1.
Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri
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The Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels and the Martyrs is a titular basilica church in Rome, Italy built inside the frigidarium of the Baths of Diocletian in the Piazza della Repubblica. The most recent Cardinal priest of the Titulus S. Mariae Angelorum in Thermis is William Henry Keeler, the basilica is dedicated to the Christian martyrs, known and unknown. By a brief dated 27 July 1561, Pius IV ordered the church built, a story that these Martyrs were Christian slave labourers who had been set to constructing the Baths is modern. It was also a monument of Pope Pius IV, whose tomb is in the apsidal tribune that culminates the series of spaces. The thermae of Diocletian dominated the Quirinal Hill with their mass and had successfully resisted Christianization. Michelangelo Buonarroti worked from 1563 to 1564 to adapt a section of the structure of the baths to enclose a church. Some later construction directed by Luigi Vanvitelli in 1749 only superficially distracts from the grand, at Santa Maria degli Angeli, Michelangelo achieved an unexampled sequence of shaped architectural spaces with few precedents or followers. There is no true facade, the entrance is set within one of the coved apses of a main space of the thermae. The plan is developed from a Greek cross, with a transept so dominant, with its chapels at each end. Of the Saint Bruno, Pope Clement XIV said that he would speak, were it not for the vow of silence of the order he founded, raising the floor truncated the red granite Roman columns that articulate the transept and its flanking spaces. Michelangelo made the transept 27 meters wide, thus providing vast cubical spaces at each end of the transept, in 2006, Polish-born sculptor Igor Mitoraj created new bronze doors as well as a statue of John the Baptist for the basilica. In April 2010, a five metre high statue of Galileo Galilei Divine Man was unveiled in a courtyard within the complex. The statue was a donation from CCAST and WFS, Santa Maria degli Angeli was the official state church during the Kingdom of Italy. More recently, national burials have been held in the church, the church hosts the tombs of General Armando Diaz and Admiral Paolo Thaon di Revel, who were the commanders responsible for winning World War I on the Italian front. Also today the Basilica is used for ceremonies, included the funeral of soldiers killed abroad. Alan Cook remarked, The disposition, the stability and the precision are much better than those of the famous meridian. in Bologna, bianchinis sundial was built along the meridian that crosses Rome, at longitude 12°30 E. At solar noon, which according to the equation of time from around 10,54 a. m. UTC in late October to 11.24 a. m, UTC in February, the sun shines through a small hole in the wall to cast its light on this line each day
2.
Pope Clement VIII
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Not to be confused with Antipope Clement VIII. Pope Clement VIII, born Ippolito Aldobrandini, was Pope from 2 February 1592 to his death in 1605, born into prominent Florentine family, he initially came to prominence as a canon lawyer before being made a Cardinal-Priest in 1585. In 1592 he was elected Pope and took the name of Clement and he also successfully adjudicated in a bitter dispute between the Dominicans and the Jesuits on the issue of efficacious grace and free will. In 1600 he presided over a jubilee which saw a number of pilgrimages to Rome. He showed little pity for his opponents, presiding over the trial and execution of Giordano Bruno. He may have been the first pope to drink coffee, Clement VIII died at the age of 69 in 1605 and his remains now rest in the Santa Maria Maggiore. He was from a Florentine family, and followed his father as a lawyer, becoming an Auditor of the Roman Rota. He was only ordained as a priest at the age of 45 and he was an effective, if sometimes ruthless, administrator. He was made Cardinal-Priest of S. Pancrazio in 1585 by Pope Gregory XIII, Pope Sixtus V named him major penitentiary in January 1586 and in 1588 sent him as legate in Poland. He placed himself under the direction of the reformer Philip Neri, Aldobrandini won the gratitude of the Habsburgs by his successful diplomatic efforts in Poland to obtain the release of the imprisoned Archduke Maximilian, the defeated claimant to the Polish throne. After the death of Pope Innocent IX, another stormy conclave ensued, cardinal Aldobrandinis election on 30 January 1592, was received as a portent of more balanced and liberal Papal policy in European affairs. He took the non-politicised name Clement VIII, in 1611 and again in 1625 a decree prohibited any discussion of the matter, although it was often informally avoided by the publication of commentaries on Thomas Aquinas. During the jubilee of 1600, three million pilgrims visited the holy places, the Synod of Brest was held 1595 in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, by which a great part of the Ruthenian clergy and people were reunited to Rome. Clement VIII canonised Hyacinth, Julian of Cuenca, and Raymond of Peñafort, henry embraced Catholicism on 25 July 1593. Facilitated by the Pope, a treaty of alliance was signed in Prague by Emperor Rudolf II, aron Vodă of Moldavia and Michael the Brave of Wallachia joined the alliance later that year. Clement VIII himself lent the Emperor valuable assistance in men and money, Clement VIII was as vigorous as Pope Sixtus V in crushing banditry in the papal provinces of Umbria and the Marche and in punishing the lawlessness of the Roman nobility. Upon his ascension to the throne in 1592, he immediately had several noble troublemakers put to death. The latter case prompted many requests of clemency – rejected by the Pope, clements strict ways also concerned philosophical and religious matters
3.
Milan Cathedral
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Milan Cathedral is the cathedral church of Milan, Italy. Dedicated to St Mary of the Nativity, it is the seat of the Archbishop of Milan, the Gothic cathedral took nearly six centuries to complete. It is the largest church in Italy and the fifth largest in the world, the first cathedral, the new basilica dedicated to St Thecla, was completed by 355. It seems to share, on a smaller scale, the plan of the contemporaneous church recently rediscovered beneath Tower Hill in London. An adjoining basilica was erected in 836, the old octagonal baptistery, the Battistero Paleocristiano, dates to 335 and still can be visited under the Milan Cathedral. When a fire damaged the cathedral and basilica in 1075, they were rebuilt as the Duomo, in 1386, Archbishop Antonio da Saluzzo began construction of the cathedral. Before actual work began, three buildings were demolished, the palace of the Archbishop, the Ordinari Palace and the Baptistry of St. Stephen at the Spring. Maria Maggiore was exploited as a stone quarry, enthusiasm for the immense new building soon spread among the population, and the shrewd Gian Galeazzo, together with his cousin the archbishop, collected large donations for the work-in-progress. The construction program was strictly regulated under the Fabbrica del Duomo, Orsenigo initially planned to build the cathedral from brick in Lombard Gothic style. Visconti had ambitions to follow the newest trends in European architecture, in 1389, a French chief engineer, Nicolas de Bonaventure, was appointed, adding to the church its Rayonnant Gothic, a French style not typical for Italy. He decided that the structure should be panelled with marble. Galeazzo gave the Fabbrica del Duomo exclusive use of the marble from the Candoglia quarry and exempted it from taxes. Ten years later another French architect, Jean Mignot, was called from Paris to judge and improve upon the work done, Mignot declared all the work done up till then as in pericolo di ruina, as it had been done sine scienzia. In the following years Mignots forecasts proved untrue, but they spurred Galeazzos engineers to improve their instruments, work proceeded quickly, and at the death of Gian Galeazzo in 1402, almost half the cathedral was complete. John the Evangelist, by Cristoforo de Mottis, and Saint Eligius and San John of Damascus, in 1452, under Francesco Sforza, the nave and the aisles were completed up to the sixth bay. The exterior long remained without any decoration, except for the Guglietto dellAmadeo and this is a Renaissance masterwork which nevertheless harmonized well with the general Gothic appearance of the church. During the subsequent Spanish domination, the new church proved usable, even though the interior remained unfinished, and some bays of the nave. In 1552 Giacomo Antegnati was commissioned to build an organ for the north side of the choir
4.
Charles Borromeo
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Charles Borromeo was a cardinal who was archbishop of Milan from 1564 to 1584. Among the great reformers of the sixteenth century, Borromeo, with St. Ignatius of Loyola, St. Philip Neri. He was a leading figure during the Counter-Reformation and was responsible for significant reforms in the Catholic Church and he is honoured as a saint in the Catholic Church and his feast day is November 4. Charles biography was written by three of his contemporaries, Agostino Valerio and Carlo Bascape, who wrote their contributions in Latin, and Pietro Giussanno. Father Giussannos account was the most detailed of the three, Charles was a descendant of nobility, the family of Borromeo was one of the most ancient and wealthy in Lombardy, made famous by several notable men, both in the church and state. The aristocratic Borromeo familys coat of arms included the Borromean rings, Charles father Gilbert was Count of Arona, his mother Margaret was a member of the Milan branch of the House of Medici. The third son in a family of six children, he was born in the castle of Arona on Lake Maggiore, thirty-six miles from Milan, Borromeo received the tonsure when he was about twelve years old. At this time his uncle, Julius Caesar Borromeo, turned over to him the income from the rich Benedictine abbey of Sts. Gratinian and Felin, one of the ancient perquisites of this noble family, the young man attended the University of Pavia, where he applied himself to the study of civil and canon law. Due to a slight impediment of speech, he was regarded as slow, yet his thoroughness, in 1554 his father died, and although he had an elder brother, Count Federico, he was requested by the family to take the management of their domestic affairs. After a time, he resumed his studies, and on 6 December 1559 he earned a doctorate in utroque iure, on 25 December 1559, his uncle, Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Medici, was raised to the pontificate as Pope Pius IV. The newly elected pope required his nephew Charles Borromeo to come to Rome, shortly thereafter, on 31 January 1560, the pope created him cardinal, and thus Charles as cardinal-nephew was entrusted with both the public and the privy seal of the ecclesiastical state. He was also entrusted in the government of the Papal States and appointed supervisor of the Franciscans, Carmelites, Charles committed to organize the third and last section of the Council of Trent, in 1562-63. He took a share in the creation of the Tridentine Catechism. In 1561, Borromeo founded and endowed a college at Pavia, today known as Almo Collegio Borromeo, on 19 November 1562, his older brother, Federico, suddenly died. His family urged Charles to leave the church to marry and have children, so that the name would not become extinct. Charles was appointed administrator of the Archdiocese of Milan on 7 February 1560, after his decision to put into practice the role of bishop, he decided to be ordained priest and on 7 December 1563 he was consecrated bishop in the Sistine Chapel by Cardinal Giovanni Serbelloni. Charles made his entry into Milan as archbishop on 23 September 1565
5.
Counter-Reformation
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It also involved political activities that included the Roman Inquisition. The 14th, 15th and 16th centuries saw a revival in Europe. This became known as the Catholic Reformation, several theologians harked back to the early days of Christianity and questioned their spirituality. Their debates expanded across the whole of Europe in the 15th and 16th centuries, whilst secular critics also examined religious practice, clerical behavior, several varied currents of thought were active, but the ideas of reform and renewal were led by the clergy. The reforms decreed at Lateran V had only a small effect, some positions got further and further from the churchs official positions, leading to the break with Rome and the formation of Protestant churches. Even so, conservative and reforming parties still survived within the Catholic Church even as the Protestant Reformation spread, the Protestant Church decisively broke from the Catholic Church in the 1520s. The two distinct positions within the Catholic Church solidified in the 1560s. The Catholic Reformation became known as the Counter-Reformation, defined as a reaction to Protestantism rather than as a reform movement, the regular orders made their first attempts at reform in the 14th century. The Benedictine Bull of 1336 reformed the Benedictines and Cistercians, in 1523, the Camaldolese Hermits of Monte Corona were recognized as a separate congregation of monks. In 1435, Saint Francis of Paola founded the Poor Hermits of Saint Francis of Assisi, in 1526, Matteo de Bascio suggested reforming the Franciscan rule of life to its original purity, giving birth to the Capuchins, recognized by the pope in 1619. This order was well-known to the laity and play an important role in public preaching, to respond to the new needs of evangelism, clergy formed into religious congregations, taking special vows but with no obligation to assist in a monasterys religious offices. These regular clergy taught, preached and took confession but were under a bishops direct authority, in Italy, the first congregation of regular clergy was the Theatines founded in 1524 by Gaetano and Cardinal Caraffa. In 1524, a number of priests in Rome began to live in a community centred on Philip Neri, the Oratorians were given their institutions in 1564 and recognized as an order by the pope in 1575. They used music and singing to attract the faithful, the Council upheld the basic structure of the Medieval Church, its sacramental system, religious orders, and doctrine. It rejected all compromise with the Protestants, restating basic tenets of the Roman Catholic faith, the Council upheld salvation appropriated by grace through faith and works of that faith because faith without works is dead, as the Epistle of St. James states. This reaffirmed the previous Council of Rome and Synods of Carthage, the Council also commissioned the Roman Catechism, which still serves as authoritative Church teaching. While the traditional fundamentals of the Church were reaffirmed, there were changes to answer complaints that the Counter-Reformers were, tacitly. Often, these rural priests did not know Latin and lacked opportunities for theological training
6.
Bologna
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Bologna is the largest city of the Emilia-Romagna Region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy, located in the heart of an area of about one million. The first settlements back to at least 1000 BC. The city has been a centre, first under the Etruscans. Home to the oldest university in the world, University of Bologna, founded in 1088, Bologna is also an important transportation crossroad for the roads and trains of Northern Italy, where many important mechanical, electronic and nutritional industries have their headquarters. According to the most recent data gathered by the European Regional Economic Growth Index of 2009, Bologna is the first Italian city, Bologna is home to numerous prestigious cultural, economic and political institutions as well as one of the most impressive trade fair districts in Europe. In 2000 it was declared European capital of culture and in 2006, the city of Bologna was selected to participate in the Universal Exposition of Shanghai 2010 together with 45 other cities from around the world. Bologna is also one of the wealthiest cities in Italy, often ranking as one of the top cities in terms of quality of life in the country, after a long decline, Bologna was reborn in the 5th century under Bishop Petronius. According to legend, St. Petronius built the church of S. Stefano. After the fall of Rome, Bologna was a stronghold of the Exarchate of Ravenna in the Po plain. In 728, the city was captured by the Lombard king Liutprand, the Germanic conquerors formed a district called addizione longobarda near the complex of S. Stefano. Charlemagne stayed in this district in 786, traditionally said to be founded in 1088, the University of Bologna is widely considered to be the first university. The university originated as a centre of study of medieval Roman law under major glossators. It numbered Dante, Boccaccio and Petrarca among its students, the medical school is especially famous. In the 12th century, the families engaged in continual internecine fighting. Troops of Pope Julius II besieged Bologna and sacked the artistic treasures of his palace, in 1530, in front of Saint Petronio Church, Charles V was crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Clement VII. Then a plague at the end of the 16th century reduced the population from 72,000 to 59,000, the population later recovered to a stable 60, 000–65,000. However, there was also great progress during this era, in 1564, the Piazza del Nettuno and the Palazzo dei Banchi were built, along with the Archiginnasio, the centre of the University
7.
Society of Jesus
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The Society of Jesus Latin, Societas Iesu, S. J. SJ or SI) is a religious congregation of the Catholic Church which originated in Spain. The society is engaged in evangelization and apostolic ministry in 112 nations on six continents, Jesuits work in education, intellectual research, and cultural pursuits. Jesuits also give retreats, minister in hospitals and parishes, and promote social justice, Ignatius of Loyola founded the society after being wounded in battle and experiencing a religious conversion. He composed the Spiritual Exercises to help others follow the teachings of Jesus Christ, ignatiuss plan of the orders organization was approved by Pope Paul III in 1540 by a bull containing the Formula of the Institute. Ignatius was a nobleman who had a background, and the members of the society were supposed to accept orders anywhere in the world. The Society participated in the Counter-Reformation and, later, in the implementation of the Second Vatican Council, the Society of Jesus is consecrated under the patronage of Madonna Della Strada, a title of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and it is led by a Superior General. The Society of Jesus on October 3,2016 announced that Superior General Adolfo Nicolás resignation was officially accepted, on October 14, the 36th General Congregation of the Society of Jesus elected Father Arturo Sosa as its thirty-first Superior General. The headquarters of the society, its General Curia, is in Rome, the historic curia of St. Ignatius is now part of the Collegio del Gesù attached to the Church of the Gesù, the Jesuit Mother Church. In 2013, Jorge Mario Bergoglio became the first Jesuit Pope, the Jesuits today form the largest single religious order of priests and brothers in the Catholic Church. As of 1 January 2015, Jesuits numbered 16,740,11,986 clerics regular,2,733 scholastics,1,268 brothers and 753 novices. In 2012, Mark Raper S. J. wrote, Our numbers have been in decline for the last 40 years—from over 30,000 in the 1960s to fewer than 18,000 today. The steep declines in Europe and North America and consistent decline in Latin America have not been offset by the significant increase in South Asia, the Society is divided into 83 Provinces with six Independent Regions and ten Dependent Regions. On 1 January 2007, members served in 112 nations on six continents with the largest number in India and their average age was 57.3 years,63.4 years for priests,29.9 years for scholastics, and 65.5 years for brothers. The current Superior General of the Jesuits is Arturo Sosa, the Society is characterized by its ministries in the fields of missionary work, human rights, social justice and, most notably, higher education. It operates colleges and universities in countries around the world and is particularly active in the Philippines. In the United States it maintains 28 colleges and universities and 58 high schools and he ensured that his formula was contained in two papal bulls signed by Pope Paul III in 1540 and by Pope Julius III in 1550. The formula expressed the nature, spirituality, community life and apostolate of the new religious order, the meeting is now commemorated in the Martyrium of Saint Denis, Montmartre
8.
Philip Neri
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Philip Romolo Neri, known as the Third Apostle of Rome, after Saints Peter and Paul, was an Italian priest noted for founding a society of secular clergy called the Congregation of the Oratory. He was the son of Francesco di Neri, a lawyer and he was carefully brought up, and received his early teaching from the friars at San Marco, the famous Dominican monastery in Florence. He was accustomed in later life to ascribe most of his progress to the teaching of two of them, Zenobio de Medici and Servanzio Mini. He gained Romolos confidence and affection, but soon after coming to San Germano Philip had a conversion, he no longer cared for things of the world. After arriving in Rome, Neri became a tutor in the house of a Florentine aristocrat named Galeotto Caccia, after two years he began to pursue his own studies under the guidance of the Augustinians. Following this, he began those labours amongst the sick and poor which, in later life and he also ministered to the prostitutes of the city. For seventeen years Philip lived as a layman in Rome, probably thinking of becoming a priest. Around 1544, he made the acquaintance of Ignatius of Loyola, many of Neris disciples found their vocations in the infant Society of Jesus. Members met for prayer at the church of San Salvatore in Campo where the devotion of the Forty Hours of Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament was first introduced into Rome, in 1551 Neri received all the minor orders, and was ordained deacon, and finally priest. He thought of going to India as a missionary, but was dissuaded by his friends who saw that there was abundant work to be done in Rome, the musical selections were called oratorios. Giovanni Palestrina was one of Philip’s followers, and composed music for the services and he also spent much of his time hearing confessions, and effected many conversions in this way. Neri sometimes led “excursions” to other churches, often with music, in 1564 the Florentines requested that Neri leave San Girolamo to oversee their newly built church in Rome, San Giovanni dei Fiorentini. He was at first reluctant, but by consent of Pope Pius IV he accepted, while remaining in charge of San Girolamo, the building, however, not large enough for their purpose, was pulled down, and a splendid church erected on the site. He was at first elected for a term of three years, but in 1587 was nominated superior for life, Neri continued in the government of the Oratory until his death. Philip Neri embodied a number of contradictions, combining popular venerations with intensely individual piety and he became embedded in the church hierarchy while seeking to reform a corrupt Rome and an uninterested clergy. He possessed a playful humour, combined with a shrewd wit and he considered a cheerful temper to be more Christian than a melancholy one, and carried this spirit into his whole life, A joyful heart is more easily made perfect than a downcast one. This was the secret of Neris popularity and of his place in the folklore of the Roman poor, many miracles were attributed to him. When his body was autopsied it was found two of his ribs had been broken, an event attributed to the expansion of his heart while fervently praying in the catacombs about the year 1545
9.
Papal conclave
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A papal conclave is a meeting of the College of Cardinals convened to elect a new Bishop of Rome, also known as the Pope. The pope is considered by Roman Catholics to be the successor of Saint Peter. The conclave has been the procedure for choosing the pope for almost a thousand years, conclaves are now held in the Sistine Chapel of the Apostolic Palace. Since the Apostolic Age, the Bishop of Rome, like other bishops, was chosen by the consensus of the clergy, the body of electors was more precisely defined when, in 1059, the College of Cardinals was designated the sole body of electors. Since then, other details of the process have developed, in 1970, Pope Paul VI limited the electors to cardinals under 80 years of age. A two-thirds supermajority vote is required to elect the new pope, the procedures relating to the election of the pope have undergone almost two millennia of development. As the Christian communities became established they started to elect bishops, chosen by the clergy and laity of the community with the assistance of the bishops of neighbouring dioceses. St. Cyprian says that Pope Cornelius was chosen Bishop of Rome by the decree of God and of His Church, by the testimony of all the clergy, by the college of aged bishops. As was true for bishops of dioceses, the clergy of the Diocese of Rome was the electoral body for the Bishop of Rome. Instead of casting votes, the bishop was selected by consensus or by acclamation. The candidate would then be submitted to the people for their approval or disapproval. This lack of precision in the election procedures occasionally gave rise to rival popes or antipopes. The right of the laity to refuse the person elected was abolished by a Synod held in the Lateran in 769, the pope was also subjected to oaths of loyalty to the Holy Roman Emperor, whose task it was to provide security and public peace in Rome. The cardinal bishops were to meet first and discuss the candidates before summoning the cardinal priests, through much of the Middle Ages and Renaissance there were a small number of cardinals, down to as few as seven under either Pope Alexander IV or Pope John XXI. Difficult travel further reduced the number arriving at the conclave, with a small electorate an individual vote was significant, and was not easily shaken from familial or political lines. Conclaves could last months and even years, lengthy elections resumed and continued to be the norm until 1294, when a Benedictine hermit was elected Pope Celestine V. Celestine reinstated the strict conclave, but soon resigned the papacy. Beginning with Pope John XXIIIs attempts to broaden the representation of nations in the College of Cardinals, though this remains the theoretical limit, John Paul II exceeded this for short periods of time with knowledge of impending retirements. Originally, lay status did not bar election to the Bishop of Rome, Bishops of dioceses were sometimes elected while still catechumens, such as the case of St. Ambrose
10.
Bodleian Library
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The Bodleian Library, the main research library of the University of Oxford, is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. With over 12 million items, it is the second largest library in Britain after the British Library, known to Oxford scholars as Bodley or the Bod, it operates principally as a reference library and, in general, documents may not be removed from the reading rooms. They do, however, participate in OLIS, the Bodleian Libraries online union catalogue, much of the librarys archives were digitized and put online for public access in 2015. Since the 19th century a number of stores have been built. Before being granted access to the library, new readers are required to agree to a formal declaration and this declaration was traditionally an oral oath, but is now usually made by signing a letter to a similar effect. Ceremonies in which readers recite the declaration are still performed for those who wish to take them, external readers are still required to recite the declaration orally prior to admission. The Bodleian Admissions Office has amassed a collection of translations of the declaration allowing those who are not native English speakers to recite it in their first language. Whilst the Bodleian Library, in its current incarnation, has a history dating back to 1602. The first purpose-built library known to have existed in Oxford was founded in the century under the will of Thomas Cobham. This small collection of chained books was situated above the side of the University Church of St Mary the Virgin on the High Street. A suitable room was built above the Divinity School. This room continues to be known as Duke Humfreys Library, after 1488, the university stopped spending money on the librarys upkeep and acquisitions, and manuscripts began to go unreturned to the library. The late sixteenth century saw the library go through a period of decline, the furniture was sold. During the reign of Edward VI, there was a purge of superstitious manuscripts, six of the Oxford University dons were tasked with helping Bodley in refitting the library in March 1658. Duke Humfrey’s Library was refitted, and Bodley donated a number of his own books to furnish it, the library was formally re-opened on 8 November 1602 under the name “Bodleian Library”. There were around two thousand books in the library at this time, with an ornate Benefactors Register displayed prominently, in 1605, Francis Bacon gave the library a copy of The Advancement of Learning and described the Bodleian as an Ark to save learning from deluge. At this time, there were few books written in English held in the library, Thomas James suggested that Bodley should ask the Stationers Company to provide a copy of all books printed to the Bodleian. In 1610, Bodley made an agreement with the Stationers Company in London to put a copy of every book registered with them in the library, the Bodleian collection grew so fast that the building was expanded between 1610–1612, and again in 1634–1637
11.
Famine
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A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including crop failure, population imbalance, or government policies. This phenomenon is usually accompanied or followed by regional malnutrition, starvation, epidemic, every inhabited continent in the world has experienced a period of famine throughout history. In the 19th and 20th century, it was generally Eastern Europe, the numbers dying from famine began to fall sharply from the 1970s. Some countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, continue to have cases of famine. Since 2010, Africa has been the most affected continent in the world, as of 2017, the United Nations has warned some 20 million are at risk in South Sudan, Somalia, Nigeria and Yemen. Agricultural conditions have been fluctuating more and more due to variations in weather, most programmes now direct their aid towards Africa. The cyclical occurrence of famine has been a mainstay of societies engaged in agriculture since the dawn of agriculture itself. The frequency and intensity of famine has fluctuated throughout history, depending on changes in demand, such as population growth. Famine was first eliminated in Holland and England during the 17th century, due to the commercialization of agriculture and the implementation of improved techniques to increase crop yields. In the 16th and 17th century, the system began to break down. These capitalist landowners paid their labourers with money, thereby increasing the commercialization of rural society, in the emerging competitive labour market, better techniques for the improvement of labour productivity were increasingly valued and rewarded. It was in the farmers interest to produce as much as possible on their land in order to sell it to areas that demanded that product and they produced guaranteed surpluses of their crop every year if they could. Subsistence peasants were also forced to commercialize their activities because of increasing taxes. Taxes that had to be paid to governments in money forced the peasants to produce crops to sell. Sometimes they produced industrial crops, but they would find ways to increase their production in order to both their subsistence requirements as well as their tax obligations. Peasants also used the new money to purchase manufactured goods, the agricultural and social developments encouraging increased food production were gradually taking place throughout the 16th century, but took off in the early 17th century. By that time, the Netherlands had one of the most commercialized agricultural systems in Europe and they grew many industrial crops such as flax, hemp and hops. Agriculture became increasingly specialized and efficient, the efficiency of Dutch agriculture allowed for much more rapid urbanization in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries than anywhere else in Europe
12.
The Betrothed (Manzoni novel)
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The Betrothed is an Italian historical novel by Alessandro Manzoni, first published in 1827, in three volumes. It has been called the most famous and widely read novel in the Italian language. Set in northern Italy in 1628, during the years of direct Spanish rule, it is seen as a veiled attack on the Austrian Empire. It is also noted for the description of the plague that struck Milan around 1630. I promessi sposi was made into an opera of the name by Amilcare Ponchielli in 1856. There have been many versions of I promessi sposi, including I promessi sposi, The Betrothed The Betrothed. In May 2015, at a general audience at St. Peters Square. Manzoni hatched the basis for his novel in 1821 when he read a 1627 Italian edict that specified penalties for any priest who refused to perform a marriage when requested to do so, more material for his story came from Giuseppe Ripamontis Milanese Chronicles. The first version, Fermo e Lucia, was written between April 1821 and September 1823 and he then heavily revised it, finishing in August 1825, it was published on 15 June 1827, after two years of corrections and proof-checking. Manzonis chosen title, Gli sposi promessi, was changed for the sake of euphony shortly before its final commitment to printing, in the early 19th century, there was still some controversy as to what form the standard literary language of Italy should take. Manzoni was firmly in favour of the dialect of Florence and, after washing his vocabulary on the banks of the Arno, Renzo and Lucia, a couple in an unnamed Lombard village near Lake Como, are planning to wed on 8 November 1628. The parish priest, Don Abbondio, is walking home on the eve of the wedding when he is accosted by two bravoes who warn him not to perform the marriage, because the local baron has forbidden it. When he presents himself for the ceremony, Renzo is amazed to hear that the marriage is to be postponed. An argument ensues and Renzo succeeds in extracting from the priest the name of Don Rodrigo and it turns out that Don Rodrigo has his eye on Lucia and that he had a bet about her with his cousin Count Attilio. Lucias mother, Agnese, advises Renzo to ask the advice of Dr. Azzeccagarbugli, Dr. Lucia sends a message to Fra Cristoforo, a respected Capuchin friar at the monastery of Pescarenico, asking him to come as soon as he can. When Don Rodrigo is taken aside by the friar, he explodes with anger at his presumption and sends him away, meanwhile, Lorenzo comes up with a plan. In those days, it was possible for two people to marry by declaring themselves married before a priest and in the presence of two amenable witnesses, Renzo runs to his friend Tonio and offers him 25 lire if he agrees to help. When Fra Cristoforo returns with the bad news, they decide to put their plan into action, the next morning, Lucia and Agnese are visited by beggars, Don Rodrigos men in disguise
Shahan, Thomas (1913). "Federico Borromeo". In Herbermann, Charles. Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
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