1.
Sardinian language
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Sardinian or Sard is the primary indigenous Romance language spoken on most of the island of Sardinia. Of the Romance languages, it is considered one of the closest, if not the closest, to Latin. However, the language is in retreat and UNESCO classifies both main varieties as definitely endangered, although an estimated 68.4 percent of the islanders have a good command of Sardinian. Italian is displacing it nonetheless in many cases, and language ability among children has been estimated to have dropped in fact to around 13 percent, now the question arises as to whether Sardinian is to be considered a dialect or a language in its own right. Politically speaking, it is one of the many dialects of Italy, just like the Serbo-Croatian. However, from a point of view, that is a different question. Sardinian is considered the most conservative Romance language, and its substratum has also been researched. 5%, Occitan 25%, Portuguese 31%, for example, Latin Pone mihi tres panes in bertula would be the very similar Ponemi tres panes in bertula in Sardinian. Compared to the mainland Italian lects, Sardinian is virtually incomprehensible for Italians, Sardinias relative isolation from mainland Europe encouraged the development of a Romance language preserving traces of its indigenous, pre-Roman language. The language is posited to have influences from Paleo-Sardinian language. Adstratal influences include Catalan, Spanish, and Italian, the situation of Sardinian language with regard to the politically dominant ones did not change until the 1950s. The origins of the Paleo-Sardinian language are not known. In 1984, Massimo Pittau said he found in the Etruscan language the etymology of many Latin words after comparing it with the Nuragic language, Etruscan elements, formerly considered originating in Latin, would indicate a connection between the ancient Sardinian culture and the Etruscans. According to Pittau, the Etruscan and Nuragic language are descended from Lydian as a consequence of contact with Etruscans, although Pittau suggests that the Tirrenii landed in Sardinia and the Etruscans landed in modern Tuscany, his views are not shared by most Etruscologists. According to Alberto Areddu the Sherden were of Illyrian origin, on the basis of lexical elements. Areddu asserts that in ancient Sardinia, especially in the most interior area, there are in fact some correspondences, both formal and semantic, with the few testimonies of Illyrian languages, and above all with their linguistical continuer, Albanian. He finds such correlations, sard. eni, enis, eniu yew = alb. enjë yew, sard. urtzula clematis = alb. urth ivy, recently he also discovered important correlations with the balcanic bird world. According to Bertoldi and Terracini, Paleo-Sardinian has similarities with the Iberic languages and Siculian, for example, Terracini proposed the same for suffixes in -/àna/, -/ànna/, -/énna/, -/ònna/ + /r/ + a paragogic vowel. Rohlfs, Butler and Craddock add the suffix -/ini/ as an element of Paleo-Sardinian
Sardinian language
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No-smoking sign in Sardinian and Italian
Sardinian language
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Sardinian
Sardinian language
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Church of the Pater Noster (
Jerusalem),
Lord's Prayer plaque in Sardinian.
2.
Catalan language
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Catalan is a Romance language derived from Vulgar Latin and named after the medieval Principality of Catalonia, in northeastern modern Spain and adjoining parts of France. It is the national and only language of Andorra, and a co-official language of the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands. It also has status in the commune of Alghero, situated on the northwestern coast of the island of Sardinia. All these territories are often called Catalan Countries. 4% with Catalan and 47. 5% only Spanish, in order to integrate newcomers, the Generalitat de Catalunya spends part of its annual budget on the promotion of the use of Catalan in Catalonia and in other territories. Catalan evolved from Vulgar Latin in the Middle Ages around the eastern Pyrenees, during the Low Middle Ages it saw a golden age as the literary and dominant language of the Crown of Aragon, and was widely used all over the Mediterranean. The union of Aragon with the territories of Spain in 1479 marked the start of the decline of the language. In 1659 Spain ceded Northern Catalonia to France, and Catalan was banned in both states in the early 18th century, 19th-century Spain saw a Catalan literary revival, which culminated in the 1913 orthographic standardization, and the official status of the language during the Second Spanish Republic. However, the Francoist dictatorship banned the use of Catalan in schools and in the public administration, there is no parallel in Europe for such a large, bilingual, non-state speech community. Catalan dialects are relatively uniform, and are mutually intelligible and they are divided into two blocks, Eastern and Western, differing mostly in pronunciation. The terms Catalan and Valencian are two varieties of the same language, there are two institutions regulating the two standard varieties, the Institute of Catalan Studies in Catalonia and the Valencian Academy of the Language in the Valencian Community. Catalan shares many traits with its neighboring Romance languages, thus, the similarities are naturally most notable with eastern Occitan. Nouns have two genders, and two numbers, pronouns additionally can have a neuter gender, and some are also inflected for case and politeness, and can be combined in very complex ways. Verbs are split in several paradigms and are inflected for person, number, tense, aspect, mood, in terms of pronunciation, Catalan has many words ending in a wide variety of consonants and some consonant clusters, in contrast with many other Romance languages. The word Catalan derives from the territory of Catalonia, itself of disputed etymology, in English, the term referring to a person first appears in the mid 14th century as Catelaner, followed in the 15th century as Catellain. It is attested a language name since at least 1652, Catalan can be pronounced as /ˈkætəlæn/, /kætəˈlæn/ or /ˈkætələn/. The endonym is pronounced /kə. təˈɫa/ in the Eastern Catalan dialects, in the Valencian Community, the term valencià is frequently used instead. The names Catalan and Valencian are two names for the same language, see also status of Valencian below. By the 9th century, Catalan had evolved from Vulgar Latin on both sides of the end of the Pyrenees, as well as the territories of the Roman province of Hispania Tarraconensis to the south
Catalan language
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Homilies d'Organyà (12th century)
Catalan language
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Catalan
Catalan language
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Fragment of the Greuges de Guitard Isarn (ca. 1080–1095), one of the earliest texts written almost completely in Catalan, predating the famous
Homilies d'Organyà by a century
Catalan language
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Official Decree Prohibiting the Catalan Language in France
3.
Molins de Rei
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Molins de Rei is a municipality located 18 km from Barcelonas city centre, in the comarca of Baix Llobregat in Catalonia, Spain. It is situated on the bank of the Llobregat river, on the A-7 autopista from Valencia to La Jonquera. Its location has made Molins de Rei a strategic and dynamic municipality and its name, Molins de Rei, has its origins in the royal windmills that existed in this area, documented as early as 1188. These mills were built by order of the King Alfonso II, by 1208, a parish and church as well as a cemetery had been built in the town. In 1309, the town was part of the county of Pallars which belonged to the countess Sibil·la, when she died, the town changed owners to Hugo de Arborea and later on, it was transferred to the convent of Santa Clara in Sardinia. Again in 1366, the lands were purchased by Berenguer de Relat, in 1763 a bridge was built to cross the Llobregat river, by order of the King Charles III of Spain. This bridge turned the village into a location during the Peninsular War. During these attacks, several significant buildings were destroyed, such as the Palace of Requesens, the Palace of Recasens, ruined by a looting during the 19th century, dates from the 15th century. Outside the town are the ruins of the Castellciuró castle, built in 1066—perhaps over a previous Visigoth fortification—, remains include a tower and parts of the walls. The Romanesque chapel of Sant Pere de Romaní, known from 1011, has a shape, with a barrel vaulted ceiling. The Molins de Rei train station is served by RENFE railway lines R1 and R4 which run frequently to and from central Barcelona, taking roughly 25 minutes to, in addition, the town is served by the C-1413 road to Sabadell. Luis de Requesens y Zúñiga, 16th-century Spanish diplomat and politician Agustí Roc Amador, ski mountaineer and long-distance runner Margarita Xirgu, international actress. Miquel Carbonell Selva, portrait and landscape painter Lorca, Spain Chinandega, Nicaragua Panareda Clopés, Josep Maria, Rios Calvet, Jaume, Rabella Vives, guia de Catalunya, Barcelona, Caixa de Catalunya
Molins de Rei
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Castellciuró Castle.
4.
Oristano
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Oristano listen is an Italian city and comune, and capital of the Province of Oristano in the central-western part of the island of Sardinia. It is located on the part of the Campidano plain. It was established as the capital on 16 July 1974. As of December 2010, the city had 32,165 inhabitants, the economy of Oristano is based mainly on services, agriculture, tourism and small industries. Oristano was previously known by the Byzantines as Aristanis, and founded close to the ancient Phoenician settlement of Othoca. It acquired importance in 1070, when, as a result of the frequent Saracen attacks, Archbishop Torcotorio made it the seat of the bishopric and it also became the capital of the giudicato of Arborea. Consequently, fortifications were designed, but the building went on until judge Mariano II rose to power. The giudicato of Arborea held out to be the last Sardinian kingdom to cease to exist in 1420, thereafter, Oristanos history was that of the island of Sardinia, characterised by the Aragonese-Spanish and Piedmontese dominations, and then the unification of Italy. In April 1921, David Cova, Emilio Lussu, Camillo Bellieni, the Tower of St. Torrione of Portixedda. St. Marys Cathedral was rebuilt during the reign of Mariano II after being destroyed in a siege. Of the original structure of Mariano, only parts of the apse and base of the campanile are left, as well as the Gothic Chapel of the Rimedio, parts of a more ancient Byzantine edifice can be seen in the court. To the 17th century renovation belongs the Chapel of the Archivietto, the current Baroque style is largely from the 19th-century restoration. It has been supposed that the Cathedral was used for the burials of the giudici and their families, in the interior is a wooden statue of the Annunziata, attributed to Nino Pisano. The Church of St. Francis of Assisi was built around 1200 and is currently in neo-classical style, therewithin is the Christ of Nicodemus, a wooden sculpture believed to be the work of Valencian masters, dating back to the 14th century. The Franciscan church of Santa Chiara is an edifice in French-Gothic style with a single nave, the Church and cloister of the Carmine is one of the best examples of Baroque-Roccoco architecture in Oristano. The Church of Saint Sebastian is the only medieval extramural church, the Church of Saint Dominic was built in 1634 at the initiative of friar Pietro Flores and financially supported by local nobleman Baldassarre Dedoni. Citizens also made donations in exchange for 2 square metres of space for a tomb therewithin. The building is a chamber with two chapels formed in its right side wall, one of them is dedicated to Saint Vincent
Oristano
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Oristano: Statue of
Eleanor of Arborea, holding the
Carta de Logu in her hand, with the sundial on the wall of the City Hall in the backdrop.
Oristano
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Port'a Ponti Door Tower in Piazza Roma
Oristano
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Oristano Cathedral
Oristano
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The Christ in the Church of St. Francis
5.
Giudicato of Arborea
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The Giudicato of Arborea, also called Regno di Arborea was one of the four independent, hereditary Judicatures or Courts into which the island of Sardinia was divided in the High Middle Ages. It occupied the central-west portion of the island, wedged between Logudoro to the north and east, Cagliari to the south and east, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west, to the north west and beyond Logudoro was located Gallura, with which Arborea had far less interaction. Arborea outlasted her neighbours, surviving well into the 15th century, the earliest known judicial seat was Tharros. Giudicato of Arborea at the times of its maximum expansion occupied the islands territory, except the cities of Alghero. The local Byzantine magistrates, entitled iudici, meaning judges were left to provide for administration. Maintaining the traditional forms and patterns of the bureaucracy, the islands iudicati. By the 10th century, these districts had become hereditary or rotated amongst a few most powerful clans, the first important Giudice of Arborea was Marianus I of the Thori family. In 1070, his successor, Orzocorre I moved the capital from the ancient port of Tharros, at about that time, Sardinia begins to emerge from obscurity and come into the historians view. Under the ambitious Pope Gregory VII, then leading a papal reform, by the infusion of Western monasticism and Pisan ecclesiastic rule, she became involved in the conflicts and commerce of Europe. Under Constantine I of the Lacon dynasty, Arborea paid tribute to the papacy and sponsored Camaldolese monks, Constantine did homage to Pisa for his giudicato and his successor was his brother Comita II. In 1145, Comita was excommunicated by Baldwin, Archbishop of Pisa, comitas son and successor, Barison II, put Arborea back on good terms with Pisa. He married into the Catalan nobility, creating ties to Spain which culminated in Sardinia falling to the Crown of Aragon some centuries later. In 1164, Barison paid the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa to have him crowned King of Sardinia and he finally left Pisa for Genoa, but his legacy was civil war. His son Peter I and grandson Hugh I finally divided the giudicato by the Treaty of Oristano, but in the end Hughs line, the House of Cervera, succeeded in establishing themselves. While Peter II, son of Hugh, has been accused by historians of impoverishing his realm of glory, his son Marianus II expanded it substantially, even ruling over a majority of the island. During the final decades of the 13th century, three other giudicati fell into the hands of either Pisa or Genoa or one of their great families, but Arborea remained independent. Hugh II, great-grandson of Marianus II, headed up a faction which favoured James II of Aragon and he supported the Infante Alfonso in his campaign to conquer the island from Pisa and Genoa. In 1336, Hugh II was succeeded by his son Peter III and his brother Marianus IV was the only Sardinian ruler to be known as the Great
Giudicato of Arborea
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Presumed coin of Giudicato of Arborea (about 1382)
Giudicato of Arborea
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Flag
Giudicato of Arborea
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Queen
Eleanor of Arborea
6.
Sardinia
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Sardinia is the second largest island in the Mediterranean Sea and an autonomous region of Italy. It is located in the Western Mediterranean, just south of the French island of Corsica, the regions official name is Regione Autonoma della Sardegna / Regione Autònoma de Sardigna, and its capital and largest city is Cagliari. It is divided into four provinces and a metropolitan city and its indigenous language and the other minority languages spoken by the Sardinians enjoy equal dignity with Italian under regional law. The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *srd-, later romanised as sardus and it makes its first appearance on the Nora Stone, where the word Šrdn testifies to the names existence when the Phoenician merchants first arrived. According to Timaeus, one of Platos dialogues, Sardinia and its people as well might have named after Sardò. There has also been speculation that identifies the ancient Nuragic Sards with the Sherden, in Classical antiquity, Sardinia was called Ichnusa, Σανδάλιον Sandal, Sardinia and Sardó. Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, with an area of 24,100 square kilometres and it is situated between 38°51 and 41°18 latitude north and 8°8 and 9°50 east longitude. To the west of Sardinia is the Sea of Sardinia, a unit of the Mediterranean Sea, to Sardinias east is the Tyrrhenian Sea, the nearest land masses are the island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia, the Balearic Islands, and Provence. The Tyrrhenian Sea portion of the Mediterranean Sea is directly to the east of Sardinia between the Sardinian east coast and the west coast of the Italian mainland peninsula, the Strait of Bonifacio is directly north of Sardinia and separates Sardinia from the French island of Corsica. The island has an ancient geoformation and, unlike Sicily and mainland Italy, is not earthquake-prone and its rocks date in fact from the Palaeozoic Era. Due to long erosion processes, the highlands, formed of granite, schist, trachyte, basalt, sandstone and dolomite limestone. The highest peak is Punta La Marmora, part of the Gennargentu Ranges in the centre of the island. The islands ranges and plateaux are separated by wide valleys and flatlands. Sardinia has few rivers, the largest being the Tirso,151 km long, which flows into the Sea of Sardinia, the Coghinas. There are 54 artificial lakes and dams that supply water and electricity, the main ones are Lake Omodeo and Lake Coghinas. The only natural lake is Lago di Baratz. A number of large, shallow, salt-water lagoons and pools are located along the 1,850 km of the coastline, the climate of the island is variable from area to area, due to several factors including the extension in latitude and the elevation. During the year there is a concentration of rainfall in the winter and autumn, some heavy showers in the spring
Sardinia
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Cala Goloritzé,
Baunei
Sardinia
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Sardinia Sardegna (
Italian) Sardìnnia (
Sardinian) Sardenya (
Catalan)
Sardinia
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View of
Gennargentu, the highest massif of Sardinia
Sardinia
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Lake Omodeo, the largest reservoir in Italy
7.
Giudicati
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The giudicati were independent states that took power in Sardinia between the ninth and fifteenth centuries. They were sovereign states with summa potestas, each ruled by a king called judge, after a relatively brief Vandal occupation, from 535 until the eighth century, Sardinia was a province of the Byzantine Empire. After 705, with the expansion of Islam, Muslim pirates from North Africa began to raid the island. In 815, Sardinian ambassadors required military assistance from the Holy Roman Emperor Louis the Pious, in 807, 810-812, and 821-822 the Arabs of Spain and North Africa tried to invade the island but the Sardinians resisted several attacks. This defence was so effective that in a letter in 851, Pope Leo IV asked the Iudex Provinciae of Sardinia, based in Caralis, the almost total absence of historical sources does not allow certainty surrounding the date of the passage from Byzantine central authority to self-government in Sardinia. It is believed that at point the Iudex Provinciae, perhaps the praeses. Each of the four States had fortified borders to protect their political and commercial interests, as well their own laws, administration, the central government and the entire Judiciary were ruled substantially by the judge. The king did not have possession of the land nor was he the repository of sovereignty since this was held by the Corona de Logu. They appointed the ruler and attributed the power to him. Then the judex was crowned with a hereditary system following the direct male line and, only in the alternative. The judge ruled on the basis of a covenant with the people, the judge was not an absolute ruler of feudal tradition, at least in form, he could not declare war or sign a peace treaty without the consent of the Corona de Logu. However, that was composed primarily of his aristocracys relatives and, therefore, the succession to the throne was dynastic but in some case there was the possibility of election by the Corona De Logu. In the government of the territory, the Judge was assisted by the Chancellery, the territory of various giudicati was divided into curadorias, administrative districts of varying sizes formed by urban and rural villages, dependent on a capital which housed the curadore. These administrators, aided especially by jurados and a council the Corona de curatoria, represented the judicial authority locally and tended to the public property of the Crown. The curadore appointed for each village was part of the curadorias a majore de Bidda with administrative and judicial powers, the Sardinian giudical armies were composed of troops made up of soldiers and free citizens, subject to periodic rotation. In an emergency forced conscription was used, the elite corps was made up of so-called bujakesos, chosen riders who served under the command of the janna de Majore, the commander in charge of the security of the sovereign. The main armaments were the sword, chain mail, the shield, the helmet, and the birrudu, a similar to the ancient verutum. The militias of the ground and the infantry used a version of this same weapon
Giudicati
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Arms of the giudicato of Logudoro
Giudicati
–
The Giudicati of Sardinia.
Giudicati
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Arms of the giudicato of Arborea
Giudicati
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Tower of
Marianus II of Arborea at
Oristano.
8.
Catalonia
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Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, located on the northeastern extremity of the Iberian Peninsula. It is designated as a nationality by its Statute of Autonomy, Catalonia consists of four provinces, Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. The capital and largest city is Barcelona, the second-most populated municipality in Spain, Catalonia comprises most of the territory of the former Principality of Catalonia. It is bordered by France and Andorra to the north, the Mediterranean Sea to the east, the official languages are Catalan, Spanish, and the Aranese dialect of Occitan. The eastern counties of these marches were united under the rule of the Frankish vassal the Count of Barcelona, in the later Middle Ages Catalan literature flourished. Between 1469 and 1516, the King of Aragon and the Queen of Castile married and ruled their kingdoms together, retaining all their distinct institutions, Courts, and constitutions. During the Franco-Spanish War, Catalonia revolted against a large and burdensome presence of the Royal army in its territory, within a brief period France took full control of Catalonia, at a high economic cost for Catalonia, until it was largely reconquered by the Spanish army. In the nineteenth century, Catalonia was severely affected by the Napoleonic, in the second half of the century Catalonia experienced industrialisation. As wealth from the industrial expansion grew, Catalonia saw a cultural renaissance coupled with incipient nationalism while several workers movements appeared. In 1914, the four Catalan provinces formed a Commonwealth, and with the return of democracy during the Second Spanish Republic, after the Spanish Civil War, the Francoist dictatorship enacted repressive measures, abolishing Catalan institutions and banning the official use of the Catalan language again. Since the Spanish transition to democracy, Catalonia has regained some political and cultural autonomy and is now one of the most economically dynamic communities of Spain, the origin of the name Catalunya is subject to diverse interpretations because of a lack of evidence. During the Middle Ages, Byzantine chroniclers claimed that Catalania derives from the medley of Goths with Alans. Other less plausible theories suggest, Catalunya derives from the land of castles, having evolved from the term castlà or castlan. This theory therefore suggests that the names Catalunya and Castile have a common root, the source is of Celtic origin, meaning chiefs of battle. Although the area is not known to have been occupied by Celts, the Lacetani, an Iberian tribe that lived in the area and whose name, due to the Roman influence, could have evolved by metathesis to Katelans and then Catalans. In English, Catalonia is pronounced /kætəˈloʊniə/, the native name, Catalunya, is pronounced in Central Catalan, the most widely spoken variety whose pronunciation is considered standard. The Spanish name is Cataluña, and the Aranese name is Catalonha, the first known human settlements in what is now Catalonia were at the beginning of the Middle Palaeolithic. From the next era, the Epipaleolithic or Mesolithic, important remains survive
Catalonia
–
A
Roman aqueduct in
Tarragona.
Catalonia
–
Flag
Catalonia
–
The Medieval church of
Sant Climent in
Taüll, located at the foothills of the
Pyrenees.
Catalonia
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La Seu Vella, Lleida
9.
Marianus IV of Arborea
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Marianus IV, called the Great, was the Giudice of Arborea, island of Sardinia, from 1347 to his death. He was, as his nickname indicates, the greatest sovereign of Arborea and he was a legislator and a warrior whose reign saw the commencement of massive codification of the laws of his realm and incessant warfare with the Aragonese Empire. He was also a man, who had connections to Catherine of Siena. He was, in short, a legislator, able politician. Born at Oristano, he was the son of Hugh II, at the behest of his father he spent most of his youth in Barcelona, where he was educated at the court of Alfonso IV of Aragon. He participated actively in the coronation of Peter IV in 1336, in 1336 in Barcelona, he married Timbor, daughter of Dalmatius IV of Rocabertí and Beatrice of Serrallonga, Baroness of Cabrenys. In 1339, he was invested by Peter with the counties of Bas, Goceano, in 1347, the Doria rebelled and defeated the Catalans at Aidu de Turdu, occupying Bonorva. This sparked a war between Aragon and Genoa, but at the outset the Doria could not take advantage of their victory. On 11 September 1349, he returned to Oristano, two years after succeeding his childless elder brother, one of his first acts was to repopulate the town of Goceano, rebuild the castle there, and plant a florid garden. He allied with the Genoese and the Doria, then at war with Aragon, Marianus first directive was against Gherardo della Gherardescha, a loyal Pisan vassal of the Aragonese. He attacked Castel di Castro from the south but was rebuffed and he initiated a siege until his Doria allies could attack from the north. His armies proved successful in the field and he succeeded in expelling the Aragonese from every redoubt on the save the stronghold of Castel di Castro. He even menaced Sassari in 1354, later that year, Peter IV landed on the island at Nulauro. Marianus promptly began a war of ambushes against royal troops until, at the end of 1355. The peace lasted two years, during which Marianus reinforced his armies and the country progressed favourably economically, in 1365, the war resumed with full force. Pope Urban V confirmed Arborean possession of the whole of the island save Sassari, Alghero, Peter IV, however, sent a fleet commanded by Pere de Luna to lead an Aragonese army deep into Arborea, bypassing other fortifications to assault Oristano. The Aragonese troops were trapped between the Arborean armies commanded by Marianus and his son, the future Hugh III, in 1368, Marianus finally occupied Sassari. He was preparing another campaign when he died in 1376, during the two-year peace, Marianus began the work of putting down in writing the oral laws and customs of Arborea
Marianus IV of Arborea
–
Eleanor of Arborea
Marianus IV of Arborea
–
Marianus IV of Arborea,
church of San Nicola (
Ottana)
10.
House of Visconti
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Visconti is the family name of two important Italian noble dynasties of the Middle Ages. There are two distinct Visconti families, the first one in the Republic of Pisa in the mid twelfth century who achieved prominence first in Pisa, the second rose to power in Milan, where they ruled from 1277 to 1447 and where several collateral branches still exist. Pope Gregory X, who reigned from 1271 to 1276, was a member of the House of Visconti, the renowned director Luchino Visconti is a scion of this latter family. This symbol is closely connected with Milan. Any link between the two families in Pisa-Gallura and Milan has yet to be proven, the first Visconti of note in Pisa was Alberto, who bore the title patrician. Albertos son, Eldizio, bore the titles patrician and consul from 1184 to 1185 and it was Eldizios sons, Lamberto and Ubaldo I, who brought the family to the height of its influence in Pisa and Sardinia. Both of them carried the title of patrician and each served a term as podestà, in 1212 various factions, pro- and anti-Visconti clashed for control over Pisa. In mid-January 1213, William I of Cagliari led a coalition of forces to victory in battle near Massa over the combined forces of Lucca. Afterward, Pisa divided power between four rectores, one of which was a Visconti, the Visconti of Sardinia continued to take a part in Pisan politics to the end of the century, but their influence there was greatly diminished after 1213. In Sardinia Eldizio had married a daughter of Torchitorio III of Cagliari, in 1207, Lamberto married Elena, the heiress of Barisone II of Gallura, thus securing control over the northeastern corner of Sardinia with his capital at Civita. In 1215, he and Ubaldo established their hegemony over the Giudicato of Cagliari in the south of the island as well, through advantageous marriages, Lambertos son, Ubaldo II, secured power in Logudoro for a time. By mid century, Pisan authority was unopposed in Sardinia thanks to intermarriages between the Visconti family and the great families of Pisa and Sardinia. Lambert Ubaldo John Nino his wife Beatrice dEste married secondly on 24 June 1300 to Galeazzo I Visconti, Lord of Milan. Joanna stepsister of Azzone Visconti of the Milan line The effective founder of the Visconti of Milan, Ottone, the family loved to claim legendary versions about its origins, while established facts reflect quite sober and almost humble beginnings. The branch of the Visconti family that came to rule Milan was originally entrusted with the lordship of Massino, a village above Lago Maggiore, which they controlled from the twelfth century. It is said that the Milanese Visconti had their origins in a family of capitanei whom archbishop Landulf of Milan had granted certain feudal holdings known as caput plebis. A document from the year 1157 says the Visconti were holders of the captaincy of Marliano, decades before that, before 1070, they had gained the title of viscount to be later inherited down the male line. The Visconti ruled Milan until the early Renaissance, first as Lords, then, from 1395, with the mighty Gian Galeazzo who endeavored to unify Northern Italy and Tuscany, Visconti rule in Milan ended with the death of Filippo Maria Visconti in 1447
House of Visconti
–
Depiction of the
Biscione swallowing the child, coat of arms of the House of Visconti, on the Archbishops' palace in Piazza Duomo, in Milan, Italy.
House of Visconti
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Motto: "I will not violate the Snake's uses" (
Latin: Vipereos mores non violabo)
House of Visconti
–
Coat of arms
11.
Brancaleone Doria
–
Brancaleone Doria was the husband of Eleanor of Arborea. He was a scion of an family of the Republic of Genoa, the son of the elder Brancaleone. On 16 March 1357, he became a vassal of Peter IV of Aragon, when Hugh III of Arborea, Eleanors brother, sought out a matrimonial alliance with Genoa, his choice for a brother-in-law fell on Brancaleone. The marriage took place in 1376, an alliance only, for the Bas-Serra family of Eleanor was opposed to the royal pretensions of the House of Barcelona. Already at the time of his marriage, he had children, Giannettino and Nicholas. When Hugh was assassinated in 1383, Eleanor and Brancaleones young son Frederick succeeded to the Giudicato of Arborea, at that time, Brancaleone was in Catalonia to receive the honorific title of Count of Monteleone and Baron of Lower Marmilla. As soon as Peter IV heard of the election of Frederick, he arrested Brancaleone and sent him to Cagliari, to be imprisoned first in the tower of Pancrazio, Arborea was governed in the meantime by Eleanor. Frederick, later seized and imprisoned by Peter himself, died young and he was succeeded by Brancaleones second son, Marianus V. Brancaleone was finally liberated only on 1 January 1390. His fidelity to the Aragonese crown was by then broken, on 1 April 1391, Brancaleone marched on Castel di Cagliari and, on 16 August, occupied Sassari and Osilo with his son Marianus. In September, he conquered the castles of Fava, Galtellì, Bonvehì, only Alghero and Longosardo remained in Aragonese hands by then. On 3 October, he entered Villa di Chiesa, in a letter written at Sanluri on 3 February 1392, he announced having repossessed all the territories lost to the Aragonese in 1388. On 16 March, a fleet under Martin of Aragon appeared off Capo San Marco, following Marianus death, Arborea passed to William III of Narbonne. Brancaleone retired to his estates at Monteleone and he disappears from the record mysteriously before the Battle of Sanluri in 1409. I Doria a Genova, una dinastia mancata
Brancaleone Doria
–
Marriage of Eleanor and Brancaleone.
Brancaleone Doria
–
Eleanor of Arborea
12.
Republic of Genoa
–
It began when Genoa became a self-governing commune within the Regnum Italicum, and ended when it was conquered by the French First Republic under Napoleon and replaced with the Ligurian Republic. Corsica was ceded to France in the Treaty of Versailles of 1768, before 1100, Genoa emerged as an independent city-state, one of a number of Italian city-states during this period. Nominally, the Holy Roman Emperor was overlord and the Bishop of Genoa was president of the city, however, actual power was wielded by a number of consuls annually elected by popular assembly. The Adorno, Campofregoso, and other merchant families all fought for power in this Republic, as the power of the consuls allowed each family faction to gain wealth. The Republic of Genoa extended over modern Liguria and Piedmont, Sardinia, Corsica, through Genoese participation on the Crusades, Genoese colonies were established in the Middle East, in the Aegean, in Sicily and Northern Africa. The collapse of the Crusader States was offset by Genoa’s alliance with the Byzantine Empire, as Venices relations with the Byzantine Empire were temporarily disrupted by the Fourth Crusade and its aftermath, Genoa was able to improve its position. Genoa took advantage of opportunity to expand into the Black Sea and Crimea. Internal feuds between the families, the Grimaldi and Fieschi, the Doria, Spinola, and others caused much disruption. However, this prosperity did not last, the Black Death was imported into Europe in 1347 from the Genoese trading post at Caffa in Crimea, on the Black Sea. Following the economic and population collapse, Genoa adopted the Venetian model of government, the wars with Venice continued, and the War of Chioggia -- where Genoa almost managed to decisively subdue Venice—ended with Venices recovery of dominance in the Adriatic. In 1390 Genoa initiated a crusade against the Barbary pirates with help from the French, though it has not been well-studied, the fifteenth century seems to have been a tumultuous time for Genoa. After a period of French domination from 1394–1409, Genoa came under rule by the Visconti of Milan, Genoa lost Sardinia to Aragon, Corsica to internal revolt and its Middle Eastern, Eastern European and Asia Minor colonies to the Turkish Ottoman Empire. Under the ensuing economic recovery, many aristocratic Genoese families, such as the Balbi, Doria, Grimaldi, Pallavicini, according to Felipe Fernandez-Armesto and others, the practices Genoa developed in the Mediterranean were crucial in the exploration and exploitation of the New World. At the time of Genoa’s peak in the 16th century, the city attracted many artists, including Rubens, Caravaggio and Van Dyck. The architect Galeazzo Alessi designed many of the city’s splendid palazzi, as did in the decades that followed by fifty years Bartolomeo Bianco, a number of Genoese Baroque and Rococo artists settled elsewhere and a number of local artists became prominent. At the time of its founding in the early 11th century the Republic of Genoa consisted of the city of Genoa, as the commerce of the city increased, so did the territory of the Republic. By 1015 all of Liguria fell under the Republic of Genoa, after the First Crusade in 1098 Genoa gained settlements in Syria. In 1261 the city of Smyrna in Asia Minor became Genoese territory, in 1255 Genoa established the colony of Caffa in Crimea
Republic of Genoa
–
View of Genoa and its fleet by Christoforo de Grassi (1597 copy, after a drawing of 1481); Galata Museo del Mare, Genoa.
Republic of Genoa
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Flag
Republic of Genoa
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Siege of
Antioch, 1098
Republic of Genoa
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Galata Tower (1348) in
Galata,
Istanbul.
13.
Castelgenovese
–
Castelsardo is a town and comune in Sardinia, Italy, located in the northwest of the island within the Province of Sassari, at the east end of the Gulf of Asinara. Archaeological excavations have showed the presence in the area of Castelsardo since pre-Nuragic and Nuragic times. Except for the Maddalena archipelago, it was the last city in the island to join the Kingdom of Sardinia, Castelsardo, now part of the Savoys Kingdom of Sardinia, obtained its current name by will of King Charles Emmanuel III. Elephants Rock, one of the symbols of Sardinia Megalithic walls, from pre-Nuragic times Nuraghe Paddaju and others Doria Castle Co-Cathedral, the crypts house the Museum Maestro di Castelsardo, Church of St. article name needed
Castelgenovese
–
Castelsardo Castheddu
Castelgenovese
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A street of medieval center and the cathedral's belltower
Castelgenovese
–
A street and the gothic building of the city hall on the left
Castelgenovese
–
elephant rock
14.
Hugh III of Arborea
–
Hugh III was the eldest son and successor of Marianus IV of Arborea and Timbor of Rocabertí. He succeeded in 1376 as Giudice of Arborea and Count of Goceano, in most ways he continued and augmented the policies of his father. He has been praised as a legislator who led a saggio e moderato governo, wise, in 1363, he married a daughter of John III of Viterbo, of the Da Vico family, but she died in 1369. They had a daughter named Benedetta, who in 1373 was asked in marriage by the Louis I, Duke of Anjou, second son of King Charles V of France, without success. Hugh participated in his fathers last military campaign against Pere de Luna, as judge, he continued to oppose the pretensions of Peter IV of Aragon and the Catalans and warred against them. He made enemies with the nobles, who tried to incite the poor to rebel, on 3 March 1383, Hugh and his daughter—and heiress—were assassinated at Oristano during a popular revolt. The rebels declared a Republic and made the law the sovereignty in Arborea, hughs successor was his nephew Frederick, under the regency of his sister Eleanor, who pacified the rebels and reinstated judicial government. Dai lumi dalla patria Italiana, Cultura letteraria sarda
Hugh III of Arborea
–
Eleanor of Arborea
15.
Crown of Aragon
–
Put in contemporary terms, it has sometimes been considered that the different lands of the Crown of Aragon functioned more as a confederation than as a single kingdom. In this sense, the larger Crown of Aragon must not be confused with one of its constituent parts, formally, the political center of the Crown of Aragon was Zaragoza, where kings were crowned at La Seo Cathedral. The de facto capital and leading cultural, administrative and economic centre of the Crown of Aragon was Barcelona followed by Valencia, finally, Palma was an additional important city and seaport. For brief periods the Crown of Aragon also controlled Montpellier, Provence, Corsica, the countries that are today known as Spain and Portugal spent the Middle Ages after 722 in an intermittent struggle called the Reconquista. This struggle pitted the northern Christian kingdoms against the Islamic taifa petty kingdoms of the South, in the Late Middle Ages, the expansion of the Aragonese Crown southwards met with the Castilian advance eastward in the region of Murcia. Afterward, the Aragonese Crown focused on the Mediterranean, acting as far as Greece and Barbary, whereas Portugal, mercenaries from the territories in the Crown, known as almogàvers participated in the creation of this Mediterranean empire, and later found employment in countries all across southern Europe. The Crown of Aragon has been considered by some as an empire which ruled in the Mediterranean for hundreds of years and it was indeed, at its height, one of the major powers in Europe. However, its different territories were connected through the person of the monarch. A modern historian, Juan de Contreras y Lopez de Ayala, Marqués de Lozoya described the Crown of Aragon as being more like a confederacy than a centralised kingdom, let alone an empire. Nor did official documents refer to it as an empire, instead. This union respected the institutions and parliaments of both territories. This was due to the loss of Catalan influence, the renunciation of the family rights of the counts of Barcelona in Occitania. Petronillas father King Ramiro, The Monk who was raised in the Saint Pons de Thomières Monastery and his brothers Peter I and Alfonso I El Batallador had bravely fought against Castile for hegemony in the Iberian peninsula. After the death of Alfonso I, the Aragonese nobility that campaigned close him feared being overwhelmed by the influence of Castile, and so, Ramiro was forced to leave his monastic life and proclaim himself King of Aragon. He married Agnes, sister of the Duke of Aquitaine and betrothed his daughter to Raymond Berengar IV of Barcelona. The wedding agreement provided Raymond Berengar IV the title of Princeps Aragonum and Dominator Aragonenesis and kept the title, Raymond Berengar IV, the first ruler of the united dynasty, called himself Count of Barcelona and Prince of Aragon. Alfonso II inherited two realms and with them, two different expansion processes, the House of Jiménez looked south in a battle against Castile for the control of the Mediterranean coast in the Iberian peninsula. The House of Barcelona looked north to its origins, Occitania, soon, Alfonso II of Aragon and Barcelona committed himself to conquer Valencia as the Aragonese nobility demanded
Crown of Aragon
–
Petronilla of Aragon (1136–1173) and
Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Barcelona (ca. 1131–1162) depicted in a 16th-century painting.
Crown of Aragon
–
Standard
Crown of Aragon
–
Equestrian heraldic representation of King of Aragon in the "Equestrian armorial of the Golden Fleece" 1433-1435.
Crown of Aragon
–
Ferdinand V and
Isabella I,
King and Queen of Castile and León, and later of Aragon, Valencia, Sicily, and Majorca
16.
Carta de Logu
–
The Carta de Logu was a legal code of the Giudicato of Arborea, written in Sardinian language and promulgated by the iudex Eleanor in 1392. It was in force in Sardinia until it was superseded by the code of Charles Felix in April 1827, the Carta was a work of great importance in Sardinian history. It was an organic, coherent, and systematic work of legislation encompassing the civil, the history of the drafting of the Carta is unknown, but the Carta itself provides an excellent glimpse into the ethnological and linguistic situation of late medieval Sardinia. La carta de logu dArborea nella storia del diritto medievale e moderno
Carta de Logu
–
1st page of the Carta de Logu
17.
Charles Felix of Sardinia
–
Charles Felix was the Duke of Savoy, Piedmont, Aosta and King of Sardinia from 1821 to 1831. Carlo Felice di Savoia was born in Turin as the child and fifth son born to Victor Amadeus III of Savoy. His paternal grandparents were Charles Emmanuel III of Savoy and his German wife Polyxena of Hesse-Rotenburg and his maternal grandparents were French born King Philip V of Spain and his Italian wife, Elisabeth Farnese. He was a brother of two other rulers of Savoy Charles Emmanuel IV and Victor Emmanuel I. He spent his childhood with his sister Maria Carolina and Count of Moriana where they lived at the Castle of Moncalieri. Carlo Felice was reported as having a character, prone to loneliness, with an almost ascetic and a sacral conception of the monarchy. With the Napoleonic occupation of Piedmont in 1796, he lost the crown of Savoy, Carlo Felice, who was titled Duke of Genoa, obtained the title of Marquis of Susa in compensation for his nominal loss. He was a brother of Charles Emmanuel IV and Victor Emmanuel I. He was not expected to succeed to the throne. However Charles Emmanuel never had any children and abdicated the throne on 4 June 1802, Victor Emmanuel had four living daughters when he abdicated the throne in 1821. As the succession was regulated by the Salic Law, Charles Felix succeeded his brother on the throne, since Charles was in Modena at the time of his succession, he appointed as Regent his cousin, and heir, Charles Albert. Charles Albert was in touch with the revolutionaries at that time. All this occurred between the 6 and 14 March 1821, even before he reached Turin, Charles Felix repudiated the Regents promise and, to help restore order, called in the Austrians, who stayed in Piedmont till 1823. He was married by proxy to Princess Maria Cristina of Naples and she was a daughter of Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies and Maria Carolina of Austria, sister of the famous Marie Antoinette, later Queen of France. Charles Felix died without issue, in Turin at the Palazzo Chablais which had given to him by his sister Princess Maria Anna, Duchess of Chablais. He was succeeded by the male member of his dynastic house. He was the last surviving grandchild of Philip V of Spain, the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa is named for him. The principal road of the island of Sardinia, the Strada statale 131 Charles Felix, which connects the towns of Cagliari and Sassari-Porto Torres, constructed in the 19th century, is named for him
Charles Felix of Sardinia
–
Charles Felix
18.
Falcon
–
Falcons are birds of prey in the genus Falco, which includes about 40 species. Falcons are widely distributed on all continents of the world except Antarctica, adult falcons have thin, tapered wings, which enable them to fly at high speed and change direction rapidly. Fledgling falcons, in their first year of flying, have flight feathers. This makes flying easier while learning the skills required to be effective hunters as adults. The falcons are the largest genus in the Falconinae subfamily of Falconidae, which also includes another subfamily comprising caracaras. All these birds kill with their beaks, using a tooth on the side of their beaks—unlike the hawks, eagles, and other birds of prey in the Accipitridae, the largest falcon is the gyrfalcon at up to 65 cm in length. The smallest falcons are the kestrels, of which the Seychelles kestrel measures just 25 cm, as with hawks and owls, falcons exhibit sexual dimorphism, with the females typically larger than the males, thus allowing a wider range of prey species. Some small falcons with long, narrow wings are called hobbies, as is the case with many birds of prey, falcons have exceptional powers of vision, the visual acuity of one species has been measured at 2.6 times that of a normal human. Peregrine falcons have been recorded diving at speeds of 200 miles per hour, the Late Latin falco is believed to derive from falx as meaning a sickle, referencing the claws of the bird. In Middle English and Old French, the term faucon refers generically to several captive raptor species, the traditional term for a male falcon is tercel or tiercel, from the Latin tertius because of the belief that only one in three eggs hatched a male bird. Some sources give the etymology as deriving from the fact that a falcon is about one-third smaller than a female. A falcon chick, especially one reared for falconry, still in its stage, is known as an eyas. The word arose by mistaken division of Old French un niais, the technique of hunting with trained captive birds of prey is known as falconry. Compared to other birds of prey, the record of the falcons is not well distributed in time. The oldest fossils tentatively assigned to this genus are from the Late Miocene and this coincides with a period in which many modern genera of birds became recognizable in the fossil record. Falcons are roughly divisible into three or four groups, kestrels feed chiefly on terrestrial vertebrates and invertebrates of appropriate size, such as rodents, reptiles, or insects. The second group contains slightly larger species, the hobbies and relatives and these birds are characterized by considerable amounts of dark slate-grey in their plumage, their malar areas are nearly always black. They feed mainly on smaller birds, third are the peregrine falcon and its relatives, variably sized powerful birds that also have a black malar area, and often a black cap, as well
Falcon
–
Falcon Temporal range:
Late Miocene to present
Falcon
–
Common kestrel
Falcon
–
New Zealand falcon
Falcon
–
Saker falcon, a typical hierofalcon
19.
Milan
–
Milan is a city in Italy, capital of the Lombardy region, and the most populous metropolitan area and the second most populous comune in Italy. The population of the city proper is 1,351,000, Milan has a population of about 8,500,000 people. It is the industrial and financial centre of Italy and one of global significance. In terms of GDP, it has the largest economy among European non-capital cities, Milan is considered part of the Blue Banana and lies at the heart of one of the Four Motors for Europe. Milan is an Alpha leading global city, with strengths in the arts, commerce, design, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, services, research, and tourism. Its business district hosts Italys Stock Exchange and the headquarters of the largest national and international banks, the city is a major world fashion and design capital, well known for several international events and fairs, including Milan Fashion Week and the Milan Furniture Fair. The city hosts numerous cultural institutions, academies and universities, with 11% of the national total enrolled students, Milans museums, theatres and landmarks attract over 9 million visitors annually. Milan – after Naples – is the second Italian city with the highest number of accredited stars from the Michelin Guide, the city hosted the Universal Exposition in 1906 and 2015. Milan is home to two of Europes major football teams, A. C. Milan and F. C. Internazionale, the etymology of Milan is uncertain. One theory holds that the Latin name Mediolanum comes from the Latin words medio, however, some scholars believe lanum comes from the Celtic root lan, meaning an enclosure or demarcated territory in which Celtic communities used to build shrines. Hence, Mediolanum could signify the central town or sanctuary of a Celtic tribe, indeed, the name Mediolanum is borne by about sixty Gallo-Roman sites in France, e. g. Saintes and Évreux. Alciato credits Ambrose for his account, around 400 BC, the Celtic Insubres settled Milan and the surrounding region. In 222 BC, the Romans conquered the settlement, renaming it Mediolanum, Milan was eventually declared the capital of the Western Roman Empire by Emperor Diocletian in 286 AD. Diocletian chose to stay in the Eastern Roman Empire and his colleague Maximianus ruled the Western one, immediately Maximian built several monuments, such as a large circus 470 m ×85 m, the Thermae Herculeae, a large complex of imperial palaces and several other buildings. With the Edict of Milan of 313, Emperor Constantine I guaranteed freedom of religion for Christians, after the city was besieged by the Visigoths in 402, the imperial residence was moved to Ravenna. In 452, the Huns overran the city, in 539, the Ostrogoths conquered and destroyed Milan during the Gothic War against Byzantine Emperor Justinian I. In the summer of 569, a Teutonic tribe, the Lombards, conquered Milan, some Roman structures remained in use in Milan under Lombard rule. Milan surrendered to the Franks in 774 when Charlemagne took the title of King of the Lombards, the Iron Crown of Lombardy dates from this period
Milan
–
Milan Cathedral,
La Scala opera house and
Porta Nuova business district
Milan
Milan
Milan
20.
Incunable
–
An incunable, or sometimes incunabulum, is a book, pamphlet, or broadside that was printed—not handwritten—before the year 1501 in Europe. Incunable is the singular form of incunabula, Latin for swaddling clothes or cradle. A former term for incunable is fifteener, referring to the 15th century, but since 2009 we know that this lexical invention should no more be assigned to Mallinckrodt, dated 1569, it has to be credited to the Dutch Physician Hadrianus Junius. The term came to denote the printed books themselves in the late 17th century, post-incunable typically refers to books printed after 1500 up to another arbitrary end date such as 1520 or 1540. As of 2014, there are about 30,000 distinct incunable editions known to be extant, many authors reserve the term incunabula for the typographic ones only. The spread of printing to cities both in the north and in Italy ensured that there was great variety in the chosen for printing. Printers congregated in urban centres where there were scholars, ecclesiastics, lawyers, nobles, standard works in Latin inherited from the medieval tradition formed the bulk of the earliest printing, but as books became cheaper, works in the various local vernaculars began to appear. Other printers of incunabula were Günther Zainer of Augsburg, Johannes Mentelin and Heinrich Eggestein of Strasbourg, Heinrich Gran of Haguenau and William Caxton of Bruges, the first incunable to have woodcut illustrations was Ulrich Boners Der Edelstein, printed by Albrecht Pfister in Bamberg in 1461. The data in this section were derived from the Incunabula Short-Title Catalogue, printing towns, The number of printing towns and cities stands at 282. These are situated in some 18 countries in terms of present-day boundaries, illustrations, Only about one edition in ten has any illustrations, woodcuts or metalcuts. Survival, The commonest incunable is Schedels Nuremberg Chronicle of 1493, very many incunabula are unique, but on average about 18 copies survive of each. This makes the Gutenberg Bible, at 48 or 49 known copies, a complete incunable may consist of a slip, or up to ten volumes. Formats, In terms of format, the 29, 000-odd editions comprise,2,000 broadsides,9,000 folios,15,000 quartos,3,000 octavos,18 12mos,230 16mos,20 32mos, and 3 64mos. Caxton, ISTC at present cites 528 extant copies of books printed by Caxton, dispersal, Apart from migration to mainly North American and Japanese universities, there has been remarkably little movement of incunabula in the last five centuries. None were printed in the Southern Hemisphere, and the latter appears to less than 2,000 copies – i. e. about 97. 75% remain north of the equator. However many incunabula are sold at auction or through the book trade every year. The British Librarys Incunabula Short Title Catalogue now records over 29,000 titles, studies of incunabula began in the 17th century. Hain was expanded in subsequent editions, by Walter A, North American holdings were listed by Frederick R. Goff and a worldwide union catalogue is provided by the Incunabula Short Title Catalogue
Incunable
–
Page from
Valerius Maximus, Facta et dicta memorabilia, printed in red and black by
Peter Schöffer (
Mainz, 1471). The page exhibits a
rubricated initial letter "U" and decorations,
marginalia, and ownership stamps of the "Bibliotheca Gymnasii Altonani" (
Hamburg).
Incunable
–
Illumination with doodles and drawings (marginalia), including an open-mouthed human profile, with multiple tongues sticking out. Copulata, "De Anima", f. 2a. HMD Collection, WZ 230 M772c 1485.
Incunable
–
Image of two facing pages from "Phisicorum", fols. 57b and 58a, with doodles and drawings. HMD Collection, WZ 230 M772c 1485.
Incunable
–
First incunable with illustrations, Ulrich Boner's Der Edelstein, printed by Albrecht Pfister, Bamberg, 1461.
21.
Virtual International Authority File
–
The Virtual International Authority File is an international authority file. It is a joint project of national libraries and operated by the Online Computer Library Center. The project was initiated by the US Library of Congress, the German National Library, the National Library of France joined the project on October 5,2007. The project transitions to a service of the OCLC on April 4,2012, the aim is to link the national authority files to a single virtual authority file. In this file, identical records from the different data sets are linked together, a VIAF record receives a standard data number, contains the primary see and see also records from the original records, and refers to the original authority records. The data are available online and are available for research and data exchange. Reciprocal updating uses the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting protocol, the file numbers are also being added to Wikipedia biographical articles and are incorporated into Wikidata. VIAFs clustering algorithm is run every month, as more data are added from participating libraries, clusters of authority records may coalesce or split, leading to some fluctuation in the VIAF identifier of certain authority records
Virtual International Authority File
–
Screenshot 2012
22.
Integrated Authority File
–
The Integrated Authority File or GND is an international authority file for the organisation of personal names, subject headings and corporate bodies from catalogues. It is used mainly for documentation in libraries and increasingly also by archives, the GND is managed by the German National Library in cooperation with various regional library networks in German-speaking Europe and other partners. The GND falls under the Creative Commons Zero license, the GND specification provides a hierarchy of high-level entities and sub-classes, useful in library classification, and an approach to unambiguous identification of single elements. It also comprises an ontology intended for knowledge representation in the semantic web, available in the RDF format
Integrated Authority File
–
GND screenshot
