1.
John Collier (painter)
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The Honourable John Maler Collier OBE RP ROI was a leading English artist, and an author. He painted in the Pre-Raphaelite style, and was one of the most prominent portrait painters of his generation, both his marriages were to daughters of Thomas Henry Huxley. He studied painting at the Munich Academy where he enrolled on 14 April 1875 at the age of 25, Collier was from a talented and successful family. His grandfather, John Collier, was a Quaker merchant who became a Member of Parliament and his father was created the first Lord Monkswell. He was also a member of the Royal Society of British Artists, John Colliers elder brother, the second Lord Monkswell, was Under-Secretary of State for War and Chairman of the London County Council. In due course, Collier became a part of the family of Thomas Henry Huxley PC. Collier married two of Huxleys daughters and was on terms of friendship with his son, the writer Leonard Huxley. Colliers first wife, in 1879, was Marian Huxley and she was a painter who studied, like her husband, at the Slade and exhibited at the Royal Academy and elsewhere. After the birth of their child, a daughter, she suffered severe post-natal depression and was taken to Paris for treatment where, however, she contracted pneumonia. Colliers daughter by his first marriage, Joyce, was a portrait miniaturist, in 1889 Collier married Madys younger sister Ethel Huxley. Until the Deceased Wifes Sisters Marriage Act 1907 such a marriage was not possible in England, by his second wife he had a daughter and a son, Sir Laurence Collier, who was the British Ambassador to Norway 1941–51. Colliers range of subjects was broad. In 1893, for example, his subjects included Lovelace Stamer, Bishop of Shrewsbury, Sir John Lubbock FRS, A N Hornby and his commissioned portrait of the Duke of York as Master of Trinity House in 1901, and the Prince of Wales were his major royal portraits. The latter work was hung in Durbar Hall, Jodhpur, Rajputana, thorley and the Provost of Eton. Clark reports a total of thirty-two Huxley family portraits during the half-century after his first marriage, a photocopy of John Colliers Sitters Book can be consulted in the Heinz Archive and Library, National Portrait Gallery. This is the artists own record of all his portraits, including name of subject, date, fee charged. His entry in the Dictionary of National Biography compares his work to that of Frank Holl because of its solemnity, the Dictionary of Portrait Painters in Britain up to 1920 describes his portraits as painterly works with a fresh use of light and colour. Sixteen of John Colliers paintings are now in the collections of the National Portrait Gallery in London, four of the National Portrait Gallery paintings were in December 1997 on display, John Burns, Sir William Huggins, Thomas Huxley and Charles Darwin
2.
Herbert Art Gallery and Museum
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Herbert Art Gallery & Museum is a museum, art gallery, records archive, learning centre and creative arts facility on Jordan Well, Coventry, England. The museum is named after Sir Alfred Herbert, a Coventry industrialist and philanthropist whose gifts enabled the building to be opened in 1960. Building began in 1939, with an interruption by the Second World War, in 2008, it reopened after a £14 million refurbishment. The Herbert is run by Culture Coventry, a registered charity and it derives financial support from donations, sales at the museum shop, and hiring the buildings out. In 2010, the museum and gallery received more than 300,000 visitors, museums in Coventry before the Herbert included the museum of the Coventry City Guild and the Benedictine Museum, opened by J. B. However, Coventry City Councils collection of art treasures and museum pieces were housed in various buildings, in 1938 the philanthropist Sir Alfred Herbert donated £100,000 to the Corporation to erect a Gallery and Museum on the site. Plans were drawn up by the Leicester architect Albert Herbert, a cousin of Sir Alfred, the citys destruction during the Coventry Blitz meant construction was suspended with only the basement completed. City architect Donald Gibsons radical rebuilding plan for Coventry city centre became War time propaganda for the reconstruction of Britain. But, Post-war economies required Gibson to concentrate on a programme for the suburbs. Completion of the first building under his plan was delayed until 1953, Herbert died in May 1957, and the museum and art gallery that bears his name was opened on 9 March 1960 by his third wife Lady Herbert. The first phase of a refurbishment was completed in 2005 with £3 million of funds from Coventry City Council, Advantage West Midlands. During the refurbishment, it was considered that a painting by 17th-century artist Luca Giordano was too large, in early 2008, the second phase was completed at a cost of £14 million. A new entrance on Bayley Lane was provided, along with a 500 sq metre glass-covered court extension, the museum won the Guardian Family Friendly Award 2010. The same year, the gallery was shortlisted for the Art Fund Prize in recognition of its work in engaging new. In October 2015, it was announced that the Herbert might be closed as a result of financial cuts from the Coventry Council. The museum is exploring the option of charging for entry, while noting that this could decrease its visitor numbers by a third, permanent gallery spaces include Sculpture, Old Masters paintings, Art Since 1900, local history and Elements. The museums notable collections include a collection dating from around 1800 to date. The museum is now concentrating on the acquisition of more modern clothes, the Heritage Lottery Fund granted nearly £200,000 to The Herbert and Wolverhampton Art Gallery in 2008 for acquisitions in relation to the theme of peace and reconciliation
3.
Old English
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Old English or Anglo-Saxon is the earliest historical form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers probably in the mid 5th century, Old English developed from a set of Anglo-Frisian or North Sea Germanic dialects originally spoken by Germanic tribes traditionally known as the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes. As the Anglo-Saxons became dominant in England, their language replaced the languages of Roman Britain, Common Brittonic, a Celtic language, Old English had four main dialects, associated with particular Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, Mercian, Northumbrian, Kentish and West Saxon. It was West Saxon that formed the basis for the standard of the later Old English period, although the dominant forms of Middle. The speech of eastern and northern parts of England was subject to strong Old Norse influence due to Scandinavian rule, Old English is one of the West Germanic languages, and its closest relatives are Old Frisian and Old Saxon. Like other old Germanic languages, it is different from Modern English. Old English grammar is similar to that of modern German, nouns, adjectives, pronouns, and verbs have many inflectional endings and forms. The oldest Old English inscriptions were using a runic system. Old English was not static, and its usage covered a period of 700 years, from the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain in the 5th century to the late 11th century, some time after the Norman invasion. While indicating that the establishment of dates is a process, Albert Baugh dates Old English from 450 to 1150, a period of full inflections. Perhaps around 85 per cent of Old English words are no longer in use, Old English is a West Germanic language, developing out of Ingvaeonic dialects from the 5th century. It came to be spoken over most of the territory of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms which became the Kingdom of England and this included most of present-day England, as well as part of what is now southeastern Scotland, which for several centuries belonged to the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria. Other parts of the island – Wales and most of Scotland – continued to use Celtic languages, Norse was also widely spoken in the parts of England which fell under Danish law. Anglo-Saxon literacy developed after Christianisation in the late 7th century, the oldest surviving text of Old English literature is Cædmons Hymn, composed between 658 and 680. There is a corpus of runic inscriptions from the 5th to 7th centuries. The Old English Latin alphabet was introduced around the 9th century, with the unification of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms by Alfred the Great in the later 9th century, the language of government and literature became standardised around the West Saxon dialect. In Old English, typical of the development of literature, poetry arose before prose, a later literary standard, dating from the later 10th century, arose under the influence of Bishop Æthelwold of Winchester, and was followed by such writers as the prolific Ælfric of Eynsham. This form of the language is known as the Winchester standard and it is considered to represent the classical form of Old English
4.
Coventry
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Coventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. Historically part of Warwickshire, Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and it is the second largest city in the West Midlands region, after Birmingham, with a population of 345,385 in 2015. Coventry is 95 miles northwest of central London,19 miles east-south-east of Birmingham,24 miles southwest of Leicester and 11 miles north of Warwick. Coventry Cathedral was built after the destruction of the 14th century cathedral church of Saint Michael by the German Luftwaffe in the Coventry Blitz of 14 November 1940, Coventry motor companies have contributed significantly to the British motor industry. The city has two universities, Coventry University in the city centre and the University of Warwick on the southern outskirts. The Romans founded a settlement in Baginton, next to the River Sowe, and another formed around a Saxon nunnery, founded c. AD700 by St Osburga, that was later left in ruins by King Canutes invading Danish army in 1016. Earl Leofric of Mercia and his wife Lady Godiva built on the remains of the nunnery, in time, a market was established at the abbey gates and the settlement expanded. By the 14th century, Coventry was an important centre of the cloth trade, the bishops of Lichfield were often referred to as bishops of Coventry and Lichfield, or Lichfield and Coventry. Coventry claimed the status of a city by ancient prescriptive usage, was granted a charter of incorporation in 1345, the plays that William Shakespeare witnessed in Coventry during his boyhood or teens may have influenced how his plays, such as Hamlet, came about. In the 18th and 19th centuries, Coventry became one of the three main British centres of watch and clock manufacture and ranked alongside Prescot, in Lancashire, in the late 19th century, Coventry became a major centre of bicycle manufacture. The industry energised by the invention by James Starley and his nephew John Kemp Starley of the Rover safety bicycle, by the early 20th century, bicycle manufacture had evolved into motor manufacture, and Coventry became a major centre of the British motor industry. Jaguar is owned by the Indian company, Tata Motors, with many of the citys older properties becoming increasingly unfit for habitation, the first council houses were let to their tenants in 1917. With Coventrys industrial base continuing to soar after the end of the Great War a year later, numerous private and council housing developments took place across the city in the 1920s and 1930s. The development of a southern by-pass around the city, starting in the 1930s and being completed in 1940, Coventry suffered severe bomb damage during the Second World War. There was a massive Luftwaffe air raid, part of the Coventry Blitz, firebombing on this date led to severe damage to large areas of the city centre and to Coventrys historic cathedral, leaving only a shell and the spire. More than 4,000 houses were damaged or destroyed, along with three quarters of the citys industrial plants. More than 800 people were killed, with injured and homeless. Aside from London, Hull and Plymouth, Coventry suffered more damage than any other British city during the Luftwaffe attacks, following the raids, the majority of Coventrys historic buildings could not be saved as they were in ruinous states or were deemed unsafe for any future use
5.
Tax
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A tax is a financial charge or other levy imposed upon a taxpayer by a state or the functional equivalent of a state to fund various public expenditures. A failure to pay, or evasion of or resistance to taxation, is punishable by law. Taxes consist of direct or indirect taxes and may be paid in money or as its labour equivalent, the legal definition and the economic definition of taxes differ in that economists do not regard many transfers to governments as taxes. For example, some transfers to the sector are comparable to prices. Examples include tuition at public universities and fees for utilities provided by local governments, governments also obtain resources by creating money and coins, through voluntary gifts, by imposing penalties, by borrowing, and by confiscating wealth. In modern taxation systems, governments levy taxes in money, but in-kind and corvée taxation are characteristic of traditional or pre-capitalist states, the method of taxation and the government expenditure of taxes raised is often highly debated in politics and economics. Tax collection is performed by a government agency such as the Canada Revenue Agency, when taxes are not fully paid, the state may impose civil penalties or criminal penalties on the non-paying entity or individual. The levying of taxes aims to raise revenue to fund governing and/or to alter prices in order to affect demand, States and their functional equivalents throughout history have used money provided by taxation to carry out many functions. A governments ability to raise taxes is called its fiscal capacity, when expenditures exceed tax revenue, a government accumulates debt. A portion of taxes may be used to service past debts, governments also use taxes to fund welfare and public services. These services can include education systems, pensions for the elderly, unemployment benefits, energy, water and waste management systems are also common public utilities. A tax effectively changes relative prices of products and they have therefore sought to identify the kind of tax system that would minimize this distortion. Governments use different kinds of taxes and vary the tax rates, historically, taxes on the poor supported the nobility, modern social-security systems aim to support the poor, the disabled, or the retired by taxes on those who are still working. A states tax system often reflects its communal values and the values of those in current political power. To create a system of taxation, a state must make choices regarding the distribution of the tax burden—who will pay taxes and how much they will pay—and how the taxes collected will be spent. In democratic nations where the public elects those in charge of establishing or administering the tax system, in countries where the public does not have a significant amount of influence over the system of taxation, that system may reflect more closely the values of those in power. All large businesses incur administrative costs in the process of delivering revenue collected from customers to the suppliers of the goods or services being purchased. Taxation is no different, the resource collected from the public through taxation is always greater than the amount which can be used by the government, the difference is called the compliance cost and includes the labour cost and other expenses incurred in complying with tax laws and rules
6.
William Reid Dick
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Sir William Reid Dick KCVO RA was a Scottish sculptor known for his innovative stylisation of form in his monument sculptures and simplicity in his portraits. He became an Associate of the Royal Academy in 1921, Dick served as president of the Royal Society of British Sculptors from 1933 to 1938. He was knighted by King George V in 1935 and he was Sculptor in Ordinary for Scotland to King George VI from 1938 until his death. Born in Glasgow, Dick was apprenticed to a stonemason at the age of twelve and during the five years he learned to carve stone at work. He completed his apprenticeship in 1896, in 1907, he graduated from the Glasgow School of Art and accepted a teaching position at Bellshill Academy in Lanarkshire. By 1908 he was living in London and exhibiting in galleries, in September 1914 with his reputation as a sculptor growing, Reid Dick joined the Territorial Army and from 1915 to 1919 served with the Royal Engineers in both France and Palestine. Reid Dicks Service Record has fortunately been preserved as part of the Burnt Records series at the National Archives in Kew and can be found under reference WO 363/MIS-SORTS 34/52. From this file we learn that when Reid Dick signed up on 1 September 1914 he joined the 5th London Field Ambulance section of the Royal Army Medical Corps with regimental number 1752. He was 34 years and 4 months of age and gave his address as 1 St Johns Wood Studios, Queens Terrace and his wife Catherine was shown as next of kin. Reid Dick subsequently transferred to the 3rd Army Field Survey Co, part of the Royal Engineers and he was in this period allocated regimental numbers 536331 and 244831. He was described as a photographer with the 7th Field Survey Co and his Army Service record shows his profession as sculptor. We can also view his Medal Index Card under reference WO 372/6-52934/2976 and we see that he was awarded the 1915 Star and the British and Victory Medals. Interesting to note that his medals were engraved with the Royal Army Medical Corps shown as his corps rather than the Royal Engineers, whilst in the trenches Reid Dick did many small carvings from chalk. A story is told that a padre, touring the trenches, saw Reid Dick at work, as we now know William Dick Reid was to become a foremost sculptors. Dick did indeed fulfil the prophecy and produced several superb works. Reid Dick designed several war memorials and received a commission for the Kitchener Memorial Chapel in St Pauls Cathedral. The focal point of his design for the chapel was a Pièta and this work secured his reputation and election to the Royal Academy. In addition he was President of the Royal Society of British Sculptors between 1933–37 and his archives are held by the Tate Gallery and he was buried in St. Pauls Cathedral, London
7.
Leofric, Earl of Mercia
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Leofric was an Earl of Mercia. He founded monasteries at Coventry and Much Wenlock, Leofric is most remembered as the husband of Lady Godiva. Leofric was the son of Leofwine, Ealdorman of the Hwicce, Leofric had three brothers, Northman, Edwin and Godwine. It is likely that Northman is the same as Northman Miles to whom King Æthelred II granted the village of Twywell in Northamptonshire in 1013. Northman, according to the Chronicle of Crowland Abbey, the reliability of which is often doubted by historians, says he was a retainer of Eadric Streona and it adds that Northman had been killed upon Cnuts orders along with Eadric and others for this reason. Cnut made Leofric ealdorman in place of his brother Northman, becoming Earl of Mercia made him one of the most powerful men in the land, second only to the ambitious Earl Godwin of Wessex, among the mighty earls. However, Harold died in 1040 and was succeeded by his brother Harthacnut, two of his tax-collectors were killed at Worcester by angry locals. The king was so enraged by this that in 1041 he ordered Leofric and his earls to plunder and burn the city. This command must have sorely tested Leofric, since Worcester was the city of the Hwicce. When Harthacnut died suddenly in 1042, he was succeeded by his half-brother Edward the Confessor, Leofric loyally supported Edward when Edward came under threat at Gloucester, from Earl Godwin, in 1051. Leofric and Earl Siward of Northumbria gathered an army to meet that of Godwin. So in the end the issue was resolved by less bloody means, Earl Godwin, Earl Leofrics power was then at its height. But in 1055 Leofrics own son Ælfgar was outlawed, without any fault, Ælfgar raised an army in Ireland and Wales and brought it to Hereford, where he clashed with the army of Earl Ralph of Herefordshire and severely damaged the town. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle wryly comments And then when they had done most harm, Leofric died in 1057 at his estate at Kings Bromley in Staffordshire. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, he died on 30 September, both agree that he was buried at Coventry. Leofric was succeeded by his son Ælfgar as earl, Earl Leofric and Godiva were noted for great generosity to religious houses. In 1043 he founded and endowed a Benedictine monastery at Coventry, in the 1050s Leofric and Godiva appear jointly as benefactors in a document granting land to the monastery of St Mary, Worcester, and the endowment of the minster at Stow St Mary, Lincolnshire. They are commemorated as benefactors of other monasteries as well, at Leominster, Chester, Much Wenlock, and Evesham
8.
Mercia
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Mercia was one of the kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. The name is a Latinisation of the Old English Mierce or Myrce, the kingdom was centred on the valley of the River Trent and its tributaries, in the region now known as the English Midlands. The kingdoms capital was the town of Tamworth, which was the seat of the Mercian Kings from at least around AD584, when King Creoda built a fortress at the town. The reign of King Offa, who is best remembered for his Dyke that designated the boundary between Mercia and the Welsh kingdoms, is known as the Golden Age of Mercia. Mercia was originally a pagan kingdom, but King Peada converted to Christianity around 656, the Diocese of Mercia was founded in 656, with the first bishop, Diuma, based at Repton. After only 13 years at Repton, in 669 the fifth bishop, Saint Chad, moved the bishopric to Lichfield, in 691, the Diocese of Mercia became the Diocese of Lichfield. For a brief period between 787 and 799 the diocese was an archbishopric, although it was dissolved in 803. The current bishop, Michael Ipgrave, is the 99th since the diocese was established, at the end of the 9th century, following the invasions of the Vikings and their Great Heathen Army, much of the former Mercian territory was absorbed into the Danelaw. At its height, the Danelaw included London, all of East Anglia, the final Mercian king, Ceolwulf II, died in 879, the kingdom appears to have thereby lost its political independence. Initially, it was ruled by a lord or ealdorman under the overlordship of Alfred the Great, Mercia is still used as a geographic designation, and the name is used by wide range of organisations, including military units, public, commercial and voluntary bodies. Mercias exact evolution at the start of the Anglo-Saxon era remains more obscure than that of Northumbria, Kent, Mercia developed an effective political structure and adopted Christianity later than the other kingdoms. Archaeological surveys show that Angles settled the north of the River Thames by the 6th century. The name Mercia is Old English for boundary folk, and the interpretation is that the kingdom originated along the frontier between the native Welsh and the Anglo-Saxon invaders. Hunter Blair argued an alternative interpretation, that emerged along the frontier between Northumbria and the inhabitants of the Trent river valley. The earliest person named in any records as a king of Mercia is Creoda, coming to power around 584, he built a fortress at Tamworth which became the seat of Mercias kings. His son Pybba succeeded him in 593, Cearl, a kinsman of Creoda, followed Pybba in 606, in 615, Cearl gave his daughter Cwenburga in marriage to Edwin, king of Deira, whom he had sheltered while he was an exiled prince. The next Mercian king, Penda, ruled from about 626 or 633 until 655, some of what is known about Penda comes from the hostile account of Bede, who disliked him – both as an enemy to Bedes own Northumbria and as a pagan. However, Bede admits that Penda freely allowed Christian missionaries from Lindisfarne into Mercia, and did not restrain them from preaching
9.
Domesday Book
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Domesday Book is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William the Conqueror. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle states, Then, at the midwinter, was the king in Glocester with his council. After this had the king a large meeting, and very deep consultation with his council, about this land, how it was occupied and it was written in Medieval Latin, was highly abbreviated, and included some vernacular native terms without Latin equivalents. The assessors reckoning of a mans holdings and their values, as recorded in Domesday Book, was dispositive, the name Domesday Book came into use in the 12th century. As Richard FitzNeal wrote in the Dialogus de Scaccario, for as the sentence of that strict and terrible last account cannot be evaded by any skilful subterfuge and its sentence cannot be quashed or set aside with impunity. That is why we have called the book the Book of Judgement, because its decisions, like those of the Last Judgement, are unalterable. The manuscript is held at The National Archives at Kew, London, in 2011, the Open Domesday site made the manuscript available online. The book is a primary source for modern historians and historical economists. Domesday Book encompasses two independent works, Little Domesday and Great Domesday, no surveys were made of the City of London, Winchester, or some other towns, probably due to their tax-exempt status. Most of Cumberland and Westmorland are missing, the omission of the other counties and towns is not fully explained, although in particular Cumberland and Westmorland had yet to be fully conquered. Little Domesday – so named because its format is smaller than its companions – is the more detailed survey. It may have represented the first attempt, resulting in a decision to avoid such level of detail in Great Domesday, some of the largest such magnates held several hundred fees, in a few cases in more than one county. For example, the chapter of the Domesday Book Devonshire section concerning Baldwin the Sheriff lists 176 holdings held in-chief by him, as a review of taxes owed, it was highly unpopular. Each countys list opened with the demesne lands. It should be borne in mind that under the system the king was the only true owner of land in England. He was thus the ultimate overlord and even the greatest magnate could do no more than hold land from him as a tenant under one of the contracts of feudal land tenure. In some counties, one or more principal towns formed the subject of a separate section and this principle applies more specially to the larger volume, in the smaller one, the system is more confused, the execution less perfect. Domesday names a total of 13,418 places and these include fragments of custumals, records of the military service due, of markets, mints, and so forth
10.
Latinisation of names
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Latinisation is the practice of rendering a non-Latin name in a Latin style. It is commonly found with personal names, with toponyms. It goes further than romanisation, which is the transliteration of a word to the Latin alphabet from another script and this was often done in the classical era for much the same reason as English-speaking cultures produce English versions of some foreign names. In the case of names in the post-Roman era this may be done to emulate Latin authors. In a scientific context, the purpose of Latinisation may be to produce a name which is internationally consistent. Humanist names, assumed by Renaissance humanists, were very largely Latinised names, Latinisation in humanist names may consist of translation from vernacular European languages, sometimes involving a playful element of punning. Such names could be a cover for social origins. Latinisation is a practice for scientific names. For example, Livistona, the name of a genus of trees, is a Latinisation of Livingstone. In English, place names appear in Latinised form. This is a result of many text books mentioning the places being written in Latin. Because of this, the English language often uses Latinised forms of place names instead of anglicised forms or the original names. Examples of Latinised names for countries or regions are, Estonia Ingria Livonia During the age of the Roman Empire, additionally, Latinised versions of Greek substantives, particularly proper nouns, could easily be declined by Latin speakers with minimal modification of the original word. During the medieval period, following the collapse of the Empire in Western Europe, in the early medieval period, most European scholars were priests and most educated people spoke Latin, and as a result, Latin became firmly established as the scholarly language for the West. Though during modern times Europe has largely abandoned Latin as a scholarly language, by tradition, it is still common in some fields to name new discoveries in Latin. Romanization, conversion of a text in Latin letters Nicolson, Dan H, orthography of Names and Epithets, Latinization of Personal Names
11.
Ely Cathedral
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Ely Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in the English city of Ely, Cambridgeshire. The cathedral has its origins in AD672 when St Etheldreda built an abbey church, the present building dates back to 1083, and cathedral status was granted it in 1109. It is the seat of the Bishop of Ely and a suffragan bishop, architecturally it is outstanding both for its scale and stylistic details. Having been built in a monumental Romanesque style, the porch, lady chapel. Ely Cathedral is a major tourist destination, receiving around 250,000 visitors per year, Ely Abbey was founded in 672, by Æthelthryth, daughter of the East Anglian King Anna. It was a community of men and women. Later accounts suggest her three successor abbesses were members of the East Anglian Royal family. In later centuries the depredations of Viking raids may have resulted in its destruction and it is possible that some monks provided a continuity through to its refoundation in 970, under a Benedictine rule. The precise siting of Æthelthryths original monastery is not known, the presence of her relics, bolstered by the growing body of literature on her life and miracles, was a major driving force in the success of the refounded abbey. The church building of 970 was within or near the nave of the present building, ermenilda of Ely was an Abbess here, as well, after her husband Wulfhere of Mercia died in 675. The cathedral is built from stone quarried from Barnack in Northamptonshire, with decorative elements carved from Purbeck Marble, the plan of the building is cruciform, with an additional transept at the western end. The total length is 537 feet, and the nave at over 75 m long remains one of the longest in Britain, the west tower is 66 m high. The unique Octagon Lantern Tower is 23 m wide and is 52 m high, internally, from the floor to the central roof boss the lantern is 43 m high. It is known locally as the ship of the Fens, because of its prominent position above the flat landscape. However the imposition of Norman rule was particularly problematic at Ely, under the Normans almost every English cathedral and major abbey was rebuilt from the 1070s onwards. If Ely was to maintain its status then it had to initiate its own building work, and he was the brother of Walkelin, the then Bishop of Winchester, and had himself been Prior at Winchester Cathedral when the rebuilding began there in 1079. In 1083, a year after Simeons appointment as abbot of Ely, the design had many similarities to Winchester, a cruciform plan with central crossing tower, aisled transepts, a three storey elevation and a semi-circular apse at the east end. It was one of the largest buildings under construction north of the Alps at the time, the first phase of construction took in the eastern arm of the church, and the north and south transepts
12.
Liber Eliensis
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The Liber Eliensis is a 12th-century English chronicle and history, written in Latin. Composed in three books, it was written at Ely Abbey on the island of Ely in the fenlands of eastern Cambridgeshire, Ely Abbey became the cathedral of a newly formed bishopric in 1109. The Liber covers the period from the founding of the abbey in 673 until the middle of the 12th century and it incorporates documents and stories of saints lives. The work typifies a type of history produced during the latter part of the 12th century. Similar books were written at other English monasteries, the longest of the contemporary local histories, the Liber chronicles the devastation that the Anarchy caused during the reign of King Stephen. It also documents the career of Nigel, the Bishop of Ely from 1133 to 1169, other themes include the miracles worked by the monasterys patron saint, Æthelthryth, and gifts of land to Ely. Two complete manuscripts survive, complemented by partial manuscripts, the Latin text was published in 1962, and an English translation followed in 2005. Extracts had appeared in print earlier, the Liber Eliensis provides an important history of the region and period it covers, and particularly for the abbey and bishopric of Ely. The Liber Eliensis was written at Ely Abbey, which became Ely Cathedral upon conversion into a bishopric in 1109, for van Houts, the first stage was the translation of an Old English work into Latin, commissioned by Bishop Hervey. The rest of the work, van Houts argues, was composed in the 1170s, the second has a preface apologising for the delay in its completion, and could not have been started before 1154, as it records events from that year. The third and final book was completed between 1169, when Bishop Nigel died and whose death is mentioned in the book, and 1174, as there is no mention of Nigels replacement, Blake states that this suggests that book three was finished before the new bishop took office. Traditionally the work was ascribed to either Thomas or Richard, two monks of Ely mentioned in the text, Blake thinks that Richard was the author, but he considers the evidence to be inconclusive. Janet Fairweather, a classicist and a recent translator of the Liber, whoever the author, the Liber specifically states that it was written at the bidding of some members of the monastic community at Ely. The northern histories record the stories of the various Cistercian houses in the north. Those from the south, including the Liber Eliensis, mainly concern themselves with the controversies involving their respective religious houses. The northern histories are less concerned with controversy, and overall are more prone to hagiography, to a large extent the work is composite, that is, it is a compilation borrowing from or at least using earlier sources. The work on Maldon was included because the hero of the work was Byrhtnoth, works more directly related to Ely were also used. The primary one of works was Bishop Æthelwold of Winchesters Libellus
13.
Order of Saint Benedict
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Each community within the order maintains its own autonomy, while the order itself represents their mutual interests. Internationally, the order is governed by the Benedictine Confederation, a body, established in 1883 by Pope Leo XIIIs Brief Summum semper, individuals whose communities are members of the order generally add the initials OSB after their names. The monastery at Subiaco in Italy, established by Saint Benedict of Nursia circa 529, was the first of the monasteries he founded. He later founded the Abbey of Monte Cassino, there is no evidence, however, that he intended to found an order and the Rule of Saint Benedict presupposes the autonomy of each community. It was from the monastery of St. Andrew in Rome that Augustine, the prior, at various stopping places during the journey, the monks left behind them traditions concerning their rule and form of life, and probably also some copies of the Rule. Lérins Abbey, for instance, founded by Honoratus in 375, probably received its first knowledge of the Benedictine Rule from the visit of St. Augustine, in Gaul and Switzerland, it supplemented the much stricter Irish or Celtic Rule introduced by Columbanus and others. In many monasteries it eventually displaced the earlier codes. Largely through the work of Benedict of Aniane, it became the rule of choice for monasteries throughout the Carolingian empire, Monastic scriptoria flourished from the ninth through the twelfth centuries. Sacred Scripture was always at the heart of every monastic scriptorium, as a general rule those of the monks who possessed skill as writers made this their chief, if not their sole active work. In the Middle Ages monasteries were founded by the nobility. Cluny Abbey was founded by William I, Duke of Aquitaine in 910, the abbey was noted for its strict adherence to the Rule of St. Benedict. The abbot of Cluny was the superior of all the daughter houses, one of the earliest reforms of Benedictine practice was that initiated in 980 by Romuald, who founded the Camaldolese community. The English Benedictine Congregation is the oldest of the nineteen Benedictine congregations, Augustine of Canterbury and his monks established the first English Benedictine monastery at Canterbury soon after their arrival in 597. Many of the sees of England were founded and governed by the Benedictines. Monasteries served as hospitals and places of refuge for the weak, the monks studied the healing properties of plants and minerals to alleviate the sufferings of the sick. Germany was evangelized by English Benedictines, willibrord and Boniface preached there in the seventh and eighth centuries and founded several abbeys. In the English Reformation, all monasteries were dissolved and their lands confiscated by the Crown, during the 19th century they were able to return to England, including to Selby Abbey in Yorkshire, one of the few great monastic churches to survive the Dissolution. St. Mildreds Priory, on the Isle of Thanet, Kent, was built in 1027 on the site of an abbey founded in 670 by the daughter of the first Christian King of Kent, currently the priory is home to a community of Benedictine nuns
14.
Worcester, England
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Worcester is a city in Worcestershire, England,31 miles southwest of Birmingham and 27 miles north of Gloucester. The River Severn flanks the western side of the city centre, the Battle of Worcester was the final battle of the English Civil War, where Oliver Cromwells New Model Army defeated King Charles Is Cavaliers. Worcester is known as the home of Royal Worcester Porcelain, composer Edward Elgar, Lea & Perrins, makers of traditional Worcestershire sauce, the trade route past Worcester which later formed part of the Roman Ryknild Street dates to Neolithic times. The position commanded a ford over the River Severn and was fortified by the Britons around 400 BC and it would have been on the northern border of the Dobunni and probably subject to the larger communities of the Malvern hillforts. It may have been the Vertis mentioned in the 7th-century Ravenna Cosmography, using charcoal from the Forest of Dean, the Romans operated pottery kilns and ironworks at the site and may have built a small fort. In the 3rd century, Roman Worcester occupied an area than the subsequent medieval city. Industrial production ceased and the settlement contracted to a position along the lines of the old British fort at the river terraces southern end. This settlement is identified with the Cair Guiragon listed among the 28 cities of Britain by the History of the Britons attributed to Nennius. This is not a British name but an adaption of its Old English name Weorgoran ceaster, the Weorgoran were precursors of Hwicce and probably West Saxons who entered the area some time after the 577 Battle of Dyrham. The oldest known church was St Helens, which was certainly British, the town was almost destroyed in 1041 after a rebellion against the punitive taxation of Harthacanute. During this time, the relocated to the nearby Bevere Island,2 miles upriver. The following century, the town was attacked several times during The Anarchy, by late medieval times the population had grown to around 10,000 as the manufacture of cloth started to become a large local industry. The town was designated a county corporate, giving it autonomy from local government. Worcester was the site of the Battle of Worcester, when Charles II attempted to regain the crown, in the fields a little to the west and south of the city. Worcester had supported the Parliamentary cause before the outbreak of war in 1642 but spent most of the war under Royalist occupation. After the war it used its location as the site of the final battles of the First Civil War. As part of this and not based upon any historical fact, it invented the epithet Fidelis Civitas, in 1670, the River Severn broke its banks and the subsequent flood was the worst ever seen by Worcester. The closest flood height to what is known as The Flood of 1670 was when the Severn flooded in the rains of July 2007
15.
Minster (church)
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Minster is an honorific title given to particular churches in England, most famously York Minster in York, Westminster in London and Southwell Minster in Southwell. The term minster is first found in royal charters of the 7th century. Widespread in 10th-century Anglo-Saxon England, minsters declined in importance with the introduction of parishes. It continued as a title of dignity in later medieval England, for instances where a cathedral, monastery, eventually a minster came to refer more generally to any large or important church, especially a collegiate or cathedral church. In the 21st century, the Church of England has designated additional minsters by bestowing the status on existing parish churches, the word minster was a rendering of the Latin monasterium. In early English sources, monasterium and mynster were used interchangeably and they were applied to all communities who had devoted their lives to Christian observance, regardless of the gender of the occupants or the activities in which said occupants typically engaged. The modern English term monastery does not express the same connotations as the Latin monasterium, from which it derives, by the tenth century, a gradual distinction between a church and a mynster began to emerge. For instance, in the Leechdoms, the day was propitious for establishing a mynster. This suggests that by the tenth and eleventh centuries, mynster was being used to refer to a church which was regarded as long-established. An early appearance was in the Ecclesiastical History of the Venerable Bede, the first minsters in the English-speaking parts of Britain were founded in the century after the mission to the Saxons led by Augustine of Canterbury in 597. An expansion of monasteries began around 670, with many substantial royal gifts of land, Kings made grants of land to named individuals to found a minster. This reduced the overall stock of lands carrying the obligations of service to the Northumbrian state. The word derives from the Old English mynster, meaning monastery, nunnery, mother church or cathedral, itself derived from the Latin monasterium, meaning a group of clergy living a communal life. Thus, minster could apply to any church whose clergy followed a rule, as for example a monastery or a chapter. In the earliest days of the English Church, from the 6th to the 8th centuries, minsters, in their various forms, at the beginning of the period, they were the only form of permanent collective settlement in a culture that had not developed towns or cities. Kings, nobles and bishops were continually on the move, with their respective retinues, the superior of the minster was generally from the family of the founder. The minsters primary purpose was to support the king and the thegn in the worship of the divine office. Minsters are also said to have founded, or extensively endowed, in expiation for royal crimes
16.
Stow Minster
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The Minster Church of St Mary, Stow in Lindsey is one of the oldest parish churches in England. It originally served as the Cathedral Church of the ancient diocese of Lindsey, founded in the 7th century, and stands on the site of a much older one. The bishops seat at Sidnacester has been placed, by commentators, at Caistor, Louth, Horncastle and, most often, at Stow, all in present-day Lincolnshire. More recently Lincoln has been suggested as a possible site, there had been a church situated in Stow even before the arrival of the Danes in 870, the year they are documented to have burnt the church down. The building remained in ruins until an Abbey was built in 1040, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Stow parish church, sometimes referred to as the Mother Church of Lincolnshire, is one of the largest and oldest parish churches in England. Ralph de Diceto attributes the foundation to Elnothus Lincolniensis, almost certainly Aelfnoth, Bishop of Dorchester. The memory of this gave rise to the tradition that Stow is the Mother Church of Lincoln Cathedral. It is said to have been re-founded and re-endowed in 1054 by Leofric, in 1091 Remigius of Fécamp re-founded it as an abbey and brought monks to it from Eynsham Abbey, describing the church as having been a long time deserted and ruined. Within five years his successor had transferred the monks back whence they had come, in 1865 J. L. Pearson built the stair turret outside the church. This was originally inside the church in the nave up against the side of the tower arch. At the same time some windows were altered and the church was re-roofed, a new vestry was added in the early 1990s. All that can be seen today are the earthworks of the moat and to the north and this important Anglo-Saxon Minster has parts dating from 950 AD. It attracts visitors from round the world and is an important historic and spiritual site which was restored in Victorian times but now needs major restoration, the Church is a Grade I listed building so great care needs to be taken. It is estimated that the work will take at least 10 years to complete, list of ecclesiastical restorations and alterations by J. L. Pearson Official website
17.
Lincolnshire
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Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It also borders Northamptonshire in the south for just 20 yards, Englands shortest county boundary, the county town is Lincoln, where the county council has its headquarters. The ceremonial county of Lincolnshire is composed of the county of Lincolnshire. Therefore, part of the county is in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. The county is the second-largest of the English ceremonial counties and one that is predominantly agricultural in land use, the county is fifth largest of the two-tier counties, as the unitary authorities of North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire are not included. The county can be broken down into a number of geographical sub-regions including, Lincolnshire derived from the merging of the territory of the ancient Kingdom of Lindsey with that controlled by the Danelaw borough of Stamford. For some time the county was called Lindsey, and it is recorded as such in the 11th-century Domesday Book. In 1888 when county councils were set up, Lindsey, Holland and these survived until 1974, when Holland, Kesteven, and most of Lindsey were unified into Lincolnshire. A local government reform in 1996 abolished Humberside, and the south of the Humber was allocated to the unitary authorities of North Lincolnshire. These two areas became part of Lincolnshire for ceremonial such as the Lord-Lieutenancy, but are not covered by the Lincolnshire police and are in the Yorkshire. The remaining districts of Lincolnshire are Boston, East Lindsey, Lincoln, North Kesteven, South Holland, South Kesteven and they are part of the East Midlands region. Lincolnshire is home to Woolsthorpe Manor, birthplace and home of Sir Isaac Newton and he attended The Kings School, Grantham and its library has preserved his signature, applied to a window sill when he was a teenager. Lincolnshire is an area, growing large amounts of wheat, barley, sugar beet. In South Lincolnshire, where the soil is rich in nutrients, some of the most common crops include potatoes, cabbages, cauliflowers. Most such companies are long gone, and Lincolnshire is no longer an engineering centre, however, as a result of the current economic climate some food production facilities have closed down, this has caused some reduction in the levels of migrant workers. The large number of people from Portugal is still obvious in the town of Boston. A coalition of Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and Independents currently controls Lincolnshire County Council, the Conservative Party comfortably controlled the County Council following the 2009 local elections, in which they increased their majority to 43 seats. The Labour Party lost a total of 15 seats including 7 in Lincoln, the Lincolnshire Independents gained a total of four seats, although one of their number moved to the Conservative group during 2010, increasing the number of Conservative seats to 61
18.
Leominster
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With a population of approximately 11,700 people, Leominster is the largest of the five towns in the county surrounding the City of Hereford. From 1974 to 1996, Leominster served as the centre for the former local government district of Leominster District. The town takes its name from a minster, that is a community of clergy in the district of Lene or Leon, contrary to certain reports, the name has nothing to do with Leofric, an 11th-century Earl of Mercia. The Welsh name for Leominster, still used today by a few on the Welsh side of the border, is Llanllieni. During the Early Middle Ages, Leominster was home to Æthelmod of Leominster and he is reputedly buried in Leominster. Henry II bestowed the minster and its estates on Reading Abbey and its Priory Church of St. Peter and St. Paul, which now serves as the parish church, is the remaining part of this 12th-century Benedictine monastery. Quatrefoil piers were inserted between 1872–79 by Sir George Gilbert Scott, the priory was ransacked by the Welsh forces of Owain Glyndŵr after their victory at the Battle of Bryn Glas near Pilleth in 1402, along with several local manor houses. Investigations to the north of the priory in 2005 located the position of the cloister, discarded animal bones found on the site when submitted to carbon dating showed that the area was occupied in the 7th century. This agrees with the date of 660 CE associated with the founding myth, Leominster is also the historical home of Ryeland sheep, a breed once famed for its Lemster wool, known as Lemster ore. This wool was prized above all other English wool in trade with the continent of Europe in the Middle Ages and it was the income and prosperity from this wool trade that established the town and the minster and attracted the envy of the Welsh and other regions. The mill was financed by Lancashire native Daniel Bourn, and was owned by other men from Lancashire. One of the last ordeals by ducking stool took place in Leominster in 1809, the ducking stool is on public display in Leominster Priory, a mechanised depiction of it is featured on the town clock. As with all towns in the United Kingdom, Leominster has a maritime climate, the data below is from a weather station in Preston Wynne, a village about 10 miles South East of Leominster. The 4-mile A49 £9 million bypass opened in November 1988, the town also has a bus station linking it to Hereford and a number of nearby towns and villages. Earl Mortimer college, is a comprehensive school providing secondary education for about 650 pupils. The town has two schools, Leominster Primary School and Westfields School. Saint Cuthfleda was the abbess of the nunnery at Leominster and the patroness of the region, known for her holiness and chaste life. It is widely regarded as one of Abels finest works, john Scarlett Davis, artist, was born at 2 High Street
19.
Chester
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Chester is a walled city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales. With a population of 81,340 in 2014, it is the most populous settlement of Cheshire West and Chester, Chester was granted city status in 1541. Chester was founded as a castrum or Roman fort with the name Deva Victrix in the reign of the Emperor Vespasian in 79 AD, one of the main army camps in Roman Britain, Deva later became a major civilian settlement. Chester was one of the last cities in England to fall to the Normans, william the Conqueror ordered the construction of a castle, to dominate the town and the nearby Welsh border. Chester is one of the best preserved walled cities in Britain and it has a number of medieval buildings, but some of the black-and-white buildings within the city centre are Victorian restorations. Apart from a 100-metre section, the listed Grade I walls are almost complete, the Roman Legio II Adiutrix during the reign of the Emperor Vespasian founded Chester in AD79, as a castrum or Roman fort with the name Deva Victrix. The victrix part of the name was taken from the title of the Legio XX Valeria Victrix which was based at Deva, Central Chesters four main roads, Eastgate, Northgate, Watergate and Bridgegate, follow routes laid out at this time. A civilian settlement grew around the base, probably originating from trade with the fortress. The civilian amphitheatre, which was built in the 1st century and it is the largest known military amphitheatre in Britain, and is also a Scheduled Monument. The Minerva Shrine in the Roman quarry is the rock cut Roman shrine still in situ in Britain. The fortress was garrisoned by the legion until at least the late 4th century, after the Roman troops withdrew, the Romano-British established a number of petty kingdoms. Chester is thought to have part of Powys. Deverdoeu was a Welsh name for Chester as late as the 12th century, another, attested in the 9th century History of the Britons traditionally attributed to Nennius, is Cair Legion, this later developed into Caerlleon and then the modern Welsh Caer. King Arthur is said to have fought his ninth battle at the city of the legions and later St Augustine came to the city to try to unite the church, and held his synod with the Welsh Bishops. In 616, Æthelfrith of Northumbria defeated a Welsh army at the brutal and decisive Battle of Chester and her name is still remembered in St Werburghs Street which passes alongside the cathedral, and near the city walls. It was Alfreds daughter Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians, that built the new Saxon burh, a new Church dedicated to St Peter alone was founded in AD907 by the Lady Æthelfleda at what was to become the Cross. Taking the helm of a barge, he was rowed the short distance up the River Dee from Edgars Field to the great Minster Church of St John the Baptist by six tributary kings called reguli. In 1071 he made Hugh dAvranches, who built Chester Castle, from the 14th century to the 18th century the citys prominent position in North West England meant that it was commonly also known as Westchester
20.
Much Wenlock
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Much Wenlock is a small and picturesque town and parish in Shropshire, England, situated on the A458 road between Shrewsbury and Bridgnorth. Nearby, to the northeast, is the Ironbridge Gorge, Much Wenlock was historically the chief town of the ancient borough of Wenlock. The Much was added to the name to distinguish it from the nearby Little Wenlock, notable historic attractions in the town are Wenlock Priory and the Guildhall. The name Wenlock probably comes from the Celtic name Wininicas, meaning white area, plus the Old English loca, the town was recorded in the Domesday Book as Wenloch. The population of the parish, according to the 2001 census, was 2,605. The Wenlock Olympian Games established by Dr William Penny Brookes in 1850 are centred in the town, Dr Brookes is credited as a founding father of the modern Olympic Games, and one of the Olympic mascots for London 2012 was named Wenlock after the town. The town of Wenlock is known to have grown up around an abbey or monastery founded around 680 by Merewalh, King Penda installed his daughter Milburga as abbess in 687. Milburga of Wenlock was credited with many miraculous works, the abbey flourished until around 874 when it is thought that a Danish Viking attack occurred. In the 11th century another house was built on the same site by Leofric, Earl of Mercia. It prospered until the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539, other architectural attractions include the 16th century Guildhall, many other historic buildings in the Early English style and an annual well dressing at St Milburgas Well on Barrow Street. 11-year-old Alice Glaston from Little Wenlock was hanged together with two men in Much Wenlock on 13 April 1546, for an unknown crime and she is the youngest known girl legally executed in Great Britain. In the 19th century the town and much of the land came into the possession of James Milnes Gaskell. James was MP for Wenlock for many years and his son Charles Milnes Gaskell restored the Priory lodging as a home with his wife Lady Catherine, daughter of the Earl of Portsmouth. The Domesday Book of 1086 records the manor as Wenloch and forming part of the hundred of Patton and it was already at this time a fairly large settlement, with 73 households. The abbey is recorded in the Book, separately. Much Wenlock has become known as the birthplace of Wenlock Olympian Games set up by Dr William Penny Brookes, in 1861 he was also instrumental in setting up the Shropshire Games and later in 1866, the National Olympian Games. Dr Brookes is credited as a father of the Modern Olympic Games. In 1890 it was the turn of the Raven Hotel to be the venue for the annual post Wenlock Olympian Games dinner, copies of some of the WOSs archive images are on display in the hotel, including letters from Coubertin to Brookes
21.
Evesham Abbey
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Evesham Abbey was founded by Saint Egwin at Evesham in Worcestershire, England between 700 and 710 AD following an alleged vision of the Virgin Mary by a swineherd by the name of Eof. According to the history, Evesham came through the Norman Conquest unusually well. Simon de Montfort is buried near the altar of the ruined abbey. The abbey is of Benedictine origin, and became in its one of the wealthiest in the country. During the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the abbey was demolished leaving only the tower surviving into the 21st century. Other buildings linked to history of the abbey that survive today are the Almonry, the year of the foundation of Evesham Abbey is problematic. William Tindal comments that I have a MS. but without name or reference and this is before he was made bishop, and seems improbable. The date of Constantine’s charter may decide the point as to the consecration of his Abbey, george May gives 701 as the year that Ethelred conferred on Ecgwine the whole peninsula with the erection of the monastery commencing in the same year. On the other hand, the year of the consecration derives from the grant of the first privilege to the Abbey from Pope Constantine written in the seven hundred and ninth year of our Lord’s incarnation. Following the example of the Lord by humbling himself, he resigned his bishop’s see, and became abbot of the monastery. The alleged charter of Ecgwine records that on the feast of All Saints “Bishop Wilfrid and I consecrated the church which I had built to God, the Blessed Mary, and to all Christ’s elect”. The feast of All Saints became established in the West after 609 or 610 under Pope Boniface IV, a Bishop Wilfrid was Egwin’s successor to the see of Worcester. Although the exact year of the foundation remains unclear, it has sometimes been assumed that the date of the consecration was the feast of All Saints in 709. That the consecration occurred on this feast day would provide a connection with All Saints Church. That Abbot Clement Lichfield lies buried beneath the Chantry Chapel, now known as the Lichfield Chapel in consequence, during the Dissolution of the Monasteries of the 16th century, on its surrender to the king in 1540, the abbey was plundered and demolished. The coat of arms of Evesham Abbey is still used in times as the crest of Prince Henrys High School. The antiquary Edward Rudge began excavations of the abbey, on parts of his property, the results were given to the Society of Antiquaries of London, illustrations of the discoveries were published in their Vetusta Monumenta with by a memoir by his son, Edward John Rudge. Rudge commissioned a tower for the site of the battlefield in 1842, to honour Simon de Montfort
22.
Mark (currency)
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The mark was a currency or unit of account in many nations. It is named for the unit of weight. The word mark comes from a merging of three Teutonic/Germanic words, Latinised in 9th century post-classical Latin as marca, marcha, marha or marcus and it was a measure of weight mainly for gold and silver, commonly used throughout Western Europe and often equivalent to eight ounces. Considerable variations, however, occurred throughout the Middle Ages, as of 2017, the only circulating currency named mark is the Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark. In England the mark never appeared as a coin but was only a unit of account and it was apparently introduced in the 10th century by the Danes. According to 19th-century sources, it was equivalent to 100 pence. In Scotland, the merk Scots was a coin of that value, issued first in 1570. In northern Germany and Scandinavia, the mark was a unit of account, in an attempt to prevent debasement of the currency, the Bank of Hamburg was founded in 1619, after the example of the Bank of Amsterdam. Both these banks established a money of account. The Hamburg unit of account was the mark banco and it was credited in exchange for the sale of bullion or by way of credit against collateral. No coins or banknotes were issued, but accounts were opened showing a credit balance, the account holders could use their credit balances by remittances to other accounts or by drawing bills of exchange against them. These bills circulated and could be transferred by endorsement, and were accepted as payment and this currency proved to be very stable. Following German unification in 1871, the country adopted the German gold mark as its currency in 1873, the name was taken from the mark banco. Coins denominated in gold marks were first issued in 1871, the mark banco was converted into the new gold mark at par. The Bank of Hamburg was incorporated as the Hamburg subsidiary into the newly founded Reichsbank, in 1914, the Reichsbank stopped demanding first-class collateral when providing credit to borrowers. The gold mark became a currency, colloquially referred to as the paper mark. In 1918, the sound money policy was not re-established, and the continuing loose money policy resulted in inflation. In late 1923, when the mark had become virtually worthless, it was replaced by a new currency
23.
Rood
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A rood or rood cross, sometimes known as a triumphal cross, is a cross or crucifix, especially the large Crucifixion set above the entrance to the chancel of a medieval church. Alternatively, it is a sculpture or painting of the crucifixion of Jesus. Rood is a word for pole, from Old English rōd pole, specifically cross, from Proto-Germanic *rodo, cognate to Old Saxon rōda. Rood was originally the only Old English word for the instrument of Jesus Christs death, the words crúc and in the North cros appeared by late Old English, crucifix is first recorded in English in the Ancrene Wisse of about 1225. More precisely, the Rood was the True Cross, the wooden cross used in Christs crucifixion. The word remains in use in names, such as Holyrood Palace. The phrase by the rood was used in swearing, e. g. No, by the rood, the alternative term triumphal cross, which is more usual in Europe, signifies the triumph that the resurrected Jesus Christ won over death. In church architecture the rood, or rood cross, is a life-sized crucifix displayed on the axis of a church. The earliest roods hung from the top of the arch, or rested on a plain rood beam across it. This original arrangement is found in many churches in Germany and Scandinavia. If the choir is separated from the interior by a rood screen, the rood cross is placed on, or more rarely in front of. Under the rood is usually the altar of the Holy Cross, numerous near life-size crucifixes survive from the Romanesque period or earlier, with the Gero Cross in Cologne Cathedral and the Volto Santo of Lucca the best known. Many figures in precious metal are recorded in Anglo-Saxon monastic records, notables sometimes gave their crowns, necklaces, or swords to decorate them. As in later examples the Virgin and Saint John often flank the cross, a gilt rood in the 10th-century Mainz Cathedral was only placed on a beam on special feast days. In the Romanesque era the crucified Christ was presented as ruler, instead of a crown of thorns he wears a crown or a halo, on his feet he wears shoes as a sign of the ruler. His feet are parallel to other on the wooden support. The perizoma is highly stylized and falls in vertical folds, in the transition to the Gothic style, the triumphant Christ becomes suffering Christ, the pitiful Man of Sorrows. Instead of the crown, he wears the crown of thorns
24.
Old St Paul's Cathedral
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Old St Pauls Cathedral was the medieval cathedral of the City of London that, until 1666, stood on the site of the present St Pauls Cathedral. Built from 1087 to 1314 and dedicated to Saint Paul, the cathedral was the church on the site at Ludgate Hill. Work on the cathedral began during the reign of William the Conqueror after a fire in 1087 that destroyed much of the city, Work took more than 200 years, and construction was delayed by another fire in 1135. The church was consecrated in 1240 and enlarged again in 1256, at its completion in the middle of the 14th century, the cathedral was one of the longest churches in the world and had one of the tallest spires and some of the finest stained glass. The presence of the shrine of Saint Erkenwald made the cathedral a pilgrimage site during the Medieval period, after the Reformation, the open-air pulpit in the churchyard, St Pauls Cross, became the stage for radical evangelical preaching and Protestant bookselling. The cathedral was already in severe structural decline by the 17th century, Restoration work by Inigo Jones in the 1620s was halted by the English Civil War. Sir Christopher Wren was attempting another restoration in 1666 when the cathedral was destroyed in the Great Fire of London, after demolition of the old structure, the present, domed cathedral was erected on the site, with an English Baroque design by Wren. The cathedral could be the church on the site at Ludgate Hill dedicated to St Paul. A devastating fire in 1087, detailed in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, destroyed much of the city, Bishop Maurice oversaw early preparations, although it was primarily under his successor, Richard de Beaumis, that construction work fully commenced. Beaumis was assisted by King Henry I, who gave the bishop stone, to fund the cathedral, Henry gave Beamis rights to all fish caught within the cathedral neighbourhood and tithes on venison taken in the County of Essex. Beaumis also gave a site for the foundation of St Pauls School. After Henry Is death, a war known as The Anarchy broke out. Henry of Blois, Bishop of Winchester, was appointed to administer the affairs of St Pauls, almost immediately, he had to deal with the aftermath of a fire at London Bridge in 1135. It spread over much of the city, damaging the cathedral, during this period, the style of the building was changed from heavy Romanesque into Early English Gothic. Although the base Norman columns were left alone, lancet pointed arches were placed over them in the triforium, the steeple was erected in 1221 and the cathedral was rededicated by Bishop Roger Niger in 1240. After a succession of storms, in 1255 Bishop Fulk Basset appealed for funds to repair the damaged roof, the roof was once more rebuilt in wood, which was ultimately to doom the building. At this time, the east end of the church was lengthened, enclosing the parish church of St Faith. The eastward addition was always referred to as The New Work, after complaints from the dispossessed parishioners of St Faiths, the east end of the west crypt was allotted to them as their parish church
25.
City of London
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The City of London is a city and county within London. It constituted most of London from its settlement by the Romans in the 1st century AD to the Middle Ages, the City is now only a tiny part of the metropolis of London, though it remains a notable part of central London. Administratively, it one of the 33 local authority districts of Greater London, however, the City of London is not a London borough. The City of London is widely referred to simply as the City and is colloquially known as the Square Mile. Both of these terms are often used as metonyms for the United Kingdoms trading and financial services industries. The name London is now used for a far wider area than just the City. London most often denotes the sprawling London metropolis, or the 32 London boroughs and this wider usage of London is documented as far back as 1888, when the County of London was created. The local authority for the City, namely the City of London Corporation, is unique in the UK and has some unusual responsibilities for a local council and it is also unusual in having responsibilities and ownerships beyond its boundaries. The Corporation is headed by the Lord Mayor of the City of London, the current Lord Mayor, as of November 2016, is Andrew Parmley. The City is a business and financial centre. Throughout the 19th century, the City was the primary business centre. London came top in the Worldwide Centres of Commerce Index, published in 2008, the insurance industry is focused around the eastern side of the City, around Lloyds building. A secondary financial district exists outside of the City, at Canary Wharf,2.5 miles to the east, the City has a resident population of about 7,000 but over 300,000 people commute to and work there, mainly in the financial services sector. It used to be held that Londinium was first established by merchants as a trading port on the tidal Thames in around 47 AD. However, this date is only supposition, many historians now believe London was founded some time before the Roman conquest of Britain in 43 AD. They base this notion on evidence provided by both archaeology and Welsh literary legend, archaeologists have claimed that as much as half of the best British Iron Age art and metalwork discovered in Britain has been found in the London area. One of the most prominent examples is the famously horned Waterloo Helmet dredged from the Thames in the early 1860s and now exhibited at the British Museum. Also, according to an ancient Welsh legend, a king named Lud son of Heli substantially enlarged and improved a pre-existing settlement at London which afterwards came to be renamed after him, the same tradition relates how this Lud son of Heli was later buried at Ludgate
26.
Chasuble
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In the Eastern Orthodox Churches and in the Eastern Rite Catholic Churches, the equivalent vestment is the phelonion. The vestment proper to the priest celebrant at Mass and other sacred actions directly connected with Mass is, unless otherwise indicated, like the stole, it is normally of the liturgical colour of the Mass being celebrated. The chasuble originated as a sort of poncho, called in Latin a casula or little house. It was simply a roughly oval piece of cloth, with a hole in the middle through which to pass the head. It had to be gathered up on the arms to allow the arms to be used freely, in its liturgical use in the West, this garment was folded up from the sides to leave the hands free. Strings were sometimes used to assist in task, and the deacon could help the priest in folding up the sides of the vestment. Beginning in the 13th century, there was a tendency to shorten the sides a little, in the 20th century, there began to be a return to an earlier, more ample, form of the chasuble, sometimes called Gothic, as distinguished from the Roman scapular form. There exists a photograph of Pope Pius XI wearing the more ample chasuble while celebrating Mass in Saint Peters Basilica as early as 19 March 1930. Ornamentation on vestments should, moreover, consist of figures, that is, of images or symbols, hence, the prevalence today of chasubles that reach almost to the ankles, and to the wrists, and decorated with relatively simple symbols or bands and orphreys. By comparison, fiddleback vestments were often heavily embroidered or painted with detailed decorations or whole scenes depicted. Use of scapular Roman chasubles, whether with straight edges or in form, is sometimes associated with traditionalism. However, some priests prefer them simply on grounds of taste and comfort, Pope Benedict XVI sometimes used chasubles of the transitional style common at the end of the 16th century. Many, but not all, Lutheran and Anglican churches make use of the chasuble and it has always been used by the Lutheran denominations of Scandinavia, which also practice weekly Communion. German Lutherans, who also practise weekly Communion, used it for the first two hundred years after the Reformation but later replaced it with the Geneva Gown, a variety of practices emerged in North America but by the mid-20th century, the alb and stole became widely customary. More recently, the chasuble has been readopted for Communion services in both Germany and North America, today, it has become customary except for some Low Church Anglicans. It is not customary and rarely seen in Protestantism outside of the liturgical churches, in Oscar Wildes 1895 play The Importance of Being Earnest, Dr. Chasuble is a clergyman who, in the 2002 film adaptation, is seen wearing his namesake vestment. Image 1 Image 2 The chasuble from the vestments of the Order of the Golden Fleece in the Secular Treasury of the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, a sketch of a chasuble worn by St. Thomas Becket
27.
Anglo-Saxons
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The Anglo-Saxons are a people who have inhabited Great Britain from the 5th century. Historically, the Anglo-Saxon period denotes the period in Britain between about 450 and 1066, after their settlement and up until the Norman conquest. The early Anglo-Saxon period includes the creation of an English nation, with many of the aspects that survive today, including government of shires. During this period, Christianity was re-established and there was a flowering of literature, charters and law were also established. The term Anglo-Saxon is popularly used for the language that was spoken and written by the Anglo-Saxons in England, in scholarly use, it is more commonly called Old English. The history of the Anglo-Saxons is the history of a cultural identity and it developed from divergent groups in association with the peoples adoption of Christianity, and was integral to the establishment of various kingdoms. Threatened by extended Danish invasions and occupation of eastern England, this identity was re-established, the visible Anglo-Saxon culture can be seen in the material culture of buildings, dress styles, illuminated texts and grave goods. Behind the symbolic nature of these emblems, there are strong elements of tribal. The elite declared themselves as kings who developed burhs, and identified their roles and peoples in Biblical terms, above all, as Helena Hamerow has observed, local and extended kin groups remained. the essential unit of production throughout the Anglo-Saxon period. Use of the term Anglo-Saxon assumes that the words Angles, Saxons or Anglo-Saxon have the meaning in all the sources. Assigning ethnic labels such as Anglo-Saxon is fraught with difficulties and this term began to be used only in the 8th century to distinguish the Germanic groups in Britain from those on the continent. The Old English ethnonym Angul-Seaxan comes from the Latin Angli-Saxones and became the name of the peoples Bede calls Anglorum, Anglo-Saxon is a term that was rarely used by Anglo-Saxons themselves, it is not an autonym. It is likely they identified as ængli, Seaxe or, more probably, also, the use of Anglo-Saxon disguises the extent to which people identified as Anglo-Scandinavian after the Viking age or the conquest of 1016, or as Anglo-Norman after the Norman conquest. The earliest historical references using this term are from outside Britain, referring to piratical Germanic raiders, Saxones who attacked the shores of Britain, procopius states that Britain was settled by three races, the Angiloi, Frisones, and Britons. The term Angli Saxones seems to have first been used in writing of the 8th century. The name therefore seemed to mean English Saxons, the Christian church seems to have used the word Angli, for example in the story of Pope Gregory I and his remark, Non Angli sed angeli. The terms ænglisc and Angelcynn were also used by West Saxon King Alfred to refer to the people, at other times he uses the term rex Anglorum, which presumably meant both Anglo-Saxons and Danes. Alfred the Great used Anglosaxonum Rex, the term Engla cyningc is used by Æthelred
28.
Norman conquest of England
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Williams claim to the English throne derived from his familial relationship with the childless Anglo-Saxon King Edward the Confessor, who may have encouraged Williams hopes for the throne. Edward died in January 1066 and was succeeded by his brother-in-law Harold Godwinson, within days, William landed in southern England. Harold marched south to confront him, leaving a significant portion of his army in the north, Harolds army confronted Williams invaders on 14 October at the Battle of Hastings, Williams force defeated Harold, who was killed in the engagement. Although Williams main rivals were gone, he faced rebellions over the following years and was not secure on his throne until after 1072. The lands of the resisting English elite were confiscated, some of the elite fled into exile, to control his new kingdom, William granted lands to his followers and built castles commanding military strongpoints throughout the land. More gradual changes affected the classes and village life, the main change appears to have been the formal elimination of slavery. There was little alteration in the structure of government, as the new Norman administrators took over many of the forms of Anglo-Saxon government. In 911 the Carolingian French ruler Charles the Simple allowed a group of Vikings under their leader Rollo to settle in Normandy as part of the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte. In exchange for the land, the Norsemen under Rollo were expected to provide protection along the coast against further Viking invaders and their settlement proved successful, and the Vikings in the region became known as the Northmen from which Normandy and Normans are derived. The Normans quickly adopted the culture, renouncing paganism and converting to Christianity. They adopted the langue doïl of their new home and added features from their own Norse language, in 1002 King Æthelred the Unready married Emma of Normandy, the sister of Richard II, Duke of Normandy. Their son Edward the Confessor, who spent many years in exile in Normandy, childless and embroiled in conflict with the formidable Godwin, Earl of Wessex and his sons, Edward may also have encouraged Duke William of Normandys ambitions for the English throne. When King Edward died at the beginning of 1066, the lack of a clear heir led to a succession in which several contenders laid claim to the throne of England. Edwards immediate successor was the Earl of Wessex, Harold Godwinson, Harold was immediately challenged by two powerful neighbouring rulers. William and Harald at once set about assembling troops and ships to invade England, in early 1066, Harolds exiled brother, Tostig Godwinson, raided southeastern England with a fleet he had recruited in Flanders, later joined by other ships from Orkney. Threatened by Harolds fleet, Tostig moved north and raided in East Anglia and Lincolnshire, but he was back to his ships by the brothers Edwin, Earl of Mercia. Deserted by most of his followers, he withdrew to Scotland, King Harald Hardrada invaded northern England in early September, leading a fleet of more than 300 ships carrying perhaps 15,000 men. Haralds army was augmented by the forces of Tostig, who threw his support behind the Norwegian kings bid for the throne
29.
Normandy
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Normandy is one of the regions of France, roughly corresponding to the historical Duchy of Normandy. Administratively, Normandy is divided into five departments, Calvados, Eure, Manche, Orne and it covers 30,627 km², forming roughly 5% of the territory of France. Its population of 3.37 million accounts for around 5% of the population of France, Normans is the name given to the inhabitants of Normandy, and the region is the homeland of the Norman language. The historical region of Normandy comprised the region of Normandy, as well as small areas now part of the départements, or departments of Mayenne. For a century and a following the Norman conquest of England in 1066, Normandy and England were linked by Norman. Archaeological finds, such as paintings, prove that humans were present in the region in prehistoric times. Celts invaded Normandy in successive waves from the 4th to the 3rd century BC, when Julius Caesar invaded Gaul, there were nine different Celtic tribes living in Normandy. The Romanisation of Normandy was achieved by the methods, Roman roads. Classicists have knowledge of many Gallo-Roman villas in Normandy, in the late 3rd century, barbarian raids devastated Normandy. Coastal settlements were raided by Saxon pirates, Christianity also began to enter the area during this period. In 406, Germanic tribes began invading from the east, while the Saxons subjugated the Norman coast, the Roman Emperor withdrew from most of Normandy. As early as 487, the area between the River Somme and the River Loire came under the control of the Frankish lord Clovis, the Vikings started to raid the Seine Valley during the middle of the 9th century. As early as 841, a Viking fleet appeared at the mouth of the Seine, after attacking and destroying monasteries, including one at Jumièges, they took advantage of the power vacuum created by the disintegration of Charlemagnes empire to take northern France. The fiefdom of Normandy was created for the Norwegian Viking leader Hrólfr Ragnvaldsson, Rollo had besieged Paris but in 911 entered vassalage to the king of the West Franks, Charles the Simple, through the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte. In exchange for his homage and fealty, Rollo legally gained the territory which he, the name Normandy reflects Rollos Viking origins. The descendants of Rollo and his followers adopted the local Gallo-Romance language and they became the Normans – a Norman-speaking mixture of Saxons and indigenous Franks and Celts. Besides the Norman conquest of England and the subsequent conquests of Wales and Ireland, Norman families, such as that of Tancred of Hauteville, Rainulf Drengot and Guimond de Moulins played important parts in the Norman conquest of southern Italy and Crusades. They also carved out a place for themselves and their descendants in the Crusader states of Asia Minor, the 14th century Norman explorer Jean de Béthencourt established a kingdom in the Canary Islands
30.
Equestrian statue
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An equestrian statue is a statue of a rider mounted on a horse, from the Latin eques, meaning knight, deriving from equus, meaning horse. A statue of a horse is strictly an equine statue. A full-sized equestrian statue is a difficult and expensive object for any culture to produce, Equestrian statuary in the West goes back at least as far as Archaic Greece. Found on the Athenian acropolis, the sixth century BC statue known as the Rampin Rider depicts a kouros mounted on horseback, a number of ancient Egyptian, Assyrian and Persian reliefs show mounted figures, usually rulers, though no free standing statues are known. The Chinese Terracotta Army has no mounted riders, though cavalrymen stand beside their mounts, the Regisole was a bronze classical or Late Antique equestrian monument of a ruler, highly influential during the Italian Renaissance but destroyed in 1796 in the wake of the French Revolution. It was originally erected at Ravenna, but removed to Pavia in the Middle Ages, a fragment of an equestrian portrait sculpture of Augustus has also survived. Equestrian statues were not very frequent in the Middle ages, nevertheless, there are some examples, like the Bamberg Horseman, located in Bamberg Cathedral. Another example is the Magdeburg Reiter, in the city of Magdeburg, there are a few roughly half-size statues of Saint George and the Dragon, including the famous ones in Prague and Stockholm. The Scaliger Tombs in Verona include Gothic statues at less than lifesize, a well-known small bronze in Paris may be a contemporary portrait of Charlemagne, although its date and subject are uncertain. Leonardo da Vinci had planned an equestrian monument to the Milanese ruler. The The Wax Horse and Rider is a model for an equestrian statue of Charles dAmboise. Titians equestrian portrait of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor of 1548 applied the form again to a ruler, taccas studio would produce such models for the rulers in France and Spain. His last public commission was the equestrian bronze of Philip IV, begun in 1634. The near life-size equestrian statue of Charles I of England by Hubert Le Sueur of 1633 at Charing Cross in London is the earliest large English example, which was followed by many. The Bronze Horseman is an equestrian statue, on a huge base, of Peter the Great of 1782 by Étienne Maurice Falconet in Saint Petersburg. Mills was the first American sculptor to overcome the challenge of casting a rider on a rearing horse, the resulting sculpture was so popular he repeated it, for Washington, D. C. New Orleans, Louisiana and Nashville, Tennessee, cyrus Edwin Dallin made a specialty of equestrian sculptures of American Indians, his Appeal to the Great Spirit stands before the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. The Robert Gould Shaw Monument in Boston, Massachusetts is a famous relief including an equestrian portrait, as the 20th century progressed, the popularity of the equestrian monument declined sharply, as monarchies fell, and the military use of horses virtually vanished
31.
John Thomas (sculptor)
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John Thomas was a British sculptor and architect, who worked on Buckingham Palace and the Palace of Westminster. John Thomas was born in Chalford, Gloucestershire, apprenticed to a stonemason after being left an orphan, he later went to Birmingham where his elder brother William Thomas was an architect. He was noticed by Charles Barry who immediately employed John Thomas as a stone and wood carver on Birmingham Grammar School, Barry later appointed him the Supervising Carver on the Palace of Westminster in London, on which he is responsible for all the figures of English kings and queens. Thomass work Charity was shown at the Great Exhibition of 1851 and his final work was the colossal statue of William Shakespeare displayed at the 1862 International Exhibition. A dispute over its placement hastened his death in April 1862 and his massive majolica fountain, also on display at the 1862 exhibition, was placed outside the V&A Museum of Childhood until it was demolished in 1926. Other work includes, A replica of the Bristol High Cross, eight allegorical statues at the 1847 Euston railway station representing the cities served by the line, London, Liverpool, Manchester, etc. Statue of Hugh Myddelton at Islington Green, London. 1860-1862 in collaboration with Edward Middleton Barry to design of Charles Barry, Thomas carved three statues for the tower, but died before completing the fourth, which was overseen by another artist to his design. Life-sized plaster maquette and bronze of Stephen Langton, one of 17 maquettes for 17 bronzes depicting those present at the signing of the Magna Carta
32.
Maidstone Museum & Art Gallery
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The Council subsequently acquired Charles’ house, Chillington Manor, from his executors and, in 1858, opened it as the Charles Museum, later renamed Maidstone Museum. The Museum was one of the first to be opened as a result of the Museums Act and was a member of the Museums Association. Maidstone Museum celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2008 and this museum contains over 600,000 artefacts and specimens. Its collections, housed in the centre of Kent’s county town, are among the most comprehensive in the South East. The Museum is one of three operated by Maidstone Borough Council - alongside the Queens Own Royal West Kent Regimental Museum, the Museums central core consists of an Elizabethan manor house, formerly known as Chillington Manor, completed in 1577 with earlier Tudor buildings to its rear. In the early 18th century a wing was added to the west of the Tudor house. Upon the death of Thomas Charles an in accordance with his estate, Maidstone Borough Council purchased the building in 1856 for the sum of £1,200, investing a further £300 for repairs. On January 20,1858, the Museum opened as one of the UKs first local authority-run museums, after its opening as a museum, the building was further extended to house the growing collections. A new east wing was added in 1869, matched by new wing to the west in 1873 made possible by donations from Julius Brenchley. The eastern elevation was extended in 1889 to accommodate the Bentlif Art Gallery funded by Samuel Bentlif to house the art collection amassed by his brother, George. On the western side, the Victoria Gallery, housing the library, was built between 1897 and 1899 to commemorate Queen Victorias Diamond Jubilee. It operated as a public lending library until 1936. In 1924, the Bentlif Wing was extended and, in 1973, Maidstone Museum & Bentlif Art Gallery is Grade II* listed. The range of historic buildings makes access to parts of the Museum difficult. Significant improvements have been recently to ensure that the Museum meets the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act. The Queens Own Royal West Kent Regiment Museum, an independent charitable trust, has housed in the Museum since 1964. Its collection of regimental memorabilia features over 3,000 medals, the Museum is recognised as having the largest mixed collections in the county and one of the most important in the south-east of England, outside London. The collections consist of over 600,000 artefacts and specimens, three collections are of national importance, Anglo-Saxon - the best collection of artefacts from the richest Anglo-Saxon region of Britain
33.
Herefordshire
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Herefordshire is a historic English county in the West Midlands. It is a county and a unitary non-metropolitan county and district, also named in legislation as the County of Herefordshire. The Welsh unitary county covering the part of Gwent next to Herefordshire is Monmouthshire, Hereford is a cathedral city and is the county town, with a population of approximately 55,800 inhabitants it is also the largest settlement. The county is one of the most rural and sparsely populated in England, the land use is predominantly agricultural and the county is well known for its fruit and cider production, and the Hereford cattle breed. From 1974 to 1998, Herefordshire was part of the former county of Hereford. Herefordshire was reconstituted both as a new district and as a new county by Statutory Instrument as defined in The Hereford and this Order established Herefordshire as a unitary authority on 1 April 1998, combining county and district functions into a single council. Herefordshire is also called a unitary district, but this is not official nomenclature. Herefordshire is officially known as an authority for local government purposes. The Lieutenancies Act 1997 made Herefordshire a ceremonial county, covering the area of the unitary district. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire NUTS2 region. The River Wye, which at 135 miles is the fifth-longest in the United Kingdom and it flows through both Hereford and Ross-on-Wye before returning to Wales. Leominster is situated on the River Lugg, a tributary of the Wye, there are two Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty in the county. The Wye Valley is located in the valleys south of Hereford, while the Malvern Hills are in the east of the county. Herefordshire is one of the 39 historic counties of England, in 1974 it was merged with neighbouring Worcestershire to form the Hereford and Worcester administrative county. Within this, Herefordshire was covered by the government districts of South Herefordshire, Hereford. However, the county was dissolved in 1998, resulting in the return of Herefordshire and Worcestershire as counties, the current ceremonial county and unitary district have broadly the same borders as the pre-1974 historic county. However this has been from a base, with only Northumberland. The population is White 98. 2%, Asian 0. 8%, Mixed 0. 7%, Black 0. 2%, gypsies and Travellers have historically been Herefordshires largest minority ethnic group
34.
Hereford
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Hereford is a cathedral city, civil parish and county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately 16 miles east of the border with Wales,24 miles southwest of Worcester, with a population of 58,896, it is the largest settlement in the county. The name Hereford is said to come from the Anglo-Saxon here, an army or formation of soldiers, and the ford, if this is the origin it suggests that Hereford was a place where a body of armed men forded or crossed the Wye. The Welsh name for Hereford is Henffordd, meaning old road, much of the county of Herefordshire was Welsh-speaking, as reflected in the Welsh names of many places in the county. An early town charter from 1189 granted by Richard I of England describes it as Hereford in Wales, Hereford has been recognised as a city since time immemorial, with the status being reconfirmed as recently as October 2000. It is now known chiefly as a centre for a wider agricultural and rural area. Products from Hereford include, cider, beer, leather goods, nickel alloys, poultry, chemicals, hostilities between the Anglo-Saxons and the Welsh came to a head with the Battle of Hereford in 760, in which the Britons freed themselves from the influence of the English. Hereford had the only mint west of the Severn in the reign of Athelstan, and it was to Hereford, then a border town, the present Hereford Cathedral dates from the early 12th century, as does the first bridge across the Wye. Former Bishops of Hereford include Saint Thomas de Cantilupe and Lord High Treasurer of England Thomas Charlton. The city gave its name to two suburbs of Paris, France, Maisons-Alfort and Alfortville, due to a manor built there by Peter of Aigueblanche, Bishop of Hereford, in the middle of the 13th century. Hereford, a base for successive holders of the title Earl of Hereford, was once the site of a castle, Hereford Castle, which rivalled that of Windsor in size and scale. This was a base for repelling Welsh attacks and a stronghold for English kings such as King Henry IV when on campaign in the Welsh Marches against Owain Glyndŵr. The castle was dismantled in the 18th century and landscaped into Castle Green, after the Battle of Mortimers Cross in 1461, during the Wars of the Roses, the defeated Lancastrian leader Owen Tudor was taken to Hereford by Sir Roger Vaughan and executed in High Town. A plaque now marks the spot of the execution, Vaughan was later himself executed, under a flag of truce, by Owens son Jasper. During the civil war the city changed several times. On 30 September 1642 Parliamentarians led by Sir Robert Harley and Henry Grey, in December they withdrew to Gloucester because of the presence in the area of a Royalist army under Lord Herbert. The city was occupied briefly from 23 April to 18 May 1643 by Parliamentarians commanded by Sir William Waller. On 31 July 1645 a Scottish army of 14,000 under Alexander Leslie, 1st Earl of Leven besieged the city but met resistance from its garrison
35.
Stained glass
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The term stained glass can refer to coloured glass as a material or to works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches, mosques, although traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensional structures and sculpture. Modern vernacular usage has extended the term stained glass to include domestic leadlight. As a material stained glass is glass that has been coloured by adding metallic salts during its manufacture. The coloured glass is crafted into stained glass windows in which pieces of glass are arranged to form patterns or pictures, held together by strips of lead. Painted details and yellow stain are used to enhance the design. The term stained glass is applied to windows in which the colours have been painted onto the glass. Stained glass, as an art and a craft, requires the artistic skill to conceive an appropriate and workable design, and the engineering skills to assemble the piece. A window must fit snugly into the space for which it is made, must resist wind and rain, Many large windows have withstood the test of time and remained substantially intact since the late Middle Ages. In Western Europe they constitute the form of pictorial art to have survived. In this context, the purpose of a glass window is not to allow those within a building to see the world outside or even primarily to admit light. For this reason stained glass windows have been described as illuminated wall decorations, Stained glass is still popular today, but often referred to as art glass. It is prevalent in luxury homes, commercial buildings, and places of worship, artists and companies are contracted to create beautiful art glass ranging from domes, windows, backsplashes, etc. During the late Medieval period, glass factories were set up there was a ready supply of silica. Silica requires very high heat to become molten, something not all glass factories were able to achieve, such materials as potash, soda, and lead can be added to lower the melting temperature. Other substances, such as lime, are added to rebuild the weakened network, Glass is coloured by adding metallic oxide powders or finely divided metals while it is in a molten state. Copper oxides produce green or bluish green, cobalt makes deep blue, much modern red glass is produced using copper, which is less expensive than gold and gives a brighter, more vermilion shade of red. Glass coloured while in the pot in the furnace is known as pot metal glass
36.
Spalding Priory
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Spalding Priory was a small Benedictine house in the town of Spalding, Lincolnshire. It was founded as a cell of Croyland Abbey, in 1052, by Leofric, Earl of Mercia and his wife, Godiva and it was supported by Leofrics eldest son. Ælfgār, Earl of Mercia and the monks were confirmed in their property in 1074, until 1220, Alkborough Priory Cell was a dependency of Spalding. After 1071 one monk only remained in Spalding, so the house was refounded in 1074 as a dependent priory of St Nicholass Abbey, the monks secured their independence from Angers in 1397, and remained so until 1540 when the house was surrendered at the dissolution. Six human skeletons found during building work in Bridge Street are presumed to indicate the site of the Priory burial ground and its priors included Simon 1229 -1252 James 1252 -1253 John 1253 -1274 At some time before 1278, there was a Wazinus. William of Littleport 1278 -1293 Clement 1293 -1318 Walter de Halton 1318 -1322 though he is reported as holding the post for 14 years, thomas de Nassington 1322 -1353 Adalbert of Spalding, supposed author
37.
Dictionary of National Biography
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The Dictionary of National Biography is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published from 1885. The updated Oxford Dictionary of National Biography was published on 23 September 2004 in 60 volumes and he approached Leslie Stephen, then editor of the Cornhill Magazine, owned by Smith, to become editor. Stephen persuaded Smith that the work should focus on subjects from the UK and its present, an early working title was the Biographia Britannica, the name of an earlier eighteenth-century reference work. The first volume of the Dictionary of National Biography appeared on 1 January 1885, in May 1891 Leslie Stephen resigned and Sidney Lee, Stephens assistant editor from the beginning of the project, succeeded him as editor. While much of the dictionary was written in-house, the DNB also relied on external contributors, by 1900, more than 700 individuals had contributed to the work. Successive volumes appeared quarterly with complete punctuality until midsummer 1900, when the series closed with volume 63, the year of publication, the editor and the range of names in each volume is given below. The supplements brought the work up to the death of Queen Victoria on 22 January 1901. The dictionary was transferred from its original publishers, Smith, Elder & Co. to Oxford University Press in 1917, until 1996, Oxford University Press continued to add further supplements featuring articles on subjects who had died during the twentieth century. The supplements published between 1912 and 1996 added about 6,000 lives of people who died in the century to the 29,120 in the 63 volumes of the original DNB. In 1993 a volume containing missing biographies was published and this had an additional 1,000 lives, selected from over 100,000 suggestions. Consequently, the dictionary was becoming less and less useful as a reference work, in 1966, the University of London published a volume of corrections, cumulated from the Bulletin of the Institute of Historical Research. There were various versions of the Concise Dictionary of National Biography, the last edition, in three volumes, covered everyone who died before 1986. In the early 1990s Oxford University Press committed itself to overhauling the DNB, the new dictionary would cover British history, broadly defined, up to 31 December 2000. The research project was conceived as a one, with in-house staff co-ordinating the work of nearly 10,000 contributors internationally. Following Matthews death in October 1999, he was succeeded as editor by another Oxford historian, Professor Brian Harrison, in January 2000. The new dictionary, now known as the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, was published on 23 September 2004 in 60 volumes in print at a price of £7500, most UK holders of a current library card can access it online free of charge. In subsequent years, the print edition has been able to be obtained new for a lower price. At publication, the 2004 edition had 50,113 biographical articles covering 54,922 lives, a small permanent staff remain in Oxford to update and extend the coverage of the online edition
38.
William Dugdale
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Sir William Dugdale was an English antiquary and herald. As a scholar he was influential in the development of history as an academic subject. Dugdale was born at Shustoke, near Coleshill in Warwickshire, where his father, as he was born, a swarm of bees flew into the garden, which some considered a happy presage on the life of the babe. He was educated at King Henry VIII School, Coventry, in 1623 he married Margaret Huntbach, with whom he had nineteen children. In 1625, the year after his fathers death, he purchased the manor of Blyth, during an enclosure dispute with a neighbour a few years later he met the Leicestershire antiquary William Burton, who acted as arbitrator. He became involved in transcribing documents and collecting church notes and met other Midlands antiquaries such as Sir Symon Archer and he began working with Archer on the history of Warwickshire and their research led them to the archives of public records in London. There he met Sir Christopher Hatton, Sir Henry Spelman, Sir Simonds dEwes, Hatton provided him with hospitality in Holborn and became his principal patron. The accommodation in the College of Arms and the income from his post enabled him to pursue his research in London, in June 1642 he was summoned with the other heralds to attend the king at York. When war broke out Charles deputed him to summon the castles of Banbury and he witnessed the battle of Edgehill, and later returned with a surveyor to make a survey of the battlefield. He arrived in Oxford with the king in November 1642 and he was admitted MA of the University and he worked as a bureaucrat in the royalist capital, especially after December 1643 when Hatton was appointed Comptroller of the Household. In 1644 the king appointed him Chester Herald of Arms in Ordinary, during his leisure at Oxford he collected material at the Bodleian Library and college libraries for his books. It was during these years that he met Elias Ashmole, who became his son-in-law. Following the surrender of Oxford in 1646 Dugdale returned to Blyth Hall, Hatton, who had opposed the surrender, went into exile in France, where Dugdale visited him in 1648. He recommenced his researches, collaborating with Roger Dodsworth on the Monasticon Anglicanum. In the following year he published his own Antiquities of Warwickshire, in this work he was one of the first to consider the significance of stone tools, stating these were weapons used by the Britons before the art of making arms of brass or iron was known. At the Restoration Dugdale obtained the office of Norroy King of Arms through the influence of the Earl of Clarendon, in the office of Norroy he undertook heraldic visitations of the counties north of the Trent. In 1677 he was knighted and promoted to the office of Garter Principal King of Arms, in his last years he wrote an account of his life at the request of Anthony Wood. He died in his chair at Blythe Hall in 1686 and he also edited Sir Henry Spelmans Glossarium Archaiologicum and Concilia, adding his own extensions to the latter
39.
Holy Trinity Church, Coventry
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Holy Trinity Church, Coventry, is a parish church of the Church of England located in Coventry City Centre, West Midlands, England. Above the chancel arch is probably the most impressive Doom wall-painting now remaining in an English church, the church dates from the 12th century and is the only Medieval church in Coventry which is still complete. It is 59 metres long, and has a spire 72 metres high, the church was restored in 1665–1668, and the tower was recased in 1826 by Thomas Rickman. The east end was rebuilt in 1786 and the west front by Richard Charles Hussey in 1843, the inside of the church was restored by George Gilbert Scott in 1854. The doom painting was painted above the arch in 1430s. It was discovered in 1831, covered by a lime wash, in the years following, the varnish darkened and hid the painting from view again. In 1995, conservation and restoration work was begun and the painting was revealed 2004, the church had a pipe organ which had evolved over a long period of time with work by many builders, the last by Henry Willis and Sons. A specification of the organ can be found on the National Pipe Organ Register,1526, This is the earliest recorded organ, built by John Howe and John Clynmowe of London for £30. In the late 16th century it was dismantled as the Puritan clergy at Holy Trinity disapproved of organs,1631, Samuel Buggs, procured a replacement instrument. 1640s, Puritans back in charge, organ sold for £30,1732, The German Thomas Swarbrick, who also supplied a new organ for Coventry Cathedral, built one for Holy Trinity for £600. It was placed upon a gallery erected for it across the Nave and had 2 manuals, 1855–1861, As part of the George Gilbert Scott restoration of the church, a new organ chamber was built in the westernmost bay of the south chancel aisle. This instrument of 3 manuals plus pedals, was built by Forster,1900, Rebuilt by W. Hill & Sons with some of the old work incorporated,4 manuals. 1933, J. Charles Lee of Coventry added pneumatic pistons,1961, Rebuilt for £12,200 by the firm of Henry Willis, the organ contained 59 speaking stops, each with 61 pipes, along with 30 couplers and 3 tremolos. 2007, Organ was dismantled, due to it being beyond repair, a funding appeal has been launched for a new organ, which will cost approximately £600,000. – ca.1900 Norman Coke-Jephcott 1909–1911 Harold Carpenter c. 1950–60 Peter Bourton c. 1954–64, afterwards Organist at St Marks, Bilton, Rugby. Grade I listed buildings in Coventry
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