1.
Danish language
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There are also minor Danish-speaking communities in Norway, Sweden, Spain, the United States, Canada, Brazil and Argentina. Due to immigration and language shift in urban areas, around 15–20% of the population of Greenland speak Danish as their home language. Along with the other North Germanic languages, Danish is a descendant of Old Norse, until the 16th century, Danish was a continuum of dialects spoken from Schleswig to Scania with no standard variety or spelling conventions. With the Protestant Reformation and the introduction of printing, a language was developed which was based on the educated Copenhagen dialect. It spread through use in the system and administration though German. Today, traditional Danish dialects have all but disappeared, though there are variants of the standard language. The main differences in language are between generations, with youth language being particularly innovative, Danish has a very large vowel inventory comprising 27 phonemically distinctive vowels, and its prosody is characterized by the distinctive phenomenon stød, a kind of laryngeal phonation type. The grammar is moderately inflective with strong and weak conjugations and inflections, nouns and demonstrative pronouns distinguish common and neutral gender. As in English, Danish only has remnants of a case system, particularly in the pronouns. Its syntax is V2, with the verb always occupying the second slot in the sentence. Danish is a Germanic language of the North Germanic branch, other names for this group are the Nordic or Scandinavian languages. Along with Swedish, Danish descends from the Eastern dialects of the Old Norse language, Scandinavian languages are often considered a dialect continuum, where there are no sharp dividing lines between the different vernacular languages. Like Norwegian and Swedish, Danish was significantly influenced by Low German in the Middle Ages, Danish itself can be divided into three main dialect areas, West Danish, Insular Danish, and East Danish. Danish is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Swedish, both Swedes and Danes also understand Norwegian better than they understand each others languages. By the 8th century, the common Germanic language of Scandinavia, Proto-Norse, had some changes. This language was called the Danish tongue, or Norse language. Norse was written in the alphabet, first with the elder futhark. From the 7th century the common Norse language began to undergo changes that did not spread to all of Scandinavia, most of the changes separating East Norse from West Norse started as innovations in Denmark, that spread through Scania into Sweden and by maritime contact to southern Norway
2.
Funen
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Funen, with an area of 3,099.7 square kilometres, is the third-largest island of Denmark, after Zealand and Vendsyssel-Thy. It is the 165th-largest island in the world and it is in the central part of the country and has a population of 466,284. The main city is Odense which is connected to the sea by a seldom-used canal, the citys shipyard, Odense Steel Shipyard, has been relocated outside Odense proper. Funen belongs administratively to the Region of Southern Denmark, from 1970 to 2006 the island formed the biggest part of Funen County, which also included the islands of Langeland, Ærø, Tåsinge, and a number of smaller islands. Funen is linked to Zealand, Denmarks largest island, by the Great Belt Bridge which carries both trains and cars, two bridges connect Funen to the Danish mainland, Jutland. The Old Little Belt Bridge was constructed in the 1930s shortly before World War II for both cars and trains, the New Little Belt Bridge, a suspension bridge, was constructed in the 1970s and is used for cars only. Apart from the city, Odense, all major towns are located in coastal areas. Beginning in the north-east of the island and moving clockwise, they are Kerteminde, Nyborg, Svendborg, Fåborg, Assens, Middelfart, the highest natural point on Funen is Frøbjerg Bavnehøj. Broholm Egeskov Castle Fynske Livregiment Horne Church Hvedholm Castle Korshavn, Denmark Skrøbelev Gods The Funen Village Funen brachteate in the collections of the National Museum of Denmark, official tourist information site for Funen
3.
Denmark
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The term Danish Realm refers to the relationship between Denmark proper, the Faroe Islands and Greenland—three countries constituting the Kingdom of Denmark. The legal nature of the Kingdom of Denmark is fundamentally one of a sovereign state. The Faroe Islands and Greenland have been part of the Crown of Denmark since 1397 when the Kalmar Union was ratified, legal matters in The Danish Realm are subject to the Danish Constitution. Beginning in 1953, state law issues within The Danish Realm has been governed by The Unity of the Realm, a less formal name for The Unity of the Realm is the Commonwealth of the Realm. In 1978, The Unity of The Realm was for the first time referred to as rigsfællesskabet. The name caught on and since the 1990s, both The Unity of The Realm and The Danish Realm itself has increasingly been referred to as simply rigsfællesskabet in daily parlance. The Danish Constitution stipulates that the foreign and security interests for all parts of the Danish Realm are the responsibility of the Danish government, the Faroes received home rule in 1948 and Greenland did so in 1979. In 2005, the Faroes received a self-government arrangement, and in 2009 Greenland received self rule, the Danish Realms unique state of internal affairs is acted out in the principle of The Unity of the Realm. This principle is derived from Article 1 of the Danish Constitution which specifies that constitutional law applies equally to all areas of the Danish Realm, the Constitutional Act specifies that sovereignty is to continue to be exclusively with the authorities of the Realm. The language of Denmark is Danish, and the Danish state authorities are based in Denmark, the Kingdom of Denmarks parliament, with its 179 members, is located in the capital, Copenhagen. Two of the members are elected in each of Greenland and the Faroe Islands. The Government ministries are located in Copenhagen, as is the highest court, in principle, the Danish Realm constitutes a unified sovereign state, with equal status between its constituent parts. Devolution differs from federalism in that the powers of the subnational authority ultimately reside in central government. The Self-Government Arrangements devolves political competence and responsibility from the Danish political authorities to the Faroese, the Faroese and Greenlandic authorities administer the tasks taken over from the state, enact legislation in these specific fields and have the economic responsibility for solving these tasks. The Danish government provides a grant to the Faroese and the Greenlandic authorities to cover the costs of these devolved areas. The 1948 Home Rule Act of the Faroe Islands sets out the terms of Faroese home rule, the Act states. the Faroe Islands shall constitute a self-governing community within the State of Denmark. It establishes the government of the Faroe Islands and the Faroese parliament. The Faroe Islands were previously administered as a Danish county, the Home Rule Act abolished the post of Amtmand and these powers were expanded in a 2005 Act, which named the Faroese home government as an equal partner with the Danish government
4.
Europe
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Europe is a continent that comprises the westernmost part of Eurasia. Europe is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, yet the non-oceanic borders of Europe—a concept dating back to classical antiquity—are arbitrary. Europe covers about 10,180,000 square kilometres, or 2% of the Earths surface, politically, Europe is divided into about fifty sovereign states of which the Russian Federation is the largest and most populous, spanning 39% of the continent and comprising 15% of its population. Europe had a population of about 740 million as of 2015. Further from the sea, seasonal differences are more noticeable than close to the coast, Europe, in particular ancient Greece, was the birthplace of Western civilization. The fall of the Western Roman Empire, during the period, marked the end of ancient history. Renaissance humanism, exploration, art, and science led to the modern era, from the Age of Discovery onwards, Europe played a predominant role in global affairs. Between the 16th and 20th centuries, European powers controlled at times the Americas, most of Africa, Oceania. The Industrial Revolution, which began in Great Britain at the end of the 18th century, gave rise to economic, cultural, and social change in Western Europe. During the Cold War, Europe was divided along the Iron Curtain between NATO in the west and the Warsaw Pact in the east, until the revolutions of 1989 and fall of the Berlin Wall. In 1955, the Council of Europe was formed following a speech by Sir Winston Churchill and it includes all states except for Belarus, Kazakhstan and Vatican City. Further European integration by some states led to the formation of the European Union, the EU originated in Western Europe but has been expanding eastward since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. The European Anthem is Ode to Joy and states celebrate peace, in classical Greek mythology, Europa is the name of either a Phoenician princess or of a queen of Crete. The name contains the elements εὐρύς, wide, broad and ὤψ eye, broad has been an epithet of Earth herself in the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European religion and the poetry devoted to it. For the second part also the divine attributes of grey-eyed Athena or ox-eyed Hera. The same naming motive according to cartographic convention appears in Greek Ανατολή, Martin Litchfield West stated that phonologically, the match between Europas name and any form of the Semitic word is very poor. Next to these there is also a Proto-Indo-European root *h1regʷos, meaning darkness. Most major world languages use words derived from Eurṓpē or Europa to refer to the continent, in some Turkic languages the originally Persian name Frangistan is used casually in referring to much of Europe, besides official names such as Avrupa or Evropa
5.
Renaissance architecture
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Stylistically, Renaissance architecture followed Gothic architecture and was succeeded by Baroque architecture. Developed first in Florence, with Filippo Brunelleschi as one of its innovators, the style was carried to France, Germany, England, Russia and other parts of Europe at different dates and with varying degrees of impact. Italy of the 15th century, and the city of Florence in particular, was home to the Renaissance, the scholarly approach to the architecture of the ancient coincided with the general revival of learning. A number of factors were influential in bringing this about, Italian architects had always preferred forms that were clearly defined and structural members that expressed their purpose. Many Tuscan Romanesque buildings demonstrate these characteristics, as seen in the Florence Baptistery, Italy had never fully adopted the Gothic style of architecture. In the 15th century, Florence, Venice and Naples extended their power through much of the area that surrounded them and this enabled Florence to have significant artistic influence in Milan, and through Milan, France. Successive Popes, especially Julius II, 1503–13, sought to extend the Pope’s temporal power throughout Italy, in the early Renaissance, Venice controlled sea trade over goods from the East. Trade brought wool from England to Florence, ideally located on the river for the production of fine cloth, by dominating Pisa, Florence gained a seaport, and also maintained dominance of Genoa. In this commercial climate, one family in particular turned their attention from trade to the business of money-lending. The Medici became the chief bankers to the princes of Europe, becoming virtually princes themselves as they did so, along the trade routes, and thus offered some protection by commercial interest, moved not only goods but also artists, scientists and philosophers. This commenced in the mid 15th century and gained momentum in the 16th century, the construction of the Sistine Chapel with its uniquely important decorations and the entire rebuilding of St Peters, one of Christendoms most significant churches, were part of this process. In wealthy republican Florence, the impetus for church-building was more civic than spiritual, the unfinished state of the enormous cathedral dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary did no honour to the city under her patronage. The dome inspired further religious works in Florence, through Humanism, civic pride and the promotion of civil peace and order were seen as the marks of citizenship. Some major ecclesiastical building works were commissioned, not by the church. During the Renaissance, architecture became not only a question of practice, printing played a large role in the dissemination of ideas. The first treatise on architecture was De re aedificatoria by Leon Battista Alberti in 1450 and it was to some degree dependent on Vitruviuss De architectura, a manuscript of which was discovered in 1414 in a library in Switzerland. De re aedificatoria in 1485 became the first printed book on architecture, Sebastiano Serlio produced the next important text, the first volume of which appeared in Venice in 1537, it was entitled Regole generali darchitettura. It is known as Serlios Fourth Book since it was the fourth in Serlios original plan of a treatise in seven books, in all, five books were published
6.
Water castle
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A water castle is a castle or stately home whose site is entirely surrounded by water-filled moats or natural waterbodies such as island castles in a river or offshore. Topographically water castles are a type of lowland castle, forde-Johnston describes it as a castle in which water plays a prominent part in the defences. In all cases, water is used as an obstacle to hinder an attacker and that apart, an abundant supply of water was also an advantage during a siege. Such a castle usually had one entrance, which was via a drawbridge. To some extent these water castles had a fortress-like character, the characteristic moats thus lost their original security function, but were retained in some cases as an element of landscaping. Today, in monument conservation circles, they are described as burdensome. As a result, many moats around castles in Germany have been drained, or more rarely filled, especially since the 1960s
7.
Count's Feud
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The Counts Feud, also called the Counts War, was a civil war that raged in Denmark in 1534–36 and brought about the Reformation in Denmark. The Counts Feud takes its name from the Protestant Count Christopher of Oldenburg, after Frederick Is death in 1533, the Jutland nobility proclaimed his son, then Duke Christian of Gottorp, as King under the name Christian III. Meanwhile, Count Christoffer organized an uprising against the new king, demanding that Christian II be set free, supported by Lübeck and troops from Oldenburg and Mecklenburg, parts of the Zealand and Skåne nobilities rose up, together with cities such as Copenhagen and Malmø. The headquarters for the revolt came to be in Aalborg, a large number of manors were burned down in northern and western Jutland. On 10 August 1534, Count Christoffer accepted Skåne for Christian IIs rule, the month before, Christoffer was heralded as regent on Christian IIs behalf by the Zealand Council in Ringsted. An army of nobles under the leadership of Niels Brock and Holger Rosenkrantz was defeated at the Battle of Svenstrup on 16 October 1534, Christian III, in the meantime, forced a peace with Lübeck, from which great reinforcements could be freed up to fight against the rebels. On 18 December, Rantzaus troops stormed the city, and it fell, at least 2,000 people are thought to have lost their lives in the storming of the city and in the plundering of the following days. For his part, Skipper Clement, badly wounded, managed to escape, Skipper Clement was later sentenced to death by the judicial council in Viborg and executed in 1536. Fortune did not fare well for the supporters of the Catholic faith. Later, a Swedish army invaded Halland, which was destroyed by fire, some of the Scanian nobles sided with the Swedes, but Tyge Krabbe in Helsingborg Castle supported Count Christoffer. In January 1535, the Swedes and the army of nobles advanced on Helsingborg, with that, Denmark east of the Sound was lost for Count Christoffer. After the victory at Aalborg, Rantzau brought his troops to Funen, and on 11 June 1535, they fought the Battle of Øksnebjerg, both Copenhagen and Malmø, however, were able to hold out until 1536, when they were forced to capitulate after several months siege. With this, the Counts Feud was officially over, in the aftermath of the feud, the nobles regrouped and healed the rifts the usual way, namely through inter-marriage. One of the most powerful among the Danish nobility in Skåne at this time was the Bille family, the Billes also had six family members on the Council of the Realm and owned castles throughout Denmark and Norway. The Brahe family was one of the first among the nobility to convert to Lutheranism, Tycho Brahes paternal grandfather, whom he was named after, Tyge Brahe of Tosterup in eastern Skåne, was killed 7 September 1523 during the siege of Malmø, fighting for Frederick I. Axel Brahe, the brother of the older Tyge Brahe, served as governor of Scania for a long period, in contrast, the consequences of the peasant uprising cost all parties dearly. Many were forced to purchase their lives with great gifts both to the king and to the nobles. Moreover, the dissatisfactions of the peasants, which had culminated in the uprising of the Counts Feud, were made worse
8.
Reformation
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The period is usually considered to have begun with the publication of the Ninety-five Theses by Luther in 1517 to the Thirty Years War and ended with the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. The Protestant position, however, would come to incorporate doctrinal changes such as sola scriptura, the initial movement within Germany diversified, and other reform impulses arose independently of Luther. The spread of Gutenbergs printing press provided the means for the dissemination of religious materials in the vernacular. The largest groups were the Lutherans and Calvinists, Lutheran churches were founded mostly in Germany, the Baltics and Scandinavia, while the Reformed ones were founded in Switzerland, Hungary, France, the Netherlands and Scotland. The new movement influenced the Church of England decisively after 1547 under Edward VI and Elizabeth I, there were also reformation movements throughout continental Europe known as the Radical Reformation, which gave rise to the Anabaptist, Moravian and other Pietistic movements. The Roman Catholic Church responded with a Counter-Reformation initiated by the Council of Trent, much work in battling Protestantism was done by the well-organised new order of the Jesuits. In general, Northern Europe, with the exception of most of Ireland, southern Europe remained Roman Catholic, while Central Europe was a site of a fierce conflict, culminating in the Thirty Years War, which left it devastated. The oldest Protestant churches, such as the Unitas Fratrum and Moravian Church, the later Protestant Churches generally date their doctrinal separation from the Roman Catholic Church to the 16th century. The Reformation began as an attempt to reform the Roman Catholic Church, by priests who opposed what they perceived as false doctrines and ecclesiastic malpractice. They especially objected to the teaching and the sale of indulgences, and the abuses thereof, and to simony, the reformers saw these practices as evidence of the systemic corruption of the Churchs hierarchy, which included the pope. Unrest due to the Great Schism of Western Christianity excited wars between princes, uprisings among the peasants, and widespread concern over corruption in the Church, New perspectives came from John Wycliffe at Oxford University and from Jan Hus at the Charles University in Prague. Hus rejected indulgences and adopted a doctrine of justification by grace through faith alone, the Roman Catholic Church officially concluded this debate at the Council of Constance by condemning Hus, who was executed by burning despite a promise of safe-conduct. Wycliffe was posthumously condemned as a heretic and his corpse exhumed and burned in 1428, the Council of Constance confirmed and strengthened the traditional medieval conception of church and empire. The council did not address the national tensions or the theological tensions stirred up during the century and could not prevent schism. Pope Sixtus IV established the practice of selling indulgences to be applied to the dead, Pope Alexander VI was one of the most controversial of the Renaissance popes. He was the father of seven children, including Lucrezia and Cesare Borgia, in response to papal corruption, particularly the sale of indulgences, Luther wrote The Ninety-Five Theses. The Reformation was born of Luthers dual declaration – first, the discovering of Jesus and salvation by faith alone, the Protestant reformers were unanimous in agreement and this understanding of prophecy furnished importance to their deeds. It was the point and the battle cry that made the Reformation nearly unassailable
9.
Danish nobility
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Danish nobility is a social class and a former estate in the Kingdom of Denmark. The nobility has official recognition in Denmark, a monarchy and its legal privileges were abolished in the 19th century. Many of the families still own and reside in castles or country houses, some of them own and manage companies or have leading positions within business, banking, diplomacy and NGOs. Danish nobility is divided into two categories, ancient nobility and letter nobility. A more recognised categorization distinguishes between high and lower nobility, today, approximately 200 noble houses bearing hereditary titles such as baron or count are extant. Families of the Lord High Councillors of Denmark, and houses endowed with a title are regarded as high nobility of Denmark. Various branches of the Counts of Holstein contracted marriages with members or relatives of the Danish royal dynasty, during the reign of Christopher II of Denmark and the early reign of Valdemar IV of Denmark, counts of Holstein held almost all fiefs in Denmark. Specifically, the Holsteins tended to ally with the Abel branch of the royal dynasty, ultimately, in the late 14th century, the Rendsborg branch of the House of Holstein inherited the south-Jyllander duchy as Danish vassals. Adolf VIII, Count of Holstein, was offered the Danish royal throne in 1448. After the 16th century, one branch of the Podebusks remained in Denmark, introduced in 1671 with the titles of baron and count, and among others supplied with the title of marquis in 1709, the following system is currently in force. Note, The class of barons and the class of counts were internally divided, a count would be a titular count, a feudal count or a national count. Likewise a baron would be titular, feudal or national, although the members possessed the title of duke in Denmark sovereignty over these lands remained for centuries in the authority of their pater familias, the king of Denmark acting as its overlord. Duke of Glücksbierg,1818 primogeniture within the French ducal family of Decazes, dukes had earlier the German-inspired style of durchlauchtighed, but Danish ducal titles are in present virtually non-existent. In historical contexts, for example, older predicates as grace or højvelbårenhed are applied, in 1709 Frederick IV of Denmark, in his capacity as King of Norway, granted the title Marquis of Lista to Hugo Octavius Accoramboni of Florence in Italy. Apparently the Marquis of Lista died without issue, in 1710 the same king granted the title Marquis of Mandal to Francisco di Ratta and to the latters nephews Giuseppe di Ratta and Luigi di Ratta of Bologna in Italy. In Norway official recognition of title was abolished under the 1821 Nobility Law. In Denmark it seems to have lasted until 1890, Norway remains the only country in Scandinavia to which the title of marquis has been attached. There are two primary periodical reviews of Danish nobility, Danmarks Adels Aarbog, published by Dansk Adels Forening since 1884 and it publishes genealogies of extant Danish noble families, approximately 725
