1.
English country house
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An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to time in the country and in the city—hence, for these people. However, the term also encompasses houses that were, and often still are, frequently, the formal business of the counties was transacted in these country houses. With large numbers of indoor and outdoor staff, country houses were important as places of employment for rural communities. In turn, until the agricultural depressions of the 1870s, the estates, of country houses were the hub. However, the late 19th and early 20th centuries were the swansong of the traditional English country house lifestyle, increased taxation and the effects of World War I led to the demolition of hundreds of houses, those that remained had to adapt to survive. While a château or a schloss can be a fortified or unfortified building, if fortified, it is called a castle, but not all buildings with the name castle are fortified. The term stately home is subject to debate, and avoided by historians, as a description of a country house, the term was first used in a poem by Felicia Hemans, The Homes of England, originally published in Blackwoods Magazine in 1827. In the 20th century, the term was popularised in a song by Noël Coward. The books collection of homes also includes George IVs Brighton town palace. The country houses of England have evolved over the last five hundred years, before this time, larger houses were usually fortified, reflecting the position of their owners as feudal lords, de facto overlords of their manors. The Tudor period of stability in the saw the building of the first of the unfortified great houses. Henry VIIIs Dissolution of the Monasteries saw many former ecclesiastical properties granted to the Kings favourites, woburn Abbey, Forde Abbey and many other mansions with abbey or priory in their name became private houses during this period. Other terms used in the names of houses to describe their origin or importance include palace, castle, court, hall, mansion, park, house, manor, and place. Burghley House, Longleat House, and Hatfield House are among the best known examples of the prodigy house. Some of the best known of Englands country houses were built by one architect at one time, Montacute House, Chatsworth House. They finally ran out of funds in the early 20th century, an example of this is Brympton dEvercy in Somerset, a house of many periods that is unified architecturally by the continuing use of the same mellow, local Ham Hill stone
2.
Hatfield, Hertfordshire
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Hatfield is a town and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England, in the borough of Welwyn Hatfield. It had a population of 29,616 in 2001, increasing to 39,201 at the 2011 Census, the settlement is of Saxon origin. Hatfield House, the home of the Marquess of Salisbury, is the nucleus of the old town, Hatfield was one of the post-war New Towns built around London and has much modernist architecture from the period. The University of Hertfordshire is based there, Hatfield is 20 miles north of London and is connected to the capital via the A1 and direct trains to London Kings Cross, Finsbury Park and Moorgate. As a result, the town has seen a recent increase in commuters who work in London moving to the area. In the Saxon period Hatfield was known as Hetfelle, but by the year 970, No other records remain until 1226, when Henry III granted the Bishops of Ely rights to an annual four-day fair and a weekly market. The town was then called Bishops Hatfield, Hatfield House is the seat of the Cecil family, the Marquesses of Salisbury. Elizabeth Tudor was confined there for three years in what is now known as The Old Palace in Hatfield Park. Legend has it that it was here in 1558, while sitting under an oak tree in the Park and she held her first Council in the Great Hall of Hatfield. In 1851, the route of the Great North Road was altered to avoid cutting through the grounds of Hatfield House, the town grew up around the gates of Hatfield House. Old Hatfield retains many buildings, notably the Old Palace, St Etheldredas Church. The Old Palace was built by the Bishop of Ely, Cardinal Morton, in 1497, during the reign of Henry VII, and the only surviving wing is still used today for Elizabethan-style banquets. St Etheldredas Church was founded by the monks from Ely, in 1930 the de Havilland airfield and aircraft factory was opened at Hatfield and by 1949 it had become the largest employer in the town, with almost 4,000 staff. It was taken over by Hawker Siddeley in 1960 and merged into British Aerospace in 1978, in the 1930s it produced a range of small biplanes. During the Second World War it produced the Mosquito fighter bomber and developed the Vampire, after the war, facilities were expanded and it developed the Comet airliner, the Trident airliner, and an early bizjet, the DH125. British Aerospace closed the Hatfield site in 1993 having moved the BAe 146 production line to Woodford Aerodrome, the land was used as a film set for Steven Spielbergs movie Saving Private Ryan and most of the BBC/HBO television drama Band of Brothers. It was later developed for housing, higher education, commerce, today, Hatfields aviation history is remembered by the names of certain local streets and pubs as well as The Comet Hotel built in the 1930s. The de Havilland Aircraft Heritage Centre, at Salisbury Hall in nearby London Colney, preserves and displays many historic de Havilland aeroplanes, the Abercrombie Plan for London in 1944 proposed a New Town in Hatfield
3.
Hertfordshire
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Hertfordshire is a county in southern England, bordered by Bedfordshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Buckinghamshire to the west and Greater London to the south. For government statistical purposes, it is placed in the East of England region, in 2013, the county had a population of 1,140,700 living in an area of 634 square miles. Four towns have between 50,000 and 100,000 residents, Hemel Hempstead, Stevenage, Watford and St Albans. Hertford, once the market town for the medieval agricultural county derives its name from a hart. Elevations are high for the region in the north and west and these reach over 240m in the western projection around Tring which is in the Chilterns. The countys borders are approximately the watersheds of the Colne and Lea, hertfordshires undeveloped land is mainly agricultural and much is protected by green belt. The countys landmarks span many centuries, ranging from the Six Hills in the new town of Stevenage built by local inhabitants during the Roman period, Leavesden filmed much of the UK-based $7.7 Bn box office Harry Potter film series and has the countrys studio tour. Saint Alban, a Romano-British soldier, took the place of a Christian priest and was beheaded on Holywell Hill and his martyrs cross of a yellow saltire on a blue background is reflected in the flag and coat of arms of Hertfordshire. Hertfordshire is well-served with motorways and railways, providing access to London. The largest sector of the economy of the county is in services, Hertfordshire was the area assigned to a fortress constructed at Hertford under the rule of Edward the Elder in 913. Hertford is derived from the Anglo-Saxon heort ford, meaning deer crossing, the name Hertfordshire is first recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in 1011. Deer feature in many county emblems, there is evidence of humans living in Hertfordshire from the Mesolithic period. It was first farmed during the Neolithic period and permanent habitation appeared at the beginning of the Bronze Age and this was followed by tribes settling in the area during the Iron Age. 293 the first recorded British martyrdom is believed to have taken place. Saint Alban, a Romano-British soldier, took the place of a Christian priest and was beheaded on Holywell Hill. His martyrs cross of a saltire on a blue background is reflected in the flag. He is the Patron Saint of Hertfordshire, with the departure of the Roman Legions in the early 5th century, the now unprotected territory was invaded and colonised by the Anglo-Saxons. By the 6th century the majority of the county was part of the East Saxon kingdom
4.
England
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England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west, the Irish Sea lies northwest of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east, the country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain in its centre and south, and includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly, and the Isle of Wight. England became a state in the 10th century, and since the Age of Discovery. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the worlds first industrialised nation, Englands terrain mostly comprises low hills and plains, especially in central and southern England. However, there are uplands in the north and in the southwest, the capital is London, which is the largest metropolitan area in both the United Kingdom and the European Union. In 1801, Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland through another Act of Union to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922 the Irish Free State seceded from the United Kingdom, leading to the latter being renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain, the name England is derived from the Old English name Englaland, which means land of the Angles. The Angles were one of the Germanic tribes that settled in Great Britain during the Early Middle Ages, the Angles came from the Angeln peninsula in the Bay of Kiel area of the Baltic Sea. The earliest recorded use of the term, as Engla londe, is in the ninth century translation into Old English of Bedes Ecclesiastical History of the English People. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, its spelling was first used in 1538. The earliest attested reference to the Angles occurs in the 1st-century work by Tacitus, Germania, the etymology of the tribal name itself is disputed by scholars, it has been suggested that it derives from the shape of the Angeln peninsula, an angular shape. An alternative name for England is Albion, the name Albion originally referred to the entire island of Great Britain. The nominally earliest record of the name appears in the Aristotelian Corpus, specifically the 4th century BC De Mundo, in it are two very large islands called Britannia, these are Albion and Ierne. But modern scholarly consensus ascribes De Mundo not to Aristotle but to Pseudo-Aristotle, the word Albion or insula Albionum has two possible origins. Albion is now applied to England in a poetic capacity. Another romantic name for England is Loegria, related to the Welsh word for England, Lloegr, the earliest known evidence of human presence in the area now known as England was that of Homo antecessor, dating to approximately 780,000 years ago. The oldest proto-human bones discovered in England date from 500,000 years ago, Modern humans are known to have inhabited the area during the Upper Paleolithic period, though permanent settlements were only established within the last 6,000 years
5.
Jacobean architecture
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The Jacobean style is the second phase of Renaissance architecture in England, following the Elizabethan style. It is named after King James I of England, with whose reign it is associated, at the start of James reign there was little stylistic break in architecture, as Elizabethan trends continued their development. Courtiers continued to build prodigy houses, even though James spent less time on summer progresses round his realm than Elizabeth had. The influence of Flemish and German Northern Mannerism increased, now often executed by immigrant craftsmen and artists, there continued to be very little building of new churches, though a considerable amount of modifications to old ones, but a great deal of secular building. Although the general lines of Elizabethan design remained, there was a consistent and unified application of formal design. Much use was made of columns and pilasters, round-arch arcades and these and other classical elements appeared in a free and fanciful vernacular rather than with any true classical purity. With them were mixed the prismatic rustications and ornamental detail of scrolls, straps, the style influenced furniture design and other decorative arts. In 1577, three years before the commencement of Wollaton Hall, a copybook of the orders was out in Antwerp by Hans Vredeman de Vries. Inside the house, the elaborately carved staircase demonstrates the Renaissance influence on English ornament, in 1607 and 1620, England founded her first successful colonies, Jamestown, Virginia and Plymouth, Massachusetts. This concurs with the dimensions of houses that would have been found amongst the English commoner classes as evidenced by the tax rolls of the Jacobean era. Examples of original Jacobean architecture in the Americas include Drax Hall Great House and St. Nicholas Abbey, Jacobean era Jacobean revival M. Whiffen, An Introduction to Elizabethan and Jacobean Architecture. J. Summerson, Architecture in Britain, 1530–1830 and this article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Spiers, R. Phene
6.
Prodigy house
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The prodigy houses stretch over the periods of Tudor, Elizabethan, and Jacobean architecture, though the term may be restricted to a core period of roughly 1570 to 1620. Many of the grandest were built with a view to housing Elizabeth I, many are therefore close to major roads, often in the English Midlands. The term originates with the architectural historian Sir John Summerson, and has generally adopted. He called them. the most daring of all English buildings, andrea Palladio was already dead before the prodigy houses reached their peak, but his much more restrained classical style did not reach England until the work of Inigo Jones in the 1620s. For ornament, French and Flemish Northern Mannerist decoration was more influential than Italian, the hosts were expected to house the monarch in style, and provide sufficient accommodation for about 150 travelling members of the court, for whom temporary buildings might need to be erected. Elizabeth was not slow to complain if she felt her accommodation had not been appropriate, a characteristic was the large area of glass – a new feature that superseded the need for easily defended external walls and announced the owners wealth. Hardwick Hall, for example was described as Hardwick Hall. Many other smaller houses were built by businessmen and administrators, as well as long-established families of the nobility. Some recent uses of the term extend the meaning to describe large ostentatious houses in America of later periods, such as colonial mansions in Virginia, altogether. a strange amalgam of exuberant pinnacles and turrets, native Gothic mullioned windows, and Renaissance decoration. Many houses stand alone, with stables and other outbuildings at a discreet distance, glass was then an expensive material, and its use on a large scale a demonstration of wealth. The large windows required mullions, normally in stone even in houses mainly in brick, though there were often reminiscences of the medieval castle, the houses were exceptionally without defences, compared to contemporary Italian and French equivalents. To have two internal courtyards, requiring a large building, was a status symbol, found at Audley End, Blickling Hall. Hardwick Hall, Burghley House, and on a smaller scale Wollaton Hall, the outer exteriors of the house are more decorated than internal exteriors such as courtyards, the reverse of the usual priority in medieval houses. The classical orders were used as decoration, piled up one above the other on the storeys over the main entrance. At Longleat and Wollaton shallow pilasters are used across the facades, the heavily-illustrated books on ornament by the Netherlander Hans Vredeman de Vries and German Wendel Dietterlin supplied much of the Northern Mannerist decorative detail such as strapwork. It is evident from surviving letters that took a keen. Inside, most houses still had a hall in the medieval style. But this was used for eating in by the servants
7.
Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury
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Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, KG, PC was an English administrator and politician. He was the son of William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley by his second wife Mildred Cooke. His elder half-brother was Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter, nonetheless his father recognised that it was Robert rather than Thomas who had inherited his own political genius. While Burghley was fond of both his sons, he is said to have remarked that Robert could rule England, Cecil attended St Johns College, Cambridge in the 1580s, but did not take a degree. He also attended disputations at the Sorbonne, in 1584 he sat for the first time in the House of Commons, representing his birthplace, the borough of Westminster. In 1589 Cecil married Elizabeth Brooke, the daughter of William Brooke, 10th Baron Cobham and their son, William Cecil was born in Westminster on 28 March 1591 and baptised in St Clement Danes on 11 April. Elizabeth died when their son was six years old and they also had one daughter, Frances, who married Henry Clifford, 5th Earl of Cumberland. He became an MP, elected to represent Westminster in 1584 and 1586, following the death of Sir Francis Walsingham in 1590, Burghley acted as Secretary of State, while Cecil took on an increasingly heavy work-load. He was also appointed to the Privy Council in 1591 and he became the leading minister after the death of his father in 1598, serving both Queen Elizabeth and King James as Secretary of State. He fell into dispute with Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex and he was then in a position to orchestrate the smooth succession of King James, maintaining a secret correspondence with him. Essexs unsuccessful rebellion in 1601, which resulted in his downfall and death, was largely aimed at Cecil. Whether Essex intended that Cecil should actually die is unclear and it is to Cecils credit that he persuaded the Queen to treat the rebels with a degree of mercy which was unusual in that age. This clemency did him no good in the eyes of the public, Cecil, who had never been very popular, now became a much hated figure. In ballads like Essexs Last Good Night, Cecil was viciously attacked, Cecil was extensively involved in matters of state security. As the son of Queen Elizabeths principal minister and a protégé of Sir Francis Walsingham, the Rainbow portrait of Queen Elizabeth, decorated with eyes and ears, may relate to this role. During her last illness, when Elizabeth would sit motionless on cushions for hours on end, Elizabeth roused herself one last time to snap at him, Must is not a word to be used to princes, little man. Cecil was one of the judges who tried them for treason, King James raised him to the peerage on 20 August 1603 as Baron Cecil, of Essendon in the County of Rutland, before creating him Viscount Cranborne in 1604 and then Earl of Salisbury in 1605. The now-Lord Salisbury was appointed to the Order of the Garter as its 401st Knight in 1606, although James would often speak disparagingly of Cecil as my little beagle he gave him his absolute trust
8.
James VI and I
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James VI and I was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until his death. The kingdoms of Scotland and England were individual sovereign states, with their own parliaments, judiciary, and laws, though both were ruled by James in personal union. James was the son of Mary, Queen of Scots, James succeeded to the Scottish throne at the age of thirteen months, after his mother Mary was compelled to abdicate in his favour. Four different regents governed during his minority, which ended officially in 1578, in 1603, he succeeded the last Tudor monarch of England and Ireland, Elizabeth I, who died without issue. He continued to reign in all three kingdoms for 22 years, a period known after him as the Jacobean era, until his death in 1625 at the age of 58. After the Union of the Crowns, he based himself in England from 1603, only returning to Scotland once in 1617 and he was a major advocate of a single parliament for England and Scotland. In his reign, the Plantation of Ulster and British colonization of the Americas began, at 57 years and 246 days, Jamess reign in Scotland was longer than those of any of his predecessors. He achieved most of his aims in Scotland but faced difficulties in England, including the Gunpowder Plot in 1605. James himself was a scholar, the author of works such as Daemonologie, The True Law of Free Monarchies. He sponsored the translation of the Bible that would later be named after him, Sir Anthony Weldon claimed that James had been termed the wisest fool in Christendom, an epithet associated with his character ever since. Since the latter half of the 20th century, historians have tended to revise Jamess reputation and treat him as a serious, James was the only son of Mary, Queen of Scots, and her second husband, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley. Both Mary and Darnley were great-grandchildren of Henry VII of England through Margaret Tudor, Marys rule over Scotland was insecure, and she and her husband, being Roman Catholics, faced a rebellion by Protestant noblemen. James was born on 19 June 1566 at Edinburgh Castle, and as the eldest son and heir apparent of the monarch automatically became Duke of Rothesay and Prince and he was baptised Charles James or James Charles on 17 December 1566 in a Catholic ceremony held at Stirling Castle. His godparents were Charles IX of France, Elizabeth I of England, Mary refused to let the Archbishop of St Andrews, whom she referred to as a pocky priest, spit in the childs mouth, as was then the custom. The subsequent entertainment, devised by Frenchman Bastian Pagez, featured men dressed as satyrs and sporting tails, Jamess father, Darnley, was murdered on 10 February 1567 at Kirk o Field, Edinburgh, perhaps in revenge for Rizzios death. James inherited his fathers titles of Duke of Albany and Earl of Ross, Mary was already unpopular, and her marriage on 15 May 1567 to James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, who was widely suspected of murdering Darnley, heightened widespread bad feeling towards her. In June 1567, Protestant rebels arrested Mary and imprisoned her in Loch Leven Castle and she was forced to abdicate on 24 July 1567 in favour of the infant James and to appoint her illegitimate half-brother, James Stewart, Earl of Moray, as regent. The care of James was entrusted to the Earl and Countess of Mar, to be conserved, nursed, and upbrought in the security of Stirling Castle
9.
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 7th Marquess of Salisbury
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Robert Michael James Gascoyne-Cecil, 7th Marquess of Salisbury, KCVO, PC, DL is a British Conservative politician. During the 1990s, he was Leader of the House of Lords under his title of Viscount Cranborne. Robert Michael James Gascoyne-Cecil was born on 30 September 1946 as the eldest child and first-born son of Robert Gascoyne-Cecil and his younger brother was the journalist Lord Richard Cecil, who was killed covering the conflict in Rhodesia in 1978. Lord Cranborne attended Eton College and Christ Church, Oxford, Lord Cranborne was selected, unexpectedly, as Conservative candidate for South Dorset in 1976, where his family owned lands, despite the presence of several former MPs on the shortlist. He spoke at the 1978 Conservative Party conference to oppose sanctions against Rhodesia and he took an interest in Northern Ireland, and, when Jim Prior announced his policy of Rolling Devolution, resigned an unpaid job as assistant to Douglas Hurd. Lord Cranborne became known as an anti-communist through his activities in support of Afghan refugees in Pakistan in the early 1980s, and sending food parcels to Poland. Until the early years of the 21st century, a charity shop was run on his Hatfield estate solely to raise money for these causes and he was involved in efforts to fund the Afghan resistance. After the 1992 General Election, John Major used a writ of acceleration to call Lord Cranborne up to the House of Lords in one of his fathers junior titles. Thus, Lord Cranborne was summoned to Parliament as Baron Cecil of Essendon and he served for two years as a junior defence minister before being appointed as Lord Privy Seal and Leader of the House of Lords in 1994. Funding for opposition parties in the House of Lords, known as Cranborne Money, when Major resigned to fight for re-election as Conservative Party Leader in July 1995, Lord Cranborne led his re-election campaign. He was recognised as one of the few members of the Cabinet who were loyal to Major. For the sake of form this amendment was proposed by Lord Weatherill. However, Lord Cranborne gave his partys approval without consulting the Leader, William Hague, Hague then sacked Lord Cranborne, who accepted his error, saying that he had rushed in, like an ill-trained spaniel. All former Leaders of the House of Lords who were hereditary peers accepted Life Peerages to keep them in the House in 1999 and he took Leave of Absence on 1 November 2001. He was therefore out of the House when he succeeded his father as 7th Marquess on 11 July 2003, in January 2010, Lord Salisbury and Owen Paterson hosted secret talks at Hatfield House, involving the Democratic Unionist Party, the Ulster Unionist Party and the Conservative Party. These talks prompted speculation that the Tories were attempting to create a pan-unionist front to limit Sinn Féin and the Social Democratic and Labour Party in the General Election of 2010. In September 2012, Lord Salisbury, in his role as Chairman of the Thames Diamond Jubilee Foundation, was knighted by The Queen and he is a Deputy Lieutenant of Hertfordshire and the current President of the Friends of the British Library. In 1970, aged 23, he married Hannah Stirling, niece of Lt Col Sir David Stirling, the marriage was initially opposed by his family, chiefly because Stirling was a Roman Catholic
10.
Elizabeth I of England
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Elizabeth I was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, his second wife, who was executed two and a half years after Elizabeths birth. Annes marriage to Henry VIII was annulled, and Elizabeth was declared illegitimate, edwards will was set aside and Mary became queen, deposing Lady Jane Grey. During Marys reign, Elizabeth was imprisoned for nearly a year on suspicion of supporting Protestant rebels, in 1558, Elizabeth succeeded her half-sister to the throne and set out to rule by good counsel. She depended heavily on a group of trusted advisers, led by William Cecil, one of her first actions as queen was the establishment of an English Protestant church, of which she became the Supreme Governor. This Elizabethan Religious Settlement was to evolve into the Church of England and it was expected that Elizabeth would marry and produce an heir to continue the Tudor line. She never did, despite numerous courtships, as she grew older, Elizabeth became famous for her virginity. A cult grew around her which was celebrated in the portraits, pageants, in government, Elizabeth was more moderate than her father and half-siblings had been. One of her mottoes was video et taceo, in religion, she was relatively tolerant and avoided systematic persecution. Elizabeth was cautious in foreign affairs, manoeuvring between the powers of France and Spain. She only half-heartedly supported a number of ineffective, poorly resourced military campaigns in the Netherlands, France, by the mid-1580s, England could no longer avoid war with Spain. Englands defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 associated Elizabeth with one of the greatest military victories in English history, Elizabeths reign is known as the Elizabethan era. Some historians depict Elizabeth as a short-tempered, sometimes indecisive ruler, towards the end of her reign, a series of economic and military problems weakened her popularity. Such was the case with Elizabeths rival, Mary, Queen of Scots, after the short reigns of Elizabeths half-siblings, her 44 years on the throne provided welcome stability for the kingdom and helped forge a sense of national identity. Elizabeth was born at Greenwich Palace and was named after both her grandmothers, Elizabeth of York and Elizabeth Howard and she was the second child of Henry VIII of England born in wedlock to survive infancy. Her mother was Henrys second wife, Anne Boleyn, at birth, Elizabeth was the heir presumptive to the throne of England. She was baptised on 10 September, Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, the Marquess of Exeter, the Duchess of Norfolk, Elizabeth was two years and eight months old when her mother was beheaded on 19 May 1536, four months after Catherine of Aragons death from natural causes. Elizabeth was declared illegitimate and deprived of her place in the royal succession, eleven days after Anne Boleyns execution, Henry married Jane Seymour, who died shortly after the birth of their son, Prince Edward, in 1537
11.
Henry VII of England
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Henry VII was King of England from seizing the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death on 21 April 1509, and the first monarch of the House of Tudor. He ruled the Principality of Wales until 29 November 1489 and was Lord of Ireland, Henry won the throne when his forces defeated King Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field, the culmination of the Wars of the Roses. Henry was the last king of England to win his throne on the field of battle and he cemented his claim by marrying Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward IV and niece of Richard III. Henry was successful in restoring the power and stability of the English monarchy after the civil war and his supportive stance of the islands wool industry and stand off with the Low Countries had long lasting benefits to all the British Isles economy. However, the capriciousness and lack of due process that many would tarnish his legacy and were soon ended upon Henry VIIs death. According to the contemporary historian Polydore Vergil, simple greed underscored the means by which royal control was over-asserted in Henrys final years, Henry VII was born at Pembroke Castle on 28 January 1457 to Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond. His father, Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond, died three months before his birth, Henrys paternal grandfather, Owen Tudor, originally from the Tudors of Penmynydd, Isle of Anglesey in Wales, had been a page in the court of Henry V. He rose to one of the Squires to the Body to the King after military service at the Battle of Agincourt. Owen is said to have married the widow of Henry V. One of their sons was Edmund Tudor, father of Henry VII, Edmund was created Earl of Richmond in 1452, and formally declared legitimate by Parliament. Henrys main claim to the English throne derived from his mother through the House of Beaufort, Henrys mother, Lady Margaret Beaufort, was a great-granddaughter of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, fourth son of Edward III, and his third wife Katherine Swynford. Katherine was Gaunts mistress for about 25 years, when married in 1396, they already had four children. Thus Henrys claim was somewhat tenuous, it was from a woman, in theory, the Portuguese and Castilian royal families had a better claim as descendants of Catherine of Lancaster, the daughter of John of Gaunt and his second wife Constance of Castile. Gaunts nephew Richard II legitimised Gaunts children by Katherine Swynford by Letters Patent in 1397, in 1407, Henry IV, who was Gaunts son by his first wife, issued new Letters Patent confirming the legitimacy of his half-siblings, but also declaring them ineligible for the throne. Henry IVs action was of doubtful legality, as the Beauforts were previously legitimised by an Act of Parliament, but it further weakened Henrys claim. Henry also made political capital out of his Welsh ancestry, for example in attracting military support. He came from an old, established Anglesey family that claimed descent from Cadwaladr and he took it, as well as the standard of St George, on his procession through London after the victory at Bosworth. A contemporary writer and Henrys biographer, Bernard André, also much of Henrys Welsh descent
12.
Henry VIII of England
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Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. Henry was the second Tudor monarch, succeeding his father, Henry VII, Henry is best known for his six marriages and, in particular, his efforts to have his first marriage, to Catherine of Aragon, annulled. Despite his resulting excommunication, Henry remained a believer in core Catholic theological teachings, domestically, Henry is known for his radical changes to the English Constitution, ushering in the theory of the divine right of kings to England. Besides asserting the supremacy over the Church of England, he greatly expanded royal power during his reign. Charges of treason and heresy were commonly used to quash dissent, and he achieved many of his political aims through the work of his chief ministers, some of whom were banished or executed when they fell out of his favour. Thomas Wolsey, Thomas More, Thomas Cromwell, Richard Rich and his contemporaries considered Henry in his prime to be an attractive, educated, and accomplished king, and he has been described as one of the most charismatic rulers to sit on the English throne. He was an author and composer, as he aged, Henry became severely obese and his health suffered, contributing to his death in 1547. He is frequently characterised in his life as a lustful, egotistical, harsh. He was succeeded by his son Edward VI, born 28 June 1491 at the Palace of Placentia in Greenwich, London, Henry Tudor was the third child and second son of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. Of the young Henrys six siblings, only three – Arthur, Prince of Wales, Margaret, and Mary – survived infancy and he was baptised by Richard Fox, the Bishop of Exeter, at a church of the Observant Franciscans close to the palace. In 1493, at the age of two, Henry was appointed Constable of Dover Castle and Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports. He was subsequently appointed Earl Marshal of England and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland at age three, and was inducted into the Order of the Bath soon after. The day after the ceremony he was created Duke of York, in May 1495, he was appointed to the Order of the Garter. Henry was given an education from leading tutors, becoming fluent in Latin and French. Not much is known about his early life – save for his appointments – because he was not expected to become king, as Duke of York, Henry used the arms of his father as king, differenced by a label of three points ermine. In 1502, Arthur died at the age of 15 of sweating sickness, Arthurs death thrust all his duties upon his younger brother, the 10-year-old Henry. After a little debate, Henry became the new Duke of Cornwall in October 1502, Henry VII gave the boy few tasks. Young Henry was strictly supervised and did not appear in public, as a result, the young Henry would later ascend the throne untrained in the exacting art of kingship
13.
Edward VI of England
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Edward VI was King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death. He was crowned on 20 February at the age of nine, the son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour, Edward was Englands first monarch to be raised as a Protestant. During his reign, the realm was governed by a Regency Council because he never reached his majority, the Council was first led by his uncle Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset, and then by John Dudley, 1st Earl of Warwick, from 1551 Duke of Northumberland. Edwards reign was marked by problems and social unrest that, in 1549, erupted into riot. An expensive war with Scotland, at first successful, ended with military withdrawal from Scotland as well as Boulogne-sur-Mer in exchange for peace, the transformation of the Church into a recognisably Protestant body also occurred under Edward, who took great interest in religious matters. Although his father, Henry VIII, had severed the link between the Church of England and Rome, Henry VIII had never permitted the renunciation of Catholic doctrine or ceremony. The architect of these reforms was Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, in February 1553, at age 15, Edward fell ill. When his sickness was discovered to be terminal, he and his Council drew up a Devise for the Succession, Edward named his first cousin once removed, Lady Jane Grey, as his heir and excluded his half-sisters, Mary and Elizabeth. This decision was disputed following Edwards death, and Jane was deposed by Mary nine days after becoming queen, during her reign, Mary reversed Edwards Protestant reforms, which nonetheless became the basis of the Elizabethan Religious Settlement of 1559. Edward was born on 12 October 1537 in his mothers room inside Hampton Court Palace and he was the son of King Henry VIII by his third wife, Jane Seymour. Throughout the realm, the people greeted the birth of a male heir, te Deums were sung in churches, bonfires lit, and their was shott at the Tower that night above two thousand gonnes. The Queen, however, fell ill on 23 October from presumed postnatal complications, Henry VIII wrote to Francis I of France that Divine Providence. Hath mingled my joy with bitterness of the death of her who brought me this happiness, Edward was a healthy baby who suckled strongly from the outset. His father was delighted with him, in May 1538, Henry was observed dallying with him in his arms, and so holding him in a window to the sight and great comfort of the people. That September, the Lord Chancellor, Lord Audley, reported Edwards rapid growth and vigour, the tradition that Edward VI was a sickly boy has been challenged by more recent historians. At the age of four, he fell ill with a quartan fever. Edward was initially placed in the care of Margaret Bryan, lady mistress of the princes household and she was succeeded by Blanche Herbert, Lady Troy. Until the age of six, Edward was brought up, as he put it later in his Chronicle, the formal royal household established around Edward was, at first, under Sir William Sidney, and later Sir Richard Page, stepfather of Edward Seymours wife, Anne Stanhope
14.
Mary I of England
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Mary I was the Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 until her death. Her executions of Protestants led to the posthumous sobriquet Bloody Mary and she was the only child of Henry VIII by his first wife Catherine of Aragon to survive to adulthood. Her younger half-brother Edward VI succeeded their father in 1547, when Edward became mortally ill in 1553, he attempted to remove Mary from the line of succession because of religious differences. On his death their first cousin once removed, Lady Jane Grey, was proclaimed queen, Mary assembled a force in East Anglia and deposed Jane, who was ultimately beheaded. Mary was—excluding the disputed reigns of Jane and the Empress Matilda—the first queen regnant of England, in 1554, Mary married Philip of Spain, becoming queen consort of Habsburg Spain on his accession in 1556. Mary is remembered for her restoration of Roman Catholicism after her half-brothers short-lived Protestant reign, during her five-year reign, she had over 280 religious dissenters burned at the stake in the Marian persecutions. After her death in 1558, her re-establishment of Roman Catholicism was reversed by her younger half-sister and successor Elizabeth I, daughter of Henry, Mary was born on 18 February 1516 at the Palace of Placentia in Greenwich, London. She was the child of King Henry VIII by his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. Her mother had many miscarriages, before Marys birth, four previous pregnancies had resulted in a stillborn daughter and she was baptised into the Catholic faith at the Church of the Observant Friars in Greenwich three days after her birth. Her godparents included her great-aunt the Countess of Devon, Lord Chancellor Thomas Wolsey, Henry VIIIs cousin once removed, Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury, stood sponsor for Marys confirmation, which was held immediately after the baptism. The following year, Mary became a godmother herself when she was named as one of the sponsors of her cousin Frances Brandon, in 1520, the Countess of Salisbury was appointed Marys governess. Sir John Hussey, later Lord Hussey, was her chamberlain from 1530, in July 1520, when scarcely four and a half years old, she entertained a visiting French delegation with a performance on the virginals. By the age of nine, Mary could read and write Latin and she studied French, Spanish, music, dance, and perhaps Greek. Henry VIII doted on his daughter and boasted to the Venetian ambassador Sebastian Giustiniani, also, as the miniature portrait of her shows, Mary had, like both her parents, a very fair complexion, pale blue eyes and red or reddish-golden hair. She was also ruddy cheeked, a trait she inherited from her father, despite his affection for Mary, Henry was deeply disappointed that his marriage had produced no sons. By the time Mary was nine years old, it was apparent that Henry and Catherine would have no more children, in 1525, Henry sent Mary to the border of Wales to preside, presumably in name only, over the Council of Wales and the Marches. She was given her own based at Ludlow Castle and many of the royal prerogatives normally reserved for the Prince of Wales. Vives and others called her the Princess of Wales, although she was never technically invested with the title and she appears to have spent three years in the Welsh Marches, making regular visits to her fathers court, before returning permanently to the home counties around London in mid-1528
15.
Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley
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Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley, KG was the brother of the English queen Jane Seymour who was the third wife of King Henry VIII and mother of King Edward VI. He was also the husband of Catherine Parr who was the sixth. However, he is probably best known for his influence in the life of the future Queen Elizabeth I, Thomas was the son of Sir John Seymour and Margaret Wentworth. He was the brother of Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset. He grew up at Wulfhall, the Seymour family home, in Wiltshire, the Seymours were a family of country gentry, who, like most holders of manorial rights, traced their ancestry to a Norman origin. To his contemporaries, he was forceful and reckless, and also, Sir Nicholas Throckmorton, a boyhood friend of King Edward, described Thomas Seymour as hardy, wise and liberal. Fierce in courage, courtly in fashion, in personage stately, in voice magnificent, and though ambitious, his brother, Edward Seymour, far surpassed and out-distanced him in their rivalry over control of their nephew, Edward Tudor, and for power. Because Henry VIII and his wife, Anne Boleyn, did not have a son, his interests turned elsewhere. Henry married Jane eleven days after Annes execution in May 1536, in October of the following year, Jane gave birth to a son, Edward Tudor, who would become King Edward VI. Less than two weeks later, Queen Jane died from complications related to childbirth, leaving her two brothers, Edward and Thomas, as uncles to the baby Edward, heir to the throne. Thomass other royal connection was with Catherine Parr, Henry VIIIs sixth wife, the Parrs were a substantial northern family, both of Catherines parents being friends with King Henry and Queen Catherine of Aragon. In 1529, when she was 17, Catherine married Sir Edward Burgh, in 1534 Catherine married John Neville, 3rd Baron Latimer, a man twice her age. With this marriage, Catherine had a home, step-children, and a husband with influence. As a result of the uprising of the North, in January 1537, Catherine and her family spent much of their time in London where, in 1542, Catherine preferred the atmosphere of the court which was very different from the rural estates she had known. She nursed her husband until his death in 1543, which left her a rich widow, after Lord Latimers death, she faced the possibility of having to return north. However, in same year, Catherine established herself as part of Princess Marys household. Although she had begun a romantic relationship with Thomas, she saw it as her duty to accept Henrys proposal over Thomass. Thus, on 12 July 1543, Catherine Parr became Henrys sixth, meanwhile, in 1538, Thomas was sent to the embassy at the French court
16.
Portraiture of Elizabeth I of England
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Even the earliest portraits of Elizabeth I of England contain symbolic objects such as roses and prayer books that would have carried meaning to viewers of her day. Two portraiture traditions had arisen in the Tudor court since the days of Elizabeths father, the portrait miniature developed from the illuminated manuscript tradition. These small personal images were almost invariably painted from life over the space of a few days in watercolours on vellum stiffened by being glued to a playing card. Panel paintings in oils on prepared wood surfaces were based on drawings and were usually executed at life size. Elizabeth sat to a number of artists over the years, including Hilliard, Cornelis Ketel, Federico Zuccaro or Zuccari, Isaac Oliver, portraits were commissioned by the government as gifts to foreign monarchs and to show to prospective suitors. Courtiers commissioned heavily symbolic paintings to demonstrate their devotion to the queen, the fashionable long galleries of later Elizabethan country houses were filled with sets of portraits. Holbein had accustomed the English court to the full-length life-size portrait and his great dynastic mural at Whitehall Palace, destroyed in 1698, and perhaps other original large portraits, would have been familiar to Elizabethan artists. Both Holbein and his great Italian contemporary Titian had combined great psychological penetration with a sufficiently majestic impression to satisfy their royal patrons. Titian continued to paint royal portraits, especially of Philip II of Spain, until the 1570s, but in reduced numbers after about 1555. The full length portrait of Philip now in the Prado was sent to Elizabeths elder sister, mor had actually visited London in 1554, and painted three versions of his well-known portrait of Queen Mary, he also painted English courtiers who visited Antwerp. Mors Spanish pupil Alonso Sánchez Coello continued in a version of his masters style. Morettos pupil Giovanni Battista Moroni was Mors contemporary and formed his style in the 1550s. Bronzino developed a style of coldly distant magnificence, based on the Mannerist portraits of Pontormo, working almost entirely for Cosimo I, the first Medici Grand-Duke. At the least many of the painters in London are likely to have seen versions of the earlier type. A few full-length portraits of royalty were produced, dependent on German or Italian models, William Gaunt contrasts the simplicity of the 1546 portrait of Elizabeth Tudor as a Princess with later images of her as queen. From the 1570s, the government sought to manipulate the image of the queen as an object of devotion and veneration, the pageantry of the Accession Day tilts, the poetry of the court, and the most iconic of Elizabeths portraits all reflect this effort. The draft proclamation was a response to the circulation of poorly made portraits in which Elizabeth is shown in blacke with a hoode and cornet, symbolism in these pictures is in keeping with earlier Tudor portraiture, in some Elizabeth holds a book suggesting studiousness or piety. In other paintings she holds or wears a red rose, symbol of the Tudor Dynastys descent from the House of Lancaster, or white roses, symbols of the House of York and of maidenly chastity
17.
Great hall
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At that time the word great simply meant big, and had not acquired its modern connotations of excellence. Great halls were found especially in France, England and Scotland, a typical great hall was a rectangular room between one and a half and three times as long as it was wide, and also higher than it was wide. It was entered through a passage at one end, and had windows on one of the long sides. There was often a gallery above the screens passage. At the other end of the hall was the dais where the table was situated. The lords familys more private rooms lay beyond the end of the hall. Even royal and noble residences had few living rooms until late in the Middle Ages, and a great hall was a multifunctional room. It was used for receiving guests and it was the place where the household would dine together, including the lord of the house, his gentleman attendants, at night some members of the household might sleep on the floor of the great hall. The hearth was used for heating and also for some of the cooking, commonly the fireplace would have an elaborate overmantel with stone or wood carvings or even plasterwork which might contain coats of arms, heraldic mottoes, caryatids or other adornment. In the upper halls of French manor houses, the fireplaces were usually very large, typically, the great hall had the most beautiful decorations in it, as well as on the window frame mouldings on the outer wall. Many French manor houses have very beautifully decorated external window frames on the large mullioned windows that light the hall and this decoration clearly marked the window as belonging to the lords private hall. In western France, the manor houses were centered on a central ground-floor hall. Later, the reserved for the lord and his high-ranking guests was moved up to the first-floor level. This was called the salle haute or upper hall, in some of the larger three-storey manor houses, the upper hall was as high as second storey roof. The smaller ground-floor hall or salle basse remained but was for receiving guests of any social order and it is very common to find these two halls superimposed, one on top of the other, in larger manor houses in Normandy and Brittany. Access from the hall to the upper hall was normally via an external staircase tower. The upper hall often contained the bedroom and living quarters off one end. Occasionally the great hall would have a listening device system
18.
De Vere Theobalds Estate
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It was a leading example of the Elizabethan prodigy house. Rebuilt in the Georgian era it is now a hotel and conference venue known as Theobalds Park, the manor was originally called Cullynges, later Tongs, and since 1440, Thebaudes, Tibbolds and finally Theobalds. The original manor house was surrounded by a moat, in 1563 it was bought by Lord Burghley, senior councillor of Elizabeth I. Lord Burghley commissioned a new house which was built between 1564 and 1585. The formal gardens of the house were modelled after the Château de Fontainebleau in France, the Queen visited eight times between 1572 and 1596. The location was ideal in that it lay just off the road north from London to Ware. Robert Cecil inherited the house and arranged for the new king James I to visit in 1603, in 1606 Cecil entertained James and his brother-in-law King Christian IV of Denmark at Theobalds. In 1607 King James I acquired Theobalds in exchange for Hatfield Palace, also in Hertfordshire and he eventually died within its walls on March 27,1625. After the execution in 1649 of his son, Charles I, Theobalds was listed, amongst other properties, for demolition. This was achieved speedily and by the end of 1650 the house was largely demolished, after the Restoration the estate was granted to George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle, but reverted to the crown after the death of the 2nd Duke of Albemarle, who left no heir. It was then given by King William III to William Bentinck, 1st Earl of Portland and descended in that family until sold in 1762 by 3rd Duke of Portland to George Prescott, a merchant and MP. Prescott built a Georgian style mansion known as The Cedars about a mile to the north west of the original palace. The Cedars passed from the Prescott family to the Meux family of Meuxs Brewery fame in about 1820 and these included a remodelled entrance based on Sir Christopher Wrens Temple Bar, which had been dismantled and stored in a yard at Farringdon Road. Lady Meux often entertained in the upper chamber, guests included King Edward VII. In 1910 the estate was inherited by Admiral The Hon Sir Hedworth Meux, after his death in 1929, the house was a hotel for some years. During World War II, the house was used by the Royal Artillery, in 1955 it became a secondary school and after 1969, an adult education centre. In the 1990s it was refurbished for use as a conference centre. The Temple Bar had remained in the hands of the trustees of the Meux family estate and despite its status as a Scheduled Ancient Monument, had lapsed into decay, after a long campaign, it was decided to return it to the City in 2001
19.
Cedars Park, Broxbourne
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Cedars Park is a historic public park originally the site of Theobalds Palace a Tudor palace, managed by the Borough of Broxbourne and located in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, England. The park covers 19 hectares of parkland and includes a lake, turf play maze, bocce court, play mound, pets corner, flint arch and historic walls, tea room, the park received a Green Flag award in 2013. Cedars Park is the site of a 16th-century Royal Palace known as Theobalds Palace which was built between 1564 and 1585 by Sir William Cecil, James I dramatically extended the park and buildings. As a Royal Palace, it was the scene of state occasions, in 1820, Theobalds including the new mansion The Cedars built by the Prescott family rented it out to Sir Henry Meux in 1820. In 1921 The Cedars was given to the town of Cheshunt by Admiral of the Fleet the Hon, Sir Hedworth Meux and a public park was created, demolishing the house. Sir Hedworth Meux, formerly The Hon Hedworth Lambton, had involved in the siege of Ladysmith and inherited The Cedars from Valerie. The park was donated to the public in 1921 by Admiral of the Fleet the Hon, on 2 July 1921 Cedars Park was officially opened by the Earl of Cavan and Admiral Meux. Elements of the present park can be identified as parts of the original Tudor or Stuart gardens. In 2011, Broxbourne Council received a £1.89 million Heritage Lottery Fund and Big Lottery Fund grant to protect and improve Cedars Park and this grant is partly conditional on receiving Community support for the project and the achievement of 700 volunteer days over three years. This is the equivalent of £35,000, to date, as part of the project, the park has undergone a variety of improvements, including the opening of a café and community meeting space in 2014. The park has received a Green Flag award every year since 2009
20.
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury
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He was the last prime minister to head his full administration from the House of Lords. In 1868 upon the death of his father, Cecil was elevated to the House of Lords and he became prime minister in June 1885 when the Liberal leader William Ewart Gladstone resigned, and held the office until January 1886. When Gladstone came out in favour of Home Rule for Ireland, Salisbury opposed him and formed an alliance with the breakaway Liberal Unionists and he died a year later, in 1903. Historians agree that Salisbury was a strong and effective leader in foreign affairs, Paul Smith characterises his personality as deeply neurotic, depressive, agitated, introverted, fearful of change and loss of control, and self-effacing but capable of extraordinary competitiveness. A representative of the aristocracy, he held the reactionary credo, Whatever happens will be for the worse. Lord Robert Cecil was the son of James Gascoyne-Cecil, 2nd Marquess of Salisbury. He was a descendant of Lord Burghley and the 1st Earl of Salisbury. The family owned vast rural estates in Hertfordshire and Dorset and this wealth increased sharply in 1821, when he married the rich heiress of a merchant prince who had bought up large estates in Essex and Lancashire. Robert had a childhood, with few friends, he filled his time with reading. He was bullied unmercifully at the schools he attended, in 1840, he went to Eton College, where he did well in French, German, Classics, and Theology, however, he left in 1845 because of intense bullying. The unhappy schooling shaped his outlook on life and his negative views on democracy. He decided that most people were cowardly and cruel, and that the mob would run roughshod over sensitive individuals, in December 1847 he went to Christ Church, Oxford, where he received an honorary fourth class in mathematics conferred by noblemans privilege due to ill health. Whilst at Oxford he found the Oxford movement or Tractarianism to be an intoxicating force, in April 1850 he joined Lincolns Inn but subsequently did not enjoy law. His doctor advised him to travel for his health, and so in July 1851 to May 1853 Cecil travelled through Cape Colony, Australia, including Tasmania, and New Zealand. He found the Kaffirs a fine set of men – whose language bears traces of a very high former civilisation and they were an intellectual race, with great firmness and fixedness of will but horribly immoral as they lacked theism. In the Bendigo goldmine of Australia, he claimed there is not half as much crime or insubordination as there would be in an English town of the same wealth. Ten thousand miners were policed by four men armed with carbines, a Maori chief offered Cecil five acres near Auckland, which he declined. He entered the House of Commons as a Conservative on 22 August 1853 and he retained this seat until entering the peerage and it was not contested during his time as its representative
21.
Prime minister
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A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss members of the cabinet. In most systems, the minister is the presiding member. In parliamentary systems fashioned after the Westminster system, the minister is the presiding and actual head of government. In such systems, the head of state or the head of states official representative usually holds a ceremonial position. The prime minister is often, but not always, a member of the Legislature or the Lower House thereof and is expected with other ministers to ensure the passage of bills through the legislature. In some monarchies the monarch may also exercise powers that are constitutionally vested in the crown. The first actual usage of the prime minister or Premier Ministre was used by Cardinal Richelieu when in 1625 he was named to head the royal council as prime minister of France. Louis XIV and his descendants generally attempted to avoid giving this title to their chief ministers, the term prime minister in the sense that we know it originated in the 18th century in the United Kingdom when members of parliament disparagingly used the title in reference to Sir Robert Walpole. Over time, however, the title became honorific and remains so in the 21st century, the monarchs of England and the United Kingdom had ministers in whom they placed special trust and who were regarded as the head of the government. Examples were Thomas Cromwell under Henry VIII, William Cecil, Lord Burghley under Elizabeth I, Clarendon under Charles II and these ministers held a variety of formal posts, but were commonly known as the minister, the chief minister, the first minister and finally the prime minister. The power of ministers depended entirely on the personal favour of the monarch. Although managing the parliament was among the skills of holding high office. Although there was a cabinet, it was appointed entirely by the monarch, when the monarch grew tired of a first minister, he or she could be dismissed, or worse, Cromwell was executed and Clarendon driven into exile when they lost favour. Kings sometimes divided power equally between two or more ministers to prevent one minister from becoming too powerful, late in Annes reign, for example, the Tory ministers Harley and St John shared power. The monarch could no longer any law or impose any tax without its permission. It is at point that a modern style of prime minister begins to emerge. A tipping point in the evolution of the prime ministership came with the death of Anne in 1714, George spoke no English, spent much of his time at his home in Hanover, and had neither knowledge of, nor interest in, the details of English government
22.
Queen Victoria
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Victoria was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she adopted the title of Empress of India. Victoria was the daughter of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, both the Duke of Kent and King George III died in 1820, and Victoria was raised under close supervision by her German-born mother Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. She inherited the throne aged 18, after her fathers three brothers had all died, leaving no surviving legitimate children. The United Kingdom was already a constitutional monarchy, in which the sovereign held relatively little direct political power. Privately, Victoria attempted to influence government policy and ministerial appointments, publicly, Victoria married her first cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, in 1840. Their nine children married into royal and noble families across the continent, tying them together, after Alberts death in 1861, Victoria plunged into deep mourning and avoided public appearances. As a result of her seclusion, republicanism temporarily gained strength and her Golden and Diamond Jubilees were times of public celebration. Her reign of 63 years and seven months is known as the Victorian era and it was a period of industrial, cultural, political, scientific, and military change within the United Kingdom, and was marked by a great expansion of the British Empire. She was the last British monarch of the House of Hanover and her son and successor, Edward VII, belonged to the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, the line of his father. Victorias father was Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, until 1817, Edwards niece, Princess Charlotte of Wales, was the only legitimate grandchild of George III. Her death in 1817 precipitated a crisis that brought pressure on the Duke of Kent. In 1818 he married Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, a widowed German princess with two children—Carl and Feodora —by her first marriage to the Prince of Leiningen and her brother Leopold was Princess Charlottes widower. The Duke and Duchess of Kents only child, Victoria, was born at 4.15 a. m. on 24 May 1819 at Kensington Palace in London. Victoria was christened privately by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Charles Manners-Sutton, on 24 June 1819 in the Cupola Room at Kensington Palace and she was baptised Alexandrina, after one of her godparents, Emperor Alexander I of Russia, and Victoria, after her mother. Additional names proposed by her parents—Georgina, Charlotte, and Augusta—were dropped on the instructions of the Dukes eldest brother, George, the Duke of Clarence and the Duke of Kent married on the same day in 1818, but both of Clarences daughters died as infants. Victorias father died in January 1820, when Victoria was less than a year old, a week later her grandfather died and was succeeded by his eldest son, George IV. The Duke of York died in 1827, when George IV died in 1830, he was succeeded by his next surviving brother, William IV, and Victoria became heir presumptive
23.
Rhodesia
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Rhodesia, commonly known from 1970 onwards as the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territorial terms to modern Zimbabwe. With its capital in Salisbury, Rhodesia was considered a de facto successor state to the former British colony of Southern Rhodesia, the UDI administration initially sought recognition as an autonomous realm within the Commonwealth of Nations, but reconstituted itself as a republic in 1970. Following a brutal guerrilla war fought with two African nationalist organisations, Rhodesian premier Ian Smith conceded to bi-racial democracy in 1978, however, a provisional government subsequently headed by Smith and his moderate colleague Abel Muzorewa failed in appeasing international critics or halting the bloodshed. It finally achieved internationally recognised independence in April 1980, the nation was renamed the Republic of Zimbabwe. A wholly landlocked area, Rhodesia was bordered by South Africa to the south, Bechuanaland to the southwest, Zambia to the northwest, the state was named after Cecil Rhodes, whose British South Africa Company acquired the land in the late 19th century. The official name of the country, according to the constitution adopted concurrently with the Unilateral Declaration of Independence in 1965, was Rhodesia and this naming dispute dated back to October 1964, when Northern Rhodesia became independent from Britain and concurrently changed its name to Zambia. The Southern Rhodesian colonial government in Salisbury felt that in the absence of a Northern Rhodesia, Salisbury went on using the shortened name in an official manner nevertheless, while the British government continued referring to the country as Southern Rhodesia. This situation continued throughout the UDI period, the shortened name was used by many people including the British government in the House of Commons. Southern Rhodesia subsequently gained international recognition of its independence in April 1980, in 1922, faced with the decision to join the Union of South Africa as a fifth province or accept nearly full internal autonomy, the electorate cast its vote against South African integration. In view of the outcome of the referendum, the territory was annexed by the United Kingdom on 12 September 1923, shortly after annexation, on 1 October 1923, the first constitution for the new Colony of Southern Rhodesia came into force. By colonial standards, public services were well-organised and praised for their efficiency, as it began to appear that decolonisation was inevitable and indigenous black populations were pressing heavily for change, the federation was dissolved in 1963. Rhodesian colonials initially balked at the suggestion, some felt they had a right to political control, at least for the time being. The authorities were also disturbed by the chaos which was plaguing other African nations at the time. Harold Wilson and his incoming Labour government took a harder line on demanding that these points be legitimately addressed before an independence agenda could be set. By 1964, growing dissatisfaction with the ongoing negotiations ousted Salisburys incumbent Winston Field, replacing him with Ian Smith, Smith, the colonys first Rhodesian-born leader, soon came to personify resistance to liberals in British government and those agitating for change at home. Emboldened by the results of referendum and the subsequent general election. Harold Wilson countered by warning that such a procedure would be considered treasonous, although he specifically rejected using armed force against the English kith. Wilsons refusal to consider a military option encouraged Smith to proceed with his plans, on 11 November 1965, following a brief but solemn consensus, Rhodesias leading statesmen issued their countrys unilateral declaration of independence
24.
Zimbabwe
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Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in southern Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the west and southwest, Zambia to the northwest, although it does not border Namibia, less than 200 metres of the Zambezi River separates it from that country. The capital and largest city is Harare, a country of roughly 13 million people, Zimbabwe has 16 official languages, with English, Shona, and Ndebele the most commonly used. Since the 11th century, present-day Zimbabwe has been the site of several organised states and kingdoms as well as a route for migration. The British South Africa Company of Cecil Rhodes first demarcated the present territory during the 1890s, in 1965, the conservative white minority government unilaterally declared independence as Rhodesia. Zimbabwe then rejoined the Commonwealth of Nations—which it withdrew from in 2003 and it is a member of the United Nations, the Southern African Development Community, the African Union, and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa. Robert Mugabe became Prime Minister of Zimbabwe in 1980, when his ZANU-PF party won the following the end of white minority rule. Under Mugabes authoritarian regime, the security apparatus has dominated the country. Mugabe has maintained the revolutionary socialist rhetoric from the Cold War era, the name Zimbabwe stems from a Shona term for Great Zimbabwe, an ancient ruined city in the countrys south-east whose remains are now a protected site. Two different theories address the origin of the word, many sources hold that Zimbabwe derives from dzimba-dza-mabwe, translated from the Karanga dialect of Shona as large houses of stone. The Karanga-speaking Shona people live around Great Zimbabwe in the province of Masvingo. Zimbabwe was formerly known as Southern Rhodesia, Rhodesia, and Zimbabwe Rhodesia, a further alternative, put forward by nationalists in Matabeleland, had been Matopos, referring to the Matopos Hills to the south of Bulawayo. In a 2001 interview, black nationalist Edson Zvobgo recalled that Mawema mentioned the name during a rally, and it caught hold. The black nationalist factions subsequently used the name the during the Second Chimurenga campaigns against the Rhodesian government during the Rhodesian Bush War of 1964-1979, major factions in this camp included the Zimbabwe African National Union, and the Zimbabwe African Peoples Union. Proto-Shona-speaking societies first emerged in the middle Limpopo valley in the 9th century before moving on to the Zimbabwean highlands, the Zimbabwean plateau eventually became the centre of subsequent Shona states, beginning around the 10th century. Around the early 10th century, trade developed with Arab merchants on the Indian Ocean coast, the main archaeological site uses a unique dry stone architecture. The Kingdom of Mapungubwe was the first in a series of sophisticated trade states developed in Zimbabwe by the time of the first European explorers from Portugal and they traded in gold, ivory, and copper for cloth and glass. From about 1300 until 1600, Mapungubwe was eclipsed by the Kingdom of Zimbabwe and this Shona state further refined and expanded upon Mapungubwes stone architecture, which survives to this day at the ruins of the kingdoms capital of Great Zimbabwe
25.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
26.
Prisoner of war
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A prisoner of war is a person, whether combatant or non-combatant, who is held in custody by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the prisoner of war dates to 1660. The first Roman gladiators were prisoners of war and were named according to their ethnic roots such as Samnite, Thracian, typically, little distinction was made between enemy combatants and enemy civilians, although women and children were more likely to be spared. Sometimes, the purpose of a battle, if not a war, was to capture women, a known as raptio. Typically women had no rights, and were legally as chattel. For this he was eventually canonized, during Childerics siege and blockade of Paris in 464, the nun Geneviève pleaded with the Frankish king for the welfare of prisoners of war and met with a favourable response. Later, Clovis I liberated captives after Genevieve urged him to do so, many French prisoners of war were killed during the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. In the later Middle Ages, a number of religious wars aimed to not only defeat, in Christian Europe, the extermination of heretics was considered desirable. Examples include the 13th century Albigensian Crusade and the Northern Crusades, likewise, the inhabitants of conquered cities were frequently massacred during the Crusades against the Muslims in the 11th and 12th centuries. Noblemen could hope to be ransomed, their families would have to send to their captors large sums of wealth commensurate with the status of the captive. In feudal Japan there was no custom of ransoming prisoners of war, in Termez, on the Oxus, all the people, both men and women, were driven out onto the plain, and divided in accordance with their usual custom, then they were all slain. The Aztecs were constantly at war with neighbouring tribes and groups, for the re-consecration of Great Pyramid of Tenochtitlan in 1487, between 10,000 and 80,400 persons were sacrificed. During the early Muslim conquests, Muslims routinely captured large number of prisoners, aside from those who converted, most were ransomed or enslaved. Christians who were captured during the Crusades, were either killed or sold into slavery if they could not pay a ransom. The freeing of prisoners was highly recommended as a charitable act, there also evolved the right of parole, French for discourse, in which a captured officer surrendered his sword and gave his word as a gentleman in exchange for privileges. If he swore not to escape, he could gain better accommodations, if he swore to cease hostilities against the nation who held him captive, he could be repatriated or exchanged but could not serve against his former captors in a military capacity. Early historical narratives of captured colonial Europeans, including perspectives of literate women captured by the peoples of North America. The writings of Mary Rowlandson, captured in the fighting of King Philips War, are an example
27.
George VI
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George VI was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death. He was the last Emperor of India and the first Head of the Commonwealth, known as Albert until his accession, George VI was born in the reign of his great-grandmother Queen Victoria, and was named after his great-grandfather Albert, Prince Consort. As the second son of King George V, he was not expected to inherit the throne and spent his life in the shadow of his elder brother. He attended naval college as a teenager, and served in the Royal Navy, in 1920, he was made Duke of York. He married Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon in 1923 and they had two daughters, Elizabeth and Margaret, in the mid-1920s, he had speech therapy for a stammer, which he never fully overcame. Georges elder brother ascended the throne as Edward VIII upon the death of their father in 1936, however, later that year Edward revealed his desire to marry divorced American socialite Wallis Simpson. British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin advised Edward that for political and religious reasons he could not marry a divorced woman, Edward abdicated in order to marry, and George ascended the throne as the third monarch of the House of Windsor. During Georges reign, the break-up of the British Empire and its transition into the Commonwealth of Nations accelerated, the parliament of the Irish Free State removed direct mention of the monarch from the countrys constitution on the day of his accession. The following year, a new Irish constitution changed the name of the state to Ireland, from 1939, the Empire and Commonwealth – except Ireland – was at war with Nazi Germany. War with Italy and Japan followed in 1940 and 1941, respectively, though Britain and its allies were ultimately victorious in 1945, the United States and the Soviet Union rose as pre-eminent world powers and the British Empire declined. After the independence of India and Pakistan in 1947, George remained king of countries, but relinquished the title of Emperor of India in June 1948. Ireland formally declared itself a republic and left the Commonwealth in 1949, George adopted the new title of Head of the Commonwealth. He was beset by problems in the later years of his reign. He was succeeded by his eldest daughter, Elizabeth II, George was born at York Cottage, on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, during the reign of his great-grandmother Queen Victoria. His father was Prince George, Duke of York, the second and eldest-surviving son of the Prince and his mother was the Duchess of York, the eldest child and only daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Teck. His birthday was the 34th anniversary of the death of his great-grandfather, Albert, uncertain of how the Prince Consorts widow, Queen Victoria, would take the news of the birth, the Prince of Wales wrote to the Duke of York that the Queen had been rather distressed. Two days later, he again, I really think it would gratify her if you yourself proposed the name Albert to her. Consequently, he was baptised Albert Frederick Arthur George at St. Mary Magdalenes Church near Sandringham three months later, within the family, he was known informally as Bertie
28.
Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother
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Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon was the wife of King George VI and the mother of Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon. She was the last Empress consort of India, born into a family of British nobility, she came to prominence in 1923 when she married Albert, Duke of York, the second son of King George V and Queen Mary. The couple and their daughters embodied traditional ideas of family and public service and she undertook a variety of public engagements and became known as the Smiling Duchess because of her consistent public expression. In 1936, her husband became king when his brother, Edward VIII. She accompanied her husband on diplomatic tours to France and North America before the start of World War II, during the war, her seemingly indomitable spirit provided moral support to the British public. In recognition of her role as an asset to British interests, after the war, her husbands health deteriorated and she was widowed at the age of 51. Her elder daughter, aged 25, became the new queen, on the death of Queen Mary in 1953, Elizabeth became the most senior member of the British royal family after the sovereign, and was viewed as the family matriarch. In her later years, she was a popular member of the family. She continued a public life until just a few months before her death at the age of 101, seven weeks after the death of her younger daughter. Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon was the youngest daughter and the ninth of ten children of Claude Bowes-Lyon, Lord Glamis, other possible locations include Forbes House in Ham, London, the home of her maternal grandmother, Louisa Scott. Her birth was registered at Hitchin, Hertfordshire, near the Strathmores English country house, St Pauls Walden Bury, which was also given as her birthplace in the census the following year. She was christened there on 23 September 1900, in the parish church, All Saints. She spent much of her childhood at St Pauls Walden and at Glamis Castle and she was educated at home by a governess until the age of eight, and was fond of field sports, ponies and dogs. When she started school in London, she astonished her teachers by precociously beginning an essay with two Greek words from Xenophons Anabasis and her best subjects were literature and scripture. After returning to education under a German Jewish governess, Käthe Kübler. On her fourteenth birthday, Britain declared war on Germany, four of her brothers served in the army. Her elder brother, Fergus, an officer in the Black Watch Regiment, was killed in action at the Battle of Loos in 1915, another brother, Michael, was reported missing in action on 28 April 1917. Three weeks later, the family discovered he had captured after being wounded
29.
John Tradescant the Elder
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John Tradescant the elder, father of John Tradescant the younger, was an English naturalist, gardener, collector and traveller, probably born in Suffolk, England. He began his career as head gardener to Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury at Hatfield House and he was kept on by Roberts son William, to produce gardens at the familys London house, Salisbury House. He then designed gardens on the site of St Augustines Abbey for Edward Lord Wotton in 1615-23, later, Tradescant was gardener to the royal favourite George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham, remodelling his gardens at New Hall, Essex and at Burley-on-the-Hill. On all his trips he collected seeds and bulbs everywhere and assembled a collection of curiosities of natural history and ethnography which he housed in a house, The Ark, in Lambeth. The Ark was the prototypical Cabinet of Curiosity, a collection of rare and strange objects, that became the first museum open to the public in England, the Musaeum Tradescantianum. He also gathered specimens through American colonists, including his personal friend John Smith, who bequeathed Tradescant a quarter of his library. From their botanical garden in Lambeth, on the bank of the Thames, he and his son, John. A genus of flowering plants is named to honour him, Tradescant Road, off South Lambeth Road in Vauxhall, marks the former boundary of the Tradescant estate. He was buried in the churchyard of St-Mary-at-Lambeth, as was his son and he is the subject of the novel Earthly Joys by Philippa Gregory. Edward Lhuyd - curator of the Ashmolean Museum Prudence Leith-Ross, The John Tradescants, Gardeners to the Rose, arthur MacGregor, Tradescants Rarities, Essays on the Foundation of the Ashmolean Museum,1983. Their Plants, Gardens and Museum 1570-1662, London 1964, jennifer Potter, Strange Blooms, The Curious Lives and Adventures of the John Tradescants,2006. ISBN 1-84354-334-6 Tradescant Collection at the Ashmolean Museum Vauxhall Society Botany A Chilham garden designed by him
30.
World War I
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World War I, also known as the First World War, the Great War, or the War to End All Wars, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. More than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilised in one of the largest wars in history and it was one of the deadliest conflicts in history, and paved the way for major political changes, including revolutions in many of the nations involved. The war drew in all the worlds great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances, the Allies versus the Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary. These alliances were reorganised and expanded as more nations entered the war, Italy, Japan, the trigger for the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, by Yugoslav nationalist Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. This set off a crisis when Austria-Hungary delivered an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Serbia. Within weeks, the powers were at war and the conflict soon spread around the world. On 25 July Russia began mobilisation and on 28 July, the Austro-Hungarians declared war on Serbia, Germany presented an ultimatum to Russia to demobilise, and when this was refused, declared war on Russia on 1 August. Germany then invaded neutral Belgium and Luxembourg before moving towards France, after the German march on Paris was halted, what became known as the Western Front settled into a battle of attrition, with a trench line that changed little until 1917. On the Eastern Front, the Russian army was successful against the Austro-Hungarians, in November 1914, the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers, opening fronts in the Caucasus, Mesopotamia and the Sinai. In 1915, Italy joined the Allies and Bulgaria joined the Central Powers, Romania joined the Allies in 1916, after a stunning German offensive along the Western Front in the spring of 1918, the Allies rallied and drove back the Germans in a series of successful offensives. By the end of the war or soon after, the German Empire, Russian Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire, national borders were redrawn, with several independent nations restored or created, and Germanys colonies were parceled out among the victors. During the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, the Big Four imposed their terms in a series of treaties, the League of Nations was formed with the aim of preventing any repetition of such a conflict. This effort failed, and economic depression, renewed nationalism, weakened successor states, and feelings of humiliation eventually contributed to World War II. From the time of its start until the approach of World War II, at the time, it was also sometimes called the war to end war or the war to end all wars due to its then-unparalleled scale and devastation. In Canada, Macleans magazine in October 1914 wrote, Some wars name themselves, during the interwar period, the war was most often called the World War and the Great War in English-speaking countries. Will become the first world war in the sense of the word. These began in 1815, with the Holy Alliance between Prussia, Russia, and Austria, when Germany was united in 1871, Prussia became part of the new German nation. Soon after, in October 1873, German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck negotiated the League of the Three Emperors between the monarchs of Austria-Hungary, Russia and Germany
31.
No man's land
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No mans land is land that is unoccupied or is under dispute between parties who leave it unoccupied due to fear or uncertainty. The term was used to define a contested territory or a dumping ground for refuse between fiefdoms. The same term was used as the name for the piece of land outside the north wall of London that was assigned as the place of execution. The term was applied to an area on ships called the forecastle, a place where various ropes, tackle, block. The British Army did not widely employ the term when the Regular Army arrived in France in August 1914, the terms used most frequently at the start of the war to describe the area between the trench lines included between the trenches or between the lines. The term no mans land was first used in a military context by soldier, Swinton used the term in war correspondence on the Western Front, with specific mention of the terms with respect to the Race to the Sea in late 1914. In World War I, no land often ranged from several hundred yards to in some cases less than 10 yards. The area was devastated by the warfare. It was open to fire from the trenches and hard going generally slowed down any attempted advance. No mans land remained a feature of the battlefield until near the end of World War I. During the Cold War, one example of no land was the territory close to the Iron Curtain. The US Naval Base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba is separated from Cuba proper by a called the Cactus Curtain. This was dubbed the Cactus Curtain, an allusion to Europes Iron Curtain, US and Cuban troops placed some 55,000 land mines across the no mans land, creating the second-largest minefield in the world, and the largest in the Americas. On 16 May 1996, Bill Clinton, the President of the United States, the US land mines have since been replaced with motion and sound sensors to detect intruders. The Cuban government has not removed the corresponding minefield on its side of the border, the 1949 Armistice Agreements between Israel and Jordan were signed in Rhodes with the help of UN mediation on 3 April 1949. Armistice lines were determined in November 1948, between the lines territory was left that was defined as no mans land. Such areas existed in Jerusalem, in the area between the western and southern parts of the Walls of Jerusalem and Musrara, a strip of land north and south of Latrun was also known as no mans land because it was not controlled by either Israel or Jordan in 1948–1967. In 1885, the United States Interior Department ruled that what was called The Neutral Strip was public land, the Strip began to be called No Mans Land around 1886 after one official stated no man can own the land
32.
Western Front (World War I)
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The Western Front or Western Theater was the main theatre of war during World War I. Following the outbreak of war in August 1914, the German Army opened the Western Front by invading Luxembourg and Belgium, the tide of the advance was dramatically turned with the Battle of the Marne. Following the Race to the Sea, both sides dug in along a line of fortified trenches, stretching from the North Sea to the Swiss frontier with France. This line remained unchanged for most of the war. Between 1915 and 1917 there were several major offensives along this front, the attacks employed massive artillery bombardments and massed infantry advances. However, a combination of entrenchments, machine gun emplacements, barbed wire, as a result, no significant advances were made. In an effort to break the deadlock, this front saw the introduction of new technology, including poison gas, aircraft. But it was only after the adoption of improved tactics that some degree of mobility was restored, the German Armys Spring Offensive of 1918 was made possible by the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk that marked the end of the conflict on the Eastern Front. In spite of the stagnant nature of this front, this theatre would prove decisive. The terms of peace were agreed upon with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, belgiums neutrality was guaranteed by Britain under the 1839 Treaty of London, this caused Britain to join the war at the expiration of its ultimatum at 11 pm GMT on 4 August. Armies under German generals Alexander von Kluck and Karl von Bülow attacked Belgium on 4 August 1914, Luxembourg had been occupied without opposition on 2 August. The first battle in Belgium was the Siege of Liège, which lasted from 5–16 August, Liège was well fortified and surprised the German Army under von Bülow with its level of resistance. German heavy artillery was able to demolish the main forts within a few days. Following the fall of Liège, most of the Belgian field army retreated to Antwerp, leaving the garrison of Namur isolated, with the Belgian capital, Brussels, although the German army bypassed Antwerp, it remained a threat to their flank. Another siege followed at Namur, lasting from about 20–23 August, for their part, the French had five armies deployed on their borders. The pre-war French offensive plan, Plan XVII, was intended to capture Alsace-Lorraine following the outbreak of hostilities, on 7 August the VII Corps attacked Alsace with its objectives being to capture Mulhouse and Colmar. The main offensive was launched on 14 August with 1st and 2nd Armies attacking toward Sarrebourg-Morhange in Lorraine, in keeping with the Schlieffen Plan, the Germans withdrew slowly while inflicting severe losses upon the French. The French advanced the 3rd and 4th Armies toward the Saar River and attempted to capture Saarburg, attacking Briey and Neufchateau, before being driven back
33.
British heavy tanks of World War I
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British heavy tanks were a series of related armoured fighting vehicles developed by the UK during the First World War. The Mark I was the worlds first tank, tracked and armed armoured vehicle, the name tank was initially a code name to maintain secrecy and disguise its true purpose. The type was developed in 1915 to break the stalemate of trench warfare and it could survive the machine gun and small-arms fire in No Mans Land, travel over difficult terrain, crush barbed wire, and cross trenches to assault fortified enemy positions with powerful armament. Tanks also carried supplies and troops, due to the height necessary for this shape, an armed turret would have made the vehicle too tall and unstable. Instead, the armament was arranged in sponsons at the side of the vehicle. The prototype, named Mother, mounted a 6-pounder cannon and a Hotchkiss machine gun at each side, later, subtypes were produced with machine guns only, which were designated Female, while the original version with the protruding 6-pounder was called Male. The Mark I entered service in August 1916, and was first used in action on the morning of 15 September 1916 during the Battle of Flers-Courcelette, part of the Somme Offensive. With the exception of the few interim Mark II and Mark III tanks, it was followed by the largely similar Mark IV, the Mark IV was used en masse, about 460 tanks, at the Battle of Cambrai in November 1917. The Mark V, with an improved transmission, entered service in mid-1918. More than two thousand British heavy tanks were produced, manufacture was discontinued at the end of the war. The Mark I was a development of Little Willie, the tank built for the Landships Committee by Lieutenant Walter Wilson. It was designed by Wilson in response to problems with tracks, the reworked design was also able to meet the Army requirement to be able to cross an 8 ft wide trench. A mockup of Wilsons idea was shown to the Landships Committee when they viewed the demonstration of Little Willie, at about this time, the Armys General Staff was persuaded to become involved and supplied representatives to the Committee. Through these contacts Army requirements for armour and armament made their way into the design, the prototype Mark I, ready in December 1915, was called Mother. Mother was successfully demonstrated to the Landships Committee in early 1916, it was run around a course simulating the front including trenches, parapets, craters, the demonstration was repeated on 2 February before the cabinet ministers and senior members of the Army. Kitchener, the Secretary of State for War, was sceptical, lloyd George, at the time Minister of Munitions, arranged for his Ministry to be responsible for tank production. General Haig sent a staff officer Hugh Elles to act as his liaison to the Supply Committee, Swinton would become the head of the new arm, and Elles the commander of the tanks in France. The first order for tanks was placed on 12 February 1916, fosters built 37, and Metropolitan Carriage, Wagon, and Finance Company, of Birmingham,113, a total of 150
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The Tank Museum
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The Tank Museum is a collection of armoured fighting vehicles at Bovington Camp in Dorset, South West England. It is about 1 mile north of the village of Wool and 12 miles west of the port of Poole. The collection traces the history of the tank, with almost 300 vehicles on exhibition from 26 countries it is the largest collection of tanks and the third largest collection of armoured vehicles in the world. It includes Tiger 131, the only working example of a German Tiger I tank and a British First World War Mark I and it is the museum of the Royal Tank Regiment, Royal Armoured Corps and a registered charity. Bovington Camp, in which the museum is located, trains most sections of the British Army in tracked-vehicle driving as well as repairing and maintaining the vehicles in its workshops, in 1916 the British War Office established the Bovington camp as a tank crew training facility. At that time the army was introducing tanks into the First World War in an attempt to break the stagnation of trench warfare, in 1919 the tanks returned to Bovington from France. Many of them were fit only for scrap, a small number of the least damaged vehicles were put to one side so that tank crews and designers could have an idea of the tanks early heritage. In 1923 the writer Rudyard Kipling visited Bovington and recommended a museum should be set up, the collection grew greatly after the Second World War, as many Allied and captured Axis tanks were added. In 1947 it was opened to the general public, the Tank Museum has continued to expand and today it is primarily seen as a means of educating and entertaining the general public, with the exhibition being geared in this direction. Many of the tanks are in working order and can be seen in action throughout summer months in special displays. The museum holds an annual TankFest display of their operating vehicles, in 2012, the museums historian David Fletcher, who had been an employee since 1982, was made an MBE for his services to the history of armoured warfare. World War I Hall Along with “The Trench Experience” this hall has recently been refurbished & renamed, as well as containing the majority of the museums World War I tanks it now tells the story of men who crewed the first tanks between 1916 and 1918. The Lawrence of Arabia exhibition is no longer in the hall, featured tanks, Mark I tank, IV, V, IX & Mark VIII Libertytanks. Inter War Hall Refurbished in 2014, this hall now explores the rise of the tank, featured tanks, Vickers A1E1 Independent, Peerless Armoured Car & Vickers Light tank, Mark II. World War II Hall The biggest section, with tanks from most nations involved in the conflict and this hall contains the Battlegroup Afghanistan exhibition. The men of the Royal Armoured Corps who have involved in some of the fiercest fighting since World War Two. The hall also contains a Conqueror, Chieftain, Challenger 1, the newly installed children’s soft play area is also located there. British Steel Hall Explores the design & technology that goes into making tanks, there is a mock production line of Centurions, as well as prototype and experimental vehicles
35.
Kitchen garden
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The traditional kitchen garden, also known as a potager or in Scotland a kailyaird, is a space separate from the rest of the residential garden – the ornamental plants and lawn areas. Most vegetable gardens are still miniature versions of old family farm plots, but the garden is different not only in its history. The kitchen garden may serve as the feature of an ornamental, all-season landscape. It is a source of herbs, vegetables and fruits, the kitchen garden has year-round visual appeal and can incorporate permanent perennials or woody shrub plantings around the annuals. A potager is a French term for a vegetable or kitchen garden. The historical design precedent is from the Gardens of the French Renaissance, often flowers and herbs are planted with the vegetables to enhance the gardens beauty. The goal is to make the function of providing food aesthetically joyful, plants are chosen as much for their functionality as for their color and form. Many are trained to grow upward, a well-designed potager can provide food as well as cut flowers and herbs for the home with very little maintenance. Potagers can disguise their function of providing for a home in an array of forms—from the carefree style of the cottage garden to the formality of a knot garden. A vegetable garden is a garden that exists to grow vegetables and other plants useful for human consumption and it is a small-scale form of vegetable growing. A vegetable garden typically includes a compost heap, and several plots or divided areas of land, plots may also be divided into rows with an assortment of vegetables grown in the different rows. It is usually located to the rear of a property in the garden or back yard. Many families have home kitchen and vegetable gardens that they use to produce food, in World War II, many people had a garden called a victory garden which provided food and thus freed resources for the war effort. With worsening economic conditions and increased interest in organic and sustainable living, food grown in the back yard consumes little if any fuel for shipping or maintenance, and the grower can be sure of what exactly was used to grow it. Organic horticulture, or organic gardening, has become popular for the modern home gardener. There are many types of vegetable gardens, the potager, a garden in which vegetables, herbs and flowers are grown together, has become more popular than the more traditional rows or blocks. The herb garden is often a space in the garden. These gardens may be informal patches of plants, or they may be designed, even to the point of arranging and clipping the plants to form specific patterns
36.
Rhodesian Light Infantry
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Barely a year after its creation, it was relocated to Cranborne Barracks where its headquarters remained for the rest of its existence. An all-white regiment, the RLI was made up wholly of professional soldiers until 1973, Foreign volunteers from across the world, many veterans of foreign conflicts, also joined and became a key part of the Regiment. So prominent were the airborne aspects of typical RLI operations that the battalion became a regiment in 1976. The RLI served under the government of Zimbabwe Rhodesia in 1979. After serving under the new government of Zimbabwe for a brief period, the RLIs tactics and training contributed to repeated successes in its counter-insurgency operations. Says United States Army Lieutenant-Colonel Dave Grossman. added up to nothing less than total tactical superiority, the regiment was assembled into a Headquarters and four company-sized units called Commandos, One, Two, Three and Support. As a premise, a commando could have five troops, of only four troops were normally activated. However, with the arrival of Intake 150 the commandos were up to strength for the first. Some of the commandos mustered five troops until the end of 1976, with the university students demobbing at the end of 1976, the commandos reverted back to four troops. The troops in each commando relayed R&R consistently one at a time, depending on the deployment and/or purpose, troops were divided into a small headquarters and either two patrols or three sections. Support Commando had a history dissimilar to all the units and. Battalion Headquarters — Front and Rear — was called Base Group, Base Group imparted logistical, operational and tactical support at the Front, through specialised sub-units, and organised administrative support at the Rear. A sizable portion of the support was performed by other military services stationed at Cranborne Barracks for that purpose. Signals Troop and Tracking Troop were specialised sub-units that interpolated into Support Group or Base Group, Signals Troop focused on front line communications in support of special operations and airborne forces, but also provided other essential services for the Battalion. A high percentage of Signals Troop had served in one or more Commandos before being selected and trained as communicators, during the early planning stages for proposed changes to Support Group, it was accepted that Base Group was more suitable as the cynosure for all signals. So Signals Troop was scattered but still functioned as the organ that connected all the detachments in the network. The majority were transmigrated to Support Group where they became known as Reconnaissance Troop after the change to a Commando was actualised. As mentioned, Support Commando had been called Support Group and came from the original Headquarters Company, consequently, they had some additional skills, Support Commando had a Headquarters and four cross-trained Troops, Mortar, Assault Pioneer, Anti-Tank and Reconnaissance
37.
Southern Rhodesia
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The Colony of Southern Rhodesia was a self-governing British Crown colony in southern Africa from 1923 to 1980, the predecessor state of modern Zimbabwe. After a period of interim British control following the Lancaster House Agreement in December 1979, initially, the territory was referred to as South Zambezia, a reference to the River Zambezi, until the name Rhodesia came into use in 1895. This was in honour of Cecil Rhodes, the British empire-builder, Southern was first used in 1898 and dropped from normal usage in 1964, on the break-up of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. Rhodesia then remained the name of the country until the creation of Zimbabwe Rhodesia in 1979, legally, from the British perspective, the name Southern Rhodesia continued to be used until 18 April 1980, when the Republic of Zimbabwe was promulgated. The British government agreed that Rhodes company, the British South Africa Company, queen Victoria signed the charter in 1889. A Legislative Council was created in 1899 to manage the companys affairs, with a minority of elected seats. Prior to about 1918, the opinion among the electorate supported continued BSAC rule but opinion changed because of the development of the country and increased settlement. In addition, a decision in the British courts that land not in private ownership belonged to the British Crown rather than the BSAC gave great impetus to the campaign for self-government. In the resulting treaty government self-government, Crown lands which were sold to settlers allowed those settlers the right to vote in the self-governing colony, the territory north of the Zambezi was the subject of separate treaties with African chiefs, today, it forms the country of Zambia. The first BSAC Administrator for the part was appointed for Barotseland in 1897. The first BSAC Administrator for the part, North-Eastern Rhodesia, was appointed in 1895. The whites in the south of the river paid it scant regard though. This resulted in the formation of new movements for expanding the self-government of the Rhodesian people which saw BSAC rule as an impediment to further expansion, in view of the outcome of the referendum, the territory was annexed by the United Kingdom on 12 September 1923. Shortly after annexation, on 1 October 1923, the first constitution for the new Colony of Southern Rhodesia came into force, under this constitution Sir Charles Coghlan became the first Premier of Southern Rhodesia and upon his death in 1927 he was succeeded by Howard Unwin Moffat. During World War II, Southern Rhodesian military units participated on the side of the United Kingdom, Southern Rhodesian forces were involved on many fronts including the East and North African Campaigns, Italy, Madagascar and Burma. Southern Rhodesian forces had the highest loss ratio of any constituent element, colony, additionally, the Rhodesian pilots earned the highest number of decorations and ace appellations of any group within the Empire. This resulted in the Royal Family paying a state visit to the colony at the end of the war to thank the Rhodesian people. Economically, Southern Rhodesia developed an economy that was based on production of a few primary products, notably, chrome
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Rhodesian Bush War
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The Rhodesian Bush War—also known as the Second Chimurenga or the Zimbabwe War of Liberation—was a civil war that took place from July 1964 to December 1979 in the unrecognised country of Rhodesia. However, this new order failed to win recognition and the war continued. The country returned temporarily to British control and new elections were held under British, ZANU won the election and Mugabe became the first Prime Minister of Zimbabwe on 18 April 1980, when the country achieved internationally recognised independence. Rhodesia was settled by Britons and South Africans beginning in the 1890s and while it was never accorded full dominion status, many white Rhodesians were concerned that decolonisation and majority rule would bring chaos as had resulted in the former Belgian Congo after its independence in 1960. Britains unwillingness to compromise on its policy of No independence before majority rule led to Rhodesias unilateral declaration of independence on 11 November 1965, though Rhodesia had the unofficial support of neighbouring South Africa and Portugal, which governed Mozambique, it never gained formal diplomatic recognition from any country. Many white Rhodesians viewed the war as one of survival in the context of atrocities committed against the population during the Mau Mau Uprising in Kenya. Many whites viewed their lifestyle as being under attack, which both had considered safer and with a standard of living than many other African countries. Although the vote in Rhodesia was technically open to all, regardless of race, the 1969 constitution provided for Non-Europeans to elect representatives for eight of the seats in the 66 seat parliament. A further eight seats were reserved for tribal chiefs, amidst this backdrop, African nationalists advocated armed struggle to bring about independence in Rhodesia under black majority rule. Resistance also stemmed from the economic inequality between blacks and whites. In Rhodesia, whites owned most of the land whilst many blacks were crowded on barren land. ZANU and its military wing ZANLA were headed initially by the Reverend Ndabaningi Sithole, ZAPU and its military wing ZIPRA consisted mainly of Ndebele ethnic groups under Joshua Nkomo. Cold War politics played into the conflict also, with the Soviet Union supporting ZIPRA, each group subsequently fought a separate war against the Rhodesian security forces, and the two groups sometimes fought against each other as well. In June 1979, the governments of Cuba and Mozambique offered direct military assistance to the Patriotic Front, other foreign nations also contributed to the conflict, for instance North Korean military officials taught Zimbabwean militants how to use explosives and arms in a camp near Pyongyang. By April 197912,000 ZANLA guerrillas were training in Tanzania, Ethiopia, on the other side of the conflict South Africa clandestinely provided both material and military support to the Rhodesian government. Inevitably the Bush War occurred within the context of regional Cold War in Africa, the conflict was seen by the nationalist groups and the British government of the time as a war of national and racial liberation. The Nationalists saw their country as having been occupied and dominated by a power, namely Britain. Ian Smiths Rhodesian Front party was elected to power in 1962, however, unsatisfied with this and spurred on by Britains refusal to recognise the new order, the nationalist forces persisted
39.
Orlando (film)
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It was directed by Sally Potter. It was particularly acclaimed for its treatment of the settings of Woolfs 1928 novel. Potter chose to film much of the Constantinople portion of the book in the city of Khiva in Uzbekistan. The film premiered at the 49th Venice International Film Festival, in which it entered the main competition, Orlando was re-released for screening in select cinemas in August 2010. The film begins in the Elizabethan era shortly before the death of Queen Elizabeth I, both he and his heirs will keep the land and inheritance forever. Orlando acquiesces and resides in splendid isolation in the castle for a couple of centuries, during which time he dabbles in poetry and his attempts to befriend a celebrated poet, however, backfire when the poet ridicules his verse. Orlando then travels to Constantinople as English ambassador to the Turks, waking up the next morning, he learns something even more startling, he has physically transformed into a woman overnight. The editor who judges the work as good is, ironically. Having lived a most bizarre existence, Orlando finally finds a niche within it. The most immediate changes were structural, the storyline was simplified – any events which did not significantly further Orlandos story were dropped. The film contains two anachronisms not in the novel, on arrival in Constantinople c1700 England is referred to as a green and pleasant land, a quote from William Blakes Jerusalem, written post 1800. And Orlando receives a gift to celebrate the new century from Queen Anne, thus it is Queen Elizabeth who bestows the long life upon Orlando. The change of sex is a result of Orlando reaching a crisis of identity when he is unwilling to conform to what is expected of him as a man. Nor as a woman can Orlando conform, unlike the novel, the film ends with Orlando having a daughter, not a son. Nevertheless, in 1988 she began writing the script and raising money, Potter saw Tilda Swinton in the Manfred Karge play Man to Man and said that there was a profound subtlety about the way she took on male body language and handled maleness and femaleness. In Potters words, Quentin Crisp was the Queen of Queens, particularly in the context of Virginia Woolfs gender-bending politics and thus fit to play the aged Queen Elizabeth. Throughout Ms. Canby does caution that while the stands on its own. In contrast, Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times described Orlando as hollow, smug. and self-satisfied and complains that any kind of emotional connection to match carefully constructed look
40.
Tilda Swinton
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Katherine Matilda Tilda Swinton is a British actress, performance artist, model, and fashion muse, known for her roles in independent and Hollywood films. She is the recipient of two BAFTA Awards, one BIFA Award, an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and has received three nominations for a Golden Globe Award. She began her career in films directed by Derek Jarman, starting with Caravaggio, followed by The Last of England, War Requiem, Swinton won the Volpi Cup for Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival for her performance as Isabella of France in Edward II. She next starred in Sally Potters Orlando, and was nominated for the European Film Award for Best Actress, Swinton was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for her performance in The Deep End. She followed this with appearances in Vanilla Sky, Adaptation, Young Adam and she then starred in the crime drama Julia, I Am Love, and the psychological thriller We Need to Talk About Kevin. Swinton later starred in the romantic fantasy drama, Only Lovers Left Alive. She is also known for her performances as the White Witch in the Chronicles of Narnia series, Swinton won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her performance as lawyer Karen Crowder in Michael Clayton. In 2005, Swinton was given the Richard Harris Award by the British Independent Film Awards in recognition of her contributions to the British film industry, in 2013 she was given a special tribute by the Museum of Modern Art. Swinton was born in London, the daughter of Judith Balfour and her father is a retired major general in the British Army, and was Lord Lieutenant of Berwickshire from 1989 to 2000. Her paternal great-grandfather was a Scottish politician and herald, George Swinton, the Swinton family is an ancient Anglo-Scots family that can trace its lineage to the Middle Ages. The family is one of three families that can trace their unbroken land ownership and lineage to before the Norman Conquest. Swinton attended three independent schools, Queens Gate School in London, the West Heath Girls School and also Fettes College for a brief period, West Heath was an expensive boarding school where she was a classmate and friend of Princess Diana. Children need their parents and the parents can provide. Swinton went to volunteer in Kenya during a break from college with a charity called Project Trust. In 1983, Swinton graduated from New Hall at the University of Cambridge with a degree in Social and Political Sciences, while at Cambridge, she joined the Communist Party, she later joined the Scottish Socialist Party. It was in college that Swinton began performing on stage, Swinton joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1984, appearing in Measure for Measure. She also worked with the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh, starring in Mann ist Mann by Manfred Karge in 1987, on television, she appeared as Julia in the 1986 mini-series Zastrozzi, A Romance based on the Gothic novel by Percy Bysshe Shelley. Her first film was Caravaggio in 1986, directed by Derek Jarman, Swinton also played the title role in Orlando, Sally Potters film version of the novel by Virginia Woolf
41.
Billy Zane
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William George Billy Zane, Jr. is an American actor and producer. Zane was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Thalia and William George Zane and his parents are both of Greek descent, and his familys original surname, Zanikopoulos, was anglicized to Zane by his parents, who also raised him Greek Orthodox. He has a sister, Lisa Zane, who is an actress. In 1988 he played Tony Gambini alongside Jessica Fletcher in Murder, She Wrote, Zane also appeared in an episode of Matlock entitled The Nurse. In 1989 he reprised his role in Back to the Future Part II. Earlier that same year, Zane gained international recognition with the role of villain Hughie Warriner in the thriller Dead Calm, alongside Nicole Kidman and he also starred in the NBC film, The Case of the Hillside Stranglers. Zanes first starring role was in a 1990 independent film, the low budget science fiction thriller Megaville. In 1990, he also co-starred in the film Memphis Belle, Zane also forayed into television work, and in 1991 he appeared as John Justice Wheeler in several episodes of David Lynchs hit TV-show Twin Peaks. In 1992 Zane co-starred alongside Tilda Swinton in the adaptation of Virginia Woolfs novel Orlando. In 1993, he played the Shakespearean actor Mr. Fabian in Tombstone, in 1996, Zane played the eponymous classic comic book hero in the big budget action film The Phantom, based on Lee Falks comic. Zane played the snobbish millionaire misanthrope Caledon Hockley in James Camerons 1997/98 blockbuster Titanic and this role as Roses fiancé earned him an MTV Movie Award nomination for Best Villain and a Blockbuster Entertainment Award. He was also nominated for a SAG award, in 1998, he starred in and produced I Woke Up Early the Day I Died, a silent film based on Ed Woods last script, intended as a parody on bad filmmaking. He won several awards at the B-Movie Film Festival, including Best Movie, the year after, he starred opposite Timothy Dalton, Bruce Payne, Sean Pertwee and Leonor Varela in a TV-movie about Cleopatra. Zane played the part of Mark Antony, the same year, he lent his voice to John Rolfe in Disneys Pocahontas II, Journey to a New World and voiced Etrigan the Demon in an episode of The New Batman Adventures. Zane was instrumental in getting the critically acclaimed film The Believer made, in it, he portrayed neo-Nazi Curtis Zampf, and starred opposite Ryan Gosling. The same year, he also had a cameo as himself in the comedy Zoolander, Zane appeared on Broadway in Chicago, where he played lawyer Billy Flynn. Zane also had a role in the television series Charmed in which he played poetry-loving ex-demon Drake. He also provided the voice of Ansem, the main antagonist of the 2002 video game Kingdom Hearts and he was replaced by Richard Epcar for the rest of the series from Kingdom Hearts II onwards
42.
Quentin Crisp
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Quentin Crisp was an English writer and raconteur. From a conventional suburban background, Crisp enjoyed wearing make-up and painting his nails and he then spent thirty years as a professional model for life-classes in art colleges. The interviews he gave about his unusual life attracted increasing public curiosity and he was sought after for his highly individual views on social manners. His one-man stage show was a hit both in Britain and America and he also appeared in films and on TV. Crisp defied convention by criticising both gay liberation and Diana, Princess of Wales, Denis Charles Pratt was born in Sutton, South London, on Christmas Day 1908, the fourth child of solicitor Spencer Charles Pratt and former governess Frances Marion Pratt. His elder siblings were Katherine, Gerald and Lewis, after leaving school in 1926 Crisp studied journalism at Kings College London but failed to graduate in 1928 going on to take art classes at the Regent Street Polytechnic. For six months he worked as a sex worker, looking for love, he said in a 1999 interview. In 1940 he moved into a flat at 129 Beaufort Street, Chelsea. In the intervening years he never attempted any housework, writing famously in his memoir The Naked Civil Servant, Crisp left his job as an engineers tracer in 1942 to become a model in life classes in London and the Home Counties. He continued posing for artists for the next 30 years, Crisp had published three short books by the time he came to write The Naked Civil Servant at the urging of his agent, Donald Carroll. The book was published in 1968 to generally good reviews, in 1975 the television version of The Naked Civil Servant was broadcast on British and US television and made both actor John Hurt and Crisp himself into stars. This success launched Crisp in a new direction, that of performer and he devised a one-man show and began touring the country with it. When his autobiography was reprinted in 1975 after the success of the version of The Naked Civil Servant. Gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell claimed to have met Crisp in 1974, Tatchell claimed that Crisp asked him, What do you want liberation from. What is there to be proud of, I dont believe in rights for homosexuals. By now Crisp was a theatre-filling raconteur and his one-man show sold out the Duke of Yorks Theatre in London in 1978. Crisp then took the show to New York and his first stay in the Hotel Chelsea coincided with a fire, a robbery, and the death of Nancy Spungen. Crisp decided to move to New York permanently and set about making arrangements, in 1981, he arrived with few possessions and found a small apartment on East 3rd Street in Manhattans East Village
43.
Wayne Manor
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Wayne Manor is a fictional American mansion appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics and is the personal residence of Bruce Wayne, who is also Batman. The residence is depicted as a large mansion on grounds outside Gotham City, maintained by the Wayne familys butler. It was without exception referred to in the 1960s TV series as stately Wayne Manor, the manor grounds include an extensive subterranean cave system that Bruce Wayne discovered as a boy and later used as his base of operations, the Batcave. The method used to access it has varied across the different storylines in the comics, movies, Wayne came to this decision when Dick Grayson went off to college, which led him to decide that the mansion was now impractical with only one resident and one servant. Furthermore, Wayne decided he wanted to be closer to his field of operations in Gotham City than a home situated outside the main urban area would allow. During the events of Batman, Cataclysm a massive earthquake struck Gotham City, the mansion was seriously damaged, as was the cave network beneath. The ground beneath the mansion shifted significantly, and actually revealed the Batcave below, the original Manor was damaged beyond repair, forcing Bruce Wayne to redesign the Manor along with the Batcave. The new Manor is a fortress, a pastiche of Gothic architecture combined with features of castellated architecture. Solar panels are installed in the new Manor, providing environmentally-friendly electricity generation for the complex and it also includes a heliport for commercial helicopters. However, Bruce returns to the manor when he realizes who he used to be, in Kingdom Come, the Manor was mostly destroyed by Two-Face and Bane after Batmans true identity was exposed, the Batcave, however, remained relatively untouched. By the end of the novel, the Manor has been rebuilt as a hospital/hospice for Gulag battle victims. In the 1960s live action series, the exteriors were shot at 380 South San Rafael Avenue in Pasadena, the interiors were shot at various soundstages. The primary passage to the Batcave from the manor was located in Bruce Waynes study behind a bookshelf that retracted into the wall, the bookshelf was activated by a switch hidden in a bust of William Shakespeare. The bookshelf would disappear to reveal two labeled firepoles descending to the Batcave, through an undisclosed mechanism, the poles allowed for Batman and Robin to go from their civilian garb to costume. The interiors and exterior of the Wayne Manor was also used in the original Mission, Impossible TV series episodes Charity and The Visitors. It was used in 2016 for another group as the residence of Hydra leader, Gideon Malick. Webb Institutes Stevenson Taylor Hall reprises its earlier role as Wayne Manor in the pilot for the TV series Gotham. The 1943 Batman serial originated the use of a clock as a door to the bat cave
44.
Batman (1989 film)
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Batman is a 1989 American superhero film directed by Tim Burton and produced by Jon Peters, based on the DC Comics character of the same name. It is the first installment of Warner Bros. initial Batman film series, the film stars Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne/Batman, alongside Jack Nicholson, Kim Basinger, Robert Wuhl, Pat Hingle, Billy Dee Williams, Michael Gough and Jack Palance. In the film, Batman is widely believed to be an urban legend until he goes to war with a rising criminal mastermind known as the Joker. After Burton was hired as director in 1986, Steve Englehart, Batman was not greenlit until after the success of Burtons Beetlejuice. Numerous A-list actors were considered for the role of Batman before Keaton was cast, Keatons casting caused a controversy since, by 1988, he had become typecast as a comedic actor and many observers doubted he could portray a serious role. Nicholson accepted the role of the Joker under strict conditions dictated a high salary. The tone and themes of the film were influenced in part by Alan Moore and Brian Bollands The Killing Joke, filming took place at Pinewood Studios from October 1988 to January 1989. The budget escalated from $30 million to $48 million, while the 1988 Writers Guild of America strike forced Hamm to drop out, uncredited rewrites were performed by Warren Skaaren, Charles McKeown and Jonathan Gems. Batman was a critical and financial success, earning over $400 million in box office totals and it was the fifth-highest-grossing film in history at the time of its release. The film received several Saturn Award nominations and a Golden Globe nomination, as Gotham City approaches its bicentennial, Mayor Borg orders district attorney Harvey Dent and police commissioner James Gordon to make the city safer. Meanwhile, reporter Alexander Knox and photojournalist Vicki Vale begin to investigate rumors of a vigilante nicknamed Batman who is targeting the citys criminals, Batmans alter-ego is Bruce Wayne, a billionaire industrialist who, as a child, witnessed his parents murder at the hands of a psychotic robber. At a fundraiser for the bicentennial in Wayne Manor, Bruce meets and falls for Vale, however, the evening is cut short as Bruce is alerted to Commissioner Gordons sudden departure due to police business and leaves to investigate as Batman. Mob boss Carl Grissom, who has already been targeted by Dent, with the help of corrupt police lieutenant Max Eckhardt, Grissom sets Napier up to be killed in a raid at Axis Chemicals. However, Grissoms plan is foiled with the arrival of Commissioner Gordon, in the ensuing shootout, Napier kills Eckhardt, but Batman suddenly appears and, in a struggle, Napier is knocked into a vat of chemicals. Batman escapes and Napier is presumed dead, as Batman returns to his life as Bruce Wayne, Napier is revealed to have survived the accident, but left horribly disfigured with chalk white skin, emerald green hair, and a ruby red grin. Driven insane, Napier calls himself the Joker, killing Grissom, the Joker begins to terrorize Gotham City by lacing hygiene products with Smilex, a deadly chemical which causes victims to die laughing with the same maniacal grin as the Joker. Whilst searching for information on Batman, the Joker also falls for Vale and he lures her to the Gotham Museum of Art, but Batman arrives and rescues her. They escape in the Batmobile, but are pursued by the Jokers men, Batman takes Vicki to the Batcave, where he gives her information from his research on Smilex that will allow the citys residents to protect themselves from the toxin
