Gasparo Contarini was an Italian diplomat and Bishop of Belluno. He was one of the first proponents of the dialogue with Protestants, after the Reformation, he was born in Venice, the eldest son of Alvise Contarini, of the ancient noble House of Contarini, his wife Polissena Malpiero. After a thorough scientific and philosophical training at the University of Padua, he began his career in the service of his native city. From September 1520 to August 25 he was the Republic's ambassador to Charles V, with whom Venice was soon at war, instructed to defend the Republic's alliance with Francis I of France. Though he participated at the Diet of Worms, April 1521, he never spoke with Martin Luther, he accompanied Charles in the Spain. He participated at the Congress of Ferrara in 1526 as the Republic's representative. After the Sack of Rome, he assisted in reconciling the emperor with Clement VII, whose release he had obtained, with the Republic of Bologna. Upon his return to Venice, he was made a member of the Great Council.

In 1535, Paul III unexpectedly made the secular diplomat a cardinal in order to bind an able man of evangelical disposition to the Roman interests. Contarini accepted. At the time he was promoted to cardinal, May 21, 1535, he was still a layman; however in October 1536 he was appointed Bishop of Belluno One of the fruits of his diplomatic activity is his De magistratibus et republica Venetorum. As Cardinal, Contarini figured among the most prominent of the Spirituali, the leaders of the movement for reform within the Roman church. In April 1536 Paul III appointed a commission to devise ways for a reformation, with Contarini presiding. Paul III received favorably Contarini's Consilium de Emendanda Ecclesia, circulated among the cardinalate, but it remained a dead letter. Contarini in a letter to his friend Cardinal Reginald Pole says that his hopes had been wakened anew by the pope's attitude, he and his friends, who formed the Catholic evangelical movement of the Spirituali, thought that all would have been done when the abuses in church life had been put away.

What Contarini had to do with it is shown by his letters to the pope in which he complained of the schism in the church, of simony and flattery in the papal court, but above all of papal tyranny, its least grateful passages. Paul's successor Paul IV, once a member on the commission, in 1539 put it on the Index Librorum Prohibitorum. In 1541 Cardinal Contarini was papal legate at the Conference of Regensburg, the diet and religious debate marking the culmination of attempts to restore religious unity in Germany by means of conferences. There everything was unfavorable. Contarini's instructions though free were in fact full of papal reservations, but the papal party had gladly sent him, thinking that through him a union in doctrine could be brought about, while the interest of Rome could be attended to later. Though the princes stood aloof, the theologians and the emperor were for peace, so the main articles were put forth in a formula, Evangelical in thought and Catholic in expression; the papal legate had assented to the formula agreed upon.

All gave their approval Johann Eck, though he regretted it. Contarini's theological advisor was Tommaso Badia. Meanwhile, the papal policy had changed, Contarini was compelled to follow his leader, he advised the emperor, after the conference had broken up, not to renew it, but to submit everything to the pope. Ignatius Loyola acknowledged that Cardinal Contarini was responsible for the papal approbation of the Society of Jesus, on September 27, 1540. Meanwhile, Rome had drifted further into reaction, Contarini died while legate at Bologna, at a time when the Inquisition had driven many of his friends and fellows in conviction into exile. Contarini's book De magistratibus et republica venetorum is an important source for the study of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Venice's unique system of government, it was published in an English translation in 1599. This magisterial work, written during his time as an ambassador to Charles V, extols the various institutions of the Venetian state in a manner designed to emphasize harmony and serenity.

Historians have demonstrated. Written for a foreign, courtly audience, this work functions as the source for the everlasting propagation of the "myth of Venice" as a stable and prosperous society, his depiction of how members of the council were elected to the senate, for example, aimed to emphasise the way the electoral system prevented factionalism from occurring, instead making sure that “public benefits are extended among the citizens” rather than narrowly amongst “one family”. An elaborate lottery is described as giving the maximum amount of chance in appointing patricians to particular offices, care is taken to point out if two of one family are standing for similar posts. Fairness is further emphasised in Contarini's constant references to the equality the members of the council enjoyed, they “sit down where it pleases them, for there is no place appointed to any”, they “with oath promise to do their utmost di

Rodman is a hamlet and census-designated place in the town of Rodman, Jefferson County, New York, United States. As of the 2010 census, the CDP population was 153, out of 1,176 in the entire town of Rodman; the hamlet of Rodman is in southern Jefferson County in the western part of the town of Rodman. It is in the valley of Sandy Creek, a direct tributary of Lake Ontario, sits just southwest of the creek's confluence with Gulf Stream. New York State Route 177 runs along the southern edge of the community, leading west 3 miles to Adams Center and U. S. Route 11, east 24 miles across the north end of the Tug Hill Plateau to Lowville. Watertown, the Jefferson county seat, is 10 miles to the north via county roads and US-11. According to the United States Census Bureau, the Rodman CDP has a total area of 0.12 square miles, all of it recorded as land

The Soft Parade is the fourth studio album by American rock band the Doors, released on July 18, 1969, by Elektra Records. Most of the album was recorded following a grueling tour during which the band was left with little time to compose new material. Producer Paul A. Rothchild recommended a total departure from the Doors' first three albums: develop a fuller sound by incorporating brass and string arrangements provided by Paul Harris. Lead singer Jim Morrison, dealing with personal issues and focusing more on his poetry, was less involved in the songwriting process, leaving guitarist Robby Krieger to increase his own creative output; the album peaked at number six on the Billboard 200, but it failed to retain audiences in the UK and other European countries that their previous album, Waiting for the Sun, had succeeded in engaging. Three preceding singles, "Touch Me", "Wishful Sinful", "Tell All the People", were included on The Soft Parade, with the former becoming another Top 10 hit for the Doors.

Another single, "Runnin' Blue" followed the album's distribution. Upon release, The Soft Parade was denounced by both music critics and the band's underground music scene followers, who viewed the album as the Doors' trending into popular music. Over time, historians have reassessed the album and its critical standing has improved, but it is still considered the group's weakest effort with Morrison. By mid-1968, the Doors had established themselves as one of the most popular groups in the US; the band's third studio album, Waiting for the Sun, released in July of the same year, became the Doors' only number one hit on the Billboard 200, while spawning their second single to peak at number one with "Hello, I Love You". The album was the first commercial breakthrough for the band in the UK, reaching number 16 on the UK Albums Chart. After the release of Waiting for the Sun, the Doors commanded vast sums of money to perform before large crowds in arenas such as the L. A. Forum, the Hollywood Bowl, Madison Square Garden.

Additionally, local Los Angeles Top 40 radio stations KHJ Radio, which had refused to play the band's records, began sponsoring the Doors' live performances. Initial sessions for the album occurred on 26 July 1968 when the band recorded "Wild Child" and "Wishful Sinful". On September 2, 1968, the group played dates in Europe, along with Jefferson Airplane, before ending their long, grueling touring schedule with nine concerts back in the US. While the 1968 tours managed to capitalize on the chart success of Waiting for the Sun, it left little time for the Doors to compose new songs for The Soft Parade, having exhausted all the material from Morrison's songbooks. Morrison, a self-professed "acid-evangelist of rock", had been fascinated with the public media outlets and coined buzzwords and phrases to generate attention for the Doors; the band's rise to stardom and publications drawing Morrison as a sex symbol, drastically modified his outlook on pop culture. Throughout 1968, Morrison's behavior became erratic: he began drinking and distanced himself from studio work to focus on his more immediate passions and film making.

At the time, Morrison was struggling with anxiety, felt like he was on the brink of a nervous breakdown. He considered quitting the Doors, but was persuaded by keyboardist Ray Manzarek to finish recording The Soft Parade before making such a decision. In November 1968, the band entered the newly established studio Elektra Sound West on La Cienega Boulevard to continue work on The Soft Parade, a process, not complete until early 1969. Without any album-ready material to work with, record producer Paul A. Rothchild took control of the recording sessions and insisted on numerous retakes of songs, much to the group's indignation. "It was like pulling teeth to get Jim into it", sound engineer Bruce Botnick recalled. "It was bizarre... the hardest I worked as a producer." Rothchild, who by this time was addicted to cocaine and strict in his leadership, caused severe strife in the studio with his advisor Jac Holzman, who argued the drive for perfection was "grinding them into the ground". The album was by far the most expensive by the group, costing US$80,000 to create in contrast to the US$10,000 required for their debut.

The Doors wanted to capitalize on the experimental climate in popular music at the time that brought about groundbreaking works like the Beatles' The White Album and Jimi Hendrix's Electric Ladyland, while redefining what could be accomplished within the rock medium. Looking for a new, creative sound, Rothchild hired Paul Harris to arrange string and orchestral arrangements for the Los Angeles Philharmonic and local jazz horn players. Session musicians Doug Lubahn and Harvey Brooks served as additional bass guitarists; the music on The Soft Parade incorporated art rock, blues rock, jazz fusion, psychedelic rock styles. Drummer John Densmore and Manzarek, who both had jazz backgrounds, asserted they were receptive to Rothchild's jazz concept: "We'd always talk about using some jazz musicians – let's put some horns and strings on, let's see what it would be like to record with a string section and a big horn section", recalled Manzarek. Although Morrison was less involved in the Doors' studio sessions at this point, he demanded the band receive individual writing credits after refusing to sing Krieger's lyric, "Can't you see me growing, get your guns" on the track "Tell All the People".

As a result, The Soft Parade was the first Doors album to list band members separately rather than collectively as "Songs by the Doors". Krieger continued to hone his