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French toast
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French toast, also known as eggy bread, Bombay toast, German toast, gypsy toast, poor knights, or Spanish toast, is a dish made of bread soaked in milk, then in beaten eggs and then fried. Under the names suppe dorate, soupys yn dorye, tostées dorées, and payn purdyeu, for example, Martino da Como offers a recipe. French toast was served with game birds and meats. The word soup in these names refers to bread soaked in a liquid, the usual French name is pain perdu (French, lost bread, as it is a way to reclaim stale or otherwise lost bread. It may also be called pain doré golden bread, the term pain perdu was formerly used metaphorically to mean sunk costs. A fourteenth-century German recipe uses the name Arme Ritter, a name used in English. Also in the century, Taillevent presented a recipe for tostées dorées. There are fifteenth-century English recipes for pain perdu, an Austrian and Bavarian term is pafese or pofese, from zuppa pavese, referring to Pavia, Italy. Slices of bread are soaked or dipped in a mixture of beaten eggs, sometimes sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, or vanilla are added to the mixture. The slices of egg-coated bread are then fried on both sides until they are browned and cooked through, day-old bread is often recommended by chefs because the stale bread will soak up more egg mixture without falling apart. The cooked slices may be covered with sugar or sweet toppings such as jam, honey, fruit, or maple syrup, the bread may be dipped in milk only, with the egg mixture added afterwards. The bread may be soaked in various liquids, such as wine, rosewater, or orange juice. Formerly, the dish was eaten more as a soup than dry, in France, pain perdu may be eaten as a dessert, an afternoon tea snack, or more rarely as a breakfast. Hong Kong–style French toast is made by deep-frying sliced bread dipped in egg, served with butter. It is frequently made as a sandwich, with a sweet filling and it is a typical offering in Hong Kong teahouses. Torrija is a similar recipe traditionally prepared in Spain for Lent and it is usually made by soaking stale bread in milk or wine with honey and spices. It is dipped in egg and fried with olive oil and this cooking technique breaks down the fibres of the bread and results in a pastry with a crispy outside and smooth inside. It is often sprinkled with cinnamon as a final touch, torrijas or torrejas were first mentioned by the Spanish composer, poet and playwright Juan del Encina in his Cancionero, published in 1496
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Pension
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The terms retirement plan and superannuation tend to refer to a pension granted upon retirement of the individual. Retirement plans may be set up by employers, insurance companies, called retirement plans in the United States, they are commonly known as pension schemes in the United Kingdom and Ireland and superannuation plans in Australia and New Zealand. Retirement pensions are typically in the form of a life annuity. A pension created by an employer for the benefit of an employee is commonly referred to as an occupational or employer pension, labor unions, the government, or other organizations may also fund pensions. Occupational pensions are a form of deferred compensation, usually advantageous to employee, many pensions also contain an additional insurance aspect, since they often will pay benefits to survivors or disabled beneficiaries. Other vehicles may provide a stream of payments. The common use of the pension is to describe the payments a person receives upon retirement. A recipient of a retirement pension is known as a pensioner or retiree, a retirement plan is an arrangement to provide people with an income during retirement when they are no longer earning a steady income from employment. Often retirement plans require both the employer and employee to contribute money to a fund during their employment in order to receive defined benefits upon retirement and it is a tax deferred savings vehicle that allows for the tax-free accumulation of a fund for later use as a retirement income. Funding can be provided in other ways, such as labor unions, government agencies. Pension plans are therefore a form of deferred compensation, a SSAS is a type of employment-based Pension in the UK. Some countries also grant pensions to military veterans, military pensions are overseen by the government, an example of a standing agency is the United States Department of Veterans Affairs. Ad hoc committees may also be formed to investigate specific tasks, Commission on Veterans Pensions in 1955–56. In early 2017, the Wall Street Journal reported the percentage of American private-sector workers who have a pension is 13%. Many countries have created funds for their citizens and residents to provide income when they retire, typically this requires payments throughout the citizens working life in order to qualify for benefits later on. A basic state pension is a contribution based benefit, and depends on an individuals contribution history, for examples, see National Insurance in the UK, or Social Security in the United States of America. Many countries have put in place a social pension. These are regular, tax-funded non-contributory cash transfers paid to older people, over 80 countries have social pensions
3.
Windsor Castle
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Windsor Castle is a royal residence at Windsor in the English county of Berkshire. It is notable for its association with the English and later British royal family. The original castle was built in the 11th century after the Norman invasion of England by William the Conqueror, since the time of Henry I, it has been used by the reigning monarch and is the longest-occupied palace in Europe. Inside the castle walls is the 15th-century St Georges Chapel, considered by the historian John Martin Robinson to be one of the achievements of English Perpendicular Gothic design. Gradually replaced with stone fortifications, the castle withstood a siege during the First Barons War at the start of the 13th century. Edwards core design lasted through the Tudor period, during which Henry VIII and Elizabeth I made increasing use of the castle as a royal court and centre for diplomatic entertainment. Windsor Castle survived the period of the English Civil War, when it was used as a military headquarters for Parliamentary forces. At the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660, Charles II rebuilt much of Windsor Castle with the help of the architect Hugh May, Queen Victoria made a few minor changes to the castle, which became the centre for royal entertainment for much of her reign. Windsor Castle was used as a refuge for the family during the Luftwaffe bombing campaigns of the Second World War. It is a popular tourist attraction, a venue for hosting state visits, today, more than 500 people live and work in Windsor Castle, making it the largest inhabited castle in the world. Windsor Castle occupies 13 acres, and combines the features of a fortification, a palace, the present-day castle was created during a sequence of phased building projects, culminating in the reconstruction work after a fire in 1992. It is in essence a Georgian and Victorian design based on a medieval structure, since the 14th century, architecture at the castle has attempted to produce a contemporary reinterpretation of older fashions and traditions, repeatedly imitating outmoded or even antiquated styles. Although there has some criticism, the castles architecture and history lends it a place amongst the greatest European palaces. At the heart of Windsor Castle is the Middle Ward, a formed around the motte or artificial hill in the centre of the ward. The motte is 50 feet high and is made from chalk originally excavated from the surrounding ditch, the Round Tower is in reality far from cylindrical, due to the shape and structure of the motte beneath it. The western entrance to the Middle Ward is now open, the eastern exit from the ward is guarded by the Norman Gatehouse. Wyatville redesigned the exterior of the gatehouse, and the interior was later converted in the 19th century for residential use. The Upper Ward of Windsor Castle comprises a number of major buildings enclosed by the bailey wall
4.
Order of the Garter
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The Most Noble Order of the Garter, founded in 1348, is the highest order of chivalry and the third most prestigious honour in England and the United Kingdom. It is dedicated to the image and arms of Saint George and it is awarded at the Sovereigns pleasure as a personal gift on recipients from the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms. Membership of the Order is limited to the Sovereign, the Prince of Wales, the order also includes supernumerary knights and ladies. New appointments to the Order of the Garter are always announced on St Georges Day, the orders emblem is a garter with the motto Honi soit qui mal y pense in gold lettering. Members of the wear it on ceremonial occasions. King Edward III founded the Order of the Garter around the time of his claim to the French throne, the list includes Sir Sanchet DAbrichecourt, who died on 20 October 1345. Other dates from 1344 to 1351 have also been proposed, the Kings wardrobe account shows Garter habits first issued in the autumn of 1348. Also, its original statutes required that member of the Order already be a knight. The earliest written mention of the Order is found in Tirant lo Blanch and it was first published in 1490. This book devotes a chapter to the description of the origin of the Order of the Garter, at the time of its foundation, the Order consisted of King Edward III, together with 25 Founder Knights, listed in ascending order of stall number in St.1431. Various legends account for the origin of the Order, the most popular legend involves the Countess of Salisbury, whose garter is said to have slipped from her leg while she was dancing at a court ball at Calais. When the surrounding courtiers sniggered, the king picked it up and returned it to her, exclaiming, Honi soit qui mal y pense, King Edward supposedly recalled the event in the 14th century when he founded the Order. This story is recounted in a letter to the Annual Register in 1774, The motto in fact refers to Edwards claim to the French throne, the use of the garter as an emblem may have derived from straps used to fasten armour. Medieval scholars have pointed to a connection between the Order of the Garter and the Middle English poem, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, in Gawain, a girdle, very similar in its erotic undertones to the garter, plays a prominent role. A rough version of the Orders motto also appears in the text and it translates from Old French as Accursed be a cowardly and covetous heart. While the author of that poem remains disputed, there seems to be a connection between two of the top candidates and the Order of the Garter. Scholar J. P. Oakden has suggested that it is related to John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster, and, more importantly. Another competing theory is that the work was written for Enguerrand de Coucy, the Sire de Coucy was married to King Edward IIIs daughter, Isabella, and was given admittance to the Order of the Garter on their wedding day
5.
St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle
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St Georges Chapel is the place of worship at Windsor Castle in England, United Kingdom. It is both a royal peculiar and the chapel of the Order of the Garter, the chapel is governed by the Dean and Canons of Windsor. The chapel is located in the Lower Ward of the castle, the Society of the Friends of St Georges and Descendants of the Knights of the Garter, a registered charity, was established in 1931 to assist the College in maintaining the chapel. In 1348, King Edward III founded two new colleges, St Stephens at Westminster and St Georges at Windsor. The new college at Windsor was attached to the Chapel of St Edward the Confessor which had constructed by Henry III in the early thirteenth century. The chapel was rededicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, St Edward the Confessor. Edward III also built the Aerary Porch in 1353–1354 and it was used as the entrance to the new college. St Georges Chapel became the Mother Church of the Order of the Garter, and their heraldic banners hang above the upper stalls of the choir where they have a seat for life. The period 1475–1528 saw a redevelopment of St Georges Chapel, set in motion by Edward IV and continued by Henry VII. The Horseshoe Cloister was constructed for the new community of 45 junior members,16 vicars, St Georges Chapel was a popular destination for pilgrims during the late medieval period. The chapel was purported to contain several important relics, the bodies of John Schorne and Henry VI of England and these relics all appear to have been displayed at the east end of the south choir aisle. The Chapel suffered a great deal of destruction during the English Civil War, parliamentary forces broke into and plundered the chapel and treasury on 23 October 1642. Further pillaging occurred in 1643 when the chapter house was destroyed, lead was stripped off the chapel roofs. Following his execution in 1649, Charles I was buried in a vault in the centre of the choir at St Georges Chapel which also contained the coffins of Henry VIII. A programme of repair was undertaken at St Georges Chapel following the Restoration of the monarchy, the reign of Queen Victoria saw further changes made to the architecture of the chapel. On the roof of the chapel, standing on the pinnacles, the original beasts dated from the sixteenth century, but were removed in 1682 on the advice of Sir Christopher Wren, the present statues date from 1925, when the chapel was restored. Members of the meet at Windsor Castle every June for the annual Garter Service. After lunch in the State Apartments in the Upper Ward of the Castle they process on foot, wearing their robes and insignia, if any new members have been admitted to the Order they are installed at the service
6.
King Edward III
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Edward III transformed the Kingdom of England into one of the most formidable military powers in Europe. Edward was crowned at age fourteen after his father was deposed by his mother, Isabella of France, at age seventeen he led a successful coup against Mortimer, the de facto ruler of the country, and began his personal reign. After a successful campaign in Scotland he declared himself heir to the French throne in 1337. This started what would become known as the Hundred Years War, following some initial setbacks the war went exceptionally well for England, victories at Crécy and Poitiers led to the highly favourable Treaty of Brétigny. Edwards later years, however, were marked by international failure and domestic strife, largely as a result of his inactivity, Edward III was a temperamental man but capable of unusual clemency. He was in ways a conventional king whose main interest was warfare. Admired in his own time and for centuries after, Edward was denounced as an adventurer by later Whig historians such as William Stubbs. This view has been challenged recently and modern historians credit him with some significant achievements, Edward was born at Windsor Castle on 13 November 1312, and was often referred to as Edward of Windsor in his early years. The reign of his father, Edward II, was a problematic period of English history. One source of contention was the inactivity, and repeated failure. Another controversial issue was the kings patronage of a small group of royal favourites. The birth of an heir in 1312 temporarily improved Edward IIs position in relation to the baronial opposition. To bolster further the independent prestige of the prince, the king had him created Earl of Chester at only twelve days of age. In 1325, Edward II was faced with a demand from his brother-in-law, Charles IV of France, Edward was reluctant to leave the country, as discontent was once again brewing domestically, particularly over his relationship with the favourite Hugh Despenser the Younger. Instead, he had his son Edward created Duke of Aquitaine in his place, the young Edward was accompanied by his mother Isabella, who was the sister of King Charles, and was meant to negotiate a peace treaty with the French. While in France, however, Isabella conspired with the exiled Roger Mortimer to have Edward deposed, to build up diplomatic and military support for the venture, Isabella had Prince Edward engaged to the twelve-year-old Philippa of Hainault. An invasion of England was launched and Edward IIs forces deserted him completely, the king was forced to relinquish the throne to his son on 25 January 1327. The new king was crowned as Edward III on 1 February 1327 and it was not long before the new reign also met with other problems caused by the central position at court of Roger Mortimer, who was now the de facto ruler of England
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France
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France, officially the French Republic, is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European, or metropolitan, area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. France spans 643,801 square kilometres and had a population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017. It is a unitary republic with the capital in Paris. Other major urban centres include Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Nice, Toulouse, during the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The area was annexed in 51 BC by Rome, which held Gaul until 486, France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years War strengthening state-building and political centralisation. During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a colonial empire was established. The 16th century was dominated by civil wars between Catholics and Protestants. France became Europes dominant cultural, political, and military power under Louis XIV, in the 19th century Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire, whose subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the Algerian War, the Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains to this day. Algeria and nearly all the colonies became independent in the 1960s with minimal controversy and typically retained close economic. France has long been a centre of art, science. It hosts Europes fourth-largest number of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites and receives around 83 million foreign tourists annually, France is a developed country with the worlds sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest by purchasing power parity. In terms of household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, France remains a great power in the world, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It is a member state of the European Union and the Eurozone. It is also a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, originally applied to the whole Frankish Empire, the name France comes from the Latin Francia, or country of the Franks
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Collegiate church
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In its governance and religious observance a collegiate church is similar to a cathedral, although a collegiate church is not the seat of a bishop and has no diocesan responsibilities. Collegiate churches were supported by extensive lands held by the church. They commonly provide distinct spaces for congregational worship and for the offices of their clerical community. In England these churches were termed minsters, from the Latin monasterium, in less affluent foundations, the pooled endowments of the community were apportioned between the canons, such canons being termed portioners. Both prebendaries and portioners tended in this period to abandon communal living, because each prebend provided a discrete source of income, in the later medieval period prebendaries increasingly tended to be non-resident, paying a vicar to undertake divine service in their place. One particular development of the chantry college principle was the establishment in university cities of collegiate foundations in which the fellows were graduate academics, local parish churches were appropriated to these foundations, thereby initially acquiring collegiate status. This has influenced the design of churches in that the singing choir is seen as representing the idea of a college. The Westminster model of parliamentary seating arrangement arose from Parliaments use of the collegiate St Stephens Chapel Westminster for its sittings, until Westminster Palace burned down in 1834. Three traditional collegiate churches have survived in England since the Middle Ages, at Westminster Abbey in London, St Georges Chapel of Windsor Castle and St Endellions Church, the idea of a collegiate church has continued to develop a contemporary equivalent. Two different examples of collegiate churches in America today are The Collegiate Church of New York City. St. Pauls Collegiate Church at Storrs features contemporary architecture reflecting traditional collegiate church architecture, unlike most historical collegiate churches, this is a non-denominational, evangelical church. According to church leaders, they chose the name collegiate to emphasize the priesthood of all believers, in the Catholic Church, most cathedrals possess a cathedral chapter and are thus collegiate churches. The number of collegiate chapters other than those of cathedrals has been reduced compared to times past. Three of them are in Rome, the two basilicas of St. Peter and St. Mary Major, together with the Basilica St. Maria ad Martyres. Elsewhere, three can be found in Germany, to wit, St. Martins Church, Landshut, philipp and Jacob in Altötting and St. Remigius in Borken. In Portugal the one example that survives is that of the ancient Real Colegiada of Nossa Senhora da Oliveira in Guimarães, one collegiate church can be found in the Czech Republic, Sts. In pre-Reformation England there were usually a number of churches in each diocese. They were mostly abolished during the reign of Edward VI in 1547, as part of the Reformation, almost all continue to serve as parish churches with a resident rector, vicar or curate
9.
Bedesmen
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Bedesman, or beadsman was generally a pensioner or almsman whose duty it was to pray for his benefactor. A Bedesman in Medieval times worked in this Christian occupation attached to the crown, in general the task was to pray for souls listed on a bede-roll represented by small items on a string called bedes. Souls who wished to be prayed for, secured their listing by giving alms, donations, or, if a departed member of a guild, the Chaplain would add them to the roll for prayer post-mortem. Bedesmen were sometimes accommodated in a Bedehouse, some of which have survived into modern times and these are generally considered to be buildings of special interest and are often listed. In Scotland there were public almsmen supported by the king and expected in return to pray for his welfare and these men wore long blue gowns with a pewter badge on the right arm, and were nicknamed Blue Gowns. Their number corresponded to the years, an extra one being added each royal birthday. They were privileged to ask alms throughout Scotland, on the kings birthday each bedesman received a new blue gown, a loaf, a bottle of ale, and a leathern purse containing a penny for every year of the kings life. On the pewter badge which they wore were their name and the pass and repass. The last beadsman died in Aberdeen in 1988, in consequence of its use in this general sense of pensioner, bedesman was long used in English as equivalent to servant. The word had a sense as the name for those almsmen attached to cathedrals and other churches. A relic of times, these old men still figure in the accounts of English cathedrals. Bede Bede Bede House, Old Aberdeen Lyddington Bede House
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Chantry
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It was believed such masses would speed the deceaseds soul through its undesirable and indeterminate period in Purgatory onwards to eternal rest in Heaven. Clearly once the soul had reached Heaven the ideal state for the Christian human soul had been attained, thus the concept of Purgatory was central to the perceived need for chantries. Chantries were commonly established in England and were endowed with lands, rents from specified properties and other assets by the donor, the income from these assets maintained the chantry priest. A chantry chapel is a building on land or a dedicated area or altar within a parish church or cathedral. A chantry may occupy for premises a single altar, for example in the aisle of a church, rather than an enclosed chapel within a larger church. Many such chantry altars became richly endowed, often with gold furnishings, over the centuries, chantries increased their wealth, often by attracting new donors, and chantry priests, or those feoffees who employed them, were in many cases able to enjoy great wealth. In some instances this led to corruption of the consecrated life expected of clerics and it also led in general to an accumulation of great wealth and power by the Church, beyond the feudal control of the Crown. This evident corruption was one of the utilized by King Henry VIII to order the Dissolution of the Monasteries in England. At that time, chantries were abolished and their assets were sold or granted to persons at the discretion of King Henry VIII and his son King Edward VI, via the Court of Augmentations. The Roman Catholic practice of saying masses to benefit the soul of a deceased person supposed to be in Purgatory is recorded as early as the 8th century, the most common form was the anniversarium or missa annualis, a mass said annually on the date of the persons death. Catholics believe that the prayer the better, including the offering of the Mass. At the Council of Attigny in 765, about 40 abbots and bishops agreed to say masses, before the year 1000 in Italy, France and England, great churches extended the benefits of such associations to lay persons. Kings and great magnates asked that prayers for their souls be said in the monasteries they founded on their estates, the word chantry derives, via Old French chanter, from the Latin cantare and its mediaeval derivative, cantaria. The French term for this institution is chapellenie. The Latin word obiit, used in English as a noun with the meaning as a chantry, means literally he is dead from the verb obire, from the verb ire to go plus the preposition ob- away. Current theories locate the origins of the chantry in the expansion of regular monasteries in the 11th century. The abbey of Cluny and its hundreds of houses were central to this. The Cluniac order emphasised an elaborate liturgy as the centre of its life, it developed an unrivalled liturgy for the dead
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Military veteran
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A veteran is a person who has had long service or experience in a particular occupation or field. This page refers to military veterans, i. e. a person who has served or is serving in the armed forces and those veterans that have had direct exposure to acts of military conflict may also be referred to as war veterans. Military veterans often receive special treatment in their countries due to the sacrifices they made during wars. Different countries handle this differently, some openly support veterans through government programs, Veterans are also subject to illnesses directly related to their military service such as posttraumatic stress disorder. War veterans are generally treated with respect and honour for their contribution to the world. Veterans of unpopular or lost conflicts may be discriminated against, Veterans of short or small conflicts are often forgotten when the country fought bigger conflicts. Many countries have longstanding traditions, ceremonies, and holidays to honour their veterans, in the UK Remembrance Day is held on November the 11th and is focused mostly on the veterans who died in service to the monarch and country. A red or white poppy is worn on the lapel in the weeks up to the date, in Russia, a tradition was established after World War II where newly married couples would on their wedding day visit a military cemetery. In France, for instance, those wounded in war are given the first claim on any seat on public transit, most countries have a holiday such as Veterans Day to honour their veterans, along with the war dead. Britain, with its historic distrust of standing armies, did little for its veterans before the 19th century and it did set up two small hospitals for them in the 1680s. In London and other cities the streets teemed with disabled or disfigured veterans begging for alms, the First World War focused national attention on veterans, especially those who had been partly or wholly disabled. The Kings National Roll Scheme was an employment program for disabled veterans of the First World War, kowalsky says it was practical, innovative, and ahead of its time and was the most important piece of legislation enacted for disabled veterans in interwar Britain. In the 21st century Britain has one of the highest densities of veterans in a country, with 13 million in 2000. Some veterans from the Belgian commitment of the Congolese to WWII live in communities throughout the Congo, though they received compensation from the government during the rule of the dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, after his overthrow they no longer receive pensions. The most common usage is for former armed services personnel, a veteran is one who has served in the armed forces, especially one who has served in combat. The National Guard and Reserve is included and it is especially applied to those who served for an entire career, usually of 20 years or more, but may be applied for someone who has only served one tour of duty. A common misconception is that only those who have served in combat or those who have retired from active duty can be called military veterans, the American Civil War produced veterans organizations, such as the Grand Army of the Republic and United Confederate Veterans. The treatment of veterans changed after the First World War, in the years following, discontented veterans became a source of instability
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Monarch
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A monarch is the sovereign head of state in a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest authority and power in the state, alternatively, an individual may become monarch by conquest, acclamation or a combination of means. A monarch usually reigns for life or until abdication, if a young child is crowned the monarch, a regent is often appointed to govern until the monarch reaches the requisite adult age to rule. A monarch can reign in multiple monarchies simultaneously, for example, the monarchy of Canada and the monarchy of the United Kingdom are separate states, but they share the same monarch through personal union. Monarchs, as such, bear a variety of titles — king or queen, prince or princess, emperor or empress, archduke, duke or grand duke, Prince is sometimes used as a generic term to refer to any monarch regardless of title, especially in older texts. A king can also be a husband and a queen can be a kings wife. If both people in a reign, neither person is generally considered to be a consort. Monarchy is political or sociocultural in nature, and is associated with hereditary rule. Most monarchs, both historically and in the present day, have been born and brought up within a royal family, different systems of succession have been used, such as proximity of blood, primogeniture, agnatic seniority, Salic law, etc. In an elective monarchy, the monarch is elected but otherwise serves as any other monarch, historical examples of elective monarchy include the Holy Roman Emperors and the free election of kings of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. In recent centuries, many states have abolished the monarchy and become republics, advocacy of government by a republic is called republicanism, while advocacy of monarchy is called monarchism. A principal advantage of hereditary monarchy is the continuity of national leadership. In cases where the monarch serves mostly as a ceremonial figure real leadership does not depend on the monarch, a form of government may in fact be hereditary without being considered monarchy, such as a family dictatorship. Monarchies take a variety of forms, such as the two co-princes of Andorra, positions held simultaneously by the Roman Catholic Bishop of Urgel and the elected President of France. Similarly, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia is considered a monarch despite only holding the position for five years at a time, hereditary succession within one patrilineal family has been most common, with preference for children over siblings, sons over daughters. Other European realms practice one form or another of primogeniture, whereunder a lord was succeeded by his eldest son or, if he had none, by his brother, the system of tanistry was semi-elective and gave weight also to ability and merit. The Salic law, practiced in France and in the Italian territories of the House of Savoy, in most fiefs, in the event of the demise of all legitimate male members of the patrilineage, a female of the family could succeed. Spain today continues this model of succession law, in the form of cognatic primogeniture, in more complex medieval cases, the sometimes conflicting principles of proximity and primogeniture battled, and outcomes were often idiosyncratic
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Henry VIII of England
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Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. Henry was the second Tudor monarch, succeeding his father, Henry VII, Henry is best known for his six marriages and, in particular, his efforts to have his first marriage, to Catherine of Aragon, annulled. Despite his resulting excommunication, Henry remained a believer in core Catholic theological teachings, domestically, Henry is known for his radical changes to the English Constitution, ushering in the theory of the divine right of kings to England. Besides asserting the supremacy over the Church of England, he greatly expanded royal power during his reign. Charges of treason and heresy were commonly used to quash dissent, and he achieved many of his political aims through the work of his chief ministers, some of whom were banished or executed when they fell out of his favour. Thomas Wolsey, Thomas More, Thomas Cromwell, Richard Rich and his contemporaries considered Henry in his prime to be an attractive, educated, and accomplished king, and he has been described as one of the most charismatic rulers to sit on the English throne. He was an author and composer, as he aged, Henry became severely obese and his health suffered, contributing to his death in 1547. He is frequently characterised in his life as a lustful, egotistical, harsh. He was succeeded by his son Edward VI, born 28 June 1491 at the Palace of Placentia in Greenwich, London, Henry Tudor was the third child and second son of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. Of the young Henrys six siblings, only three – Arthur, Prince of Wales, Margaret, and Mary – survived infancy and he was baptised by Richard Fox, the Bishop of Exeter, at a church of the Observant Franciscans close to the palace. In 1493, at the age of two, Henry was appointed Constable of Dover Castle and Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports. He was subsequently appointed Earl Marshal of England and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland at age three, and was inducted into the Order of the Bath soon after. The day after the ceremony he was created Duke of York, in May 1495, he was appointed to the Order of the Garter. Henry was given an education from leading tutors, becoming fluent in Latin and French. Not much is known about his early life – save for his appointments – because he was not expected to become king, as Duke of York, Henry used the arms of his father as king, differenced by a label of three points ermine. In 1502, Arthur died at the age of 15 of sweating sickness, Arthurs death thrust all his duties upon his younger brother, the 10-year-old Henry. After a little debate, Henry became the new Duke of Cornwall in October 1502, Henry VII gave the boy few tasks. Young Henry was strictly supervised and did not appear in public, as a result, the young Henry would later ascend the throne untrained in the exacting art of kingship
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Charles II of England
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Charles II was king of England, Scotland and Ireland. He was king of Scotland from 1649 until his deposition in 1651, Charles IIs father, Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War. Cromwell defeated Charles II at the Battle of Worcester on 3 September 1651, Cromwell became virtual dictator of England, Scotland and Ireland, and Charles spent the next nine years in exile in France, the Dutch Republic and the Spanish Netherlands. A political crisis followed the death of Cromwell in 1658 resulted in the restoration of the monarchy. On 29 May 1660, his 30th birthday, he was received in London to public acclaim, after 1660, all legal documents were dated as if he had succeeded his father as king in 1649. Charless English parliament enacted laws known as the Clarendon Code, designed to shore up the position of the re-established Church of England, Charles acquiesced to the Clarendon Code even though he favoured a policy of religious tolerance. The major foreign policy issue of his reign was the Second Anglo-Dutch War. In 1670, he entered into the treaty of Dover. Louis agreed to aid him in the Third Anglo-Dutch War and pay him a pension, Charles attempted to introduce religious freedom for Catholics and Protestant dissenters with his 1672 Royal Declaration of Indulgence, but the English Parliament forced him to withdraw it. In 1679, Titus Oatess revelations of a supposed Popish Plot sparked the Exclusion Crisis when it was revealed that Charless brother, the crisis saw the birth of the pro-exclusion Whig and anti-exclusion Tory parties. Charles sided with the Tories, and, following the discovery of the Rye House Plot to murder Charles and James in 1683, Charles dissolved the English Parliament in 1681, and ruled alone until his death on 6 February 1685. He was received into the Roman Catholic Church on his deathbed, Charless wife, Catherine of Braganza, bore no live children, but Charles acknowledged at least twelve illegitimate children by various mistresses. He was succeeded by his brother James, Charles II was born in St Jamess Palace on 29 May 1630. His parents were Charles I and Henrietta Maria, Charles was their second son and child. Their first son was born about a year before Charles but died within a day, England, Scotland and Ireland were respectively predominantly Anglican, Presbyterian and Roman Catholic. At birth, Charles automatically became Duke of Cornwall and Duke of Rothesay, at or around his eighth birthday, he was designated Prince of Wales, though he was never formally invested. During the 1640s, when Charles was still young, his father fought Parliamentary, by spring 1646, his father was losing the war, and Charles left England due to fears for his safety. Charles I surrendered into captivity in May 1646, at The Hague, Charles had a brief affair with Lucy Walter, who later falsely claimed that they had secretly married
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William IV of the United Kingdom
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William IV was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death. The third son of George III and younger brother and successor to George IV, he was the last king, William served in the Royal Navy in his youth and was, both during his reign and afterwards, nicknamed the Sailor King. He served in North America and the Caribbean, in 1789, he was created Duke of Clarence and St Andrews. Since his two brothers died without leaving legitimate issue, he inherited the throne when he was 64 years old. Although William did not engage in politics as much as his brother or his father, through his brother, the Viceroy of Hanover, he granted his German kingdom a short-lived liberal constitution. William was succeeded in the United Kingdom by his niece, Victoria, William was born in the early hours of the morning on 21 August 1765 at Buckingham House, the third child and son of King George III and Queen Charlotte. He had two brothers, George and Frederick, and was not expected to inherit the Crown. He was baptised in the Great Council Chamber of St Jamess Palace on 20 September 1765 and his godparents were his paternal uncles, the Duke of Gloucester and Prince Henry, and his paternal aunt, Princess Augusta, then hereditary duchess of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. He spent most of his life in Richmond and at Kew Palace. At the age of thirteen, he joined the Royal Navy as a midshipman and his experiences in the navy seem to have been little different from those of other midshipmen, though in contrast to other sailors he was accompanied on board ships by a tutor. He did his share of the cooking and got arrested with his shipmates after a brawl in Gibraltar. He served in New York during the American War of Independence, I am fully persuaded, that it is unnecessary to caution you against offering insult or indignity to the persons of the Prince or Admiral. The plot did not come to fruition, the British heard of it and assigned guards to William and he became a lieutenant in 1785 and captain of HMS Pegasus the following year. The two were friends, and dined together almost nightly. At Nelsons wedding, William insisted on giving the bride away and he was given command of the frigate HMS Andromeda in 1788, and was promoted to rear-admiral in command of HMS Valiant the following year. William sought to be made a duke like his brothers, and to receive a similar parliamentary grant. To put pressure on him, William threatened to stand for the House of Commons for the constituency of Totnes in Devon, Williams political record was inconsistent and, like many politicians of the time, cannot be certainly ascribed to a single party. William ceased his active service in the Royal Navy in 1790, the following year he spoke in favour of the war, expecting a command after his change of heart, none came
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Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
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