James IV of Scotland
James IV was the King of Scotland from 11 June 1488 to his death. He assumed the throne following the death of his father, King James III, at the Battle of Sauchieburn, a rebellion in which the younger James played an indirect role, he is regarded as the most successful of the Stewart monarchs of Scotland, but his reign ended in a disastrous defeat at the Battle of Flodden. He was the last monarch from the island of Great Britain to be killed in battle. James IV's marriage in 1503 to Margaret Tudor linked the royal houses of England, it led to the Union of the Crowns in 1603, when Elizabeth I died without heirs and James IV's great-grandson James VI succeeded to the English throne as James I. James was the son of Margaret of Denmark, born in Holyrood Abbey; as heir apparent to the Scottish crown, he became Duke of Rothesay. He had two younger brothers and John. In 1474, his father arranged his betrothal to the English princess Cecily of York, daughter of Edward IV of England, his father James III was not a popular king, facing two major rebellions during his reign, alienating many members of his close family his younger brother Alexander Stewart, Duke of Albany.
James III's pro-English policy was unpopular, rebounded badly upon him when the marriage negotiations with England broke down over lapsed dowry payments, leading to the invasion of Scotland and capture of Berwick in 1482 by Cecily's uncle Richard, Duke of Gloucester, in the company of the Duke of Albany. When James III attempted to lead his army against the invasion, his army rebelled against him and he was imprisoned by his own councillors in the first major crisis of his reign. James IV's mother, Margaret of Denmark, was more popular than his father, though somewhat estranged from her husband she was given responsibility for raising their sons at Stirling Castle, but she died in 1486. Two years a second rebellion broke out, where the rebels set up the 15-year-old Prince James as their nominal leader, they fought James III at the Battle of Sauchieburn on 11 June 1488, where the king was killed, though several sources claimed that Prince James had forbidden any man to harm his father. The younger James was crowned at Scone on 24 June.
However he continued to bear intense guilt for the indirect role which he had played in the death of his father. He decided to do penance for his sin; each Lent, for the rest of his life, he wore a heavy iron chain cilice around his waist, next to the skin. He added extra ounces every year. James IV proved an effective ruler and a wise king, he defeated another rebellion in 1489, took a direct interest in the administration of justice and brought the Lord of the Isles under control in 1493. For a time, he supported Perkin Warbeck, pretender to the English throne, carried out a brief invasion of England on his behalf in September 1496. In August 1497, James laid siege to Norham Castle, using his grandfather's bombard Mons Meg. James recognised nonetheless that peace between Scotland and England was in the interest of both countries, established good diplomatic relations with England, emerging at the time from a period of civil war. First he ratified the Treaty of Ayton in 1497. In 1502 James signed the Treaty of Perpetual Peace with Henry VII.
This treaty was sealed by his marriage to Henry's daughter Margaret Tudor the next year, in an event portrayed as the marriage of The Thrissil and the Rois by the great poet William Dunbar, resident at James' court. James was granted the title of Defender of the Faith in 1507 by the Papal Legate at Holyrood Abbey. James maintained Scotland's traditional good relations with France and this created diplomatic problems with England. For example, when rumours that James would renew the Auld alliance circulated in April 1508, Thomas Wolsey was sent to discuss Henry VII's concerns over this. Wolsey found "there was never a man worse welcome into Scotland than I... they keep their matters so secret here that the wives in the market know every cause of my coming." Nonetheless, Anglo-Scottish relations remained stable until the death of Henry VII in 1509. James saw the importance of building a fleet that could provide Scotland with a strong maritime presence. James founded two new dockyards for this purpose and acquired a total of 38 ships for the Royal Scots Navy, including the Margaret, the carrack Great Michael.
The latter, built at great expense at Newhaven, near Edinburgh and launched in 1511, was 240 feet in length, weighed1,000 tons and was, at that time, the largest ship in the world. James IV was a true Renaissance prince with an interest in scientific matters, he granted the Incorporation of Surgeons and Barbers of Edinburgh a royal charter in 1506, turned Edinburgh Castle into one of Scotland's foremost gun foundries, welcomed the establishment of Scotland's first printing press in 1507. He built a part of Falkland Palace, Great Halls at Stirling and Edinburgh castles, furnished his palaces with tapestries. James was a patron of the arts, including many literary figures, most notably the Scots makars whose diverse and observant works convey a vibrant and memorable picture of cultural life and intellectual concerns of the period. Figures associated with his court include William Dunbar, Walter Kennedy and Gavin Douglas, who made the first complete translation of Virgil's Aeneid in northern Europe.
His reign saw the passing of the makar Robert Henryson. He patronised music at Restalrig using rental money from t
Dunblane
Dunblane is a town in the council area of Stirling in central Scotland. It is a commuter town, with many residents making use of good transport links to much of the Central Belt, including Glasgow and Edinburgh. Dunblane is built on the banks of a tributary of the River Forth. Dunblane Cathedral is its most prominent landmark. Dunblane had a population of 8,114 at the 2001 census; the most popular theory for the derivation of the name "Dunblane" is that it means "fort of Blane", commemorating Saint Blane, an early Christian saint who lived in the late 6th century. His main seat was Kingarth on the Isle of Bute, he or his followers may have founded a church at Dunblane. The earliest spellings of the name Dunblane are of the form Dul Blaan, the first element being a Pictish word for'water meadow, haugh', borrowed into Scottish Gaelic. There are parallels to Dul Blaan in such Scottish place-names as Dalserf and Dalpatrick, all of which commemorate saints; the earliest evidence for Christianity on the site are two cross-slabs of the 10th to 11th centuries which are preserved in the cathedral.
Incorporated into the medieval building, but free-standing, is an 11th-century bell-tower, whose height was increased in the 15th century. The nave and aisleless choir are 13th century. Dunblane did not have a rich or extensive medieval diocese, the cathedral is modest in scale, but its refined architecture is much admired, as is its setting overlooking the valley of the Allan Water. After the Reformation, the nave of the cathedral was abandoned and soon became roofless and used for burials; the choir was retained as the parish church. The nave was re-roofed and the cathedral provided with new furnishings by Robert Rowand Anderson between 1889 and 1893. During the boom years of the Hydropathy movement in the 19th century, Dunblane was the location of a successful hydropathic establishment. Since the early 1970s the town has grown extensively and is now regarded as a sought-after commuter town due to its excellent road and rail links and good schools. Dunblane is close to the University of Stirling's campus at Bridge of Allan, is a popular location for academics.
Japanese Wagyu beef is now being raised in Dunblane. The town was a royal burgh and part of Perthshire until the 1975 abolition of Scottish counties, from which point it became part of Stirling District in Central Region. In 1994, the regions were themselves abolished and Dunblane's only local authority became Stirling Council. In addition, Dunblane has an active community council; until 1983, Dunblane was part of the Kinross and Western Perthshire constituency of the UK parliament, being represented by predominantly Unionist MPs. After 1983, it became part of the Stirling constituency, since has been represented by Conservative, Labour and SNP MPs. In the Scottish Parliament, Dunblane is part of the Clackmannanshire and Dunblane constituency and the Mid Scotland and Fife region, it shares a ward with Bridge of Allan in council elections. Dunblane is referred to as a city, due to the presence of Dunblane Cathedral. However, this status was never recognised. Dunblane has two supermarkets, a Tesco and a M&S Foodhall, as well as a local Co-op.
Among other shops, the High Street has two independent butchers and one remaining bank, the Bank of Scotland Over the course of 6 years, a small group of young local boys and their parents raised money to build a skatepark in the Laighills. The skatepark was completed on 23 February 2007 and has been visited by Death skateboard team and by the Vans UK Tour; the town is served by Dunblane railway station, which has regular services to Stirling, Perth and Edinburgh. It is a stop on the Caledonian Sleeper from Inverness, several other long distance trains to Aberdeen, Dundee and London. Dunblane station was the junction for services over the scenically attractive route to Doune and Crianlarich, where the line joined the still extant line from Glasgow to Oban; the route to Oban via the popular Callander line closed in 1965. Dunblane is the northernmost station of Network Rail's Edinburgh to Glasgow Improvement Programme, which includes electrification. Dunblane is the point at which the M9 motorway ends and joins the A9 dual carriageway north towards Perth.
The A9 went through the centre of Dunblane, but a bypass was completed in 1991 and the old road became the B8033. The rapid expansion of the town has led to a large increase in local car usage, resulting in considerable parking problems. Dunblane Cathedral - Church of Scotland St Blane's Church - Church of Scotland St Mary's Church - Scottish Episcopal Church Church of the Holy Family - Roman Catholic Church Free Church of Scotland Dunblane Christian Fellowship Community of St Nicholas - Eastern Orthodox ChurchDunblane Cathedral is remarkable in having retained more of its late-medieval choir stalls than any other Scottish church building, is noted for its organ. Further fragments of medieval woodwork from the cathedral are displayed in the town's museum the Cathedral Museum, situated nearby. Though still used as a parish church, the building is in the care of Historic Scotland. To the south of the cathedral are some stone vaults of medieval origin, which are the only remaining f
Scotland
Scotland is a country, part of the United Kingdom. Sharing a border with England to the southeast, Scotland is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, by the North Sea to the northeast and by the Irish Sea to the south. In addition to the mainland, situated on the northern third of the island of Great Britain, Scotland has over 790 islands, including the Northern Isles and the Hebrides; the Kingdom of Scotland emerged as an independent sovereign state in the Early Middle Ages and continued to exist until 1707. By inheritance in 1603, James VI, King of Scots, became King of England and King of Ireland, thus forming a personal union of the three kingdoms. Scotland subsequently entered into a political union with the Kingdom of England on 1 May 1707 to create the new Kingdom of Great Britain; the union created a new Parliament of Great Britain, which succeeded both the Parliament of Scotland and the Parliament of England. In 1801, the Kingdom of Great Britain and Kingdom of Ireland enacted a political union to create a United Kingdom.
The majority of Ireland subsequently seceded from the UK in 1922. Within Scotland, the monarchy of the United Kingdom has continued to use a variety of styles and other royal symbols of statehood specific to the pre-union Kingdom of Scotland; the legal system within Scotland has remained separate from those of England and Wales and Northern Ireland. The continued existence of legal, educational and other institutions distinct from those in the remainder of the UK have all contributed to the continuation of Scottish culture and national identity since the 1707 union with England; the Scottish Parliament, a unicameral legislature comprising 129 members, was established in 1999 and has authority over those areas of domestic policy which have been devolved by the United Kingdom Parliament. The head of the Scottish Government, the executive of the devolved legislature, is the First Minister of Scotland. Scotland is represented in the UK House of Commons by 59 MPs and in the European Parliament by 6 MEPs.
Scotland is a member of the British–Irish Council, sends five members of the Scottish Parliament to the British–Irish Parliamentary Assembly. Scotland is divided into councils. Glasgow City is the largest subdivision in Scotland in terms of population, with Highland being the largest in terms of area. "Scotland" comes from the Latin name for the Gaels. From the ninth century, the meaning of Scotia shifted to designate Gaelic Scotland and by the eleventh century the name was being used to refer to the core territory of the Kingdom of Alba in what is now east-central Scotland; the use of the words Scots and Scotland to encompass most of what is now Scotland became common in the Late Middle Ages, as the Kingdom of Alba expanded and came to encompass various peoples of diverse origins. Repeated glaciations, which covered the entire land mass of modern Scotland, destroyed any traces of human habitation that may have existed before the Mesolithic period, it is believed the first post-glacial groups of hunter-gatherers arrived in Scotland around 12,800 years ago, as the ice sheet retreated after the last glaciation.
At the time, Scotland was covered in forests, had more bog-land, the main form of transport was by water. These settlers began building the first known permanent houses on Scottish soil around 9,500 years ago, the first villages around 6,000 years ago; the well-preserved village of Skara Brae on the mainland of Orkney dates from this period. Neolithic habitation and ritual sites are common and well preserved in the Northern Isles and Western Isles, where a lack of trees led to most structures being built of local stone. Evidence of sophisticated pre-Christian belief systems is demonstrated by sites such as the Callanish Stones on Lewis and the Maes Howe on Orkney, which were built in the third millennium BCE; the first written reference to Scotland was in 320 BC by Greek sailor Pytheas, who called the northern tip of Britain "Orcas", the source of the name of the Orkney islands. During the first millennium BCE, the society changed to a chiefdom model, as consolidation of settlement led to the concentration of wealth and underground stores of surplus food.
The first Roman incursion into Scotland occurred in 79 AD. After the Roman victory, Roman forts were set along the Gask Ridge close to the Highland line, but by three years after the battle, the Roman armies had withdrawn to the Southern Uplands; the Romans erected Hadrian's Wall in northern England and the Limes Britannicus became the northern border of the Roman Empire. The Roman influence on the southern part of the country was considerable, they introduced Christianity to Scotland. Beginning in the sixth century, the area, now Scotland was divided into three areas: Pictland, a patchwork of small lordships in central Scotland; these societies were based on the family unit and had sharp divisions in wealth, although the vast majority were poor and worked full-time in subsistence agriculture. The Picts kept slaves through the ninth century. Gaelic influence over Pictland and Northumbria was facilitated by the large number of Gaelic-speaking clerics working as missionaries. Operating in the sixth ce
Richard Kindersley
Richard Kindersley is a British typeface designer, stone letter carver and sculptor. Kindersley studied lettering and sculpture at Cambridge School of Art and in the workshop of his father David Kindersley, a noted stone carver, his major public work is the Seven Ages of Man, a sculpture outside Baynard House in the City of London. He has constructed a modern stone circle called The Millennium Stones created during 1998 to 1999 in Gatton Park Surrey, to mark the double millennium from AD1 to AD2000; the first stone in the series is inscribed with the words from St John's Gospel, "in the beginning the word was". The subsequent nine stones are carved with quotations contemporary with each 200 year segment, ending with the words of T S Eliot. Inside the Lines, Richard Kindersley Exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum
Bayard Taylor
Bayard Taylor was an American poet, literary critic, travel author, diplomat. Taylor was born on January 1825, in Kennett Square in Chester County, Pennsylvania, he was the fourth son, the first to survive to maturity, of the Quaker couple and Rebecca Taylor. His father was a wealthy farmer. Bayard received his early instruction in an academy at West Chester, at nearby Unionville. At the age of seventeen, he was apprenticed to a printer in West Chester; the influential critic and editor Rufus Wilmot Griswold encouraged him to write poetry. The volume that resulted, Ximena, or the Battle of the Sierra Morena, other Poems, was published in 1844 and dedicated to Griswold. Using the money from his poetry and an advance for travel articles, he visited parts of England, France and Italy, making pedestrian tours for two years, he sent accounts of his travels to the Tribune, The Saturday Evening Post, The United States Gazette. In 1846, he published a collection of those articles in two volumes as Views Afoot, or Europe seen with Knapsack and Staff.
That publication resulted in an invitation to serve as an editorial assistant for Graham's Magazine for a few months in 1848. That same year, Horace Greeley, editor of the New York Tribune, hired Taylor and sent him to California to report on the gold rush, he returned by way of Mexico and published another two-volume collection of travel essays, El Dorado. Within two weeks of release, the books sold 10,000 copies in the U. S. and 30,000 in Great Britain. In 1849 Taylor married Mary Agnew; that same year, Taylor won a popular competition sponsored by P. T. Barnum to write an ode for the "Swedish Nightingale", singer Jenny Lind, his poem "Greetings to America" was set to music by Julius Benedict and performed by the singer at numerous concerts on her tour of the United States. In 1851 he traveled to Egypt, where he followed the Nile River as far as 12° 30' N, he traveled in Palestine and Mediterranean countries, writing poetry based on his experiences. Toward the end of 1852, he sailed from England to Calcutta, to China, where he joined the expedition of Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry to Japan.
The results of these journeys were published as A Journey to Central Africa. He returned to the U. S. on December 20, 1853, undertook a successful public lecturer tour that extended from Maine to Wisconsin. After two years, he went to northern Europe to study Swedish life and literature; the trip inspired his long narrative poem Lars. His series of articles Swedish Letters to the Tribune were republished as Northern Travel: Summer and Winter Pictures. In Berlin in 1856, Taylor met the great German scientist Alexander von Humboldt, hoping to interview him for the New York Tribune. Humboldt was welcoming, inquired whether they should speak English or German. Taylor planned to go to central Asia, where Humboldt had traveled in 1829. Taylor informed Humboldt of Washington Irving's death. Taylor saw Humboldt again in 1857 at Potsdam. In October 1857, he married the daughter of the Danish/German astronomer Peter Hansen; the couple spent the following winter in Greece. In 1859 Taylor lectured at San Francisco.
In 1862, he was appointed to the U. S. diplomatic service as secretary of legation at St. Petersburg, acting minister to Russia for a time during 1862-3 after the resignation of Ambassador Simon Cameron, he published his first novel Hannah Thurston in 1863. The newspaper The New York Times first praised him for "break new ground with such assured success". A second much longer appreciation in the same newspaper was negative, describing "one pointless, aimless situation leading to another of the same stamp, so on in maddening succession", it concluded: "The platitudes and puerilities which might otherwise only raise a smile, when confronted with such pompous pretensions, excite the contempt of every man who has in him the feeblest instincts of common honesty in literature." It proved successful enough for his publisher to announce another novel from him the next year. In 1864 Taylor and his wife Maria returned to the U. S. In 1866, Taylor traveled to Colorado and made a large loop through the northern mountains on horseback with a group that included William Byers, editor of the newspaper Rocky Mountain News.
His letters describing this adventure were compiled and published as Colorado: A Summer Trip. His late novel and His Friend: A Story of Pennsylvania, first serialized in the magazine The Atlantic, was described as a story of young man in rural Pennsylvania and "the troubles which arise from the want of a broader education and higher culture", it is believed to be based on the poets Fitz-Greene Halleck and Joseph Rodman Drake, since the late 20th-century has been called America's first gay novel. Taylor spoke at the dedication of a monument to Halleck in his native town, Connecticut, he said that in establishing this monument to an American poet "we symbolize the intellectual growth of the American people.... The life of the poet who sleeps here represents the long period of transition between the appearance of American poetry and the creation of an appreciative and sympathetic audience for it."Taylor imitated and parodied the writings of various poets in Diversions of the Echo Club. In 1874 Taylor traveled to Icela
Parish church
A parish church in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities allowing its premises to be used for non-religious community events; the church building reflects this status, there is considerable variety in the size and style of parish churches. Many villages in Europe have churches that date back to the Middle Ages, but all periods of architecture are represented. In England, the parish church is the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches. Nearly every part of England is designated as a parish, most parishes have an Anglican parish church, consecrated. If there is no parish church, the bishop licenses another building for worship, may designate it as a parish centre of worship; this building is not consecrated, but is dedicated, for most legal purposes it is deemed to be a parish church. In areas of increasing secularisation or shifts in religious belief, centres of worship are becoming more common, larger churches are sold due to their upkeep costs.
Instead the church may use community centres or the facilities of a local church of another denomination. While smaller villages may have a single parish church, larger towns may have a parish church and other smaller churches in various districts; these churches do not have the legal or religious status of'parish church' and may be described by a variety of terms, such as chapel of ease or mission church. The parish church will be the only one to have a full-time minister, who will serve any smaller churches within the parish. In cities without an Anglican cathedral, the parish church may have administrative functions similar to that of a cathedral. However, the diocese will still have a cathedral. In the Catholic Church, as the seat of worship for the parish, this church is the one where the members of the parish must go for baptisms and weddings, unless permission is given by the parish priest for celebrating these sacraments elsewhere. One sign of this is; the Church of Scotland, the established Presbyterian church uses a system of parish churches, covering the whole of Scotland.
In Massachusetts, towns elected publicly funded parish churches from 1780 until 1834, under the Constitution of Massachusetts. Toward the end of the 20th century, a new resurgence in interest in "parish" churches emerged across the United States; this has given rise to efforts like the Slow Church Movement and The Parish Collective which focus on localized involvement across work and church life. Roman Catholic parish church Church of England parish church
Romanesque architecture
Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of medieval Europe characterized by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque style, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 11th century, this date being the most held. In the 12th century it developed into the Gothic style, marked by pointed arches. Examples of Romanesque architecture can be found across the continent, making it the first pan-European architectural style since Imperial Roman architecture; the Romanesque style in England is traditionally referred to as Norman architecture. Combining features of ancient Roman and Byzantine buildings and other local traditions, Romanesque architecture is known by its massive quality, thick walls, round arches, sturdy pillars, barrel vaults, large towers and decorative arcading; each building has defined forms of regular, symmetrical plan. The style can be identified right across Europe, despite regional characteristics and different materials. Many castles were built during this period, but they are outnumbered by churches.
The most significant are the great abbey churches, many of which are still standing, more or less complete and in use. The enormous quantity of churches built in the Romanesque period was succeeded by the still busier period of Gothic architecture, which or rebuilt most Romanesque churches in prosperous areas like England and Portugal; the largest groups of Romanesque survivors are in areas that were less prosperous in subsequent periods, including parts of southern France, rural Spain and rural Italy. Survivals of unfortified Romanesque secular houses and palaces, the domestic quarters of monasteries are far rarer, but these used and adapted the features found in church buildings, on a domestic scale. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word "Romanesque" means "descended from Roman" and was first used in English to designate what are now called Romance languages; the French term "romane" was first used in the architectural sense by archaeologist Charles de Gerville in a letter of 18 December 1818 to Auguste Le Prévost to describe what Gerville sees as a debased Roman architecture.
In 1824 Gerville's friend Arcisse de Caumont adopted the label "roman" to describe the "degraded" European architecture from the 5th to the 13th centuries, in his Essai sur l'architecture religieuse du moyen-âge, particulièrement en Normandie, at a time when the actual dates of many of the buildings so described had not been ascertained: The name Roman we give to this architecture, which should be universal as it is the same everywhere with slight local differences has the merit of indicating its origin and is not new since it is used to describe the language of the same period. Romance language is degenerated Latin language. Romanesque architecture is debased Roman architecture; the first use in a published work is in William Gunn's An Inquiry into the Origin and Influence of Gothic Architecture. The word was used by Gunn to describe the style, identifiably Medieval and prefigured the Gothic, yet maintained the rounded Roman arch and thus appeared to be a continuation of the Roman tradition of building.
The term is now used for the more restricted period from the late 10th to 12th centuries. The term "Pre-romanesque" is sometimes applied to architecture in Germany of the Carolingian and Ottonian periods and Visigothic and Asturian constructions between the 8th and the 10th centuries in the Iberian Peninsula while "First Romanesque" is applied to buildings in north of Italy and Spain and parts of France that have Romanesque features but pre-date the influence of the Abbey of Cluny. Typical Romanesque architectural forms Buildings of every type were constructed in the Romanesque style, with evidence remaining of simple domestic buildings, elegant town houses, grand palaces, commercial premises, civic buildings, city walls, village churches, abbey churches, abbey complexes and large cathedrals. Of these types of buildings and commercial buildings are the most rare, with only a handful of survivors in the United Kingdom, several clusters in France, isolated buildings across Europe and by far the largest number unidentified and altered over the centuries, in Italy.
Many castles exist, the foundations of. Most have been altered, many are in ruins. By far the greatest number of surviving Romanesque buildings are churches; these range from tiny chapels to large cathedrals. Although many have been extended and altered in different styles, a large number remain either intact or sympathetically restored, demonstrating the form and decoration of Romanesque church architecture; the scope of Romanesque architecture Romanesque architecture was the first distinctive style to spread across Europe since the Roman Empire. With the decline of Rome, Roman building methods survived to an extent in Western Europe, where successive Merovingian and Ottonian architects continued to build large stone buildings such as monastery churches and palaces. In the more northern countries, Roman building styles and techniques had never been adopted except for official buildings, while in Scandinavia they were unknown. Although the round arch continued in use, the engineering skills required to vault large spaces and build large domes were lost.
There was a loss of stylistic continuity apparent in the decline of the formal vocabulary of the Classical Orders. In Rome several great Constantinian basilicas continued in use as an inspiration to builders; some traditions of Rom
