Marche or the Marches is one of the twenty regions of Italy. The name of the region derives from the plural name of marca referring to the medieval March of Ancona and nearby marches of Camerino and Fermo. Marche is well known for its shoemaking tradition, with the finest and most luxurious Italian footwear being manufactured in this region; the region is located in the Central area of the country, bordered by Emilia-Romagna and the republic of San Marino to the north, Tuscany to the west, Umbria to the southwest and Lazio to the south and the Adriatic Sea to the east. Except for river valleys and the very narrow coastal strip, the land is hilly. A railway from Bologna to Brindisi, built in the 19th century, runs along the coast of the entire territory. Inland, the mountainous nature of the region today, allows little travel north and south, except by twisting roads over the passes; the Umbrian enclave of Monte Ruperto is surrounded by the Province of Pesaro and Urbino, which constitutes the northern part of the region.

Urbino, one of the major cities of the region, was the birthplace of Raphael, as well as a major center of Renaissance history. Marche extends over an area of 9,694 square kilometres of the central Adriatic slope between Emilia-Romagna to the north and Umbria to the west, Lazio and Abruzzo to the south, the entire eastern boundary being formed by the Adriatic. Most of the region is mountainous or hilly, the main features being the Apennine chain along the internal boundary and an extensive system of hills descending towards the Adriatic. With the sole exception of Monte Vettore, 2,476 metres high, the mountains do not exceed 2,400 metres; the hilly area covers two-thirds of the region and is interrupted by wide gullies with numerous – albeit short – rivers and by alluvial plains perpendicular to the principal chain. The parallel mountain chains contain deep river gorges, the best known being those of the Furlo, the Rossa and the Frasassi; the coastal area is 173 kilometres long and is flat and straight except for the hilly area between Gabicce and Pesaro in the north, the eastern slopes of Monte Conero near Ancona.

Climate is temperate. Inland, in the mountainous areas, is more continental with cold and snowy winters. Precipitation varies from 1000–1500 mm. per year inland and 600–800 mm. per year on the Adriatic coast. Marche was known in ancient times as the Picenum territory; the Picens or Picentes were the Italic tribe. Many artefacts from their time are exhibited in National Archaeological Museum of the Marche Region in Ancona. In the fourth century BC, the northern area was occupied by a tribe of Gauls; the Battle of Sentinum was fought in Marche in 295 BC. Ascoli was a seat of Italic resistance during the Social War. Following the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the region was invaded by the Goths. After the Gothic War, it was part of the Byzantine Exarchate of Ravenna. After the fall of the Exarchate, it was in the possession of the Lombards, but was conquered by Charlemagne in the late eighth century. In the ninth to eleventh centuries, the marches of Camerino and Ancona were created, hence the modern name.

Marche was nominally part of the Papal States, but most of the territory was under local lords, while the major cities ruled themselves as free communes. In the twelfth century, the commune of Ancona resisted both the imperial authority of Frederick Barbarossa and the Republic of Venice, was a maritime republic on its own. An attempt to restore Papal suzerainty by Gil de Albornoz in the fourteenth century was short-lived. During the Renaissance, the region was fought over by rival aristocratic families, such as the Malatesta of Rimini, Pesaro and the house of Montefeltro of Urbino; the last independent entity, the Duchy of Urbino, was dissolved in 1631, from on, Marche was part of the Papal States except during the Napoleonic period. This saw the short lived Republic of Ancona, in 1797–98. After Napoleon's defeat, Marche returned to Papal rule until 4 November 1860, when it was annexed to the unified Kingdom of Italy by a plebiscite. After the referendum of 2006, 7 municipalities of Montefeltro were detached from the Province of Pesaro and Urbino to join the Province of Rimini on 15 August 2009.

The municipalities are Casteldelci, Novafeltria, San Leo, Sant'Agata Feltria and Talamello. Towns in Marche were devastated by the 2016 Central Italy earthquake which occurred on 24 August 2016. Prior to the 1980s, Marche was considered a rather poor region, although economically stable in some sectors, thanks to its agricultural output and to the contribution of traditional crafts. Today the contribution of agriculture to the economy of the region is less significant and the gross value generated by this sector remains above the national average. Marche has never suffered from the extremes of fragmented land ownership or'latifondo'. Diffused in the past, the sharecropping never produced an extreme land fragmentation; the main products are cereals, animal products and grapes. Truffle hunting is popular.

Gyllenhaal is the surname of a Swedish noble family descended from cavalry Lieutenant Nils Gunnarsson Haal, ennobled in 1652 with a change of surname to "Gyllenhaal". The name "Gyllenhaal" originated from Nils Gunnarsson Gyllenhaal's father Gunne Olofsson Haal, from Hahlegården, a crown homestead in South Härene Parish in the county of Västergötland in West Sweden. Haal comes from the name of the farm estate "Hahlegården". In the Knighthood Letter, signed by Queen Christina, the family name was written in two different ways — first "Gyllenhahl" and "Gyllenhaal". On the copperplate with his coat of arms now hanging in the House of Nobility in Stockholm, it is spelled "Gyllenhahl"; such ambiguities are typical of the time. The prefix Gyllen was the one most used. Actor Jake Gyllenhaal, great-great grandson of the below-mentioned Anders Leonard Gyllenhaal, quipped during an interview prior to the British premiere of Prince of Persia that his last name was pronounced "Yil-en-hoo-luh-hay", parodying Americans' difficulties with Swedish pronunciation.

Nils Gunnarsson Gyllenhaal's descendants today stem from two of his sons: Lars Gyllenhaal, Lieutenant of the Vestgotha cavalry regiment. Hans was killed in action at the Battle of Helsingborg as a cavalry captain; the members of the older branch descending from Lars still live in Sweden. The most notable member of that branch was the Minister for Justice Lars Herman Gyllenhaal. In 1851, he was created Commander of the Royal Order of the Seraphim, his great-great grandson, Baron Herman Gyllenhaal of Härlingstorp, is now the head of both branches of the noble family Gyllenhaal. He has a son Lars. All the members of the family in the United States are descended from Hans Gyllenhaal through his great great-great grandson Anders Leonard and his wife Amanda. Anders Leonard Gyllenhaal immigrated to the United States in 1865; the most memorable member of this younger branch hitherto was Leonard Gyllenhaal. In 1807, he was created a Knight of the Royal Order of Vasa for his scientific work as an entomologist, including his monograph on Swedish insects, Insecta Suecia descripta.

Some notable members of this family are: Johan Abraham Gyllenhaal and mineralogist. Leonard Gyllenhaal, military officer and gentleman farmer, known as an entomologist and a leading Swedenborgian, his best-known work was his monograph on Insecta suecica. Coleoptera in 4 parts, published between 1808 and 1827. Carl Henrik Gyllenhaal, a military officer who participated in the Finnish war of 1808–1809, was Governor of Blekinge County and Skaraborg County, Privy Councilor, Director General of the Swedish customs. Created a baron in 1837. Lars Herman Gyllenhaal, Swedish Prime Minister for Justice 1843–1844. Created a baron in 1843. Mathilda d'Orozco, singer and socialite, she was first married to the stablemaster of Napoleon I's sister. In 1825 she was widowed again, she was the subject of a poem by the leading Swedish poet Esaias Tegnér, a song by Erik Gustaf Geijer. Anders Leonard Gyllenhaal, grandson of Leonard G. editor-in-chief of the Swedish-American newspaper Svenska Amerikanaren Tribunen in Chicago.

Ancestor of the American branch. Stephen Gyllenhaal, film director, great grandson of Anders Leonard G. was married to producer and screenwriter Naomi Foner Gyllenhaal. Anders Gyllenhaal, Washington Editor and Vice President of News, The McClatchy Company, former executive editor of the Miami Herald. Lars Gyllenhaal, great great-great grandson of Lars Herman Gyllenhaal, Swedish writer, member of the Swedish Military History Commission. Maggie Gyllenhaal, Academy Award-nominated American actress, daughter of Stephen G. Jake Gyllenhaal, Academy Award-nominated American actor, son of Stephen G. Sam Gyllenhaal, videographer, son of Anders G. Nordisk familjebok, 2nd edition, Volume 10, 1909. Svenskt biografiskt handlexikon, Volume 1, 1906 Gyllenhaal family tree official website Noble family Gyllenhaal No. 814 at the Swedish genealogy website Adelsvapen

County Lock is a lock on the River Kennet in Reading town centre in the English county of Berkshire. It is now administered by the River Trust as part of the Kennet and Avon Canal. Downstream from the lock is Brewery Gut, a fast flowing and dangerous stretch of the river. County Lock has the lowest rise of the locks on the Kennet, as boats only rise or fall about 30 cm in the lock; the main stream of the Kennet flows down the weir on the far side of the lock, while another arm of the Kennet disappears under the Bridge Street Roundabout. The first County Lock was built between 1718 and 1723, during the navigation works undertaken under the supervision of the engineer John Hore of Newbury in order to create the Kennet Navigation between Reading and Newbury; the lock was located on the north side of the river, adjacent to Bear Wharf, but it was relocated to its current location on the south bank as part of the Reading waterworks improvement scheme of 1876. The land on both sides of the river adjacent to County Lock was part of the site of Simonds' Brewery.

Brewery Gut takes its name from the brewery. In the days of horse haulage, this stretch of river had no towpath, a long tow line had to be sent down-river on a specially designed float. To add to the difficulty, at its narrowest the gut is only 25 feet wide. Multiple vessels cannot safely pass due to the tortuous and narrow route, there have been instances in the past of boats colliding and sinking. Today passage through the gut is controlled by traffic lights. Simonds' Brewery closed in the late 1970s, most of the brewery buildings have been demolished. Around the lock itself they have been replaced by a mixture of apartments and offices, although the brewery's old stable building, which overlooks the lock, has been preserved and was occupied by a Loch Fyne restaurant; the part of the brewery that enveloped Brewery Gut has been replaced by The Oracle shopping centre, boats can be seen navigating through the middle of the Riverside Level of that complex, lined on both sides by restaurants and pubs.

Locks on the Kennet and Avon Canal Clew, Kenneth R. Wessex Waterway - A Guide to the Kennet & Avon Canal. Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire: Moonraker Press. ISBN 0-239-00181-8