1.
Privy Council of the United Kingdom
–
Her Majestys Most Honourable Privy Council, usually known simply as the Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its membership mainly comprises senior politicians, who are present or former members of either the House of Commons or the House of Lords, the Council also holds the delegated authority to issue Orders of Council, mostly used to regulate certain public institutions. The Council advises the sovereign on the issuing of Royal Charters, which are used to grant special status to incorporated bodies, otherwise, the Privy Councils powers have now been largely replaced by the Cabinet of the United Kingdom. The Judicial Committee consists of judges appointed as Privy Counsellors, predominantly Justices of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. The Privy Council of the United Kingdom was preceded by the Privy Council of Scotland, the key events in the formation of the modern Privy Council are given below, Witenagemot was an early equivalent to the Privy Council of England. During the reigns of the Norman monarchs, the English Crown was advised by a court or curia regis. The body originally concerned itself with advising the sovereign on legislation, administration, later, different bodies assuming distinct functions evolved from the court. The courts of law took over the business of dispensing justice, nevertheless, the Council retained the power to hear legal disputes, either in the first instance or on appeal. Furthermore, laws made by the sovereign on the advice of the Council, powerful sovereigns often used the body to circumvent the Courts and Parliament. During Henry VIIIs reign, the sovereign, on the advice of the Council, was allowed to enact laws by mere proclamation, the legislative pre-eminence of Parliament was not restored until after Henry VIIIs death. Though the royal Council retained legislative and judicial responsibilities, it became an administrative body. The Council consisted of forty members in 1553, but the sovereign relied on a smaller committee, by the end of the English Civil War, the monarchy, House of Lords, and Privy Council had been abolished. The remaining parliamentary chamber, the House of Commons, instituted a Council of State to execute laws, the forty-one members of the Council were elected by the House of Commons, the body was headed by Oliver Cromwell, de facto military dictator of the nation. In 1653, however, Cromwell became Lord Protector, and the Council was reduced to thirteen and twenty-one members, all elected by the Commons. In 1657, the Commons granted Cromwell even greater powers, some of which were reminiscent of those enjoyed by monarchs, the Council became known as the Protectors Privy Council, its members were appointed by the Lord Protector, subject to Parliaments approval. In 1659, shortly before the restoration of the monarchy, the Protectors Council was abolished, Charles II restored the Royal Privy Council, but he, like previous Stuart monarchs, chose to rely on a small group of advisers. Under George I even more power transferred to this committee and it now began to meet in the absence of the sovereign, communicating its decisions to him after the fact. Thus, the British Privy Council, as a whole, ceased to be a body of important confidential advisers to the sovereign and it is closely related to the word private, and derives from the French word privé
2.
Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature
–
The Royal Society of Literature is a learned society. It was founded in 1820 by King George IV to reward literary merit, the societys first president was Thomas Burgess, Bishop of St Davids. Past fellows include Samuel Taylor Coleridge, J. R. R. Tolkien, yeats, Rudyard Kipling, Thomas Hardy, George Bernard Shaw, Arthur Koestler, Chinua Achebe, Robert Ardrey, and P. J. Kavanagh. Present Fellows include Margaret Atwood, David Hare, Kazuo Ishiguro, Hilary Mantel, Paul Muldoon, Zadie Smith, Nadeem Aslam, Sarah Waters and J. K. Rowling. A newly created fellow inscribes his or her name on the official roll using either Byrons pen or T. S. Eliots fountain pen. S. Pritchett Memorial Prize for short stories, from time to time it confers the honour and title of Companion of Literature to writers of particular note. Additionally the RSL can bestow its award of the Benson Medal for lifetime service in the field of literature, the RSL runs a membership scheme and offers a varied programme of events to members and the general public. The RSL also runs an outreach programme in collaboration with the literacy charity First Story. The society is a tenant at Londons Somerset House. The RSL administers two annual prizes, two awards, and two honours, through its prize programmes, the RSL supports new and established contemporary writers. The RSL Brookleaze Grants – a total of £5,000 is awarded annually to novelists, playwrights, poets or short story writers who need time away from their lives to write. The RSL Encore Awards - £10,000 for best second novel of the year, the RSL took over the administration of this award in 2016. The RSL Jerwood Awards for Non-Fiction – three annual awards, one of £10,000 and two of £5,000, to authors engaged on their first commissioned works of non-fiction. The RSL Ondaatje Prize – an annual award of £10,000 for a work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry. Pritchett Memorial Prize – an annual prize of £1,000 for the best unpublished short story of the year, the Benson Medal – awarded to those who have done sustained and outstanding service to literature. Companion of Literature – the highest honour that the Society can bestow upon a writer, the Council of the Royal Society of Literature is central to the election of new fellows, and directs the RSLs activities through its monthly meetings. They include most of the best novelists, short-story writers, poets, playwrights, biographers, historians, travel writers, literary critics, new fellows of the Royal Society of Literature are elected by its current fellows. To be nominated for fellowship, a writer must have published two works of merit, and nominations must be seconded by an RSL fellow
3.
Archbishop of Canterbury
–
The current archbishop is Justin Welby. His enthronement took place at Canterbury Cathedral on 21 March 2013, Welby is the 105th in a line which goes back more than 1400 years to Augustine of Canterbury, the Apostle to the English, sent from Rome in the year 597. From the time of Augustine in the 6th until the 16th century, during the English Reformation the Church of England broke away from the authority of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church. In the Middle Ages there was variation in the methods of nomination of the Archbishop of Canterbury. At various times the choice was made by the canons of Canterbury Cathedral, today the archbishop fills four main roles, He is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury, which covers the eastern parts of the County of Kent. Founded in 597, it is the oldest see in the English church and he is the metropolitan archbishop of the Province of Canterbury, which covers the southern two-thirds of England. He is the primate and chief religious figure of the Church of England. The Archbishop of Canterbury plays a part in national ceremonies such as coronations, due to his high public profile. As spiritual leader of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop, although without legal authority outside England, is recognised by convention as primus inter pares of all Anglican primates worldwide, since 1867 he has convened more or less decennial meetings of worldwide Anglican bishops, the Lambeth Conferences. In the last two of these functions he has an important ecumenical and interfaith role, speaking on behalf of Anglicans in England, the archbishops main residence is Lambeth Palace in the London Borough of Lambeth. He also has lodgings in the Old Palace, Canterbury, located beside Canterbury Cathedral, as holder of one of the five great sees, the Archbishop of Canterbury is ex officio one of the Lords Spiritual of the House of Lords. He is one of the men in England and the highest ranking non-royal in the United Kingdoms order of precedence. Since Henry VIII broke with Rome, the Archbishops of Canterbury have been selected by the English monarch, today the choice is made in the name of the monarch by the prime minister, from a shortlist of two selected by an ad-hoc committee called the Crown Nominations Commission. Since the 20th century, the appointment of Archbishops of Canterbury conventionally alternates between more moderate Anglo-Catholics and Evangelicals, the current archbishop, Justin Welby, the 105th Archbishop of Canterbury, was enthroned at Canterbury Cathedral on 4 February 2013. As archbishop he signs himself as + Justin Cantuar and his predecessor, Rowan Williams, 104th Archbishop of Canterbury, was enthroned at Canterbury Cathedral on 27 February 2003. Immediately prior to his appointment to Canterbury, Williams was the Bishop of Monmouth, on 18 March 2012, Williams announced he would be stepping down as Archbishop of Canterbury at the end of 2012 to become Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge. In addition to his office, the archbishop also holds a number of positions, for example, he is Joint President of the Council of Christians. Some positions he formally holds ex officio and others virtually so, geoffrey Fisher, 99th Archbishop of Canterbury, was the first since 1397 to visit Rome, where he held private talks with Pope John XXIII in 1960
4.
Church of England
–
The Church of England is the state church of England. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the most senior cleric, although the monarch is the supreme governor, the Church of England is also the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It dates its establishment as a church to the 6th-century Gregorian mission to Kent led by Augustine of Canterbury. The English church renounced papal authority when Henry VIII sought to secure an annulment from Catherine of Aragon in the 1530s, the English Reformation accelerated under Edward VIs regents before a brief restoration of papal authority under Queen Mary I and King Philip. This is expressed in its emphasis on the teachings of the early Church Fathers, as formalised in the Apostles, Nicene, in the earlier phase of the English Reformation there were both Catholic martyrs and radical Protestant martyrs. The later phases saw the Penal Laws punish Roman Catholic and nonconforming Protestants, in the 17th century, political and religious disputes raised the Puritan and Presbyterian faction to control of the church, but this ended with the Restoration. Papal recognition of George III in 1766 led to religious tolerance. Since the English Reformation, the Church of England has used a liturgy in English, the church contains several doctrinal strands, the main three known as Anglo-Catholic, Evangelical and Broad Church. Tensions between theological conservatives and progressives find expression in debates over the ordination of women and homosexuality, the church includes both liberal and conservative clergy and members. The governing structure of the church is based on dioceses, each presided over by a bishop, within each diocese are local parishes. The General Synod of the Church of England is the body for the church and comprises bishops, other clergy. Its measures must be approved by both Houses of Parliament, according to tradition, Christianity arrived in Britain in the 1st or 2nd century, during which time southern Britain became part of the Roman Empire. The earliest historical evidence of Christianity among the native Britons is found in the writings of such early Christian Fathers as Tertullian, three Romano-British bishops, including Restitutus, are known to have been present at the Council of Arles in 314. Others attended the Council of Sardica in 347 and that of Ariminum in 360, Britain was the home of Pelagius, who opposed Augustine of Hippos doctrine of original sin. Consequently, in 597, Pope Gregory I sent the prior of the Abbey of St Andrews from Rome to evangelise the Angles and this event is known as the Gregorian mission and is the date the Church of England generally marks as the beginning of its formal history. A later archbishop, the Greek Theodore of Tarsus, also contributed to the organisation of Christianity in England, the Church of England has been in continuous existence since the days of St Augustine, with the Archbishop of Canterbury as its episcopal head. Despite the various disruptions of the Reformation and the English Civil War, while some Celtic Christian practices were changed at the Synod of Whitby, the Christian Church in the British Isles was under papal authority from earliest times. The Synod of Whitby established the Roman date for Easter and the Roman style of monastic tonsure in Britain and this meeting of the ecclesiastics with Roman customs with local bishops was summoned in 664 at Saint Hildas double monastery of Streonshalh, later called Whitby Abbey
5.
Province of Canterbury
–
The Province of Canterbury, or less formally the Southern Province, is one of two ecclesiastical provinces which constitute the Church of England. The other is the Province of York and it consists of 30 dioceses, covering roughly two-thirds of England, parts of Wales, and the Channel Islands, with the remainder comprising continental Europe. Between the years 787 and 803, a province, Lichfield. In 1871, the Church of Ireland became autonomous, and the Church in Wales was disestablished in 1920, the Provinces metropolitan bishop is the Archbishop of Canterbury who also oversees the Falkland Islands, an extraprovincial parish. Bishops of the southern province meet in chapter, in which the roles are analogous to those within a Cathedral chapter. In the 19th Century, Edward Benson, Archbishop of Canterbury, discussed with the Bishop of Winchester, Benson ruled that the Bishop of Winchester would be Chancellor of the Province and additionally Sub-Dean only during a vacancy in the see of London. Twenty-one other Anglican Bishops form the other Lords Spiritual in the House of Lords
6.
Diocese of Canterbury
–
The Diocese of Canterbury is a Church of England diocese covering eastern Kent which was founded by St. Augustine of Canterbury in 597. The diocese is centred on Canterbury Cathedral and is the oldest see of the Church of England, the diocesan bishop is the Archbishop of Canterbury, presently Justin Welby. Therefore, one of his bishops, the Bishop of Dover, is in many ways empowered to act almost as if he were the diocesan bishop. There was, until 2009, another bishop, the Bishop of Maidstone. Two further suffragans whose sees are located in the diocese – Ebbsfleet, besides the Archbishop and the Bishop of Dover, several other men are licensed as bishops in the diocese. Alternative episcopal oversight is provided by the provincial episcopal visitor, the Bishop suffragan of Richborough, unlike most in dioceses, Banks does not need to be licensed as an honorary assistant bishop since he is a suffragan in the diocese. There are four honorary assistant bishops licensed in the diocese, 2000–present, Michael Gear, retired former Bishop suffragan of Doncaster, 2003–present, A retired former Bishop of Durham and Bishop of Rochester, Michael Turnbull, lives in Sandwich. John Wallis Academy — school in Ashford sponsored by the diocese Official website Church of England Statistics 2002
7.
George Carey
–
George Leonard Carey, Baron Carey of Clifton, PC, FRSA is a retired Anglican bishop who was the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1991 to 2002, having previously been the Bishop of Bath and Wells. George Carey was born on 13 November 1935 in the East End of London in the United Kingdom and he attended Bonham Road Primary School in Dagenham, then failed his 11-plus. He then attended Bifrons Secondary Modern School in Barking before leaving at the age of 15. He worked for the London Electricity Board as a boy before starting his National Service at age 18 in the Royal Air Force as a wireless operator. Carey became a committed Christian at age 17 when he attended a service with some friends. He said that I had an experience which was very real. There were no blinding lights, simply a quiet conviction I had found something and he graduated in 1962 with a 2,1 Bachelor of Divinity degree and was subsequently ordained. He later obtained a Master of Theology degree and a Ph. D. from the University of Durham, Carey is the first Archbishop of Canterbury in modern times not to have been a graduate of either the University of Oxford or the University of Cambridge. The last Archbishop of Canterbury prior to Carey who was not a graduate of Oxford or Cambridge was Simon Sudbury. Carey was a curate at St Marys Islington, worked at Oak Hill Theological College and St Johns Theological College, Nottingham and became Vicar of St Nicholas Church, within two years he had trebled the congregation. He later wrote a book on his experiences there called The Church in the Market Place, in 1982, Carey was appointed Principal of Trinity College, Bristol. He became Bishop of Bath and Wells in 1987, he was consecrated a bishop by Robert Runcie, Archbishop of Canterbury, at Southwark Cathedral on 3 December 1987 and enthroned in February 1988. The religious correspondent for The Times, Clifford Longley, commented that Mrs Thatchers known impatience with theological and moral woolliness, Carey was confirmed as Archbishop of Canterbury on 27 March 1991 and enthroned on 19 April 1991. On 31 October 2002, he retired from office and was created the day a crossbench life peer as Baron Carey of Clifton. He was succeeded by Rowan Williams, Carey is currently the Chancellor of the University of Gloucestershire and the London School of Theology. He is also an Honorary Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Scriveners, Careys theological roots are in the Evangelical tradition of the Church of England. Carey is tolerant of divorce and divorced people and the remarriage of divorced people, One of his sons is divorced and he also supported the marriage of the Prince of Wales to Camilla Parker-Bowles, whose first husband is living. He opposed homosexual relationships among members of the clergy, although he admits to having consecrated two bishops whom he suspected of having same-sex partners and he presided over the Lambeth Conference of 1998 and actively supported the conferences resolution which uncompromisingly rejected all homosexual practice as incompatible with scripture
8.
Justin Welby
–
Justin Portal Welby is the 105th Archbishop of Canterbury and the most senior bishop in the Church of England. Welby was the vicar of Southam, Warwickshire, and most recently was the Bishop of Durham, as Archbishop of Canterbury he is the Primate of All England and the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion. Welbys early career was in the oil industry, in 1989, he studied for ordination at St Johns College, Durham. After several parochial appointments he became the Dean of Liverpool in 2007, Welbys theology is reported as representing the evangelical tradition within Anglicanism. Justin Portal Welby was born in London, England, on 6 January 1956, Welby describes his early childhood as messy, Gavin and Jane Welby were both alcoholics. They divorced in 1959, when he was three years old, and he was placed in Gavin Welbys custody, a pretty rotten piece of work. Gavin Welby died in 1977 of alcohol-related causes, Welbys mother stopped drinking in 1968, and in 1975 married Charles Williams, a business executive and first-class cricketer who was made a life peer in 1985. Williams was the nephew of Elizabeth Laura Gurney, a member of the Gurney family of Norwich who were prominent Quakers, Welby describes his stepfather as being supportive of him. Paternity testing in 2016 showed that Welbys biological father was not Gavin Welby and their father was Sir Montagu Butler, Governor of the Central Provinces of British India and Master of Pembroke College, Cambridge. Jane Portals father was Gervas Portal, a half-brother of the World War II Chief of the Air Staff, Charles Portal, Gervas Portals mother Rose Leslie Portal née Napier was the granddaughter of General Sir William Napier and his wife Caroline Amelia Fox. General Napier and his brothers, Generals Sir Charles James Napier and Sir George Thomas Napier, were sons of George Napier and his second wife Lady Sarah Lennox. Welby was educated at St Peters School, Seaford, Eton College, and Trinity College, Cambridge and he graduated in 1978 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history and law, as per tradition he was later promoted to a Master of Arts by seniority. In a 12 July 2013 interview with The Daily Telegraph, Welby related his experience when he was a student in Trinity College. He said that, while he was at Eton, he had “vaguely assumed there was a God and he said to his friend, “Please don’t tell anyone about this. ”Welby said that he was desperately embarrassed that this had happened to him. Welby worked for 11 years in the oil industry, five of them for the French oil company Elf Aquitaine based in Paris. In 1984 he became treasurer of the oil exploration group Enterprise Oil PLC in London and he retired from his executive position in 1989 and said that he sensed a calling from God to be ordained. During his oil industry career, Welby became a member at the evangelical Anglican church of Holy Trinity in Brompton, London. He also said he would possibly have behaved in the same way, Welby was at first rejected for ordination by John Hughes, the Bishop of Kensington, who told him, There is no place for you in the Church of England
9.
Archbishop of Wales
–
The post of Archbishop of Wales was created in 1920 when the Church in Wales was separated from the Church of England, and disestablished. The new Church became the Welsh province of the Anglican Communion, with the establishment of the new province, there was debate as to whether a specific see should be made the primatial see, or if another solution should be adopted. Precedents were sought in the history of Christianity in Wales. A Roman Catholic Archbishopric of Cardiff had been created in 1916, instead it was decided that one of the diocesan bishops should hold the title Archbishop of Wales in addition to his own see. The circulating character of the post was justified by Welsh geography, the Archbishop is chosen in Llandrindod Wells, being a central point in the Country. The first Archbishop was chosen in the Old Parish Church in Llandrindod, successive archbishops have not only represented different geographical areas but also different tendencies within Anglicanism. In the mid-twentieth century linguistic issues were prominent in the successive incumbencies of Edwin Morris, towards the end of his period in office Gwilym Williams was one of three leading Welsh figures in a deputation to guarantee the status of the language which had been challenged by Margaret Thatcher. He was also decisive in the decision to ordain women priests, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, now Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge, was Archbishop of Wales and Bishop of Monmouth. The most recent Archbishop of Wales was Barry Morgan, who signed Barry Cambrensis, the post is now vacant following Morgans retirement on 31st January 2017. The senior bishop in the Church in Wales, John Davies, is acting as archbishop until a successor is consecrated
10.
Bishop of Monmouth
–
The Bishop of Monmouth is the diocesan bishop of the Church in Wales Diocese of Monmouth. The episcopal see covers the county of Monmouthshire with the bishops seat located at the Cathedral Church of Saint Woolos in Newport. The bishops residence is Bishopstow, which is in central Newport, the diocese is one of two new ones founded in 1921 when the Church in Wales became independent of the established Church of England. The current bishop is Richard Pain, who was previously the Archdeacon of Monmouth before being elected Bishop of Monmouth, the previous bishop was Dominic Walker, previously area Bishop of Reading in the Church of England and who retired on 30 June 2013. He was also the Archbishop of Wales at the time of his appointment to Canterbury and was styled as Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Wales and Bishop of Monmouth
11.
Swansea
–
Swansea, officially known as the City and County of Swansea, is a coastal city and county in Wales. It is the second largest city in Wales after Cardiff, Swansea lies within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan and the ancient Welsh commote of Gŵyr. Situated on the sandy South West Wales coast, the county includes the Gower Peninsula. According to its council, the City and County of Swansea had a population of 241,300 in 2014. During its 19th-century industrial heyday, Swansea was a key centre of the copper industry, archaeological finds are mostly confined to the Gower Peninsula, and include items from the Stone Age, Bronze Age, and Iron Age. The Romans reached the area, as did the Norsemen, Swansea is thought to have developed as a Viking trading post. Its English name may be derived from Sveinns island – the reference to an island may refer to a bank at the mouth of the river Tawe, an alternative explanation is that the name derives from the Norse name Sweyn and ey, which can mean inlet. This explanation supports the tradition that the city was founded by the Danish king Sweyn Forkbeard, the name is pronounced Swans-y /ˈswɒnzi/), not Swan-sea. The charter gave Swansea the status of a borough, granting the townsmen, a second charter was granted in 1215 by King John. In this charter, the name appears as Sweyneshe, the town seal which is believed to date from this period names the town as Sweyse. Following the Norman Conquest, a marcher lordship was created under the title of Gower and it included land around Swansea Bay as far as the River Tawe, the manor of Kilvey beyond the Tawe, and the peninsula itself. Swansea was designated chief town of the lordship and received a borough charter some time between 1158 and 1184, the port of Swansea initially traded in wine, hides, wool, cloth and later in coal. Smelters were operating by 1720 and proliferated, following this, more coal mines were opened and smelters were opened and flourished. Over the next century and a half, works were established to process arsenic, zinc and tin and to create tinplate, the city expanded rapidly in the 18th and 19th centuries, and was termed Copperopolis. However, the census understated Swanseas true size, as much of the area lay outside the contemporary boundaries of the borough. Swanseas population was overtaken by Merthyr in 1821 and by Cardiff in 1881. Through the 20th century, heavy industries in the town declined, leaving the Lower Swansea Valley filled with derelict works, the Lower Swansea Valley Scheme reclaimed much of the land. The present Enterprise Zone was the result and, of the original docks, only those outside the city continue to work as docks, North Dock is now Parc Tawe
12.
Glamorgan
–
Glamorgan or, sometimes, Glamorganshire is one of the thirteen historic counties of Wales and a former administrative county of Wales. It was originally a medieval petty kingdom of varying boundaries known as Glywysing until taken over by the Normans as a lordship. Glamorgan is latterly represented by the three preserved counties of Mid Glamorgan, South Glamorgan and West Glamorgan, the name also survives in that of Vale of Glamorgan, a county borough. After falling under English rule in the 16th century, Glamorgan became a more stable county, the county of Glamorgan comprised several distinct regions, the industrial valleys, the agricultural Vale of Glamorgan, and the scenic Gower Peninsula. The county was bounded to the north by Brecknockshire, east by Monmouthshire, south by the Bristol Channel and its total area was 2,100 km2, and the total population of the three preserved counties of Glamorgan in 1991 was 1,288,309. From 1974 Glamorgan contained two cities, Cardiff, the county town and from 1955 the capital city of Wales, the highest point in the county is Craig y Llyn which is situated near the village of Rhigos in the Cynon Valley. Glamorgans terrain has been inhabited by humankind for over 200,000 years, climate fluctuation caused the formation, disappearance, and reformation of glaciers which, in turn, caused sea levels to rise and fall. At various times life has flourished, at others the area is likely to have been completely uninhabitable, evidence of the presence of Neanderthals has been discovered on the Gower Peninsula. Whether they remained in the area during periods of cold is unclear. Sea levels have been 150 metres lower and 8 metres higher than at present, archaeological evidence shows that humans settled in the area during an interstadial period. The oldest known burial in Great Britain – the Red Lady of Paviland – was discovered in a coastal cave between Port Eynon and Rhossili, on the Gower Peninsula. The lady has been dated to c.29,000 years before present – during the Late Pleistocene – at which time the cave overlooked an area of plain. From the end of the last ice age Mesolithic hunter-gatherers began to migrate to the British Peninsula – through Doggerland – from the European mainland. Human lifestyles in North-West Europe changed around 6000 BP, from the Mesolithic nomadic lives of hunting and gathering, to the Neolithic agrarian life of agriculture and they cleared the forests to establish pasture and to cultivate the land and developed new technologies such as ceramics and textile production. A tradition of long construction began in continental Europe during the 7th millennium BP – the free standing megalithic structures supporting a sloping capstone. Nineteen Neolithic chambered tombs and five possible henges have been identified in Glamorgan, two major groups of Neolithic architectural traditions are represented in the area, portal dolmens, and Severn-Cotswold chamber tombs, as well as tombs that do not fall easily into either group. Such massive constructions would have needed a large labour force – up to 200 men – suggestive of large communities nearby, archaeological evidence from some Neolithic sites has shown the continued use of cromlechi in the Bronze Age. The Bronze Age – defined by the use of metal – has made an impression on the area
13.
Anglicanism
–
Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising the Church of England and churches which are historically tied to it or hold similar beliefs, worship practices and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to the Magna Carta and before, adherents of Anglicanism are called Anglicans. As the name suggests, the churches of the Anglican Communion are linked by bonds of tradition, affection and they are in full communion with the See of Canterbury, and thus the Archbishop of Canterbury, in his person, is a unique focus of Anglican unity. He calls the once-a-decade Lambeth Conference, chairs the meeting of primates, Anglicans base their Christian faith on the Bible, traditions of the apostolic Church, apostolic succession, and writings of the Church Fathers. Anglicanism forms one of the branches of Western Christianity, having declared its independence from the Holy See at the time of the Elizabethan Religious Settlement. Many of the new Anglican formularies of the mid-16th century corresponded closely to those of contemporary Protestantism, the word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English Church. Adherents of Anglicanism are called Anglicans, as an adjective, Anglican is used to describe the people, institutions and churches, as well as the liturgical traditions and theological concepts developed by the Church of England. As a noun, an Anglican is a member of a church in the Anglican Communion, the word is also used by followers of separated groups which have left the communion or have been founded separately from it, although this is sometimes considered as a misuse. The word Anglicanism came into being in the 19th century, although the term Anglican is found referring to the Church of England as far back as the 16th century, its use did not become general until the latter half of the 19th century. Elsewhere, however, the term Anglican Church came to be preferred as it distinguished these churches from others that maintain an episcopal polity, as such, it is often referred to as being a via media between these traditions. Anglicans understand the Old and New Testaments as containing all necessary for salvation and as being the rule. Reason and Tradition are seen as means to interpret Scripture. Anglicans understand the Apostles Creed as the symbol and the Nicene Creed as the sufficient statement of the Christian faith. Anglicans celebrate the sacraments, with special emphasis being given to the Eucharist, also called Holy Communion. Unique to Anglicanism is the Book of Common Prayer, the collection of services that worshippers in most Anglican churches used for centuries and it was called common prayer originally because it was intended for use in all Church of England churches which had previously followed differing local liturgies. The term was kept when the church became international because all Anglicans used to share in its use around the world, in 1549, the first Book of Common Prayer was compiled by Thomas Cranmer, who was then Archbishop of Canterbury. The founding of Christianity in Britain is commonly attributed to Joseph of Arimathea, according to Anglican legend, Saint Alban, who was executed in 209 AD, is the first Christian martyr in the British Isles. A new culture emerged around the Irish Sea among the Celtic peoples with Celtic Christianity at its core, what resulted was a form of Christianity distinct from Rome in many traditions and practices
14.
Bishop
–
A bishop is an ordained, consecrated, or appointed member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within these churches, bishops are seen as those who possess the full priesthood, Some Protestant churches including the Lutheran and Methodist churches have bishops serving similar functions as well, though not always understood to be within apostolic succession in the same way. Priests, deacons and lay ministers cooperate and assist their bishop in shepherding a flock, the earliest organization of the Church in Jerusalem was, according to most scholars, similar to that of Jewish synagogues, but it had a council or college of ordained presbyters. In, we see a system of government in Jerusalem chaired by James the Just. In, the Apostle Paul ordains presbyters in churches in Anatolia, in Timothy and Titus in the New Testament a more clearly defined episcopate can be seen. We are told that Paul had left Timothy in Ephesus and Titus in Crete to oversee the local church, Paul commands Titus to ordain presbyters/bishops and to exercise general oversight, telling him to rebuke with all authority. Early sources are unclear but various groups of Christian communities may have had the bishop surrounded by a group or college functioning as leaders of the local churches, eventually, as Christendom grew, bishops no longer directly served individual congregations. Instead, the Metropolitan bishop appointed priests to each congregation. Around the end of the 1st century, the organization became clearer in historical documents. While Ignatius of Antioch offers the earliest clear description of monarchial bishops he is an advocate of monepiscopal structure rather than describing an accepted reality. To the bishops and house churches to which he writes, he offers strategies on how to pressure house churches who dont recognize the bishop into compliance. Other contemporary Christian writers do not describe monarchial bishops, either continuing to equate them with the presbyters or speaking of episkopoi in a city, plainly therefore we ought to regard the bishop as the Lord Himself — Epistle of Ignatius to the Ephesians 6,1. Your godly bishop — Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians 2,1, therefore as the Lord did nothing without the Father, either by Himself or by the Apostles, so neither do ye anything without the bishop and the presbyters. — Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians 7,1. Be obedient to the bishop and to one another, as Jesus Christ was to the Father, and as the Apostles were to Christ and to the Father, — Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians 13,2. Apart from these there is not even the name of a church, — Epistle of Ignatius to the Trallesians 3,1. Follow your bishop, as Jesus Christ followed the Father, and the presbytery as the Apostles, and to the deacons pay respect, as to Gods commandment — Epistle of Ignatius to the Smyrnans 8,1. He that honoureth the bishop is honoured of God, he that doeth aught without the knowledge of the bishop rendereth service to the devil — Epistle of Ignatius to the Smyrnans 9,1
15.
Theology
–
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
16.
Alma mater
–
Alma mater is an allegorical Latin phrase for a university or college. In modern usage, it is a school or university which an individual has attended, the phrase is variously translated as nourishing mother, nursing mother, or fostering mother, suggesting that a school provides intellectual nourishment to its students. Before its modern usage, Alma mater was a title in Latin for various mother goddesses, especially Ceres or Cybele. The source of its current use is the motto, Alma Mater Studiorum, of the oldest university in continuous operation in the Western world and it is related to the term alumnus, denoting a university graduate, which literally means a nursling or one who is nourished. The phrase can also denote a song or hymn associated with a school, although alma was a common epithet for Ceres, Cybele, Venus, and other mother goddesses, it was not frequently used in conjunction with mater in classical Latin. Alma Redemptoris Mater is a well-known 11th century antiphon devoted to Mary, the earliest documented English use of the term to refer to a university is in 1600, when University of Cambridge printer John Legate began using an emblem for the universitys press. In English etymological reference works, the first university-related usage is often cited in 1710, many historic European universities have adopted Alma Mater as part of the Latin translation of their official name. The University of Bologna Latin name, Alma Mater Studiorum, refers to its status as the oldest continuously operating university in the world. At least one, the Alma Mater Europaea in Salzburg, Austria, the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, has been called the Alma Mater of the Nation because of its ties to the founding of the United States. At Queens University in Kingston, Ontario, and the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, British Columbia, the ancient Roman world had many statues of the Alma Mater, some still extant. Modern sculptures are found in prominent locations on several American university campuses, outside the United States, there is an Alma Mater sculpture on the steps of the monumental entrance to the Universidad de La Habana, in Havana, Cuba. Media related to Alma mater at Wikimedia Commons The dictionary definition of alma mater at Wiktionary Alma Mater Europaea website
17.
Christ's College, Cambridge
–
Christs College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college includes the Master, the Fellows of the College, the college was founded by William Byngham in 1437 as Gods House. The college is renowned for educating some of Cambridges most famous alumni, including Charles Darwin, within Cambridge, Christs has a reputation for strong academic performance and tutorial support. It has averaged 1st place on the Tompkins Table from 1980–2006, as of 2013, it had an endowment of £138 million, making it one of the wealthier colleges in Cambridge. Christs College was founded by William Byngham in 1437 as Gods House, Byngham obtained the first royal licence for Gods House in July 1439. The college was founded to provide for the lack of grammar-school masters in England at the time, the original site of Godshouse was surrendered in 1443 to Kings College, and currently about three quarters of Kings College Chapel stands on the original site of Gods House. After the original royal licence of 1439, three more licenses, two in 1442 and one in 1446, were granted before in 1448 Gods House received the charter upon which the college was in fact founded. In this charter, King Henry VI was named as the founder, in 1505, the college was endowed by Lady Margaret Beaufort, mother of King Henry VII, and was given the name Christs College, perhaps at the suggestion of her confessor, the Bishop John Fisher. The expansion in the population of the college in the century led to the building, in the 1640s. The original 15th/16th century college buildings now form part of First Court, including the chapel, Masters Lodge and Great Gate tower. The gate itself is disproportionate, the bottom has been cut off to accommodate a rise in street level, the college hall, originally built at the very start of the 16th century, was restored in 1875–1879 by George Gilbert Scott the younger. The lawn of First Court is famously round, and a wisteria sprawls up the front of the Masters lodge, Second Court is fully built up on only three sides, one of which is formed by the 1640s Fellows Building. The fourth side backs onto the Masters garden, the Stevenson Building in Third Court was designed by J. J. Stevenson in the 1880s and was extended in 1905 as part of the Colleges Quadcentenary. In 1947 Professor Albert Richardson designed a new cupola for the Stevenson building, and a second building, Third Courts Memorial Building, a twin of the Chancellors building, also by Richardson, was completed in 1953 at a cost of £80,000. Third Court is also noted for its display of irises in May and June, the controversial tiered concrete New Court was designed in the Modernist style by Sir Denys Lasdun in 1966–70, and was described as superb in Lasduns obituary in the Guardian. Design critic Hugh Pearman comments Lasdun had big trouble relating to the street at the overhanging rear and it appears very distinctively in aerial photographs, forming part of the northern boundary of the college. An assortment of neighbouring buildings have been absorbed into the college, of which the most notable is The Todd Building, through an arch in the Fellows Building is the Fellows Garden. It includes two mulberry trees, of which the older was planted in 1608, the year as Miltons birth
18.
Wadham College, Oxford
–
Wadham College /ˈwɒdəm/ is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street, Wadham College was founded in 1610 by Dorothy Wadham, according to the will of her late husband Nicholas Wadham, a member of an ancient Devon and Somerset family. The central buildings, an example of Jacobean architecture, were designed by the architect William Arnold. They include a large and ornate Hall, adjacent to the central buildings are the Wadham Gardens, notable for their collection of trees and one of the largest gardens amongst Oxford colleges. Amongst Wadhams most famous alumni is Sir Christopher Wren, Wren was one of a brilliant group of experimental scientists at Oxford in the 1650s, the Oxford Philosophical Club, which included Robert Boyle and Robert Hooke. This group held meetings at Wadham College under the guidance of the warden, John Wilkins. Wadham is a liberal and progressive college which aims to maintain the diversity of its student body, in 1974 it was among the first of the former mens colleges to admit women, and the college has been a promoter of gay rights and equal rights for women. As of 2014, it had a financial endowment of £80.8 million, and in 2014/2015 ranked 3rd in the Norrington Table. The college was founded by Dorothy Wadham in 1610, according to the set out in the will of her husband Nicholas Wadham. Although she never visited Oxford, she kept control of her new college. The wardenship of John Wilkins is a significant period in the history of the college, Wilkins was a member of a group which had met for some years in London to discuss problems in the natural sciences. Many of the moved to Oxford and held regular meetings in the Wardens lodgings at Wadham. Among them were Robert Boyle, Robert Hooke, John Locke, William Petty, John Wallis, Wadham provided the largest contingent, some twelve of the fifty names mentioned. These included Christopher Brookes, John Mayow, Lawrence Rooke, Thomas Sprat, Seth Ward, Sir Christopher Wren was an undergraduate at Wadham before he became a fellow of All Souls and then succeeded Rooke as astronomy professor at Gresham College, London. He eventually returned to occupy rooms at Wadham while he was the Savilian Professor of Astronomy from 1661, Wren had notable achievements in pure and applied mathematics, astronomy, physics and biology to his credit before, in his thirties, turning to architecture. Alone in mathematical ability Wren was ranked by competent authorities second only to Newton among the men of his time, the Wardens lodgings were stuffed with ingenious instruments, and powerful telescopes were mounted on the college tower. Wilkins was the first president of the body, and became the first secretary of the Royal Society itself. These were the beginnings of organised scientific research in Britain, Maurice Bowra was Warden of the College from 1938 until 1970, and was influential in determining the character of the College as open and meritocratic
19.
Westcott House, Cambridge
–
Westcott House is a Church of England theological college based in Jesus Lane in the centre of the university city of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. Its main activity is training people for ordained ministry in the Church of England, Westcott House is a founder member of the Cambridge Theological Federation. The college is considered by many to be catholic or Liberal Catholic in its tradition. Westcott House began its life in 1881 as the Cambridge Clergy Training School, brooke Foss Westcott, the then Regius Professor of Divinity at the University of Cambridge was its first president. He later became the Bishop of Durham, Westcott was also exercised by the way in which the Church of England was increasingly dominated by parties and factions. Westcott himself eschewed any party affiliation and this is the spirit which Westcott House seeks to honour today, drawing students from all backgrounds to prepare them for ministry in this historic centre of Christian learning. In response to the Faith in the City report, published in 1985, through its partnership with the Diocese of Manchester, the College has pioneered patterns of context-based learning and innovative approaches to contextual theology for over twenty years. These approaches have been imitated and developed by other theological education institutions. In recent years, the College has also developed a programme for continuing development through the Westcott Foundation. The College provides training pathways in conjunction with the University of Cambridge and it describes itself as the home of a diverse, inclusive and international community of people who share a vision of ministry to all society. Drawing on the inspiration of B. F. Westcott and others, its ethos is expressed in a Rule of Life, the head of Westcott House is known as the principal. All the principals of the Clergy Training School and of Westcott House have thus far been ordained Anglican priests
20.
Ely Cathedral
–
Ely Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in the English city of Ely, Cambridgeshire. The cathedral has its origins in AD672 when St Etheldreda built an abbey church, the present building dates back to 1083, and cathedral status was granted it in 1109. It is the seat of the Bishop of Ely and a suffragan bishop, architecturally it is outstanding both for its scale and stylistic details. Having been built in a monumental Romanesque style, the porch, lady chapel. Ely Cathedral is a major tourist destination, receiving around 250,000 visitors per year, Ely Abbey was founded in 672, by Æthelthryth, daughter of the East Anglian King Anna. It was a community of men and women. Later accounts suggest her three successor abbesses were members of the East Anglian Royal family. In later centuries the depredations of Viking raids may have resulted in its destruction and it is possible that some monks provided a continuity through to its refoundation in 970, under a Benedictine rule. The precise siting of Æthelthryths original monastery is not known, the presence of her relics, bolstered by the growing body of literature on her life and miracles, was a major driving force in the success of the refounded abbey. The church building of 970 was within or near the nave of the present building, ermenilda of Ely was an Abbess here, as well, after her husband Wulfhere of Mercia died in 675. The cathedral is built from stone quarried from Barnack in Northamptonshire, with decorative elements carved from Purbeck Marble, the plan of the building is cruciform, with an additional transept at the western end. The total length is 537 feet, and the nave at over 75 m long remains one of the longest in Britain, the west tower is 66 m high. The unique Octagon Lantern Tower is 23 m wide and is 52 m high, internally, from the floor to the central roof boss the lantern is 43 m high. It is known locally as the ship of the Fens, because of its prominent position above the flat landscape. However the imposition of Norman rule was particularly problematic at Ely, under the Normans almost every English cathedral and major abbey was rebuilt from the 1070s onwards. If Ely was to maintain its status then it had to initiate its own building work, and he was the brother of Walkelin, the then Bishop of Winchester, and had himself been Prior at Winchester Cathedral when the rebuilding began there in 1079. In 1083, a year after Simeons appointment as abbot of Ely, the design had many similarities to Winchester, a cruciform plan with central crossing tower, aisled transepts, a three storey elevation and a semi-circular apse at the east end. It was one of the largest buildings under construction north of the Alps at the time, the first phase of construction took in the eastern arm of the church, and the north and south transepts
21.
St Asaph Cathedral
–
St Asaph Cathedral is a cathedral in St Asaph, Denbighshire, north Wales. An Anglican church, it is the seat of the Bishop of St Asaph. The cathedral dates back 1,400 years, while the current building dates from the 13th century and it is sometimes claimed to be the smallest Anglican cathedral in Great Britain. A church was built on or near the site by Saint Kentigern in the 6th century. Saint Asa, a grandson of Pabo Post Prydain, followed after this date, the earliest parts of the present building date from the 13th century when a new building was begun on the site after the original stone cathedral was burnt by King Edward I in 1282. The rebellion of Owain Glyndŵr resulted in part of the cathedral being reduced to a ruin for seventy years, the present building was largely built in the reign of Henry Tudor and greatly restored in the 19th century. It was reported that the cause of the damage was by a subterranean stream and it made the papers again when work was approaching completion in 1935. Geoffrey of Monmouth served as Bishop of St Asaph from 1152 to 1155, although due to war and unrest in Wales at the time, he probably never set foot in his see. William Morgan was also Bishop of St Asaph and of Llandaff and his Bible is kept on public display in the cathedral. The first Archbishop of Wales Alfred George Edwards was appointed Bishop of St Asaph in 1889, a specification of the organ can be found on the National Pipe Organ Register. Walton Evans 1897–1901 John Hosking See also the List of Organ Scholars at St Asaph Cathedral, Saint Asaph John Owen, Bishop of St Asaph Isaac Barrow, Bishop of St Asaph —buried in the Cathedral churchyard William Mathias, composer, born in Whitland, Carmarthenshire
22.
Anglican Communion
–
The Anglican Communion is an international association of autonomous churches consisting of the Church of England and national and regional Anglican churches in full communion with it. Full participation in the life of each church is available to all communicant Anglicans. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Primate of All England, has a place of honour among the bishops of the Anglican churches and he is recognised as primus inter pares. The archbishop does not exercise authority in the provinces outside England, the churches of the Anglican Communion considers themselves to be part of the nicos one, holy, catholic and apostolic church and to be both Catholic and Reformed. For some adherents, Anglicanism represents a non-papal Catholicism, for others a form of Protestantism though without a dominant guiding figure such as Luther, Knox, Calvin, for others, their self-identity represents some combination of the two. The communion encompasses a spectrum of belief and practice including evangelical, liberal. With a membership estimated at around 85 million members, the Anglican Communion is the third largest Christian communion in the world, after the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church. Some of these churches are known as Anglican, such as the Anglican Church of Canada, some, for example the Church of Ireland, the Scottish and American Episcopal churches, and some other associated churches have a separate name. The Anglican Communion has no legal existence nor any governing structure which might exercise authority over the member churches. There is an Anglican Communion Office in London, under the aegis of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Communion is held together by a shared history, expressed in its ecclesiology, polity and ethos and also by participation in international consultative bodies. Early in its development, Anglicanism developed a vernacular prayer book, unlike other traditions, Anglicanism has never been governed by a magisterium nor by appeal to one founding theologian, nor by an extra-credal summary of doctrine. Instead, Anglicans have typically appealed to the Book of Common Prayer and its offshoots as a guide to Anglican theology and this had the effect of inculcating the principle of Lex orandi, lex credendi as the foundation of Anglican identity and confession. These parameters were most clearly articulated in the rubrics of the successive prayer books. With the expansion of the British Empire, and hence the growth of Anglicanism outside Great Britain and Ireland, the first major expression of this were the Lambeth Conferences of the communions bishops, first convened by Archbishop of Canterbury Charles Longley in 1869. One of the influential early resolutions of the conference was the so-called Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral of 1888. Its intent was to provide the basis for discussions of reunion with the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches, the Apostles Creed, as the Baptismal Symbol, and the Nicene Creed, as the sufficient statement of the Christian faith. The two Sacraments ordained by Christ Himself - Baptism and the Supper of the Lord - ministered with unfailing use of Christs Words of Institution, and of the elements ordained by Him. The Historic Episcopate, locally adapted in the methods of its administration to the needs of the nations
23.
Metropolitan bishop
–
Before the establishment of patriarchs, metropolitan was the highest episcopal rank in the Eastern rites of the Church. They presided over synods of bishops, and were granted privileges by canon law. The Early Church structure generally followed the Roman imperial practice, with one bishop ruling each city, the bishop of the provincial capital, the metropolitan, enjoyed certain rights over other bishops in the province, later called suffragans. The other bishops are known as suffragan bishops, the metropolitan is obliged to request the pallium, a symbol of the power that, in communion with the Church of Rome, he possesses over his ecclesiastical province. This holds even if he had the pallium in another metropolitan see and it is the responsibility of the metropolitan, with the consent of the majority of the suffragan bishops to call a provincial council, decide where to convene it, and determine the agenda. It is his prerogative to preside over the provincial council, no provincial council can be called if the metropolitan see is vacant. As of April 2006,508 archdioceses were headed by metropolitan archbishops,27 archbishops lead an extant archdiocese, but were not metropolitans, see also Catholic Church hierarchy for the distinctions. In those Eastern Catholic Churches that are headed by a patriarch, similarly, a metropolitan has the right to ordain and enthrone the bishops of his province. The metropolitan is to be commemorated in the liturgies celebrated within his province, a major archbishop is defined as the metropolitan of a certain see who heads an autonomous Eastern Church not of patriarchal rank. The canon law of such a Church differs only slightly from that regarding a patriarchal Church, there are also autonomous Eastern Catholic Churches consisting of a single province and headed by a metropolitan. In his autonomous Church it is for him to ordain and enthrone bishops, in the Eastern Orthodox Churches, the title of metropolitan is used variously, in terms of rank and jurisdiction. In terms of rank, in some Eastern Orthodox Churches metropolitans are ranked above archbishops in precedence, primates of autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Churches below patriarchal rank are generally designated as archbishops. In the Greek Orthodox Churches, archbishops are ranked above metropolitans in precedence, some Eastern Orthodox Churches have functioning metropolitans on the middle level of church administration. In Romanian Orthodox Church there are six regional metropolitans who are the chairmen of their respective synods of bishops, for example, Metropolitan of Oltenia has regional jurisdiction over four dioceses. On the other hand, in some Eastern Orthodox Churches title of metropolitan is only honorary, in Serbian Orthodox Church, honorary title of metropolitan is given to diocesan bishops of some important historical sees. For example, diocesan bishop of the Eparchy of Montenegro and the Littoral is given the title of metropolitan. Diocesan bishop of the Eparchy of Dabar-Bosnia is also given the title of metropolitan. Non-canonical Eastern Orthodox Churches generally use metropolitan title according to traditions of usage in Churches from which they were split
24.
University of Cambridge
–
The University of Cambridge is a collegiate public research university in Cambridge, England, often regarded as one of the most prestigious universities in the world. Founded in 1209 and given royal status by King Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the second-oldest university in the English-speaking world. The university grew out of an association of scholars who left the University of Oxford after a dispute with the townspeople, the two ancient universities share many common features and are often referred to jointly as Oxbridge. Cambridge is formed from a variety of institutions which include 31 constituent colleges, Cambridge University Press, a department of the university, is the worlds oldest publishing house and the second-largest university press in the world. The university also operates eight cultural and scientific museums, including the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridges libraries hold a total of around 15 million books, eight million of which are in Cambridge University Library, a legal deposit library. In the year ended 31 July 2015, the university had an income of £1.64 billion. The central university and colleges have an endowment of around £5.89 billion. The university is linked with the development of the high-tech business cluster known as Silicon Fen. It is a member of associations and forms part of the golden triangle of leading English universities and Cambridge University Health Partners. As of 2017, Cambridge is ranked the fourth best university by three ranking tables and no other institution in the world ranks in the top 10 for as many subjects. Cambridge is consistently ranked as the top university in the United Kingdom, the university has educated many notable alumni, including eminent mathematicians, scientists, politicians, lawyers, philosophers, writers, actors, and foreign Heads of State. Ninety-five Nobel laureates, fifteen British prime ministers and ten Fields medalists have been affiliated with Cambridge as students, faculty, by the late 12th century, the Cambridge region already had a scholarly and ecclesiastical reputation, due to monks from the nearby bishopric church of Ely. The University of Oxford went into suspension in protest, and most scholars moved to such as Paris, Reading. After the University of Oxford reformed several years later, enough remained in Cambridge to form the nucleus of the new university. A bull in 1233 from Pope Gregory IX gave graduates from Cambridge the right to teach everywhere in Christendom, the colleges at the University of Cambridge were originally an incidental feature of the system. No college is as old as the university itself, the colleges were endowed fellowships of scholars. There were also institutions without endowments, called hostels, the hostels were gradually absorbed by the colleges over the centuries, but they have left some indicators of their time, such as the name of Garret Hostel Lane. Hugh Balsham, Bishop of Ely, founded Peterhouse, Cambridges first college, the most recently established college is Robinson, built in the late 1970s
25.
University of Oxford
–
The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university located in Oxford, England. It grew rapidly from 1167 when Henry II banned English students from attending the University of Paris, after disputes between students and Oxford townsfolk in 1209, some academics fled north-east to Cambridge where they established what became the University of Cambridge. The two ancient universities are frequently referred to as Oxbridge. The university is made up of a variety of institutions, including 38 constituent colleges, All the colleges are self-governing institutions within the university, each controlling its own membership and with its own internal structure and activities. Being a city university, it not have a main campus, instead, its buildings. Oxford is the home of the Rhodes Scholarship, one of the worlds oldest and most prestigious scholarships, the university operates the worlds oldest university museum, as well as the largest university press in the world and the largest academic library system in Britain. Oxford has educated many notable alumni, including 28 Nobel laureates,27 Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom, the University of Oxford has no known foundation date. Teaching at Oxford existed in form as early as 1096. It grew quickly in 1167 when English students returned from the University of Paris, the historian Gerald of Wales lectured to such scholars in 1188 and the first known foreign scholar, Emo of Friesland, arrived in 1190. The head of the university had the title of chancellor from at least 1201, the university was granted a royal charter in 1248 during the reign of King Henry III. After disputes between students and Oxford townsfolk in 1209, some academics fled from the violence to Cambridge, the students associated together on the basis of geographical origins, into two nations, representing the North and the South. In later centuries, geographical origins continued to many students affiliations when membership of a college or hall became customary in Oxford. At about the time, private benefactors established colleges as self-contained scholarly communities. Among the earliest such founders were William of Durham, who in 1249 endowed University College, thereafter, an increasing number of students lived in colleges rather than in halls and religious houses. In 1333–34, an attempt by some dissatisfied Oxford scholars to found a new university at Stamford, Lincolnshire was blocked by the universities of Oxford and Cambridge petitioning King Edward III. Thereafter, until the 1820s, no new universities were allowed to be founded in England, even in London, thus, Oxford and Cambridge had a duopoly, the new learning of the Renaissance greatly influenced Oxford from the late 15th century onwards. Among university scholars of the period were William Grocyn, who contributed to the revival of Greek language studies, and John Colet, the noted biblical scholar. With the English Reformation and the breaking of communion with the Roman Catholic Church, recusant scholars from Oxford fled to continental Europe, as a centre of learning and scholarship, Oxfords reputation declined in the Age of Enlightenment, enrolments fell and teaching was neglected
26.
Anglican Covenant
–
The Commission, chaired by Archbishop Robin Eames, published its findings as the Windsor Report on 18 October 2004. The report recommended a covenant for the Anglican Communion, an idea that did not come to fruition, one Canadian diocese, New Westminster, authorised a rite for the blessing of same-sex unions at its 2002 Diocesan Synod. The use of the rite by individual parishes was incumbent upon a specific request of the parish made through its annual meeting or resolution of its parochial church council. In May 2003, six of the dioceses 76 parishes received authorisation to use the rite, in 2003, the Episcopal Churchs General Convention consented to the Diocese of New Hampshires election of Gene Robinson as its bishop. Retired South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu stated that he did not see all the fuss was about. The Primates also asked the Archbishop of Canterbury to form a commission to provide urgent, in 2003, Archbishop Robin Eames, the Anglican Primate of All Ireland, was appointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury as Chairman of the Lambeth Commission on Communion. This commission studied the state of unity in the Anglican Communion in light of the developments in the United States, the Commission published its findings, the Windsor Report, on 18 October 2004. However, it stopped short of recommending discipline against the Episcopal Church or the Anglican Church of Canada and it also urged those who had contributed to disunity to express their regret. In February 2005, the issue of homosexuality was heavily discussed at a meeting of the Primates of the Anglican Communion at Dromantine in Northern Ireland. Of the 38 Primates,35 attended, the Windsor Report was criticised by liberals for seeming to take for granted that the actions of New Hampshire and New Westminster—and homosexuality in general—were wrong. For example, while it calls for both conservatives and liberals to apologise for disunity, it acknowledges that the conservatives may have acted out of a sense of duty, however, it concedes no such acknowledgement to New Westminster and New Hampshire. On February 12,2008 the Archbishop of Canterbury announced the formation of the Windsor Continuation Group, the WCG was formed to address the remaining questions around the Windsor Report and the various formal responses to the Windsor Report from the provinces and instruments of the Anglican Communion. The WCG is chaired by Bishop Clive Handford, in 2006, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, established the Covenant Design Group to draft a covenant for the Anglican Communion. The CDG met between 2007 and 2009, producing three successive drafts, the Nassau Draft Covenant, the St. Andrews Draft Covenant, each draft was indebted to previous ecumenical covenants that Anglicans had either proposed or entered into. However, since the late 1960s, Anglicans have discussed and debated several plans for integration of the Anglican Communion. Most recently, these proposals have incorporated significant discussions of canon law, the Anglican Covenant depends upon these discussions as well. The final text of the covenant was sent to the provinces of the Anglican Communion in late 2009. As of June 2012, the covenant has been acceded to by seven provinces of the Anglican Communion, Mexico, the West Indies, Ireland, Myanmar, South East Asia, Papua New Guinea, and the Southern Cone
27.
Ordination of women
–
It remains a controversial issue in certain Christian denominations where ordination has for almost 2000 years been limited only to men. In some cases women have been permitted to be ordained, but not to higher positions. Where laws prohibit sex discrimination in employment, exceptions are made for clergy. Sumerian and Akkadian EN were top-ranking priestesses distinguished by special ceremonial attire and they owned property, transacted business, and initiated the hieros gamos ceremony with priests and kings. Enheduanna, an Akkadian princess, was the first known holder of the title EN Priestess, ishtaritu were temple prostitutes who specialized in the arts of dancing, music, and singing and served in the temples of Ishtar. Puabi was a NIN, an Akkadian priestess of Ur in the 26th century BCE, nadītu served as priestesses in the temples of Inanna in the ancient city of Uruk. They were recruited from the highest families in the land and were supposed to remain childless, they owned property and transacted business. In Sumerian epic texts such as Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta, Nu-Gig were priestesses in temples dedicated to Inanna, qadishtu, Hebrew Qedesha or Kedeshah, derived from the root Q-D-Š, are mentioned in the Hebrew Bible as sacred prostitutes usually associated with the goddess Asherah. Later, Divine Adoratrice of Amun was a title created for the chief priestess of Amun, the Divine Adoratrice ruled over the extensive temple duties and domains, controlling a significant part of the ancient Egyptian economy. Ancient Egyptian priestesses, Gautseshen Henutmehyt Henuttawy Hui Iset Karomama Meritmut Maatkare Mutemhat Meritamen Neferhetepes is the earliest attested priestess of Hathor, neferure Tabekenamun a priestess of Hathor as well as a priestess of Neith. In ancient Greek religion, some important observances, such as the Thesmophoria, were made by women, Priestesses played a major role in the Eleusinian Mysteries. The Gerarai were priestesses of Dionysus who presided over festivals and rituals associated with the god, a body of priestesses might also maintain the cult at a particular holy site, such as the Peleiades at the oracle of Dodona. The Arrephoroi were young girls ages seven to twelve who worked as servants of Athena Polias on the Athenian Acropolis and were charged with conducting unique rituals, at several sites women priestesses served as oracles, the most famous of which is the Oracle of Delphi. The Phrygian Sibyl presided over an oracle of Apollo in Anatolian Phrygia, see also Women in ancient Rome, Religious life The Latin word sacerdos, priest, is the same for both the grammatical genders. In Roman state religion, the priesthood of the Vestals was responsible for the continuance, the Vestals were a college of six sacerdotes devoted to Vesta, goddess of the hearth, both the focus of a private home and the state hearth that was the center of communal religion. They retained their religious authority until the Christian emperor Gratian confiscated their revenues, the Romans also had at least two priesthoods that were each held jointly by a married couple, the rex and regina sacrorum, and the flamen and flaminica Dialis. The regina sacrorum and the flaminica Dialis each had her own duties and presided over public sacrifices, the regina on the first day of every month. The highly public nature of sacrifices, like the role of the Vestals
28.
Magdalene College, Cambridge
–
Magdalene College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1428 as a Benedictine hostel, in coming to be known as Buckingham College. Magdalene College has some of the grandest benefactors including Britains premier noble the Duke of Norfolk, however the refoundation was largely the work of Thomas Audley, Lord Chancellor under Henry VIII. Audley also gave the college its motto—garde ta foy, audleys successors in the Mastership and as benefactors of the College were, however, prone to dire ends, several benefactors were arraigned at various stages on charges of high treason and executed. The colleges most famous alumnus is Samuel Pepys, whose papers and books were donated to the college upon his death, the college boasts a portrait of the famous diarist by Peter Lely, which hangs in the Hall. Magdalene is noted for its style, it boasts a well-regarded candlelit formal hall and was the last all-male college in Oxford or Cambridge to admit women in 1988. This change resulted in protests by some undergraduates, including the wearing of black armbands. Magdalenes old buildings are representative of the colleges ramshackle growth from a monks foundation into a centre of education and it is also distinctive in that most of the old buildings are in brick rather than stone. Magdalene Street divides the most ancient courts from more recent developments, one of the accommodation blocks in the newer part of the college was built by Edwin Lutyens in the early 1930s. Opened in 2005, Cripps Court, on Chesterton Road, features new undergraduate rooms, Magdalene remains, despite this 20th-century expansion, one of the smaller colleges within the University, numbering some 300 undergraduates and an expanding postgraduate community. Magdalene College was first founded in 1428 as Monks Hostel, which hosted Benedictine student monks, the secluded location of the hostel was chosen because it was separated from the town centre by the River Cam and protected by the Cambridge Castle. The main buildings of the college were first constructed in the 1470s under the leadership of John de Wisbech, under the patronage of Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, the institution was renamed Buckingham College. In the 16th century, the Church of England broke away from the Papacy, with the subsequent Dissolution of the Monasteries, the parent abbey of Buckingham College, Crowland Abbey, was dissolved. However, the college remained in operation, walden Abbey, one of the Benedictine abbeys associated with Buckingham College, came into the possession of Thomas Audley after the Dissolution of the Monasteries. In 1542, Audley refounded Buckingham College as the College of Saint Mary Magdalene, derived from Audley were the arms of Magdalene, including the motto Garde Ta Foy, and the wyvern as the crest. Thomas Audley died in 1544 aged 56, only two years after he re-founded the college and he donated to the college seven acres of property at Aldgate in London, which was his reward from Henry VIII for disposing of Anne Boleyn. This property would have brought enormous income had it been retained by the college, however, under the conspiracy of the Elizabethan banker Benedict Spinola, the property was permanently alienated to the Crown in 1574. The transaction involved Spinola luring the master and fellows of the time to accept an increase in the rental from £9 to £15 a year in exchange for the property
29.
University of South Wales
–
The University of South Wales is a university in Wales, with campuses in Cardiff, Newport and Pontypridd. It was formed on 11 April 2013 from the merger of the University of Glamorgan, the university can trace its roots to the founding of the Newport Mechanics Institute in 1841. The Newport Mechanics Institute later become the University of Wales, Newport, in 1913 the South Wales and Monmouthshire School of Mines was formed. The school of mines was later to become the Polytechnic of Wales, however the Office of the Independent Adjudicator stated that, in 2013, the number of students was 29,875. The Higher Education Statistics Agency reported student total numbers of 27,710 for the 2014/15 academic year. Therefore during the 2014/15 academic year University was the 16th largest in the UK and the 2nd largest in Wales, after Cardiff University, the university has four faculties spread over its campuses in South East Wales. It offers a range of qualifications from further education to degrees to PhD study, as a Post 92 University it delivers a range of STEM subjects. In June 2013 the fine art course at Newport was closed, a tutor, Kathryn Ashill, said that the students had a responsibility of going out with a bang. The Atrium Building is the building at the campus, originally opened by the University of Glamorgan in 2007 the building recently extended. The campus also includes the Atlantic House building, the £35 million campus on the west bank of the River Usk in Newport city centre was opened in 2011, by the University of Wales, Newport. It hosts a variety of undergraduate and postgraduate courses, including teaching, business, social work, the National Cyber Security Academy is based at the Newport campus. This was formerly the main campus of the University of Glamorgan, currently the universitys largest campus, with a range of facilities, including an indoor sports centre and students union. The campus is located in three parts, - 1) Treforest – Which hosts a variety of undergraduate and postgraduate courses notable in engineering, 2) Glyntaff – Where nursing, science and sport courses are based. 3) Tyn y Wern – The location of the University of South Wales sport park, Caerleon is located on the northern outskirts of Newport. Formerly the second largest campus, it hosted a variety of undergraduate and postgraduate courses, including education, sports, history, fashion design, art, the campus had extensive sports facilities, library, students union shop and a students union bar. It was formerly the main campus of the University of Wales, in 2014, it was announced by the University of South Wales that the Caerleon campus would close in 2016 with courses being integrated into the remaining campuses. The campus opened during 1914 and closed for the last time on 31 July 2016, the University is proposing to sell the campus for housing development but there is strong opposition to the planned re-development from local residents. The University of South Wales expressed their opposition to the proposed listing but the announcement was welcomed by local politicians
30.
University of Edinburgh
–
The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1582, is the sixth oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotlands ancient universities. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city of Edinburgh, the University of Edinburgh was ranked 17th and 21st in the world by the 2014–15 and 2015-16 QS rankings. It is now ranked 19th in the according to 2016-17 QS Rankings. It is ranked 16th in the world in arts and humanities by the 2015–16 Times Higher Education Ranking and it is ranked the 23rd most employable university in the world by the 2015 Global Employability University Ranking. It is ranked as the 6th best university in Europe by the U. S. News Best Global Universities Ranking and it is a member of both the Russell Group, and the League of European Research Universities, a consortium of 21 research universities in Europe. It has the third largest endowment of any university in the United Kingdom, after the universities of Cambridge and it continues to have links to the British Royal Family, having had the Duke of Edinburgh as its Chancellor from 1953 to 2010 and Princess Anne since 2011. Edinburgh receives approximately 50,000 applications every year, making it the fourth most popular university in the UK by volume of applicants, after St Andrews, it is the most difficult university to gain admission into in Scotland, and 9th overall in the UK. This was a move at the time, as most universities were established through Papal bulls. Established as the Tounis College, it opened its doors to students in October 1583, instruction began under the charge of another St Andrews graduate Robert Rollock. It was the fourth Scottish university in a period when the more populous. It was renamed King Jamess College in 1617, by the 18th century, the university was a leading centre of the Scottish Enlightenment. The universitys first custom-built building was the Old College, now Edinburgh Law School and its first forte in teaching was anatomy and the developing science of surgery, from which it expanded into many other subjects. From the basement of a nearby house ran the anatomy tunnel corridor and it went under what was then North College Street, and under the university buildings until it reached the universitys anatomy lecture theatre, delivering bodies for dissection. It was from this tunnel the body of William Burke was taken after he had been hanged, towards the end of the 19th century, Old College was becoming overcrowded and Robert Rowand Anderson was commissioned to design new Medical School premises in 1875. The medical school was more or less built to his design and was completed by the addition of the McEwan Hall in the 1880s. The building now known as New College was originally built as a Free Church college in the 1840s and has been the home of divinity at the university since the 1920s. The two oldest schools – law and divinity – are both well-esteemed, with law being based in Old College and divinity in New College on the Mound and they are also represented by the Edinburgh University Sports Union which was founded in 1866. The medical school is renowned throughout the world and it was widely considered the best medical school in the English-speaking world throughout the 18th century and first half of the 19th century
31.
Chair of St Augustine
–
The Chair of St Augustine or Cathedra Augustini is the ceremonial enthronement chair of the Archbishop of Canterbury in Canterbury Cathedral, Kent. Named after the first Archbishop of Canterbury, St Augustine of Canterbury, according to the cathedral the chair was once part of the furnishings of the shrine of St Thomas Becket, which was destroyed during the English Reformation. Since an early period, it has always had a place in the enthronement of an Archbishop of Canterbury. He is seated on the throne in the choir as Diocesan Bishop, in the house as titular abbot. This and the Lambeth Conference are the occasions in which this cathedra is used. The choir throne is used for occasions in which the archbishop is present. For this reason a recent Archbishop of Canterbury was blessed by the then Archbishop of Armagh, the first enthronement must, under English Law, be conducted by the Archdeacon of Canterbury
32.
10 Downing Street
–
Situated in Downing Street in the City of Westminster, London, Number 10 is over 300 years old and contains approximately 100 rooms. A private residence occupies the floor and there is a kitchen in the basement. At the rear is a courtyard and a terrace overlooking a garden of 0.5 acres. Adjacent to St Jamess Park, Number 10 is near Buckingham Palace, the London residence of the British monarch, and the Palace of Westminster, originally three houses, Number 10 was offered to Sir Robert Walpole by King George II in 1732. Walpole accepted on the condition that the gift was to the office of First Lord of the Treasury rather than to him personally, Walpole commissioned William Kent to join the three houses and it is this larger house that is known as Number 10 Downing Street. The arrangement was not an immediate success, despite its size and convenient location near to Parliament, few early Prime Ministers lived there. Costly to maintain, neglected, and run-down, Number 10 was close to being demolished several times but the property survived and became linked with many statesmen, in 1985 Margaret Thatcher said Number 10 had become one of the most precious jewels in the national heritage. Number 10 Downing Street was originally three properties, a mansion overlooking St Jamess Park called the House at the Back, a house behind it. The town house, from which the building gets its name, was one of several built by Sir George Downing between 1682 and 1684. Downing, a spy for Oliver Cromwell and later Charles II, invested in property. In 1654, he purchased the lease on land south of St Jamess Park, Downing planned to build a row of town houses for persons of good quality to inhabit in. The street on which he built them now bears his name, straightforward as the investment seemed, it proved otherwise. The Hampden family had a lease on the land that they refused to relinquish, Downing fought their claim, but failed and had to wait thirty years before he could build. When the Hampden lease expired, Downing received permission to build on land further west to take advantage of recent property developments. The new warrant issued in 1682 reads, Sir George Downing. to build new, subject to the proviso that it be not built any nearer than 14 feet of the wall of the said Park at the West end thereof. Between 1682 and 1684, Downing built a cul-de-sac of two-storey town houses with coach-houses, stables, over the years, the addresses changed several times. In 1787 Number 5 became Number 10, Downing employed Sir Christopher Wren to design the houses. Although large, they were put up quickly and cheaply on soft soil with shallow foundations, the fronts were façades with lines painted on the surface imitating brick mortar
33.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
–
It alone possesses legislative supremacy and thereby ultimate power over all other political bodies in the UK and its territories. Its head is the Sovereign of the United Kingdom and its seat is the Palace of Westminster in the City of Westminster, one of the boroughs of the British capital, the parliament is bicameral, consisting of an upper house and a lower house. The Sovereign forms the third component of the legislature, prior to the opening of the Supreme Court in October 2009, the House of Lords also performed a judicial role through the Law Lords. The House of Commons is an elected chamber with elections held at least every five years. The two Houses meet in separate chambers in the Palace of Westminster in London, most cabinet ministers are from the Commons, whilst junior ministers can be from either House. The Parliament of Great Britain was formed in 1707 following the ratification of the Treaty of Union by Acts of Union passed by the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland. The UK parliament and its institutions have set the pattern for many throughout the world. However, John Bright – who coined the epithet – used it with reference to a rather than a parliament. In theory, the UKs supreme legislative power is vested in the Crown-in-Parliament. However, the Crown normally acts on the advice of the Prime Minister, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was created in 1801, by the merger of the Kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland under the Acts of Union. The principle of responsibility to the lower House did not develop until the 19th century—the House of Lords was superior to the House of Commons both in theory and in practice. Members of the House of Commons were elected in an electoral system. Thus, the borough of Old Sarum, with seven voters, many small constituencies, known as pocket or rotten boroughs, were controlled by members of the House of Lords, who could ensure the election of their relatives or supporters. During the reforms of the 19th century, beginning with the Reform Act 1832, No longer dependent on the Lords for their seats, MPs grew more assertive. The supremacy of the British House of Commons was established in the early 20th century, in 1909, the Commons passed the so-called Peoples Budget, which made numerous changes to the taxation system which were detrimental to wealthy landowners. The House of Lords, which consisted mostly of powerful landowners, on the basis of the Budgets popularity and the Lords consequent unpopularity, the Liberal Party narrowly won two general elections in 1910. Using the result as a mandate, the Liberal Prime Minister, Herbert Henry Asquith, introduced the Parliament Bill, in the face of such a threat, the House of Lords narrowly passed the bill. However, regardless of the Parliament Acts of 1911 and 1949, the Government of Ireland Act 1920 created the parliaments of Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland and reduced the representation of both parts at Westminster
34.
House of Lords
–
The House of Lords of the United Kingdom, referred to ceremonially as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster, officially, the full name of the house is, The Right Honourable the Lords Spiritual and Temporal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Parliament assembled. Unlike the elected House of Commons, all members of the House of Lords are appointed, the membership of the House of Lords is drawn from the peerage and is made up of Lords Spiritual and Lords Temporal. The Lords Spiritual are 26 bishops in the established Church of England, of the Lords Temporal, the majority are life peers who are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the Prime Minister, or on the advice of the House of Lords Appointments Commission. However, they include some hereditary peers including four dukes. Very few of these are female since most hereditary peerages can only be inherited by men, while the House of Commons has a defined 650-seat membership, the number of members in the House of Lords is not fixed. There are currently 805 sitting Lords, the House of Lords is the only upper house of any bicameral parliament to be larger than its respective lower house. The House of Lords scrutinises bills that have approved by the House of Commons. It regularly reviews and amends Bills from the Commons, while it is unable to prevent Bills passing into law, except in certain limited circumstances, it can delay Bills and force the Commons to reconsider their decisions. In this capacity, the House of Lords acts as a check on the House of Commons that is independent from the electoral process, Bills can be introduced into either the House of Lords or the House of Commons. Members of the Lords may also take on roles as government ministers, the House of Lords has its own support services, separate from the Commons, including the House of Lords Library. The Queens Speech is delivered in the House of Lords during the State Opening of Parliament, the House also has a Church of England role, in that Church Measures must be tabled within the House by the Lords Spiritual. This new parliament was, in effect, the continuation of the Parliament of England with the addition of 45 MPs and 16 Peers to represent Scotland, the Parliament of England developed from the Magnum Concilium, the Great Council that advised the King during medieval times. This royal council came to be composed of ecclesiastics, noblemen, the first English Parliament is often considered to be the Model Parliament, which included archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls, barons, and representatives of the shires and boroughs of it. The power of Parliament grew slowly, fluctuating as the strength of the monarchy grew or declined, for example, during much of the reign of Edward II, the nobility was supreme, the Crown weak, and the shire and borough representatives entirely powerless. In 1569, the authority of Parliament was for the first time recognised not simply by custom or royal charter, further developments occurred during the reign of Edward IIs successor, Edward III. It was during this Kings reign that Parliament clearly separated into two chambers, the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The authority of Parliament continued to grow, and, during the fifteenth century
35.
Crossbencher
–
A crossbencher is an independent or minor party member of some legislatures, such as the British House of Lords and in the Parliament of Australia. They take their name from the crossbenches, between and perpendicular to the government and opposition benches, where crossbenchers sit in the chamber, Crossbench members of the British House of Lords are not aligned to any particular party. Until 2009, these included the Law Lords appointed under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876, in addition, former Speakers of the House of Commons and former Lord Speakers of the House of Lords, who by convention are not aligned with any party, also sit as Crossbenchers. Although non-affiliated members, and members of parties, sometimes physically sit on the crossbenches. An increasing number of Crossbenchers have been created peers for non-political reasons, since its establishment in May 2000, the House of Lords Appointments Commission has nominated a total of 67 non-party-political life peers who joined the House of Lords as Crossbenchers. From April 2007 to 2009, the number of Crossbenchers was higher than the number of Conservatives in the Lords for the first time. Although the Lords Spiritual also have no party affiliation, they are not considered Crossbenchers and do not sit on the crossbenches, the current convenor is David Hope, Baron Hope of Craighead, who took the office in September 2015. While convenors are not part of the channels, they have been included in their discussions in recent years. Unlike the United Kingdom, in Australia the term is applied to those parties, the last few federal elections have seen an increase in the size and power of the crossbench in both houses of Parliament. The resulting 76–74 margin entitled Labor to form a minority government, derryn Hinch won a seat, while Liberal Democrat David Leyonhjelm, Family Firsts Bob Day, and Jacqui Lambie retained their seats. The number of crossbenchers increased by two to a record 20, the Liberal/National Coalition government required at least nine additional votes to reach a Senate majority. The term crossbencher generally is not used for the Canadian Parliament or any of the provincial or territorial legislatures, instead, any party that is not the governing party is an opposition party, with the largest of these designated the official opposition. All opposition parties other than the opposition are called third parties. Third parties and independents sit on the side of the chamber. Parties require a number of seats to have official party status for procedural purposes. Although parties without official party status behave like political parties, their members are treated as individual members, third parties have been common in Canadian legislatures since the 1920s. In particular, legislatures often contain members of an ideological party, beginning in 2016, the Independent Senators Group was formed in the Senate of Canada, fulfilling a similar purpose as Crossbenchers. The ISG was created partly as a response to Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus decision to appoint more non-partisan Senators, similar to Crossbenchers in the UK, the group has chosen a leader, and does not use a whipping system
36.
Welsh language
–
Welsh is a member of the Brittonic branch of the Celtic languages. It is spoken natively in Wales, by some in England, historically it has also been known in English as the British tongue, Cambrian, Cambric and Cymric. The United Kingdom Census 2011 counted 3.1 million residents of Wales, 27% of whom had been born outside Wales, and 73% of whom reported having no Welsh language skills. Of residents of Wales aged three and over, 19% reported being able to speak Welsh, and 77% of these were able to speak, read and this can be compared with the 2001 Census, in which 20. 8% of the population reported being able to speak Welsh. 787,854 of residents in Wales aged three and over had one or more skills in Welsh, in surveys carried out between 2004 and 2006, 57% of Welsh speakers described themselves as fluent in the written language. An estimated 110,000 to 150,000 people speak Welsh in England, Welsh emerged in the 6th century from Common Brittonic, the common ancestor of Welsh, Breton, Cornish and the extinct language known as Cumbric. The Middle Welsh period is considered to have lasted from then until the 14th century, when the Modern Welsh period began, the name Welsh originated as an exonym given to its speakers by the Anglo-Saxons, meaning foreign speech. The native term for the language is Cymraeg, and for the name of the country of Wales it is Cymru, Welsh evolved from Common Brittonic, the Celtic language spoken by the ancient Celtic Britons. Classified as Insular Celtic, the British language probably arrived in Britain during the Bronze Age or Iron Age and was spoken throughout the island south of the Firth of Forth. During the Early Middle Ages the British language began to fragment due to increased dialect differentiation, evolving into Welsh and it is not clear when Welsh became distinct. Kenneth H. Jackson suggested that the evolution in syllabic structure and sound pattern was complete by around 550, Jackson, however, believed that the two varieties were already distinct by that time. The earliest Welsh poetry – that attributed to the Cynfeirdd or Early Poets – is generally considered to date to the Primitive Welsh period. However, much of this poetry was composed in the Hen Ogledd, raising further questions about the dating of the material. An 8th century inscription in Tywyn shows the language already dropping inflections in the declension of nouns, the next main period, somewhat better attested, is Old Welsh, poetry from both Wales and Scotland has been preserved in this form of the language. Both the works of Aneirin and the Book of Taliesin were in this era, Middle Welsh is the label attached to the Welsh of the 12th to 14th centuries, of which much more remains than for any earlier period. This is the language of all surviving early manuscripts of the Mabinogion. It is also the language of the existing Welsh law manuscripts, Middle Welsh is reasonably intelligible, albeit with some work, to a modern-day Welsh speaker. The famous cleric Gerald of Wales tells, in his Descriptio Cambriae, during one of the Kings many raids in the 12th century, Henry asked an old man of Pencader, Carmarthenshire whether the Welsh people could resist his army
37.
Presbyterianism
–
Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism which traces its origins to the British Isles, particularly Scotland. Presbyterian churches derive their name from the form of church government. Presbyterian theology typically emphasizes the sovereignty of God, the authority of the Scriptures, Presbyterian church government was ensured in Scotland by the Acts of Union in 1707 which created the Kingdom of Great Britain. In fact, most Presbyterians found in England can trace a Scottish connection, the Presbyterian denominations in Scotland hold to the theology of John Calvin and his immediate successors, although there are a range of theological views within contemporary Presbyterianism. The roots of Presbyterianism lie in the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century, most Reformed churches which trace their history back to Scotland are either presbyterian or congregationalist in government. In the twentieth century, some Presbyterians played an important role in the ecumenical movement, many Presbyterian denominations have found ways of working together with other Reformed denominations and Christians of other traditions, especially in the World Communion of Reformed Churches. Some Presbyterian churches have entered into unions with other churches, such as Congregationalists, Lutherans, Anglicans, Presbyterian history is part of the history of Christianity, but the beginning of Presbyterianism as a distinct movement occurred during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. As the Catholic Church resisted the reformers, several different theological movements splintered from the Church, the Presbyterian church traces its ancestry back primarily to England and Scotland. In August 1560 the Parliament of Scotland adopted the Scots Confession as the creed of the Scottish Kingdom, Presbyterians distinguish themselves from other denominations by doctrine, institutional organization and worship, often using a Book of Order to regulate common practice and order. The origins of the Presbyterian churches are in Calvinism, many branches of Presbyterianism are remnants of previous splits from larger groups. Presbyterians place great importance upon education and lifelong learning, Presbyterian government is by councils of elders. Teaching and ruling elders are ordained and convene in the lowest council known as a session or consistory responsible for the discipline, nurture, teaching elders have responsibility for teaching, worship, and performing sacraments. Pastors are called by individual congregations, a congregation issues a call for the pastors service, but this call must be ratified by the local presbytery. Ruling elders are usually laymen who are elected by the congregation and ordained to serve with the elders, assuming responsibility for nurture. Often, especially in larger congregations, the elders delegate the practicalities of buildings, finance and this group may variously be known as a Deacon Board, Board of Deacons Diaconate, or Deacons Court. These are sometimes known as presbyters to the full congregation, above the sessions exist presbyteries, which have area responsibilities. These are composed of teaching elders and ruling elders from each of the constituent congregations, the presbytery sends representatives to a broader regional or national assembly, generally known as the General Assembly, although an intermediate level of a synod sometimes exists. The Church of Scotland abolished the Synod in 1993, Presbyterian governance is practised by Presbyterian denominations and also by many other Reformed churches
Life peerage (created 8 January 2013)[7]
Royal Victorian Chain (2012)
Chaplain of the Order of St John (1999)
Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Francis I (2004)
Order of Friendship of Russia (2010)[92]
Sitara-e-Pakistan (2012)[93]
_ribbon_-vector.svg){kind=small}
. Financial Times. London. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
.svg){kind=small}