1.
Castel Goffredo
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Castel Goffredo is a comune in the province of Mantua, in Lombardy, Italy, lying 35 kilometres from Mantua and a few more from Brescia. It lies in a region of springs at the foot of the slopes drain into Lake Garda. Castel Goffredo borders the municipalities, Castiglione delle Stiviere, Medole, Ceresara, Casaloldo, Asola, Acquafredda. Founded in a region inhabited from the Bronze Age, Castel Goffredo belonged to the count-bishops of Brescia from the century to 1115. When Brescia proved unable to come to the defense, in 1337 it placed itself under the protection of Mantua. From 1348 to 1404 it was governed from Milan by the Visconti, Castel Goffredo became the seat of an autonomous feudo of marquis Aloysio Gonzaga in 1511. At his death, his fiefs of Castel Goffredo, Castiglione delle Stiviere, the territory was annexed in 1603 by the duchy of Milan following a bitter suit heard before the Emperor, and remained Milanese territory until 1707. In 1707, the Austrians took over the region and the Habsburgs then ruled the area until 1859, after the Battle of Solferino, the town was briefly part of the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia, until that kingdom itself developed, in 1861, into the united Kingdom of Italy. Tortello amaro di Castel Goffredo The town of Castel Goffredo has been involved in production since medieval times. The original source material was wool, but in the 1700s, the family of the town. Cotton weaving was introduced around this time. The production of cotton and silk was revolutionised by the processes of the twentieth century. During the 20th century, the area underwent a period of sustained and steady economic development, in 2002, Castel Goffredo was recognised as a titular città, though it remains a comune and not a city in the general sense. The first modern textile-factory was built in 1925 and others soon followed and they took great advantage of the post-war boom and began to specialise, in particular, in the manufacture of hosiery. The area is now a centre of expertise in the production of socks and of lingerie, Piran, the Acerbi family, the towns leading family, following the Gonzagas, Palazzo Gonzaga-Acerbi. In particular, Giacomo Acerbi, the patriarch and the founder of the regions silk-industry, giuseppe Acerbi, naturalist, explorer and composer. Giovanni Acerbi, supply officer for Garibaldis 1,000 Camicie Rosse, Castel Goffredo - Guide for the tourist Castel Goffredo Images of an ancient lordship Italian municipalities
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Tortona
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Tortona is a comune of Piemonte, in the Province of Alessandria, Italy. Tortona is sited on the bank of the Scrivia between the plain of Marengo and the foothills of the Ligurian Apennines. Known in ancient times as Dertona, the city was probably the oldest colony under Roman rule in the westernmost section of the Valley of the Po, on the road leading from Genua to Placentia. 123–118 BC at the junction of the roads, the Via Postumia. The site made Dertona an important military station under the Romans, strabo speaks of it as one of the most considerable towns in this part of Italy, and we learn from Pliny that it was a Roman colony. Velleius mentions it among those founded under the Republic, it appears to have been recolonised under Augustus, until the 9th century, the city was under the rule of its bishop, in 1090 it became a free commune with the name of Terdona. In 1133 the diocese was separated from the archbishopric of Milan to the new archdiocese of Genoa, in 1155 Frederick Barbarossa leveled Tortona to the ground, leaving not one stone upon another. During the Middle Ages, Tortona was an ally of the Guelphs and was destroyed several times. According to Machiavelli By this union Filippo became powerful, and reacquired Milan, by way of being grateful for these numerous favors, as princes commonly are, he accused Beatrice of adultery and caused her to be put to death. In this way, in 1347, Tortona was decisively incorporated into the territories of the Duchy of Milan, under which remained until 1735. Then following the vicissitudes of the War of the Polish Succession, the city was occupied by the King of Sardinia, Roman remains, traditionally identified as the Mausoleum of the Roman Emperor Maiorianus Palazzo Guidobono, rebuilt in 1939 with a Gothic façade. It has traces of Renaissance frescoes, the façade is a neoclassicist addition of the 19th century. The interior has works by Camillo Procaccini, Aurelio Luini and others and it houses also the relics of St. Martianus, patron of Tortona, and the tombs of many important religious figures, including Don Lorenzo Perosi and his brother Cardinal Carlo Perosi. Liceo Giuseppe Peano, built in the 19th century, the Bishops Palace, with a noteworthy Renaissance portal. It has a triptych of Madonna with Child and Saints by Macrino dAlba, abbey of Santa Maria di Rivalta, in the frazione of Rivalta Scrivia. It is a Romanesque structure founded before 1151, saint Innocent of Tortona, who survived the persecutions and was sent as bishop to Tortona by Pope Sylvester. Bishop Gezo of Tortona in the 10th century wrote a Treatise on the Body, marziano da Tortona, secretary to duke Filippo Maria Visconti of Milan is one of the people credited with inventing the card game of Tarocchi. Saint Luigi Orione founded the Sanctuary of the Madonna della Guardia in Tortona, Lorenzo Perosi, an associate of Orione, was a composer of church music and Perpetual Director of the Sistine Choir
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Piedmont
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Piedmont is one of the 20 regions of Italy. It has an area of 25,402 square kilometres and a population of about 4.6 million, the capital of Piedmont is Turin. The name Piedmont comes from medieval Latin Pedemontium or Pedemontis, i. e. ad pedem montium, meaning “at the foot of the mountains”. Other towns of Piedmont with more than 20,000 inhabitants sorted by population and it borders with France, Switzerland and the Italian regions of Lombardy, Liguria, Aosta Valley and for a very small fragment with Emilia Romagna. The geography of Piedmont is 43. 3% mountainous, along with areas of hills. Piedmont is the second largest of Italys 20 regions, after Sicily and it is broadly coincident with the upper part of the drainage basin of the river Po, which rises from the slopes of Monviso in the west of the region and is Italy’s largest river. The Po collects all the waters provided within the semicircle of mountains which surround the region on three sides, from the highest peaks the land slopes down to hilly areas, and then to the upper, and then to the lower great Padan Plain. 7. 6% of the territory is considered protected area. There are 56 different national or regional parks, one of the most famous is the Gran Paradiso National Park located between Piedmont and the Aosta Valley, Piedmont was inhabited in early historic times by Celtic-Ligurian tribes such as the Taurini and the Salassi. They were later subdued by the Romans, who founded several colonies there including Augusta Taurinorum, after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the region was repeatedly invaded by the Burgundians, the Goths, Byzantines, Lombards, Franks. In the 9th–10th centuries there were incursions by the Magyars. At the time Piedmont, as part of the Kingdom of Italy within the Holy Roman Empire, was subdivided into several marks, in 1046, Oddo of Savoy added Piedmont to their main territory of Savoy, with a capital at Chambéry. Other areas remained independent, such as the powerful comuni of Asti and Alessandria, the County of Savoy was elevated to a duchy in 1416, and Duke Emanuele Filiberto moved the seat to Turin in 1563. In 1720, the Duke of Savoy became King of Sardinia, founding what evolved into the Kingdom of Sardinia, the Republic of Alba was created in 1796 as a French client republic in Piedmont. A new client republic, the Piedmontese Republic, existed between 1798 and 1799 before it was reoccupied by Austrian and Russian troops, in June 1800 a third client republic, the Subalpine Republic, was established in Piedmont. It fell under full French control in 1801 and it was annexed by France in September 1802, in the congress of Vienna, the Kingdom of Sardinia was restored, and furthermore received the Republic of Genoa to strengthen it as a barrier against France. Piedmont was a springboard for Italys unification in 1859–1861, following earlier unsuccessful wars against the Austrian Empire in 1820–1821 and this process is sometimes referred to as Piedmontisation. However, the efforts were countered by the efforts of rural farmers
4.
Theology
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Theology is the critical study of the nature of the divine. It is taught as a discipline, typically in universities, seminaries. Augustine of Hippo defined the Latin equivalent, theologia, as reasoning or discussion concerning the Deity, the term can, however, be used for a variety of different disciplines or fields of study. Theologians use various forms of analysis and argument to help understand, explain, test, critique, the English equivalent theology had evolved by 1362. Greek theologia was used with the discourse on god in the fourth century BC by Plato in The Republic, Book ii. Drawing on Greek Stoic sources, the Latin writer Varro distinguished three forms of discourse, mythical, rational and civil. Theologos, closely related to theologia, appears once in some manuscripts, in the heading to the book of Revelation, apokalypsis ioannoy toy theologoy. The Latin author Boethius, writing in the early 6th century, used theologia to denote a subdivision of philosophy as a subject of study, dealing with the motionless. Boethius definition influenced medieval Latin usage, Theology can also now be used in a derived sense to mean a system of theoretical principles, an ideology. They suggest the term is appropriate in religious contexts that are organized differently. Kalam. does not hold the place in Muslim thought that theology does in Christianity. To find an equivalent for theology in the Christian sense it is necessary to have recourse to several disciplines, and to the usul al-fiqh as much as to kalam. Jose Ignacio Cabezon, who argues that the use of theology is appropriate, can only do so, he says, I take theology not to be restricted to its etymological meaning. In that latter sense, Buddhism is of course atheological, rejecting as it does the notion of God, within Hindu philosophy, there is a solid and ancient tradition of philosophical speculation on the nature of the universe, of God and of the Atman. The Sanskrit word for the schools of Hindu philosophy is Darshana. Nevertheless, Jewish theology historically has been active and highly significant for Christian. It is sometimes claimed, however, that the Jewish analogue of Christian theological discussion would more properly be Rabbinical discussion of Jewish law, the history of the study of theology in institutions of higher education is as old as the history of such institutions themselves. Modern Western universities evolved from the institutions and cathedral schools of Western Europe during the High Middle Ages
5.
Mantua
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Mantua is a city and commune in Lombardy, Italy, and capital of the province of the same name. In 2016, Mantua became Italian Capital of Culture, as chosen by the Italian Government on 27 October 2015, in 2017, Mantua will also be European Capital of Gastronomy, included in the Eastern Lombardy District. In 2007, Mantuas centro storico and Sabbioneta were declared by UNESCO to be a World Heritage Site. Mantuas historic power and influence under the Gonzaga family has made it one of the artistic, cultural, and especially musical hubs of Northern Italy. Mantua is noted for its significant role in the history of opera, the city is known for its architectural treasures and artifacts, elegant palaces. It is the place where the composer Monteverdi premiered his opera LOrfeo and it is the nearest town to the birthplace of the Roman poet Virgil, who was commemorated by a statue at the lakeside park Piazza Virgiliana. Mantua is surrounded on three sides by artificial lakes, created during the 12th century, as the defence system. These lakes receive water from the Mincio River, a tributary of the Po River which descends from Lake Garda, the three lakes are called Lago Superiore, Lago di Mezzo, and Lago Inferiore. A fourth lake, Lake Pajolo, which served as a defensive water ring around the city. These dated, without interruption, from Neolithic times to the Bronze Age and the Gallic phases, and ended with Roman residential settlements, which could be traced to the 3rd century AD. Mantua was a settlement which was first established about the year 2000 BC on the banks of River Mincio. In the 6th century BC, Mantua was an Etruscan village which, the name may derive from the Etruscan god Mantus. This new Roman territory was populated by soldiers of Augustus. Mantuas most famous ancient citizen is the poet Virgil, or Publius Vergilius Maro, after the fall of the western Roman Empire in 476 AD, Mantua was invaded in turn by Goths, Byzantines, Longobards, and Franks. In the 11th century, Mantua became a possession of Boniface of Canossa, the last ruler of that family was the countess Matilda of Canossa, who, according to legend, ordered the construction of the precious Rotonda di San Lorenzo in 1082. The Rotonda still exists today and was renovated in 2013, free Imperial City of Mantua After the death of Matilda of Canossa, Mantua became a free commune and strenuously defended itself from the Holy Roman Empire during the 12th and 13th centuries. In 1198, Alberto Pitentino altered the course of River Mincio, three of these lakes still remains today and the fourth one, which ran through the centre of town, was reclaimed in the 18th century. Podesteria Rule From 1215, the city was ruled under the podesteria of the Gallic-Guelph Rambertino Buvalelli, during the struggle between the Guelphs and the Ghibellines, Pinamonte Bonacolsi took advantage of the chaotic situation to seize power of the podesteria in 1273
6.
Battle of Pavia
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The Battle of Pavia, fought on the morning of 24 February 1525, was the decisive engagement of the Italian War of 1521–26. In the four-hour battle, the French army was split and defeated in detail, the French suffered massive casualties, including many of the chief nobles of France. Francis himself was captured by Habsburg troops and imprisoned by Charles V and forced to sign the humiliating Treaty of Madrid, the outcome of the battle cemented Habsburg ascendancy in Italy. The French, in possession of Lombardy at the start of the Italian War of 1521–26, had forced to abandon it after their defeat at the Battle of Bicocca in 1522. Charles de Lannoy now launched an invasion of Provence under the command of Fernando dAvalos, Marquess of Pescara, in mid-October 1524, Francis himself crossed the Alps and advanced on Milan at the head of an army numbering more than 40,000. Bourbon and dAvalos, their troops not yet recovered from the campaign in Provence, were in no position to offer serious resistance. The French army moved in columns, brushing aside Imperial attempts to hold its advance. Having entered Milan and installed Louis II de la Trémoille as the governor, Francis advanced on Pavia, the main mass of French troops arrived at Pavia in the last days of October. By 2 November, Anne de Montmorency had crossed the Ticino River and invested the city from the south, inside were about 9,000 men, mainly mercenaries whom Antonio de Leyva was able to pay only by melting the church plate. A period of skirmishing and artillery bombardments followed, and several breaches had been made in the walls by mid-November, in early December, a Spanish force commanded by Ugo de Moncada landed near Genoa, intending to interfere in a conflict between pro-Valois and pro-Habsburg factions in the city. Francis dispatched a force under the Marquis of Saluzzo to intercept them. Confronted by the more numerous French and left without support by the arrival of a pro-Valois fleet commanded by Andrea Doria. Francis then signed a agreement with Pope Clement VII, who pledged not to assist Charles in exchange for Franciss assistance with the conquest of Naples. Against the advice of his commanders, Francis detached a portion of his forces under the Duke of Albany. In January 1525, Lannoy was reinforced by the arrival of Georg Frundsberg with 15,000 fresh landsknechts from Germany, by 2 February, Lannoy was only a few miles from Pavia. Francis had encamped the majority of his forces in the walled park of Mirabello outside the city walls. Skirmishing and sallies by the garrison continued through the month of February, the times given here are taken from Konstams reconstruction of the battle. On the evening of 23 February, Lannoys imperial troops, which had been encamped outside the east wall of the park, at the same time, the Imperial artillery began a bombardment of the French siege lines—which had become routine during the extended siege—in order to conceal Lannoys movement
7.
Lombardy
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Lombardy is one of the twenty administrative regions of Italy, in the northwest of the country, with an area of 23,844 square kilometres. Milan, Lombardys capital, is the second-largest city and the largest metropolitan area in Italy, the word Lombardy comes from Lombard, which in turn is derived from Late Latin Longobardus, Langobardus, derived from the Proto-Germanic elements *langaz + *bardaz, equivalent to long beard. Some sources derive the second element instead from Proto-Germanic *bardǭ, *barduz, Lombardy referred during the early Middle Ages to the entire territory of Italy ruled by the Lombards, a Germanic tribe who conquered much of the Italian peninsula beginning in the 6th century. During the late Middle Ages, the term shifted meaning and was used to identify the whole of Northern Italy, with a surface of 23,861 km2, Lombardy is the 4th largest region of Italy. It is bordered by Switzerland and by the Italian regions of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol and Veneto, Emilia-Romagna, three distinct natural zones can be fairly easily distinguished in the Lombardy region, mountains, hills and plains – the latter being divided in Alta and Bassa. Inconsistent with the three distinctions above made is the subregion of Oltrepò Pavese, formed by the Apennine foothills beyond the Po River. The mighty Po river marks the border of the region for a length of about 210 km. In its progress it receives the waters of the Ticino River, the other streams which contribute to the great river are, the Olona, the Lambro, the Adda, the Oglio and the Mincio. The numerous lakes of Lombardy, all of glacial origin, lie in the northern highlands, from west to east these are Lake Maggiore, Lake Lugano, Lake Como, Lake Iseo, Lake Idro, then Lake Garda, the largest in Italy. A minor mountainous area, the Oltrepò Pavese, lies south of the Po, in the plains, intensively cultivated for centuries, little of the original environment remains. The most commons trees are elm, alder, sycamore, poplar, willow, in the area of the foothills lakes, however, grow olive trees, cypresses and larches, as well as varieties of subtropical flora such as magnolias, azaleas, acacias. Numerous species of flora in the Prealpine area include some kinds of saxifrage, the Lombard garlic, groundsels bellflowers. The highlands are characterized by the vegetation of the whole range of the Italian Alps. At a lower levels oak woods or broadleafed trees grow, on the slopes beech trees grow at the lowest limits. Shrubs such as rhododendron, dwarf pine and juniper are native to the summital zone, Lombardy has a wide array of climates, due to local variances in elevation, proximity to inland water basins, and large metropolitan areas. In addition, there is a seasonal temperature variation. A peculiarity of the climate is the thick fog that covers the plains between October and February. In the Alpine foothills, characterised by an Oceanic climate, numerous lakes exercise a mitigating influence, in the hills and mountains, the climate is humid continental
8.
Giovanni Boccaccio
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Giovanni Boccaccio was an Italian writer, poet, correspondent of Petrarch, and an important Renaissance humanist. Boccaccio wrote a number of works, including The Decameron. The details of Boccaccios birth are uncertain and he was born in Florence or in a village near Certaldo where his family was from. He was the son of Florentine merchant Boccaccino di Chellino and an unknown woman, Boccaccios stepmother was called Margherita de Mardoli. His father worked for the Compagnia dei Bardi and, in the 1320s, married Margherita dei Mardoli, Boccaccio may have been tutored by Giovanni Mazzuoli and received from him an early introduction to the works of Dante. In 1326, his father was appointed head of a bank, Boccaccio was an apprentice at the bank but disliked the banking profession. He persuaded his father to let him study law at the Studium and he also pursued his interest in scientific and literary studies. His father introduced him to the Neapolitan nobility and the French-influenced court of Robert the Wise in the 1330s, at this time, he fell in love with a married daughter of the king, who is portrayed as Fiammetta in many of Boccaccios prose romances, including Il Filocolo. Acciaioli later became counselor to Queen Joanna I of Naples and, eventually and it seems that Boccaccio enjoyed law no more than banking, but his studies allowed him the opportunity to study widely and make good contacts with fellow scholars. His early influences included Paolo da Perugia, humanists Barbato da Sulmona and Giovanni Barrili, in Naples, Boccaccio began what he considered his true vocation of poetry. Works produced in this period include Il Filostrato and Teseida, The Filocolo, the period featured considerable formal innovation, including possibly the introduction of the Sicilian octave, where it influenced Petrarch. Boccaccio returned to Florence in early 1341, avoiding the plague of 1340 in that city and he had left Naples due to tensions between the Angevin king and Florence. His father had returned to Florence in 1338, where he had gone bankrupt, the pastoral piece Ninfale fiesolano probably dates from this time, also. In 1343, Boccaccios father remarried to Bice del Bostichi and his children by his first marriage had all died, but he had another son named Iacopo in 1344. In Florence, the overthrow of Walter of Brienne brought about the government of popolo minuto and it diminished the influence of the nobility and the wealthier merchant classes and assisted in the relative decline of Florence. The city was further in 1348 by the Black Death. From 1347, Boccaccio spent much time in Ravenna, seeking new patronage and, despite his claims and his stepmother died during the epidemic and his father was closely associated with the government efforts as Minister of Supply in the city. His father died in 1349 and Boccaccio was forced into an active role as head of the family
9.
The Decameron
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The Decameron, subtitled Prince Galehaut, is a collection of novellas by the 14th-century Italian author Giovanni Boccaccio. Boccaccio probably conceived the Decameron after the epidemic of 1348, the various tales of love in The Decameron range from the erotic to the tragic. Tales of wit, practical jokes, and life lessons contribute to the mosaic, in addition to its literary value and widespread influence, it provides a document of life at the time. Written in the vernacular of the Florentine language, it is considered a masterpiece of classical early Italian prose. The books primary title exemplifies Boccaccios fondness for Greek philology, Decameron combines two Greek words, δέκα, déka and ἡμέρα, hēméra, to form a term that means ten-day, ten days is the period in which the characters of the frame story tell their tales. Boccaccios subtitle, Prencipe Galeotto, refers to Galehaut, a king portrayed in the Lancelot-Grail who was sometimes called by the title haut prince. Galehaut was a friend of Lancelot and an enemy of King Arthur. When Galehaut learned that Lancelot loved Arthurs wife, Guinevere, he set aside his own ardor for Arthur in order to arrange a meeting between his friend and Guinevere, at this meeting the Queen first kisses Lancelot, and so begins their love affair. In Canto V of Inferno, Dante compares these fictional lovers with the real-life paramours Francesca da Rimini and Paolo Malatesta, in Infierno, Francesca and Paolo read of Lancelot and Guinevere, and the story impassions them to lovemaking. Dantes description of Galehauts munificence and savoir-faire amidst this intrigue impressed Boccaccio and he contrasts this life with that of the menfolk, who enjoy respite in sport, such as hunting, fishing, riding, and falconry. In Italy during the time of the Black Death, a group of seven young women, thus, by the end of the fortnight they have told 100 stories. Each of the ten characters is charged as King or Queen of the company for one of the ten days in turn. Only Dioneo, who tells the tenth tale each day, has the right to tell a tale on any topic he wishes. Many authors have argued that Dioneo expresses the views of Boccaccio himself, each day also includes a short introduction and conclusion to continue the frame of the tales by describing other daily activities besides story-telling. These frame tale interludes frequently include transcriptions of Italian folk songs, the interactions among tales in a day, or across days, as Boccaccio spins variations and reversals of previous material, forms a whole and not just a collection of stories. Throughout Decameron the mercantile ethic prevails and predominates, the commercial and urban values of quick wit, sophistication, and intelligence are treasured, while the vices of stupidity and dullness are cured, or punished. Beyond the unity provided by the narrative, Decameron provides a unity in philosophical outlook. Throughout runs the common theme of Lady Fortune, and how quickly one can rise
10.
Marguerite de Navarre
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Marguerite de Navarre, also known as Marguerite of Angoulême and Margaret of Navarre, was the princess of France, Queen of Navarre, and Duchess of Alençon and Berry. She was married to Henry II of Navarre and her brother became King of France, as Francis I, and the two siblings were responsible for the celebrated intellectual and cultural court and salons of their day in France. Marguerite is the ancestress of the Bourbon kings of France, being the mother of Jeanne dAlbret, whose son, Henry of Navarre, succeeded as Henry IV of France, the first Bourbon king. As an author and a patron of humanists and reformers, she was a figure of the French Renaissance. Samuel Putnam called her The First Modern Woman, Marguerite was born in Angoulême on 11 April 1492, the eldest child of Louise of Savoy and Charles, Count of Angoulême. On 16 February 1488, her father, Charles, married eleven-year-old Louise, the daughter of Philip II of Savoy and Margaret of Bourbon, Louise was considered one of the most brilliant feminine minds in France and she named their first-born, Marguerite, after her own mother. Two years after Marguerites birth, the family moved from Angoulême to Cognac, where the Italian influence reigned supreme, Marguerites brother, Francis, later to be King Francis I of France, was born there on 12 September 1494. She had several half-siblings, from illegitimate relationships of her father, another half-sister, Souveraine, was born to Jeanne le Conte, also one of her fathers mistresses. Her father died when she was four, her one-year-old brother became heir presumptive to the throne of France. Thanks to her mother, who was nineteen when widowed, Marguerite was carefully tutored from her earliest childhood. The young princess was to be called Maecenas to the ones of her brothers kingdom. Never, she wrote, shall a man attain to the love of God who has not loved to perfection some creature in this world. When Marguerite was ten, Louise tried to marry her to the Prince of Wales, who would later become Henry VIII of England, perhaps the one real love in her life was Gaston de Foix, Duc de Nemours, nephew of King Louis XII. Gaston went to Italy, however, and died a hero at Ravenna, at the age of seventeen Marguerite was married to Charles IV of Alençon, aged twenty, by the decree of King Louis XII. With this decree, Marguerite was forced to marry a generally kind, had become the bride of a laggard and a dolt. She had been bartered to save the royal pride of Louis, there were no offspring from this marriage. After the death of Queen Claude, she took in her two nieces Madeleine and Marguerite, for whom she would continue to care during her second marriage, after the death of her first husband in 1525, Marguerite married Henry II of Navarre. Ferdinand II of Aragon had invaded the Kingdom of Navarre in 1512, and Henry ruled only Lower Navarre, the independent principality of Béarn, a Venetian ambassador of that time praised Marguerite as knowing all the secrets of diplomatic art, hence to be treated with deference and circumspection
11.
William Shakespeare
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William Shakespeare was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the worlds pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called Englands national poet, and the Bard of Avon and his extant works, including collaborations, consist of approximately 38 plays,154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright, Shakespeare was born and brought up in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children, Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith. Sometime between 1585 and 1592, he began a career in London as an actor, writer. He appears to have retired to Stratford around 1613, at age 49, Shakespeare produced most of his known work between 1589 and 1613. His early plays were primarily comedies and histories, which are regarded as some of the best work ever produced in these genres. He then wrote mainly tragedies until about 1608, including Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, in his last phase, he wrote tragicomedies, also known as romances, and collaborated with other playwrights. Many of his plays were published in editions of varying quality and it was prefaced with a poem by Ben Jonson, in which Shakespeare is hailed, presciently, as not of an age, but for all time. In the 20th and 21st centuries, his works have been adapted and rediscovered by new movements in scholarship. His plays remain highly popular and are studied, performed. William Shakespeare was the son of John Shakespeare, an alderman and a successful glover originally from Snitterfield, and Mary Arden and he was born in Stratford-upon-Avon and baptised there on 26 April 1564. His actual date of birth unknown, but is traditionally observed on 23 April. This date, which can be traced back to an 18th-century scholars mistake, has proved appealing to biographers because Shakespeare died on 23 April 1616 and he was the third child of eight and the eldest surviving son. At the age of 18, Shakespeare married 26-year-old Anne Hathaway, the consistory court of the Diocese of Worcester issued a marriage licence on 27 November 1582. The next day, two of Hathaways neighbours posted bonds guaranteeing that no lawful claims impeded the marriage, twins, son Hamnet and daughter Judith, followed almost two years later and were baptised 2 February 1585. Hamnet died of unknown causes at the age of 11 and was buried 11 August 1596, after the birth of the twins, Shakespeare left few historical traces until he is mentioned as part of the London theatre scene in 1592. The exception is the appearance of his name in the bill of a law case before the Queens Bench court at Westminster dated Michaelmas Term 1588 and 9 October 1589
12.
Much Ado About Nothing
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Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy by William Shakespeare thought to have been written in 1598 and 1599, as Shakespeare was approaching the middle of his career. The play was included in the First Folio, published in 1623, at the end, Benedick and Beatrice join forces to set things right, and the others join in a dance celebrating the marriages of the two couples. At Messina, a messenger brings news that Don Pedro, a prince from Aragon, will return that night from a successful battle, Beatrice, Leonatos niece, asks the messenger about Benedick and makes sarcastic remarks about his ineptitude as a soldier. Leonato explains that There is a kind of merry war betwixt Signior Benedick, upon the arrival of the soldiers, Leonato welcomes Don Pedro and invites him to stay for a month, Benedick and Beatrice resume their merry war, and Pedros illegitimate brother Don John is introduced. Claudios feelings for Hero, Leonatos only daughter, are rekindled upon seeing her, Benedick, who openly despises marriage, tries to dissuade his friend but Don Pedro encourages the marriage. Benedick swears that he will never get married, Don Pedro laughs at him and tells him that when he has found the right person he shall get married. A masquerade ball is planned in celebration of the end of the war, Don John uses this situation to get revenge on his brother Don Pedro by telling young Claudio that Don Pedro is wooing Hero for himself. A furious Claudio confronts Don Pedro, but the misunderstanding is quickly resolved, meanwhile, Benedick disguises himself and dances with Beatrice. Beatrice proceeds to tell this man that Benedick is the princes jester. Benedick, enraged by her words, swears he will have revenge, Don Pedro and his men, bored at the prospect of waiting a week for the wedding, harbour a plan to match-make between Benedick and Beatrice. They arrange for Benedick to overhear a conversation in which they declare that Beatrice is madly in love him but afraid to tell him. Meanwhile, Hero and her maid Ursula ensure Beatrice overhears them discuss Benedicks undying love for her, the tricks have the desired effect, both Benedick and Beatrice are delighted to think they are the object of unrequited love, and both accordingly resolve to mend their faults and reconcile. Meanwhile, Don Pedros brother Don John, the prince, plots to prevent the wedding, embarrass his brother and wreak misery on Leonato. He informs Don Pedro and Claudio that Hero is unfaithful, Claudio and Don Pedro are taken in, and Claudio vows to humiliate Hero publicly. At the wedding the day, Claudio denounces Hero before the stunned guests. Her humiliated father Leonato expresses the wish that she would die, the presiding friar intervenes, believing Hero to be innocent. He suggests the family fake Heros death in order to extract the truth, prompted by the days harrowing events, Benedick and Beatrice confess their love for each other. Beatrice then asks Benedick to slay Claudio as proof of his devotion, Benedick is horrified and at first, denies her request
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Bandello, Matteo". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "
