1.
Angers Fragment
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The Angers Fragment is four parchment pages from c. It is one of the four fragments remaining of the original Saxo Gesta Danorum and this fragment is the only fragment attested to be of Saxos own handwriting. It consists of four pages with 8 written sides, first identified in 1877, by Gaston Paris and in 1878 exchanged to the Danish Royal Library for the manuscript charter of the abbey of Saint-Martin-des-Champs in Paris. It has the Royal Library signature of Ny kgl, correspond to page 24-29 in Peter Erasmus Müller Latin version of Gesta Danorum from 1839 or page 11.19 –16.29 in Jørgen Olrik & H. Ræders Latin version of Gesta Danorum from 1931. Lassen Fragment Kall-Rasmussen Fragment Plesner Fragment Apoteker Sibbernsens Saxobog, C. A. Reitzels Forlag, Copenhagen,1927
2.
Denmark
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The term Danish Realm refers to the relationship between Denmark proper, the Faroe Islands and Greenland—three countries constituting the Kingdom of Denmark. The legal nature of the Kingdom of Denmark is fundamentally one of a sovereign state. The Faroe Islands and Greenland have been part of the Crown of Denmark since 1397 when the Kalmar Union was ratified, legal matters in The Danish Realm are subject to the Danish Constitution. Beginning in 1953, state law issues within The Danish Realm has been governed by The Unity of the Realm, a less formal name for The Unity of the Realm is the Commonwealth of the Realm. In 1978, The Unity of The Realm was for the first time referred to as rigsfællesskabet. The name caught on and since the 1990s, both The Unity of The Realm and The Danish Realm itself has increasingly been referred to as simply rigsfællesskabet in daily parlance. The Danish Constitution stipulates that the foreign and security interests for all parts of the Danish Realm are the responsibility of the Danish government, the Faroes received home rule in 1948 and Greenland did so in 1979. In 2005, the Faroes received a self-government arrangement, and in 2009 Greenland received self rule, the Danish Realms unique state of internal affairs is acted out in the principle of The Unity of the Realm. This principle is derived from Article 1 of the Danish Constitution which specifies that constitutional law applies equally to all areas of the Danish Realm, the Constitutional Act specifies that sovereignty is to continue to be exclusively with the authorities of the Realm. The language of Denmark is Danish, and the Danish state authorities are based in Denmark, the Kingdom of Denmarks parliament, with its 179 members, is located in the capital, Copenhagen. Two of the members are elected in each of Greenland and the Faroe Islands. The Government ministries are located in Copenhagen, as is the highest court, in principle, the Danish Realm constitutes a unified sovereign state, with equal status between its constituent parts. Devolution differs from federalism in that the powers of the subnational authority ultimately reside in central government. The Self-Government Arrangements devolves political competence and responsibility from the Danish political authorities to the Faroese, the Faroese and Greenlandic authorities administer the tasks taken over from the state, enact legislation in these specific fields and have the economic responsibility for solving these tasks. The Danish government provides a grant to the Faroese and the Greenlandic authorities to cover the costs of these devolved areas. The 1948 Home Rule Act of the Faroe Islands sets out the terms of Faroese home rule, the Act states. the Faroe Islands shall constitute a self-governing community within the State of Denmark. It establishes the government of the Faroe Islands and the Faroese parliament. The Faroe Islands were previously administered as a Danish county, the Home Rule Act abolished the post of Amtmand and these powers were expanded in a 2005 Act, which named the Faroese home government as an equal partner with the Danish government
3.
Saxo Grammaticus
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Saxo Grammaticus, also known as Saxo cognomine Longus, was a Danish historian, theologian and author. He is thought to have been a clerk or secretary to Absalon, Archbishop of Lund and he is the author of the first full history of Denmark. The Jutland Chronicle gives evidence that Saxo was born in Zealand and it is unlikely he was born before 1150 and it is supposed that his death could have occurred around 1220. His name Saxo was a name in medieval Denmark. The name Grammaticus was first given to him in the Jutland Chronicle and he lived in a period of warfare and Danish expansion, led by Archbishop Absalon and the Valdemars. The Danes were also being threatened by the Wends who were making raids across the border, Valdemar I had also just won a civil war and later Valdemar II led an expedition across the Elbe to invade Holstein. Sven Aggesen, a Danish nobleman and author of an earlier history of Denmark than Saxos, describes his contemporary, Saxo. This gives evidence that Saxo and Sven might have soldiered in the Hird or royal guard since Sven used the word contubernium in reference to them, there is also a Saxo to be found on a list of clergy at Lund, where there was a Sven recorded as Archdeacon. Likewise there is Dean Saxo who died in 1190, however the date does not match what is known about Saxo. Both arguments, for a secular or religious Saxo, would confirm that he was educated, as clergy he would have received training in Latin. Saxo comes from a family and writes that he is himself committed to being a soldier. He tells us that he follows the ancient right of hereditary service, Saxos education and ability supports the idea that he was educated outside Denmark. Some suggest the title Grammaticus refers not to his education but rather his elaborate Latin style and we know from his writing that he was in the retinue and received the patronage of Absalon, Archbishop of Lund, who was the foremost advisor to King Valdemar I. In his will Absalon forgives his clerk Saxo a small debt of two and a half marks of silver and tells him to return two borrowed books to the monastery of Sorø, the legacy of Saxo Grammaticus is the sixteen book heroic history of the Danes called Gesta Danorum. In the preface to the work, Saxo writes that his patron Absalon, the history is thought to have been started about 1185, after Sven Aggesen wrote his history. The goal of Gesta Danorum was as Saxo writes to glorify our fatherland, Saxo also may have owed much to Plato, Cicero and also to more contemporary writers like Geoffrey of Monmouth. Saxos history of the Danes was compiled from sources that are of historical value. He drew on oral tales of the Icelanders, ancient volumes, letters carved on rocks and stone, the history is composed of sixteen books and extends from the time of the founders of the Danish people, Dan I of Denmark and Angul into about the year 1187
4.
Middle Ages
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In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or Medieval Period lasted from the 5th to the 15th century. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and merged into the Renaissance, the Middle Ages is the middle period of the three traditional divisions of Western history, classical antiquity, the medieval period, and the modern period. The medieval period is subdivided into the Early, High. Population decline, counterurbanisation, invasion, and movement of peoples, the large-scale movements of the Migration Period, including various Germanic peoples, formed new kingdoms in what remained of the Western Roman Empire. In the seventh century, North Africa and the Middle East—once part of the Byzantine Empire—came under the rule of the Umayyad Caliphate, although there were substantial changes in society and political structures, the break with classical antiquity was not complete. The still-sizeable Byzantine Empire survived in the east and remained a major power, the empires law code, the Corpus Juris Civilis or Code of Justinian, was rediscovered in Northern Italy in 1070 and became widely admired later in the Middle Ages. In the West, most kingdoms incorporated the few extant Roman institutions, monasteries were founded as campaigns to Christianise pagan Europe continued. The Franks, under the Carolingian dynasty, briefly established the Carolingian Empire during the later 8th, the Crusades, first preached in 1095, were military attempts by Western European Christians to regain control of the Holy Land from Muslims. Kings became the heads of centralised nation states, reducing crime and violence, intellectual life was marked by scholasticism, a philosophy that emphasised joining faith to reason, and by the founding of universities. Controversy, heresy, and the Western Schism within the Catholic Church paralleled the conflict, civil strife. Cultural and technological developments transformed European society, concluding the Late Middle Ages, the Middle Ages is one of the three major periods in the most enduring scheme for analysing European history, classical civilisation, or Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the Modern Period. Medieval writers divided history into periods such as the Six Ages or the Four Empires, when referring to their own times, they spoke of them as being modern. In the 1330s, the humanist and poet Petrarch referred to pre-Christian times as antiqua, leonardo Bruni was the first historian to use tripartite periodisation in his History of the Florentine People. Bruni and later argued that Italy had recovered since Petrarchs time. The Middle Ages first appears in Latin in 1469 as media tempestas or middle season, in early usage, there were many variants, including medium aevum, or middle age, first recorded in 1604, and media saecula, or middle ages, first recorded in 1625. The alternative term medieval derives from medium aevum, tripartite periodisation became standard after the German 17th-century historian Christoph Cellarius divided history into three periods, Ancient, Medieval, and Modern. The most commonly given starting point for the Middle Ages is 476, for Europe as a whole,1500 is often considered to be the end of the Middle Ages, but there is no universally agreed upon end date. English historians often use the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485 to mark the end of the period
5.
History of Estonia
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The history of Estonia forms a part of the history of Europe. Humans settled in the region of Estonia near the end of the last glacial era, before German crusaders invaded in the early 13th century, proto-Estonians of ancient Estonia worshipped spirits of nature. From 1418 to 1562 the whole of Estonia formed part of the Livonian Confederation, after the Livonian War of 1558-1583, Estonia became part of the Swedish Empire until 1710/1721, when Sweden ceded it to Russia as a result of the Great Northern War of 1700-1721. Throughout this period the Baltic-German nobility enjoyed autonomy, and German served as the language of administration and education, the Estophile Enlightenment Period led to the Estonian national awakening in the middle of the 19th century. In the aftermath of World War I and the Russian revolutions of 1917, the Estonian War of Independence ensued on two fronts, the newly proclaimed state fought against Bolshevist Russia to the east and against the Baltic German forces to the south. The Tartu Peace Treaty marked the end of fighting and recognised Estonian independence in perpetuity, in 1940, in the wake of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of 1939, the Soviet Union occupied Estonia and illegally annexed the country. In the course of Operation Barbarossa, Nazi Germany occupied Estonia in 1941, Estonia regained independence in 1991 in the course of the collapse of the USSR and joined the European Union and NATO in 2004. The region has been populated since the end of the Late Pleistocene Ice Age, the earliest traces of human settlement in Estonia are connected with the Kunda culture. The early mesolithic Pulli settlement is located by the Pärnu River and it has been dated to the beginning of the 9th millennium BC. The Kunda culture received its name from the Lammasmäe settlement site in northern Estonia, bone and stone artifacts similar to those found at Kunda have been discovered elsewhere in Estonia, as well as in Latvia, northern Lithuania and southern Finland. Among minerals, flint and quartz were used the most for making cutting tools, the beginning of the Neolithic Period is marked by the ceramics of the Narva culture, and appear in Estonia at the beginning of the 5th millennium. The oldest finds date from around 4900 BC, the first pottery was made of thick clay mixed with pebbles, shells or plants. The Narva-type ceramics are found throughout almost the entire Estonian coastal region and on the islands, the stone and bone tools of the era have a notable similarity with the artifacts of the Kunda culture. Around the beginning of 4th millennium BC Comb Ceramic culture arrived in Estonia, until the early 1980s the arrival of Finnic peoples, the ancestors of the Estonians, Finns, and Livonians, on the shores of the Baltic Sea was associated with the Comb Ceramic Culture. Some researchers have argued that a Uralic form of language may have been spoken in Estonia. The burial customs of the comb pottery people included additions of figures of animals, birds, snakes and men carved from bone, antiquities from comb pottery culture are found from Northern Finland to Eastern Prussia. The beginning of the Late Neolithic Period about 2200 BC is characterized by the appearance of the Corded Ware culture, pottery with corded decoration, evidence of agriculture is provided by charred grains of wheat on the wall of a corded-ware vessel found in Iru settlement. Osteological analysis show an attempt was made to domesticate the wild boar, specific burial customs were characterized by the dead being laid on their sides with their knees pressed against their breast, one hand under the head
6.
History of Latvia
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The History of Latvia began around 9000 BC with the end of the last glacial period in northern Europe. Ancient Baltic peoples arrived here during the second millennium BC, in the early medieval period, the regions peoples resisted Christianisation and became subject to attack in the Northern Crusades. Latvias capital city Riga, founded in 1201 by Germans at the mouth of the Daugava and it was to be the first major city of the southern Baltic and, after 1282, a principal trading centre in the Hanseatic League. By the 16th century, Baltic German dominance in Terra Mariana was increasingly challenged by other powers, the last period of external hegemony began in 1710, when control over Riga and parts of modern-day Latvia switched from Sweden to Russia during the Great Northern War. The increasing social problems and rising discontent that this meant that Riga also played a leading role in the 1905 Russian Revolution. The Constitution of Latvia was adopted in 1922, political instability and effects of the Great Depression led to the May 15,1934 coup détat by Prime Minister Kārlis Ulmanis. Latvias independence was interrupted in June–July 1940, when the country was occupied and incorporated into the Soviet Union, in 1941 it was invaded and occupied by Nazi Germany, then reconquered by the Soviets in 1944–45. From the mid-1940s Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic was subject to Soviet economic control, since then, under restored independence, Latvia has become a member of the United Nations, entered NATO and joined the European Union. Latvias economy suffered greatly during the Great Recession which caused the 2008 Latvian financial crisis, worsening economic conditions and better job opportunities in Western Europe have caused a massive Latvian emigration. The Ice Age in Latvia ended 14, 000–12,000 years ago, the first human settlers arrived here during the Paleolithic Age 11, 000–12,000 years ago. They were hunters, who following the reindeer herds camped along the rivers, as geology of the Baltic Sea indicates, the coastline then reached further inland. The earliest tools found near Salaspils date to the late Paleolithic age, circa 12,000 years ago, during the Mesolithic Age permanent settlements of hunter-gatherers were established. They hunted and fished, establishing camps near rivers and lakes,25 settlements have been found near Lake Lubāns and these people from the Kunda culture made weapons and tools from flint, antler, bone and wood. The early Neolithic was marked by beginnings of pottery-making, animal husbandry, a local Narva culture developed in the region during the Middle Neolithic. Inhabitants of this age were Finno-Ugric peoples, forefathers of Livonians who are related to Estonians and Finns. At the beginning of the Late Neolithic, arrived people belonging to the Corded Ware culture and they were Balts, forefathers of Latvians, who have inhabited most of Latvian territory since the third millennium BCE. Baltic languages are ones of the oldest in Europe, retaining many connections to the Proto-Indo-European language, with introduction of iron tools during the early Iron Age agriculture was greatly improved and emerged as the dominant economic activity. Bronze, which was traded from foreigners because Latvia has no copper or tin, was used for making a variety of decorative ornaments
7.
Latin
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Latin is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. The Latin alphabet is derived from the Etruscan and Greek alphabets, Latin was originally spoken in Latium, in the Italian Peninsula. Through the power of the Roman Republic, it became the dominant language, Vulgar Latin developed into the Romance languages, such as Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, French, and Romanian. Latin, Italian and French have contributed many words to the English language, Latin and Ancient Greek roots are used in theology, biology, and medicine. By the late Roman Republic, Old Latin had been standardised into Classical Latin, Vulgar Latin was the colloquial form spoken during the same time and attested in inscriptions and the works of comic playwrights like Plautus and Terence. Late Latin is the language from the 3rd century. Later, Early Modern Latin and Modern Latin evolved, Latin was used as the language of international communication, scholarship, and science until well into the 18th century, when it began to be supplanted by vernaculars. Ecclesiastical Latin remains the language of the Holy See and the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church. Today, many students, scholars and members of the Catholic clergy speak Latin fluently and it is taught in primary, secondary and postsecondary educational institutions around the world. The language has been passed down through various forms, some inscriptions have been published in an internationally agreed, monumental, multivolume series, the Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum. Authors and publishers vary, but the format is about the same, volumes detailing inscriptions with a critical apparatus stating the provenance, the reading and interpretation of these inscriptions is the subject matter of the field of epigraphy. The works of several hundred ancient authors who wrote in Latin have survived in whole or in part and they are in part the subject matter of the field of classics. The Cat in the Hat, and a book of fairy tales, additional resources include phrasebooks and resources for rendering everyday phrases and concepts into Latin, such as Meissners Latin Phrasebook. The Latin influence in English has been significant at all stages of its insular development. From the 16th to the 18th centuries, English writers cobbled together huge numbers of new words from Latin and Greek words, dubbed inkhorn terms, as if they had spilled from a pot of ink. Many of these words were used once by the author and then forgotten, many of the most common polysyllabic English words are of Latin origin through the medium of Old French. Romance words make respectively 59%, 20% and 14% of English, German and those figures can rise dramatically when only non-compound and non-derived words are included. Accordingly, Romance words make roughly 35% of the vocabulary of Dutch, Roman engineering had the same effect on scientific terminology as a whole
8.
Archbishop
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In Christianity, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In some cases, like the Lutheran Church of Sweden, it is the denomination leader title, an archbishop may be granted the title, or ordained as chief pastor of a metropolitan see or another episcopal see to which the title of archbishop is attached. Episcopal sees are generally arranged in groups in which the bishop who is the ordinary of one of them has certain powers and he is known as the metropolitan archbishop of that see. As well as the more numerous metropolitan sees, there are 77 Roman Catholic sees that have archiepiscopal rank. In some cases, such a see is the one in a country, such as Luxembourg or Monaco. In others, the title of archdiocese is for reasons attributed to a see that was once of greater importance. Some of these archdioceses are suffragans of a metropolitan archdiocese, an example is the Archdiocese of Avignon, which is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Marseille, Another such example is the Archdiocese of Trnava, Slovakia. Others are immediately subject to the Holy See and not to any metropolitan archdiocese and these are usually aggregated to an ecclesiastical province. An example is the Archdiocese of Hobart in Australia, associated with the Metropolitan ecclesiastical province of Melbourne, the ordinary of such an archdiocese is an archbishop, however, especially in the Anglican Communion, not all archbishops dioceses are called archdioceses. Since then, the title of Coadjutor Archbishop of the see is considered sufficient, the rank of archbishop is conferred on some bishops who are not ordinaries of an archdiocese. They hold the rank not because of the see that they head, the bishop transferred is then known as the Archbishop-Bishop of his new see. An example is Gianfranco Gardin, appointed Archbishop-Bishop of Treviso on 21 December 2009, the title borne by the successor of such an archbishop-bishop is merely that of Bishop of the see, unless he also is granted the personal title of Archbishop. The distinction between metropolitan sees and non-metropolitan archiepiscopal sees exists for titular sees as well as for residential ones, the Annuario Pontificio marks titular sees of the former class with the abbreviation Metr. and the others with Arciv. Many of the sees to which nuncios and heads of departments of the Roman Curia who are not cardinals are assigned are not of archiepiscopal rank. In that case the person who is appointed to such a position is given the title of archbishop. They are usually referred to as Archbishop of the see, not as its Archbishop-Bishop, until 1970, such archbishops were transferred to a titular see. There can be several Archbishops Emeriti of the see, the 2008 Annuario Pontificio listed three living Archbishops Emeriti of Taipei. There is no Archbishop Emeritus of a see, an archbishop who holds a titular see keeps it until death or until transferred to another see
9.
Absalon
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Absalon or Axel was a Danish archbishop and statesman, who was the Bishop of Roskilde from 1158 to 1192 and Archbishop of Lund from 1178 until his death. He was the foremost politician and churchfather of Denmark in the half of the 12th century. He combined the ideals of Gregorian Reform ideals with loyal support of a strong monarchical power, Absalon was born into the powerful Hvide clan, and owned great land possessions. He endowed several church institutions, most prominently his familys Sorø Abbey and he was granted lands by the crown, and built the first fortification of the city that evolved into modern-day Copenhagen. His titles were passed on to his nephews Anders Sunesen and Peder Sunesen and he died in 1201, and was interred at Sorø Abbey. Absalon was born around 1128 near Sorø, Zealand, due to a name which is unusual in Denmark, it is speculated that he was christened on the Danish Absalon name day, October 30. He was the son of Asser Rig, a magnate of the Hvide clan from Fjenneslev on Zealand and he was also a kinsman of Archbishop Eskil of Lund. He grew up at the castle of his father, and was brought up alongside his older brother Esbern Snare and the young prince Valdemar, who later became King Valdemar I of Denmark. During the civil war following the death of Eric III of Denmark in 1146, Absalon travelled abroad to study theology in Paris, at Paris, he was influenced by the Gregorian Reform ideals of churchly independence from Monarchical rule. He also befriended the canon William of Æbelholt at the Abbey of St Genevieve and he was a guest at following Roskilde banquet given in 1157 by Sweyn to his rivals Canute V and Valdemar. Both Absalon and Valdemar narrowly escaped assassination at the hands of Sweyn on this occasion, Absalon probably did not take part in the following battle of Grathe Heath in 1157, in which Sweyn was defeated and slain and led to Valdemar ascending the Danish throne. On Good Friday 1158, bishop Asser of Roskilde died, and Absalon was eventually elected bishop of Roskilde on Zealand with the help of Valdemar, Absalon was a close counsellor of Valdemar, and chief promoter of the Danish crusades against the Wends. During the Danish civil war, Denmark had been open to coastal raids by the Wends and it was Absalons intention to clear the Baltic Sea of the Wendish pirates who inhabited its southern littoral zone which was later called Pomerania. The pirates had raided the Danish coasts during the war of Sweyn III, Canute V. Absalon formed a fleet, built coastal defenses, and led several campaigns against the Wends. He even advocated forgiving the earlier enemies of Valdemar, which helped stabilize Denmark internally, the first expedition against the Wends that was conducted by Absalon in person, set out in 1160. These expeditions were successful, but brought no lasting victories, what started out as mere retribution, eventually evolved into full-fledged campaigns of expansion with religious motives. In 1164 began twenty years of crusades against the Wends, sometimes with the help of German duke Henry the Lion, in 1168 the chief Wendish fortress at Arkona in Rügen, containing the sanctuary of their god Svantevit, was conquered
10.
Scandinavia
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Scandinavia /ˌskændᵻˈneɪviə/ is a historical and cultural region in Northern Europe characterized by a common ethnocultural North Germanic heritage and mutually intelligible North Germanic languages. The term Scandinavia always includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, the remote Norwegian islands of Svalbard and Jan Mayen are usually not seen as a part of Scandinavia, nor is Greenland, an overseas territory of Denmark. This looser definition almost equates to that of the Nordic countries, in Nordic languages, only Denmark, Norway and Sweden are commonly included in the definition of Scandinavia. In English usage, Scandinavia sometimes refers to the geographical area, the name Scandinavia originally referred vaguely to the formerly Danish, now Swedish, region Scania. Icelanders and the Faroese are to a significant extent descended from the Norse, Finland is mainly populated by Finns, with a minority of approximately 5% of Swedish speakers. A small minority of Sami people live in the north of Scandinavia. The Danish, Norwegian and Swedish languages form a continuum and are known as the Scandinavian languages—all of which are considered mutually intelligible with one another. Faroese and Icelandic, sometimes referred to as insular Scandinavian languages, are intelligible in continental Scandinavian languages only to a limited extent, Finnish and Meänkieli are closely related to each other and more distantly to the Sami languages, but are entirely unrelated to the Scandinavian languages. Apart from these, German, Yiddish and Romani are recognized minority languages in Scandinavia, the southern and by far most populous regions of Scandinavia have a temperate climate. Scandinavia extends north of the Arctic Circle, but has mild weather for its latitude due to the Gulf Stream. Much of the Scandinavian mountains have a tundra climate. There are many lakes and moraines, legacies of the last glacial period, Scandinavia usually refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. Some sources argue for the inclusion of the Faroe Islands, Finland and Iceland, though that broader region is known by the countries concerned as Norden. Before this time, the term Scandinavia was familiar mainly to classical scholars through Pliny the Elders writings, and was used vaguely for Scania, as a political term, Scandinavia was first used by students agitating for Pan-Scandinavianism in the 1830s. After a visit to Sweden, Andersen became a supporter of early political Scandinavism, the term is often defined according to the conventions of the cultures that lay claim to the term in their own use. More precisely, and subject to no dispute, is that Finland is included in the broader term Nordic countries, various promotional agencies of the Nordic countries in the United States serve to promote market and tourism interests in the region. The official tourist boards of Scandinavia sometimes cooperate under one umbrella, Norways government entered one year later. All five Nordic governments participate in the joint promotional efforts in the United States through the Scandinavian Tourist Board of North America, Scandinavia can thus be considered a subset of the Nordic countries
11.
High Middle Ages
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The High Middle Ages or High Medieval Period was the period of European history around the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries. The High Middle Ages were preceded by the Early Middle Ages and followed by the Late Middle Ages, by 1250 the robust population increase greatly benefited the European economy, reaching levels that would not be seen again in some areas until the 19th century. This trend was checked in the Late Middle Ages by a series of calamities, notably the Black Death but also including numerous wars, from about the year 780 onwards, Europe saw the last of the barbarian invasions and became more socially and politically organized. The Carolingian Renaissance led to scientific and philosophical revival of Europe, the first universities were established in Bologna, Paris, Oxford and Modena. The Vikings had settled in the British Isles, France and elsewhere, the Magyars had ceased their expansion in the 10th century, and by the year 1000, a Christian Kingdom of Hungary was recognized in Central Europe, forming alliances with regional powers. With the brief exception of the Mongol invasions in the 13th century, in the 11th century, populations north of the Alps began to settle new lands, some of which had reverted to wilderness after the end of the Roman Empire. In what is known as the clearances, vast forests. At the same time settlements moved beyond the boundaries of the Frankish Empire to new frontiers in Europe, beyond the Elbe River. The High Middle Ages produced many different forms of intellectual, spiritual, the rediscovery of the works of Aristotle led Thomas Aquinas and other thinkers of the period to develop Scholasticism, a combination of Catholicism and ancient philosophy. For much of the time period Constantinople remained Europes most populous city, in architecture, many of the most notable Gothic cathedrals were built or completed during this era. The Crisis of the Late Middle Ages, beginning at the start of the 14th century, in England, the Norman Conquest of 1066 resulted in a kingdom ruled by a Francophone nobility. The Normans invaded Ireland by force in 1169 and soon established throughout most of the country. Likewise, Scotland and Wales were subdued to vassalage at about the same time, the Exchequer was founded in the 12th century under King Henry I, and the first parliaments were convened. In 1215, after the loss of Normandy, King John signed the Magna Carta into law, from the mid-tenth to the mid-11th centuries, the Scandinavian kingdoms were unified and Christianized, resulting in an end of Viking raids, and greater involvement in European politics. King Cnut of Denmark ruled over both England and Norway, after Cnuts death in 1035, England and Norway were lost, and with the defeat of Valdemar II in 1227, Danish predominance in the region came to an end. Meanwhile, Norway extended its Atlantic possessions, ranging from Greenland to the Isle of Man, while Sweden, under Birger Jarl, however, the Norwegian influence started to decline already in the same period, marked by the Treaty of Perth of 1266. Also, civil wars raged in Norway between 1130 and 1240, by the time of the High Middle Ages, the Carolingian Empire had been divided and replaced by separate successor kingdoms called France and Germany, although not with their modern boundaries. Germany was under the banner of the Holy Roman Empire, which reached its mark of unity
12.
Western Europe
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Western Europe, or West Europe, is the region comprising the western part of Europe. Below, some different geographic and geopolitical definitions of the term are outlined, prior to the Roman conquest, a large part of Western Europe had adopted the newly developed La Tène culture. This cultural and linguistic division was reinforced by the later political east-west division of the Roman Empire. The division between these two was enhanced during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages by a number of events, the Western Roman Empire collapsed, starting the Early Middle Ages. By contrast, the Eastern Roman Empire, mostly known as the Greek or Byzantine Empire, survived, in East Asia, Western Europe was historically known as taixi in China and taisei in Japan, which literally translates as the Far West. The term Far West became synonymous with Western Europe in China during the Ming dynasty, the Italian Jesuit priest Matteo Ricci was one of the first writers in China to use the Far West as an Asian counterpart to the European concept of the Far East. In his writings, Ricci referred to himself as Matteo of the Far West, the term was still in use in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Post-war Europe would be divided into two spheres, the West, influenced by the United States, and the Eastern Bloc. With the onset of the Cold War, Europe was divided by the Iron Curtain, behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe. Although some countries were neutral, they were classified according to the nature of their political. This division largely defined the popular perception and understanding of Western Europe, the world changed dramatically with the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989. The Federal Republic of Germany peacefully absorbed the German Democratic Republic, COMECON and the Warsaw Pact were dissolved, and in 1991, the Soviet Union ceased to exist. Several countries which had part of the Soviet Union regained full independence. Although the term Western Europe was more prominent during the Cold War, it remains much in use, in 1948 the Treaty of Brussels was signed between Belgium, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. It was further revisited in 1954 at the Paris Conference, when the Western European Union was established and it was declared defunct in 2011, after the Treaty of Lisbon, and the Treaty of Brussels was terminated. When the Western European Union was dissolved, it had 10 member countries, six member countries, five observer countries. The CIA divides Western Europe into two smaller subregions, regional voting blocs were formed in 1961 to encourage voting to various UN bodies from different regional groups. The European Union is an economic and political union of 28 member states that are located primarily in Europe, some Western and Northern European countries of Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein are members of EFTA, though cooperating to varying degree with the European Union
13.
Southern Europe
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Southern Europe is the southern region of the European continent. Most definitions of Southern Europe, also known as Mediterranean Europe, include the countries of the Iberian peninsula, different methods can be used to define Southern Europe, including its political, economic, and cultural attributes. Southern Europe can also be defined by its natural features — its geography, climate, geographically, Southern Europe is the southern half of the landmass of Europe. This definition is relative, with no clear limits and those areas of Mediterranean climate present similar vegetations and landscapes throughout, including dry hills, small plains, pine forests and olive trees. Cooler climates can be found in parts of Southern European countries, for example within the mountain ranges of Spain. Additionally, the north coast of Spain experiences a wetter Atlantic climate, Southern Europes flora is that of the Mediterranean Region, one of the phytochoria recognized by Armen Takhtajan. The period known as classical antiquity began with the rise of the city-states of Ancient Greece, Greek influence reached its zenith under the expansive empire of Alexander the Great, spreading throughout Asia. The Roman Empire came to dominate the entire Mediterranean basin in a vast empire based on Roman law and it promoted trade, tolerance, and Greek culture. By 300 AD the Roman Empire was divided into the Western Roman Empire based in Rome, during the Middle Ages, the Eastern Roman Empire survived, though modern historians refer to this state as the Byzantine Empire. In Western Europe, Germanic peoples moved into positions of power in the remnants of the former Western Roman Empire and established kingdoms, the period known as the Crusades, a series of religiously motivated military expeditions originally intended to bring the Levant back into Christian rule, began. Several Crusader states were founded in the eastern Mediterranean, the Crusaders would have a profound impact on many parts of Europe. Their Sack of Constantinople in 1204 brought an end to the Byzantine Empire. Though it would later be re-established, it would never recover its former glory, the Crusaders would establish trade routes that would develop into the Silk Road and open the way for the merchant republics of Genoa and Venice to become major economic powers. The Reconquista, a movement, worked to reconquer Iberia for Christendom. The Late Middle Ages represented a period of upheaval in Europe, the epidemic known as the Black Death and an associated famine caused demographic catastrophe in Europe as the population plummeted. Dynastic struggles and wars of conquest kept many of the states of Europe at war for much of the period, in the Balkans, the Ottoman Empire, a Turkish state originating in Anatolia, encroached steadily on former Byzantine lands, culminating in the Fall of Constantinople in 1453. An unprecedented series of wars and political revolutions took place around Europe. Observers at the time, and many historians since, have argued that wars caused the revolutions, galileo Galilei, invented the telescope and the thermometer which allowed him to observe and describe the solar system
14.
Norse mythology
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The cosmos in Norse mythology consists of Nine Worlds that flank a central cosmological tree, Yggdrasil. Units of time and elements of the cosmology are personified as deities or beings, various forms of a creation myth are recounted, where the world is created from the flesh of the primordial being Ymir, and the first two humans are Ask and Embla. These worlds are foretold to be reborn after the events of Ragnarök, there the surviving gods will meet, and the land will be fertile and green, and two humans will repopulate the world. Norse mythology has been the subject of scholarly discourse since the 17th century, by way of comparative mythology and historical linguistics, scholars have identified elements of Germanic mythology reaching as far back as Proto-Indo-European mythology. In the modern period, the Romanticist Viking revival re-awoke an interest in the subject matter, the myths have further been revived in a religious context among adherents of Germanic Neopaganism. The majority of these Old Norse texts were created in Iceland and this occurred primarily in the 13th century. The Prose Edda was composed as a manual for producing skaldic poetry—traditional Old Norse poetry composed by skalds. Originally composed and transmitted orally, skaldic poetry utilizes alliterative verse, kennings, the Prose Edda presents numerous examples of works by various skalds from before and after the Christianization process and also frequently refers back to the poems found in the Poetic Edda. The Poetic Edda consists almost entirely of poems, with some prose narrative added, in comparison to skaldic poetry, Eddic poetry is relatively unadorned. Numerous further texts, such as the sagas, provide further information, the saga corpus consists of thousands of tales recorded in Old Norse ranging from Icelandic family histories to Migration period tales mentioning historic figures such as Attila the Hun. By way of historical linguistics and comparative mythology, comparisons to other attested branches of Germanic mythology may also lend insight, wider comparisons to the mythology of other Indo-European peoples by scholars has resulted in the potential reconstruction of far earlier myths. Of the mythical tales and poems that are presumed to have existed during the Middle Ages, Viking Age, Migration Period, numerous gods are mentioned in the source texts. In the mythology, Thor lays waste to numerous jötnar who are foes to the gods or humanity, the god Odin is also frequently mentioned in surviving texts. One-eyed, wolf and raven-flanked, and spear in hand, Odin pursues knowledge throughout the worlds, Odin has a strong association with death, Odin is portrayed as the ruler of Valhalla, where valkyries carry half of those slain in battle. Odins wife is the powerful goddess Frigg who can see the future but tells no one, and together they have a beloved son, Baldr. After a series of dreams had by Baldr of his death, his death is engineered by Loki, and Baldr thereafter resides in Hel. Odin must share half of his share of the dead with a powerful goddess and she is beautiful, sensual, wears a feathered cloak, and practices seiðr. She rides to battle to choose among the slain, and brings her chosen to her afterlife field Fólkvangr, Freyja weeps for her missing husband Óðr, and seeks after him in far away lands
15.
Gorm the Old
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Gorm the Old, also called Gorm the Languid, was the first historically recognized ruler of Denmark, reigning from c. 936 to his death c. 958. He ruled from Jelling, and made the oldest of the Jelling Stones in honour of his wife Thyra, Gorm was born before 900 and died c. 958. Gorm is the son of semi-legendary Danish king Harthacnut. Chronicler Adam of Bremen says that Harthacnut came from Nortmannia to Denmark and he deposed the young king Sigtrygg Gnupasson, reigning over Western Denmark. When Harthacnut died, Gorm ascended the throne, heimskringla reports Gorm taking at least part of the kingdom by force from Gnupa, and Adam himself suggests that the kingdom had been divided prior to Gorms time. Gorm is first mentioned as the host of Archbishop Unni of Hamburg, according to the Jelling Stones, Gorms son, Harald Bluetooth, won all of Denmark, so it is speculated that Gorm only ruled Jutland from his seat in Jelling. Gorm married Thyra, who is given conflicting and chronologically dubious parentage by late sources, Gorm raised one of the great burial mounds at Jelling as well as the oldest of the Jelling Stones for her, calling her tanmarkar but. Gorm was the father of three sons, Toke, Knut and Harald, later King Harald Bluetooth and his wife, Thyra, is credited with the completion of the Danevirke, a wall between Denmarks southern border and its unfriendly Saxon neighbors to the south. The wall was not new, but it was expanded with a ditch, the Danevirke ran between the Schlei and the Treene river, across what is now Schleswig. Gorm died in the winter of 958–959 and dendrochronology shows that his burial chamber was made from wood of timbers felled in 958, arild Huitfeldt explains how in Danmarks Riges Krønike, The three sons were Vikings in the truest sense, departing Denmark each summer to raid and pillage. Harald came back to the enclosure at Jelling with the news that his son Canute had been killed in an attempt to capture Dublin. Canute was shot with an arrow while watching some games at night. No one would tell the king in view of the oath the king had made, Queen Thyra ordered the royal hall hung with black cloth and that no one was to say a single word. When Gorm entered the hall, he was astonished and asked what the mourning colors meant, Queen Thyra spoke up, Lord King, you had two falcons, one white and the other gray. The white one flew far afield and was set upon by birds which tore off its beautiful feathers and is now useless to you. Meanwhile the gray falcon continues to catch fowl for the kings table, Gorm understood immediately the Queens metaphor and cried out, My son is surely dead, since all of Denmark mourns. You have said it, your majesty, Thyra announced, Not I, according to the story Gorm was so grieved by Canutes death that he died the following day. This account would contradict information on the Jelling Stones which point to Queen Thyra dying before Gorm
16.
King of Denmark
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The Monarchy of Denmark, colloquially known as the Danish Monarchy, is a constitutional institution and a historic office of the Kingdom of Denmark. The Kingdom includes not only Denmark, but the regions of Greenland. The Kingdom of Denmark were already consolidated in the late 8th century, originally an elective monarchy, it became hereditary only in the 17th century during the reign of Frederick III. A decisive transition to a constitutional monarchy occurred in 1849 with the writing of the first Constitution, the current Royal House is a branch of the princely family of Glücksburg, originally from Schleswig-Holstein in Germany, the same royal house as the Norwegian and former Greek royal families. The Danish Monarchy is constitutional and as such, the role of the monarch is defined and limited by the Constitution of Denmark, the monarch is, in practice, limited to non-partisan functions such as bestowing honours and appointing the Prime Minister. The monarch and his or her immediate family undertake various official, ceremonial, diplomatic, Queen Margrethe II ascended the throne on the death of her father, King Frederick IX, on 14 January 1972. On her accession, Queen Margrethe II became the first female monarch of Denmark since Margrethe I, ruler of the Scandinavian countries in 1375‒1412, during the Kalmar Union. Danish regnal names have traditionally alternated between Frederick and Christian, Margrethe has taken the place of a Christian, and accordingly her heir apparent is Crown Prince Frederik. The modern Kingdom of Denmark dates back to Harthacnuts son, Gorm the Old, the first King of a united Scotland was King Kenneth MacAlpin who died around 80 years before Gorm the Old was born. The Danes were united and officially Christianized in 965 CE by Harald Bluetooth, furthermore, the Jelling stones attests that Harald had also won Norway. The son of Harald, Sweyn Forkbeard, mounted a series of wars of conquest against England, the reign of Cnut represented the peak of the Danish Viking age, his North Sea Empire included Denmark, Norway, England and held strong influence over the north-eastern coast of Germany. The last monarch descended from Valdemar IV, Christopher III of Denmark, Count Christian of Oldenburg, descendant of Valdemar IVs aunt Richeza, was chosen as his successor and became the next monarch of Denmark, ruling under the name Christian I. Originally the Danish monarchy was elective, but in practice the eldest son of the monarch was elected. Later a Coronation Charter was signed by the king to restrict the powers of the Danish monarch, in 1657, during the Second Northern War, King Frederick III launched a war of revenge against Sweden which turned into a complete disaster. The war became a disaster for two reasons, Primarily, because Denmarks new powerful ally, the Netherlands, remained neutral as Denmark was the aggressor and Sweden the defender. Secondly, the Belts froze over in an occurrence during the winter of 1657-1658. In the following Treaty of Roskilde, Denmark–Norway capitulated and gave up all of Eastern Denmark, in addition to the counties of Bohuslän, but the Second Northern War was not yet over. Three months after the treaty was signed, Charles X Gustav held a council of war where he decided to simply wipe Denmark from the map
17.
Slavs
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Slavs are the largest Indo-European ethno-linguistic group in Europe. They are native to Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe, Northeastern Europe, North Asia, Slavs speak Slavic languages of the Balto-Slavic language group. From the early 6th century they spread to inhabit most of Central, states with Slavic languages comprise over 50% of the territory of Europe, therefore it is the largest ethno-linguistic group in Europe by land area. Present-day Slavic people are classified into West Slavs, East Slavs, there are an estimated 360 million Slavs worldwide. The Slavic autonym is reconstructed in Proto-Slavic as *Slověninъ, plural *Slověne, the oldest documents written in Old Church Slavonic and dating from the 9th century attest the autonym as Slověne. The word slovo and the related slava and slukh originate from the Proto-Indo-European root *ḱlew-, cognate with Ancient Greek κλῆς, whence comes the name Pericles, Latin clueo, some other theories have limited support. The English term slave eventually derives from the ethnonym Slav, Slavs were captured and enslaved by the Muslims of Spain during the ninth century AD. The Slavs under name of the Antes and the Sclaveni make their first appearance in Byzantine records in the early 6th century. Procopius wrote in 545 that the Sclaveni and the Antae actually had a name in the remote past. He described them as barbarians, who lived under democracy, and that believe in one god. They lived in scattered housing, and constantly changed settlement, regarding warfare, they were mainly foot soldiers with small shields and battleaxes, lightly clothed, some entering battle naked with only their genitals covered. And they live a life, giving no heed to bodily comforts. Jordanes described the Sclaveni having swamps and forests for their cities, another 6th-century source refers to them living among nearly impenetrable forests, rivers, lakes, and marshes. Menander Protector mentions a Daurentius that slew an Avar envoy of Khagan Bayan I. The Avars asked the Slavs to accept the suzerainty of the Avars, he declined and is reported as saying, Others do not conquer our land. The relationship between the Slavs and a called the Veneti east of the River Vistula in the Roman period is uncertain. The name may refer both to Balts and Slavs, perhaps some Slavs migrated with the movement of the Vandals to Iberia and north Africa. Around the 6th century, Slavs appeared on Byzantine borders in great numbers, the Byzantine records note that grass would not regrow in places where the Slavs had marched through, so great were their numbers
18.
Northern Crusades
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The crusades took place mostly in the 12th and 13th centuries and resulted in the conversion and baptism of indigenous peoples. Most notable campaigns were Livonian and Prussian crusades, some of these wars were called crusades during the Middle Ages, but others, including most of the Swedish ones, were first dubbed crusades by 19th-century romantic nationalist historians. And 1293, Livonians, Latgallians, Selonians, and Estonians, Semigallians and Curonians, the campaigns started with the 1147 Wendish Crusade against the Polabian Slavs of what is now northern and eastern Germany. The crusade occurred parallel to the Second Crusade to the Holy Land, the Swedish crusades were campaigns by Sweden against Finns, Tavastians, and Karelians during period from 1150 to 1293. The Danes are known to have made two crusades to Finland in 1191 and in 1202, the latter one was led by the Bishop of Lund Anders Sunesen with his brother. The difference in creeds was one of the reasons they had not yet been effectively converted. During a period of more than 150 years leading up to the arrival of German crusaders in the region, Estonia was attacked thirteen times by Russian principalities, Estonians for their part made raids upon Denmark and Sweden. There were peaceful attempts by some Catholics to convert the Estonians, starting with missions dispatched by Adalbert, however, these peaceful efforts seem to have had only limited success. Although the crusaders won their first battle, Bishop Berthold was mortally wounded, in 1199, Albert of Buxhoeveden was appointed by the Archbishop Hartwig II of Bremen to Christianise the Baltic countries. By the time Albert died 30 years later, the conquest and formal Christianisation of present-day Estonia, although he landed in the mouth of the Daugava in 1200 with only 23 ships and 500 soldiers, the bishops efforts ensured that a constant flow of recruits followed. The first crusaders usually arrived to fight during the spring and returned to their homes in the autumn, to ensure a permanent military presence, the Livonian Brothers of the Sword were founded in 1202. The founding by Bishop Albert of the market at Riga in 1201 attracted citizens from the Empire, at Alberts request, Pope Innocent III dedicated the Baltic countries to the Virgin Mary to popularize recruitment to his army and the name Marys Land has survived up to modern times. This is noticeable in one of the given to Livonia at the time. In 1206, the crusaders subdued the Livonian stronghold in Turaida on the bank of Gauja River. In order to control over the left bank of Gauja. By 1211, the Livonian province of Metsepole and the mixed Livonian-Latgallian inhabited county of Idumea was converted to the Roman Catholic faith, the last battle against the Livonians was the siege of Satezele hillfort near to Sigulda in 1212. The Livonians, who had been paying tribute to the East Slavic Principality of Polotsk, had at first considered the Germans as useful allies, the first prominent Livonian to be christened was their leader Caupo of Turaida. As the German grip tightened, the Livonians rebelled against the crusaders and the christened chief, Caupo of Turaida remained an ally of the crusaders until his death in the Battle of St. Matthews Day in 1217
19.
Polabian Slavs
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Polabian Slavs is a collective term applied to a number of Lechite tribes who lived along the Elbe river in what is today Eastern Germany. The approximate territory stretched from the Baltic Sea in the north, the Saale and the Limes Saxoniae in the west, the Ore Mountains and the Western Sudetes in the south and they have also been known as Elbe Slavs or Wends. Their name derives from the Slavic po, meaning by/next to/along, the Polabian Slavs started settling in the territory of modern Germany in the 6th century. They were largely conquered by Saxons and Danes since the 9th century, the tribes were gradually Germanized and assimilated in the following centuries, the Sorbs are the only descendants of the Polabian Slavs to have retained their identity and culture. The Polabian language is now extinct, however, both Sorbian languages are spoken by approximately 60,000 inhabitants of the region and the languages are regarded by the government of Germany as official languages of the region. The Bavarian Geographer anonymous medieval document compiled in Regensburg in 830 contains a list of the tribes in Central-Eastern Europe to the east of the Elbe. Among other tribes it lists the Uuilci - with 95 civitates, the Nortabtrezi -53 civitates, the Milzane -30 civitates, the Great Soviet Encyclopedia classifies the Polabian Slavs in three main tribes, the Obotrites, the Veleti, and the Lusatian Sorbs. The main tribes of the Obotritic confederation were the Obotrites proper, the Wagrians, the Warnabi, other tribes associated with the confederation include the Linones near Lenzen, the Travnjane near the Trave, and the Drevani in the Hanoverian Wendland and the northern Altmark. The Redarier were the most important of the Veleti tribes, the Rani of Rügen, not to be confused with the older Germanic Rugians, are sometimes considered to be part of the Veleti. South of the Rani were the Ucri along the Ucker and the Morici along the Müritz, smaller tribes included the Došane along the Dosse, the Zamzizi in the Ruppin Land, and the Rěčanen on the upper Havel. Along the lower Havel and near the confluence of the Elbe and the Havel lived the Nelětici, the Liezizi, the Zemzizi, the Smeldingi, the middle Havel region and the Havelland were settled by the Hevelli, a tribe loosely connected to the Veleti. East of the Hevelli lived the Sprevane of the lower Dahme, small tribes on the middle Elbe included the Moriciani, the Zerwisti, the Serimunt, and the Nicici. South of the Hevelli lived the ancestors of the modern Sorbs, the Lusici of Lower Lusatia, near these tribes were the Selpoli and the Besunzanen. The Colodici, Siusler, and Glomaci lived along the upper Elbe, while the Chutici, Nisanen, Plisni, Gera, Puonzowa, Tucharin, Weta, on the middle Oder lived the Leubuzzi, who were associated with medieval Poland. Small groups of West Slavs also lived on the Main and the Regnitz near Bamberg, a Polabian prince was known as a knes. His power was greater in Slavic society than those of Danish or Swedish kings in their kingdoms. He was the leader of his tribe and was foremost among its nobles, holding much of the forested hinterland. However, his authority extended only to the territory controlled by his governor, or voivot
20.
Historical Slavic religion
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Slavic mythology is the mythological aspect of the polytheistic religion that was practised by the Slavs before Christianisation. Unlike ancient Greek, Hindu, Chinese or Egyptian mythology, there are no records for the study of Slavic mythology. It has not been proven that the Slavs had any sort of writing system before the arrival of Saints Cyril, fragments of old mythological beliefs and pagan festivals survive up to this day in folk customs, songs, stories and folk-tales of all the Slavic nations. Although Herodotus is himself not convinced by this rumour, he stresses that he has heard some swear it, the identification of Neuri with Proto-Slavs remains controversial, however. According to Procopius, these Slavs worshipped a single deity, who crafted lightning, though not named explicitly, it can be deduced this is a reference to the deity known as Perun in later historic sources, as in many Slavic languages today. Perun simply means thunder or lightning bolt and he also mentions the belief in various demons and nymphs, but does not mention any other names. The Slavic Primary Chronicle is a work with many valuable references to the pagan beliefs of Eastern Slavs. The chronicle treats the history of the early Eastern Slavic state, even though the manuscript was compiled at the beginning of the 12th century, it contains references to and copies of older documents, and describes events predating the Baptism of Kiev. Two deities, Perun and Veles/Volos, are mentioned in the text of the early 10th century peace treaties between pagan rulers of East Slavs and Byzantine Emperors, later, Nestor the Chronicler describes a state pantheon introduced by Prince Vladimir in Kiev in 980 CE. Vladimirs pantheon included Perun, Hors, Dažbog, Stribog, Simargl, the Hypatian Codex of the Primary Chronicle also mentions Svarog, compared to Greek Hephaestus. Also very interesting are the passages in the East Slavic epic The Tale of Igors Campaign referring to Veles, Dažbog, the original epic has been dated to the end of the 12th century, although there are marginal disputes over the authenticity of this work. The most numerous and richest written records are of West Slavic paganism, particularly of Wendish and Polabian tribes, the German missionaries and priests who criticized pagan religion left extensive records of old mythological systems they sought to overcome. However, they restrained themselves from pious lies, claiming pagan Slavs were idolatrous. As none of those missionaries learned any Slavic language, their records are confused and exaggerated, major works include a chronicle of Thietmar of Merseburg from the beginning of the 11th century, who described a temple in the city of Riedegost where the great deity Zuarasic was worshipped. According to Thietmar, this was the most sacred place in the land of pagan Slavs, another very valuable document is the Chronica Slavorum written in the late 12th century by Helmold, a German priest. Saxo meticulously described the worship of Svantevit, the associated with it. He also mentioned multi-headed deities of other Slavic tribes, Rugievit, Porewit, according to the manuscript, the most important Slavic deity was Triglav, whose temples in the city of Szczecin were respected oracles. In the cities of Wolgast and Havelberg, the war god Gerovit was worshiped, a corruption of Jarovit
21.
Canute VI of Denmark
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Canute VI was King of Denmark. Canute VI was the eldest son of King Valdemar I and Sophia of Polotsk, Canute VI was proclaimed King of Denmark, first as co-regent in 1170 and as sole ruler in 1182 at the Urnehoved Assembly and subsequently at the other assemblies throughout Denmark. He immediately faced a peasant uprising in Skåne, the peasants refused to pay Bishop Absalons tithe. They met at the Skåne Assembly and chose Harald Skreng, one of Canute friends to represent them to the king to plead their case, the king refused to hear Skreng out and began to gather an army to teach the peasants their place. Before the king could muster his army, the nobles of Halland and Skåne cobbled together their own army, Canute arrived with his army and proceeded to teach the peasants a lesson with fire and sword. Canute was so relentless that Bishop Absalon begged the king to desist, emperor Frederick Barbarossa had compelled Canutes father to acknowledge him as overlord, and in 1184 Barbarossa sent a messenger to Canute requiring him to acknowledge the emperor as his liege. Canute failed to respond, so the emperor sent a second messenger threatening the emperors wrath if Canute failed to acknowledge his liege lord, Bishop Absalon replied to the messenger on behalf of Canute. Canute is as free a king as the emperor and he has as much right to Denmark as the emperor has to the Holy Roman Empire, and so the emperor should expect no allegiance from this place. The emperor flew into a rage when he received Canutes reply, Duke Bogislaw, recognizing a great opportunity quickly gathered 500 ships. The first notice of the invasion came from Chief Jærmer of Rügen who sailed to Zealand to give warning. The king was in Jutland, and so it was left to Bishop Absalon to order every available ship from Zealand, Funen, Absalon sailed for Rügen with his fleet and waited for Bugislaw to show up. When the enemy failed to appear, Absalon sent out scouts to bring word when the Pomeranian fleet arrived and he ordered his men to go ashore so he could celebrate mass on Second Easter Day. In the middle of services, one of the scouts ran into the church shouting that the enemy had been sighted through the fog, now will I let my sword sing the mass to the praise of God. Exclaimed Absalon as he set aside the altar implements, the Danish fleet weighed anchor and sailed through the fog toward the Pomeranians. Bugislaws fleet saw nothing of the Danes until they were enough to hear their war cries. Fear swept through the Pomeranians, and they tried to row away, the men panicked and began jumping from ship to ship which caused eight of them to flounder. The Danes threw themselves onto the ships to plunder them when Absalon shouted that they should leave the goods, few complied and with just seven ships, Absalon routed the entire Pomeranian fleet, capturing 35 enemy ships. Absalon sent Bugislaws own great tent to Canute, who was still in Jutland, with Bugislaws defeat the emperor gave up, for a time, his attempt to rule Denmark
22.
Pomerania
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Pomerania is a region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Germany and Poland. The name derives from the Slavic po more, meaning by the sea, Pomerania stretches roughly from the Recknitz river in the west to the Vistula river in the east. The largest Pomeranian islands are Rügen, Usedom/Uznam and Wolin, the largest Pomeranian city is Gdańsk, or, when using a narrower definition of the region, Szczecin. Outside its urban areas, Pomerania is characterized by farmland, dotted with lakes, forests. The region was affected by post–World War I and II border and population shifts. Pomerania is the area along the Bay of Pomerania of the Baltic Sea between the rivers Recknitz in the west and Vistula in the east and it formerly reached perhaps as far south as the Noteć river, but since the 13th century its southern boundary has been placed further north. Most of the region is coastal lowland, being part of the North European Plain, but its southern, hilly parts belong to the Baltic Ridge, within this ridge, a chain of moraine-dammed lakes constitutes the Pomeranian Lake District. The soil is rather poor, sometimes sandy or marshy. The western coastline is jagged, with many peninsulas and islands enclosing numerous bays, Łebsko and several other lakes were formerly bays, but have been cut off from the sea. The easternmost coastline along the Gdańsk Bay and Vistula Lagoon, has the Hel peninsula, the Pomeranian region has the following administrative divisions, Hither Pomerania in northeastern Germany, stretching from the Recknitz river to the Oder–Neisse line. This region is part of the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The southernmost part of historical Vorpommern is now in Brandenburg, while its eastern parts are now in Poland. Vorpommern comprises the regions inhabited by Slavic tribes Rugians and Volinians, otherwise the Principality of Rügen. The West Pomeranian Voivodeship in Poland, stretching from the Oder–Neisse line to the Wieprza river, the Pomeranian Voivodeship, with similar borders to Pomerelia, stretching from the Wieprza river to the Vistula delta in the vicinity of Gdańsk. The northern half of the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, comprising most of Chełmno Land, the bulk of Farther Pomerania is included within the modern West Pomeranian Voivodeship, but its easternmost parts now constitute the northwest of Pomeranian Voivodeship. Parts of Pomerania and surrounding regions have constituted a euroregion since 1995, the Pomerania euroregion comprises Hither Pomerania and Uckermark in Germany, West Pomerania in Poland, and Scania in Sweden. Pomerania was first mentioned in a document of 1046, referring to a Zemuzil dux Bomeranorum. Pomerania is mentioned repeatedly in the chronicles of Adam of Bremen, the term West Pomerania is ambiguous, since it may refer to either Hither Pomerania or to the West Pomeranian Voivodeship
23.
Anders Sunesen
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Anders Sunesen was a Danish archbishop of Lund, Scania, from 21 March 1201, at the death of Absalon, to his own death in 1228. He is the author of the Latin translation of the Scanian Law and was throughout his life engaged in integrating a Christian worldview into the old legislature. To educate the priests and to forward his ideas, especially about the integration between church and state, he wrote a poem, Hexaëmon, consisting of 8,040 verses of Latin hexameter. He eventually received permission to install a bishop in Reval, and in 1219 and he lived his last years in northeastern Scania, where he died in 1228 on Ivö Island in Ivö Lake, Scanias largest lake. It has been speculated that his death may have attributed to leprosy. He is buried in a sarcophagus in Lund Cathedral, Ivö Church and The Bishops Cellar, the ruins of Anders Sunesens castle on Ivö Island. Part of a Nature Trail information site by the non-profit organization Humleslingan
24.
Elbe
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The Elbe is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Krkonoše Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia, then Germany and its total length is 1,094 kilometres. The Elbes major tributaries include the rivers Vltava, Saale, Havel, Mulde, Schwarze Elster, the Elbe river basin, comprising the Elbe and its tributaries, has a catchment area of 148,268 square kilometres, the fourth largest in Europe. The basin spans four countries, with its largest parts in Germany, much smaller parts lie in Austria and Poland. The basin is inhabited by 24.5 million people, the Elbe rises at an elevation of about 1,400 metres in the Krkonoše on the northwest borders of the Czech Republic near Labská bouda. Of the numerous small streams whose waters compose the infant river, here the Elbe enters the vast vale named Polabí, and continues on southwards through Hradec Králové and then to Pardubice, where it turns sharply to the west. At Kolín some 43 kilometres further on, it bends gradually towards the north-west, at the village of Káraný, a little above Brandýs nad Labem, it picks up the Jizera. At Mělník its stream is more than doubled in volume by the Vltava, or Moldau, upstream from the confluence the Vltava is in fact much longer, and has a greater discharge and a larger drainage basin. Some distance lower down, at Litoměřice, the waters of the Elbe are tinted by the reddish Ohře, in its northern section both banks of the Elbe are characterised by flat, very fertile marshlands, former flood plains of the Elbe now diked. At Magdeburg there is a viaduct, the Magdeburg Water Bridge, from the sluice of Geesthacht on downstream the Elbe is subject to the tides, the tidal Elbe section is called the Low Elbe. Within the city-state the Unterelbe has a number of streams, such as Dove Elbe, Gose Elbe, Köhlbrand, Northern Elbe, Reiherstieg. Some of which have been disconnected for vessels from the stream by dikes. In 1390 the Gose Elbe was separated from the stream by a dike connecting the two then-islands of Kirchwerder and Neuengamme. The Dove Elbe was diked off in 1437/38 at Gammer Ort and these hydraulic engineering works were carried out to protect marshlands from inundation, and to improve the water supply of the Port of Hamburg. The Northern Elbe passes the Elbe Philharmonic Hall and is then crossed under by the old Elbe Tunnel, a bit more downstream the Low Elbes two main anabranches Northern Elbe and the Köhlbrand reunite south of Altona-Altstadt, a locality of Hamburg. Right after both anabranches reunited the Low Elbe is passed under by the New Elbe Tunnel, the last structural road link crossing the river before the North Sea. At the bay Mühlenberger Loch in Hamburg at kilometre 634, the Northern Elbe and the Southern Elbe used to reunite, leaving the city-state the Lower Elbe then passes between Holstein and the Elbe-Weser Triangle with Stade until it flows into the North Sea at Cuxhaven. Near its mouth it passes the entrance to the Kiel Canal at Brunsbüttel before it debouches into the North Sea, the Elbe has been navigable by commercial vessels since 1842, and provides important trade links as far inland as Prague
25.
Valdemar I of Denmark
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Valdemar I of Denmark, also known as Valdemar the Great, was King of Denmark from 1146 until his death in 1182. He was the son of Canute Lavard, a chivalrous and popular Danish prince, in 1146, when Valdemar was fifteen years old, King Erik III Lamb abdicated and a civil war erupted. The pretenders to the throne were, Sweyn III Grathe, son of Eric II Emune, Canute V, son of Magnus the Strong who was the son of King Niels, who was the brother of Erik I. Valdemar himself held Jutland, at least Schleswig, as his possession, the civil war lasted the better part of ten years. In 1157, the three agreed to part the country in three among themselves, Sweyn hosted a great banquet for Canute, Absalon, and Valdemar during which he planned to dispose of all of them. Canute was killed, but Absalon and Valdemar escaped, Sweyn quickly launched an invasion, only to be defeated by Valdemar in the Battle of Grathe Heath. He was killed during flight, supposedly by a group of peasants who stumbled upon him as he was fleeing from the battlefield, Valdemar, having outlived all his rival pretenders, became the sole King of Denmark. In 1158 Absalon was elected Bishop of Roskilde, and Valdemar made him his chief friend and he reorganized and rebuilt war-torn Denmark. At Absalons instigation he declared war upon the Wends who were raiding the Danish coasts and they inhabited Pomerania and the island of Rügen in the Baltic Sea. In 1168 the Wendish capital, Arkona, was taken, Valdemars reign saw the rise of Denmark, which reached its zenith under his second son Valdemar II. Ingeborg, married King Philip II of France, helena, married William, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg. Richeza, married King Eric X of Sweden, walburgis, married Bogusław I, Duke of Pomerania. His widow Sophia married then Louis III, Landgrave of Thuringia, illegitimate with Tove, Christopher, Valdemars eldest son, Duke of Jutland ca. 1170–1173 Media related to Valdemar I of Denmark at Wikimedia Commons Valdemar I of Denmark at Find a Grave http, //www. kingsofdenmark. dk/king19. htm
26.
Sweyn II of Denmark
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Sweyn II Estridsson was King of Denmark from 1047 until his death in 1076. He was the son of Ulf Jarl and Estrid Svendsdatter and he was married three times, and fathered 20 children or more out of wedlock, including the five future kings Harald III Hen, Canute IV the Saint, Oluf I Hunger, Eric I Evergood, and Niels. He was courageous in battle, but did not have success as a military commander. His skeleton reveals that he was a tall, powerfully built man who walked with a limp, Sweyn was born in England, as the son of Ulf Jarl and Estrid Svendsdatter, the daughter of king Sweyn I of Denmark and sister of king Canute the Great. Sweyn grew up a military leader, and served under king Anund Jacob of Sweden for a time and he pillaged the Elbe-Weser area in 1040, but was caught by the Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen, who released him shortly thereafter. Svend was made jarl under Danish king Harthacnut, and led a campaign for him against Norway, when Harthacnut died in 1042, Magnus claimed the Danish throne and made Svend his jarl of Jutland. In 1043, Sweyn fought for Magnus at the Battle of Lyrskov Heath at Hedeby, near the border of Denmark. Sweyn won great reputation at Lyrskov Heath, and had the Danish nobles crown him king in Viborg in Jutland and he was defeated by Magnus on several occasions, and had to flee to Sweden. Eventually he managed to return and establish a foothold in Scania, the war between Magnus and Sweyn lasted until 1045, when Magnus uncle Harald Hardrada returned to Norway from exile. Harald and Sweyn joined forces, and Magnus decided to share the Norwegian throne with Harald, in 1047 Magnus died, having stated on his deathbed that his kingdom would be divided, Harald would get the throne of Norway, while Sweyn would be king of Denmark. Upon hearing of Magnus death Sweyn said, Now so help me God, Harald, unwilling to relinquish Denmark, attacked Sweyn and fought a long war. Harald sacked Hedeby in 1050, and also sacked Aarhus, Sweyn almost captured Harald in 1050, when Harald attacked the coast of Jutland and loaded his ships with goods and captives. Sweyns flotilla caught up with the Norwegians and Harald ordered his men to throw out the captured goods, Sweyn ordered his men to leave the goods and go after Harald. Harald then ordered his men to throw the captives overboard, for them Sweyn was willing to let Harald slip away. Sweyn came close to losing his life at the naval Battle of Niså off the coast of Halland in 1062, according to the sagas Harald urged Sweyn to meet him in a final and decisive battle at Elv in the spring of 1062. When Sweyn and the Danish army did not show up, Harald sent home a part of his army. When Sweyn finally came to meet Harald, his fleet numbered 300 ships to Haralds 150, the fleets met at night and the battle lasted until morning, when the Danes started to flee. In the sagas the Norwegian victory is credited to earl Haakon Ivarsson
27.
Lassen Fragment
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The Lassen Fragment, is a parchment page from c. It is one of the four fragments remaining of the original, or early copy of and it consists of one page with two written sides. It was found 1860 in the remains of library-secretary G. F. Lassen. It has Royal Library signature of Ny kgl, correspond to page 275-282 in Peter Erasmus Müller Latin version of Gesta Danorum from 1839 or page 152.29 –156.14 in Jørgen Olrik & H. Ræders Latin version of Gesta Danorum from 1931. Angers Fragment Kall-Rasmussen Fragment Plesner Fragment Apoteker Sibbernsens Saxobog, C. A. Reitzels Forlag, Copenhagen,1927
28.
Kall-Rasmussen Fragment
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The Kall-Rasmussen Fragment is a parchment page from c. It is one of the four remaining, or early copy of. It consists of two pages with four written sides, found in 1855 by M. N. C. Kall Rasmussen in the Danish Geheime-archive, where it was used as staple-list on Kronborg Castles cadastre of 1627-1628 and it is now owned by the Royal Library of Copenhagen. It has the Royal Library signature of Ny kgl, correspond to page 320-324 in Peter Erasmus Müller Latin version of Gesta Danorum from 1839 or page 181.17 –184.16 in Jørgen Olrik & H. Ræders Latin version of Gesta Danorum from 1931. Angers Fragment Lassen Fragment Plesner Fragment Apoteker Sibbernsens Saxobog, C. A. Reitzels Forlag, Copenhagen,1927
29.
Plesner Fragment
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The Plesner Fragment is a parchment page from c. It is one of the four remaining, or early copy of. It consists of one page with two written sides, U. A. Plesner in Geheime-archive, where it was used as staple-list on Kristianstad fief taxman-number list of 1623. Now owned by the Royal Library of Copenhagen and it has Royal Library signature of Ny kgl. Correspond to page 811-813 in Peter Erasmus Müller Latin version of Gesta Danorum from 1839 or page 459.15 –460.24 in Jørgen Olrik & H. Ræders Latin version of Gesta Danorum from 1931. Angers Fragment Lassen Fragment Kall-Rasmussen Fragment Apoteker Sibbernsens Saxobog, C. A. Reitzels Forlag, Copenhagen,1927
30.
Royal Library, Denmark
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The Royal Library in Copenhagen, Denmark, is the national library of Denmark and the university library of the University of Copenhagen. It is the largest library in the Nordic countries and it contains numerous historical treasures, and a copy of all works printed in Denmark since the 17th century are deposited there. Thanks to extensive donations in the past, the library holds nearly all known Danish printed works back to and including the first Danish book, the library was founded in 1648 by King Frederik III, who contributed a comprehensive collection of European works. It was opened to the public in 1793, in 1989, it was merged with the prestigious Copenhagen University Library. In 2005, it was merged with the Danish National Library for Science and Medicine, now the Faculty Library of Natural, the official name of the organization as of 1 January 2006 is The Royal Library, the National Library of Denmark and the Copenhagen University Library. In 2008, the Danish Folklore Archive was merged with the Royal Library and it is open to anyone above the age of 18 with a genuine need to use the collections. Special rules apply for use of rare and valuable items, the annual circulation is 11,400,000 loans. The members are 32,196 active users, the annual budget, 394M Danish Kroner, including building expenses and maintenance. The old building of the Slotsholmen site was built in 1906 by Hans Jørgen Holm, the central hall is a copy of Charlemagnes Palace chapel in the Aachen Cathedral. In 1999, a new building adjacent to the old one was opened at Slotsholmen, the Black Diamond building was designed by Danish architects schmidt hammer lassen. Named for its cover of black marble and glass, the Black Diamond building houses a concert hall in addition to the library. This new building was opened 1999 and it is formed by two black cubes that are slightly tilted over the street. In the middle of them, there is an eight storey atrium whose walls are white and wave-shaped, the atriums exterior wall is made of glass, so, you can see the sea, and, on the opposite shore, you can see Christianshavns luxury buildings. Three bridges connect the Black Diamond with the old part of the Royal Library, in the ceiling of the big bridge, there is a huge painting by Danish painter Per Kirkeby. The Royal Library acquires Danish books through legal deposit, the holdings include an almost complete collection of all Danish printed books back from 1482. In 2006, legal deposit was extended to publications and now the library harvests four electronic copies of the Danish Internet each year. Commonly called the Hamburg Bible or the Bible of Bertoldus, a richly illuminated Bible in three large volumes made for the Cathedral of Hamburg in 1255. The 89 illuminated initials in the book are both as expressions of medieval art and as sources to the craft and history of the medieval book
31.
Copenhagen
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Copenhagen, Danish, København, Latin, Hafnia) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark. Copenhagen has an population of 1,280,371. The Copenhagen metropolitan area has just over 2 million inhabitants, the city is situated on the eastern coast of the island of Zealand, another small portion of the city is located on Amager, and is separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the strait of Øresund. The Øresund Bridge connects the two cities by rail and road, originally a Viking fishing village founded in the 10th century, Copenhagen became the capital of Denmark in the early 15th century. Beginning in the 17th century it consolidated its position as a centre of power with its institutions, defences. After suffering from the effects of plague and fire in the 18th century and this included construction of the prestigious district of Frederiksstaden and founding of such cultural institutions as the Royal Theatre and the Royal Academy of Fine Arts. Later, following the Second World War, the Finger Plan fostered the development of housing, since the turn of the 21st century, Copenhagen has seen strong urban and cultural development, facilitated by investment in its institutions and infrastructure. The city is the cultural, economic and governmental centre of Denmark, Copenhagens economy has seen rapid developments in the service sector, especially through initiatives in information technology, pharmaceuticals and clean technology. Since the completion of the Øresund Bridge, Copenhagen has become integrated with the Swedish province of Scania and its largest city, Malmö. With a number of connecting the various districts, the cityscape is characterized by parks, promenades. Copenhagen is home to the University of Copenhagen, the Technical University of Denmark, the University of Copenhagen, founded in 1479, is the oldest university in Denmark. Copenhagen is home to the FC København and Brøndby football clubs, the annual Copenhagen Marathon was established in 1980. Copenhagen is one of the most bicycle-friendly cities in the world, the Copenhagen Metro serves central Copenhagen while the Copenhagen S-train network connects central Copenhagen to its outlying boroughs. Serving roughly 2 million passengers a month, Copenhagen Airport, Kastrup, is the largest airport in the Nordic countries, the name of the city reflects its origin as a harbour and a place of commerce. The original designation, from which the contemporary Danish name derives, was Køpmannæhafn, meaning merchants harbour, the literal English translation would be Chapmans haven. The English name for the city was adapted from its Low German name, the abbreviations Kbh. or Kbhvn are often used in Danish for København, and kbh. for københavnsk. The chemical element hafnium is named for Copenhagen, where it was discovered, the bacterium Hafnia is also named after Copenhagen, Vagn Møller of the State Serum Institute in Copenhagen named it in 1954. Excavations in Pilestræde have also led to the discovery of a well from the late 12th century, the remains of an ancient church, with graves dating to the 11th century, have been unearthed near where Strøget meets Rådhuspladsen
32.
Christiern Pedersen
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Christiern Pedersen was a Danish canon, humanist scholar, writer, printer and publisher. Christiern Pedersen was born in Helsingør, Denmark and he was schooled in Roskilde and studied from 1496 at the University of Greifswald. He received a degree in 1498 and from 1505 was a canon at Lund Cathedral. He studied at the University of Paris from 1508 to 1515, during his stay in Paris he developed an interest in writing, translating and publishing. At that time Paris was the capital of the still-new printing press. In 1510 he published his new Latin-Danish lexicon, called Vocabularium ad usum Dacorum and he wanted to re-publish the huge 300-year-old chronicle of Denmark, Gesta Danorum, written by Saxo Grammaticus, but he did not know the location of the original manuscript. At that time the most knowledge of this came from a summary called Compendium Saxonis located in Chronica Jutensis. Undoubtedly this is also how Pedersen knew of it, Pedersen began to send letters to friends all over Denmark, trying to locate the original Saxo work, but they either did not have it or did not want to release it to him. He finally travelled to Denmark to search libraries and monasteries. Unexpectedly a letter arrived from Archbishop Birger Gunnersen of Lund stating that he had found a copy in his district and this is today the oldest known complete copy of Saxo’s Gesta Danorum. In 1516, Pedersen returned to Lund and worked for Archbishop Birger Gunnersen, in 1522, he became Kanzler under the new Archbishop, Johann Wess. However, during the reign of the next Archbishop, Aage Sparre, Pedersen was accused of treason, among other things, resulting in Pedersen leaving for Germany. As he was loyal to King Christian II, he followed him in exile to the Netherlands in 1526, after meeting him in Berlin, in 1529, he renounced his Catholicism and became Lutheran. Consequently, Margaret of Austria, Regent of the Low Countries asked Christian II to dismiss him and he did not return to Denmark before 1532, and got permission to settle in Malmø, where he opened a printing press shop. His continued loyalty towards King Christian II gained him no friends among the nobility and he married Else Jacobsdatter in 1534 in Malmø, who died during childbirth in 1539. Pedersen sold his printing shop and moved to Copenhagen in 1541. During these years he translated the Bible to Danish and this was to become his lifes work, which sometimes earns him the title the father of Danish literature. Finished in 1543, but first published in 1550, this work, Biblia, was not only a masterpiece of translation and this is the first complete Danish Bible translation
33.
Lund
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Lund is a city in the province of Scania, southern Sweden. The town had 87,244 inhabitants in 2015, out of a total of 118,150 in 2016. It is the seat of Lund Municipality, Skåne County, Lund is believed to have been founded around 990, when Scania belonged to Denmark. From 1103 it was the see of the Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Lund, Lund was transferred to Sweden following the signing of the Treaty of Roskilde in 1658. It was temporarily the capital of Sweden between 1716 and 1718, Lund University, established 1666, is today one of Scandinavias largest institutions for education and research. The university and its buildings dominate much of the centre of the city, numerous literary and intellectual figures have lived or studied in Lund, including the writer August Strindberg and the scientist and naturalist Carl Linnaeus. Along with Sigtuna, Lund is the oldest city in present-day Sweden, until the 1980s, the town was thought to have been founded around 1020 by either Sweyn I Forkbeard or his son Canute the Great of Denmark. The area was part of the kingdom of Denmark. But, recent archaeological discoveries suggest that the first settlement dated to circa 990, the Uppåkra settlement dates back to the first century B. C. and its remains are at the present site of the village of Uppåkra. King Sweyn I Forkbeard moved Lund to its present location, a distance of five kilometres. The new location of Lund, on a hill and across a ford, gave the new site considerable defensive advantages in comparison with Uppåkra, the diocese of nearby Dalby was absorbed in 1066. Lund Cathedral was similarly founded in or shortly after 1103, in 1152, the Norwegian archdiocese of Nidaros was founded as a separate province of the church, independent of Lund. In 1164 Sweden also acquired an archbishop of its own, although he was subordinate to the archbishop of Lund. It is still, as the diocese of Lund, a diocese in the Church of Sweden, Lund Cathedral School was founded in 1085 by the Danish king Canute the Saint. This is the oldest school in Scandinavia and one of the oldest in Northern Europe, many prominent people were educated there, among them the actor Max von Sydow and several high-ranking politicians. In 1658, the Scanian lands were ceded by Denmark to Sweden by the Treaty of Roskilde, on December 4,1676 Lund was defended in the Battle of Lund, one of the bloodiest battles fought in Scandinavia. Lund University, established in 1666, is Swedens largest, with 42,000 full or part-time students, the figure includes Lund Institute of Technology, which is to some extent independent of the old university. As late as the 1940s, Lund was a small city with few large-scale industries, covering only about a quarter of the current urban area, and dominated by the cathedral
34.
Sweden
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Sweden, officially the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and Finland to the east, at 450,295 square kilometres, Sweden is the third-largest country in the European Union by area, with a total population of 10.0 million. Sweden consequently has a low density of 22 inhabitants per square kilometre. Approximately 85% of the lives in urban areas. Germanic peoples have inhabited Sweden since prehistoric times, emerging into history as the Geats/Götar and Swedes/Svear, Southern Sweden is predominantly agricultural, while the north is heavily forested. Sweden is part of the area of Fennoscandia. The climate is in very mild for its northerly latitude due to significant maritime influence. Today, Sweden is a monarchy and parliamentary democracy, with a monarch as head of state. The capital city is Stockholm, which is also the most populous city in the country, legislative power is vested in the 349-member unicameral Riksdag. Executive power is exercised by the government chaired by the prime minister, Sweden is a unitary state, currently divided into 21 counties and 290 municipalities. Sweden emerged as an independent and unified country during the Middle Ages, in the 17th century, it expanded its territories to form the Swedish Empire, which became one of the great powers of Europe until the early 18th century. Swedish territories outside the Scandinavian Peninsula were gradually lost during the 18th and 19th centuries, the last war in which Sweden was directly involved was in 1814, when Norway was militarily forced into personal union. Since then, Sweden has been at peace, maintaining a policy of neutrality in foreign affairs. The union with Norway was peacefully dissolved in 1905, leading to Swedens current borders, though Sweden was formally neutral through both world wars, Sweden engaged in humanitarian efforts, such as taking in refugees from German-occupied Europe. After the end of the Cold War, Sweden joined the European Union on 1 January 1995 and it is also a member of the United Nations, the Nordic Council, Council of Europe, the World Trade Organization and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Sweden maintains a Nordic social welfare system that provides health care. The modern name Sweden is derived through back-formation from Old English Swēoþēod and this word is derived from Sweon/Sweonas. The Swedish name Sverige literally means Realm of the Swedes, excluding the Geats in Götaland, the etymology of Swedes, and thus Sweden, is generally not agreed upon but may derive from Proto-Germanic Swihoniz meaning ones own, referring to ones own Germanic tribe
35.
Jodocus Badius
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Jodocus Badius, also known as Josse Badius, Jodocus van Asche Badius, and Badius Ascensius, was a pioneer of the printing industry, a renowned grammarian, and a pedagogue. Josse Badius was born in the village of Asse near Brussels in Flemish Brabant in AD1462 and he was a scholar of considerable repute, studying in Brussels and Ferrara and teaching Greek for several years at Lyon, France. During the years 1492–1498, while in Lyon, he working as a proofreader. He moved to Paris, where he established his own printing house in the year 1503 and this eventually took the name Prelum Ascensianum. With 775 editions, it served as one of the most active publishers during the first three decades of the 16th century and he specialized in Roman classical texts in Latin, often with his own familiare commentum for the student market. For example, for the 2nd-century BC Roman playwright Terence, Badius printed a Praenotamenta in 1502 and this introduced the subject of Roman comedy through a lengthy treatment of general theories of poetry and thorough discussion of its origins, development, and classifications. He also published work by contemporary humanist writers and he frequently worked with or for Johannes Parvus, the eras most important bookseller and publisher. He was also the author of pieces, amongst which are a life of Thomas a Kempis. His work was continued by his 2nd son Conrad and his epitaph was written by his grandson Henry Stephanus. Conrad confessed to being a Huguenot and forced to flee to Calvinist Geneva in 1549, editio princeps Badius, Jodocus, White, Paul, ed. Praenotamenta to the Commedies of Terence. Jodocus Badius, Encyclopædia Britannica, 9th ed. Vol. III, New York, Charles Scribners Sons,1878, Jodocus Badius, Encyclopædia Britannica, 11th ed. Vol. III, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press,1911, p.189. Renouard, Philippe, Imprimeurs & Libraires Parisiens du XVIe Siècle, Vol. II, Paris
36.
Paris
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Paris is the capital and most populous city of France. It has an area of 105 square kilometres and a population of 2,229,621 in 2013 within its administrative limits, the agglomeration has grown well beyond the citys administrative limits. By the 17th century, Paris was one of Europes major centres of finance, commerce, fashion, science, and the arts, and it retains that position still today. The aire urbaine de Paris, a measure of area, spans most of the Île-de-France region and has a population of 12,405,426. It is therefore the second largest metropolitan area in the European Union after London, the Metropole of Grand Paris was created in 2016, combining the commune and its nearest suburbs into a single area for economic and environmental co-operation. Grand Paris covers 814 square kilometres and has a population of 7 million persons, the Paris Region had a GDP of €624 billion in 2012, accounting for 30.0 percent of the GDP of France and ranking it as one of the wealthiest regions in Europe. The city is also a rail, highway, and air-transport hub served by two international airports, Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Paris-Orly. Opened in 1900, the subway system, the Paris Métro. It is the second busiest metro system in Europe after Moscow Metro, notably, Paris Gare du Nord is the busiest railway station in the world outside of Japan, with 262 millions passengers in 2015. In 2015, Paris received 22.2 million visitors, making it one of the top tourist destinations. The association football club Paris Saint-Germain and the rugby union club Stade Français are based in Paris, the 80, 000-seat Stade de France, built for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, is located just north of Paris in the neighbouring commune of Saint-Denis. Paris hosts the annual French Open Grand Slam tennis tournament on the red clay of Roland Garros, Paris hosted the 1900 and 1924 Summer Olympics and is bidding to host the 2024 Summer Olympics. The name Paris is derived from its inhabitants, the Celtic Parisii tribe. Thus, though written the same, the name is not related to the Paris of Greek mythology. In the 1860s, the boulevards and streets of Paris were illuminated by 56,000 gas lamps, since the late 19th century, Paris has also been known as Panam in French slang. Inhabitants are known in English as Parisians and in French as Parisiens and they are also pejoratively called Parigots. The Parisii, a sub-tribe of the Celtic Senones, inhabited the Paris area from around the middle of the 3rd century BC. One of the areas major north-south trade routes crossed the Seine on the île de la Cité, this place of land and water trade routes gradually became a town
37.
Colophon (publishing)
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In publishing, a colophon is a brief statement containing information about the publication of a book such as the place of publication, the publisher, and the date of publication. A colophon may also be emblematic or pictorial in nature, colophons were formerly printed at the ends of books, but in modern works they are usually located at the verso of the title-leaf. The term colophon derives from the Late Latin colophōn, from the Greek κολοφών and it should not be confused with Colophon, an ancient city in Asia Minor, after which colophony, or rosin, is named. The term is applied to clay tablet inscriptions appended by a scribe to the end of an Ancient Near East text such as a chapter, book, manuscript. The colophon usually contained facts relative to the such as associated person, literary contents. Colophons and catch phrases helped the reader organize and identify various tablets, positionally, colophons on ancient tablets are comparable to a signature line in modern times. Bibliographically, however, they closely resemble the imprint page in a modern book. Examples of colophons in ancient literature may be found in the compilation The Ancient Near East, Supplementary Texts, colophons are also found in the Pentateuch, where an understanding of this ancient literary convention illuminates passages that are otherwise unclear or incoherent. An extensive study of the eleven colophons found in the book of Genesis was done by Percy John Wiseman. C. sometimes additional information, such as the name of a proofreader or editor, or other more-or-less relevant details, might be added. A colophon might also be emblematic or pictorial rather than in words, the normal position for a colophon was after the explicit. After around 1500 these data were transferred to the title page. Colophons sometimes contained book curses, as this was the one place in a medieval manuscript where a scribe was free to write what he wished, such curses tend to be unique to each book. In Great Britain colophons grew generally less common in the 16th century, in some parts of the world, colophons helped fledgling printers and printing companies gain social recognition. For example, in early modern Armenia printers used colophons as a way to gain power by getting their name out into the social sphere. Some commercial publishers took up the use of colophons, and began to include details in their books. Such colophons might identify the designer, the software used, the printing method, the printing company, the typeface used in the page design. Book publishers Alfred A. Knopf, the Folio Society and OReilly Media are notable for their substantial colophons, some web pages also have colophons, which frequently contain HTML, CSS, or usability standards compliance information and links to website validation tests. Jerusalem Colophon Union label Wiseman hypothesis
38.
Ides of March
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The Ides of March is a day on the Roman calendar that corresponds to March 15. It was marked by several religious observances and became notorious as the date of the assassination of Julius Caesar in 44 BC, although March was the third month of the Julian calendar, in the oldest Roman calendar it was the first month of the year. The holidays observed by the Romans from the first through the Ides often reflect their origin as new-year celebrations, the Romans did not number days of a month sequentially from the first through the last day. Instead, they counted back from three fixed points of the month, the Nones, the Ides, and the Kalends, the Ides occurred near the midpoint, on the 13th for most months, but on the 15th for March, May, July, and October. The Ides were supposed to be determined by the full moon, on the earliest calendar, the Ides of March would have been the first full moon of the new year. The Ides of each month were sacred to Jupiter, the Romans supreme deity, the Flamen Dialis, Jupiters high priest, led the Ides sheep in procession along the Via Sacra to the arx, where it was sacrificed. In addition to the sacrifice, the Ides of March was also the occasion of the Feast of Anna Perenna. The day was celebrated among the common people with picnics, drinking. One source from late antiquity also places the Mamuralia on the Ides of March and this observance, which has aspects of scapegoat or ancient Greek pharmakos ritual, involved beating an old man dressed in animal skins and perhaps driving him from the city. The ritual may have been a new year festival representing the expulsion of the old year, in the later Imperial period, the Ides began a holy week of festivals for Cybele and Attis. The Ides was the day of Canna intrat, when Attis was born and he was discovered—depending on the version of the myth—by either shepherds or the goddess Cybele, who was also known as the Magna Mater. A week later, on 22 March, the day of Arbor intrat commemorated the death of Attis under a pine tree. A college of priests called dendrophoroi cut down a tree, suspended from it an image of Attis, the day was formalized as part of the official Roman calendar under Claudius. A three-day period of mourning followed, culminating with the rebirth of Attis on 25 March, in modern times, the Ides of March is best known as the date on which Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44 BC. Caesar was stabbed to death at a meeting of the Senate, as many as 60 conspirators, led by Brutus and Cassius, were involved. According to Plutarch, a seer had warned that harm would come to Caesar no later than the Ides of March and this meeting is famously dramatised in William Shakespeares play Julius Caesar, when Caesar is warned by the soothsayer to beware the Ides of March. The Roman biographer Suetonius identifies the seer as a haruspex named Spurinna, Caesars death was a closing event in the crisis of the Roman Republic, and triggered the civil war that would result in the rise to sole power of his adopted heir Octavian. Writing under Augustus, Ovid portrays the murder as a sacrilege, since Caesar was also the Pontifex Maximus of Rome, the executions were one of a series of actions taken by Octavian to avenge Caesars death
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Danish language
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There are also minor Danish-speaking communities in Norway, Sweden, Spain, the United States, Canada, Brazil and Argentina. Due to immigration and language shift in urban areas, around 15–20% of the population of Greenland speak Danish as their home language. Along with the other North Germanic languages, Danish is a descendant of Old Norse, until the 16th century, Danish was a continuum of dialects spoken from Schleswig to Scania with no standard variety or spelling conventions. With the Protestant Reformation and the introduction of printing, a language was developed which was based on the educated Copenhagen dialect. It spread through use in the system and administration though German. Today, traditional Danish dialects have all but disappeared, though there are variants of the standard language. The main differences in language are between generations, with youth language being particularly innovative, Danish has a very large vowel inventory comprising 27 phonemically distinctive vowels, and its prosody is characterized by the distinctive phenomenon stød, a kind of laryngeal phonation type. The grammar is moderately inflective with strong and weak conjugations and inflections, nouns and demonstrative pronouns distinguish common and neutral gender. As in English, Danish only has remnants of a case system, particularly in the pronouns. Its syntax is V2, with the verb always occupying the second slot in the sentence. Danish is a Germanic language of the North Germanic branch, other names for this group are the Nordic or Scandinavian languages. Along with Swedish, Danish descends from the Eastern dialects of the Old Norse language, Scandinavian languages are often considered a dialect continuum, where there are no sharp dividing lines between the different vernacular languages. Like Norwegian and Swedish, Danish was significantly influenced by Low German in the Middle Ages, Danish itself can be divided into three main dialect areas, West Danish, Insular Danish, and East Danish. Danish is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Swedish, both Swedes and Danes also understand Norwegian better than they understand each others languages. By the 8th century, the common Germanic language of Scandinavia, Proto-Norse, had some changes. This language was called the Danish tongue, or Norse language. Norse was written in the alphabet, first with the elder futhark. From the 7th century the common Norse language began to undergo changes that did not spread to all of Scandinavia, most of the changes separating East Norse from West Norse started as innovations in Denmark, that spread through Scania into Sweden and by maritime contact to southern Norway
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Zealand
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Zealand is the largest and most populated island in Denmark with a population of 2,267,659. It is the 96th-largest island in the world by area and the 35th most populous and it is connected to Funen by the Great Belt Fixed Link, to Lolland, Falster by the Storstrøm Bridge and the Farø Bridges. Zealand is also linked to Amager by five bridges, Zealand is linked indirectly, through intervening islands by a series of bridges and tunnels, to southern Sweden. Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, is located partly on the shore of Zealand. Other cities on Zealand include Roskilde, Hillerød, Næstved and Helsingør, the island is not connected historically to the Pacific nation of New Zealand, which is named after the Dutch province of Zeeland. In Norse mythology as told in the story of Gylfaginning, the island was created by the goddess Gefjun after she tricked Gylfi and she removed a piece of land and transported it to Denmark, which became Zealand. The vacant area was filled with water and became Mälaren, however, since modern maps show a similarity between Zealand and the Swedish lake Vänern, it is sometimes identified as the hole left by Gefjun. Zealand is the most populous Danish island and it is irregularly shaped, and is north of the islands of Lolland, Falster, and Møn. The small island of Amager lies immediately east, Copenhagen is mostly on Zealand but extends across northern Amager. A number of bridges and the Copenhagen Metro connect Zealand to Amager, Zealand is joined in the west to Funen, by the Great Belt Fixed Link, and Funen is connected by bridges to the countrys mainland, Jutland. Gyldenløveshøj, south of the city Roskilde, has a height of 126 metres, Zealand gives its name to the Selandian era of the Paleocene. Urban areas with 10, 000+ inhabitants, North Zealand Media related to Zealand at Wikimedia Commons Zealand travel guide from Wikivoyage
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Roskilde
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Roskilde, located 30 km west of Copenhagen on the Danish island of Zealand, is the main city in Roskilde Municipality. With a population of 50,046, the city is a business and educational centre for the region, Roskilde is governed by the administrative council of Roskilde Municipality. Roskilde has a history, dating from the pre-Christian Viking Age. Its UNESCO-listed Gothic cathedral, now housing 39 tombs of the Danish monarchs, was completed in 1275, among the largest private sector employers today are the IT firm BEC and GPI, specializing in plastics. The Risø research facility is becoming a major employer, extending interest in sustainable energy to the clean technology sphere. The local university, founded in 1972, the historic Cathedral School, Roskilde has a large local hospital which has been expanded and modernized since it was opened in 1855. It is now active in the research sphere. The Sankt Hans psychiatric hospital serves the Capital Region with specialized facilities for forensic psychiatry, the cathedral and the Viking Ship Museum, which contains the well-preserved remains of five 11th-century ships, attract more than 100,000 visitors annually. The city is home to the FC Roskilde football club play in the Danish 1st Division, the Roskilde Vikings RK rugby club. In the 1970s, the city benefited from the opening of the university, Roskilde has the oldest operational railway station in Denmark, with connections across Zealand as well as with Falster, Lolland, and Jutland. The local airport opened in 1973, mainly serving light aircraft for business use, from the 11th century until 1443, it was the capital of Denmark. By the Middle Ages, with the support of kings and bishops, the Saxo Grammaticus and other early sources associate the name Roskilde with the legendary King Roar who possibly lived there in the 6th century. According to Adam of Bremen and the Saxo Grammaticus, Roskilde was founded in the 980s by Harald Bluetooth, on high ground above the harbour, he built a wooden church consecrated to the Holy Trinity as well as a royal residence nearby. Although no traces of buildings have been discovered, in 1997 archaeologists found the remains of Viking ships in the Isefjord. At the time, there were two churches in the area, St Jørgensbjerg, an early stone church, and a wooden church discovered under todays St Ibs Church. Harald was buried in the church he had built on the site of todays Roskilde Cathedral. In 1020, King Canute elevated Roskilde to a bishopric, giving it high national status, absalon, the Danish bishop, had a brick church built on the site of Haralds church in 1170. Todays cathedral was completed in 1275 after five of Absalons successors had contributed to its construction, as a result of Absalons influence, many other churches were built in the vicinity, making Roskilde the most important town in Zealand
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Johannes Oporinus
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Johannes Oporinus was a humanist printer in Basel, the son of the painter Hans Herbst. Johannes Oporinus was born in Basel the son of the painter Hans Herbst and he completed his academic training in Strasbourg and Basel. In addition, he taught at the Basel Latin school from 1526, after 1537 Oporinus taught Greek at the University of Basel. In 1542 he resigned his academic post to devote himself full-time to his printing workshop, in addition, he completed a medical studies and was temporarily famulus to the iconoclastic physician Paracelsus. The Basel city council wanted to prevent the publication but yielded due to the intervention of Martin Luther, Oporinus later printed the works on church history by Matthias Flacius Illyricus and began the publication of the Magdeburg Centuries of which only the ages 1–13 were completed. He made a Latin version of Gesta Danorum in 1534, titled Saxonis Grammatici Danorum Historiae Libri XVI, in addition, his press published numerous polemical theological works, classics, and historiographical works. His manuscript collection and his correspondence are preserved in the Basel University Library. His fine knowledge of ancient languages served the quality of consistently correct textual editions of his workshop, looking at the cover of an Oporinus publication, the printer’s device is striking. It shows the mythological lyre player Arion of Lesbos, which is supported by a Dolphin on the sea, the most important publication of his shop was the anatomical atlas De humani corporis fabrica by the humanist physician Andreas Vesalius, editio princeps in 1543. Oporinus marks Harry Clark, The Publication of the Koran in Latin, the Sixteenth Century Journal, Vol.15, No.1, pp. 3–12. Schwabe, Basel, ISBN 3-7965-1088-4 Martina Hartmann, Humanismus und Kirchenkritik, Matthias Flacius Illyricus als Erforscher des Mittelalters. Thorbecke, Stuttgart, ISBN 3-7995-5719-9 Martina Hartmann, Arno Mentzel-Reuters, Andreas Jociscus Oratio De Ortv, Vita, Et Obitv Ioannis Oporini Basiliensis, Typographicoru Germaniæ Principis. Rihelius, Strasbourg Oliver K. Olson Matthias Flacius and the survival of Luther’s Reform, ein Basler Buchdrucker um die Mitte des 16. Martin Steinmann, Aus dem Briefwechsel des Basler Druckers Johannes Oporinus, Digital edition of De humani corporis fabrica, Epitome] published by Oporinus in 1543, in Cambridge Digital Library
