1.
Poland
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Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe, situated between the Baltic Sea in the north and two mountain ranges in the south. Bordered by Germany to the west, the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south, Ukraine and Belarus to the east, the total area of Poland is 312,679 square kilometres, making it the 69th largest country in the world and the 9th largest in Europe. With a population of over 38.5 million people, Poland is the 34th most populous country in the world, the 8th most populous country in Europe, Poland is a unitary state divided into 16 administrative subdivisions, and its capital and largest city is Warsaw. Other metropolises include Kraków, Wrocław, Poznań, Gdańsk and Szczecin, the establishment of a Polish state can be traced back to 966, when Mieszko I, ruler of a territory roughly coextensive with that of present-day Poland, converted to Christianity. The Kingdom of Poland was founded in 1025, and in 1569 it cemented a political association with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania by signing the Union of Lublin. This union formed the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, one of the largest and most populous countries of 16th and 17th century Europe, Poland regained its independence in 1918 at the end of World War I, reconstituting much of its historical territory as the Second Polish Republic. In September 1939, World War II started with the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany, followed thereafter by invasion by the Soviet Union. More than six million Polish citizens died in the war, after the war, Polands borders were shifted westwards under the terms of the Potsdam Conference. With the backing of the Soviet Union, a communist puppet government was formed, and after a referendum in 1946. During the Revolutions of 1989 Polands Communist government was overthrown and Poland adopted a new constitution establishing itself as a democracy, informally called the Third Polish Republic. Since the early 1990s, when the transition to a primarily market-based economy began, Poland has achieved a high ranking on the Human Development Index. Poland is a country, which was categorised by the World Bank as having a high-income economy. Furthermore, it is visited by approximately 16 million tourists every year, Poland is the eighth largest economy in the European Union and was the 6th fastest growing economy on the continent between 2010 and 2015. According to the Global Peace Index for 2014, Poland is ranked 19th in the list of the safest countries in the world to live in. The origin of the name Poland derives from a West Slavic tribe of Polans that inhabited the Warta River basin of the historic Greater Poland region in the 8th century, the origin of the name Polanie itself derives from the western Slavic word pole. In some foreign languages such as Hungarian, Lithuanian, Persian and Turkish the exonym for Poland is Lechites, historians have postulated that throughout Late Antiquity, many distinct ethnic groups populated the regions of what is now Poland. The most famous archaeological find from the prehistory and protohistory of Poland is the Biskupin fortified settlement, dating from the Lusatian culture of the early Iron Age, the Slavic groups who would form Poland migrated to these areas in the second half of the 5th century AD. With the Baptism of Poland the Polish rulers accepted Christianity and the authority of the Roman Church
2.
Voivodeships of Poland
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A województwo is the highest-level administrative subdivision of Poland, corresponding to a province in many other countries. The term województwo has been in use since the 14th century, the word województwo is also rendered as voivodeship or a variant spelling. The Polish local government reforms adopted in 1998, which went into effect on 1 January 1999 and these replaced the 49 former voivodeships that had existed from 1 July 1975. Todays voivodeships are mostly named after historical and geographical regions, while prior to 1998 generally took their names from the cities on which they were centered. The new units range in area from under 10,000 km2 to over 35,000 km2, voivodeships are further divided into powiats and gminas, see Administrative divisions of Poland. Competences and powers at voivodeship level are shared between the voivode, the sejmik and the marshal. In most cases these institutions are all based in one city, but in Kuyavian-Pomeranian and Lubusz Voivodeship the voivodes offices are in a different city from those of the executive, Voivodeship capitals are listed in the table below. The voivode is appointed by the Prime Minister and is the representative of the central government. The voivodes offices collectively are known as the urząd wojewódzki, the sejmik is elected every four years, at the same time as the local authorities at powiat and gmina level. It passes bylaws, including the development strategies and budget. It also elects the marszałek and other members of the executive, the marshals offices are collectively known as the urząd marszałkowski. According to 2014 Eurostat data, the GDP per capita of Polish voivodeships varies notably, Administrative division of Poland between 1979 and 1998 included 49 voivodeships upheld after the establishment of the Third Polish Republic in 1989 for another decade. This reorganization of administrative division of Poland was mainly a result of government reform acts of 1973–1975. In place of the administrative division, a new two-level administrative division was introduced. The three smallest voivodeships – Warsaw, Kraków and Łódź – had the status of municipal voivodeship. After World War II, the new division of the country within the new national borders was based on the prewar one and included 14 voivodeships. The voivodeships in the east that had not been annexed by the Soviet Union had their borders left almost unchanged. The newly acquired territories in the west and north were organized into the new voivodeships of Szczecin, Wrocław and Olsztyn, two cities were granted voivodeship status, Warsaw and Łódź
3.
Silesian Voivodeship
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The Silesian Voivodeship, or Silesia Province, is a voivodeship, or province, in southern Poland, centered on the historic region known as Upper Silesia, with Katowice serving as its capital. The Voivodeship was created on 1 January 1999 out of the former Katowice, Częstochowa and Bielsko-Biała Voivodeships and it is the most densely populated voivodeship in Poland and within the area of 12,300 squared kilometres, there are almost 5 million inhabitants. It is also the largest urbanised area in Central and Eastern Europe, in relation to economy, over 13% of Poland’s Gross Domestic Product is generated here, making the Silesian Voivodeship one of the wealthiest provinces in the country. For the first time Silesian Voivodeship was appointed in Second Polish Republic and it had much wider range of power autonomy, than other contemporary Polish voivodeships and it covered all historical lands of Upper Silesia, which ended up in the Interwar period Poland. This Voivodeship did not include – as opposed to the present one – lands, after aggression of Nazi Germany, on 8 October 1939, Hitler published a decree About division and administration of Eastern Territories. A Silesian Province was created, with a seat in Breslau and it consisted of four districts, Kattowitz, Oppeln, Breslau and Liegnitz. However, according to Hitler’s dectee from 12 October 1939 about establishing General Government, Oppeln District – Lubinitz county and parts of Tschenstochau and Warthenau counties. After the War during 1945 -1950 there existed a Silesian Voivodeship, commonly known as Śląsko-Dąbrowskie Voivodeship, in 1950 Śląsko-Dąbrowskie Voivodeship was divided into Opole and Katowice Voivodeships. The latter one had borders similar to the borders of modern Silesian Voivodeship and it is also bordered by four other Polish voivodeships, those of Opole, Łódź, Świętokrzyskie, and Lesser Poland. The region includes the Silesian Upland in the centre and north-west, the southern border is formed by the Beskidy Mountains. The current administrative unit of Silesian Voivodeship is just a fraction of the historical Silesia which is within the borders of todays Poland, Other parts of todays Polish Silesia are administered as the Opole, the Lower Silesian Voivodeships and the Lubusz Voivodeship. On the other hand, a part of the current administrative unit of the Silesian Voivodeship is not part of historical Silesia. Silesian Voivodeship has the highest population density in the country, the regions considerable industrialisation gives it the lowest unemployment rate nationally. The Silesian region is the most industrialized and the most urbanized region in Poland, 78% of its live in towns. Both northern and southern part of the voivodeship is surrounded by a green belt, Bielsko-Biała is enveloped by the Beskidy Mountains which are popular with winter sports fans. It offers over 150 ski lifts and 200 kilometres of ski routes, more and more slopes are illuminated and equipped with artificial snow generators. Szczyrk, Brenna, Wisła and Ustroń are the most popular mountain resorts. Rock climbing sites can be found in Jura Krakowsko-Czestochowska, the ruins of castles forming the Eagle Nests Trail are a famous attraction of the region
4.
Powiat
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A powiat is the second-level unit of local government and administration in Poland, equivalent to a county, district or prefecture in other countries. The term powiat is most often translated into English as county, a powiat is part of a larger unit, the voivodeship or province. A powiat is usually subdivided into gminas, major towns and cities, however, function as separate counties in their own right, without subdivision into gminas. They are termed city counties and have roughly the same status as county boroughs in the UK. The other type of powiats are termed land counties, as of 2008, there were 379 powiat-level entities,314 land counties, and 65 city counties. For a complete listing, see List of Polish counties. For tables of counties by voivodeship, see the articles on the individual voivodeships, the history of Polish powiats goes back to the second half of the 14th century. They remained the basic unit of organization in Poland, then in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. After Poland regained independence in 1918, the powiats were again the territorial units. Powiats were abolished in 1975 in favor of a number of voivodeships. This reform also created 16 larger voivodeships, legislative power within a powiat is vested in an elected council, while local executive power is vested in the starosta, who is elected by that council. The administrative offices headed by the starosta are called the starostwo, however, in city counties these institutions do not exist separately – their powers and functions are exercised by the city council, the directly elected mayor, and the city offices. In some cases a powiat has its seat outside its own territory, for example, Poznań County has its offices in Poznań, although Poznań is itself a city county, and is therefore not part of Poznań County. Powiats have relatively limited powers, since many local and regional matters are dealt with either at gmina or voivodeship level, the Polish the name of an county, in the administrative sense, consists of the word powiat followed by a masculine-gender adjective. In most cases, this is the formed from the name of the town or city where the county has its seat. Thus the county with its seat at the town of Kutno is named powiat kutnowski, if the name of the seat comprises a noun followed by an adjective, as in Maków Mazowiecki, the adjective will generally be formed from the noun only. There are also a few counties whose names are derived from the names of two towns, from the name of a city and an adjective, or a mountain range. There is more one way to render such names into English
5.
Metropolitan area
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As social, economic and political institutions have changed, metropolitan areas have become key economic and political regions. The Greater São Paulo is a term for one of the multiple definitions the large metropolitan area located in the São Paulo state in Brazil. A metropolitan area combines an urban agglomeration with zones not necessarily urban in character and these outlying zones are sometimes known as a commuter belt, and may extend well beyond the urban zone, to other political entities. For example, El Monte, California is considered part of the Los Angeles metro area in the United States, in practice, the parameters of metropolitan areas, in both official and unofficial usage, are not consistent. Population figures given for one area can vary by millions. A polycentric metropolitan area is one not connected by continuous development or conurbation, in defining a metropolitan area, it is sufficient that a city or cities form a nucleus that other areas have a high degree of integration with. The Australian Bureau of Statistics defines statistical divisions as areas under the influence of one or more major towns or a major city. However, this definition has become obsolete with the conurbation of several statistical divisions into a larger metropolitan areas. In Brazil, metropolitan areas are called metropolitan regions, each State defines its own legislation for the creation, definition and organization of a metropolitan region. The creation of a region is not intended for any statistical purpose, although the Brazilian Institute of Geography. Their main purpose is to allow for a management of public policies of common interest to all cities involved. They dont have political, electoral or jurisdictional power whatsoever, so living in a metropolitan region do not elect representatives for them. Statistics Canada defines a metropolitan area as an area consisting of one or more adjacent municipalities situated around a major urban core. To form a CMA, the area must have a population of at least 100,000. To be included in the CMA, adjacent municipalities must have a degree of integration with the core. As of the Canada 2011 Census, there were 33 CMAs in Canada, including six with a population over one million—Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa, Calgary and Edmonton. In Denmark the only area is Greater Copenhagen, consisting of the Capital Region of Denmark along with the neighboring regions Region Zealand. Greater Copenhagen has an population of 1.25 million people
6.
Daylight saving time
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Daylight saving time is the practice of advancing clocks during summer months by one hour so that evening daylight lasts an hour longer, while sacrificing normal sunrise times. Typically, regions that use Daylight Savings Time adjust clocks forward one hour close to the start of spring, American inventor and politician Benjamin Franklin proposed a form of daylight time in 1784. New Zealander George Hudson proposed the idea of saving in 1895. The German Empire and Austria-Hungary organized the first nationwide implementation, starting on April 30,1916, many countries have used it at various times since then, particularly since the energy crisis of the 1970s. The practice has both advocates and critics, DST clock shifts sometimes complicate timekeeping and can disrupt travel, billing, record keeping, medical devices, heavy equipment, and sleep patterns. Computer software often adjusts clocks automatically, but policy changes by various jurisdictions of DST dates, industrialized societies generally follow a clock-based schedule for daily activities that do not change throughout the course of the year. The time of day that individuals begin and end work or school, North and south of the tropics daylight lasts longer in summer and shorter in winter, with the effect becoming greater as one moves away from the tropics. However, they will have one hour of daylight at the start of each day. Supporters have also argued that DST decreases energy consumption by reducing the need for lighting and heating, DST is also of little use for locations near the equator, because these regions see only a small variation in daylight in the course of the year. After ancient times, equal-length civil hours eventually supplanted unequal, so civil time no longer varies by season, unequal hours are still used in a few traditional settings, such as some monasteries of Mount Athos and all Jewish ceremonies. This 1784 satire proposed taxing window shutters, rationing candles, and waking the public by ringing church bells, despite common misconception, Franklin did not actually propose DST, 18th-century Europe did not even keep precise schedules. However, this changed as rail transport and communication networks came to require a standardization of time unknown in Franklins day. Modern DST was first proposed by the New Zealand entomologist George Hudson, whose shift work job gave him time to collect insects. An avid golfer, he also disliked cutting short his round at dusk and his solution was to advance the clock during the summer months, a proposal he published two years later. The proposal was taken up by the Liberal Member of Parliament Robert Pearce, a select committee was set up to examine the issue, but Pearces bill did not become law, and several other bills failed in the following years. Willett lobbied for the proposal in the UK until his death in 1915, william Sword Frost, mayor of Orillia, Ontario, introduced daylight saving time in the municipality during his tenure from 1911 to 1912. Starting on April 30,1916, the German Empire and its World War I ally Austria-Hungary were the first to use DST as a way to conserve coal during wartime, Britain, most of its allies, and many European neutrals soon followed suit. Russia and a few other countries waited until the year
7.
Central European Summer Time
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It corresponds to UTC + two hours. Other names which have been applied to Central European Summer Time are Middle European Summer Time, Central European Daylight Saving Time, and Bravo Time. Since 1996 European Summer Time has been observed between 1,00 UTC on the last Sunday of March and 1,00 on the last Sunday of October, the following countries and territories use Central European Summer Time. In addition, Libya used CEST during the years 1951–1959, 1982–1989, 1996–1997, European Summer Time Other countries and territories in UTC+2 time zone Other names of UTC+2 time zone
8.
Vehicle registration plates of Poland
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Polish vehicle registration plates indicate the region of registration of the vehicle encoded in the number plate. According to Polish law, the plate is tied to the vehicle. There is no possibility for the owner to keep the number for use on a different car. The licence plates are issued by the powiat of the vehicle owners registered address of residence, if it is owned by a legal person, the place of registration is determined by the address of its seat. Vehicles leased under operating leases and many de facto finance leases will be registered at the seat of the lessor, when a vehicle changes hands, the new owner must apply for new vehicle registration document bearing his or her name and registered address. The new owner may obtain a new licence plate although it is not necessary when new owners residence address lies in the area as the previous owners. In such a situation the licence plates are carried over to the new owner. If the car has a pre- May 1,2006 plate, the plaque cannot be replaced if destroyed. The change of the set is required. The change in system shown below in 2001 is related to the reduction in the year of the number of voivodeships in Poland from 49 to 16. The pre-2001 licence plates can be used indefinitely, but since they are obsolete they have to be replaced in case of change of vehicles ownership. In the pre-2001 model, there were not sufficient letters in the Polish alphabet for each of the old voivodeships to have a single letter, only the standard latin alphabet were used, the specific Polish characters with diacritics were excluded in order to make the plates fully internationally readable. Therefore, two letters had to be used to indicate the vehicles origin, since the change, the first letter denotes the new voivodeship. One additional letter is used in cities with rights of powiat, two additional letters are used in any other powiat. It is not necessary for EU citizens to re-register the vehicles they have brought them, which are duly registered and taxed elsewhere in the EU. This emerges from European law, although local regulations have to not been changed to reflect the law. If in doubt, refer to your Embassy, if the vehicle uses only one licence plate the excessive sticker must be attached to the registration papers. Each powiat uses a two or three letter code, with the first letter denoting the powiats voivodeship
9.
German language
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German is a West Germanic language that is mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, South Tyrol, the German-speaking Community of Belgium and it is also one of the three official languages of Luxembourg. Major languages which are most similar to German include other members of the West Germanic language branch, such as Afrikaans, Dutch, English, Luxembourgish and it is the second most widely spoken Germanic language, after English. One of the languages of the world, German is the first language of about 95 million people worldwide. The German speaking countries are ranked fifth in terms of publication of new books. German derives most of its vocabulary from the Germanic branch of the Indo-European language family, a portion of German words are derived from Latin and Greek, and fewer are borrowed from French and English. With slightly different standardized variants, German is a pluricentric language, like English, German is also notable for its broad spectrum of dialects, with many unique varieties existing in Europe and also other parts of the world. The history of the German language begins with the High German consonant shift during the migration period, when Martin Luther translated the Bible, he based his translation primarily on the standard bureaucratic language used in Saxony, also known as Meißner Deutsch. Copies of Luthers Bible featured a long list of glosses for each region that translated words which were unknown in the region into the regional dialect. Roman Catholics initially rejected Luthers translation, and tried to create their own Catholic standard of the German language – the difference in relation to Protestant German was minimal. It was not until the middle of the 18th century that a widely accepted standard was created, until about 1800, standard German was mainly a written language, in urban northern Germany, the local Low German dialects were spoken. Standard German, which was different, was often learned as a foreign language with uncertain pronunciation. Northern German pronunciation was considered the standard in prescriptive pronunciation guides though, however, German was the language of commerce and government in the Habsburg Empire, which encompassed a large area of Central and Eastern Europe. Until the mid-19th century, it was essentially the language of townspeople throughout most of the Empire and its use indicated that the speaker was a merchant or someone from an urban area, regardless of nationality. Some cities, such as Prague and Budapest, were gradually Germanized in the years after their incorporation into the Habsburg domain, others, such as Pozsony, were originally settled during the Habsburg period, and were primarily German at that time. Prague, Budapest and Bratislava as well as cities like Zagreb, the most comprehensive guide to the vocabulary of the German language is found within the Deutsches Wörterbuch. This dictionary was created by the Brothers Grimm and is composed of 16 parts which were issued between 1852 and 1860, in 1872, grammatical and orthographic rules first appeared in the Duden Handbook. In 1901, the 2nd Orthographical Conference ended with a standardization of the German language in its written form
10.
Silesian language
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Silesian or Upper Silesian is a West Slavic lect, part of its Lechitic group. Its vocabulary has been influenced by Central German due to the existence of numerous Silesian German speakers in the area prior to World War II and after. There is no consensus on whether Silesian is a language or a somewhat divergent dialect of Polish. Silesian speakers currently live in the region of Upper Silesia, which is split between southwestern Poland and the northeastern Czech Republic. At present Silesian is commonly spoken in the area between the border of Silesia on the east and a line from Syców to Prudnik on the west as well as in the Rawicz area. Until 1945 Silesian was also spoken in enclaves in Lower Silesia, in 2003, the National Publishing Company of Silesia commenced operations. This publisher was founded by the Alliance of the People of the Silesian Nation and it prints books about Silesia, in July 2007, the Slavic Silesian language was given the ISO 639-3 code szl. On 6 September 2007,23 politicians of the Polish parliament made a statement about a new law to give Silesian the official status of a regional language, the first official National Dictation Contest of the Silesian language took place in August 2007. In dictation as many as 10 forms of writing systems and orthography have been accepted, on 30 January 2008 and in June 2008, two organizations promoting Silesian language were established, Pro Loquela Silesiana and Tôwarzistwo Piastowaniô Ślónskij Môwy Danga. On 26 May 2008, the Silesian Wikipedia was founded, on 30 June 2008 in the edifice of the Silesian Parliament in Katowice, a conference took place on the status of the Silesian language. This conference was a forum for politicians, linguists, representatives of interested organizations and persons who deal with the Silesian language, the conference was titled Silesian — Still a Dialect or Already a Language. Ślabikŏrzowy szrajbōnek is the new alphabet created by the Pro Loquela Silesiana organization to reflect the sounds of all Silesian dialects. It was approved by Silesian organizations affiliated in Rada Górnośląska, ubuntu translation is in this alphabet as is the Silesian Wikipedia. It is used in a few books, including the Silesian alphabet book. Letters, A, Ã, B, C, Ć, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, Ł, M, N, Ń, O, Ŏ, Ō, Ô, Õ, P, R, S, Ś, T, U, W, Y, Z, Ź, Ż. One of the first alphabets created specifically for Silesian was Steuers Silesian alphabet, created in the Interwar period, Silesians phonetic alphabet replaces the digraphs with single letters and does not include the letter Ł, whose sound can be represented phonetically with U. It is therefore the alphabet contains the fewest letters. Large parts of the Silesian Wikipedia, however, are written in Silesians phonetic alphabet, although the morphological differences between Silesian and Polish have been researched extensively, other grammatical differences have not been studied in depth
11.
City
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A city is a large and permanent human settlement. Cities generally have complex systems for sanitation, utilities, land usage, housing, a big city or metropolis usually has associated suburbs and exurbs. Such cities are associated with metropolitan areas and urban areas. Once a city expands far enough to another city, this region can be deemed a conurbation or megalopolis. Damascus is arguably the oldest city in the world, in terms of population, the largest city proper is Shanghai, while the fastest-growing is Dubai. There is not enough evidence to assert what conditions gave rise to the first cities, some theorists have speculated on what they consider suitable pre-conditions and basic mechanisms that might have been important driving forces. The conventional view holds that cities first formed after the Neolithic revolution, the Neolithic revolution brought agriculture, which made denser human populations possible, thereby supporting city development. The advent of farming encouraged hunter-gatherers to abandon nomadic lifestyles and to settle near others who lived by agricultural production, the increased population density encouraged by farming and the increased output of food per unit of land created conditions that seem more suitable for city-like activities. In his book, Cities and Economic Development, Paul Bairoch takes up position in his argument that agricultural activity appears necessary before true cities can form. According to Vere Gordon Childe, for a settlement to qualify as a city, it must have enough surplus of raw materials to support trade and a relatively large population. To illustrate this point, Bairoch offers an example, Western Europe during the pre-Neolithic, when the cost of transport is taken into account, the figure rises to 200,000 square kilometres. Bairoch noted that this is roughly the size of Great Britain, the urban theorist Jane Jacobs suggests that city formation preceded the birth of agriculture, but this view is not widely accepted. In his book City Economics, Brendan OFlaherty asserts Cities could persist—as they have for thousands of years—only if their advantages offset the disadvantages, OFlaherty illustrates two similar attracting advantages known as increasing returns to scale and economies of scale, which are concepts usually associated with businesses. Their applications are seen in more basic economic systems as well, increasing returns to scale occurs when doubling all inputs more than doubles the output an activity has economies of scale if doubling output less than doubles cost. To offer an example of these concepts, OFlaherty makes use of one of the oldest reasons why cities were built, in this example, the inputs are anything that would be used for protection and the output is the area protected and everything of value contained in it. OFlaherty then asks that we suppose the protected area is square, the advantage is expressed as, O = s 2, where O is the output and s stands for the length of a side. This equation shows that output is proportional to the square of the length of a side, the inputs depend on the length of the perimeter, I =4 s, where I stands for the quantity of inputs. So there are increasing returns to scale, O = I2 /16 and this equation shows that with twice the inputs, you produce quadruple the output
12.
Silesia
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Silesia is a region of Central Europe located mostly in Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is about 40,000 km2, and its population about 8,000,000, Silesia is located along the Oder River. It consists of Lower Silesia and Upper Silesia, the region is rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas. Silesias largest city and historical capital is Wrocław, the biggest metropolitan area is the Upper Silesian metropolitan area, the centre of which is Katowice. Parts of the Czech city of Ostrava fall within the borders of Silesia, Silesias borders and national affiliation have changed over time, both when it was a hereditary possession of noble houses and after the rise of modern nation-states. The first known states to hold there were probably those of Greater Moravia at the end of the 9th century. In the 10th century, Silesia was incorporated into the early Polish state, in the 14th century, it became a constituent part of the Bohemian Crown Lands under the Holy Roman Empire, which passed to the Austrian Habsburg Monarchy in 1526. Most of Silesia was conquered by Prussia in 1742, later becoming part of the German Empire, the Weimar Republic, the varied history with changing aristocratic possessions resulted in an abundance of castles in Silesia, especially in the Jelenia Góra valley. The remaining former Austrian parts of Silesia were partitioned to Czechoslovakia, in 1945, after World War II, the bulk of Silesia was transferred to Polish jurisdiction by the Potsdam Agreement of the victorious Allied Powers and became part of Poland. The small Lusatian strip west of the Oder-Neisse line, which had belonged to Silesia since 1815 and its centres are Görlitz and Bautzen. Most inhabitants of Silesia today speak the languages of their respective countries. The population of Upper Silesia is native, while Lower Silesia was settled by a German-speaking population before 1945, an ongoing debate exists whether Silesian speech should be considered a dialect of Polish or a separate language. Also, a Lower Silesian German dialect is used, although today it is almost extinct and it is used by expellees within Germany, as well as Germans who were left behind. The names all relate to the name of a river and mountain in mid-southern Silesia, the mountain served as a cultic place. Ślęża is listed as one of the numerous Pre-Indo-European topographic names in the region, according to some Polish Slavists, the name Ślęża or Ślęż is directly related to the Old Slavic words ślęg or śląg, which means dampness, moisture, or humidity. They disagree with the hypothesis of an origin for the name Śląsk from the name of the Silings tribe, in the fourth century BC, Celts entered Silesia, settling around Mount Ślęża near modern Wrocław, Oława, and Strzelin. Germanic Lugii tribes were first recorded within Silesia in the 1st century, Slavic peoples arrived in the region around the 7th century, and by the early ninth century, their settlements had stabilized. Local Slavs started to erect boundary structures like the Silesian Przesieka, the eastern border of Silesian settlement was situated to the west of the Bytom, and east from Racibórz and Cieszyn
13.
Katowice
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Katowice /ˌkætəˈviːtsə/ is a city in southwestern Poland and the center of the Silesian Metropolis, with a population of 299,910 as of 2015. Throughout the mid-18th century, Katowice had developed into a village upon the discovery of coal reserves in the area. In 1742 the infamous Silesian War transferred Upper Silesia, including Katowice, simultaneously Silesia experienced the influx of the first Jewish settlers. In the first half of the 19th century, intensive industrialization transformed local mills and farms into industrial steelworks, mines, foundries and this also contributed to the establishment of companies and eventual rapid growth of the city. At the same time, Katowice became linked to the system with the first train arriving at the main station in 1847. The outbreak of World War I was favourable for Katowice due to the steel industry. Following Germanys defeat and the Silesian Uprisings aimed at unfair pro-German plebiscites, Katowice, Poland was then backed by the Geneva Convention and the ethnic Silesian minority. On 3 May 1921, the Polish army entered Katowice and the Polish administration took control, the city became the capital of the autonomous Silesian Voivodeship as well as the seat of the Silesian Parliament and Committee of Upper Silesia. After the plebiscite many former German citizens emigrated, however a vibrant German community remained until the end of World War II, in 1939, after the Wehrmacht seized the town, Katowice and the provinces were incorporated into the Third Reich. The town was liberated by the Allies on 27 January 1945. Katowice is a center of science, culture, industry, business, trade, and transportation in Upper Silesia and southern Poland, today, the city is considered as an emerging metropolis. The whole metropolitan area is the 16th most economically powerful city by GDP in the European Union with an output amounting to $114.5 billion, Katowice is the seat of the Polish National Radio Symphony and Orchestra. It also hosts the finals of Intel Extreme Masters, a video game tournament. The area around Katowice, in Upper Silesia, has been inhabited by ethnic Silesians from its earliest documented history, initially it was ruled by the Polish Silesian Piast dynasty until its extinction. The settlement of the area surrounding Katowice dates back to the end of the 12th century, from 1138, the Bytom castellany encompassed territories where Katowice is located nowadays. In 1177 the lands were handed over by Duke Casimir II the Just to his nephew Mieszko I Tanglefoot. From 1327, the region was under Czech administration as part of the Kingdom of Bohemia, historians assume that Katowice was founded on the right bank of the Rawa river by Andrzej Bogucki in around 1580. In 1598 a village called Villa Nova was also documented to stand in the now occupied by the city of Katowice
14.
Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union
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The Silesian Metropolis, formally Metropolitan Association of Upper Silesia is an association of municipalities composed of 14 adjacent cities in the Polish Province of Silesia. The seat of the city council is Katowice, the largest district of the Silesian Metropolis and it is often confused as a term referring the local conurbation in a geographical context, the Katowice Urban Area and Upper Silesian metropolitan area. The Silesian Metropolis as a Katowice area lies one of the largest urban areas in European Union. It was created by local authorities with little or no actual public discourse, the intent to form the union was formally stated by the mayors of the participating cities, who signed a declaration to this effect on 9 January 2006 in Świętochłowice. The Unions registration was signed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, in 2006 and 2007, the union planned to unite these cities into one entity, Silesia. The aim of the union is the creation of a metropolitan center with pooled resources. Nine million people live within 100 km of Silesian Stadium at the MAUS center, six European capitals are located within 600 kilometres from MAUS, Berlin, Vienna, Prague, Bratislava, Budapest and Warsaw. Outside of the area, the formation of the union appears to have less support than within it. Originally 17 cities were to enter into the union, due to technicalities in Polish law which could have prevented its legalization, nationally, the union strives to address several problems including, Poor recognition Under-investment Cities bordering directly on the Silesian Metropolis are shown below. Some of these declared their willingness to join the Silesian Metropolis. MAUS is the centre of the largest urban area in Poland and one of largest in the European Union, the area flourished in the 19th and early 20th centuries, thanks to industry and natural resources. The conurbation consists of about 40 neighbouring cities, and the Silesian metropolitan area includes over 50 cities with a population of 5 million. Katowice is also in the middle of a 7-million-population megalopolis, stretching from the Kraków region through Katowice to the Ostrava region, the area has a humid continental climate. The average temperature is 8.2 degrees Celsius, the areas characteristic light breezes blow at about 2 m/s from the west, through the Moravian Gate. MAUS is an area of concentration of industry, including coal, steel, energy, automotive, machinery. Over the last two decades, the industry has become increasingly important. Katowice is a large and dynamic business and trade-fair centre, tens of international exhibitions take place every year on the Katowice International Fairgrounds and at the Spodek arena. Katowice is also the site of the second-largest business centre in Poland, skyscrapers are located along Chorzowska and Korfantego streets in the city centre
15.
Rawa (river)
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Rawa, older name Roździanka) is a minor river in Silesia, Poland. It is the largest right tributary of the Brynica, itself a tributary of the Przemsza, the entire length of the Rawa is within the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union. It has its source in Ruda Śląska and crosses the cities of Świętochłowice, Chorzów, finally in Sosnowiec it joins the Brynica River only several hundred metres before the latter joins with Czarna Przemsza. The Rawa has lost most of its natural character, and is now mostly a sewage channel flowing underground. Works have begun in order to restore it back to a sound water flow. The river has a source in the Marcin pond in Ruda Śląska and it flows through Świętochłowice, Chorzów, Katowice, Mysłowice and finally Sosnowiec where it joins Brynica just before the latter joins with Czarna Przemsza. During much of its route it flows underground, beneath the citys infrastructure and it is filled by rain, as well as sewage. It has several small confluences, such as Potok Leśny, the river is notorious for being heavily polluted. Reported to be clear in 1875, the industrialization of Silesia caused the river to become so polluted that all the fish died out by 1893. The continued growth of industry and cities throughout the 20th century, combined with little effort towards preserving the environment, continued to degrade the quality of the water in the river. In 1992, the river, leaving Katowice, was claimed to contain only 14% water, currently the upper part of the river is officially classified as sewage and the plan is to direct the entire river flow through a treatment plant. In the 1990s plans to improve quality and restore the ecology of the river were begun. So far new sewage treatment plants have completed, and the plan is supposed to significantly improve the rivers quality by 2010. The primary reason for the regulation of the Ravas flow was the need to prevent flooding as mining continued to lower the level of local lands, the first plans for controlling the flow date to 1863. Plans to regulate the length of the Rawa were ready in 1903. The start of the First World War interrupted Prussian government implementation, after the war, the German plans were continued by the government of the Second Polish Republic in the late 1920s, with the construction of a sewage treatment plant. The work was completed in 1938, but the flow conditions did not last because of the continued lowering of the land. The second regulation of the river was conducted between 1975 and 1993, sources first mention the river in 1737, as Róździanka - from an old village of Roździeń, now part of Katowices district of Szopienice
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Vistula
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The Vistula is the longest and largest river in Poland, at 1,047 kilometres in length. The drainage basin area of the Vistula is 194,424 km2, the remainder is in Belarus, Ukraine and Slovakia. The Vistula rises at Barania Góra in the south of Poland,1,220 meters above sea level in the Silesian Beskids, where it begins with the White Little Vistula and the Black Little Vistula. It empties into the Vistula Lagoon or directly into the Gdańsk Bay of the Baltic Sea with a delta, the name was first recorded by Pomponius Mela in AD40 and by Pliny in AD77 in his Natural History. Mela names the river Vistula, Pliny uses Vistla, the root of the name Vistula is Indo-European *u̯eis- to ooze, flow slowly and is found in many European rivernames. The diminutive endings -ila, -ula, were used in many Indo-European languages, in writing about the Vistula River and its peoples, Ptolemy uses the Greek spelling Ouistoula. Other ancient sources spell it Istula, ammianus Marcellinus refers to the Bisula, note the absence of the -t-. Jordanes uses Viscla, while the Anglo-Saxon poem Widsith refers to it as the Wistla, the Vistula river basin covers 194,424 square kilometres, its average altitude rising to 270 metres above sea level. In addition, the majority of its basin is located at heights of 100 to 200 m above sea level. The highest point of the basin lies at 2,655 metres. The asymmetry of the basin is 73–27%. The most recent glaciation of the Pleistocene epoch, which ended around 10,000 BC, is called the Vistulian glaciation or Weichselian glaciation in regard to north-central Europe. The river forms a delta called the Żuławy Wiślane around the town of Biała Góra near Sztum, about 50 km from the mouth. In the city of Gdańsk the Head of the Leniwka branch separates again into the Szkarpawa branch, the so-called Dead Wisła divides again into the Przegalinie branch flowing into Gdańsk Bay. Until the 14th century the Vistula was divided into an eastern branch, the Elbląg Vistula, and the smaller western branch. Since 1371 the Vistula of Gdańsk is the main artery. After the flood in 1840 an additional branch formed called the Śmiała Wisła, in 1890 through 1895, additional waterworks were carried out up the Świbna. The history of the River Vistula and her valley spans over 2 million years, the river is connected to the geological period called the Quaternary, in which distinct cooling of the climate took place
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Upper Silesian metropolitan area
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The Upper Silesian metropolitan area is a metropolitan area in southern Poland and northeast Czech Republic, centered on the cities of Katowice and Ostrava in Silesia. Located in the three units, mainly Silesian Voivodeship, small western part of Lesser Poland Voivodeship and small east part of Moravian-Silesian Region. The area lies within the Upper Silesian Coal Basin, Silesian metropolitan area with nearby Kraków metropolitan area and Częstochowa metropolitan area create a great metropolitan area covering 7 million people. Upper Silesian metropolitan area has a population of 5,294,000, according to Polish Scientific Publishers area is 5,400 km², with 4,500 km² in Poland and 900 km² in the Czech Republic. Historically, most of the area was characterized by industry since the age of industrialisation in the late 19th. In addition to coal, Upper Silesia also contains a number of other minable resources, resources of coal to a depth to 1000 meters – about 70 billion tons, the conditions for the extraction – good. Rhine-Ruhr Katowice urban area, part of the Upper Silesian metropolitan area Upper Silesian Industrial Region Silesian Metropolis, a political and economic association of local municipalities
18.
Pope Innocent II
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Pope Innocent II, born Gregorio Papareschi, was Pope from 14 February 1130 to his death in 1143. His election was controversial and the first eight years of his reign were marked by a struggle for recognition against the supporters of Antipope Anacletus II and he reached an understanding with Lothair II, Holy Roman Emperor who supported him against Anacletus and whom he crowned King of the Romans. Innocent went on to preside over the Second Lateran council, Papareschi came from a Roman family, probably of the rione Trastevere. He was probably one of the clergy in personal attendance on the Antipope Clement III, Pope Paschal II made him a cardinal deacon. In this capacity, he accompanied Pope Gelasius II when he was driven into France and he was consecrated on 14 February, the day after Honorius death. Anacletus mixed group of supporters were powerful enough to control of Rome while Innocent was forced to flee north. Based on a majority of the entire college of cardinals, Anacletus was the canonically elected pope. However, the legislation of Pope Nicholas II pre-empted the choice of the majority of the cardinal priests and this rule was changed by the Second Lateran council of 1139. In October of the year he was duly acknowledged by Holy Roman Emperor Lothair III. Anacletus and his supporters being in control of St. Peters Basilica, the coronation ultimately took place in the Lateran Church. Innocent took as cardinal-nephew first his nephew, Gregorio Papareschi, whom he elevated to cardinal in 1134, and then his brother Pietro Papareschi, another nephew, Cinzio Papareschi, was also a cardinal, raised to the cardinalate in 1158, after Innocents death. By the Second Lateran council of 1139, at which King Roger II of Sicily, Innocent IIs most uncompromising foe, was excommunicated, as a result, Roman factions that wished Tivoli annihilated took up arms against Innocent. This was a keystone in the Templars ever increasing power and wealth, on 22 July 1139, at Galluccio, Roger IIs son Roger III, Duke of Apulia, ambushed the papal troops with a thousand knights and captured Innocent. On 25 July 1139, Innocent was forced to acknowledge the kingship, in 1143, Innocent refused to recognise the Treaty of Mignano with Roger of Sicily, who sent Robert of Selby to march on papal Benevento. The terms agreed upon at Mignano were then recognised, Innocent II died on 24 September 1143 and was succeeded by Pope Celestine II. The doctrinal questions which he was called on to decide were those that condemned the opinions of Pierre Abélard, in 1143, as the Pope lay dying, the Commune of Rome, to resist papal power, began deliberations that officially reinstated the Roman Senate the following year. The Pope was interred in a sarcophagus that contemporary tradition asserted had been the Emperor Hadrians. Bull of Gniezno Pope Innocent II, in, Salvador Miranda, The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church, online at fiu. edu, Website of Florida International University, retrieved 3 July 2011
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Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem
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Since 2005, the Eastern Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem has been Theophilos III. The Patriarch is styled Patriarch of the Holy City of Jerusalem and all Holy Land, Syria, beyond the Jordan River, Cana of Galilee, and Holy Zion. The Patriarch is the head of the Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulchre, the Patriarchate traces its line of succession to the first Christian bishops of Jerusalem, the first being James the Just in the 1st century AD. Jerusalem was granted autocephaly in 451 by the Council of Chalcedon, certainly no spot in Christendom can be more venerable than the place of the Last Supper, which became the first Christian church. James the Just, who was martyred around 62, is described as the first Bishop of Jerusalem and this led to Jerusalem becoming a patriarchate, one of the five patriarchates known as the pentarchy, when the title of patriarch was created in 531 by Justinian. After the Saracen conquest in the 7th century, Muslims recognized Jerusalem as the seat of Christianity, in 1099 the Crusaders appointed a Latin Patriarch. As a result, the Eastern Orthodox Patriarchs lived in exile in Constantinople until 1187, today, the headquarters of the patriarchate is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. The number of Eastern Orthodox Christians in the Holy Land is estimated to be about 200,000, a majority of Church members are Palestinian Arabs, and there are also a small number of Assyrians, Greeks and Georgians. The patriarchate was recently involved in a significant controversy, Patriarch Irenaios, elected in 2001, was deposed, on decisions of the Holy Synod of Jerusalem, in the aftermath of a scandal involving the sale of church land in East Jerusalem to Israeli investors. The move enraged many Eastern Orthodox Palestinian members, since the land was in an area that most Palestinians hoped would become part of a Palestinian state. On May 24,2005 a special Pan-Orthodox Synod was convened in Constantinople to review the decisions of the Holy Synod of Jerusalem. On August 22,2005, the Holy Synod of the Church of Jerusalem unanimously elected Theophilos, the early Christian community of Jerusalem was led by a Council of Elders, and considered itself part of the wider Israelite community. This collegiate system of government in Jerusalem is seen in Acts 11,30 and 15,22, eusebius of Caesarea provides the names of an unbroken succession of thirty-six Bishops of Jerusalem up to the year 324. These are the bishops of Jerusalem that lived between the age of the apostles and the referred to, all of them belonging to the circumcision. The province was renamed Syria Palaestina, Jerusalem was left in total ruin, and a new city built nearby called Aelia Capitolina. These gentile bishops, were appointed under the authority of the Metropolitans of Caesarea, until the setting up of the Patriarchates in 325, Metropolitan was the highest episcopal rank in the Christian church. Also, the Council for the first time established the Patriarchates, the Bishops of Jerusalem were appointed by the Patriarchs of Antioch. Macarius I Maximus III Cyril I John II Praulius Juvenal, since 451 Patriarch The Council of Chalcedon in 451 raised the bishop of Jerusalem to the rank of patriarch
20.
Order of the Holy Sepulchre
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The pope is sovereign of the order. Founded as Milites Sancti Sepulcri attached to the Augustinian Canons Regular of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, recognised in 1113 by Papal bull of Pope Paschal II and of Pope Calistus II in 1122. Besides the Canons Regular, early members included secular canons, Milites Sancti Sepulcri, armed knights of valour and dedication chosen from the crusader troops. Together they vowed to obey the Augustinian Rule of poverty and obedience, and undertook specifically to defend the Holy Sepulchre, still today, the order bestows Canons as well as Knights, with the primary mission to support the Christian presence in the Holy Land. In 1496, Pope Alexander VI vested the Grand Magistry in the Papacy, in 1847, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem was restored by Pope Pius IX and the chivalric order was reorganised based on legal and spiritual ties to the Holy See. From 1949, Grand Masters have been Cardinals and it is the only order of chivalry, together with the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, that is recognised and protected by the Holy See. The order today is estimated to have some 23,000 members in 52 Lieutenancies around the world, including monarchs, heads of state, the current Cardinal Grand Master is Edwin Frederick OBrien since 2011, and the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem is Grand Prior. Its headquarters are situated at Palazzo Della Rovere and its church in SantOnofrio al Gianicolo. The name of the Knights and Order varied over the centuries, including the Milites Sancti Sepulcri, the current name was determined on 27 July 1931 as the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem by decree of the Sacred Congregation of Ceremonies of the Holy See. Pilgrimages to the Holy Land were a common, if hazardous, numerous detailed commentaries have survived as evidence of this early Christian devotion. While there were places the pious visited during their travels. During the era of the Islamic expansion, Emperor Charlemagne sent two embassies to the Caliph of Baghdad, asking Frankish protectorate over the Holy Land, an epic chanson de geste recounts his legendary adventures in the Mediterranean and pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Tradition maintains that long before the Crusades, a form of knighthood was bestowed upon worthy men at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. In any case, during the 11th century, prior to the Crusades, milites sancti Petri were established to protect Christians, persecution of Christians in the Holy Land intensified. Relations with the worlds Christian rulers was further strained when Caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah ordered the destruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in 1009. The crusades coincided with a concern in Europe for the holy places. After the capture of Jerusalem at the end of the First Crusade in 1099, the men in charge of securing its defense and its community of canons were called Milites Sancti Sepulcri. Together, the canons and the formed part of the structure of which evolved into the modern Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem
21.
Bytom
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Bytom is a city in Silesia in southern Poland, near Katowice. It lies in the district of the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union – a metropolis with a population of 2 million. Bytom is located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Bytomka river, the city has belonged to the Silesian Voivodeship since its formation in 1999. Previously it was in Katowice Voivodeship, Bytom is one of the cities within the conurbation of the Katowice urban area as well as within a greater Silesian metropolitan area populated by about 5,294,000 people. The population of the city is 183,251, Bytom is located on the range Bytom-Katowice, in the Upland of Miechowice, which is in turn a central part of the Silesian Upland. The city straddles between north latitudes 50°19′ i 50°26′ and east longitudes 18°47′ i 18°58′, the city itself is not placed exclusively in the Upland of Miechowice, where only the central part of the town stands. The rest of the city reaches as far as the valleys of Drama and Szarlejka to the north, Brynica to the north and east, the bedrock of the Upland of Miechowice consists primarily of sandstones and slates. The rocks are punctuated with abundant natural resources of coal and iron ore from the Carboniferous period. In the north part of the upland, in the Bytom basin lays the broad range of the rocks, from sandstones to limestones, with rich ore, zinc. The upper layer is composed of clay, sand and gravel, one half of the coat of arms of Bytom depicts a miner mining coal, while the other half presents a yellow eagle on the blue field – the symbol of Upper Silesia. Bytom is one of the oldest cities of Upper Silesia, originally recorded as Bitom in 1136 and it received city rights from prince Władysław in 1254 with its first centrally located market square. The city of Bytom benefited economically from its location on a route linking Kraków with Silesia from east to west. The first Roman Catholic Church of the Virgin Mary was built in 1231, in 1259 Bytom was raided by the Mongols. The Duchy of Opole was split and in 1281 Bitom became a duchy, since 1289 under overlordship. Due to German settlers coming to the area, the city was Germanized and it came under control of the Habsburg Monarchy of Austria in 1526, which increased the influence of the German language. The city became part of the Kingdom of Prussia in 1742 during the Silesian Wars, in the 19th and the first part of the 20th centuries, the city rapidly grew and industrialized. Before 1939, the town, along with Gleiwitz, was at the tip of German Silesia. The Bytom Synagogue was burned down by Nazi German SS and SA troopers during the Kristallnacht on 9–10 November 1938, during World War II, the Beuthen Jewish community was liquidated via the first ever Holocaust transport to be exterminated at Auschwitz-Birkenau
22.
Town privileges
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Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. Judicially, a borough was distinguished from the countryside by means of a charter from the monarch that defined its privileges. Common privileges involved trade and the establishment of guilds, some of these privileges were permanent and could imply that the town obtained the right to be called a borough, hence the term borough rights. Some degree of self-government, representation by diet, and tax-relief could also be granted, multiple tiers existed, for example, in Sweden, the basic royal charter establishing a borough enabled trade, but not foreign trade, which required a higher-tier charter granting staple right
23.
Moorland
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Moorland nowadays generally means uncultivated hill land, but includes low-lying wetlands. It is closely related to heath although experts disagree on precisely what distinguishes the types of vegetation, generally, moor refers to highland, high rainfall zones, whereas heath refers to lowland zones which are more likely to be the result of human activity. Most of the worlds moorlands are very diverse ecosystems, in the extensive moorlands of the tropics biodiversity can be extremely high. Moorland also bears a relationship to tundra, appearing as the tundra retreats, the boundary between tundra and moorland constantly shifts with climate change. Heathland and moorland are the most extensive areas of vegetation in the British Isles. The eastern British moorlands are similar to heaths but are differentiated by having a covering of peat, on western moors the peat layer may be several metres thick. There is uncertainty about how many moors were created by human activity, how much the deforestation was caused by climatic changes and how much by human activity is uncertain. A variety of habitat types are found in different world regions of moorland. The wildlife and vegetation forms often lead to high endemism because of the severe soil, for example, in Englands Exmoor is found the rare horse breed the Exmoor Pony, which has adapted to the harsh conditions of that environment. In Europe, the fauna consists of bird species such as red grouse, hen harrier, merlin, golden plover, curlew, skylark, meadow pipit, whinchat, ring ouzel. Other species dominate in moorlands elsewhere, reptiles are few due to the cooler conditions. In Europe, only the common viper is frequent, though in other regions moorlands are commonly home to dozens of reptile species, amphibians such as frogs are well represented in moorlands. When moorland is overgrazed, woody vegetation is often lost, being replaced by coarse, unpalatable grasses and bracken, some hill sheep breeds, such as Scottish Blackface and the Lonk, thrive on the austere conditions of heather moors. Burning of moorland has been practised for a number of reasons and this is recorded in Britain in the fourteenth century. Uncontrolled burning frequently caused problems, and was forbidden by statute in 1607, with the rise of sheep and grouse management in the nineteenth century it again became common practice. Heather is burnt at about 10 or 12 years old when it will regenerate easily, left longer, the woodier stems will burn more aggressively and will hinder regrowth. Burning of moorland vegetation needs to be carefully controlled as the peat itself can catch fire. In addition, uncontrolled burning of heather can promote alternative bracken, as a result, burning is now a controversial practice, Rackham calls it second-best land management
24.
Hajduk
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Hajduk is a term most commonly referring to outlaws, brigands, highwaymen or freedom fighters in Southeastern Europe, and parts of Central and Eastern Europe. In the Ottoman Empire, the term hajduk was used for Balkan bandits, brigands, in the 17th century, the concept was firmly established in the Ottoman Balkans, related to increased taxes, Christian victories against the Ottomans, and general security decline. Hajduk bands predominantly numbered one hundred men each, with a hierarchy under one leader. They targeted Ottoman representatives and rich people, mainly Muslims, for plunder or punishment to oppressive Ottomans, in Balkan folkloric tradition, the hajduk is a romanticised hero figure who steals from, and leads his fighters into battle against, the Ottoman or Habsburg authorities. They are comparable to the English legend of Robin Hood and his merry men, as such, the term could also refer to any robber and carry a negative connotation. The etymology of the hajduk is unclear. One theory is that hajduk was derived from the Turkish word haidut or haydut, another theory suggests that the word comes from the Hungarian hajtó or hajdó, meaning a drover. Indeed, these two theories do not necessarily contradict each other, as the Balkan word is said to be derived from the Turkish word haiduk or hayduk, other spellings in English include ajduk, haydut, haiduk, haiduc, hayduck, hayduk. In 1604–1606, István Bocskay, Lord of Bihar, led an insurrection against the Habsburg Emperor, whose army had recently occupied Transylvania and begun a reign of terror. The bulk of Bocskays army was composed of serfs who had fled from the war. These peasants, freelance soldiers, were known as the hajduk, as a reward for their service, Bocskay emancipated the hajduk from the jurisdiction of their lords, granted them land, and guaranteed them rights to own property and to personal freedom. The emancipated hajduk constituted a new warrior estate within Hungarian feudal society, and the whole area is called Hajdúság. Unusually for this period, Polish-Lithuanian hajduks wore uniforms, typically of grey-blue woolen cloth, with red collar and their principal weapon was a small calibre matchlock firearm, known as an arquebus. For close combat they also carried a variety of sabre, capable of hacking off the heads of enemy pikes. Contrary to popular opinion, the small axe they often wore tucked in their belt was not a combat weapon, in the mid-17th century hajduk-style infantry largely fell out of fashion in Poland-Lithuania, and were replaced by musket-armed infantry of Western style. The Serbs established a Hajduk army that supported the Austrians, the army was divided into 18 companies, in four groups. In this period, the most notable obor-kapetans were Vuk Isaković from Crna Bara, Mlatišuma from Kragujevac, the term haiduci was used by the Romanian resistance movement Haiducii Muscelului, between 1947 and 1959, which opposed the Soviet occupation and the Communist government. Hobsbawm invented the social bandit to describe outlaws who operate on the edges of rural societies by fighting against authorities and sometimes helping the ordinary people
25.
Otto von Bismarck
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Otto Eduard Leopold, Prince of Bismarck, Duke of Lauenburg, known as Otto von Bismarck, was a conservative Prussian statesman who dominated German and European affairs from the 1860s until 1890. In the 1860s, he engineered a series of wars that unified the German states, significantly and deliberately excluding Austria, into a powerful German Empire under Prussian leadership. With that accomplished by 1871, he skillfully used balance of power diplomacy to maintain Germanys position in a Europe which, despite many disputes and war scares, in 1862, King Wilhelm I appointed Bismarck as Minister President of Prussia, a position he would hold until 1890. He provoked three short, decisive wars against Denmark, Austria, and France, aligning the smaller German states behind Prussia in its defeat of France, in 1871, he formed the German Empire with himself as Chancellor, while retaining control of Prussia. His diplomacy of realpolitik and powerful rule at home gained him the nickname the Iron Chancellor, German unification and its rapid economic growth was the foundation to his foreign policy. He disliked colonialism but reluctantly built an empire when it was demanded by both elite and mass opinion. A master of politics at home, Bismarck created the first welfare state in the modern world. In the 1870s, he allied himself with the Liberals and fought the Catholic Church in what was called the Kulturkampf and he lost that battle as the Catholics responded by forming a powerful Centre party and using universal male suffrage to gain a bloc of seats. Bismarck then reversed himself, ended the Kulturkampf, broke with the Liberals, imposed protective tariffs, a devout Lutheran, he was loyal to his king, who argued with Bismarck but in the end supported him against the advice of his wife and his heir. Under Wilhelm I, Bismarck largely controlled domestic and foreign affairs, until he was removed by the young Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1890, bismarck—a Junker himself—was strong-willed, outspoken and sometimes judged overbearing, but he could also be polite, charming and witty. Occasionally he displayed a violent temper, and he kept his power by threatening resignation time and again. He possessed not only a national and international vision but also the short-term ability to juggle complex developments. As the leader of what historians call revolutionary conservatism, Bismarck became a hero to German nationalists, many historians praise him as a visionary who was instrumental in uniting Germany and, once that had been accomplished, kept the peace in Europe through adroit diplomacy. Bismarck was born in Schönhausen, a family estate situated west of Berlin in the Prussian province of Saxony. He had two siblings, Bernhard and Malwine, the world saw Bismarck as a typical Prussian Junker, an image that he encouraged by wearing military uniforms. Bismarck was well educated and cosmopolitan with a gift for conversation, in addition to his native German, he was fluent in English, French, Italian, Polish and Russian. Bismarck was educated at Johann Ernst Plamanns elementary school, and the Friedrich-Wilhelm, from 1832 to 1833, he studied law at the University of Göttingen, where he was a member of the Corps Hannovera, and then enrolled at the University of Berlin. In 1838, while stationed as an army reservist in Greifswald, at Göttingen, Bismarck befriended the American student John Lothrop Motley
26.
Ironworks
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An ironworks or iron works is a building or site where iron is smelted and where heavy iron and steel products are made. The term is both singular and plural, i. e. the singular of ironworks is ironworks, Ironworks succeed bloomeries when blast furnaces replaced former methods. An integrated ironworks in the 19th century usually included one or more blast furnaces, after the invention of the Bessemer process, converters became widespread, and the appellation steelworks replaced ironworks. The processes carried at ironworks are usually described as ferrous metallurgy and this is derived from the Greek words sideros - iron and ergon or ergos - work. This is a term in English, and it is best regarded as an anglicisation of a term used in French, Spanish. Ironworks is used as a term covering works undertaking one or more iron-producing processes. A thin film of metal oxide forms on the anode in the intense heat, the oxide forms a protective layer that prevents excess consumption of the base metal. It was usually necessary for there to be a preliminary refining process in a coke refinery, after puddling, the puddled ball needed shingling and then to be drawn out into bar iron in a rolling mill. The mills operating converters of any type are better called steelworks, ironworks referring to former processes, a tinplate works - where rolling mills made sheets of iron, which were coated with tin. A plating forge with a hammer, a lighter hammer with a rapid stroke rate, enabling the production of thinner iron, suitable for the manufacture of knives, other cutlery. A cementation furnace might be used to convert the bar iron into steel by the cementation process. Most of these processes did not produce finished goods, further processes were often manual, including Manufacturing by blacksmiths or more specialist kind of smith. It might be used in shipbuilding, in the context of the iron industry, the term manufacture is best reserved for this final stage. Ancient iron extraction site consisting of mines and three clay built furnaces, darkhill Ironworks, in the Forest of Dean, England
27.
Castellan
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A castellan was the governor or captain of a castellany and its castle. The word stems from the Latin Castellanus, derived from castellum castle, sometimes also known as a constable, governor of the castle district or captain, the Constable of the Tower of London is, in fact, a form of castellan. A castellan was almost always male, but could occasionally be female, as when, in 1194, after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, many tribes migrated into western Europe, causing strife and war. The answer to recurrent invasion was to create fortified areas which evolved into castles, some leaders gained control of several areas, each with a castle. The problem lay in exerting control and authority in each area when a leader could only be in one place at a time. To answer this, lords gave their trusted vassals direct control of a castle and this changed as kings grew in power and as the Holy Roman emperors replaced recalcitrant vassals with ministerials. Usually the duties of a castellan were combined with the duties of a majordomo and this made the castellan responsible for a castles domestic staff and its garrison, as well as a military administrator responsible for maintaining defenses and protecting the castles lands. This was particularly the case if there was no lord resident at the castle, one unusual responsibility in western Europe concerned jurisdiction over the resident Jewish communities near the English Channel. The Constable of the Tower of London and those castellans subordinate to the dukes of Normandy were responsible for their administration, in France, castellans who governed castles without resident nobles acquired considerable powers, and the position actually became a hereditary fiefdom. In Germany the castellan was known as a Burgmann, or sometimes Hauptmann, the burgmann may have been either a free noble or a ministerialis, but either way administered the castle as a vassal. A ministerialis, being wholly indebted to a lord, was easily controlled. Ministeriales replaced free nobles as castellans of Hohensalzburg under Conrad I of Abensberg’s tenure as Archbishop of Salzburg from 1106 to 1147, in the Medieval Kingdom of Hungary usually was called várnagy, and in the Latin charts it appeared as castellanus. The lord of the castle had similar functions than the German ones. In Hungary first the King, later the most powerful noblemen designed the castellans between their followers for the administration of their castles and the states that belonged to the fortress, at times, there was a castellan among the Officers of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, starting with Anselm. Lectures on the Statutes of the Sacred Order of St. John of Jerusalem, in the Kingdom of Poland and later the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the castellans were in most cases lower in precedence to the voivodes. Castellans in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth were of senator rank, in Portugal, a castellan was known as alcaide. Later, the role of alcaide became a title awarded by the King of Portugal to certain nobles. As the honorary holder of the office of alcaide did not often live near its castle, an honorary holder of the office became known as alcaide-mor and its delegate became known as alcaide pequeno or alcaide-menor
28.
Casimir II the Just
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Casimir II the Just was a Lesser Polish Duke at Wiślica during 1166–1173, and at Sandomierz after 1173. The honorific title the Just was not contemporary and only appeared in the 16th century and its however also possible that he was born shortly after, and in consequence was posthumous. Maybe this was the reason that in the Bolesław IIIs Testament, he was omitted, during his first years, Casimir and his sister Agnes lived with their mother Salome in her widow land of Łęczyca. Salomea of Berg had died in 1144, Casimir and Agnes were cared by their elder brother Bolesław IV, who had assumed the high ducal title. Although under his tutelage the young prince could feel safe, he had no guarantee to receive part of the inheritance in the future. When in 1154 he reached the age to take control over the lands of the family. Even worse, three years later his fate was decided in the successfully Polish campaign of the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, who came to the aid of Władysław II and his sons. As a part of the treaty Bolesław had to conclude with Barbarossa, the fate of Casimir at the Imperial court is unknown. He returned to Poland certainly before 21 May 1161, because that day he is mentioned in a document with two of his brothers, Bolesław IV and Henry of Sandomierz, so far, Casimir had not received any lands from his elder brothers. The quick actions of Bolesław finally stopped the rebellion, at the end, Casimir was only able to retain Wiślica. In 1172, Mieszko III the Old rebelled against the High Duke, for unknown reasons, Casimir refused to participate. Bolesław IV died in 1173 and according to the principle of seniority he was succeeded by his brother Mieszko III the Old as High Duke. He decided to give the rest of the Sandomierz duchy to Casimir, then his only surviving brother, who finally could assume the ducal title, the strong and dictatorial rule of the new High Duke caused a deep disaffection among the Lesser Polish nobility. This time the new revolt prepared in 1177 had a chance of victory. The reasons about his inclusion in the revolt, after being reconciled with Mieszko, are unknown, finally, he was defeated and was forced to escape. After a successfully action in Silesia, he marched to Kraków, on the Baltic coast, Pomerelia was ruled by Duke Sambor I as a Polish vassal. However, Mieszko the Old worked intensively for his return, at first in Bohemia, later in Germany, to achieve his ambitions to give the hereditary right to the throne at Kraków to his descendants, Casimir called an assembly of Polish nobles at Łęczyca in 1180. He granted privileges to both the nobility and the Church, lifting a tax on the profits of the clergy and relinquishing his rights over the lands of deceased bishops
29.
Opole
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Opole is a city located in southern Poland on the Oder River. With a population of approximately 127,792, it is the capital of the Opole Voivodeship and, with it long history dating back to the 9th century, Opole is considered to be one of the oldest towns in Poland. The origins of the first settlement are connected with the town being granted Magdeburg Rights in 1217 by Casimir I of Opole, the rapid development of the town was also caused by the establishment of a seat of regency in Opole in 1816. During its existence Opole belonged to Poland, Bohemia, Prussia, prior to World War II it was located in eastern Germany and was one of the largest centres of Polish minority in the entire country. In 1945, according to Yalta and Potsdam Agreements, the region was assigned to Poland, many German Upper Silesians and Poles of German ancestry still live in the Opole region, in the city itself, however, ethnic Germans make up less than 3% of the population. It was also the capital of the region of Upper Silesia. The National Festival of Polish Song has been held annually since 1963 and each year new regular events, fairs, shows. Opole is sometimes referred to as Polish Venice, because of its picturesque Old Town and several canals, the name Opole likely originated from the medieval Slavic term for a group of settlements. Opoles history begins in the 8th century, at this time, according to the archeological excavations, the first Slavic settlement was founded on the Ostrówek - the northern part of the Pasieka Island in the middle of the Oder river. In the early 10th century it developed one of the main gróds of the Slavic Opolanie. At the end of the century Silesia became part of Poland and was ruled by the Piast dynasty, from the 11th-12th centuries it was also a castellany. After the death of Duke Władysław II the Exile, Silesia was divided in 1163 between two Piast lines- the Wrocławska line in Lower Silesia and the Opolsko-Raciborska of Upper Silesia. Opole would become a duchy in 1172 and would share much in common with the Duchy of Racibórz, in 1281 Upper Silesia was divided further between the heirs of the dukes. The Duchy of Opole was temporarily reestablished in 1290, in the early 13th century, Duke Casimir I of Opole decided to move the settlement from the Pasieka Island into the right shore of the Oder river. All of the inhabitants had to be moved in order to place for the castle that was eventually built in the place of the old city. Former inhabitants of Ostrówek together with German merchants that immigrated here from the West, Opole received German town law in 1254, which was expanded with Neumarkt law in 1327. Opole developed during the rule of duke Bolko I of Opole, in this time the castle was finally completed and new buildings, including the city walls and the Holy Cross Church, were constructed. Along with most of Silesia, in 1327 the Duchy of Opole came under the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Bohemia, in 1521 the Duchy of Racibórz was inherited by the Duchy of Opole, by then also known by its German equivalent - Oppeln
30.
Upper Silesia
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Upper Silesia is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia. In 1742 the bulk of Upper Silesia was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia, after the Second World War it became part of the Republic of Poland, in 1945. Upper Silesia is situated on the upper Oder River, north of the Eastern Sudetes mountain range and the Moravian Gate, within the adjacent Silesian Beskids to the east, the Vistula River rises and turns eastwards, the Biała and Przemsza tributaries mark the eastern border with Lesser Poland. In the north, Upper Silesia borders on Greater Poland, and it is currently split into a larger Polish and the smaller Czech Silesian part, which is located within the Czech regions of Moravia-Silesia and Olomouc. The Polish Upper Silesian territory covers most of the Opole Voivodeship, except for the Lower Silesian counties of Brzeg and Namysłów, divided Cieszyn Silesia as well as former Austrian Silesia are historical parts of Upper Silesia. According to the 9th century Bavarian Geographer, the West Slavic Opolanie tribe had settled on the upper Oder River since the days of the Migration Period, at the time of Prince Svatopluk I, all Silesia was a part of his Great Moravian realm. By 990 the newly installed Piast duke Mieszko I of the Polans had conquered parts of Silesia. Finally in 1137, the Polish prince Bolesław III Wrymouth came to terms with Duke Soběslav I of Bohemia, however, this arrangement fell apart when upon the death of Bolesław III and his testament the fragmentation of Poland began, which decisively enfeebled its central authority. When in 1202 Mieszko Tanglefoot had annexed the Duchy of Opole of his deceased nephew Jarosław, he ruled over all Upper Silesia as Duke of Opole and Racibórz. In the early 13th century the ties of the Silesian Piasts with the neighbouring Holy Roman Empire grew stronger as several dukes married scions of German nobility. The plans to re-unifiy Silesia shattered upon the Mongol invasion of Poland, Upper Silesia further fragmented upon the death of Duke Władysław Opolski in 1281 into the duchies of Bytom, Opole, Racibórz and Cieszyn. About 1269 the Duchy of Opava was established on adjacent Moravian territory, ruled by the Přemyslid duke Nicholas I, as they ruled both duchies in personal union, Opava grew into the Upper Silesian territory. In 1327 the Upper Silesian dukes, like most of their Lower Silesian cousins, had sworn allegiance to King John of Bohemia, by the mid-14th century, the influx of German settlers into Upper Silesia was stopped by the Black Death pandemic. Unlike in Lower Silesia, the Germanization process was halted, still a majority of the population spoke Polish and Silesian as their native language, in the southernmost areas, also Lach dialects were spoken. While Latin, Czech and German language were used as languages in towns and cities. Upper Silesia was hit by the Hussite Wars and in 1469 was conquered by King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary, while the Duchies of Oświęcim, upon the death of the Jagiellonian king Louis II in 1526, the Bohemian crown lands were inherited by the Austrian House of Habsburg. In the 16th century, large parts of Silesia had turned Protestant, after the 1620 Battle of White Mountain, the Catholic Emperors of the Habsburg dynasty forcibly re-introduced Catholicism, led by the Jesuits. Lower Silesia and most of Upper Silesia were occupied by the Kingdom of Prussia in 1742 during the First Silesian War, a small part south of the Opava River remained within the Habsburg-ruled Bohemian Crown as the Duchy of Upper and Lower Silesia, colloquially called Austrian Silesia
31.
Duchy of Opole
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Duchy of Opole was one of the duchies of Silesia ruled by the Piast dynasty. Its capital was Opole in Upper Silesia, Bolesław originally had the intention to bequest the Duchy of Wrocław as a whole to his son of his second marriage Henry I the Bearded, which caused the protest of his eldest son Jarosław. After a long-term dispute in 1172 the Duchy of Opole was formed with Jarosław becoming the first duke, in turn he was obliged to an ecclesiastical career and became Bishop of Wrocław in 1198. When Duke Jarosław died in 1201, the Opole lands fell back to his father Bolesław and were incorporated into the Duchy of Wrocław. In 1327 the Duchy of Opole was vassalised by the Bohemian king John the Blind, jan however died without issue in 1532 and the Opole line of the Piasts became extinct, whereafter Opole and Racibórz as reverted fiefs were fully under the sovereignty of the Bohemian Crown. Dukes of Opole Dukes of Silesia Opole Voivodeship
32.
Piast dynasty
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The Piast dynasty was the first historical ruling dynasty of Poland. The first documented Polish monarch was Prince Mieszko I, the Piasts royal rule in Poland ended in 1370 with the death of king Casimir III the Great. Branches of the Piast dynasty continued to rule in the Duchy of Masovia, the Piasts intermarried with several noble lines of Europe, and possessed numerous titles, some within the Holy Roman Empire. However, the term Piast Dynasty was not applied until the 17th century, in a historical work the expression Piast dynasty was introduced by the Polish historian Adam Naruszewicz, it is not documented in contemporary sources. The first Piasts, probably of Polan descent, appeared around 940 in the territory of Greater Poland at the stronghold of Giecz, shortly afterwards they relocated their residence to Gniezno, where Prince Mieszko I ruled over the Civitas Schinesghe from about 960. The name Polani, from Slavic, pole, did not appear until 1015, the Piasts temporarily also ruled over Pomerania, Bohemia and the Lusatias, as well as Ruthenia, and the Hungarian Spiš region in present-day Slovakia. The ruler bore the title of a duke or a king, depending on their position of power. The Bohemian Přemyslid dynasty, the Hungarian Arpads and their Anjou successors, the Kievan Rus, later also the State of the Teutonic Order, the Piast position was decisively enfeebled by an era of fragmentation following the 1138 Testament of Bolesław III Krzywousty. Numerous dukes like Mieszko III the Old, Władysław III Spindleshanks or Leszek I the White were crowned, only to be overthrown shortly afterwards. After the Polish royal line and Piast junior branch had died out in 1370, the Masovian branch of the Piasts became extinct with the death of Duke Janusz III in 1526. The last ruling duke of the Silesian Piasts was George William of Legnica who died in 1675 and his uncle Count August of Legnica, the last male Piast, died in 1679. The last legitimate heir, Duchess Karolina of Legnica-Brieg died in 1707 and is buried in Trzebnica Abbey, nevertheless, numerous families, like the illegitimate descendants of the Silesian duke Adam Wenceslaus of Cieszyn, link their genealogy to the dynasty. About 1295, Przemysł II used a coat of arms with a white eagle – a symbol later referred to as the Piast coat of arms or as the Piast Eagle, Piast kings and rulers of Poland appear in list form in the following table. For a list of all rulers, see List of Polish monarchs
33.
Kingdom of Bohemia
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The Kingdom of Bohemia, sometimes in English literature referred to as the Czech Kingdom, was a medieval and early modern monarchy in Central Europe, the predecessor of the modern Czech Republic. It was an Imperial State in the Holy Roman Empire, the kings of Bohemia, besides Bohemia ruled also the Lands of the Bohemian Crown, which at various times included Moravia, Silesia and parts of Saxony, Brandenburg and Bavaria. Numerous kings of Bohemia were also elected Holy Roman Emperors and the capital Prague was the seat in the late 14th century. After the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the became part of the Habsburg Austrian Empire. The Czech language was the language of the Diet and the nobility until 1627. German was then formally made equal with Czech and eventually prevailed as the language of the Diet until the Czech national revival in the 19th century. German was also used as the language of administration in many towns after Germans immigrated and populated some areas of the country in the 13th century. The royal court used the Czech, Latin, and German languages, depending on the ruler, following the defeat of the Central Powers in World War I, both the Kingdom and Empire were dissolved. Bohemia became the part of the newly formed Czechoslovak Republic. In 1204 Ottokars royal status was accepted by Otto IV as well as by Pope Innocent III and it was officially recognized in 1212 by the Golden Bull of Sicily issued by Emperor Frederick II, elevating the Duchy of Bohemia to Kingdom status. Under these terms, the Czech king was to be exempt from all obligations to the Holy Roman Empire except for participation in the imperial councils. The imperial prerogative to ratify each Bohemian ruler and to appoint the bishop of Prague was revoked, the kings successor was his son Wenceslaus I, from his second marriage. Corresponding with the Pope, she established the Knights of the Cross with the Red Star in 1233, four other military orders were present in Bohemia, the Order of St. John of Jerusalem from c. 1160, the Order of Saint Lazarus from the late 12th century, 1200–1421, and the Knights Templar from 1232–1312. The 13th century was the most dynamic period of the Přemyslid reign over Bohemia, at the same time, the Mongol invasions absorbed the attention of Bohemias eastern neighbors, Hungary and Poland. Přemysl Ottokar II married a German princess, Margaret of Babenberg and he thereby acquired Upper Austria, Lower Austria, and part of Styria. He conquered the rest of Styria, most of Carinthia, and he was called the king of iron and gold. He campaigned as far as Prussia, where he defeated the natives and in 1256, founded a city he named Královec in Czech
listen) (German: Königshütte [ˈkøːnɪçsˌhʏtə]; Silesian: Chorzůw) is a city in Silesia in southern Poland, near Katowice. Chorzów is one of the central districts of the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union - a metropolis with a population of 2 million. It is located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Rawa River (a tributary of the Vistula)..jpg)
Zlín, Czech Republic
Iserlohn, Germany since 2004
Termoli, Italy
Ózd, Hungary
Creil, France
Ternopil, Ukraine
