Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia
Elizabeth Stuart was Electress of the Palatinate and Queen of Bohemia as the wife of Frederick V of the Palatinate. Due to her husband’s reign in Bohemia lasting for just one winter, Elizabeth is referred to as the "Winter Queen". Elizabeth was the second child and eldest daughter of James VI and I, King of Scotland and Ireland, his wife, Anne of Denmark. With the demise of the last Stuart monarch in 1714, Elizabeth's grandson succeeded to the British throne as George I, initiating the Hanoverian dynasty. Elizabeth was born at Fife, on 19 August 1596 at 2 o'clock in the morning. King James rode to the bedside from Callendar, where he was attending the wedding of the Earl of Orkney. At the time of her birth, her father was King of Scots only. Named in honour of Queen Elizabeth I of England, the young Elizabeth was christened on 28 November 1596 in the Chapel Royal at Holyroodhouse. During her early life in Scotland, Elizabeth was brought up at Linlithgow Palace, "one of the grandest of Scotland’s royal residences", where she was placed in the care of Lord Livingstone and his wife, Eleanor Hay.
A couple of years the king's second daughter, was placed in their care as well. Elizabeth "did not pay particular attention to this younger sister", as at this young age her affections were with her brother, Henry; when Elizabeth I, the Queen of England, died in 1603, Elizabeth Stuart's father, succeeded to the thrones of both England and Ireland. Along with her elder brother, Elizabeth made the journey south toward England with her mother "in a triumphal progress of perpetual entertainment". Elizabeth remained at court for a few weeks, but "there is no evidence that she was present at her parents' coronation" on 25 July 1603, it seems that by this time the royal children had been removed to Oatlands, an old Tudor hunting lodge near Weybridge. On 19 October 1603 "an order was issued under the privy seal announcing that the King had thought fit to commit the keeping and education of the Lady Elizabeth to the Lord Harrington and his wife". Under the care of Lord Harington at Coombe Abbey, Elizabeth met Anne Dudley, with whom she was to strike up a lifelong friendship.
Part of the intent of the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 was to assassinate Elizabeth's father and the Protestant aristocracy, kidnap the nine-year-old Elizabeth from Coombe Abbey, place her on the throne of England – and the thrones of Ireland and Scotland – as a Catholic monarch. The conspirators chose Elizabeth after considering the other available options. Prince Henry, would perish alongside his father. Charles was seen as Mary too young. Elizabeth, on the other hand, had attended formal functions, the conspirators knew that "she could fulfil a ceremonial role despite her comparative youth"; the conspirators aimed to cause an uprising in the Midlands to coincide with the explosion in London and at this point secure Elizabeth's accession as a puppet queen. She would be brought up as a Catholic and married to a Catholic bridegroom; the plot failed when the conspirators were betrayed and Guy Fawkes was caught by the King's soldiers before he was able to ignite the powder. Elizabeth was given a comprehensive education for a princess at that time.
This education included instruction in natural history, theology, writing, history and dancing. She was denied instruction in the classics as her father believed that "Latin had the unfortunate effect of making women more cunning". By the age of 12, Elizabeth was fluent in several languages, including French, "which she spoke with ease and grace" and would use to converse with her husband, she was an excellent rider, had a thorough understanding of the Protestant religion, had an aptitude for writing letters that "sounded sincere and never stilted". She was literary and "several mementoes of her early love of books exist"; as the daughter of a reigning monarch, the hand of the young Elizabeth was seen as a desirable prize. Suitors were many and varied, they included: Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, son of the King of Sweden Frederic Ulric, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel Prince Maurice of Nassau Henry Howard, 1st Earl of Northampton Theophilus Howard, Lord Howard of Walden second Earl of Suffolk Otto, Hereditary Prince of Hesse, son of Maurice, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel Victor Amadeus, Prince of Piedmont, the King of Spain’s nephew and heir to the Duke of SavoyEach suitor brought to the proposed marriage the prospect of power and greatness for the young Elizabeth.
Marriage would cost Elizabeth her father's kingdom. When James had succeeded to the English throne in 1603, England had acquired a new role in European affairs. Unlike the childless Elizabeth I, James, by "having children, could play an important role in dynastic politics"; the selection of Elizabeth's spouse, had little to do with her personal preference and a great deal to do with the benefits the match could bring. Most of her suitors were rejected for a variety of reasons; some were not of high enough birth, had no real prospects to offer, or in the case of Gustavus Adolphus, who on all other grounds seemed like a perfect match, because "his country was at war with Queen Anne’s native Denmark". Furthermore, England could not face another religious revolution, therefore the religious pre-requisite was paramount; the man chosen was Count Palatine of the Rhine. Frederick was of undeniably high lineage, his ancestors included the kings of Aragon and Sicily, the landgraves of Hesse, the dukes of Brabant and
Frederick V of the Palatinate
Frederick V was the Elector Palatine of the Rhine in the Holy Roman Empire from 1610 to 1623, reigned as King of Bohemia from 1619 to 1620. He was forced to abdicate both roles, the brevity of his reign in Bohemia earned him the derisive nickname of "the Winter King". Frederick was born at the Jagdschloss Deinschwang near Amberg in the Upper Palatinate, he was the son of Frederick IV and of Louise Juliana of Orange-Nassau, the daughter of William the Silent and Charlotte de Bourbon-Montpensier. An intellectual, a mystic, a Calvinist, he succeeded his father as Prince-Elector of the Rhenish Palatinate in 1610, he was responsible for the construction of the famous Hortus Palatinus gardens in Heidelberg. In 1618 the Protestant estates of Bohemia rebelled against their Catholic King Ferdinand, triggering the outbreak of the Thirty Years' War. Frederick was asked to assume the crown of Bohemia, he accepted the offer and was crowned on 4 November 1619, as Frederick I. The estates chose Frederick since he was the leader of the Protestant Union, a military alliance founded by his father, hoped for the support of Frederick's father-in-law, James VI of Scotland and I of England.
However, James opposed the takeover of Bohemia from the Habsburgs and Frederick's allies in the Protestant Union failed to support him militarily by signing the Treaty of Ulm. His brief reign as King of Bohemia ended with his defeat at the Battle of White Mountain on 8 November 1620 – a year and four days after his coronation. After the battle, the Imperial forces invaded Frederick's Palatine lands and he had to flee to his uncle Prince Maurice, Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic in 1622. An Imperial edict formally deprived him of the Palatinate in 1623, he lived the rest of his life in exile with his wife and family at The Hague, died in Mainz in 1632. His eldest surviving son Charles I Louis, Elector Palatine, returned to power in 1648 with the end of the war. Another son was Prince Rupert of one of the most colourful figures of his time, his daughter Princess Sophia was named heiress presumptive to the British throne, is the founder of the Hanoverian line of kings. Frederick was born on 26 August 1596 at the Jagdschloss Deinschwang near Amberg in the Upper Palatinate.
His father, Frederick IV, was the ruler of Electoral Palatinate. Frederick was related to all of the ruling families of the Holy Roman Empire and a number of diplomats and dignitaries attended his baptism at Amberg on 6 October 1596; the Palatine Simmerns, a cadet branch of the House of Wittelsbach, were noted for their attachment to Calvinism. The capital of the Palatinate, was suffering from an outbreak of Bubonic plague at this time, so Frederick spent his first two years in the Upper Palatinate before being brought to Heidelberg in 1598. In 1604, at his mother's urging, he was sent to Sedan to live in the court of his uncle Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, Duke of Bouillon. During his time at Sedan, Frederick was a frequent visitor to the court of Henry IV of France, his tutor was a professor of theology at the Academy of Sedan. During the Eighty Years' War and the French Wars of Religion, Tilenus called for the unity of Protestant princes, taught that it was their Christian duty to intervene if their brethren were being harassed.
These views are to have shaped Frederick's future policies. On 19 September 1610, Frederick's father, Frederick IV, died from "extravagant living". Under the terms of the Golden Bull of 1356, Frederick's closest male relative would serve as his guardian and as regent of the Palatinate until Frederick reached the age of majority. However, his nearest male relative, Wolfgang William, Count Palatine of Neuburg, was a Catholic, so, shortly before his death, Frederick IV had named another Wittelsbach, John II, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken, as his son's guardian. Frederick V welcomed John to Heidelberg; this led to a heated dispute among the princes of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1613, Holy Roman Emperor intervened in the dispute, with the result being that Frederick V was able to begin his personal rule in the Palatinate though he was still underage; the dispute ended in 1614. However, much bad blood among the houses was caused by this dispute. Frederick IV's marriage policy had been designed to solidify the Palatinate's position within the Reformed camp in Europe.
Two of Frederick V's sisters were married to leading Protestant princes: his sister Luise Juliane to his one-time guardian John II, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken, his sister Elizabeth Charlotte to George William, Elector of Brandenburg. Frederick IV had hoped that his daughter Katharina would marry the future Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, although this never came to pass. In keeping with his father's policy, Frederick V sought a marriage to Elizabeth Stuart, daughter of James VI of Scotland and I of England. James had considered marrying Elizabeth to Louis XIII of France, but these plans were rejected by his advisors. Frederick's advisors in the Palatinate were worried that if Elizabeth were married to a Catholic prince, this would upset the confessional balance of Europe, they were thus resolved th
Church of England
The Church of England is the established church of England. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the most senior cleric, although the monarch is the supreme governor; the Church of England is the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain by the third century, to the 6th-century Gregorian mission to Kent led by Augustine of Canterbury; the English church renounced papal authority when Henry VIII failed to secure an annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon in 1534. The English Reformation accelerated under Edward VI's regents, before a brief restoration of papal authority under Queen Mary I and King Philip; the Act of Supremacy 1558 renewed the breach, the Elizabethan Settlement charted a course enabling the English church to describe itself as both catholic and reformed: catholic in that it views itself as a part of the universal church of Jesus Christ in unbroken continuity with the early apostolic church.
This is expressed in its emphasis on the teachings of the early Church Fathers, as formalised in the Apostles', Athanasian creeds. Reformed in that it has been shaped by some of the doctrinal principles of the 16th-century Protestant Reformation, in particular in the Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion and the Book of Common Prayer. In the earlier phase of the English Reformation there were both Catholic martyrs and radical Protestant martyrs; the phases saw the Penal Laws punish Roman Catholic and nonconforming Protestants. In the 17th century, the Puritan and Presbyterian factions continued to challenge the leadership of the Church which under the Stuarts veered towards a more catholic interpretation of the Elizabethan Settlement under Archbishop Laud and the rise of the concept of Anglicanism as the via media. After the victory of the Parliamentarians the Prayer Book was abolished and the Presbyterian and Independent factions dominated; the Episcopacy was abolished. The Restoration restored the Church of England and the Prayer Book.
Papal recognition of George III in 1766 led to greater religious tolerance. Since the English Reformation, the Church of England has used a liturgy in English; the church contains several doctrinal strands, the main three known as Anglo-Catholic and Broad Church. Tensions between theological conservatives and progressives find expression in debates over the ordination of women and homosexuality; the church includes both liberal and conservative members. The governing structure of the church is based on dioceses, each presided over by a bishop. Within each diocese are local parishes; the General Synod of the Church of England is the legislative body for the church and comprises bishops, other clergy and laity. Its measures must be approved by both Houses of Parliament. According to tradition, Christianity arrived in Britain in the 1st or 2nd century, during which time southern Britain became part of the Roman Empire; the earliest historical evidence of Christianity among the native Britons is found in the writings of such early Christian Fathers as Tertullian and Origen in the first years of the 3rd century.
Three Romano-British bishops, including Restitutus, are known to have been present at the Council of Arles in 314. Others attended the Council of Serdica in 347 and that of Ariminum in 360, a number of references to the church in Roman Britain are found in the writings of 4th century Christian fathers. Britain was the home of Pelagius. While Christianity was long established as the religion of the Britons at the time of the Anglo-Saxon invasion, Christian Britons made little progress in converting the newcomers from their native paganism. In 597, Pope Gregory I sent the prior of the Abbey of St Andrew's from Rome to evangelise the Angles; this event is known as the Gregorian mission and is the date the Church of England marks as the beginning of its formal history. With the help of Christians residing in Kent, Augustine established his church at Canterbury, the capital of the Kingdom of Kent, became the first in the series of Archbishops of Canterbury in 598. A archbishop, the Greek Theodore of Tarsus contributed to the organisation of Christianity in England.
The Church of England has been in continuous existence since the days of St Augustine, with the Archbishop of Canterbury as its episcopal head. Despite the various disruptions of the Reformation and the English Civil War, the Church of England considers itself to be the same church, more formally organised by Augustine. While some Celtic Christian practices were changed at the Synod of Whitby, the Christian in the British Isles was under papal authority from earliest times. Queen Bertha of Kent was among the Christians in England who recognised papal authority before Augustine arrived, Celtic Christians were carrying out missionary work with papal approval long before the Synod of Whitby; the Synod of Whitby established the Roman date for Easter and the Roman style of monastic tonsure in England. This meeting of the ecclesiastics with Roman customs with local bishops was summoned in 664 at Saint Hilda's double monastery of Streonshalh called Whitby Abbey, it was presided over by King Oswiu, who made the final ruling.
The final ruling was decided in favor of Roman tradition because St. Peter holds the keys to the gate of Heaven. In 1534, King Henry VIII separated the English Church from Rome. A theological separation had been foreshadowed by various movements within the English Church, such as Lollardy, but the English Reformation gained political support when Henry VIII wanted an a
William Laud
William Laud was an English archbishop and academic. He was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1633, during the personal rule of Charles I. Arrested in 1640, he was executed in 1645. In matters of church polity, Laud was autocratic. Laudianism refers to a collection of rules on matters of ritual, in particular, that were enforced by Laud in order to maintain uniform worship in England and Wales, in line with the king's preferences, they were precursors to High Church views. In theology, Laud was accused of being an Arminian and opponent of Calvinism, as well as covertly favouring Roman Catholic doctrines. On all three grounds, he was regarded by Puritan clerics and laymen as a formidable and dangerous opponent. Laud favoured scholars, was a major collector of manuscripts, he pursued ecumenical contacts with the Greek Orthodox Church. The pun "give great praise to the Lord, little Laud to the devil" is a warning to King Charles attributed to Archibald Armstrong, the official court jester. Laud was known to be touchy about his diminutive stature.
Laud was born at Reading, Berkshire on 7 October 1573, the only son of William Laud, a clothier, Lucy, née Webbe, widow of John Robinson, another clothier of the town, sister of William Webbe, Lord Mayor of London. He was educated at Reading School, went in 1589 to St John's College, matriculating on 17 October. In 1593 he became a fellow of the college, he graduated B. A. in 1594, M. A. in 1598, D. D. in 1608. As an undergraduate Laud had for his tutor John Buckeridge, who became president of St John's College in 1605. Laud was ordained deacon on 4 January 1601, priest on 5 April in the same year. On 4 May 1603, he was one of the proctors for the year; when Buckeridge left St John's in 1611, Laud succeeded him as President, but only after a hard patronage struggle reaching high court circles. The rival candidate, John Rawlinson, was chaplain to Lord Ellesmere, both Chancellor of the university and Lord Chancellor of England. Laud was chaplain to Richard Neile, Clerk of the Closet. King James brushed aside irregularities in the election, settling matters in Laud's favour.
Laud became Dean of Gloucester in 1616. At Gloucester Cathedral he began ceremonial innovations with the communion table. By local custom, the table stood in the middle of the choir, as was usual in a parish church, rather than at the east end as was typical of cathedrals. Laud believed he had the king's blessing to renovate and improve the run-down building, but he offended his bishop, Miles Smith. Neile was Laud's consistent patron. Neile attempted, but could not obtain, Laud's appointment as Dean of Westminster, a post that John Williams retained, but at the end of 1621, despite the king's view of Laud as a troublemaker, Laud received the lowly see as the Bishop of St David's. Laud became a confidant of 1st Duke of Buckingham, at the end of the reign; the Buckingham household employed John Percy, a Jesuit, as chaplain, the king wished to counter well-founded rumours that Percy was making Catholic converts there. In a three-day series of private debates with Percy in 1622, Laud was introduced to argue the Protestant case on the final day.
He displaced John Preston as religious adviser to the Duke, a change that became clear around December 1624. Historians believe Laud had homosexual leanings, which he seems to have managed discreetly, his private diary does contain evidence of erotic dreams he had about other men. Laud ascended to a position of influence in the period 1626 to 1628, advancing not alone but with a group of like-minded clerics who obtained bishoprics. In September 1626 he took the court position of Dean of the Chapel Royal, vacant by the death of Lancelot Andrewes. A few days Buckingham told him outright that he was to succeed as Archbishop of Canterbury, when George Abbot died, he changed the Chapel services to privilege prayer over preaching, since King Charles's views were the opposite of his father's. In July 1628 Laud was translated from Bath and Wells to become Bishop of London, in moves that followed on from the death of Andrewes. After this breakthrough in church politics, it becomes meaningful to define "Laudians" or "Lauders" as his followers.
On the political stage, the personal rule of Charles I began in 1629 and Laud shortly became a key part of it, in alliance with Thomas Wentworth. Historian Mark Perry argues that by 1626 in private consultations with the king and Buckingham, in his public role in the House of Lords, Laud was a effective parliamentarian and a key adviser and policy-maker. Laud distrusted parliamentary bargaining, was always determined to resist all encroachments upon the royal prerogative in matters of taxation, his strong positions were the focus of attack during his trial in 1644. When Wentworth was posted to Ireland in 1632, Laud brought his personal correspondence from him to the king's attention, it is in 1633, that the term "Thorough" appears. In practical terms it meant the pursuit of ambitious policy objectives, on behalf of the king, disregarding special interests, legalistic prevarications. There were opponents at court: Richard Weston, 1st Earl of Portland, Francis Cottington, 1st Baron Cottington and Queen Henrietta Maria.
Cottington observed that Laud could not keep his temper in Council meetings, by 1637 Laud found he could not follow Wentworth in imagining their push for rigid policies would succeed. Laud was 60 years old when he became archbishop and, having waited for a decade to replace George Abbot, was no longer prepared to compromise on any aspect of his po
Bramshill House
Bramshill House, in Bramshill, northeast Hampshire, England, is one of the largest and most important Jacobean prodigy house mansions in England. It was built in the early 17th century by Baron Edward la Zouche of Harringworth, but was destroyed by fire a few years later; the design shows the influence of the Italian Renaissance, which became popular in England during the late 16th century. The house was designated a Grade I listed building in 1952; the mansion's southern façade is notable for its decorative architecture, which includes at its centre a large oriel window above the principal entrance. Interior features include a great hall displaying 92 coats of arms on a Jacobean screen, an ornate drawing room, a 126.5-foot long gallery containing many portraits. Numerous columns and friezes are found throughout the mansion, while several rooms have large tapestries depicting historical figures and events on their panelled walls; the house is set in 262-acre of grounds containing an 18-acre lake.
The grounds, which received a Grade II* listing in 1984, are part of a Registered Historic Park that includes about 25 acres of early 17th-century formal gardens near the house. The wider medieval park contains woodland. Bramshill appears to have been social venue since the 16th century; the cricket ground at the house played host to a first-class match in 1823 when an early Hampshire team played an England XI, it hosted three other matches in 1825–26. During the Second World War, the mansion was used as a Red Cross maternity home, before becoming the residence of the exiled King Michael and Queen Anne of Romania for a number of years, it became the location of the Police Staff College in 1960, was home to the European Police College. As a result, many campus buildings have been added to the estate. Owing to escalating maintenance costs the property was sold to the heritage property developers City & Country in August 2014. Among the 14 ghosts reputed to haunt the house is that of a bride who accidentally locked herself in a chest on her wedding night and was not found until 50 years later.
Bramshill House is at the approximate centre of a triangle formed by Reading and Farnborough, about 47 miles by road southwest of central London. It lies to the northeast of Hartley Wintney, east of Hazeley off the B3349 road, southeast of the village of Bramshill, which lies on the B3011 road. Three main lanes approach the property: Mansion Drive from the B3011 in the southwest, Reading Drive South from the B3011 to the east of Bramshill village from the north, the shorter Pheasantry Drive which approaches it from the southeast from Chalwin's Copse, just north of the course of the River Hart. There is a private lane within the grounds, Lower Pool Road, which connects Mansion Drive to Reading Drive South, passing the pond and several outer buildings; the latitudinal and longitudinal location is 51°19'57.9"N 0°54'43.2"W or 51.332759, -0.911991. The 1086 Domesday Book lists one of the two manors of Bromeselle as held by Hugh de Port, whose family possessed it for nine generations; the last of the de Port line, William de Port, died in 1346 without leaving a male heir.
In the early 14th century, Sir John Foxley, Baron of the Exchequer and endowed a chapel in the village of Bramshill. His first wife, Constance de Bramshill, may have been the heiress of the Bramshill family, their son, Thomas Foxley, became MP for Berkshire in 1325, was appointed constable of Windsor Castle in 1328, soon after the accession of the 14-year-old Edward III. In 1347 he obtained a licence to build a manor house or small castle at Bramshill, which included a 2,500-acre wooded park; the house, built between 1351 and 1360, had thick walls, vaulted cellars, an internal courtyard measuring 100 feet by 80 feet. Based on the similarity of the surviving vaults under Bramshill House and those under what became the servants' hall and steward's room at Windsor Castle, it may have been a copy of William of Wykeham's work there; the estate remained in the hands of the Foxley family and their heirs, the Essex family, until 1499, when it was sold to Giles Daubeney, 1st Baron Daubeney. Giles's son Henry Daubeney sold the property to Henry VIII, in 1547 Edward VI granted the estate to William Paulet, whose heirs sold it in 1600 to Sir Stephen Thornhurst of Agnes Court, Kent.
In March 1605, Edward la Zouche, 11th Baron Zouche, a favourite of James I, bought the property from Thornhurst. A house was earlier planned on the site for Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales, whose heraldic feathers are displayed above the central pediment. Lord Zouche began to build the Bramshill House of today. Henry Shaw describes the new house which Zouche built as a "specimen of Elizabethan architecture merits particular attention, exhibiting all the stateliness for which the period referred to was remarkable, with a suite of apartments both large and lofty; the amplitude of its dimensions indicate a princely residence."An inventory taken in 1634 after Zouche's death listed the library as having 250 books and a collection of mathematical instruments, revealed that the maids' chamber was of a high standard. James Zouch, grandson of Edward la Zouche, sold the property to the Earl of Antrim in 1637, at which time the house's furniture was valued at £2,762. During the reign of Charles I, the house was destroyed by a fire.
On 25 June 1640, Lord Antrim sold Bramshill for £9,500 to Sir Robert Henley. In 1673 it was the property of his son, Sir Andrew
Croydon
Croydon is a large town in south London, England, 9.5 miles south of Charing Cross. The principal settlement in the London Borough of Croydon, it is one of the largest commercial districts outside Central London, with an extensive shopping district and night-time economy. Part of the hundred of Wallington in the county of Surrey, at the time of the Norman conquest of England Croydon had a church, a mill, around 365 inhabitants, as recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086. Croydon expanded in the Middle Ages as a market town and a centre for charcoal production, leather tanning and brewing; the Surrey Iron Railway from Croydon to Wandsworth opened in 1803 and was the world's first public railway. Nineteenth century railway building facilitated Croydon's growth as a commuter town for London. By the early 20th century, Croydon was an important industrial area, known for car manufacture, metal working and Croydon Airport. In the mid 20th century these sectors were replaced by retailing and the service economy, brought about by massive redevelopment which saw the rise of office blocks and the Whitgift Centre, the largest shopping centre in Greater London until 2008.
Croydon was amalgamated into Greater London in 1965. Croydon lies on a transport corridor between central London and the south coast of England, to the north of two high gaps in the North Downs, one taken by the A23 Brighton Road through Purley and Merstham and the main railway line and the other by the A22 from Purley to the M25 Godstone interchange. Road traffic is diverted away from a pedestrianised town centre consisting of North End. East Croydon is a major hub of the national railway transport system, with frequent fast services to central London and the south coast; the town is unique in Greater London for its Tramlink light rail transport system. As the vast majority of place names in the area are of Anglo-Saxon origin, the theory accepted by most philologists is that the name Croydon derives from the Anglo-Saxon croh, meaning "crocus", denu, "valley", indicating that, like Saffron Walden in Essex, it was a centre for the cultivation of saffron, it has been argued that this cultivation is to have taken place in the Roman period, when the saffron crocus would have been grown to supply the London market, most for medicinal purposes, for the treatment of granulation of the eyelids.
There is a plausible Brittonic origin for Croydon in the form "Crai-din" meaning "settlement near fresh water", the name Crai being found in Kent at various places as late as the Domesday Book. Alternative, although less probable, theories of the name's origin have been proposed. According to John Corbet Anderson, "The earliest mention of Croydon is in the joint will of Beorhtric and Aelfswth, dated about the year 962. In this Anglo-Saxon document the name is spelt Crogdaene. Crog was, still is, the Norse or Danish word for crooked, expressed in Anglo-Saxon by crumb, a different word. From the Danish came our crook and crooked; this term describes the locality. Anderson challenged a claim made by Andrew Coltee Ducarel, that the name came from the Old French for "chalk hill", because it was in use at least a century before the French language would have been used following the Norman conquest. However, there was no long-term Danish occupation in Surrey, part of Wessex, Danish-derived nomenclature is highly unlikely.
More David Bird has speculated that the name might derive from a personal name, Crocus: he suggests a family connection with the documented Chrocus, king of the Alemanni, who played a part in the proclamation of Constantine as emperor at York in AD 306. The town lies on the line of the Roman road from London to Portslade, there is some archaeological evidence for small-scale Roman settlement in the area: there may have been a mansio here. In the 5th to 7th centuries, a large pagan Saxon cemetery was situated on what is now Park Lane, although the extent of any associated settlement is unknown. By the late Saxon period Croydon was the hub of an estate belonging to the Archbishops of Canterbury; the church and the archbishops' manor house occupied the area still known as "Old Town". The archbishops used the manor house as an occasional place of residence: as lords of the manor they dominated the life of the town well into the early modern period, as local patrons they continue to have an influence.
Croydon appears in Domesday Book as Croindene, held by Archbishop Lanfranc. Its Domesday assets were: 1 virgate, it rendered £37 10s 0d. The church had been established in the middle Saxon period, was a minster church, a base for a group of clergy living a communal life. A charter issued by King Coenwulf of Mercia refers to a council that had taken place close to the monasterium of Croydon. An Anglo-Saxon will made in about 960 is witnessed by priest of Croydon; the will of John de Croydon, dated 6 December 1347, includes a bequest to "the church of S John de Croydon", the earliest clear record of its dedication. The church still bears the arms of Archbishop Courtenay and Archbishop Chichele, believed to have been its benefactors. In 1276 Archbishop Robert Kilwardby acquired a charter for a weekly market, this marks the foundation of Croydon as an urban centre
Northern pike
The northern pike, known as a pike in Britain, most of Canada, most parts of the United States, is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus Esox. They are typical of fresh waters of the Northern Hemisphere. Pike can grow to a large size: the average length is about 40–55 cm, with maximum recorded lengths of up to 150 cm and published weights of 28.4 kg. The IGFA recognizes a 25 kg pike caught by Lothar Louis in Lake on Grefeern, Germany, on 16 October 1986, as the all-tackle world-record northern pike; the northern pike gets its common name from its resemblance to the pole-weapon known as the pike. Various other unofficial trivial names are common pike, great northern pike, Lakes pike, snot rocket, slough shark, slimer, slough snake, gator, jackfish, hammer handle, other such names as long head and pointy nose. Numerous other names can be found in Field Museum Zool. Leaflet Number 9, its earlier common name, the luci, is used in heraldry. Northern pike are most olive green, shading from yellow to white along the belly.
The flank is marked with a few to many dark spots on the fins. Sometimes, the fins are reddish. Younger pike have yellow stripes along a green body; the lower half of the gill cover lacks scales, it has large sensory pores on its head and on the underside of its lower jaw which are part of the lateral line system. Unlike the similar-looking and related muskellunge, the northern pike has light markings on a dark body background and fewer than six sensory pores on the underside of each side of the lower jaw. A hybrid between northern pike and muskellunge is known as a tiger muskellunge. In the hybrids, the males are invariably sterile, while females are fertile, may back-cross with the parent species. Another form of northern pike, the silver pike, is not a subspecies but rather a mutation that occurs in scattered populations. Silver pike, sometimes called silver muskellunge, lack the rows of spots and appear silver, white, or silvery-blue in color; when ill, silver pike have been known to display a somewhat purplish hue.
In Italy, the newly identified species Esox cisalpinus was long thought to be a color variation of the northern pike, but was in 2011 announced to be a species of its own. Northern pike in North America reach the size of their European counterparts, it was caught in Great Sacandaga Lake on 15 September 1940 by Peter Dubuc. Reports of far larger pike have been made, but these are either misidentifications of the pike's larger relative, the muskellunge, or have not been properly documented and belong in the realm of legend; as northern pike grow longer, they increase in weight, the relationship between length and weight is not linear. The relationship between total length and total weight for nearly all species of fish can be expressed by an equation of the form W = c L b. Invariably, b is close to 3.0 for all species, c is a constant that varies among species. For northern pike, b = 3.096 and c = 0.000180. The relationship described in this section suggests a 20-inch northern pike will weigh about 2 lb, while a 26-inch northern pike will weigh about 4 lb.
Pike are found in sluggish streams and shallow, weedy places in lakes and reservoirs, as well as in cold, rocky waters. They are typical ambush predators, they inhabit any water body that contains fish, but suitable places for spawning are essential. Because of their cannibalistic nature, young pike need places where they can take shelter between plants so they are not eaten. In both cases, rich submerged vegetation is needed. Pike are found in brackish water, except for the Baltic Sea area, here they can be found spending time both in the mouths of rivers and in the open brackish waters of the Baltic Sea, it is normal for pike to return to fresh water after a period in these brackish waters. They seem to prefer water with less turbidity, but, related to their dependence on the presence of vegetation and not to their being sight hunters; the northern pike is a aggressive species with regard to feeding. For example, when food sources are scarce, cannibalism develops, starting around five weeks in a small percentage of populations.
This cannibalism occurs. One can expect this because when food is scarce, Northern pike fight for survival, such as turning on smaller pike to feed. Pike tend to feed on smaller fish, such as the banded killifish. However, when pike exceed 700 mm long, they feed on larger fish; because of cannibalism when food is short, pike suffer a high young morta
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One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Abbot, George". Encyclopædia Britannica. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 22–23.
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