1.
Governor of Gibraltar
–
The Governor of Gibraltar is the representative of the British monarch in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. The governor is appointed by the monarch on the advice of the British Government, the governor serves as commander-in-chief of Gibraltars military forces and has sole responsibility for defence and security. The governor has their own flag in Gibraltar, the Union Flag defaced with the coat of arms. However, at their residence, the Union flag and the flag of Gibraltar are also flown. The Convent Chief Minister of Gibraltar Governors of Gibraltar at the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
2.
Gibraltar
–
Gibraltar is a British Overseas Territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula. It has an area of 6.7 km2 and shares its border with Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the landmark of the region. At its foot is a populated city area, home to over 30,000 Gibraltarians. An Anglo-Dutch force captured Gibraltar from Spain in 1704 during the War of the Spanish Succession on behalf of the Habsburg claim to the Spanish throne, the territory was subsequently ceded to Great Britain in perpetuity under the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. Today Gibraltars economy is based largely on tourism, online gambling, financial services, the sovereignty of Gibraltar is a major point of contention in Anglo-Spanish relations as Spain asserts a claim to the territory. Gibraltarians overwhelmingly rejected proposals for Spanish sovereignty in a 1967 referendum, under the Gibraltar constitution of 2006, Gibraltar governs its own affairs, though some powers, such as defence and foreign relations, remain the responsibility of the British government. The name Gibraltar is the Spanish derivation of the Arabic name Jabal Ṭāriq, earlier, it was known as Mons Calpe, a name of Phoenician origin and one of the Pillars of Hercules. The pronunciation of the name in modern Spanish is, evidence of Neanderthal habitation in Gibraltar between 28,000 and 24,000 BP has been discovered at Gorhams Cave, making Gibraltar possibly the last known holdout of the Neanderthals. Within recorded history, the first inhabitants were the Phoenicians, around 950 BC, subsequently, Gibraltar became known as one of the Pillars of Hercules, after the Greek legend of the creation of the Strait of Gibraltar by Heracles. The Carthaginians and Romans also established semi-permanent settlements, after the collapse of the Roman Empire, Gibraltar came briefly under the control of the Vandals. The area later formed part of the Visigothic Kingdom of Hispania from 414 AD until the Islamic conquest of Iberia in 711 AD, in 1160, the Almohad Sultan Abd al-Mumin ordered that a permanent settlement, including a castle, be built. It received the name of Medinat al-Fath, on completion of the works in the town, the Sultan crossed the Strait to look at the works and stayed in Gibraltar for two months. The Tower of Homage of the Moorish Castle remains standing today, from 1274 onwards, the town was fought over and captured by the Nasrids of Granada, the Marinids of Morocco and the kings of Castile. In 1462, Gibraltar was finally captured by Juan Alonso de Guzmán, after the conquest, King Henry IV of Castile assumed the additional title of King of Gibraltar, establishing it as part of the comarca of the Campo Llano de Gibraltar. In 1501, Gibraltar passed back to the Spanish Crown, the occupation of the town by Alliance forces caused the exodus of the population to the surrounding area of the Campo de Gibraltar. As the Alliances campaign faltered, the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht was negotiated and ceded control of Gibraltar to Britain to secure Britains withdrawal from the war. Unsuccessful attempts by Spanish monarchs to regain Gibraltar were made with the siege of 1727 and again with the Great Siege of Gibraltar, during the American War of Independence
3.
Isabella I of Castile
–
Isabella I was Queen of Castile. She was married to Ferdinand II of Aragon and their marriage became the basis for the political unification of Spain under their grandson, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. Her reforms and those she made with her husband had an influence that extended well beyond the borders of their united kingdoms, Isabella was granted the title Servant of God by the Catholic Church in 1974. Isabella was born in Madrigal de las Altas Torres, Ávila, to John II of Castile, at the time of her birth, she was second in line to throne after her older half-brother Henry. Henry was 26 at that time and married but childless and her younger brother Alfonso was born two years later on 17 November 1453, lowering her position to third in line. When her father died in 1454, her half-brother ascended to the throne as Henry IV, Isabella and Alfonso were left in Henrys care. She, her mother and her brother Alfonso then moved to Arévalo and these were times of turmoil for Isabella. Living conditions in their castle in Arévalo were poor, and they suffered from a shortage of money, even though living conditions were lackluster, under the careful eye of her mother, Isabella was instructed in lessons of practical piety and in a deep reverence for religion. Alfonso was placed in the care of a tutor while Isabella became part of the Queens household, some of Isabellas living conditions improved in Segovia. She always had food and clothing and lived in a castle that was adorned with gold, Isabellas basic education consisted of reading, spelling, writing, grammar, mathematics, art, chess, dancing, embroidery, music, and religious instruction. She and her ladies-in-waiting entertained themselves with art, embroidery, and she lived a relaxed lifestyle, but she rarely left Segovia as Henry forbade this. Her half-brother was keeping her from the political turmoils going on in the kingdom, though Isabella had full knowledge of what was going on, the noblemen, anxious for power, confronted King Henry, demanding that his younger half brother Infante Alfonso be named his successor. They even went so far as to ask Alfonso to seize the throne, the nobles, now in control of Alfonso and claiming that he was the true heir, clashed with Henrys forces at the Second Battle of Olmedo in 1467. Henry agreed to recognise Alfonso as heir presumptive, provided that he would marry his daughter, soon after he was named Prince of Asturias, Alfonso died in July 1468, likely of the plague. The nobles who had supported him suspected poisoning, as she had been named in her brothers will as his successor, the nobles asked Isabella to take his place as champion of the rebellion. However, support for the rebels had begun to wane, the question of Isabellas marriage was not a new one. Indeed, she had made her debut in the market at the tender age of six, with a betrothal to Ferdinand. At that time, the two kings, Henry and John, were eager to show their love and confidence
4.
Rock of Gibraltar
–
The Rock of Gibraltar is a monolithic limestone promontory located in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar, near the southwestern tip of Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. The Rock is Crown property of the United Kingdom, and borders Spain, most of the Rocks upper area is covered by a nature reserve, which is home to around 300 Barbary macaques. These macaques, as well as a network of tunnels. The Rock of Gibraltar was one of the Pillars of Hercules and was known to the Romans as Mons Calpe, in ancient times, the two points marked the limit to the known world, a myth originally fostered by the Greeks and the Phoenicians. Gibraltar is surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea and has no contact with the Atlantic Ocean, the Rock of Gibraltar is a monolithic promontory. The Main Ridge has a sharp crest with peaks over 400 m above sea level and it is a deeply eroded and highly faulted limb of an overturned fold. The sedimentary strata composing the Rock of Gibraltar are overturned, with the oldest strata overlying the youngest strata and these strata are the Catalan Bay Shale Formation, Gibraltar Limestone, Little Bay Shale Formation, and Dockyard Shale Formation. These strata are noticeably faulted and deformed, the Catalan Bay Shale Formation contains unidentifiable echinoid spines and belemnite fragments and infrequent Early Jurassic ammonites. The Gibraltar Limestone consists of greyish-white or pale-gray compact, and sometime finely crystalline and this formation comprises about three quarters of the Rock of Gibraltar. Geologists have found various poorly preserved and badly eroded and rolled marine fossils within it, the fossils found in the Gibraltar Limestone include various brachiopods, corals, echinoid fragments, gastropods, pelecypods, and stromatolites. These fossils indicate an Early Jurassic age for the deposition of the Gibraltar Limestone, the Little Bay and Dockyard shale formations form a very minor part of the Rock of Gibraltar. The Little Bay Shale Formation consists of dark bluish-gray, unfossiliferous shale, which is interbedded with layers of grit, mudstone. The Dockyard Shale Formation is an undescribed variegated shale of unknown age that lies buried beneath the Gibraltars dockyard and coastal protection structures. When the African tectonic plate collided tightly with the Eurasian plate, the Atlantic Ocean then broke through the Strait of Gibraltar, and the resultant flooding created the Mediterranean Sea. The Rock forms part of the Betic Cordillera, a range that dominates south-eastern Iberia. Today, the Rock of Gibraltar forms a peninsula jutting out into the Strait of Gibraltar from the southern coast of Spain, the promontory is linked to the continent by means of a sandy tombolo with a maximum elevation of 3 m. To the north, the Rock rises vertically from sea level up to 411.5 m at Rock Gun Battery, the Rocks highest point stands 426 m near the south end above the strait at OHaras Battery. The Rocks central peak, Signal Hill and the top station of the Gibraltar Cable Car, the western face, where the City of Gibraltar is located, is comparatively less steep
5.
British Overseas Territories
–
The 14 British Overseas Territories are territories under the jurisdiction and sovereignty of the United Kingdom. They are the parts of the British Empire that have not been granted independence or have voted to remain British territories. These territories do not form part of the United Kingdom and, with the exception of Gibraltar, are not part of the European Union, though the Cyprus SBAs are subject to EU law and use the Euro. Most of the territories are internally self-governing, with the UK retaining responsibility for defence. The rest are either uninhabited or have a population of military or scientific personnel. They share the British monarch as head of state, the term British Overseas Territory was introduced by the British Overseas Territories Act 2002, replacing the term British Dependent Territory, introduced by the British Nationality Act 1981. Prior to 1 January 1983, the territories were referred to as British Crown Colonies. With the exceptions of the British Antarctic Territory and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands and the British Indian Ocean Territory, the Territories retain permanent civilian populations. Permanent residency for the 7,000 or so living in the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri. Collectively, the Territories encompass a population of about 250,000 people, the vast majority of this,660,000 square miles, constitutes the British Antarctic Territory. The current minister responsible for the Territories excluding the Falkland Islands, Gibraltar and the Sovereign Base Areas is Baroness Anelay, Minister of State for the Commonwealth, the other three territories are the responsibility of Sir Alan Duncan MP, Minister of State for Europe and the Americas. The first, unofficial, colony was Newfoundland, where English fishermen routinely set up camps in the 16th century. It is now a province of Canada known as Newfoundland and Labrador and it retains strong cultural ties with Britain. English colonisation of North America began officially in 1607 with the settlement of Jamestown, st. Georges town, founded in Bermuda in that year, remains the oldest continuously inhabited British settlement in the New World. Bermuda and Bermudians have played important, sometimes pivotal, but generally underestimated or unacknowledged roles in the shaping of the English and British trans-Atlantic Empires. These include maritime commerce, settlement of the continent and of the West Indies, separate self-governing colonies federated to become Canada, Australia, South Africa, and Rhodesia. These and other large self-governing colonies had become known as Dominions by the 1920s, the Dominions achieved almost full independence with the Statute of Westminster. Through a process of following the Second World War, most of the British colonies in Africa, Asia
6.
British ensign
–
In British maritime law and custom, an ensign is the identifying flag flown to designate a British ship, either military or civilian. Such flags display the United Kingdom Union Flag in the canton, with either a red, white or blue field, dependent on whether the vessel is civilian, naval and these are known as the red, white, and blue ensigns respectively. Outside the nautical sphere, ensigns are used to designate many other units, government departments. The Union Flag should be flown as a jack by Royal Navy ships only when moored, at anchor, while underway and dressed with masthead ensigns, the Union Flag may also signal that a court martial is in progress. Todays white ensign, as used by Royal Navy ships, incorporates the St Georges Cross, British yachts owned by members of the Royal Yacht Squadron are authorised to apply for a permit to wear this ensign. Defaced white ensigns include that of the British Antarctic Territory, since the reorganisation of the Royal Navy in 1864, use of the White Ensign has been restricted to ships, boats, submarines and on-shore establishments of the Royal Navy. The Royal Yacht Squadron also fly the white ensign by special dispensation, the Blue Ensign undefaced is worn by masters of vessels in possession of a warrant issued by the Director of Naval Reserves, and by the members of certain yacht clubs. Such warrants are issued to officers in the active or retired lists of the Royal Naval Reserve, the master must be of the rank of lieutenant RN or above, and fishing vessels must be crewed by at least four other Royal Naval reservists or pensioners. The Ensign of the Sea Cadet Corps is a blue ensign defaced by the SCC badge, British government departments use a variety of blue ensigns defaced in the fly with the department badge, and colonial governments use blue ensigns defaced with the colonial badge. The flag of Australia and those of its states as well as the flag of New Zealand are defaced blue ensigns, several yacht clubs are also entitled to fly blue ensigns defaced by their club badge. The Red Ensign defaced by a badge is flown by Trinity House and various organisations, merchant ships and private vessels registered in British territories and dependencies, and in several Commonwealth realms, fly the Red Ensign defaced by the badge of their territory. The Red Ensign undefaced is for the use of all other British merchant navy ships, the Red Ensign is the correct flag to be worn as courtesy flag by foreign private vessels in United Kingdom waters. Merchant vessels from British overseas territories and Crown dependencies are entitled to red ensigns defaced with the badge of their territory, the flag of the British East India Company, like the Cambridge or Grand Union Flag of the American colonies, had a red and white striped field. There were similar red-and-white and green-and-white striped ensigns in the English Navy in the 16th century, the flag of Hawaii is a British ensign with a background of white, red and blue stripes. Also in existence is a Royal Air Force ensign and a civil air ensign, the RAF Ensign is defaced with the red-white-blue RAF roundel, while the field of the civil air ensign is charged with a large dark blue cross fimbriated white. The flag of Tuvalu and that of Fiji are also defaced sky blue ensigns, the white ensign of the Commissioner of the Northern Lighthouse Board is unique in that it remains the only example of a pre-1801 Union Flag in official use today. This flag is flown from vessels with Commissioners aboard. There are two yellow ensigns in use in the South Pacific, both featuring the Southern Cross, the personal flag of the Governor of Victoria, Australia, has been the flag of Victoria with a yellow instead of a dark blue background
