1.
Subprefectures in France
–
In France, a subprefecture is the administrative center of a departmental arrondissement that does not contain the prefecture for its department. The term also applies to the building houses the administrative headquarters for an arrondissement. The civil servant in charge of a subprefecture is the subprefect, between May 1982 and February 1988, subprefects were known instead by the title commissaire adjoint de la République. Where the administration of an arrondissement is carried out from a prefecture, the municipal arrondissements of Paris, Lyon, and Marseille) are divisions of the city rather than the prefecture, and so are not arrondissements in the same sense
Subprefectures in France
–
A subprefecture in
Verdun,
Meuse
Subprefectures in France
–
A subprefecture in
Langon,
Gironde
2.
Communes of France
–
The commune is a level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to civil townships incorporated municipalities in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany, the United Kingdom has no exact equivalent, as communes resemble districts in urban areas, but are closer to parishes in rural areas where districts are much larger. Communes are based on historical geographic communities or villages and have received significant powers of governance to manage the populations, the communes are the fourth-level administrative divisions of France. A French commune may be a city of 2.2 million inhabitants like Paris, communes typically are based on pre-existing villages and facilitate local governance. All communes have names, but not all named geographic areas or groups of people residing together are communes, a commune is a town, city, or municipality. Use of commune in English is a habit, and one that might be corrected. There is nothing in commune in French that is different from town in English. The French word commune appeared in the 12th century, from Medieval Latin communia, as of January 2015, there were 36,681 communes in France,36,552 of them in metropolitan France and 129 of them overseas. This is a higher total than that of any other European country. The whole territory of the French Republic is divided into communes and this is unlike some other countries, such as the United States, where unincorporated areas directly governed by a county or a higher authority can be found. There are only a few exceptions, COM of Saint-Martin and it was previously a commune inside the Guadeloupe région. The commune structure was abolished when Saint-Martin became an overseas collectivity on 22 February 2007, COM of Wallis and Futuna, which still is divided according to the three traditional chiefdoms. It was previously a commune inside the Guadeloupe region, the commune structure was abolished when Saint-Barthélemy became an overseas collectivity on 22 February 2007.88 square kilometres. The median area of metropolitan Frances communes at the 1999 census was even smaller, the median area is a better measure of the area of a typical French commune. This median area is smaller than that of most European countries. In Italy, the area of communes is 22 km2, in Belgium it is 40 km2, in Spain it is 35 km2, and in Germany. Switzerland and the Länder of Rhineland-Palatinate, Schleswig-Holstein, and Thuringia in Germany were the places in Europe where the communes had a smaller median area than in France. The communes of Frances overseas départements such as Réunion and French Guiana are large by French standards and they usually group into the same commune several villages or towns, often with sizeable distances among them
Communes of France
–
Road sign marking the end of the village of
Y in the
Somme department of
Picardy
Communes of France
–
Map of the 36,569 communes of metropolitan France
Communes of France
–
Mittelhausbergen in
Alsace
Communes of France
–
Vacqueyras in
Provence, showing double French/
Provençal name
3.
Geographic coordinate system
–
A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
Geographic coordinate system
–
Longitude lines are perpendicular and latitude lines are parallel to the equator.
4.
France
–
France, officially the French Republic, is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European, or metropolitan, area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. France spans 643,801 square kilometres and had a population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017. It is a unitary republic with the capital in Paris. Other major urban centres include Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Nice, Toulouse, during the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The area was annexed in 51 BC by Rome, which held Gaul until 486, France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years War strengthening state-building and political centralisation. During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a colonial empire was established. The 16th century was dominated by civil wars between Catholics and Protestants. France became Europes dominant cultural, political, and military power under Louis XIV, in the 19th century Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire, whose subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the Algerian War, the Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains to this day. Algeria and nearly all the colonies became independent in the 1960s with minimal controversy and typically retained close economic. France has long been a centre of art, science. It hosts Europes fourth-largest number of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites and receives around 83 million foreign tourists annually, France is a developed country with the worlds sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest by purchasing power parity. In terms of household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, France remains a great power in the world, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It is a member state of the European Union and the Eurozone. It is also a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, originally applied to the whole Frankish Empire, the name France comes from the Latin Francia, or country of the Franks
France
–
One of the
Lascaux paintings: a horse –
Dordogne, approximately 18,000 BC
France
–
Flag
France
–
The
Maison Carrée was a temple of the
Gallo-Roman city of Nemausus (present-day
Nîmes) and is one of the best preserved vestiges of the
Roman Empire.
France
–
With
Clovis ' conversion to Catholicism in 498, the
Frankish monarchy,
elective and
secular until then, became
hereditary and of
divine right.
5.
Regions of France
–
France is divided into 18 administrative regions, including 13 metropolitan regions and 5 overseas regions. The current legal concept of region was adopted in 1982, the term région was officially created by the Law of Decentralisation, which also gave regions their legal status. The first direct elections for representatives took place on 16 March 1986. In 2016, the number of regions was reduced from 27 to 18 through amalgamation, in 2014, the French parliament passed a law reducing the number of metropolitan regions from 22 to 13 with effect from 1 January 2016. However, the region of Upper and Lower Normandy is simply called Normandy. Permanent names were to be proposed by the new regional councils by 1 July 2016, the legislation defining the new regions also allowed the Centre region to officially change its name to Centre-Val de Loire with effect from January 2015. Two regions, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, opted to retain their interim names, between 1982 and 2015, there were 22 regions in Metropolitan France. Before 2011, there were four regions, in 2011 Mayotte became the fifth. Regions lack separate legislative authority and therefore cannot write their own statutory law and they levy their own taxes and, in return, receive a decreasing part of their budget from the central government, which gives them a portion of the taxes it levies. They also have considerable budgets managed by a council made up of representatives voted into office in regional elections. A regions primary responsibility is to build and furnish high schools, in March 2004, the French central government unveiled a controversial plan to transfer regulation of certain categories of non-teaching school staff to the regional authorities. Critics of this plan contended that tax revenue was insufficient to pay for the costs. In addition, regions have considerable power over infrastructural spending, e. g. education, public transit, universities and research. This has meant that the heads of regions such as Île-de-France or Rhône-Alpes can be high-profile positions. Number of regions controlled by each coalition since 1986, Overseas region is a recent designation, given to the overseas departments that have similar powers to those of the regions of metropolitan France. Radio France Internationale in English Overseas regions Ministère de lOutre-Mer some explanations about the past and current developments of DOMs and TOMs
Regions of France
6.
Brittany (administrative region)
–
Brittany is one of the 18 regions of France. It is named after the historic and geographic region of Brittany, the region of Brittany was created in 1941 on 80% of the territory of traditional Brittany. The remaining 20% is now called the Loire-Atlantique department which is included in the Pays de la Loire region, whose capital, part of the reason why Brittany was split between two present-day regions was to avoid the rivalry between Rennes and Nantes. Although Nantes was the capital of the Duchy of Brittany until the sixteenth century. Despite that, the Chambre des comptes had remained in Nantes until 1789, although there were previous plans to create Régions out of the Départements, like the Clémentel plan or the Vichy regionalisation programme, these plans had no effect or else were abolished in 1945. The current French Regions date from 1956 and were created by gathering Departements together, in Brittany, this led to the creation of the new Region of Brittany, which included only four out of the five historical Breton départements. The term region was created by the Law of Decentralisation. The first direct elections for representatives took place on 16 March 1986. See History of Brittany Brittany, lying in the northwest corner of France, is one of the historic provinces of France. The most Atlantic of Frances regions, Brittany is proud of its Celtic heritage and it enjoys a mild climate somewhat warmer though not necessarily drier than the climate of the southwest of England. Quimper, the capital of the Finistère, and St. Brieuc and it is also the venue for Brittanys annual Interceltiques music and culture festival. Despite its limited size, Brittany is quite a diverse region, the south coast, facing onto the Bay of Biscay, is flatter, much milder, and graced by a number of large sandy beaches. The sea here is warmer in summer, the backbone of Brittany is a granite ridge stretching from east to west, peaking in the Monts dArrée. But most of inland Brittany is gentle farming country, a famous for its milk and butter. In cultural terms, Brittany is very distinctive, with its own language and Celtic cultural tradition that set it apart from the rest of France. The Breton language, though not much used in life, and not understood by most of the modern population, has made a comeback in recent years. Celtic traditions are alive or recalled today in Breton folk music, its Celtic festivals, the name of Brittany derives from settlers from Great Britain, who fled that island in the wake of the Anglo-Saxon conquest of England between the fifth and seventh centuries. Unlike the rest of France and Brittany, Lower Brittany has maintained a distinctly Celtic language, Breton and it was the dominant language in Lower, or western, Brittany until the mid-20th century
Brittany (administrative region)
–
Le Diben harbour -
Plougasnou (Brittany)
Brittany (administrative region)
–
Flag
Brittany (administrative region)
–
House in Brittany at the Channel Coast (north of Morlaix)
Brittany (administrative region)
–
Bilingual road signs in
Quimper (French on top)
7.
Departments of France
–
In the administrative divisions of France, the department is one of the three levels of government below the national level, between the administrative regions and the commune. There are 96 departments in metropolitan France and 5 overseas departments, each department is administered by an elected body called a departmental council. From 1800 to April 2015, they were called general councils, the departments were created in 1791 as a rational replacement of Ancien Régime provinces with a view to strengthen national unity, the title department is used to mean a part of a larger whole. Almost all of them were named after geographical features rather than after historical or cultural territories which could have their own loyalties. The earliest known suggestion of it is from 1764 in the writings of dArgenson and they have inspired similar divisions in many countries, some of them former French colonies. Most French departments are assigned a number, the Official Geographical Code. Some overseas departments have a three-digit number, the number is used, for example, in the postal code, and was until recently used for all vehicle registration plates. For example, inhabitants of Loiret might refer to their department as the 45 and this reform project has since been abandoned. The first French territorial departments were proposed in 1665 by Marc-René dArgenson to serve as administrative areas purely for the Ponts et Chaussées infrastructure administration, before the French Revolution, France gained territory gradually through the annexation of a mosaic of independent entities. By the close of the Ancien Régime, it was organised into provinces, during the period of the Revolution, these were dissolved, partly in order to weaken old loyalties. Their boundaries served two purposes, Boundaries were chosen to break up Frances historical regions in an attempt to erase cultural differences, Boundaries were set so that every settlement in the country was within a days ride of the capital of the department. This was a security measure, intended to keep the national territory under close control. This measure was directly inspired by the Great Terror, during which the government had lost control of rural areas far from any centre of government. The old nomenclature was carefully avoided in naming the new departments, most were named after an areas principal river or other physical features. Even Paris was in the department of Seine, the number of departments, initially 83, was increased to 130 by 1809 with the territorial gains of the Republic and of the First French Empire. Following Napoleons defeats in 1814-1815, the Congress of Vienna returned France to its pre-war size, in 1860, France acquired the County of Nice and Savoy, which led to the creation of three new departments. Two were added from the new Savoyard territory, while the department of Alpes-Maritimes was created from Nice, the 89 departments were given numbers based on their alphabetical order. The department of Bas-Rhin and parts of Meurthe, Moselle, Vosges and Haut-Rhin were ceded to the German Empire in 1871, following Frances defeat in the Franco-Prussian War
Departments of France
–
Geometrical proposition rejected
Departments of France
–
The 101 departments of France
Departments of France
–
The three Algerian departments in 1848
8.
Ille-et-Vilaine
–
Ille-et-Vilaine is a department of France, located in the region of Brittany in the northwest of the country. Ille-et-Vilaine is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4,1790 and it was created from part of the province of Brittany. Also the English Channel borders the department to the north, the department is named after its two main rivers, the Ille and the Vilaine, whose confluence is in Rennes, the capital of the department and of the region. The elevated hills bordering this basin are covered by several old forests now exploited by men for the production of wood, the basin itself is a rich agriculture area, as well as the north-west of the department near the Rance. The population has grown rapidly over the last few decades and was estimated at 1,019,923 in January 2013, gallo is a historic minority language spoken in eastern Brittany. Gallo and Breton are both studied at the University of Rennes, a recent study shows that Breton speakers in this region represent 3. 3% of the total number of Breton speakers. The Breton speakers aged 18–30 in this region represent 12. 7% of the number of Breton speakers of that age group. This is because there are relatively few elder speakers but many people are learning the language, the study says that about 1,800 people are learning it. The President of the General Council is the Socialist Jean-Louis Tourenne since the French cantonal elections,2004, the city of Rennes and its suburbs are the original base of the rapid Socialist growth in the department. The city has been governed by Socialist Mayors since 1977, notably by Edmond Hervé between 1977 and 2008, since then, the growth of middle-class suburbs have helped the Socialists, who have been rapidly gaining strength in those formerly right-leaning areas. The right remains strong in a strongly Catholic area from outside Redon to Vitré or Fougères, in addition, the right is strong in the wealthy coastal area of Saint-Malo and Dinard
Ille-et-Vilaine
–
Rennes downtown
Ille-et-Vilaine
–
Location of Ille-et-Vilaine in France
Ille-et-Vilaine
–
The medieval town of
Vitré
Ille-et-Vilaine
–
Plage de l'Ecluse in
Dinard
9.
Daylight saving time
–
Daylight saving time is the practice of advancing clocks during summer months by one hour so that evening daylight lasts an hour longer, while sacrificing normal sunrise times. Typically, regions that use Daylight Savings Time adjust clocks forward one hour close to the start of spring, American inventor and politician Benjamin Franklin proposed a form of daylight time in 1784. New Zealander George Hudson proposed the idea of saving in 1895. The German Empire and Austria-Hungary organized the first nationwide implementation, starting on April 30,1916, many countries have used it at various times since then, particularly since the energy crisis of the 1970s. The practice has both advocates and critics, DST clock shifts sometimes complicate timekeeping and can disrupt travel, billing, record keeping, medical devices, heavy equipment, and sleep patterns. Computer software often adjusts clocks automatically, but policy changes by various jurisdictions of DST dates, industrialized societies generally follow a clock-based schedule for daily activities that do not change throughout the course of the year. The time of day that individuals begin and end work or school, North and south of the tropics daylight lasts longer in summer and shorter in winter, with the effect becoming greater as one moves away from the tropics. However, they will have one hour of daylight at the start of each day. Supporters have also argued that DST decreases energy consumption by reducing the need for lighting and heating, DST is also of little use for locations near the equator, because these regions see only a small variation in daylight in the course of the year. After ancient times, equal-length civil hours eventually supplanted unequal, so civil time no longer varies by season, unequal hours are still used in a few traditional settings, such as some monasteries of Mount Athos and all Jewish ceremonies. This 1784 satire proposed taxing window shutters, rationing candles, and waking the public by ringing church bells, despite common misconception, Franklin did not actually propose DST, 18th-century Europe did not even keep precise schedules. However, this changed as rail transport and communication networks came to require a standardization of time unknown in Franklins day. Modern DST was first proposed by the New Zealand entomologist George Hudson, whose shift work job gave him time to collect insects. An avid golfer, he also disliked cutting short his round at dusk and his solution was to advance the clock during the summer months, a proposal he published two years later. The proposal was taken up by the Liberal Member of Parliament Robert Pearce, a select committee was set up to examine the issue, but Pearces bill did not become law, and several other bills failed in the following years. Willett lobbied for the proposal in the UK until his death in 1915, william Sword Frost, mayor of Orillia, Ontario, introduced daylight saving time in the municipality during his tenure from 1911 to 1912. Starting on April 30,1916, the German Empire and its World War I ally Austria-Hungary were the first to use DST as a way to conserve coal during wartime, Britain, most of its allies, and many European neutrals soon followed suit. Russia and a few other countries waited until the year
Daylight saving time
–
Ancient
water clock that lets hour lengths vary with season.
Daylight saving time
–
G. V. Hudson invented modern DST, proposing it first in 1895.
Daylight saving time
–
Retailers generally favor DST.
United Cigar Stores hailed a 1918 DST bill.
Daylight saving time
–
William Willett independently proposed DST in 1907 and advocated it tirelessly.
10.
Central European Summer Time
–
It corresponds to UTC + two hours. Other names which have been applied to Central European Summer Time are Middle European Summer Time, Central European Daylight Saving Time, and Bravo Time. Since 1996 European Summer Time has been observed between 1,00 UTC on the last Sunday of March and 1,00 on the last Sunday of October, the following countries and territories use Central European Summer Time. In addition, Libya used CEST during the years 1951–1959, 1982–1989, 1996–1997, European Summer Time Other countries and territories in UTC+2 time zone Other names of UTC+2 time zone
Central European Summer Time
–
light blue
11.
Gallo language
–
Gallo is a regional language of France. It is not as commonly spoken as it once was, as the form of French now predominates. Gallo is classified as one of the Oïl languages, Gallo was originally spoken in the Marches of Neustria, which now corresponds to the border lands of Brittany and Normandy and its former heart in Le Mans, Maine. Gallo was the spoken language of the leaders of the Norman conquest of England, most of whom originated in Upper Brittany. Thus Gallo was a vehicle for the subsequent transformation of English, as an Oïl language, Gallo forms part of a dialect continuum which includes Norman, Picard and the Poitevin dialect, among others. One of the features that distinguishes it from Norman is the absence of Old Norse influence, there is some limited mutual intelligibility with adjacent varieties of the Norman language along the linguistic frontier and with Guernésiais and Jèrriais. However, as the dialect continuum shades towards Mayennais, there is a clear isogloss. The clearest isogloss is that distinguishing Gallo from Breton, a Brittonic Celtic language traditionally spoken in the territory of Brittany. In the west, the vocabulary of Gallo has been influenced by contact with Breton, the influence of Breton decreases eastwards across Gallo-speaking territory. The term gallo is sometimes spelled galo or gallot and it is also referred to as langue gallèse or britto-roman in Brittany. In south Lower Normandy and in the west of Pays de la Loire it is referred to as patois. Gallo comes from the Breton word gall, meaning “foreigner”, “French” or “non-Breton”, the Celts settled in Armorica toward the 8th century BC. Some of early groups mentioned in the records of the Greeks were the Redones. They spoke dialects of the Gaulish language and maintained important economic ties with the British Isles, julius Caesar’s invasion of Armorica in 56 BC led to a sort of Romanization of the population. Gaulish continued to be spoken in this region until the 6th century, especially in less populated, when the Bretons emigrated to Armorica around this time, they found a people who had retained their Celtic language and culture. The Bretons were therefore able to integrate easily, in contrast to Armorica’s western countryside, Nantes and Rennes were Roman cultural centres. Following the Migration Period, these two cities, as well as regions to the east of the Vilaine, including the town Vannes, fell under Frankish rule. Thus, during the Merovingian dynasty, the population of Armorica was diverse, consisting of Gaulish tribes with assimilated Bretons, as well as Romanized cities and Germanic tribes
Gallo language
–
The town of
Loudéac displays its Gallo name, Loudia, on signage
Gallo language
–
The historical Gallo language area of
Upper Brittany
Gallo language
–
A Gallo sign in the
Rennes metro
Gallo language
–
Bilingual signage in the
Rennes metro
12.
Breton language
–
Breton /ˈbrɛtən/ is a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Brittany. Breton is most closely related to Cornish, both being Southwestern Brittonic languages, Welsh and the extinct Cumbric are the more distantly related Brittonic languages. The other regional language of Brittany, Gallo, is a langue doïl, Gallo is consequently close to French, although not mutually intelligible, and a Romance language descended from Latin. However, the number of children attending bilingual classes has risen 33% between 2006 and 2012 to 14,709, Breton is spoken in West Brittany, roughly to the west of a line linking Plouha and La Roche-Bernard. It comes from a Brittonic language community that extended from Great Britain to Armorica and had even established a toehold in Galicia. Old Breton is attested from the 9th century and it was the language of the upper classes until the 12th century, after which it became the language of commoners in Lower Brittany. The nobility, followed by the bourgeoisie, adopted French, the written language of the Duchy of Brittany was Latin, switching to French in the 15th century. There exists a tradition of Breton literature. Some Old Breton vocabulary remains in the present day as philosophical, during the French Revolution, the government introduced policies favouring French over the regional languages, which it pejoratively referred to as patois. The revolutionaries assumed that reactionary and monarchist forces preferred regional languages to try to keep the peasant masses underinformed, in 1794, Bertrand Barère submitted his report on the patois to the Committee of Public Safety in which he said that federalism and superstition speak Breton. Teachers humiliated students for using their regional languages, and such practices prevailed until the late 1960s, the majority of todays speakers are more than 60 years old, and Breton is now classified as an endangered language. At the beginning of the 20th century, half of the population of Lower Brittany knew only Breton, by 1950, there were only 100,000 monolingual Bretons, and this rapid decline has continued, with likely no monolingual speakers left today. A statistical survey in 1997 found around 300,000 speakers in Lower Brittany, few 15- to 19-year-olds spoke Breton. In 1925, Professor Roparz Hemon founded the Breton-language review Gwalarn, during its 19-year run, Gwalarn tried to raise the language to the level of a great international language. Its publication encouraged the creation of literature in all genres. In 1946, Al Liamm replaced Gwalarn, other Breton-language periodicals have been published, which established a fairly large body of literature for a minority language. In 1977, Diwan schools were founded to teach Breton by immersion and they taught a few thousand young people from elementary school to high school. See the education section for more information, the Asterix comic series has been translated into Breton
Breton language
–
Bilingual sign
Huelgoat,
Brittany
Breton language
–
Ofis Publik ar Brezhoneg, the Breton language agency, was set up in 1999 by the Brittany region to promote and develop the use of Breton
Breton language
–
Bilingual sign in
Vannes (Gwened)
Breton language
–
Sign in French and Breton in Rennes, outside a school with bilingual classes
13.
Seaport
–
A port is a location on a coast or shore containing one or more harbors where ships can dock and transfer people or cargo to or from land. Port locations are selected to optimize access to land and navigable water, for commercial demand, Ports with deeper water are rarer, but can handle larger ships. Since ports throughout history handled every kind of traffic, support and storage facilities vary widely, may extend for miles, some ports have an important military role. One of the worlds oldest known artificial harbors is at Wadi al-Jarf on the Red Sea, along with the finding of harbor structures, ancient anchors have also been found. Guangzhou was an important port during the ancient times as far back as the Qin Dynasty, canopus was the principal port in Egypt for Greek trade before the foundation of Alexandria. Athens port of Piraeus was the base for the Athenian fleet, lothal is one of the most prominent cities of the ancient Indus valley civilisation, located in the Bhāl region of the modern state of Gujarāt and dating from 3700 BCE. Ostia Antica was the port of ancient Rome with Portus established by Claudius, Ports often have cargo-handling equipment, such as cranes and forklifts for use in loading ships, which may be provided by private interests or public bodies. Often, canneries or other processing facilities will be located nearby, some ports feature canals, which allow ships further movement inland. Access to intermodal transportation, such as railroads and highways, is critical to a port, so that passengers, Ports with international traffic have customs facilities. Harbor pilots and tugboats may maneuver large ships in tight quarters when near docks, the terms port and seaport are used for different types of port facilities that handle ocean-going vessels, and river port is used for river traffic, such as barges and other shallow-draft vessels. An inland port is a port on a lake, river, or canal with access to a sea or ocean. An example of this is the St. Lawrence Seaway which allows ships to travel from the Atlantic Ocean several thousand kilometers inland to Great Lakes ports like Duluth-Superior, a fishing port is a port or harbor for landing and distributing fish. It may be a facility, but it is usually commercial. A fishing port is the port that depends on an ocean product. In recent decades, regulations to save fishing stock may limit the use of a fishing port, a dry port is an inland intermodal terminal directly connected by road or rail to a seaport and operating as a centre for the transshipment of sea cargo to inland destinations. A warm-water port is one where the water does not freeze in wintertime, because they are available year-round, warm-water ports can be of great geopolitical or economic interest. A seaport is further categorized as a port or a cargo port. Additionally, cruise ports are known as a home port or a port of call
Seaport
–
The
Port of New York and New Jersey grew from the original
harbor at the convergence of the
Hudson River and the
East River at the
Upper New York Bay.
Seaport
–
Seaport, a 17th-century depiction by
Claude Lorrain, 1638
Seaport
–
Shanghai Port is the
world's busiest container port
Seaport
–
Port of Hamburg
14.
Brittany
–
Brittany is a cultural region in the north-west of France. Brittany has also referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain. It is bordered by the English Channel to the north, the Celtic Sea and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and its land area is 34,023 km². Since reorganisation in 1956, the administrative region of Brittany comprises only four of the five Breton departments. The remaining area of old Brittany, the Loire-Atlantique department around Nantes, at the 2010 census, the population of historic Brittany was estimated to be 4,475,295. Of these, 71% lived in the region of Brittany, while 29% lived in the Loire-Atlantique department, in 2012, the largest metropolitan areas were Nantes, Rennes, and Brest. Brittany is the homeland of the Breton people and is recognised by the Celtic League as one of the six Celtic nations. A nationalist movement seeks greater autonomy within the French Republic, the word Brittany, along with its French, Breton and Gallo equivalents Bretagne, Breizh and Bertaèyn, derive from the Latin Britannia, which means Britons land. This word had been used by the Romans since the 1st century to refer to Great Britain and this word derives from a Greek word, Πρεττανικη or Βρεττανίαι, used by Pytheas, an explorer from Massalia who visited the British Islands around 320 BC. This term probably comes from a Gallic word, aremorica, which close to the sea. Another name, Letauia, was used until the 12th century and it possibly means wide and flat or to expand and it gave the Welsh name for Brittany, Llydaw. Later, authors like Geoffrey of Monmouth used the terms Britannia minor, breton-speaking people may pronounce the word Breizh in two different ways, according to their region of origin. Breton can be divided into two dialects, the KLT and the dialect of Vannes. KLT speakers pronounce it and would write it Breiz, while the Vannetais speakers pronounce it, the official spelling is a compromise between both variants, with a z and an h together. In 1941, efforts to unify the dialects led to the creation of the so-called Breton zh, on its side, Gallo language has never had a widely accepted writing system and several ones coexist. For instance, the name of the region in that language can be written Bertaèyn in ELG script, or Bertègn in MOGA, Brittany has been inhabited by humans since the Lower Paleolithic. This population was scarce and very similar to the other Neanderthals found in the whole of Western Europe and their only original feature was a distinct culture, called Colombanian. One of the oldest hearths in the world has found in Plouhinec
Brittany
–
The
Carnac stones.
Brittany
Brittany
–
The five Gallic tribes of Brittany.
Brittany
–
The temple of Mars in
Corseul.
15.
English Channel
–
The English Channel, also called simply the Channel, is the body of water that separates southern England from northern France, and links the southern part of the North Sea to the Atlantic Ocean. It is about 560 km long and varies in width from 240 km at its widest to 33.3 km in the Strait of Dover and it is the smallest of the shallow seas around the continental shelf of Europe, covering an area of some 75,000 km2. The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the English Channel as follows, a line joining Isle Vierge to Lands End. The southwestern limit of the North Sea, the IHO defines the southwestern limit of the North Sea as a line joining the Walde Lighthouse and Leathercoat Point. The Walde Lighthouse is 6 km east of Calais, and Leathercoat Point is at the end of St Margarets Bay. The Strait of Dover, at the Channels eastern end, is its narrowest point and it is relatively shallow, with an average depth of about 120 m at its widest part, reducing to a depth of about 45 m between Dover and Calais. Eastwards from there the adjoining North Sea reduces to about 26 m in the Broad Fourteens where it lies over the watershed of the land bridge between East Anglia and the Low Countries. It reaches a depth of 180 m in the submerged valley of Hurds Deep,48 km west-northwest of Guernsey. The eastern region along the French coast between Cherbourg and the mouth of the Seine river at Le Havre is frequently referred to as the Bay of the Seine. There are several islands in the Channel, the most notable being the Isle of Wight off the English coast. The coastline, particularly on the French shore, is indented, several small islands close to the coastline, including Chausey. The Cotentin Peninsula in France juts out into the Channel, whilst on the English side there is a parallel channel known as the Solent between the Isle of Wight and the mainland. The Celtic Sea is to the west of the Channel, the Channel is of geologically recent origins, having been dry land for most of the Pleistocene period. The first flood would have lasted for months, releasing as much as one million cubic metres of water per second. The flood started with large but localized waterfalls over the ridge, the flow eroded the retaining ridge, causing the rock dam to fail and releasing lake water into the English Channel. The erosion of the Lobourg Channel was probably the final opening of the Strait, the time difference of about six hours between high water at the eastern and western limits of the Channel is indicative of the tidal range being amplified further by resonance. It was never defined as a border and the names were more or less descriptive. It was not considered as the property of a nation, strangely, before the development of the modern nations, British scholars very often referred to it as Gaulish and the French one as British or English
English Channel
–
English Channel
English Channel
–
Three French river mouths. Top to bottom: the
Somme, the
Authie and the
Canche
English Channel
–
The Hermitage of
St Helier lies in the bay off
Saint Helier and is accessible on foot at low tide.
English Channel
–
British radar facilities during the
Battle of Britain 1940
16.
Privateer
–
A privateer was a private person or ship that engaged in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Captured ships were subject to condemnation and sale under prize law, a percentage share usually went to the issuer of the commission. Since robbery under arms was common to trade, all merchant ships were already armed. During war, naval resources were auxiliary to operations on land so privateering was a way of subsidizing state power by mobilizing armed ships, the letter of marque of a privateer would typically limit activity to one particular ship, and specified officers. Typically, the owners or captain would be required to post a performance bond, in the United Kingdom, letters of marque were revoked for various offences. Some crews were treated as harshly as naval crews of the time, some crews were made up of professional merchant seamen, others of pirates, debtors, and convicts. Some privateers ended up becoming pirates, not just in the eyes of their enemies, william Kidd, for instance, began as a legitimate British privateer but was later hanged for piracy. The investors would arm the vessels and recruit large crews, much larger than a merchantman or a vessel would carry. Privateers generally cruised independently, but it was not unknown for them to form squadrons, a number of privateers were part of the English fleet that opposed the Spanish Armada in 1588. Privateers generally avoided encounters with warships, as such encounters would be at best unprofitable, for instance, in 1815 Chasseur encountered HMS St Lawrence, herself a former American privateer, mistaking her for a merchantman until too late, in this instance, however, the privateer prevailed. The United States used mixed squadrons of frigates and privateers in the American Revolutionary War, the practice dated to at least the 13th century but the word itself was coined sometime in the mid-17th century. England, and later the United Kingdom, used privateers to great effect and these privately owned merchant ships, licensed by the crown, could legitimately take vessels that were deemed pirates. The increase in competition for crews on armed merchant vessels and privateers was due, in a large part, because of the chance for a considerable payoff. Whereas a seaman who shipped on a vessel was paid a wage and provided with victuals. This proved to be a far more attractive prospect and privateering flourished as a result, during Queen Elizabeths reign, she encouraged the development of this supplementary navy. Over the course of her rule, she had allowed Anglo-Spanish relations to deteriorate to the point where one could argue that a war with the Spanish was inevitable. By using privateers, if the Spanish were to take offense at the plundering of their ships, some of the most famous privateers that later fought in the Anglo-Spanish War included the Sea Dogs. In the late 16th century, English ships cruised in the Caribbean and off the coast of Spain, at this early stage the idea of a regular navy was not present, so there is little to distinguish the activity of English privateers from regular naval warfare
Privateer
–
East Indiaman Kent battling
Confiance, a privateer vessel commanded by
French corsair Robert Surcouf in October 1800, as depicted in a painting by
Ambroise Louis Garneray.
Privateer
–
Boarding of the
Triton (a British East Indiaman) by the French corsair
Hasard.
Privateer
–
CSS Savannah, a
Confederate privateer.
Privateer
–
Woodes Rogers ' men search Spanish ladies for their jewels in
Guayaquil, Ecuador, 1709
17.
French corsairs
–
Corsairs were privateers, authorized to conduct raids on shipping of a nation at war with France, on behalf of the French crown. Seized vessels and cargo were sold at auction, with the corsair captain entitled to a portion of the proceeds, by acting on behalf of the French Crown, if captured by the enemy, they could claim treatment as prisoners of war, instead of being considered pirates. Because corsairs gained a reputation, the word corsair is also used generically as a more romantic or flamboyant way of referring to privateers. The Barbary pirates of North Africa as well as Ottomans were sometimes called Turkish corsairs, the word corsair comes directly from the French word corsaire, itself borrowed from the Italian corsaro. This derives from the Latin cursus, meaning course, the French word corsaire may also come as a mispronunciation of the Arabic word qorṣaan, yet the term pirate had been in use in French since the Middle Ages. The corsairs were privateers working for the King of France attacking the ships of France’s enemies, the corsair was ordered to attack only the ships of enemy countries, theoretically respecting neutrals and his own nations ships. If he did not respect this rule, he was treated as a pirate. The corsairs activities also provided the King with revenue as the licence required them to hand over a part of their booty to the King. In common with privateers of other nationalities, however, they were considered pirates by their foreign opponents. Jean de Châtillon, who was a bishop, in 1144 gave the town of Saint-Malo the status of rights of asylum which encouraged all manner of thieves and rogues to move there and their motto was Neither Breton, nor French, but from Saint-Malo am I. Saint-Malo however, progressed and in 1308 the town was made into a commune to encourage the commercial activities of craftsmen as well as merchants. This did not really work out and later in 1395 the town became a free port. During this period, there was an intense drive to improve, not only the speed of the ships involved in this contest. It was a matter of life or death, and immense wealth was at stake, Jean dAngo, father and son, came to be among the wealthiest and most influential men in France. Giovanni da Verrazano and Jean Fleury are among the heroes of this epic saga about which so little has been written. The activities of the corsairs were so profitable that the Minister of the Navy used this in his strategy to make money, moreover, the King used to take one quarter and even one third of the booty. The corsairs activities weakened Frances enemies, indeed, the English trade losses were very important from 1688 until 1717. In a note based on an examination of Lloyds List from 1793 to 1800, losses to capture,4314, recaptured 705, Net –3639 Perils of the sea,2385 plus 652 driven on shore, of which 70 recovered, Net –2967
French corsairs
–
Statue of the corsair
Robert Surcouf, in Saint-Malo, Brittany
French corsairs
–
French corsairs with booty and British prisoners in 1806.
18.
Saint-Servan
–
Saint-Servan is a town of western France, in Brittany, situated 2 miles from the ferry port of St Malo. It is renowned for its shops and restaurants, in June 1758, during the Seven Years War, British troops captured Saint-Servan as part of the Raid on St Malo. The British burnt 30 privateers and a hundred other ships before they withdrew and its population in 1906 was 1,965. The commune of Saint-Servan was merged, together with Paramé, into the commune of Saint-Malo in 1967, originally, the area was known as Aleth, whose first bishop was the 5th century Saint Malo. Today, Catholic pilgrims can visit the House of the Cross at Saint-Servan where Saint Jeanne Jugan performed her works for the Little Sisters of the Poor. This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh
Saint-Servan
–
Saint-Servan
19.
Falkland Islands
–
The Falkland Islands are an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about 300 miles east of South Americas southern Patagonian coast, the archipelago, with an area of 4,700 square miles, comprises East Falkland, West Falkland and 776 smaller islands. As a British overseas territory, the Falklands have internal self-governance, the islands capital is Stanley on East Falkland. Controversy exists over the Falklands discovery and subsequent colonisation by Europeans, at various times, the islands have had French, British, Spanish, and Argentine settlements. Britain reasserted its rule in 1833, although Argentina maintains its claim to the islands, in April 1982, Argentine forces temporarily occupied the islands. British administration was restored two months later at the end of the Falklands War, most Falklanders favour the archipelago remaining a UK overseas territory, but its sovereignty status is part of an ongoing dispute between Argentina and the United Kingdom. The population primarily consists of native-born Falkland Islanders, the majority of British descent, other ethnicities include French, Gibraltarian and Scandinavian. Immigration from the United Kingdom, the South Atlantic island of Saint Helena, under the British Nationality Act 1983, Falkland Islanders are British citizens. The islands lie on the boundary of the oceanic and tundra climate zones. They are home to bird populations, although many no longer breed on the main islands because of competition from introduced species. Major economic activities include fishing, tourism and sheep farming, with an emphasis on high-quality wool exports, oil exploration, licensed by the Falkland Islands Government, remains controversial as a result of maritime disputes with Argentina. The Falkland Islands take their name from the Falkland Sound, a strait separating the two main islands. The name Falkland was applied to the channel by John Strong, Strong named the strait in honour of Anthony Cary, 5th Viscount of Falkland, the Treasurer of the Navy who sponsored their journey. The name Falklands was not applied to the islands until 1765, the term Falklands is a standard abbreviation used to refer to the islands. The Spanish name for the archipelago, Islas Malvinas, derives from the French Îles Malouines — the name given to the islands by French explorer Louis-Antoine de Bougainville in 1764, Bougainville, who founded the islands first settlement, named the area after the port of Saint-Malo. The port, located in the Brittany region of western France, was in turn named after St. Malo, in Spanish, the territory was designated as Islas Malvinas. The nomenclature used by the United Nations for statistical processing purposes is Falkland Islands, although Fuegians from Patagonia may have visited the Falkland Islands in prehistoric times, the islands were uninhabited at the time of their discovery by Europeans. Claims of discovery date back to the 16th century, but no consensus exists on whether these early explorers discovered the Falklands or other islands in the South Atlantic, whether or not the settlements were aware of each others existence is debated by historians
Falkland Islands
–
Naval confrontation during the 1914
Battle of the Falkland Islands; painting by
William Lionel Wyllie
Falkland Islands
–
Flag
Falkland Islands
–
Government House in
Stanley is the Governor's
official residence.
Falkland Islands
–
Colony of
southern rockhopper penguins on
Saunders Island
20.
Archipelago
–
An archipelago, sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster or collection of islands. The word archipelago is derived from the Greek ἄρχι- – arkhi-, in Italian, possibly following a tradition of antiquity, the Archipelago was the proper name for the Aegean Sea and, later, usage shifted to refer to the Aegean Islands. It is now used to refer to any group or, sometimes. Archipelagos may be isolated in large amounts of water or neighbouring a large land mass. For example, Scotland has more than 700 islands surrounding its mainland which form an archipelago, archipelagos are often volcanic, forming along island arcs generated by subduction zones or hotspots, but may also be the result of erosion, deposition, and land elevation. Depending on their origin, islands forming archipelagos can be referred to as oceanic islands, continental fragments. Oceanic islands are mainly of volcanic origin, continental fragments correspond to land masses that have separated from a continental mass due to tectonic displacement. Indonesia, Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines, New Zealand, Maldives, the Bahamas, Greece, Hawaii, the largest archipelagic state in the world by area and population is Indonesia. Island arc List of landforms List of archipelagos by number of islands List of archipelagos List of islands Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Archipelago
Archipelago
–
The
Ksamil Archipelago in
Albania.
Archipelago
–
The archipelago of
Fernando de Noronha in
Brazil.
21.
Kingdom of France
–
The Kingdom of France was a medieval and early modern monarchy in Western Europe. It was one of the most powerful states in Europe and a great power since the Late Middle Ages and it was also an early colonial power, with possessions around the world. France originated as West Francia, the half of the Carolingian Empire. A branch of the Carolingian dynasty continued to rule until 987, the territory remained known as Francia and its ruler as rex Francorum well into the High Middle Ages. The first king calling himself Roi de France was Philip II, France continued to be ruled by the Capetians and their cadet lines—the Valois and Bourbon—until the monarchy was overthrown in 1792 during the French Revolution. France in the Middle Ages was a de-centralised, feudal monarchy, in Brittany and Catalonia the authority of the French king was barely felt. Lorraine and Provence were states of the Holy Roman Empire and not yet a part of France, during the Late Middle Ages, the Kings of England laid claim to the French throne, resulting in a series of conflicts known as the Hundred Years War. Subsequently, France sought to extend its influence into Italy, but was defeated by Spain in the ensuing Italian Wars, religiously France became divided between the Catholic majority and a Protestant minority, the Huguenots, which led to a series of civil wars, the Wars of Religion. France laid claim to large stretches of North America, known collectively as New France, Wars with Great Britain led to the loss of much of this territory by 1763. French intervention in the American Revolutionary War helped secure the independence of the new United States of America, the Kingdom of France adopted a written constitution in 1791, but the Kingdom was abolished a year later and replaced with the First French Republic. The monarchy was restored by the great powers in 1814. During the later years of the elderly Charlemagnes rule, the Vikings made advances along the northern and western perimeters of the Kingdom of the Franks, after Charlemagnes death in 814 his heirs were incapable of maintaining political unity and the empire began to crumble. The Treaty of Verdun of 843 divided the Carolingian Empire into three parts, with Charles the Bald ruling over West Francia, the nucleus of what would develop into the kingdom of France. Viking advances were allowed to increase, and their dreaded longboats were sailing up the Loire and Seine rivers and other waterways, wreaking havoc. During the reign of Charles the Simple, Normans under Rollo from Norway, were settled in an area on either side of the River Seine, downstream from Paris, that was to become Normandy. With its offshoots, the houses of Valois and Bourbon, it was to rule France for more than 800 years. Henry II inherited the Duchy of Normandy and the County of Anjou, and married Frances newly divorced ex-queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine, after the French victory at the Battle of Bouvines in 1214, the English monarchs maintained power only in southwestern Duchy of Guyenne. The death of Charles IV of France in 1328 without male heirs ended the main Capetian line, under Salic law the crown could not pass through a woman, so the throne passed to Philip VI, son of Charles of Valois
Kingdom of France
–
The Kingdom of France in 1789.
Ancien Régime provinces in
1789.
Kingdom of France
–
Royal Standarda
Kingdom of France
–
Henry IV, by
Frans Pourbus the younger, 1610.
Kingdom of France
–
Louis XIII, by
Philippe de Champaigne, 1647.
22.
Louis-Antoine de Bougainville
–
Louis-Antoine, Comte de Bougainville was a French admiral and explorer. A contemporary of the British explorer James Cook, he took part in the Seven Years War in North America, Bougainville Island of Papua New Guinea was named for him. Bougainville was born in Paris, the son of a notary, in early life, he studied law, but soon abandoned the profession. In 1753 he entered the army in the corps of musketeers, at the age of twenty-five he published a treatise on integral calculus, as a supplement to De lHôpitals treatise, Des infiniment petits. In 1755 he was sent to London as secretary to the French embassy, in 1756 Bougainville was stationed in Canada as captain of dragoons and aide-de-camp to the Marquis de Montcalm. He took a part in the capture of Fort Oswego in 1756. He was wounded in 1758 at the defence of Fort Carillon. He sailed back to France the following winter, under orders from the marquis to obtain additional military resources for the colony, during this crossing, he continued to learn about the ways of the sea, skills that would later serve him well. Having distinguished himself in the war against Britain, Bougainville was rewarded with the Cross of St Louis, when he returned to Canada the following year, he had gained few supplies. The metropolitan officials had decided that, When the house is on fire, during the pivotal year of 1759, Bougainville participated in the defence of fortified Quebec City, the capital of New France. He did not have sufficient time, however, to rally his troops and attack the British rear when they ascended the Plains of Abraham. He attempted to stop the British advance from his entrenchments at Île-aux-Noix and he was among the officers who accompanied Lévis to Saint Helens Island off Montreal for the last French stand in North America before the general capitulation of 1761. Of the war, Bougainville wrote in his journal, It is a kind of war. The very air we breathe is contagious of insensibility and hardness and he spent the remaining years of the Seven Years War as a diplomat, helping to negotiate the Treaty of Paris. Under this France ceded most of New France east of the Mississippi River to the British Empire, after the peace, the French decided to colonise the Isles Malouines. These islands were at that time almost unknown, at his own expense, Bougainville undertook the task of resettling Acadians who had been deported to France by the British because of their refusal to sign loyalty oaths. On 15 September 1763, Bougainville set out from France with the frigate LAigle and this expedition included the naturalist and writer Antoine-Joseph Pernety, the priest and chronicler accompanying the expedition, together with the engineer and geographer Lhuillier de la Serre. The expedition arrived in late January 1764 in French Bay and they landed at Port Louis named after King Louis XV
Louis-Antoine de Bougainville
–
Louis-Antoine de Bougainville, by Jean-Pierre Franquel
Louis-Antoine de Bougainville
–
Young portrait of Louis Antoine de Bougainville.
Louis-Antoine de Bougainville
Louis-Antoine de Bougainville
23.
Ancient Rome
–
In its many centuries of existence, the Roman state evolved from a monarchy to a classical republic and then to an increasingly autocratic empire. Through conquest and assimilation, it came to dominate the Mediterranean region and then Western Europe, Asia Minor, North Africa and it is often grouped into classical antiquity together with ancient Greece, and their similar cultures and societies are known as the Greco-Roman world. Ancient Roman civilisation has contributed to modern government, law, politics, engineering, art, literature, architecture, technology, warfare, religion, language and society. Rome professionalised and expanded its military and created a system of government called res publica, the inspiration for modern republics such as the United States and France. By the end of the Republic, Rome had conquered the lands around the Mediterranean and beyond, its domain extended from the Atlantic to Arabia, the Roman Empire emerged with the end of the Republic and the dictatorship of Augustus Caesar. 721 years of Roman-Persian Wars started in 92 BC with their first war against Parthia and it would become the longest conflict in human history, and have major lasting effects and consequences for both empires. Under Trajan, the Empire reached its territorial peak, Republican mores and traditions started to decline during the imperial period, with civil wars becoming a prelude common to the rise of a new emperor. Splinter states, such as the Palmyrene Empire, would divide the Empire during the crisis of the 3rd century. Plagued by internal instability and attacked by various migrating peoples, the part of the empire broke up into independent kingdoms in the 5th century. This splintering is a landmark historians use to divide the ancient period of history from the pre-medieval Dark Ages of Europe. King Numitor was deposed from his throne by his brother, Amulius, while Numitors daughter, Rhea Silvia, because Rhea Silvia was raped and impregnated by Mars, the Roman god of war, the twins were considered half-divine. The new king, Amulius, feared Romulus and Remus would take back the throne, a she-wolf saved and raised them, and when they were old enough, they returned the throne of Alba Longa to Numitor. Romulus became the source of the citys name, in order to attract people to the city, Rome became a sanctuary for the indigent, exiled, and unwanted. This caused a problem for Rome, which had a large workforce but was bereft of women, Romulus traveled to the neighboring towns and tribes and attempted to secure marriage rights, but as Rome was so full of undesirables they all refused. Legend says that the Latins invited the Sabines to a festival and stole their unmarried maidens, leading to the integration of the Latins, after a long time in rough seas, they landed at the banks of the Tiber River. Not long after they landed, the men wanted to take to the sea again, one woman, named Roma, suggested that the women burn the ships out at sea to prevent them from leaving. At first, the men were angry with Roma, but they realized that they were in the ideal place to settle. They named the settlement after the woman who torched their ships, the Roman poet Virgil recounted this legend in his classical epic poem the Aeneid
Ancient Rome
–
Senātus Populus que Rōmānus
Ancient Rome
–
Roman Republic
Ancient Rome
–
According to legend,
Rome was founded in 753 BC by
Romulus and Remus, who were raised by a she-wolf.
Ancient Rome
–
This bust from the
Capitoline Museums is traditionally identified as a portrait of
Lucius Junius Brutus.
24.
Saxon Shore
–
The Saxon Shore was a military command of the late Roman Empire, consisting of a series of fortifications on both sides of the English Channel. It was established in the late 3rd century and was led by the Count of the Saxon Shore, in the late 4th century, his functions were limited to Britain, while the fortifications in Gaul were established as separate commands. Several Saxon Shore forts survive in east and south-east England, during the latter half of the 3rd century, the Roman Empire faced a grave crisis. Internally, it was weakened by wars, the violent succession of brief emperors. Most of Britain had been part of the empire since the mid-1st century and it was protected from raids in the north by the Hadrianic and Antonine Walls, while a fleet of some size was also available. However, as the frontiers came under increasing pressure, fortifications were built throughout the Empire in order to protect cities. It is in context that the forts of the Saxon Shore were constructed. Dover was already fortified in the early 2nd century, and the forts in this group were constructed in the period between the 270s and 290s. However, due to the absence of evidence, theories have varied between scholars as to the exact meaning of the name, and also the nature and purpose of the chain of forts it refers to. Two interpretations were put forward as to the meaning of the adjective Saxon, either a shore attacked by Saxons, or a shore settled by Saxons. This view is reinforced by the chain of fortifications across the Channel on the northern coasts of Gaul. Other scholars like John Cotterill however consider the threat posed by Germanic raiders, at least in the 3rd and early 4th centuries and this view, although widely disputed, has found recent support from archaeological evidence at Pevensey, which dates the forts construction to the early 290s. Whatever their original purpose, it is certain that in the late 4th century the forts and their garrisons were employed in operations against Frankish. Britain was abandoned by Rome in 407, with Armorica following soon after, the forts on both sides continued to be inhabited in the following centuries, and in Britain in particular several continued in use well into the Anglo-Saxon period. The nine forts mentioned in the Notitia Dignitatum for Britain are listed here, one of the earliest forts, dated to the 230s. It was built to guard the Wash approaches and is of a typical rectangular castrum layout and it was garrisoned by the Equites Dalmatae Brandodunenses, although evidence exists suggesting that its original garrison was the cohors I Aquitanorum. Established between 260 and the mid-270s to guard the River Yare, it was garrisoned by the Equites Stablesiani Gariannoneses, although there is some discussion as to whether this is actually the fort at Caister-on-Sea, and being on the opposite bank of the same estuary as Burgh Castle. Together with Brancaster one of the earliest forts, built in the 210s to guard the Thames estuary and it was garrisoned by the cohors I Baetasiorum since the 3rd century
Saxon Shore
–
A mid-19th century illustration of the ruins of
Gariannonum
Saxon Shore
–
The complete fortification system of the Saxon Shore extended on both sides of the
Channel.
Saxon Shore
–
The nine British Saxon Shore forts in the Notitia Dignitatum.
25.
Promontory fort
–
A promontory fort is a defensive structure located above a steep cliff, often only connected to the mainland by a small neck of land, thus utilizing the topography to reduce the ramparts needed. Although their dating is problematic, most seem to date to the Iron Age and they are mainly found in Brittany, Ireland, the Orkney Islands, the Isle of Man, Devon and Cornwall. Only a few Irish promontory forts have been excavated and most date to the Iron Age, though some, others, like Dalkey Island contain imported Eastern Mediterranean pottery and have been reoccupied and changed in the early medieval period. Dunbeg contains an early medieval corbelled stone hut, on the Isle of Man promontory forts are found particularly on the rocky slate headlands of the south. Four out of more than 20 have been excavated and several, especially in Santon, all have a rampart on their vulnerable landward side, and excavations at Cronk ny Merriu have shown that access to the fort was via a strongly built gate. Promontory forts can be all along the coast of Penwith. Maen Castle, near to Lands End is one of the oldest and they are also found in other districts, e. g. The Rumps near Padstow and Dodman Point In Devon, The Aran Islands, Burgh Island and Bolt Tail are located on the south coast and Embury Beacon and Hillsborough on the north coast. The famous site at Tintagel may be an example of promontory fort whose occupation continued into the post Roman. Caesars de Bello Gallico describes the Veneti in southern Armorica – a powerful sea-faring people allied with the southern British during the war of 56 BC – as living in clifftop oppida and their capital was Darioritum on the Morbihan bay, now modern Vannes/Gwened. The Veneti were linguistically British, they spoke Breton, which was derived from Cornish, when they were attacked by the Romans in Brittany, Julius Caesar reports that Cornwall sent them military aid. Hill fort Nancy Edwards, The Archaeology of Early Medieval Ireland, manx National Heritage - Promontory Forts Cronk ny Merriu MNH Maen Castle Retrieved 14 May 2007. Pretanic World - Chart of Neolithic, Bronze Age and Celtic Stone Structures
Promontory fort
–
Dunbeg Fort, a promontory fort below Mount Eagle,
Dingle Peninsula,
County Kerry, Ireland
Promontory fort
–
Entrance to Dunbeg Fort
Promontory fort
–
The Rumps in North Cornwall
26.
Estuary
–
An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a zone between river environments and maritime environments. They are subject both to marine influences—such as tides, waves, and the influx of saline water—and to riverine influences—such as flows of fresh water and sediment. The inflows of sea water and fresh water provide high levels of nutrients both in the water column and in sediment, making estuaries among the most productive natural habitats in the world. Most existing estuaries formed during the Holocene epoch with the flooding of river-eroded or glacially scoured valleys when the sea began to rise about 10. Estuaries are typically classified according to their geomorphological features or to water-circulation patterns, the banks of many estuaries are amongst the most heavily populated areas of the world, with about 60% of the worlds population living along estuaries and the coast. The word estuary is derived from the Latin word aestuarium meaning tidal inlet of the sea, there have been many definitions proposed to describe an estuary. However, this definition excludes a number of water bodies such as coastal lagoons. This broad definition also includes fjords, lagoons, river mouths, an estuary is a dynamic ecosystem having a connection to the open sea through which the sea water enters with the rhythm of the tides. The sea water entering the estuary is diluted by the water flowing from rivers. The pattern of dilution varies between different estuaries and depends on the volume of water, the tidal range. Drowned river valleys are known as coastal plain estuaries. In places where the sea level is rising relative to the land, sea water progressively penetrates into river valleys and this is the most common type of estuary in temperate climates. Well-studied estuaries include the Severn Estuary in the United Kingdom and the Ems Dollard along the Dutch-German border, the width-to-depth ratio of these estuaries is typically large, appearing wedge-shaped in the inner part and broadening and deepening seaward. Water depths rarely exceed 30 m, examples of this type of estuary in the U. S. are the Hudson River, Chesapeake Bay, and Delaware Bay along the Mid-Atlantic coast, and Galveston Bay and Tampa Bay along the Gulf Coast. They are relatively common in tropical and subtropical locations and these estuaries are semi-isolated from ocean waters by barrier beaches. Formation of barrier beaches partially encloses the estuary, with only narrow inlets allowing contact with the ocean waters, bar-built estuaries typically develop on gently sloping plains located along tectonically stable edges of continents and marginal sea coasts. They are extensive along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the U. S. in areas with active coastal deposition of sediments, barrier beaches form in shallow water and are generally parallel to the shoreline, resulting in long, narrow estuaries
Estuary
–
Estuary of the
Klamath River in
Northern California
Estuary
–
River Exe estuary
Estuary
–
River Nith estuary
Estuary
–
Estuary mouth located in
Darwin,
Northern Territory,
Australia
27.
Notitia Dignitatum
–
The Notitia Dignitatum is a document of the late Roman Empire that details the administrative organization of the Eastern and Western Empires. It is unique as one of few surviving documents of Roman government and describes several thousand offices from the imperial court to provincial governments, diplomatic missions. It is usually considered to be accurate for the Western Roman Empire in the AD 420s, however, the text does not date its own authorship or accuracy, and omissions complicate ascertaining its date from its content. There are several extant 15th- and 16th-century copies of the document, the heraldry in illuminated manuscript copies of the Notitia is thought to copy or imitate only that illustrated in the lost Codex Spirensis. The iteration of 1542 made for Otto Henry, Elector Palatine, was revised with illustrations more faithful to the originals added at a later date, the most important copy of the Codex is that made for Pietro Donato in 1436 and illuminated by Peronet Lamy. The Notitia presents four primary problems as regards the study of the Empires military, therefore, its development from the structure of the Principate is largely conjectural because of the lack of other evidence. It was compiled at two different times, the section for the Eastern Empire apparently dates from circa AD395 and that for the Western Empire from circa AD420. Further, each section is not a contemporaneous snapshot. The Eastern section may contain data from as early as AD379, the Western section contains data from as early as circa AD400, for example, it shows units deployed in Britannia, which must date from before 410, when the Empire lost government of the island. In consequence, there is substantial duplication, with the unit often listed under different commands. It is impossible to ascertain whether these were detachments of the unit in different places simultaneously. Also, it is likely that some units were merely nominal or minimally staffed, the Notitia has many sections missing and lacunae within sections. This is doubtless due to accumulated textual losses and copying errors, because it was copied over the centuries. The Notitia cannot therefore provide a comprehensive list of all units that existed, the Notitia does not record the number of personnel. Given that and the paucity of evidence of unit sizes at that time, the size of individual units. In turn, this makes it impossible to assess accurately the total size of the army, for example, the forces deployed in Britain circa AD400 may have been merely 18,000 against circa 55,000 in the AD 2nd century. The Notitia contains symbols similar to the diagram which later came to be known as yin, the emblem of the Thebaei, another Western Roman infantry regiment, featured a pattern of concentric circles comparable to its static version. The Roman patterns predate the earliest Taoist versions by almost seven hundred years, laeti Tabula Peutingeriana List of Late Roman provinces Notitia Dignitatum, edited by Robert Ireland, in British Archaeological Reports, International Series 63.2
Notitia Dignitatum
–
Page from a medieval copy of the Notitia Dignitatum commissioned in 1436 by
Pietro Donato, depicting shields of Magister Militum Praesentalis II, a late Roman register of military commands
Notitia Dignitatum
–
Shield pattern of the armigeri defensores seniores (4th row, third from left)
28.
Celtic Britons
–
They spoke the Common Brittonic language, the ancestor to the modern Brittonic languages. The earliest evidence for the Britons and their language in historical sources dates to the Iron Age, after the Roman conquest of Britain in the 1st century, a Romano-British culture emerged, and Latin and British Vulgar Latin coexisted with Brittonic. During and after the Roman era, the Britons lived throughout Britain south of the Firth of Forth, with the beginning of Anglo-Saxon settlement in the 5th century, the culture and language of the Britons fragmented and much of their territory was taken over by the Anglo-Saxons. The extent to which cultural and linguistic change was accompanied by wholesale changes in the population is still a matter of discussion. During this period some Britons migrated to mainland Europe and established significant settlements in Brittany as well as Britonia in modern Galicia, Common Brittonic developed into the distinct Brittonic languages, Welsh, Cumbric, Cornish and Breton. Although none of his own writings remain, writers during the time of the Roman Empire made much reference to them, the group included Ireland, which was referred to as Ierne inhabited by the race of Hiberni, and Britain as insula Albionum, island of the Albions. The term Pritani may have reached Pytheas from the Gauls, who used it as their term for the inhabitants of the islands. The first inhabitants were the Britons, who came from Armenia, the Latin name in the early Roman Empire period was Britanni or Brittanni, following the Roman conquest in AD43. Brittonic languages is a recent coinage intended to refer to the ancient Britons specifically. In English, the term Briton originally denoted the ancient Britons and their descendants, most particularly the Welsh, who were seen as heirs to the ancient British people. After the Acts of Union 1707, the terms British and Briton came to be applied not just to the remaining Brittonic peoples themselves, the Britons spoke an Insular Celtic language known as Common Brittonic. Brittonic was spoken throughout the island of Britain, as well as islands such as the Isle of Man, Scilly Isles, Orkneys, Hebrides. Thus the area today is called Brittany, Common Brittonic developed from the Insular branch of the Proto-Celtic language that developed in the British Isles after arriving from the continent in the 7th century BC. The language eventually began to diverge, some linguists have grouped subsequent developments as Western and Southwestern Brittonic languages, Pictish is now generally accepted to descend from Common Brittonic, rather than being a separate Celtic language. Welsh and Breton survive today, Cumbric became extinct in the 12th century, Cornish had become extinct by the 19th century but has been the subject of language revitalization since the 20th century. Ideas about the development of British Iron Age culture changed greatly in the 20th century, by this time Celtic styles seem to have been in decline in continental Europe, even before Roman invasions. Throughout their existence, the inhabited by the Britons was composed of numerous ever-changing areas controlled by Brittonic tribes. Part of the Pictish territory was absorbed into the Gaelic kingdoms of Dál Riata and Alba
Celtic Britons
–
Gritstone bas-relief of Romano-British woman
Celtic Britons
–
Mainly
Brittonic areas
Celtic Britons
–
The
Staffordshire Moorlands Pan
Celtic Britons
–
A
flying rowan tree, considered magical by the ancient Britons
29.
Monastic
–
Monasticism or monkhood is a religious way of life in which one renounces worldly pursuits to devote oneself fully to spiritual work. Monastic life plays an important role in many Christian churches, especially in the Catholic, similar forms of religious life also exist in other faiths, most notably in Buddhism, but also in Hinduism and Jainism, although the expressions differ considerably. By contrast, in other religions monasticism is criticized and not practiced, as in Islam and Zoroastrianism, or plays a marginal role, males pursuing a monastic life are generally called monks while female monastics are called nuns. Many monks and nuns live in monasteries to stay away from the secular world, the way of addressing monastics differs between the Christian traditions. As a general rule, in Roman Catholicism, monks and nuns are called brother or sister, while in Eastern Orthodoxy, the Sangha or community of ordained Buddhist bhikkhus and original bhikkhunis was founded by Gautama Buddha during his lifetime over 2500 years ago. This communal monastic lifestyle grew out of the lifestyle of earlier sects of wandering ascetics and it was initially fairly eremitic or reclusive in nature. Bhikkhus and bhikkunis were expected to live with a minimum of possessions, lay followers also provided the daily food that bhikkhus required, and provided shelter for bhikkhus when they needed it. After the Parinibbana of the Buddha, the Buddhist monastic order developed into a primarily cenobitic or communal movement. The practice of living communally during the rainy season, prescribed by the Buddha. The number of rules observed varies with the order, Theravada bhikkhus follow around 227 rules, there are a larger number of rules specified for bhikkhunis. The Buddhist monastic order consists of the male bhikkhu assembly and the female bhikkhuni assembly, initially consisting only of males, it grew to include females after the Buddhas stepmother, Mahaprajapati, asked for and received permission to live as an ordained practitioner. Bhikkhus and bhikkhunis are expected to fulfill a variety of roles in the Buddhist community, first and foremost, they are expected to preserve the doctrine and discipline now known as Buddhism. A bhikkhu or Bhikshu, first ordains as a Samanera, novices often ordain at a young age, but generally no younger than eight. Samaneras live according to the Ten Precepts, but are not responsible for living by the set of monastic rules. Higher ordination, conferring the status of a full Bhikkhu, is only to men who are aged 20 or older. Bhikkhunis follow a progression, but are required to live as Samaneras for longer periods of time- typically five years. The disciplinary regulations for bhikkhus and bhikkhunis are intended to create a life that is simple and focused, however, celibacy is a fundamental part of this form of monastic discipline. Monasticism in Christianity, which provides the origins of the monk and monastery
Monastic
–
Trappist monk praying in his
cell.
Monastic
–
Young Buddhist bhikkhus in
Tibet.
Monastic
–
The
Monastery of Saint Anthony in Egypt, built over the tomb of
Saint Anthony, the "Father of Christian Monasticism".
Monastic
–
Coptic monks between 1898 and 1914
30.
Saint Aaron
–
Some sources say that he was born of British stock in Armorican Domnonia. Aaron was a Welshman who lived in solitude near Lamballe and Pleumeur-Gautier and he attracted numerous visitors while there, including Saint Malo, it is said, in 544, and became their abbot. Saint Malo then succeeded to the rule of the district subsequently known as Saint-Malo. Aarons feast day is 21 June or 22 June and he is mentioned in Les Vies des Saints de Bretagne. Aaron is believed to have died in the town of Saint-Aaron in Lamballe, list of Catholic saints Julian Maunoir, Apostle of Brittany This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Flood, William Henry Grattan. A Biographical Dictionary of the Saints
Saint Aaron
–
Saint Aaron (detail) from Procession des saints de Bretagne by Alphonse Le Hénaff
31.
Saint Brendan
–
Saint Brendan of Clonfert, also referred to as Brendan moccu Altae, called the Navigator, the Voyager, the Anchorite, or the Bold, is one of the early Irish monastic saints. He is chiefly renowned for his legendary quest to the Isle of the Blessed, the Voyage of Saint Brendan could be called an immram. He was one of the Twelve Apostles of Ireland, Saint Brendans feast day is celebrated on 16 May by the Roman Catholics, Anglicans, and Orthodox Christians. The first mention of Brendan occurs in Adamnans Vita Sancti Columbae, the first notice of him as a seafarer appears in the ninth century Martyrology of Tallaght. The principal works devoted to the saint and his legend are a Life of Brendan in several Latin and Irish versions and the better known Voyage of Saint Brendan the Abbot. Unfortunately, the Lives and the Voyage provide little information about his life and travels, they do, however. An additional problem is that the relationship between the Vita and the Navigatio traditions is uncertain. Just when the Vita tradition began is uncertain, the surviving copies date no earlier than the end of the twelfth century, but scholars suggest that a version of the Life was composed before the year 1000. The Navigatio was probably earlier than the Vita, perhaps in the second half of the eighth century. St Aengus the Culdee, in his Litany composed at the close of the eighth century, in 484 AD Brendan was born in Tralee, in County Kerry, in the province of Munster, in the south-west of Ireland. He was born among the Altraige, a tribe originally centred around Tralee Bay, to parents called Finnlug, tradition has it that he was born in the Kilfenora/Fenit area on the North side of the bay. He was baptised at Tubrid, near Ardfert by Saint Erc, for five years he was educated under Saint Ita, the Brigid of Munster. When he was six he was sent to Saint Jarlaths monastery school at Tuam to further his education, Brendan is one of the Twelve Apostles of Ireland, one of those said to have been tutored by the great teacher, Finnian of Clonard. At the age of twenty-six, Brendan was ordained a priest by Saint Erc, afterwards, he founded a number of monasteries. Brendan’s first voyage took him to the Arran Islands, where he founded a monastery and he also visited Hinba, an island off Scotland where he is said to have met Columcille. On the same voyage he traveled to Wales, and finally to Brittany, between the years 512 and 530 Brendan built monastic cells at Ardfert, and, at the foot of Mount Brandon, Shanakeel— Seana Cill, usually translated as the old church. From here he is supposed to have set out on his famous seven-year voyage for Paradise, the old Irish Calendars assigned a special feast for the Egressio familiae S. Brendani. St. Brendan is chiefly renowned for his journey to the Isle of the Blessed as described in the ninth century Voyage of St Brendan the Navigator
Saint Brendan
–
Saint Brendan and the whale from a 15th-century manuscript
Saint Brendan
–
Sculpture of St Brendan, The Square
Bantry, County Cork
Saint Brendan
–
Statue of Brendan at Fenit Harbour.
Saint Brendan
–
Abbán
32.
Saint Malo (saint)
–
Saint Malo was a mid-sixth century founder of Saint-Malo, a commune in Brittany, France. He was one of the seven founding saints of Brittany, Saint Malo of Aleth was baptized as an adult by Saint Brendan the Navigator. He became a student of Saint Brendan, as a monk at Llancarfan Abbey in Wales, Saint Malo was known for his participation in the famous Voyage of Saint Brendan. Saint Malo of Aleth was later driven from the area to Saintes, details of Malos career have been preserved in three medieval Lives that seem to include incidents associated with multiple people bearing a similar name. It appears that Saint Malo of Aleth was probably born in Wales in approximately 520, Malos name may derive from the Old Breton machlou, a compound of mach warrant, hostage and lou brilliant, bright, beautiful. After his baptism, he became Brendans favorite disciple and he may have accompanied Saint Brendan on his famous voyage. Saint Brendan and Malo left Llancarfan Abbey with several companions and discovered the Island of the Blest and he then went to sea on a second voyage and visited the Island of Cézembre, remaining there for some time. During their travels, they encountered Maclovius, a dead giant whom Brendan temporarily revived with his holiness, Brendan baptized him before the giant returned to his grave. It is thought that Brendan, on the occasion of his voyage, evangelized the Orkney Islands. At Aleth, Malo served under a venerable hermit named Aaron, upon Aarons death in 544, Malo continued the spiritual rule of the district subsequently known as St. Malo and was consecrated as the first Bishop of Aleth. In old age, the disorder on the island compelled Saint Malo to leave and he obliged his people and returned to restore order. Feeling at the end of his life, the saint was determined to spend his last days in solitary penance, accordingly, he went to Archambiac, a village in the diocese of Saintes, where he passed the remainder of his life in prayer and mortification. His death, reported in Archingeay, came on November 15,621, the city of Saint-Malo is one of the seven stages in the Tro Breizh, a pilgrimage celebrating the seven founding saints of Brittany. Pontoise Cathedral is dedicated to Saint Malo, lesmahagow Priory in South Lanarkshire is also dedicated to him in the Latin form of his name, Machutus. The place-name Saint-Maclou also refers to him, blessed Julian Maunoir, Apostle of Brittany This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Herbermann, Charles, ed. article name needed
Saint Malo (saint)
–
Saint Malo is said to have accompanied
Saint Brendan on the latter's famous voyage
Saint Malo (saint)
–
St Malo and
Hoel in a stained-glass window in
Reguiny.
33.
Wales
–
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, and it had a population in 2011 of 3,063,456 and has a total area of 20,779 km2. Wales has over 1,680 miles of coastline and is mountainous, with its higher peaks in the north and central areas, including Snowdon. The country lies within the temperate zone and has a changeable. Welsh national identity emerged among the Celtic Britons after the Roman withdrawal from Britain in the 5th century, Llywelyn ap Gruffudds death in 1282 marked the completion of Edward I of Englands conquest of Wales, though Owain Glyndŵr briefly restored independence to Wales in the early 15th century. The whole of Wales was annexed by England and incorporated within the English legal system under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542, distinctive Welsh politics developed in the 19th century. Welsh Liberalism, exemplified in the early 20th century by Lloyd George, was displaced by the growth of socialism, Welsh national feeling grew over the century, Plaid Cymru was formed in 1925 and the Welsh Language Society in 1962. Established under the Government of Wales Act 1998, the National Assembly for Wales holds responsibility for a range of devolved policy matters, two-thirds of the population live in south Wales, mainly in and around Cardiff, Swansea and Newport, and in the nearby valleys. Now that the countrys traditional extractive and heavy industries have gone or are in decline, Wales economy depends on the sector, light and service industries. Wales 2010 gross value added was £45.5 billion, over 560,000 Welsh language speakers live in Wales, and the language is spoken by a majority of the population in parts of the north and west. From the late 19th century onwards, Wales acquired its popular image as the land of song, Rugby union is seen as a symbol of Welsh identity and an expression of national consciousness. The Old English-speaking Anglo-Saxons came to use the term Wælisc when referring to the Celtic Britons in particular, the modern names for some Continental European lands and peoples have a similar etymology. The modern Welsh name for themselves is Cymry, and Cymru is the Welsh name for Wales and these words are descended from the Brythonic word combrogi, meaning fellow-countrymen. The use of the word Cymry as a self-designation derives from the location in the post-Roman Era of the Welsh people in modern Wales as well as in northern England and southern Scotland. It emphasised that the Welsh in modern Wales and in the Hen Ogledd were one people, in particular, the term was not applied to the Cornish or the Breton peoples, who are of similar heritage, culture, and language to the Welsh. The word came into use as a self-description probably before the 7th century and it is attested in a praise poem to Cadwallon ap Cadfan c. 633. Thereafter Cymry prevailed as a reference to the Welsh, until c.1560 the word was spelt Kymry or Cymry, regardless of whether it referred to the people or their homeland. The Latinised forms of names, Cambrian, Cambric and Cambria, survive as lesser-used alternative names for Wales, Welsh
Wales
–
Bryn Celli Ddu, a late Neolithic chambered tomb on Anglesey
Wales
–
Flag
Wales
–
This article is about the country. For other uses, see
Wales (disambiguation).
Wales
–
Coin of
Magnus Maximus
34.
Marie de France
–
Marie de France was a medieval poet who was probably born in France and lived in England during the late 12th century. She lived and wrote at a court, but she. Virtually nothing is known of her life, both her name and its geographical specification come from her manuscripts. However, one description of her work and popularity from her own era still exists. Marie de France wrote in Francien with some Anglo-Norman influence and she was evidently proficient in Latin, as were most authors and scholars, as well as English, and possibly Breton. She is the author of the Lais of Marie de France and she translated Aesops Fables from Middle English into Anglo-Norman French and wrote Espurgatoire seint Partiz, Legend of the Purgatory of St. Patrick, based upon a Latin text. Recently, she has identified as the author of a saints life. Her Lais, in particular, were and still are widely read, four works, or collections of works, have been attributed to Marie de France. She is principally known for her authorship of The Lais of Marie de France, scholars have dated Maries works to between about 1160 and 1215, the earliest and latest possible dates respectively. It is probable that the Lais were written in the twelfth century, they are dedicated to a noble king, usually assumed to be Henry II of England or possibly his eldest son. Another of her works, the Fables, is dedicated to a Count William, however, it has also been suggested that Count William may refer to William Longsword. Longsword was a illegitimate son of Henry II. If Marie was actually Henry IIs half-sister, a dedication to his son and it is likely that Marie de France was known at the court of King Henry II and his wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine. A contemporary of Marie, the English poet Denis Piramus, mentions in his Life of Saint Edmund the King, written in around 1180, the lais of a Marie, which were popular in aristocratic circles. She was first given the name Marie de France by the French scholar Claude Fauchet in 1551, in his Recueil de lorigine de la langue et poesie françoise, and this name has been used ever since. She wrote in Francien, a dialect localized around Paris and Île-de-France, hence scholars generally deduce she lived in the parts of Île-de-France close to Normandy, or alternatively in an area in-between such as Brittany or Vexin. But Anglo-Norman influence may be due to her living in England during her adult life, the signification of the phrase si sui de France, however, is ambiguous and equivocal. Her lays, are a collection of 12 short narrative written in eight-syllable verse that were based on Breton or Celtic legends
Marie de France
–
Marie de France from an
illuminated manuscript
Marie de France
–
" Marie de France presents her book of poems to
Henry II of England "
Charles Abraham Chasselat
35.
Privateers
–
A privateer was a private person or ship that engaged in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Captured ships were subject to condemnation and sale under prize law, a percentage share usually went to the issuer of the commission. Since robbery under arms was common to trade, all merchant ships were already armed. During war, naval resources were auxiliary to operations on land so privateering was a way of subsidizing state power by mobilizing armed ships, the letter of marque of a privateer would typically limit activity to one particular ship, and specified officers. Typically, the owners or captain would be required to post a performance bond, in the United Kingdom, letters of marque were revoked for various offences. Some crews were treated as harshly as naval crews of the time, some crews were made up of professional merchant seamen, others of pirates, debtors, and convicts. Some privateers ended up becoming pirates, not just in the eyes of their enemies, william Kidd, for instance, began as a legitimate British privateer but was later hanged for piracy. The investors would arm the vessels and recruit large crews, much larger than a merchantman or a vessel would carry. Privateers generally cruised independently, but it was not unknown for them to form squadrons, a number of privateers were part of the English fleet that opposed the Spanish Armada in 1588. Privateers generally avoided encounters with warships, as such encounters would be at best unprofitable, for instance, in 1815 Chasseur encountered HMS St Lawrence, herself a former American privateer, mistaking her for a merchantman until too late, in this instance, however, the privateer prevailed. The United States used mixed squadrons of frigates and privateers in the American Revolutionary War, the practice dated to at least the 13th century but the word itself was coined sometime in the mid-17th century. England, and later the United Kingdom, used privateers to great effect and these privately owned merchant ships, licensed by the crown, could legitimately take vessels that were deemed pirates. The increase in competition for crews on armed merchant vessels and privateers was due, in a large part, because of the chance for a considerable payoff. Whereas a seaman who shipped on a vessel was paid a wage and provided with victuals. This proved to be a far more attractive prospect and privateering flourished as a result, during Queen Elizabeths reign, she encouraged the development of this supplementary navy. Over the course of her rule, she had allowed Anglo-Spanish relations to deteriorate to the point where one could argue that a war with the Spanish was inevitable. By using privateers, if the Spanish were to take offense at the plundering of their ships, some of the most famous privateers that later fought in the Anglo-Spanish War included the Sea Dogs. In the late 16th century, English ships cruised in the Caribbean and off the coast of Spain, at this early stage the idea of a regular navy was not present, so there is little to distinguish the activity of English privateers from regular naval warfare
Privateers
–
East Indiaman Kent battling
Confiance, a privateer vessel commanded by
French corsair Robert Surcouf in October 1800, as depicted in a painting by
Ambroise Louis Garneray.
Privateers
–
Boarding of the
Triton (a British East Indiaman) by the French corsair
Hasard.
Privateers
–
CSS Savannah, a
Confederate privateer.
Privateers
–
Woodes Rogers ' men search Spanish ladies for their jewels in
Guayaquil, Ecuador, 1709
36.
Pirates
–
Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship- or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable items or properties. Those who engage in acts of piracy are called pirates, the earliest documented instances of piracy were in the 14th century BC, when the Sea Peoples, a group of ocean raiders, attacked the ships of the Aegean and Mediterranean civilizations. Narrow channels which funnel shipping into predictable routes have long created opportunities for piracy, as well as for privateering and commerce raiding. Historic examples include the waters of Gibraltar, the Strait of Malacca, Madagascar, the Gulf of Aden, a land-based parallel is the ambushing of travelers by bandits and brigands in highways and mountain passes. While the term can include acts committed in the air, on land, or in major bodies of water or on a shore. It does not normally include crimes committed against people traveling on the vessel as the perpetrator. Piracy or pirating is the name of a crime under customary international law. They also use larger vessels, known as ships, to supply the smaller motorboats. The international community is facing challenges in bringing modern pirates to justice. In the 2000s, a number of nations have used their naval forces to protect ships from pirate attacks. The English pirate is derived from the Latin term pirata and that from Greek πειρατής, brigand, in turn from πειράομαι, I attempt, from πεῖρα, attempt, the meaning of the Greek word peiratēs literally is one who attacks. The word is cognate to peril. The term is first attested to c, spelling was not standardised until the eighteenth century, and spellings such as pirrot, pyrate and pyrat were used until this period. It may be reasonable to assume that piracy has existed for as long as the oceans were plied for commerce, the earliest documented instances of piracy are the exploits of the Sea Peoples who threatened the ships sailing in the Aegean and Mediterranean waters in the 14th century BC. In classical antiquity, the Phoenicians, Illyrians and Tyrrhenians were known as pirates, the ancient Greeks condoned piracy as a viable profession, it apparently was widespread and regarded as an entirely honourable way of making a living. References are made to its perfectly normal occurrence many texts including in Homers Iliad and Odyssey, by the era of Classical Greece, piracy was looked upon as a disgrace to have as a profession. In the 3rd century BC, pirate attacks on Olympos brought impoverishment, among some of the most famous ancient pirateering peoples were the Illyrians, a people populating the western Balkan peninsula. Constantly raiding the Adriatic Sea, the Illyrians caused many conflicts with the Roman Republic and it was not until 229 BC when the Romans finally decisively beat the Illyrian fleets that their threat was ended
Pirates
–
French pirate
Jacques de Sores looting and burning Havana in 1555
Pirates
–
Mosaic of a
Roman trireme in Tunisia
Pirates
–
A fleet of
Vikings, painted mid-12th century
Pirates
–
The Vitalienbrüder. Piracy became endemic in the
Baltic sea in the
Middle Ages.
37.
Jean Richepin
–
Jean Richepin, French poet, novelist and dramatist, the son of an army doctor, was born at Médéa, French Algeria. The same quality characterized his succeeding volumes of verse, Les Caresses, Les Blasphèmes, La Mer, Mes paradis and his plays, though occasionally marred by his characteristic propensity for dramatic violence of thought and language, constitute in many respects his best work. During the 1880s he had an affair with Sarah Bernhardt, the greatest actress of the time, most of these were produced at the Comédie française. He also wrote Miarka, adapted from his novel, for the music of Alexandre Georges, a friend of Emmanuel Chabrier, he helped the composer to correct and salvage the libretto of Le roi malgré lui, as well as providing the words for La Sulamite. In addition, his novel La Glu was the basis for an opera by Gabriel Dupont as well as one by Camille Erlanger, a friend of Arthur Rimbaud, he was one of only seven known recipients of the first edition of A Season in Hell. His son, Jacques was also a dramatist, robb, Graham, Rimbaud, New York, W. W. Norton & Co, ISBN 978-0330482820 Arnold Guyot Cameron, selections from Jean Richepin, Silver, Burdett and Co. Jean Richepin, Poet and Dramatist, University of Georgia, the Last of the French Bohemian Poets, The Modern Language Journal, Vol.31, No.8. The Life and Work of Jean Richepin, Librairie Droz, works by Jean Richepin, at Gallica
Jean Richepin
–
Jean Richepin
Jean Richepin
–
Signature
38.
Le flibustier (opera)
–
Le flibustier is a comédie lyrique in three acts, composed by César Cui during 1888–1889. Although the title can translate as The Pirate or The Buccaneer, this is no swashbuckling action-drama, the opera is based on the like-named play by Jean Richepin, who wrote the libretto, and is dedicated to La Comtesse de Mercy-Argenteau. It premiered at the Opéra-Comique in Paris on 22 February 1894, nevertheless, despite the composers own special fondness for this work, Le Flibustier seems never to have been performed again and never became part of the standard operatic repertoire. The composer extracted a suite from this work consisting of the initial Prelude, the Dances that close Act I. The French title of the opera has been transliterated into Cyrillic variously as Флибустьер or Флибюстье, russian renderings of the French title include Морской разбойник and Пират, both meaning pirate. Eight years ago, Pierre left home at the age of ten to be a pirate and his grandfather Legoëz and cousin Janik—who loves him—have long hoped that he would return. He discovers the hidden Jacquemin and mistakes him for Pierre, before any correction can be made, there is rejoicing and dancing. At a celebratory feast Jacquemin recounts his adventures, Janik, thinking he is her cousin, is more in love with him. Legoëz, sensing that the two of them are being shy, asks the guests to leave alone for a while. With the two of them alone, Jacquemin, who likewise has fallen in love with Janik, tells her the truth, the deception does not matter to her, she loves him, even though he is not the Pierre from her childhood. Jacquemin leaves Janik alone, her aunt Marie-Anne enters, and the two of them reconcile the deception, at this moment, by a great coincidence, the long-lost Pierre enters and identifies himself. Then Legoëz enters with Jacquemin from outside, and the latter tries to embrace his friend, but Pierre rejects the traitor, and the deception is revealed to Legoëz, who angrily sends Jacquemin away. Pierre recounts his adventures with Spanish and English ships, resulting in wealth that allowed him to leave the life to be a land-dweller. He invites Legoëz to come live in his new country away from the fog of the sea-side, Legoëz feels alienated from Pierre now—they have become so different. Meanwhile, Janik is still in love with the banished Jacquemin, but Legoëz will not hear of it, Pierre finds out from Marie-Anne about the accidental nature of the mistaken identity, and outside on the street he relates this to Legoëz, who decides to forgive Jacquemin. In the meantime, though, Jacquemin drops by the house to bid a reluctant final farewell to Janik, Pierre enters and reconciles with Jacquemin. But when it is clear that the latter has Janiks love, Pierre at first is furious, but eventually realizes that a physical contest can make no difference, and so he relents. Legoëz enters, and, after learning what has transpired, consents to his granddaughters marriage to Jacquemin, Le Flibustier, comédie lyrique in trois actes
Le flibustier (opera)
–
Operas by
César Cui
Le flibustier (opera)
–
A view of the sea from Saint-Malo
39.
Jacques Cartier
–
Jacques Cartier was a French explorer of Breton origin who claimed what is now Canada for France. Jacques Cartier was born in 1491 in Saint-Malo, the port on the north-west coast of Brittany, Cartier, who was a respectable mariner, improved his social status in 1520 by marrying Mary Catherine des Granches, member of a leading family. His good name in Saint-Malo is recognized by its frequent appearance in baptismal registers as godfather or witness, the king had previously invited the Florentine explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano to explore the eastern coast of North America on behalf of France in 1524. Le Veneur cited voyages to Newfoundland and Brazil as proof of Cartiers ability to lead ships to the discovery of new lands in the New World. On April 20,1534, Cartier set sail under a commission from the king, hoping to discover a western passage to the markets of Asia. In the words of the commission, he was to certain islands and lands where it is said that a great quantity of gold. It took him twenty days to sail across the ocean, starting on May 10 of that year, he explored parts of Newfoundland, areas that now comprise the Canadian Atlantic provinces and the Gulf of St. Lawrence. During one stop at Îles aux Oiseaux, his crew slaughtered around 1000 birds, Cartiers first two encounters with aboriginal peoples in Canada on the north side of Chaleur Bay, most likely the Mikmaq, were brief, some trading occurred. His third encounter took place on the shores of Gaspé Bay with a party of St. Lawrence Iroquoians, the 10-meter cross bearing the words Long Live the King of France took possession of the territory in the name of the king. The change in mood was an indication that the Iroquoians understood Cartiers actions. Here he kidnapped the two sons of their captain, Cartier wrote that they later told him this region where they were captured was called by them Honguedo. The natives captain at last agreed that they could be taken, Cartier returned to France in September 1534, sure that he had reached an Asian land. Jacques Cartier set sail for a voyage on May 19 of the following year with three ships,110 men, and his two Iroquoian captives. Reaching the St. Lawrence, he sailed up-river for the first time, and reached the Iroquoian capital of Stadacona, Cartier left his main ships in a harbour close to Stadacona, and used his smallest ship to continue on to Hochelaga, arriving on October 2,1535. Hochelaga was far more impressive than the small and squalid village of Stadacona, the site of their arrival has been confidently identified as the beginning of the Sainte-Marie Sault – where the bridge named after him now stands. The expedition could proceed no further, as the river was blocked by rapids, after spending two days among the people of Hochelaga, Cartier returned to Stadacona on October 11. It is not known exactly when he decided to spend the winter of 1535–1536 in Stadacona, Cartier and his men prepared for the winter by strengthening their fort, stacking firewood, and salting down game and fish. From mid-November 1535 to mid-April 1536, the French fleet lay frozen solid at the mouth of the St. Charles River, under the Rock of Quebec, ice was over a fathom thick on the river, with snow four feet deep ashore
Jacques Cartier
–
Portrait of Jacques Cartier by
Théophile Hamel, ca. 1844. No contemporary portraits of Cartier are known.
Jacques Cartier
–
This Spanish chart of the
Saint Lawrence river, from ca. 1541, contains a legend in front of the "isla de Orliens" that says: "Here many French died of hunger"; possibly alluding to Cartier's second settlement in 1535–1536.
Jacques Cartier
–
The Fleet of Cartier was commemorated on a 1908 Canadian postage stamp.
Jacques Cartier
–
The Dauphin Map of Canada, circa 1543, showing Cartier's discoveries
40.
Saint Lawrence River
–
The Saint Lawrence River is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. The Saint Lawrence River flows in a roughly north-easterly direction, connecting the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean and forming the primary drainage outflow of the Great Lakes Basin. It traverses the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario, and is part of the boundary between Ontario, Canada, and the U. S. state of New York. This river also provides the basis of the commercial Saint Lawrence Seaway, the estuary begins at the eastern tip of Île dOrléans, just downstream from Quebec City. The river becomes tidal around Quebec City, the St. Lawrence River runs 3,058 kilometres from the farthest headwater to the mouth and 1,197 km from the outflow of Lake Ontario. The farthest headwater is the North River in the Mesabi Range at Hibbing, the average discharge below the Saguenay River is 16,800 cubic metres per second. At Quebec City, it is 12,101 m3/s, the average discharge at the rivers source, the outflow of Lake Ontario, is 7,410 m3/s. The St. Lawrence River includes Lake Saint-Louis south of Montreal, Lake Saint Francis at Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, pierre Archipelago and the smaller Mingan Archipelago. Other islands include Île dOrléans near Quebec City and Anticosti Island north of the Gaspé and it is the second longest river in Canada. Lake Champlain and the Ottawa, Richelieu, Saguenay, and Saint-François rivers drain into the St. Lawrence. The St. Lawrence River is in an active zone where fault reactivation is believed to occur along late Proterozoic to early Paleozoic normal faults related to the opening of Iapetus Ocean. The faults in the area are related and are called the Saint Lawrence rift system. According to the United States Geological Survey, the St. Lawrence Valley is a province of the larger Appalachian division, containing the Champlain. However, in Canada, where most of the valley is, it is considered part of a distinct Saint Lawrence Lowlands physiographic division. Lawrence River itself was Jacques Cartier, at that time, the land along the river was inhabited by the St. Lawrence Iroquoians, at the time of Cartiers second voyage in 1535. Because Cartier arrived in the estuary on St. Lawrences feast day, the St. Lawrence River is partly within the U. S. and as such is that countrys sixth oldest surviving European place-name. The earliest regular Europeans in the area were the Basques, who came to the St Lawrence Gulf, the Basque whalers and fishermen traded with indigenous Americans and set up settlements, leaving vestiges all over the coast of eastern Canada and deep into the Saint Lawrence River. Basque commercial and fishing activity reached its peak before the Armada Invencibles disaster, initially, the whaling galleons from Labourd were not affected by the Spanish defeat
Saint Lawrence River
–
St. Lawrence River near
Alexandria Bay
Saint Lawrence River
–
Downstream from Quebec City, the St. Lawrence widens into a huge
estuary.
Saint Lawrence River
–
The Saint Lawrence River valley, from its headwaters at Lake Ontario to the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, running diagonally from the lower mid-left to the upper-mid right, at night, from space, in summer 2013
Saint Lawrence River
–
Map of 1543 showing Cartier's discoveries
41.
Quebec City
–
Quebec City, French, Ville de Québec, officially Québec) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1608 by Samuel de Champlain, Quebec City is one of the oldest cities in North America. The citys landmarks include the Château Frontenac, a hotel which dominates the skyline, and La Citadelle, the National Assembly of Quebec, the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, and the Musée de la civilisation are found within or near Vieux-Québec. Thus, Québec is officially spelled with an accented é in both Canadian English and French, although the accent is not used in common English usage. Quebec City is one of the oldest European settlements in North America, while many of the major cities in Latin America date from the sixteenth century, among cities in Canada and the U. S. few were created earlier than Quebec City. Also, Quebecs Old Town is the only North American fortified city north of Mexico whose walls still exist, French explorer Jacques Cartier built a fort at the site in 1535, where he stayed for the winter before going back to France in spring 1536. He came back in 1541 with the goal of building a permanent settlement, Quebec was founded by Samuel de Champlain, a French explorer and diplomat on 3 July 1608, and at the site of a long abandoned St. Lawrence Iroquoian settlement called Stadacona. Champlain, also called The Father of New France, served as its administrator for the rest of his life, the name Canada refers to this settlement. Although called the cradle of the Francophone population in North America, the place seemed favourable to the establishment of a permanent colony. In 1629 there was the surrender of Quebec, without battle, however, Samuel de Champlain argued that the English seizing of the lands was illegal as the war had already ended, he worked to have the lands returned to France. As part of the negotiations of their exit from the Anglo-French War. These terms were signed into law with the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, the lands in Quebec and Acadia were returned to the French Company of One Hundred Associates. In 1665, there were 550 people in 70 houses living in the city, one-quarter of the people were members of religious orders, secular priests, Jesuits, Ursulines nuns and the order running the local hospital, Hotel-Dieu. Quebec City was the headquarters of many raids against New England during the four French, in the last war, the French and Indian War, Quebec City was captured by the British in 1759 and held until the end of the war in 1763. France ceded New France, including the city, to Britain in 1763, at the end of French rule in 1763, forests, villages, fields and pastures surrounded the town of 8,000 inhabitants. The town distinguished itself by its architecture, fortifications, affluent homes of masonry and shacks in the suburbs of Saint-Jean. Despite its urbanity and its status as capital, Quebec City remained a small city with close ties to its rural surroundings. Nearby inhabitants traded their farm surpluses and firewood for imported goods from France at the two city markets, during the American Revolution revolutionary troops from the southern colonies assaulted the British garrison in an attempt to liberate Quebec City, in a conflict now known as the Battle of Quebec
Quebec City
–
Clockwise from top left: Saint Louis Gate in the Ramparts;
Parliament Hill and Bassin Louise waterfront area;
Château Frontenac and Holy Trinity Cathedral in
Vieux-Québec;
Quebec National Assembly;
Pierre Laporte Bridge with
Quebec Bridge in the background
Quebec City
–
Flag
Quebec City
–
Quebec Settlement, 1608
Quebec City
–
Port of Quebec City in the early 20th century
42.
Montreal
–
Montreal, officially Montréal, is the most populous municipality in the Canadian province of Quebec and the 2nd-most populous in Canada as a whole. Originally called Ville-Marie, or City of Mary, it is believed to be named after Mount Royal, the city has a distinct four-season continental climate, with warm-to-hot summers and cold, snowy winters. In 2016, Montreal had a population of 1,704,694, Montreals metropolitan area had a population of 4,098,927 and a population of 1,958,257 in the urban agglomeration, with all of the municipalities on the Island of Montreal included. Legally a French-speaking city,60. 5% of Montrealers speak French at home,21. 2% speak English and 19. 8% speak neither, Montreal is one of the most bilingual cities in Quebec and Canada, with 56% of the population able to speak both official languages. Montreal is the second-largest primarily French-speaking city in the world after Paris, historically the commercial capital of Canada, it was surpassed in population and economic strength by Toronto in the 1970s. It remains an important centre of commerce, aerospace, finance, pharmaceuticals, technology, design, education, culture, tourism, gaming, film, Montreal was also named a UNESCO City of Design. In 2009, Montreal was named North Americas leading host city for international events, according to the 2009 preliminary rankings of the International Congress. According to the 2015 Global Liveability Ranking by the Economist Intelligence Unit, in the 2017 edition of their Best Student Cities ranking, Quacquarelli Symonds ranked Montreal as the worlds best city to study abroad. Also, Montreal has 11 universities with 170,000 students enrolled, the Greater Montréal region has the highest number of university students per capita among all metropolitan areas in North America. It is the only Canadian city to have held the Summer Olympics, currently, the city hosts the Canadian Grand Prix of Formula One, the Montreal International Jazz Festival and the Just for Laughs festival. In 2012, Montreal was ranked as a Beta+ world city, in Kanien’kéha, or Mohawk language, the island is called Tiohtià, ke Tsi or Ka-wé-no-te. In Anishinaabemowin, or Ojibwe language, the land is called Mooniyaang, though the city was first named by French colonizers Ville Marie, or City of Mary, its current name comes from Mount Royal, the triple-peaked hill in the heart of the city. The most popular theory is that the name derives from Mont Réal, Cartiers 1535 diary entry, naming the mountain, according to the Commission de toponymie du Québec and the Geographical Names Board of Canada, Canadian place names have only one official form. Thus, Montreal is officially spelled with an accent over the e in both English and French. In practice, this is limited to governmental uses. English-speaking Montrealers, including English-language media, regularly omit the accent when writing in English, archaeological evidence demonstrates that First Nations native people occupied the island of Montreal as early as 4,000 years ago. By the year AD1000, they had started to cultivate maize, within a few hundred years, they had built fortified villages. Archeologists have found evidence of their habitation there and at locations in the valley since at least the 14th century
Montreal
–
Clockwise from top:
Downtown Montreal as seen from the
Champlain Bridge;
McGill University;
Saint Joseph's Oratory; the
Old Montreal featuring the
Montreal Clock Tower and the
Jacques Cartier Bridge during the
Montreal Fireworks Festival; a view of the
Notre-Dame Basilica from
Place d'Armes; and the
Olympic Stadium.
Montreal
–
The Montreal Harbour in 1889.
Montreal
–
Saint Jacques Street (formerly St. James Street), in 1910
Montreal
–
Bonsecours Market in autumn.
43.
Raid on St Malo
–
The Raid on St Malo took place in June 1758 when an amphibious British naval expedition landed close to the French port of St Malo in Brittany. While the town itself was not attacked, as had initially planned. The naval forces were under the command of Richard Howe while the army was led by the Duke of Marlborough, as part of an effort to provide a diversion in support of Britains German Allies, William Pitt had conceived the idea of a series of Naval Descents. In 1757 a large expedition was sent to Rochefort where it captured an offshore island, Pitt believed that the failure was due to insufficient vigour by the expeditions commanders, and planned to launch further expeditions against the French coast in the coming year. By early 1758 the British cabinet planned the raid and began to assemble a force on the Isle of Wight. Pitt had learned a number of lessons from the Rochefort expedition, new landing craft were designed, and the process of assembling the force improved to speed up the departure date. On 1 June the expedition sailed from England, reaching Cancale Bay near St Malo on 5 June and that evening the landing craft carrying the soldiers were put ashore. St Malo was situated at the end of a causeway, once ashore the only immediate opposition they faced was a French artillery battery, which was subdued by the guns of the British warships. The troops then marched towards St Malo, but it became apparent they would need to conduct a full-scale siege to take the town - something they did not have the time to do. Instead the British occupied St Servan, a port. Troops were also sent on a reconnaissance eastwards towards Dol and they reported the approach of a sizeable French force - and Marlborough decided that it was the right time to withdraw. On 11 and 12 June the British expedition re-embarked, the force remained off St Malo for more than a week, and then sailed along the coast in an attempt to scout out fresh targets. The possibility of an attack on Le Havre or Caen was considered, the British then began to focus their attention on Cherbourg in Normandy. While the expedition had failed to seize St Malo, it was considered a success. When it was discovered that St Malo was the correct destination, however, as with the Rochefort raid, the sudden descent made the French more concerned about the coast and increasingly large numbers of troops were deployed on coastal defence duties. In September of the year, following a successful descent on Cherbourg a second British force under Thomas Bligh attempted another raid on St Malo. Caught ashore by a force of French troops they were only able to re-embark with considerable difficulty following the Battle of St Cast. This brought an end to the policy of descents as government policy had changed to support a more direct British military presence in Germany and it was announced that the Prince Edward, Duke of York, younger brother of the Prince of Wales, was to join the next expedition
Raid on St Malo
–
Map of Saint Malo
Raid on St Malo
–
St Malo - the initial British target.
Raid on St Malo
–
The raid's commander - the
3rd Duke of Marlborough. A few months later he was to lead the first British contingent to take part in the war in Germany.
44.
World War II
–
World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
World War II
–
Clockwise from top left: Chinese forces in the
Battle of Wanjialing, Australian
25-pounder guns during the
First Battle of El Alamein, German
Stuka dive bombers on the
Eastern Front in December 1943, a U.S. naval force in the
Lingayen Gulf,
Wilhelm Keitel signing the
German Instrument of Surrender, Soviet troops in the
Battle of Stalingrad
World War II
–
The
League of Nations assembly, held in
Geneva,
Switzerland, 1930
World War II
–
Adolf Hitler at a German
National Socialist political rally in
Weimar, October 1930
World War II
–
Italian soldiers recruited in 1935, on their way to fight the
Second Italo-Abyssinian War
45.
Allies of World War II
–
The Allies of World War II, called the United Nations from the 1 January 1942 declaration, were the countries that together opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War. The Allies promoted the alliance as seeking to stop German, Japanese, at the start of the war on 1 September 1939, the Allies consisted of France, Poland and the United Kingdom, and dependent states, such as the British India. Within days they were joined by the independent Dominions of the British Commonwealth, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Poland was a minor factor after its defeat in 1939, France was a minor factor after its defeat in 1940. China had already been into a war with Japan since the Marco Polo Bridge Incident of 1937. The alliance was formalised by the Declaration by United Nations, from 1 January 1942, however, the name United Nations was rarely used to describe the Allies during the war. The leaders of the Big Three – the UK, the Soviet Union, in 1945, the Allied nations became the basis of the United Nations. The origins of the Allied powers stem from the Allies of World War I, Germany resented signing Treaty of Versailles. The new Weimar republics legitimacy became shaken, by the early 1930s, the Nazi Party led by Adolf Hitler became the dominant revanchist movement in Germany and Hitler and the Nazis gained power in 1933. The Nazi regime demanded the cancellation of the Treaty of Versailles and made claims to German-populated Austria. The likelihood of war was high, and the question was whether it could be avoided through strategies such as appeasement, in Asia, when Japan seized Manchuria in 1931, the League of Nations condemned it for aggression against China. Japan responded by leaving the League of Nations in March 1933, after four quiet years, the Sino-Japanese War erupted in 1937 with Japanese forces invading China. The League of Nations condemned Japans actions and initiated sanctions on Japan, the United States, in particular, was angered at Japan and sought to support China. In March 1939, Germany took over Czechoslovakia, violating the Munich Agreement signed six months before, Britain and France decided that Hitler had no intention to uphold diplomatic agreements and responded by preparing for war. On 31 March 1939, Britain formed the Anglo-Polish military alliance in an effort to avert a German attack on the country, also, the French had a long-standing alliance with Poland since 1921. The Soviet Union sought an alliance with the powers. The agreement secretly divided the independent nations of eastern Europe between the two powers and assured adequate oil supplies for the German war machine, on 1 September 1939, Germany invaded Poland, two days later Britain and France declared war on Germany. Then, on 17 September 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Poland from the east, a Polish government-in-exile was set up and it continued to be one of the Allies, a model followed by other occupied countries. After a quiet winter, Germany in April 1940 invaded and quickly defeated Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Britain and its Empire stood alone against Hitler and Mussolini
Allies of World War II
–
Poland first to fight — British wartime poster supporting
Poland after the German invasion, 1939
Allies of World War II
–
Allied Powers (and their colonies)
Allies of World War II
–
British
Supermarine Spitfire fighter aircraft (left) flying past a German
Heinkel He-111 bomber aircraft (right) during the
Battle of Britain
Allies of World War II
–
British tanks during the
North African Campaign
46.
Axis powers
–
The Axis powers, also known as the Rome–Berlin–Tokyo Axis, were the nations that fought in World War II against the Allied Powers. The Axis agreed on their opposition to the Allies, but did not completely coordinate their activity, the Axis grew out of the diplomatic efforts of Germany, Italy, and Japan to secure their own specific expansionist interests in the mid-1930s. The first step was the treaty signed by Germany and Italy in October 1936, Mussolini declared on 1 November that all other European countries would from then on rotate on the Rome–Berlin axis, thus creating the term Axis. The almost simultaneous second step was the signing in November 1936 of the Anti-Comintern Pact, Italy joined the Pact in 1937. At its zenith during World War II, the Axis presided over territories that occupied parts of Europe, North Africa. There were no three-way summit meetings and cooperation and coordination was minimal, the war ended in 1945 with the defeat of the Axis powers and the dissolution of their alliance. As in the case of the Allies, membership of the Axis was fluid, at the time he was seeking an alliance with the Weimar Republic against Yugoslavia and France in the dispute over the Free State of Fiume. The term was used by Hungarys prime minister Gyula Gömbös when advocating an alliance of Hungary with Germany, when Mussolini publicly announced the signing on 1 November, he proclaimed the creation of a Rome–Berlin axis. Italy under Duce Benito Mussolini had pursued an alliance of Italy with Germany against France since the early 1920s. He believed that Italy could expand its influence in Europe by allying with Germany against France, in early 1923, as a goodwill gesture to Germany, Italy secretly delivered weapons for the German Army, which had faced major disarmament under the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles. General Hans von Seeckt supported an alliance between Germany and the Soviet Union to invade and partition Poland between them and restore the German-Russian border of 1914. The discussions concluded that Germans still wanted a war of revenge against France but were short on weapons, however at this time Mussolini stressed one important condition that Italy must pursue in an alliance with Germany, that Italy must. Tow them, not be towed by them, the French government warned Italy that it had to choose whether to be on the side of the pro-Versailles powers or that of the anti-Versailles revanchists. Grandi responded that Italy would be willing to offer France support against Germany if France gave Italy its mandate over Cameroon, France refused Italys proposed exchange for support, as it believed Italys demands were unacceptable and the threat from Germany was not yet immediate. In 1932, Gyula Gömbös and the Party of National Unity rose to power in Hungary, Gömbös sought to alter Hungarys post–Treaty of Trianon borders by forming an alliance with Austria and Italy, knowing that Hungary alone was not capable of challenging the Little Entente powers. At the meeting between Gömbös and Mussolini in Rome on 10 November 1932, the question came up of the sovereignty of Austria in relation to the rise to power in Germany of the Nazi Party. Mussolini was worried about Nazi ambitions towards Austria, and indicated that at least in the term he was committed to maintaining Austria as a sovereign state. Italy had concerns over a Germany which included Austria laying land claims to German-populated territories of the South Tyrol within Italy, Mussolini said he hoped the Anschluss could be postponed as long as possible until the breakout of a European war that he estimated would begin in 1938
Axis powers
–
Flags of Germany, Japan, and Italy draping the facade of the Embassy of Japan on the Tiergartenstraße (Zoo Street) in Berlin (September 1940)
Axis powers
–
Germany's
Führer Adolf Hitler (right) beside Italy's
Duce Benito Mussolini (left)
Axis powers
–
Japan's
Prime Minister Hideki Tojo (center) with fellow government representatives of the
Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. To the left of Tojo, from left to right:
Ba Maw from Burma,
Zhang Jinghui,
Wang Jingwei from China. To the right of Tojo, from left to right,
Wan Waithayakon from Thailand,
José P. Laurel from the Philippines
Subhas Chandra Bose from India
Axis powers
–
The signing of the Tripartite Pact by Germany, Japan, and Italy on 27 September 1940 in
Berlin. Seated from left to right are the Japanese ambassador to Germany
Saburō Kurusu, Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs
Galeazzo Ciano, and
Adolf Hitler.
47.
Anti-aircraft warfare
–
Anti-aircraft warfare or counter-air defence is defined by NATO as all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action. They include ground-and air-based weapon systems, associated sensor systems, command and control arrangements and it may be used to protect naval, ground, and air forces in any location. However, for most countries the main effort has tended to be homeland defence, NATO refers to airborne air defence as counter-air and naval air defence as anti-aircraft warfare. Missile defence is an extension of air defence as are initiatives to adapt air defence to the task of intercepting any projectile in flight, a surface-based air defence capability can also be deployed offensively to deny the use of airspace to an opponent. Until the 1950s, guns firing ballistic munitions ranging from 20 mm to 150 mm were the weapons, guided missiles then became dominant. The term air defence was probably first used by Britain when Air Defence of Great Britain was created as a Royal Air Force command in 1925. However, arrangements in the UK were also called anti-aircraft, abbreviated as AA, after the First World War it was sometimes prefixed by Light or Heavy to classify a type of gun or unit. Nicknames for anti-aircraft guns include AA, AAA or triple-A, an abbreviation of anti-aircraft artillery, ack-ack, NATO defines anti-aircraft warfare as measures taken to defend a maritime force against attacks by airborne weapons launched from aircraft, ships, submarines and land-based sites. In some armies the term All-Arms Air Defence is used for air defence by nonspecialist troops, other terms from the late 20th century include GBAD with related terms SHORAD and MANPADS. Anti-aircraft missiles are variously called surface-to-air missile, abbreviated and pronounced SAM, non-English terms for air defence include the German FlaK, whence English flak, and the Russian term Protivovozdushnaya oborona, a literal translation of anti-air defence, abbreviated as PVO. In Russian the AA systems are called zenitnye systems, in French, air defence is called DCA. The maximum distance at which a gun or missile can engage an aircraft is an important figure, however, many different definitions are used but unless the same definition is used, performance of different guns or missiles cannot be compared. For AA guns only the part of the trajectory can be usefully used. By the late 1930s the British definition was that height at which an approaching target at 400 mph can be engaged for 20 seconds before the gun reaches 70 degrees elevation. However, effective ceiling for heavy AA guns was affected by nonballistic factors, The maximum running time of the fuse, the capability of fire control instruments to determine target height at long range. The essence of air defence is to detect aircraft and destroy them. The critical issue is to hit a target moving in three-dimensional space, Air defence evolution covered the areas of sensors and technical fire control, weapons, and command and control. At the start of the 20th century these were very primitive or non-existent
Anti-aircraft warfare
–
American troops mount a
Swedish Bofors 40mm anti-aircraft gun near the
Algerian coastline in 1943
Anti-aircraft warfare
–
Ballonabwehrkanone by Krupp
Anti-aircraft warfare
Anti-aircraft warfare
–
1909 vintage Krupp 9 pounder anti-aircraft gun
48.
Napalm
–
Napalm is a flammable liquid used in warfare. It is a mixture of an agent and either gasoline or a similar fuel. It was initially used as an incendiary device against buildings and later primarily as a weapon, as it sticks to skin. Napalm was developed in 1942 in a laboratory at Harvard University. Its first recorded use was in the European theatre of war during World War II and it was used extensively by the US in incendiary attacks on Japanese cities in World War II as well as during the Korean War and Vietnam War. Napalm is a portmanteau of the names of two of the constituents of the agent, co-precipitated aluminium salts of naphthenic and palmitic acids. Napalm B is the modern version of napalm and, although distinctly different in its chemical composition, is often referred to simply as napalm. Napalm was used in flamethrowers, bombs and tanks in World War II and it is believed to have been formulated to burn at a specific rate and to adhere to surfaces to increase its stopping power. During combustion, napalm rapidly deoxygenates the available air and generates large amounts of carbon monoxide, alternative compositions exist for different uses, e. g. triethylaluminium, a pyrophoric compound that aids ignition. Use of fire in warfare has a long history, Greek fire, also described as sticky fire, is believed to have had a petroleum base. The development of napalm was precipitated by the use of jellied gasoline mixtures by the Allied forces during World War II, a team of chemists led by Louis Fieser at Harvard University was the first to develop synthetic napalm, during 1942. One of Fiesers colleagues suggested adding phosphorus to the mix which increased the ability to penetrate deeply. into the musculature, on 4 July 1942, the first test occurred on the football field near the Harvard Business School. This new mixture of chemicals was used in the Second World War in incendiary bombs. From 1965 to 1969, the Dow Chemical Company manufactured napalm B for the American armed forces, the management of the company decided that its first obligation was the government. Meanwhile, napalm B became a symbol for the Vietnam War, Napalm was first employed in incendiary bombs and went on to be used as fuel for flamethrowers. The first recorded use of napalm incendiary bombs occurred in an attack by the US Army Air Force on Berlin on 6 March 1944. The first known tactical operation was by De Havilland D. H.98 Mosquito FB Mk. VIs of No. Soldiers of this Waffen SS unit had captured and then killed a British SAS prisoner-of-war, Lt. Tomos Stephens, taking part in Operation Bulbasket, and seven local Resistance fighters
Napalm
–
An Ecuadorian Air Force
IAI Kfir aeroplane drops napalm on a target during Dominic "Blue Horizon", a US-Ecuador joint military exercise.
Napalm
–
Riverboat of the U.S.
Brown-water navy deploying an ignited napalm mixture from a riverboat mounted
flamethrower in Vietnam.
Napalm
–
June 8, 1972:
Phan Thi Kim Phuc, center left, after being burned in a napalm attack. (
Nick Ut /AP)
49.
European Security and Defence Policy
–
Formally, the Common Security and Defence Policy is the domain of the European Council, which is an EU institution, whereby the heads of member states meet. Nonetheless, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, currently Federica Mogherini, as Chairperson of the external relations configuration of the Council, the High Representative prepares and examines decisions to be made before they are brought to the Council. European security policy has followed different paths during the 1990s, developing simultaneously within the Western European Union, NATO. Earlier efforts were made to have a common European security and defence policy, the 1947 Treaty of Dunkirk between UK and France was a European alliance and mutual assistance agreement after WWII. This agreement was 1948 transferred to the military Article 4 of the Treaty of Brussels which included the BeNeLux countries, to reach the treaty goals the Western Union Defence Organization was set up 1948 with an allied European command structure under British Field Marshal Montgomery. In 1950 the European Defence Community, similar in nature to European Coal, the military Western Union Defence Organization was during the 1950–1953 Korean War augmented to become the North Atlantic Treaty Organization of the cold war. In 1992, the Western European Union adopted the Petersberg tasks, the WEU itself had no standing army but depended on cooperation between its members. The Berlin agreement allowed European countries to use NATO assets if it so wished, the European Union incorporated the same Petersberg tasks within its domain with the Amsterdam Treaty. The treaty signalled the progressive framing of a security and defence policy based on the Petersberg tasks. In 1998, traditional British reluctance to such a plan changed into endorsement after a declaration of French President Jacques Chirac. In June 1999, the Cologne European Council decided to incorporate the role of the Western European Union within the EU, the Cologne Council also appointed Javier Solana as the High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy to help progress both the CFSP and the ESDP. The European Union made its first concrete step to enhance military capabilities, in line with the ESDP and they include the creation of a catalogue of forces, the Helsinki Force Catalogue, to be able to carry out the so-called “Petersberg Tasks”. The EU launched the European Capabilities Action Plan at the Laeken Summit in December 2001, however, it became clear that the objectives outlined in the Helsinki Headline Goal were not achievable quickly. In May 2004, EU defence ministers approved Headline Goal 2010, however, it became clear that the objectives cannot be achieved by this date too. French Foreign Minister Alain Juppé espressed his desperation, “The common security, concerns were voiced that an independent European security pillar might result in a declining importance of NATO as a transatlantic forum. In response to St. Furthermore, an agreement has signed on information sharing between the EU and NATO, and EU liaison cells are now in place at SHAPE. The right of first refusal governs missions, the EU may only act if NATO first decides not to, the European Security Strategy was written in 2003 and was the policy document that guided for a time the European Unions international security strategy. Its headline reads, A Secure Europe In A Better World, with the emergence of the ESDP, it is the first time that Europe has formulated a joint security strategy
European Security and Defence Policy
–
ESCB
.svg)
Port-Louis, Mauritius (1999)
Gaspé, Quebec, Canada (2009)
Cowes, Isle of Wight, Great Britain
Gniezno, Poland[20]
.jpg)
.jpg)
