, it is conjectured, were buried by a merchant for safety. A personal hoard is a collection of personal objects buried for safety in times of unrest, a hoard of loot is a buried collection of spoils from raiding and is more in keeping with the popular idea of buried treasure. Furthermore, votive hoards need not be manufactured goods, but can include organic amulets, votive hoards are often distinguished from more functional deposits by the nature of the goods themselves, the places buried, and the treatment of the deposit. However, it should be noted that valuables dedicated to the use of a deity were not always permanently abandoned, valuable objects given to a temple or church become the property of that institution, and may be used to its benefit
