Frederick III, Elector of Saxony
Frederick III known as Frederick the Wise, was Elector of Saxony from 1486 to 1525, remembered for the worldly protection of his subject Martin Luther. Frederick was the son of Ernest, Elector of Saxony and his wife Elisabeth, daughter of Albert III, Duke of Bavaria, he is notable as being one of the most powerful early defenders of Martin Luther. He protected Luther from the Holy Roman Emperor, the Pope and other hostile figures, he was not led by his religious convictions, but rather by his belief in a fair trial for any of his subjects and the rule of law. The elector had little personal contact with Luther himself. Frederick's treasurer Degenhart Pfaffinger spoke on behalf of him to Luther. Pfaffinger had supported Frederick since their pilgrimage to the holy land together. Frederick is considered to have remained a Roman Catholic all his life, yet inclining toward doctrines of the Reformation and eventually converting on his deathbed. Frederick III is commemorated as a Christian ruler in the Calendar of Saints of the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod on 5 May.
Born in Torgau, he succeeded his father as elector in 1486. Frederick was among the princes who pressed the need of reform upon Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I, in 1500 he became president of the newly formed council of regency, his court painter from 1504 was Lucas Cranach the Elder. Frederick was Pope Leo X's candidate for Holy Roman Emperor in 1519—the pope had awarded him the Golden Rose of virtue on 3 September 1518 in an effort to persuade him to accept the throne. However, Frederick helped secure the election of Charles V, by agreeing to support Charles and to convince his fellow electors to do the same, provided that Charles repay an outstanding debt to the Saxons dating to 1497. Frederick ensured Luther would be heard before the Diet of Worms in 1521 and subsequently secured an exemption from the Edict of Worms for Saxony. Frederick collected many relics in his castle church. Money was paid in order to venerate these relics and thus escape years in purgatory. A diligent and pious person who rendered appropriate devotion to each of these relics could merit 1,902,202 years worth of penance.
Two years the collection exceeded 19,000 pieces. He protected Martin Luther from the Pope's enforcement of the edict by faking a highway attack on Luther's way back to Wittenberg and hiding him at Wartburg Castle following the Diet of Worms. Frederick died unmarried at Lochau, a hunting castle near Annaburg, in 1525 and was buried in the Schlosskirche at Wittenberg with a grave by Peter Vischer the Younger, he was succeeded by his brother Duke John the Steadfast as Elector of Saxony. Frederick III was a lifelong Roman Catholic, but he might have converted to Lutheranism on his deathbed in 1525 depending on how his receiving of a Protestant communion is viewed, he leaned towards Lutheranism throughout his life, guaranteeing safety for his subject and Protestant reformer Martin Luther when he was tried for heresy and excommunicated by the Pope. Frederick III took communion; this can be seen as a conversion to Lutheranism, although he never or indicated that he converted. By the time of his death it was proclaimed that he "converted to the evangelical faith" and that Saxony was now "evangelical".
He protected Martin Luther and allowed Lutheranism to flourish in his realm, protecting him from the Holy Roman Emperor. Frederick remained a Roman Catholic all his life, but available evidence and his actions suggest that he had strong Lutheran leanings, his successor, Elector of Saxony, had been Lutheran before he became elector. John made the Lutheran church the official state church in Saxony in 1527. Portrait of Frederick III of Saxony Luther This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Jackson, Samuel Macauley, ed.. "article name needed". New Schaff–Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge. London and New York: Funk and Wagnalls
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, the 14th largest city in the European Union and the historical capital of Bohemia. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 2.6 million. The city has a temperate climate, with chilly winters. Prague has been a political and economic centre of central Europe complete with a rich history. Founded during the Romanesque and flourishing by the Gothic and Baroque eras, Prague was the capital of the Kingdom of Bohemia and the main residence of several Holy Roman Emperors, most notably of Charles IV, it was an important city to its Austro-Hungarian Empire. The city played major roles in the Bohemian and Protestant Reformation, the Thirty Years' War and in 20th-century history as the capital of Czechoslovakia, during both World Wars and the post-war Communist era. Prague is home to a number of well-known cultural attractions, many of which survived the violence and destruction of 20th-century Europe.
Main attractions include Prague Castle, Charles Bridge, Old Town Square with the Prague astronomical clock, the Jewish Quarter, Petřín hill and Vyšehrad. Since 1992, the extensive historic centre of Prague has been included in the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites; the city has more than ten major museums, along with numerous theatres, galleries and other historical exhibits. An extensive modern public transportation system connects the city, it is home to a wide range of public and private schools, including Charles University in Prague, the oldest university in Central Europe. Prague is classified as an "Alpha −" global city according to GaWC studies and ranked sixth in the Tripadvisor world list of best destinations in 2016, its rich history makes it a popular tourist destination and as of 2017, the city receives more than 8.5 million international visitors annually. Prague is the fourth most visited European city after London and Rome. During the thousand years of its existence, the city grew from a settlement stretching from Prague Castle in the north to the fort of Vyšehrad in the south, becoming the capital of a modern European country, the Czech Republic, a member state of the European Union.
The region was settled as early as the Paleolithic age. A Jewish chronicler David Solomon Ganz, citing Cyriacus Spangenberg, claimed that the city was founded as Boihaem in c. 1306 BC by an ancient king, Boyya. Around the fifth and fourth century BC, a Celts tribe appeared in the area establishing settlements including an oppidum in Závist, a present-day suburb of Prague, naming the region of Bohemia, which means "home of the Boii people". In the last century BC, the Celts were driven away by Germanic tribes, leading some to place the seat of the Marcomanni king, Maroboduus, in southern Prague in the suburb now called Závist. Around the area where present-day Prague stands, the 2nd century map drawn by Ptolemaios mentioned a Germanic city called Casurgis. In the late 5th century AD, during the great Migration Period following the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, the Germanic tribes living in Bohemia moved westwards and in the 6th century, the Slavic tribes settled the Central Bohemian Region.
In the following three centuries, the Czech tribes built several fortified settlements in the area, most notably in the Šárka valley and Levý Hradec. The construction of what came to be known as Prague Castle began near the end of the 9th century, growing a fortified settlement that existed on the site since the year 800; the first masonry under Prague Castle dates from the year 885 at the latest. The other prominent Prague fort, the Přemyslid fort Vyšehrad, was founded in the 10th century, some 70 years than Prague Castle. Prague Castle is dominated by the cathedral, which began construction in 1344, but wasn't completed until the 20th century; the legendary origins of Prague attribute its foundation to the 8th century Czech duchess and prophetess Libuše and her husband, Přemysl, founder of the Přemyslid dynasty. Legend says that Libuše came out on a rocky cliff high above the Vltava and prophesied: "I see a great city whose glory will touch the stars." She ordered a town called Praha to be built on the site.
The region became the seat of the dukes, kings of Bohemia. Under Holy Roman Emperor Otto II the area became a bishopric in 973; until Prague was elevated to archbishopric in 1344, it was under the jurisdiction of the Archbishopric of Mainz. Prague was an important seat for trading where merchants from all of Europe settled, including many Jews, as recalled in 965 by the Hispano-Jewish merchant and traveller Ibrahim ibn Ya'qub; the Old New Synagogue of 1270 still stands in the city. Prague was once home to an important slave market. At the site of the ford in the Vltava river, King Vladislaus I had the first bridge built in 1170, the Judith Bridge, named in honour of his wife Judith of Thuringia; this bridge was destroyed by a flood in 1342, but some of the original foundation stones of that bridge remain in the river. It was named the Charles Bridge. In 1257, under King Ottokar II, Malá Strana was founded in Prague on the site of an older village in what would become the Hradčany area; this was the district of the German people, who had the right to administer the law autonomously, pursuant to Magdeburg rights.
The new district was on the bank opposite of the Staré Město, which had borough status and was bordered by a line of walls and fortifications. Prague flourished dur
Rostock
Rostock is a city in the north German state Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Rostock is on the Warnow river. Rostock is the largest city in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, as well as its only regiopolis. Rostock is home to one of the oldest universities in the world, the University of Rostock, founded in 1419; the city territory of Rostock stretches for about 20 km along the Warnow to the Baltic Sea. The largest built-up area of Rostock is on the western side of the river; the eastern part of its territory is dominated by the forested Rostock Heath. In the 11th century Polabian Slavs founded; the Danish king Valdemar I set the town on fire in 1161. Afterwards the place was settled by German traders. There were three separate cities: Altstadt around the Alter Markt, which had St. Petri, Mittelstadt around the Neuer Markt, with St. Marien and Neustadt around the Hopfenmarkt, with St. Jakobi. In 1218, Rostock was granted Lübeck law city rights by prince of Mecklenburg. During the first partition of Mecklenburg following the death of Henry Borwin II of Mecklenburg in 1226, Rostock became the seat of the Lordship of Rostock, which survived for a century.
In 1251, the city became a member of the Hanseatic League. In the 14th century it was a powerful seaport town with 12,000 inhabitants and the largest city in Mecklenburg. Ships for cruising the Baltic Sea were constructed in Rostock; the independent fishing village of Warnemünde at the Baltic Sea became a part of Rostock in 1323, to secure the city's access to the sea. In 1419, the University of Rostock was founded, the oldest university in continental northern Europe and the Baltic Sea area. At the end of the 15th century, the dukes of Mecklenburg succeeded in enforcing their rule over the town of Rostock, which had until been only nominally subject to their rule and independent, they took advantage of a riot known as a failed uprising of the impoverished population. Subsequent quarrels with the dukes and persistent plundering led to a loss of the city's economic and political power. In 1565 there were further clashes with Schwerin. Among other things, the nobility introduced a beer excise. John Albert I advanced on the city with 500 horsemen, after Rostock had refused to take the formal oath of allegiance, had the city wall razed in order to have a fortress built.
The conflict did not end until the first Rostock Inheritance Agreement of 21 September 1573, in which the state princes were guaranteed hereditary rule over the city for centuries and recognizing them as the supreme judicial authority. The citizens razed the fortress the following spring. From 1575 to 1577 the city walls were rebuilt, as was the Lagebusch tower and the Stein Gate, in the Dutch Renaissance style; the inscription sit intra te concordia et publica felicitas, can still be read on the gate, refers directly to the conflict with the Duke. In 1584 the Second Rostock Inheritance Agreement was enforced, which resulted in a further loss of former city tax privileges. At the same time, these inheritance contracts put paid to Rostock's ambition of achieving imperial immediacy, as Lübeck had done in 1226; the strategic location of Rostock provoked the envy of its rivals. Danes and Swedes occupied the city twice, first during the Thirty Years' War and again from 1700 to 1721. In the early 19th century, the French, under Napoleon, occupied the town for about a decade until 1813.
In nearby Lübeck-Ratekau, Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, born in Rostock and, one of few generals to fight on after defeat at the Battle of Jena, surrendered to the French in 1806. This was only after furious street fighting in the Battle of Lübeck, in which he led some of the cavalry charges himself. By the time of the surrender, the exhausted Prussians had neither ammunition. In the first half of the 19th century, Rostock regained much of its economic importance, due at first to the wheat trade from the 1850s, to industry its shipyards; the first propeller-driven steamers in Germany were constructed here. The city grew in area and population, with new quarters developing in the south and west of the ancient borders of the city. Two notable developments were added to house the increasing population at around 1900: Steintor-Vorstadt in the south, stretching from the old city wall to the facilities of the new Lloydbahnhof, was designed as a living quarter, it consisted of large single houses, once inhabited by wealthy citizens.
Kröpeliner-Tor-Vorstadt in the west, was designed to house the working population as well as to provide smaller and larger industrial facilities, such as the Mahn & Ohlerich's Brewery. The main shipyard, was nearby at the shore of the river. In the 20th century, important aircraft manufacturing facilities were situated in the city, such as the Arado Flugzeugwerke in Warnemünde and the Heinkel Works with facilities at various places, including their secondary Heinkel-Süd facility in Schwechat, Austria, as the original Heinkel firm's Rostock facilities had been renamed Heinkel-
Heidelberg University
Heidelberg University is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is Germany's oldest university and one of the world's oldest surviving universities, it was the third university established in the Holy Roman Empire. Heidelberg has been a coeducational institution since 1899; the university consists of twelve faculties and offers degree programmes at undergraduate and postdoctoral levels in some 100 disciplines. Heidelberg comprises three major campuses: the humanities are predominantly located in Heidelberg's Old Town, the natural sciences and medicine in the Neuenheimer Feld quarter, the social sciences within the inner-city suburb Bergheim; the language of instruction is German, while a considerable number of graduate degrees are offered in English. As of 2017, 56 Nobel Prize winners have been affiliated with the university. Modern scientific psychiatry, psychopharmacology, psychiatric genetics, environmental physics, modern sociology were introduced as scientific disciplines by Heidelberg faculty.
1,000 doctorates are completed every year, with more than one third of the doctoral students coming from abroad. International students from some 130 countries account for more than 20 percent of the entire student body. Internationally renowned and ranked among Europe's top universities, Heidelberg is one of the most prestigious universities in the world, a German Excellence University, part of the U15, as well as a founding member of the League of European Research Universities and the Coimbra Group; the university's noted alumni include eleven domestic and foreign Heads of State or Heads of Government. The Great Schism of 1378 made it possible for Heidelberg, a small city and capital of the Electorate of the Palatinate, to gain its own university; the Great Schism was initiated by the election of two popes after the death of Pope Gregory XI in the same year. One successor the other in Rome; the German secular and spiritual leaders voiced their support for the successor in Rome, which had far-reaching consequences for the German students and teachers in Paris: they lost their stipends and had to leave.
Rupert I recognized the opportunity and initiated talks with the Curia, which led to a Papal Bull for foundation of a university. After having received, on 23 October 1385, permission from pope Urban VI to create a school of general studies, the final decision to found the university was taken on 26 June 1386 at the behest of Rupert I, Count Palatine of the Rhine; as specified in the papal charter, the university was modelled after University of Paris and included four faculties: philosophy, theology and medicine. On 18 October 1386 a special Pontifical High Mass in the Heiliggeistkirche was the ceremony that established the university. On 19 October 1386 the first lecture was held. In November 1386, Marsilius of Inghen was elected first rector of the university; the rector seal motto was semper apertus—i.e. "the book of learning is always open." The university grew and in March 1390, 185 students were enrolled at the university. Between 1414 and 1418, theology and jurisprudence professors of the university took part in the Council of Constance and acted as counselors for Louis III, who attended this council as representative of the emperor and chief magistrate of the realm.
This resulted in establishing a good reputation for its professors. Due to the influence of Marsilius, the university taught the nominalism or via moderna. In 1412, both realism and the teachings of John Wycliffe were forbidden at the university but around 1454, the university decided that realism or via antique would be taught, thus introducing two parallel ways; the transition from scholastic to humanistic culture was effected by the chancellor and bishop Johann von Dalberg in the late 15th century. Humanism was represented at Heidelberg University by the founder of the older German Humanistic School Rudolph Agricola, Conrad Celtes, Jakob Wimpfeling, Johann Reuchlin. Æneas Silvius Piccolomini was chancellor of the university in his capacity of provost of Worms, always favored it with his friendship and good-will as Pope Pius II. In 1482, Pope Sixtus IV permitted laymen and married men to be appointed professors in the ordinary of medicine through a papal dispensation. In 1553, Pope Julius III sanctioned the allotment of ecclesiastical benefice to secular professors.
Martin Luther's disputation at Heidelberg in April 1518 made a lasting impact, his adherents among the masters and scholars soon became leading Reformationists in Southwest Germany. With the Electorate of the Palatinate turn to the Reformed faith, Otto Henry, Elector Palatine, converted the university into a calvinistic institution. In 1563, the Heidelberg Catechism was created under collaboration of members of the university's divinity school; as the 16th century was passing, the late humanism stepped beside Calvinism as a predominant school of thought. It developed into a cultural and academic center. However, with the beginning of the Thirty Years' War in 1618, the intellectual and fiscal wealth of the university declined. In 1622, the then-world-famous Bibliotheca Palatina was stolen from the University Cathedral and taken to Rome; the reconstruction e
Kingdom of Bohemia
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 Bohemian king was a prince-elector of the empire; the kings of Bohemia, besides Bohemia ruled the Lands of the Bohemian Crown, which at various times included Moravia, Silesia and parts of Saxony and Bavaria. The kingdom was established by the Přemyslid dynasty in the 12th century from Duchy of Bohemia ruled by the House of Luxembourg, the Jagiellonian dynasty, since 1526 by the House of Habsburg and its successor house Habsburg-Lorraine. Numerous kings of Bohemia were elected Holy Roman Emperors and the capital Prague was the imperial seat in the late 14th century, at the end of the 16th and beginning of the 17th centuries. After the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the territory became part of the Habsburg Austrian Empire, subsequently the Austro-Hungarian Empire from 1867.
Bohemia retained its name and formal status as a separate Kingdom of Bohemia until 1918, known as a crown land within the Austro-Hungarian Empire, its capital Prague was one of the empire's leading cities. The Czech language was the main language of the Diet and the nobility until 1627. German was formally made equal with Czech and prevailed as the language of the Diet until the Czech National Revival in the 19th century. German was widely 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 and German languages, depending on the ruler and period. Following the defeat of the Central Powers in World War I, both the Kingdom and Empire were dissolved. Bohemia became the core part of the newly formed Czechoslovak Republic. Although some former rulers of Bohemia had enjoyed a non-hereditary royal title during the 11th and 12th centuries, the kingdom was formally established in 1198 by Přemysl Ottokar I, who had his status acknowledged by Philip of Swabia, elected King of the Romans, in return for his support against the rival Emperor Otto IV.
In 1204 Ottokar's royal status was accepted by Otto IV as well as by Pope Innocent III. It was 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 future 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 king's successor was his son, from his second marriage. Wenceslaus I's sister Agnes canonized, was an extraordinarily courageous and energetic woman for her time. Corresponding with the Pope, she established the Knights of the Cross with the Red Star in 1233, the first military order in the Kingdom of Bohemia. Four other military orders were present in Bohemia: the Order of St. John of Jerusalem from c. 1160. 1200–1421. The 13th century was the most dynamic period of the Přemyslid reign over Bohemia. German Emperor Frederick II's preoccupation with Mediterranean affairs and the dynastic struggles known as the Great Interregnum weakened imperial authority in Central Europe, thus providing opportunities for Přemyslid assertiveness.
At the same time, the Mongol invasions absorbed the attention of Bohemia's eastern neighbors and Poland. Přemysl Ottokar II married a German princess, Margaret of Babenberg, became duke of Austria, he thereby acquired Upper Austria, Lower Austria, part of Styria. He conquered the rest of Styria, most of Carinthia, parts of Carniola, he was called "the king of iron and gold". He campaigned as far as Prussia, where he defeated the pagan natives and in 1256, founded a city he named Královec in Czech, which became Königsberg. In 1260, Ottokar defeated Hungary in the Battle of Kressenbrunn, where more than 200,000 men clashed, he ruled an area from Austria to the Adriatic Sea. From 1273, Habsburg king Rudolf began to reassert imperial authority, checking Ottokar's power, he had problems with rebellious nobility in Bohemia. All of Ottokar's German possessions were lost in 1276, in 1278 he was abandoned by part of the Czech nobility and died in the Battle on the Marchfeld against Rudolf. Ottokar was succeeded by his son King Wenceslaus II, crowned King of Poland in 1300.
Wenceslaus II's son Wenceslaus III was crowned King of Hungary a year later. At this time, the Kings of Bohemia ruled from Hungary to the Baltic Sea; the 13th century was a period of large-scale German immigration, during the Ostsiedlung encouraged by the Přemyslid kings. The Germans populated towns and mining districts on the Bohemian periphery and in some cases formed German colonies in the interior of the Czech lands. Stříbro, Kutná Hora, Německý Brod, Jihlava were important German settlements; the Germans brought their own code of law – the ius teutonicum – which formed the basis of the commercial law of Bohemia and Moravia. Marriages between Czech nobles
Mainz
Mainz is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The city is located on the Rhine river at its confluence with the Main river, opposite Wiesbaden on the border with Hesse. Mainz is an independent city with a population of 206,628 and forms part of the Frankfurt Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region. Mainz was founded by the Romans in the 1st Century BC during the Classical antiquity era, serving as a military fortress on the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire and as the provincial capital of Germania Superior. Mainz became an important city in the 8th Century AD as part of the Holy Roman Empire, becoming the capital of the Electorate of Mainz and seat of the Archbishop-Elector of Mainz, the Primate of Germany. Mainz is famous as the home of Johannes Gutenberg, the inventor of the movable-type printing press, who in the early 1450s manufactured his first books in the city, including the Gutenberg Bible. Before the 20th century, the city was known in English as Mentz and in French as Mayence.
Mainz was damaged during World War II, with more than 30 air raids destroying about 80 percent of the city's center, including most of the historic buildings. Today, Mainz is a center of wine production. Mainz is located on the 50th latitude, on the left bank of the river Rhine, opposite the confluence of the Main with the Rhine; the population in the early 2012 was 200,957, an additional 18,619 people maintain a primary residence elsewhere but have a second home in Mainz. The city is part of the Rhein Metro area comprising 5.8 million people. Mainz can be reached from Frankfurt International Airport in 25 minutes by commuter railway. Mainz is a river port city as the Rhine which connects with its main tributaries, such as the Neckar, the Main and the Moselle and thereby continental Europe with the Port of Rotterdam and thus the North Sea. Mainz's history and economy are tied to its proximity to the Rhine handling much of the region's waterborne cargo. Today's huge container port hub allowing trimodal transport is located on the North Side of the town.
The river provides another positive effect, moderating Mainz's climate. After the last ice age, sand dunes were deposited in the Rhine valley at what was to become the western edge of the city; the Mainz Sand Dunes area is now a nature reserve with a unique landscape and rare steppe vegetation for this area. While the Mainz legion camp was founded in 13/12 BC on the Kästrich hill, the associated vici and canabae were erected in direction to the Rhine. Historical sources and archaeological findings both prove the importance of the military and civilian Mogontiacum as a port city on the Rhine. Mainz experiences an oceanic climate; the Roman stronghold or castrum Mogontiacum, the precursor to Mainz, was founded by the Roman general Drusus as early as 13/12 BC. As related by Suetonius the existence of Mogontiacum is well established by four years though several other theories suggest the site may have been established earlier. Although the city is situated opposite the mouth of the Main, the name of Mainz is not from Main, the similarity being due to diachronic analogy.
Main is from the name the Romans used for the river. Linguistic analysis of the many forms that the name "Mainz" has taken on make it clear that it is a simplification of Mogontiacum; the name appears to be Celtic and it is. However, it had become Roman and was selected by them with a special significance; the Roman soldiers defending Gallia had adopted the Gallic god Mogons, for the meaning of which etymology offers two basic options: "the great one", similar to Latin magnus, used in aggrandizing names such as Alexander magnus, "Alexander the Great" and Pompeius magnus, "Pompey the great", or the god of "might" personified as it appears in young servitors of any type whether of noble or ignoble birth. Mogontiacum was an important military town throughout Roman times due to its strategic position at the confluence of the Main and the Rhine; the town of Mogontiacum grew up between the river. The castrum was the base of Legio XIV Gemina and XVI Gallica, XXII Primigenia, IV Macedonica, I Adiutrix, XXI Rapax, XIV Gemina, among others.
Mainz was a base of a Roman river fleet, the Classis Germanica. Remains of Roman troop ships and a patrol boat from the late 4th century were discovered in 1982/86 and may now be viewed in the Museum für Antike Schifffahrt. A temple dedicated to Isis Panthea and Magna Mater is open to the public; the city was the provincial capital of Germania Superior, had an important funeral monument dedicated to Drusus, to which people made pilgrimages for an annual festival from as far away as Lyon. Among the famous buildings were a bridge across the Rhine; the city was the site of the assassination of emperor Severus Alexander in 235. Alemanni forces under Rando sacked the city in 368. From the last day of 405 or 406, the Siling and Asding Vandals, the Suebi, the Alans, other Germanic tribes crossed the Rhine at Mainz. Christian chronicles relate that the bishop, was put to death by the Alemannian Crocus; the way was open to the invasion of Gaul. Throughout the changes of time, the Roman castrum never seems to have been permanently abandoned as a military installation, a testimony to Roman military judgemen
History
History is the study of the past as it is described in written documents. Events occurring before written record are considered prehistory, it is an umbrella term that relates to past events as well as the memory, collection, organization and interpretation of information about these events. Scholars who write about history are called historians. History can refer to the academic discipline which uses a narrative to examine and analyse a sequence of past events, objectively determine the patterns of cause and effect that determine them. Historians sometimes debate the nature of history and its usefulness by discussing the study of the discipline as an end in itself and as a way of providing "perspective" on the problems of the present. Stories common to a particular culture, but not supported by external sources, are classified as cultural heritage or legends, because they do not show the "disinterested investigation" required of the discipline of history. Herodotus, a 5th-century BC Greek historian is considered within the Western tradition to be the "father of history", along with his contemporary Thucydides, helped form the foundations for the modern study of human history.
Their works continue to be read today, the gap between the culture-focused Herodotus and the military-focused Thucydides remains a point of contention or approach in modern historical writing. In East Asia, a state chronicle, the Spring and Autumn Annals was known to be compiled from as early as 722 BC although only 2nd-century BC texts have survived. Ancient influences have helped spawn variant interpretations of the nature of history which have evolved over the centuries and continue to change today; the modern study of history is wide-ranging, includes the study of specific regions and the study of certain topical or thematical elements of historical investigation. History is taught as part of primary and secondary education, the academic study of history is a major discipline in university studies; the word history comes from the Ancient Greek ἱστορία, meaning'inquiry','knowledge from inquiry', or'judge'. It was in that sense; the ancestor word ἵστωρ is attested early on in Homeric Hymns, the Athenian ephebes' oath, in Boiotic inscriptions.
The Greek word was borrowed into Classical Latin as historia, meaning "investigation, research, description, written account of past events, writing of history, historical narrative, recorded knowledge of past events, narrative". History was borrowed from Latin into Old English as stær, but this word fell out of use in the late Old English period. Meanwhile, as Latin became Old French, historia developed into forms such as istorie and historie, with new developments in the meaning: "account of the events of a person's life, account of events as relevant to a group of people or people in general, dramatic or pictorial representation of historical events, body of knowledge relative to human evolution, narrative of real or imaginary events, story", it was from Anglo-Norman that history was borrowed into Middle English, this time the loan stuck. It appears in the 13th-century Ancrene Wisse, but seems to have become a common word in the late 14th century, with an early attestation appearing in John Gower's Confessio Amantis of the 1390s: "I finde in a bok compiled | To this matiere an old histoire, | The which comth nou to mi memoire".
In Middle English, the meaning of history was "story" in general. The restriction to the meaning "the branch of knowledge that deals with past events. With the Renaissance, older senses of the word were revived, it was in the Greek sense that Francis Bacon used the term in the late 16th century, when he wrote about "Natural History". For him, historia was "the knowledge of objects determined by space and time", that sort of knowledge provided by memory. In an expression of the linguistic synthetic vs. analytic/isolating dichotomy, English like Chinese now designates separate words for human history and storytelling in general. In modern German and most Germanic and Romance languages, which are solidly synthetic and inflected, the same word is still used to mean both'history' and'story'. Historian in the sense of a "researcher of history" is attested from 1531. In all European languages, the substantive history is still used to mean both "what happened with men", "the scholarly study of the happened", the latter sense sometimes distinguished with a capital letter, or the word historiography.
The adjective historical is attested from 1661, historic from 1669. Historians write in the context of their own time, with due regard to the current dominant ideas of how to interpret the past, sometimes write to provide lessons for their own society. In the words of Benedetto Croce, "All history is contemporary history". History is facilitated by the formation of a "true discourse of past" through the production of narrative and analysis of past events relating to the human race; the modern discipline of history is dedicated to the institutional production of this discourse. All events that are remembered and preserved in some authentic form constitute the historical record; the task of histori
