1.
Welsh Marches
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The Welsh Marches is an imprecisely defined area along and around the border between England and Wales in the United Kingdom. The precise meaning of the term has varied at different periods, in modern usage, the Marches is often used to describe those English counties which lie along the border with Wales, particularly Shropshire and Herefordshire, and sometimes adjoining areas of Wales. Over the next few centuries, the Angles, Saxons and others gradually conquered and settled in eastern and southern Britain, the kingdom of Mercia, under Penda, became established around Lichfield, and initially established strong alliances with the Welsh kings. However, his successors sought to expand Mercia further westwards into what is now Cheshire, Shropshire and Herefordshire. Campaigns and raids from Powys then led, possibly around about AD820, to the building of Wats Dyke, the Dyke still exists, and can best be seen at Knighton, close to the modern border between England and Wales. In the centuries which followed, Offas Dyke largely remained the frontier between the Welsh and English, by the mid-eleventh century, Wales was united under Gruffudd ap Llywelyn of Gwynedd, until his death in 1063. The process took a century and was never permanently effective, the term March of Wales was first used in the Domesday Book of 1086. Over the next four centuries, Norman lords established mostly small marcher lordships between the Dee and Severn, and further west, military adventurers went to Wales from Normandy and elsewhere and after raiding an area of Wales, then fortified it and granted land to some of their supporters. One example was Bernard de Neufmarché, responsible for conquering and pacifying the Welsh kingdom of Brycheiniog, the precise dates and means of formation of the lordships varied, as did their size. By about AD1100 the March covered the areas which would later become Monmouthshire and much of Flintshire, Montgomeryshire, Radnorshire, Brecknockshire, Glamorgan, ultimately, this amounted to about two-thirds of Wales. During the period, the Marches were a society in every sense. Hundreds of small castles were built in the area in the 12th and 13th centuries, predominantly by Norman lords as assertions of power as well as defences against Welsh raiders. The area still contains Britains densest concentration of motte-and-bailey castles, the Marcher lords encouraged immigration from all the Norman-Angevin realms, and encouraged trade from fair haven ports like Cardiff. Peasants went to Wales in large numbers, Henry I encouraged Bretons, Flemings, Normans, many new towns were established, some such as Chepstow, Monmouth, Ludlow and Newtown becoming successful trading centres, and these tended also to be a focus of English settlement. At the same time, the Welsh continued to attack English soil, the Norman lords each had similar rights to the Welsh princes. The lordships were geographically compact and jurisdictionally separate one from another, Marcher lords ruled their lands by their own law—sicut regale as Gilbert de Clare, 7th Earl of Gloucester stated— whereas in England fief-holders were directly accountable to the king. However, Welsh law was used in the Marches in preference to English law. The Statute of Rhuddlan in 1284 followed the conquest of the Principality by Edward I of England
2.
Wales
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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
3.
University of Paris
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The University of Paris, metonymically known as the Sorbonne, was a university in Paris, France. Emerging around 1150 as an associated with the cathedral school of Notre Dame de Paris. Vast numbers of popes, royalties, scientists and intellectuals were educated at the University of Paris, following the turbulence of the French Revolution, education was suspended in 1793 whereafter its faculties were partly reorganised by Napoleon as the University of France. In 1896, it was renamed again to the University of Paris, in 1970, following the May 1968 events, the university was divided into 13 autonomous universities. Others, like Panthéon-Sorbonne University, chose to be multidisciplinary, in 1150, the future University of Paris was a student-teacher corporation operating as an annex of the Notre-Dame cathedral school. The university had four faculties, Arts, Medicine, Law, the Faculty of Arts was the lowest in rank, but also the largest, as students had to graduate there in order to be admitted to one of the higher faculties. The students were divided into four nationes according to language or regional origin, France, Normandy, Picardy, the last came to be known as the Alemannian nation. Recruitment to each nation was wider than the names might imply, the faculty and nation system of the University of Paris became the model for all later medieval universities. Under the governance of the Church, students wore robes and shaved the tops of their heads in tonsure, students followed the rules and laws of the Church and were not subject to the kings laws or courts. This presented problems for the city of Paris, as students ran wild, students were often very young, entering the school at age 13 or 14 and staying for 6 to 12 years. Three schools were especially famous in Paris, the palatine or palace school, the school of Notre-Dame, the decline of royalty brought about the decline of the first. The other two were ancient but did not have much visibility in the early centuries, the glory of the palatine school doubtless eclipsed theirs, until it completely gave way to them. These two centres were much frequented and many of their masters were esteemed for their learning, the first renowned professor at the school of Ste-Geneviève was Hubold, who lived in the tenth century. Not content with the courses at Liège, he continued his studies at Paris, entered or allied himself with the chapter of Ste-Geneviève, and attracted many pupils via his teaching. Distinguished professors from the school of Notre-Dame in the century include Lambert, disciple of Fulbert of Chartres, Drogo of Paris, Manegold of Germany. Three other men who added prestige to the schools of Notre-Dame and Ste-Geneviève were William of Champeaux, Abélard, humanistic instruction comprised grammar, rhetoric, dialectics, arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy. To the higher instruction belonged dogmatic and moral theology, whose source was the Scriptures and it was completed by the study of Canon law. The School of Saint-Victor arose to rival those of Notre-Dame and Ste-Geneviève and it was founded by William of Champeaux when he withdrew to the Abbey of Saint-Victor
4.
Thomas Becket
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Thomas Becket was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 until his murder in 1170. He is venerated as a saint and martyr by both the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion and he engaged in conflict with Henry II, King of England, over the rights and privileges of the Church and was murdered by followers of the king in Canterbury Cathedral. Soon after his death, he was canonised by Pope Alexander III, the main sources for the life of Becket are a number of biographies that were written by contemporaries. A few of these documents are by unknown writers, although traditional historiography has given them names, the other biographers, who remain anonymous, are generally given the pseudonyms of Anonymous I, Anonymous II, and Anonymous III. Besides these accounts, there are two other accounts that are likely contemporary that appear in the Quadrilogus II and the Thómas saga Erkibyskups. Besides these biographies, there is also the mention of the events of Beckets life in the chroniclers of the time. These include Robert of Torignis work, Roger of Howdens Gesta Regis Henrici Secundi and Chronica, Ralph Dicetos works, William of Newburghs Historia Rerum, Becket was born about 1119, or in 1120 according to later tradition. He was born in Cheapside, London, on 21 December and he was the son of Gilbert Beket and Gilberts wife Matilda. Gilberts father was from Thierville in the lordship of Brionne in Normandy, Matilda was also of Norman ancestry, and her family may have originated near Caen. Gilbert was perhaps related to Theobald of Bec, whose family also was from Thierville. Gilbert began his life as a merchant, perhaps as a textile merchant and he also served as the sheriff of the city at some point. They were buried in Old St Pauls Cathedral, one of Beckets fathers wealthy friends, Richer de LAigle, often invited Thomas to his estates in Sussex where Becket was exposed to hunting and hawking. According to Grim, Becket learned much from Richer, who was later a signatory of the Constitutions of Clarendon against Thomas. Beginning when he was 10, Becket was sent as a student to Merton Priory in England and later attended a school in London. He did not study any subjects beyond the trivium and quadrivium at these schools, later, he spent about a year in Paris around age 20. He did not, however, study canon or civil law at this time, some time after Becket began his schooling, Gilbert Beket suffered financial reverses, and the younger Becket was forced to earn a living as a clerk. Theobald entrusted him several important missions to Rome and also sent him to Bologna. His efficiency in those posts led to Theobald recommending him to King Henry II for the vacant post of Lord Chancellor, as Chancellor, Becket enforced the kings traditional sources of revenue that were exacted from all landowners, including churches and bishoprics
5.
Henry II of England
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Henry was the son of Geoffrey of Anjou and Matilda, daughter of Henry I of England. He became actively involved by the age of 14 in his mothers efforts to claim the throne of England, then occupied by Stephen of Blois and he inherited Anjou in 1151 and shortly afterwards married Eleanor of Aquitaine, whose marriage to Louis VII of France had recently been annulled. Stephen agreed to a treaty after Henrys military expedition to England in 1153. Henry was an energetic and sometimes ruthless ruler, driven by a desire to restore the lands and privileges of his royal grandfather, Henrys desire to reform the relationship with the Church led to conflict with his former friend Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury. This controversy lasted for much of the 1160s and resulted in Beckets murder in 1170, Henry soon came into conflict with Louis VII and the two rulers fought what has been termed a cold war over several decades. By 1172, he controlled England, large parts of Wales, the half of Ireland and the western half of France. Henry and Eleanor had eight children, as they grew up, tensions over the future inheritance of the empire began to emerge, encouraged by Louis and his son King Philip II. In 1173 Henrys heir apparent, Young Henry, rebelled in protest, he was joined by his brothers Richard and Geoffrey and by their mother, France, Scotland, Flanders, and Boulogne allied themselves with the rebels. The Great Revolt was only defeated by Henrys vigorous military action and talented local commanders, many of them new men appointed for their loyalty, Young Henry and Geoffrey revolted again in 1183, resulting in Young Henrys death. The Norman invasion of Ireland provided lands for his youngest son John, Philip successfully played on Richards fears that Henry would make John king, and a final rebellion broke out in 1189. Decisively defeated by Philip and Richard and suffering from an ulcer, Henry retreated to Chinon in Anjou. Henrys empire quickly collapsed during the reign of his youngest son John, many of the changes Henry introduced during his long rule, however, had long-term consequences. Historical interpretations of Henrys reign have changed considerably over time, in the 18th century, scholars argued that Henry was a driving force in the creation of a genuinely English monarchy and, ultimately, a unified Britain. Late-20th-century historians have combined British and French historical accounts of Henry, Henry was born in France at Le Mans on 5 March 1133 as the eldest child of the Empress Matilda and her second husband, Geoffrey the Fair, Count of Anjou. In theory, the county answered to the French king, but royal power over Anjou weakened during the 11th century, Henrys mother, firstly married to the Holy Roman Emperor Henry V, was the eldest daughter of Henry I, King of England and Duke of Normandy. She was born into a ruling class of Normans, who traditionally owned extensive estates in both England and Normandy. Geoffrey took advantage of the confusion to attack the Duchy of Normandy but played no role in the English conflict, leaving this to Matilda and her half-brother. The war, termed the Anarchy by Victorian historians, dragged on, Henry probably spent some of his earliest years in his mothers household, and accompanied Matilda to Normandy in the late 1130s
6.
Louis VII of France
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Louis VII was King of the Franks from 1137 until his death. He was the son and successor of King Louis VI of France, hence his nickname, immediately after the annulment of her marriage, Eleanor married Henry Plantagenet, Duke of Normandy and Count of Anjou, to whom she conveyed Aquitaine. When Henry became King of England in 1154, as Henry II, Henrys efforts to preserve and expand on this patrimony for the Crown of England would mark the beginning of the long rivalry between France and England. Louis VIIs reign saw the founding of the University of Paris and he died in 1180 and was succeeded by his son Philip II. Louis was born in 1120 in Paris, the son of Louis VI of France. The early education of Prince Louis anticipated an ecclesiastical career, in October 1131, his father had him anointed and crowned by Pope Innocent II in Reims Cathedral. He spent much of his youth in Saint-Denis, where he built a friendship with the Abbot Suger, an advisor to his father who also served Louis well during his early years as king. Following the death of William X, Duke of Aquitaine, Louis VI moved quickly to have Prince Louis married to Eleanor, Duchess of Aquitaine, heiress of the late duke, on 25 July 1137. In this way, Louis VI sought to add the large, on 1 August 1137, shortly after the marriage, Louis VI died, and Prince Louis became king of France, reigning as Louis VII. The pairing of the monkish Louis and the high-spirited Eleanor was doomed to failure, she once declared that she had thought to marry a king. Louis and Eleanor had two daughters, Marie and Alix, in the first part of his reign, Louis VII was vigorous and zealous in his prerogatives. His accession was marked by no other than uprisings by the burgesses of Orléans and Poitiers. He soon came into violent conflict with Pope Innocent II, however, the pope thus imposed an interdict upon the king. As a result, Champagne decided to side with the pope in the dispute over Bourges, the war lasted two years and ended with the occupation of Champagne by the royal army. Louis VII was personally involved in the assault and burning of the town of Vitry-le-François, more than a thousand people who had sought refuge in the church died in the flames. Overcome with guilt and humiliated by ecclesiastical reproach, Louis admitted defeat, removed his armies from Champagne and he accepted Pierre de la Chatre as archbishop of Bourges and shunned Raoul and Petronilla. Desiring to atone for his sins, he declared his intention of mounting a crusade on Christmas Day 1145 at Bourges, bernard of Clairvaux assured its popularity by his preaching at Vezelay on Easter 1146. In the meantime, Geoffrey V, Count of Anjou, completed his conquest of Normandy in 1144, in exchange for being recognised as Duke of Normandy by Louis, Geoffrey surrendered half of the Vexin — a region vital to Norman security — to Louis
7.
Pope Alexander III
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Pope Alexander III, born Roland of Siena, was Pope from 7 September 1159 to his death in 1181. He also laid the stone for the Notre-Dame de Paris. Pope Alexander III was born in Siena, from 14th century he is referred to as a member of the aristocratic family of Bandinelli, although this has not been proven. Noonan and Rudolf Weigand have shown this to be another Rolandus and he probably studied at Bologna, where Robert of Torigni notes that he taught theology. In October 1150, Pope Eugene III created him Cardinal-Deacon of Santi Cosma e Damiano, later he became Cardinal-Priest of St Mark. In 1153, he became chancellor and was the leader of the cardinals opposed to German Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa. He negotiated the Treaty of Benevento, which restored peaceful relations between Rome and the Kingdom of Sicily, on 7 September 1159, he was chosen the successor of Pope Adrian IV. A minority of the cardinals, however, elected the cardinal priest Octavian and this meant that Alexanders legitimacy was gaining strength, as soon proved by the fact that other monarchs, such as the king of France and King Henry II of England, recognized his authority. Because of imperial strength in Italy, Alexander was forced to reside outside of Rome for a part of his pontificate. The first period he spent in France, the latter chiefly in Gaeta, Benevento, Anagni, Alexander III was the first pope known to have paid direct attention to missionary activities east of the Baltic Sea. The latter appointed a Benedictine monk Fulco as a bishop in Estonia, in 1171, Alexander became the first pope to address the situation of the Church in Finland, with Finns allegedly harassing priests and only relying on God in time of war. Besides checkmating Barbarossa, Alexander humbled King Henry II of England for the murder of Thomas Becket in 1170, to whom he was unusually close and this was the second English saint canonized by Alexander, the first being Edward the Confessor in 1161. Nonetheless, he confirmed the position of Henry as Lord of Ireland in 1172, even as a fugitive, Alexander enjoyed the favour and protection of Louis VII of France. In March 1179, Alexander III held the Third Council of the Lateran, one of the most important mediaeval church councils, the rule was altered slightly in 1996, but was restored in 2007. This synod marked the summit of Alexander IIIs power, by the judicious use of money, however, Alexander III got him into his power, so that he was deposed in January 1180. In 1181, Alexander III excommunicated King William I of Scotland and he died at Civita Castellana on 30 August 1181. Herbermann, Charles, ed. Pope Alexander III and this article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Alexander. Myriam Soria Audebert, Pontifical Propaganda during the Schisms, Alexander III to the reconquest of Church Unity, in Convaincre et persuader, poitiers, Université de Poitiers-centre détudes supérieures de civilisation médiévale,2007
8.
Waldensians
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The Waldensians are a Christian movement founded by Peter Waldo circa 1173. The Waldensian movement first appeared in Lyon in the late 1170s, today, the Waldensian movement is centered on Piedmont in northern Italy, while small communities are also found in southern Italy, Argentina, Brazil, Germany, the United States, and Uruguay. Waldensian teachings quickly came into conflict with the Catholic Church, in the sixteenth century, Waldensian leaders embraced the Protestant Reformation and joined various local Protestant regional entities. Modern Waldensians share core tenets with Calvinists, including the priesthood of all believers, congregational polity, and they are members of the Community of Protestant Churches in Europe and its affiliates worldwide. The main denomination within the movement was the Waldensian Evangelical Church, in 1975, it merged with the Methodist Evangelical Church to form the Union of Methodist and Waldensian Churches—a majority Waldensian church, with a minority of Methodists. Congregations continue to be active in Europe, South America, there are also the two reports written for the Inquisition by Reinerius Saccho, a former Cathar who converted to Catholicism, published together in 1254 as Summa de Catharis et Pauperibus de Lugduno. Waldensians held and preached a number of truths as they read from the Bible and they were accused, moreover, of having scoffed at the doctrine of transubstantiation, and of having spoken blasphemously of the Roman Catholic Church as the harlot of the Apocalypse. They rejected what they perceived as the idolatry of the Roman Catholic Church, the La nobla leyczon, written in the Occitan language, gives a sample of the medieval Waldensian belief. According to legend, Waldo renounced his wealth as an encumbrance to preaching, because of the shunning of the wealth of the Roman Catholic Church clergy, the movement was early known as The Poor of Lyon and The Poor of Lombardy. The Waldensian movement was characterized from the beginning by lay preaching, voluntary poverty, between 1175 and 1185, Peter Waldo either commissioned a cleric from Lyons to translate the New Testament into the vernacular—the Arpitan language—or was himself involved in this translation work. In 1179, Waldo and one of his disciples went to Rome, where Pope Alexander III, the Waldensians proceeded to disobey the Third Lateran Council and continued to preach according to their own understanding of the Scriptures. By the early 1180s, Waldo and his followers were excommunicated and forced from Lyon, the Roman Catholic Church declared them heretics, stating that the groups principal error was contempt for ecclesiastical power. Rome also accused the Waldensians of teaching innumerable errors, Waldo and his followers developed a system whereby they would go from town to town and meet secretly with small groups of Waldensians. There they would confess sins and hold service, a traveling Waldensian preacher was known as a barba. The group would shelter and house the barba and help make arrangements to move on to the town in secret. Waldo possibly died in the early 13th century, possibly in Germany, he was never captured, some historians feel their beliefs came from missionaries from the early church and their history is founded perhaps in the apostolic age. Though this idea itself stems from Baptist Successionism, an idea that was very popular among some 19th century Church historians, but has been largely discredited by modern scholars in the field. The Roman Inquisitor Reinerus Sacho writing c.1230 held the sect of the Vaudois to be of great antiquity, in the Waldensians, Sabbatati or Insabbatati, there was a more or less continuous tradition of Sabbath-keeping from the early church of the Apostles, throughout southern Europe
9.
Henry I, Count of Champagne
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Henry I, known as the Liberal, was count of Champagne from 1152 to 1181. He was the eldest son of Count Thibaut II of Champagne and his wife, Henry took part in the Second Crusade under the leadership of Louis VII of France. On his fathers death, Henry chose to take Champagne, leaving the familys holdings to his younger brothers. At the time this may have been surprising, for the territories were richer and better developed. Henry must have foreseen the economic possibilities of Champagne, and it is during his rule that the county achieved its place as one of the richest and strongest of the French principalities. Henry established orderly rule over the nobles of Champagne, and could fairly reliably count on the aid of some 2,000 vassals, in addition, the counts court in Troyes became a renowned literary center. Walter Map was among those who found hospitality there, the scholar Stephen of Alinerre was among Henrys courtiers, becoming chancellor of the county in 1176. In 1179 Henry went to Jerusalem again with a party of French knights including his relatives Peter of Courtenay and Philip of Dreux, bishop of Beauvais. Henry returned towards Europe by the route across Asia Minor. The ransom was paid by the Byzantine Emperor, Henry would later die,16 March 1181. In 1164, Henry married Marie of France, daughter of Louis VII of France and he was buried there, as was his son Theobald III, but most of his descendants were buried elsewhere. He died in 1181 and was succeeded by their eldest son Henry, after Henry became king of Jerusalem, the younger son Theobald became count. The Court of Champagne as a Literary Center, abbot Hugh, An Overlooked Brother of Henry I, Count of Champagne. The Aristocracy in the County of Champagne, 1100-1300, Henry the Liberal, Count of Champagne, 1127-1181. The Leper King and His Heirs, Baldwin IV and the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem
10.
Precentor
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A precentor is a person who helps facilitate worship. The details vary depending on the religion, denomination, and era in question, the Latin derivation is præcentor, from cantor, meaning the one who sings before. The chief precentor was the highest position in many ancient Mesopotamian cities, Jewish precentors are song or prayer leaders, leading Synagogue music. A Jewish precentor is typically called a hazzan or cantor, in the Middle Ages, women precentors leading prayers in the weibershul were known as firzogerin, vorsangerin, foreleiner, zugerin, or zugerke. A precentor is a member of a church who helps facilitate worship, the role of precentor was carried over from the synagogues into the early church. The term precentor described sometimes an ecclesiastical dignitary, sometimes an administrative or ceremonial officer, anciently, the precentor had various duties, he was the first or leading chanter, who on Sundays and greater feasts intoned certain antiphons, psalms, hymns, responsories etc. He was variously styled capiscol, prior scholæ, magister scholæ, victor of St. Hugo tells us that in the care of the primicerius were placed the acolytes, exorcists, lectors, and psalmists. In the Middle Ages the principal dignitaries of cathedral, collegiate chapters, the schola was always in attendance when the bishop officiated in his cathedral, and to the precentor was assigned a place near the bishop and high in dignity. His office was obviously one demanding much learning and executive ability, in the cathedrals of England, France, Spain, and Germany, he ranked sometimes next to the dean, sometimes next to the archdeacon. In some instances his sphere of activity was much broader, including the duty of installing deans, canons, and other dignitaries, and in some monasteries and this baton cantoral is a silver or white staff. In the dioceses of Aix, Carcassonne, Coutances, Dijon, Metz, Orléans, brings the antiphon to the bishop when officiating pontifically. Sacristans, chanters, choir-boys, and employés of the Cathedral are placed under his surveillance and he will also preserve order and silence in the sacristy). A precentor is a person, usually a member, who is in charge of preparing worship services. This position is held in a large church, and is typically used in the churches of the Anglican Communion. Most cathedrals have a precentor in charge of the organisation of liturgy, the precentor of a cathedral is usually a residentiary canon or prebendary, and may be assisted by a succentor. In some cathedrals, the Precentor is a minor Canon, and therefore part of the Foundation, traditionally the precentors stall in the cathedral is on the opposite side of the Quire than that of the Dean, leading to the traditional division of the singers into Decani and Cantoris. Churches that use a manner of singing called lining out are usually led by the precentor. The word precentor is also used at two English public schools, Radley College and Eton College, to refer to the Head of Music and these school precentors have no specific religious duties although, as part of their musical function, they may conduct the college chapel choir
11.
Canon (priest)
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A canon is a member of certain bodies subject to an ecclesiastical rule. This way of life grew common in the eighth century, in the eleventh century, some churches required clergy thus living together to adopt the rule first proposed by Saint Augustine that they renounce private wealth. Those who embraced this change were known as Augustinians or Canons Regular, in the Roman Catholic Church, the members of the chapter of a cathedral or of a collegiate church are canons. Depending on the title of the church, several languages use specific titles, e. g. in German Domherr or Domkapitular in a Dom, Stiftsherr in a prelature that has the status of a Stift. One of the functions of the chapter in the Roman Catholic Church was to elect a Vicar Capitular to serve during a sede vacante period of the diocese. All canons of the Church of England have been secular since the Reformation, mostly, however, they are ordained, that is, priests or members of the clergy. Today, the system of canons is retained almost exclusively in connection with cathedral churches, a canon is a member of the chapter of priests, headed by a dean, which is responsible for administering a cathedral or certain other churches that are styled collegiate churches. The dean and chapter are the body which has legal responsibility for the cathedral. The title of Canon is not a permanent title and when no longer in a position entitling preferment, however, it is still given in many dioceses to senior parish priests as a largely honorary title. It is usually awarded in recognition of long and dedicated service to the diocese, honorary canons are members of the chapter in name but are non-residential and receive no emoluments. They are entitled to call themselves canon and may have a role in the administration of the cathedral, in some Church of England dioceses, the title Prebendary is used instead of canon when the cleric is involved administratively with a cathedral. Honorary canons within the Roman Catholic Church may still be nominated after the Second Vatican Council, on the demise of the Kingdom of France this honour became transferred to the Presidents of the Republic, and hence is currently held by François Hollande. This applies even when the French President is not Catholic, as is the case with the atheist Hollande, the proto-canon of the papal basilica of Saint Mary Major is the King of Spain, currently Felipe VI. The rank of lay canon is especially conferred upon diocesan chancellors and it has traditionally been said that the King of England is a canon or prebendary of St David’s Cathedral, Wales. However, this is based on a misconception, the canonry of St Mary’s College, St David’s became the property of the Crown on the dissolution of the monasteries. The Sovereign was never a canon of St David’s, even as a layman, though he or she may occupy the first prebendal stall, a canon professor is a canon at an Anglican cathedral who also holds a university professorship. Section 2 of the Church of England Measure 1995 was passed for the purpose of enabling Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford. Historically, the chair in Greek at the university was also a canon professorship and this canonry was transferred to the Lightfoot Professor of Divinity in 1940
12.
Old St Paul's Cathedral
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Old St Pauls Cathedral was the medieval cathedral of the City of London that, until 1666, stood on the site of the present St Pauls Cathedral. Built from 1087 to 1314 and dedicated to Saint Paul, the cathedral was the church on the site at Ludgate Hill. Work on the cathedral began during the reign of William the Conqueror after a fire in 1087 that destroyed much of the city, Work took more than 200 years, and construction was delayed by another fire in 1135. The church was consecrated in 1240 and enlarged again in 1256, at its completion in the middle of the 14th century, the cathedral was one of the longest churches in the world and had one of the tallest spires and some of the finest stained glass. The presence of the shrine of Saint Erkenwald made the cathedral a pilgrimage site during the Medieval period, after the Reformation, the open-air pulpit in the churchyard, St Pauls Cross, became the stage for radical evangelical preaching and Protestant bookselling. The cathedral was already in severe structural decline by the 17th century, Restoration work by Inigo Jones in the 1620s was halted by the English Civil War. Sir Christopher Wren was attempting another restoration in 1666 when the cathedral was destroyed in the Great Fire of London, after demolition of the old structure, the present, domed cathedral was erected on the site, with an English Baroque design by Wren. The cathedral could be the church on the site at Ludgate Hill dedicated to St Paul. A devastating fire in 1087, detailed in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, destroyed much of the city, Bishop Maurice oversaw early preparations, although it was primarily under his successor, Richard de Beaumis, that construction work fully commenced. Beaumis was assisted by King Henry I, who gave the bishop stone, to fund the cathedral, Henry gave Beamis rights to all fish caught within the cathedral neighbourhood and tithes on venison taken in the County of Essex. Beaumis also gave a site for the foundation of St Pauls School. After Henry Is death, a war known as The Anarchy broke out. Henry of Blois, Bishop of Winchester, was appointed to administer the affairs of St Pauls, almost immediately, he had to deal with the aftermath of a fire at London Bridge in 1135. It spread over much of the city, damaging the cathedral, during this period, the style of the building was changed from heavy Romanesque into Early English Gothic. Although the base Norman columns were left alone, lancet pointed arches were placed over them in the triforium, the steeple was erected in 1221 and the cathedral was rededicated by Bishop Roger Niger in 1240. After a succession of storms, in 1255 Bishop Fulk Basset appealed for funds to repair the damaged roof, the roof was once more rebuilt in wood, which was ultimately to doom the building. At this time, the east end of the church was lengthened, enclosing the parish church of St Faith. The eastward addition was always referred to as The New Work, after complaints from the dispossessed parishioners of St Faiths, the east end of the west crypt was allotted to them as their parish church
13.
Diocese of Hereford
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The cathedral is Hereford Cathedral and the bishop is the Bishop of Hereford. The diocese is one of the oldest in England and is part of the Province of Canterbury, a retired bishop, Michael Westall lives in Kingstone, Herefordshire. As reported in the Church of Englands Statistics for Mission 2014, published in January 2016, with 409 churches, the population per church was 790, the lowest of any diocese and less than 60% of the 1380 in the next lowest, St Edmundsbury and Ipswich. Average weekly church attendance was 9,600, down from 10,000 in 2013, the total worshipping community was estimated at 11,500, down from 11,800 in 2013, and 43% of these were aged over 70 years
14.
Bishop of Hereford
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The Bishop of Hereford is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Hereford in the Province of Canterbury. The episcopal see is centred in the City of Hereford where the seat is in the Cathedral Church of Saint Mary. The diocese was founded for the minor sub-kingdom of the Magonsæte in 676 and it now covers the whole of the county of Herefordshire, southern Shropshire and a few parishes in Worcestershire, Powys and Monmouthshire. The arms of the see are gules, three leopards faces reversed jessant-de-lys or, which were the arms of Bishop Thomas de Cantilupe. Until 1534 the Diocese of Hereford was in communion with the Roman Catholic Church. Since the accession of Elizabeth I the diocese has again been part of the Church of England, richard Friths election was confirmed on 17 October 2014 and he was installed as Bishop of Hereford on 22 November 2014 in Hereford Cathedral. The bishops residence is The Palace, Hereford, note, The chronology prior to 1056 is partly conjectural
15.
Bishop of St David's
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The Bishop of St Davids is the ordinary of the Church in Wales Diocese of St Davids. The succession of bishops stretches back to Saint David who in the 6th century established his seat in what is today the city of St Davids in Pembrokeshire, the current Bishop of St Davids is Joanna Penberthy, since the confirmation on 30 November 2016 of her election. One of the earliest mentions of the community at St Davids Cathedral comes in the work of Asser who was trained there. In his Life of King Alfred c.893 Asser clearly describes his kinsman, Nobis, also of St Davids, in the Annales Cambriae, Elfodd is termed archbishop of the land of Gwynedd’ in his obit, under the year 809. Rhygyfarchs Life of Saint David c, states Saint David was anointed as an archbishop by the Patriarch of Jerusalem, a position confirmed at the Synod of Llanddewi Brefi by popular acclaim. Rhygyfarchs claim may be dubious history but there can be little doubt he was reflecting a pre-existing tradition, once in place Bernard became convinced that St Davids was a Metropolitan archbishopric. Bernard in the 1120s claimed metropolitan jurisdiction over Wales and presented his suit unsuccessfully before six successive popes. Pope Eugenius III was giving the case serious consideration, the issue was to be put to the synod summoned to meet at Rheims in March 1148, the idea of Archbishops in Wales was also reflected in the work of Geoffrey of Monmouth. The claim was revived in the time of Gerald of Wales who pressed it vigorously. The failure of Geralds campaign saw the claim lapse but it was revived by Owain Glyndŵrs plan for an independent Welsh Church and it was only in 1920 that an Archbishop of Wales was re-established. The building of the present St Davids Cathedral was begun under Bishop Peter de Leia, in the troubled times of the Reformation the former bishop of St Davids, William Barlow, was a consecrator of Archbishop Matthew Parker in 1559. At the English Reformation the See ceased to be in communion with Rome, but it continued as a See of the Church of England, accounts of the early incumbents on the list are conflicting
16.
Hereford Cathedral
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The current Hereford Cathedral, located at Hereford in England, dates from 1079. Its most famous treasure is Mappa Mundi, a map of the world dating from the 13th century. The cathedral is a Grade I listed building, the cathedral is dedicated to two patron saints, namely Saint Mary the Virgin and Saint Ethelbert the King. The latter was beheaded by Offa, King of Mercia in the year 792, the execution, or murder, is said to have taken place at Sutton, four miles from Hereford, with Ethelberts body brought to the site of the modern cathedral by a pious monk. Before this, Hereford had become the seat of a bishopric, in the 7th century the cathedral was refounded by Putta, who settled here when driven from Rochester by Æthelred of Mercia. The cathedral of stone, which Milfrid raised, stood for some 200 years, Hereford Cathedral remained in a state of ruin until Robert of Lorraine was consecrated to the see in 1079 and undertook its reconstruction. His work was carried on, or, more probably, redone, by Bishop Reynelm, who was next but one in the succession, and reorganised the college of secular canons attached to the cathedral. Reynelm died in 1115, and it was only under his successor, Robert de Betun, who was Bishop from 1131 to 1148. Of this Norman church, little has survived but the choir up to the spring of the clerestory, the south transept, the arch between the north transept and the choir aisle, and the nave arcade. Around the middle of the century the clerestory, and probably the vaulting of the choir, were rebuilt, Aquablanca came to England in the train of Eleanor of Provence. He was an unblushing nepotist, nor was he afraid to practise gross fraud when occasion called for it. When Prince Edward came to Hereford to deal with Llywelyn the Great of Gwynedd, the Bishop was away in Ireland on an expedition. In the first half of the 14th century the rebuilding of the central tower, the building of the present edifice therefore extended over a period of 440 years. Thomas de Cantilupe was the next but one bishop of Hereford after Aquablanca and he had faults not uncommon in men who held high ecclesiastical office in his day, however he was a strenuous administrator of his see, and an unbending champion of its rights. Excommunicated by Archbishop of Canterbury John Peckham, he went to the court in Orvieto to plead his case with the pope. He moved with the court to Montefiascone where, already ill and his flesh was buried in the monastery of San Severo outside Orvieto and his heart and bones were brought back to England. His bones were placed in a shrine at Hereford Cathedral where they became a focus of a huge pilgrimage cult, the testimony was regarded as conclusive, and 40 years after his death, in 1320, the bishops name was added to the roll of saints. His arms were adopted for those of the see, the choir stalls support forty 14th-century misericords
17.
William of Newburgh
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William of Newburgh or Newbury, also known as William Parvus, was a 12th-century English historian and Augustinian canon of Anglo-Saxon descent from Bridlington, Yorkshire. His major work was Historia rerum Anglicarum or Historia de rebus anglicis, the work is valued by historians for detailing The Anarchy under Stephen of England. It is written in a fashion and still readable to this day. He is a source for stories of medieval revenants, those souls who return from the dead, including early vampire stories. The 19th-century historian Edward Augustus Freeman expressed the now outdated opinion that William was the father of historical criticism, indeed, he was very critical of King John, who he describes as natures enemy, and in general his discussion of English kings is loyal but critical and cool. He criticised Geoffrey for writing a history that conflicted with the found in the writing of Bede. Although they form a part in each work, these folklore accounts have attracted attention within occultism. He also described the arrival of children from St. Martins Land. He also composed a lengthy Marian exposition on the Song of Songs, the History of English Affairs Online excerpts, as part of The Church Historians of England, volume IV, part II, translated by Joseph Stevenson. Spelling modernised 1999 by Scott McLetchie, chronicles of the Reigns of Stephen, Henry II and Richard I. Books 1–4 of Williams history appear in volume 1, book 5 in volume 2, the History of English Affairs, Book I, by William, P. G. Walsh, M. J. Kennedy,1988, ISBN 0-85668-304-3, Book I only. The Sermons of William of Newburgh, ed. A. B. Kraebel, Latin Chroniclers from the Eleventh to the Thirteenth Centuries, William of Newburgh from The Cambridge History of English and American Literature, Volume I, 1907–21. Books I to V of Newburghs History from the Medieval Sourcebook Ex Willelmi Neuburgensis Historia anglicana
18.
Vampire
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A vampire is a being from folklore who subsists by feeding on the life essence of the living. In European folklore, vampires were undead beings that often visited loved ones and they wore shrouds and were often described as bloated and of ruddy or dark countenance, markedly different from todays gaunt, pale vampire which dates from the early 19th century. This increased level of vampire superstition in Europe led to mass hysteria and in some cases resulted in corpses actually being staked and people being accused of vampirism. In modern times, however, the vampire is generally held to be a fictitious entity, porphyria was also linked with legends of vampirism in 1985 and received much media exposure, but has since been largely discredited. However, it is Bram Stokers 1897 novel Dracula which is remembered as the vampire novel. The success of this book spawned a distinctive vampire genre, still popular in the 21st century, with books, films, the vampire has since become a dominant figure in the horror genre. Vampires had already discussed in French and German literature. After Austria gained control of northern Serbia and Oltenia with the Treaty of Passarowitz in 1718, officials noted the practice of exhuming bodies. These reports, prepared between 1725 and 1732, received widespread publicity, among the proposed proto-Slavic forms are *ǫpyrь and *ǫpirь. Another, less widespread theory, is that the Slavic languages have borrowed the word from a Turkic term for witch. Czech linguist Václav Machek proposes Slovak verb vrepiť sa, or its hypothetical anagram vperiť sa as an etymological background, and thus translates upír as someone who thrusts, bites. An early use of the Old Russian word is in the anti-pagan treatise Word of Saint Grigoriy, dated variously to the 11th–13th centuries, the notion of vampirism has existed for millennia. Cultures such as the Mesopotamians, Hebrews, Ancient Greeks, and Romans had tales of demons and spirits which are considered precursors to modern vampires. In most cases, vampires are revenants of evil beings, suicide victims, or witches, belief in such legends became so pervasive that in some areas it caused mass hysteria and even public executions of people believed to be vampires. It is difficult to make a single, definitive description of the folkloric vampire, vampires were usually reported as bloated in appearance, and ruddy, purplish, or dark in colour, these characteristics were often attributed to the recent drinking of blood. Indeed, blood was often seen seeping from the mouth and nose when one was seen in its shroud or coffin and its left eye was often open. It would be clad in the linen shroud it was buried in, and its teeth, hair, although vampires were generally described as undead, some folktales spoke of them as living beings. The causes of vampiric generation were many and varied in original folklore, in Slavic and Chinese traditions, any corpse that was jumped over by an animal, particularly a dog or a cat, was feared to become one of the undead
19.
Lancelot
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Sir Lancelot du Lac was one of the Knights of the Round Table in the Arthurian legend. Traditional scholars thought that they are the same due to the fact that their names are similar. One suggestion has been that the name may have been an invention by Chretien de Troyes, given the evidence of LAncelot. Another suggestion is that the name may have derived from Geoffrey of Monmouths Anguselaus. However, one scholar has suggested that Lancelot may be a variant of the name Lancelin, Lancelot or Lancelin may have instead been the hero of an independent folk-tale which had contact with and was ultimately absorbed into the Arthurian tradition. F. Campbell in his Tales of the West Highlands, the character Lancelot is first introduced by writer Chrétien de Troyes in the 12th century. In Chrétiens earliest known work Erec and Enide, the name Lancelot appears as third on a list of knights at King Arthurs court. The fact that Lancelots name follows Gawain and Erec indicates the importance of the knight at court. Here, Lancelot takes an important role as one of the knights that Cligès must overcome in his quest. It is not until Chrétiens Le Chevalier de la Charrette, however, in this text, he is presented as the most formidable knight at King Arthurs court. His adulterous relationship with the Queen is also introduced in this text, according to Pamela Raabe, Lancelot is portrayed in Chrétien de Troyes’ work as the bravest of knights and one whom everyone is forced to describe as uniquely perfect. His deeds are recounted for their uniqueness, not only among living knights, the problem is that critics have been unable to agree on how to reconcile his perfect “saintliness” with his obvious adultery with King Arthur’s Guinevere. How can the lovers’ consummation be considered a “saintly affair” when it is also adultery, and that adultery is against King Arthur, to whom all knights owe selfless respect, according to Arthurian politics and William Bowman Piper. It is also Chrétien who first gives Lancelot the name Lancelot du Lac which was picked up by the Anglo-French Lancelot-Grail. Lancelot is constantly tied to the Christianity associated with Arthurian Legend, Raabe compares Lancelot’s quest for Guinevere in “Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart” to Everyman’s quest for salvation and Christ’s quest for the human soul. This becomes intensified when he becomes the saviour of the captives of Logres. Danielle MacBain’s study of Thomas Malory’s Le Morte dArthur claims that Lancelot’s affair with Guinevere is often seen as parallel to that of Tristram and Iseult. MacBain suggests that it is Lancelot who is identified with the tragedy of chance
20.
Goliard
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The goliards were a group of generally young clergy in Europe who wrote satirical Latin poetry in the 12th and 13th centuries of the Middle Ages. Disaffected and not called to the life, they often presented such protests within a structured setting associated with carnival, such as the Feast of Fools. The derivation of the word is uncertain and it may come from the Latin gula, gluttony. Another source may be gailliard, a gay fellow, by the 14th century, the word goliard became synonymous with minstrel, and no longer referred to a particular group of clergy. The goliardic class is believed to have arisen from the need of younger sons to develop means of support, the medieval social convention of primogeniture meant that the eldest son inherited title and estate. This practice of bestowing the rights of inheritance upon the eldest son left younger sons to seek other means by which to support themselves, often, these younger sons went the universities or monasteries of the day, where theology and preparation for clergy careers were a major focus. Many felt no affinity for religious office, and many could not secure an office even if they desired one because of an overabundant supply of those educated in theology. Consequently, over-educated, under-motivated clerics often adopted not the life of an ordered monk, the goliards, as scholars, often wrote their poetry in Latin. As a kind of traveling entertainer, the goliards composed many of their poems to be sung and these poems, or lyrics, focus on two overarching themes, depictions of the lusty lifestyle of the vagrant and satirical criticisms of society and the church. Expressing their lusty lifestyle, the goliards wrote about the physicality of love and they wrote drinking songs, and reveled in riotous living. Their satirical poems directed at the church were inspired by their daily worlds, including mounting corruption in monasteries, as a result of their rebellious writings against the church, the goliards were eventually denied the privileges of the clergy. Their strained relationship with the church, along with their vagabond lifestyle, one of the largest and most famous collections of goliardic poetry is the Carmina Burana. The satires were meant to mock and lampoon the church, for example, at St. Remy, the goliards went to mass in procession, with each trailing a herring on a string along the ground. The game was to step on the herring in front and keep your own herring from being trod upon. In some districts, goliards staged a celebration of the ass, when he paused, the audience would respond, He Haw, Sire Ass, He haw. The University of Paris complained, Priests and clerks, dance in the choir dressed as women. They eat black pudding at the altar itself, while the celebrant is saying Mass and they play dice on the altar. They cense with stinking smoke from the soles of old shoes and they run and leap throughout the church, without a blush of their own shame
21.
Dictionary of National Biography
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The Dictionary of National Biography is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published from 1885. The updated Oxford Dictionary of National Biography was published on 23 September 2004 in 60 volumes and he approached Leslie Stephen, then editor of the Cornhill Magazine, owned by Smith, to become editor. Stephen persuaded Smith that the work should focus on subjects from the UK and its present, an early working title was the Biographia Britannica, the name of an earlier eighteenth-century reference work. The first volume of the Dictionary of National Biography appeared on 1 January 1885, in May 1891 Leslie Stephen resigned and Sidney Lee, Stephens assistant editor from the beginning of the project, succeeded him as editor. While much of the dictionary was written in-house, the DNB also relied on external contributors, by 1900, more than 700 individuals had contributed to the work. Successive volumes appeared quarterly with complete punctuality until midsummer 1900, when the series closed with volume 63, the year of publication, the editor and the range of names in each volume is given below. The supplements brought the work up to the death of Queen Victoria on 22 January 1901. The dictionary was transferred from its original publishers, Smith, Elder & Co. to Oxford University Press in 1917, until 1996, Oxford University Press continued to add further supplements featuring articles on subjects who had died during the twentieth century. The supplements published between 1912 and 1996 added about 6,000 lives of people who died in the century to the 29,120 in the 63 volumes of the original DNB. In 1993 a volume containing missing biographies was published and this had an additional 1,000 lives, selected from over 100,000 suggestions. Consequently, the dictionary was becoming less and less useful as a reference work, in 1966, the University of London published a volume of corrections, cumulated from the Bulletin of the Institute of Historical Research. There were various versions of the Concise Dictionary of National Biography, the last edition, in three volumes, covered everyone who died before 1986. In the early 1990s Oxford University Press committed itself to overhauling the DNB, the new dictionary would cover British history, broadly defined, up to 31 December 2000. The research project was conceived as a one, with in-house staff co-ordinating the work of nearly 10,000 contributors internationally. Following Matthews death in October 1999, he was succeeded as editor by another Oxford historian, Professor Brian Harrison, in January 2000. The new dictionary, now known as the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, was published on 23 September 2004 in 60 volumes in print at a price of £7500, most UK holders of a current library card can access it online free of charge. In subsequent years, the print edition has been able to be obtained new for a lower price. At publication, the 2004 edition had 50,113 biographical articles covering 54,922 lives, a small permanent staff remain in Oxford to update and extend the coverage of the online edition
22.
Catholic Encyclopedia
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The first volume appeared in March 1907 and the last three volumes appeared in 1912, followed by a master index volume in 1914 and later supplementary volumes. It was designed to give its readers full and authoritative information on the cycle of Catholic interests, action. The Catholic Encyclopedia was published by the Robert Appleton Company, a company incorporated at New York in February 1905 for the express purpose of publishing the encyclopedia. The five members of the encyclopedias Editorial Board also served as the directors of the company, in 1912 the companys name was changed to The Encyclopedia Press. Publication of the volumes was the sole business conducted by the company during the projects lifetime. The encyclopedia was designed to serve the Roman Catholic Church, concentrating on information related to the Church and it records the accomplishments of Catholics and others in nearly all intellectual and professional pursuits, including artists, educators, poets and scientists. The volumes came out sequentially the first two in 1907 and the last three in 1912, The editors had their first editorial meeting at the office of The Messenger, on West 16th Street, New York City. The text received a nihil obstat from an official censor, Remy Lafort, on November 1,1908 and this review process was presumably accelerated by the reuse of older authorized publications. A first supplement was published in 1922, a supplement in nine loose-leaf sections was published by The Gilmary Society between 1950 and 1958. In 1912, a special completely illustrated commemorative volume was awarded to patrons who contributed to the start of the enterprise by buying multiple encyclopedia sets early on. The encyclopedia was later updated under the auspices of The Catholic University of America and a 17-volume New Catholic Encyclopedia was first published in 1967, and then in 2002. The Catholic Encyclopedia and its makers states that, The work is entirely new, the editors have insisted that the articles should contain the latest and most accurate information to be obtained from the standard works on each subject. Those who wrote new articles in English include Anthony Maas and Herbert Thurston, under United States copyright law, all works published in the United States before 1923 are in the public domain. Knight founded the website New Advent to house the undertaking, volunteers from the United States, Canada, France, and Brazil helped in the transcription of the original material. The site went online in 1995, and transcription work ended in 1997, in 2007, Catholic Answers published a watermarked version derived from page scans. This version has since replaced with a transcription of the Encyclopedia similar to that found at the New Advent website. The Catholic Answers transcription, however, is a transcription of the original text, whereas the New Advent version at times modernizes certain words. Other scanned copies of the 1913 Encyclopedia are available on Google Books, at the Internet Archive, wikisource also hosts a transcription project backed by the scans hosted at Commons
23.
LibriVox
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On 6 August 2016, the project completed project number 10,000. Most releases are in the English language, but many works are also available. There are multiple affiliated projects that are providing additional content, LibriVox is closely affiliated with Project Gutenberg from where the project gets some of its texts, and the Internet Archive that hosts their offerings. LibriVox was started in August 2005 by Montreal-based writer Hugh McGuire, who set up a blog, the first recorded book was The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad. LibriVox is an invented word inspired by Latin words liber in its genitive form libri and vox, the word was also coined because of other connotations as liber also means child and free, independent, unrestricted. As the LibriVox forum says it, We like to think LibriVox might be interpreted as child of the voice, finally, the other link we like is library so you could imagine it to mean Library of Voice. There has been no decision or consensus by LibriVox founders or the community of volunteers for a single pronunciation of LibriVox and it is accepted that any audible pronunciation is accurate. LibriVox is a volunteer-run, free content, Public Domain project and it has no budget or legal personality. The development of projects is managed through an Internet forum, supported by an admin team, in early 2010, LibriVox ran a fundraising drive to raise $20,000 to cover hosting costs for the website of about $5, 000/year and improve front- and backend usability. Volunteers can choose new projects to start, either recording on their own or inviting others to join them, once a volunteer has recorded his or her contribution, it is uploaded to the site, and proof-listened by members of the LibriVox community. Finished audiobooks are available from the LibriVox website, and MP3, recordings are also available through other means, such as iTunes, and, being free of copyright, they are frequently distributed independently of LibriVox on the Internet and otherwise. LibriVox only records material that is in the domain in the United States. Because of copyright restrictions, LibriVox produces recordings of only a number of contemporary books. These have included, for example, the 9/11 Commission Report and it contains much popular classic fiction, but also includes less predictable texts, such as Immanuel Kants Critique of Pure Reason and a recording of the first 500 digits of pi. The collection also features poetry, plays, religious texts and non-fiction of various kinds, in January 2009, the catalogue contained approximately 55 percent fiction and drama,25 percent non-fiction and 20 percent poetry. By the end of 2016, the most viewed item was The Adventures of Tom Sawyer in a 2006 solo recording by John Greenman, around 90 percent of the catalogue is recorded in English, but recordings exist in 31 languages altogether. Chinese, French and German are the most popular languages other than English amongst volunteers, LibriVox has garnered significant interest, in particular from those interested in the promotion of volunteer-led content and alternative approaches to copyright ownership on the Internet. It has received support from the Internet Archive and Project Gutenberg, intellectual freedom and commons proponent Mike Linksvayer described it in 2008 as perhaps the most interesting collaborative culture project this side of Wikipedia
24.
Virtual International Authority File
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The Virtual International Authority File is an international authority file. It is a joint project of national libraries and operated by the Online Computer Library Center. The project was initiated by the US Library of Congress, the German National Library, the National Library of France joined the project on October 5,2007. The project transitions to a service of the OCLC on April 4,2012, the aim is to link the national authority files to a single virtual authority file. In this file, identical records from the different data sets are linked together, a VIAF record receives a standard data number, contains the primary see and see also records from the original records, and refers to the original authority records. The data are available online and are available for research and data exchange. Reciprocal updating uses the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting protocol, the file numbers are also being added to Wikipedia biographical articles and are incorporated into Wikidata. VIAFs clustering algorithm is run every month, as more data are added from participating libraries, clusters of authority records may coalesce or split, leading to some fluctuation in the VIAF identifier of certain authority records
25.
Integrated Authority File
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The Integrated Authority File or GND is an international authority file for the organisation of personal names, subject headings and corporate bodies from catalogues. It is used mainly for documentation in libraries and increasingly also by archives, the GND is managed by the German National Library in cooperation with various regional library networks in German-speaking Europe and other partners. The GND falls under the Creative Commons Zero license, the GND specification provides a hierarchy of high-level entities and sub-classes, useful in library classification, and an approach to unambiguous identification of single elements. It also comprises an ontology intended for knowledge representation in the semantic web, available in the RDF format
26.
National Library of Australia
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In 2012–2013, the National Library collection comprised 6,496,772 items, and an additional 15,506 metres of manuscript material. In 1901, a Commonwealth Parliamentary Library was established to serve the newly formed Federal Parliament of Australia, from its inception the Commonwealth Parliamentary Library was driven to development of a truly national collection. The present library building was opened in 1968, the building was designed by the architectural firm of Bunning and Madden. The foyer is decorated in marble, with windows by Leonard French. In 2012–2013 the Library collection comprised 6,496,772 items, the Librarys collections of Australiana have developed into the nations single most important resource of materials recording the Australian cultural heritage. Australian writers, editors and illustrators are actively sought and well represented—whether published in Australia or overseas, approximately 92. 1% of the Librarys collection has been catalogued and is discoverable through the online catalogue. The Library has digitized over 174,000 items from its collection and, the Library is a world leader in digital preservation techniques, and maintains an Internet-accessible archive of selected Australian websites called the Pandora Archive. A core Australiana collection is that of John A. Ferguson, the Library has particular collection strengths in the performing arts, including dance. The Librarys considerable collections of general overseas and rare materials, as well as world-class Asian. The print collections are further supported by extensive microform holdings, the Library also maintains the National Reserve Braille Collection. The Library has acquired a number of important Western and Asian language scholarly collections from researchers, williams Collection The Asian Collections are searchable via the National Librarys catalogue. The National Library holds a collection of pictures and manuscripts. The manuscript collection contains about 26 million separate items, covering in excess of 10,492 meters of shelf space, the collection relates predominantly to Australia, but there are also important holdings relating to Papua New Guinea, New Zealand and the Pacific. The collection also holds a number of European and Asian manuscript collections or single items have received as part of formed book collections. Examples are the papers of Alfred Deakin, Sir John Latham, Sir Keith Murdoch, Sir Hans Heysen, Sir John Monash, Vance Palmer and Nettie Palmer, A. D. Hope, Manning Clark, David Williamson, W. M. The Library has also acquired the records of many national non-governmental organisations and they include the records of the Federal Secretariats of the Liberal party, the A. L. P, the Democrats, the R. S. L. Finally, the Library holds about 37,000 reels of microfilm of manuscripts and archival records, mostly acquired overseas and predominantly of Australian, the National Librarys Pictures collection focuses on Australian people, places and events, from European exploration of the South Pacific to contemporary events. Art works and photographs are acquired primarily for their informational value, media represented in the collection include photographs, drawings, watercolours, oils, lithographs, engravings, etchings and sculpture/busts
27.
National Diet Library
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The National Diet Library is the only national library in Japan. It was established in 1948 for the purpose of assisting members of the National Diet of Japan in researching matters of public policy, the library is similar in purpose and scope to the United States Library of Congress. The National Diet Library consists of two facilities in Tokyo and Kyoto, and several other branch libraries throughout Japan. The Diets power in prewar Japan was limited, and its need for information was correspondingly small, the original Diet libraries never developed either the collections or the services which might have made them vital adjuncts of genuinely responsible legislative activity. Until Japans defeat, moreover, the executive had controlled all political documents, depriving the people and the Diet of access to vital information. The U. S. occupation forces under General Douglas MacArthur deemed reform of the Diet library system to be an important part of the democratization of Japan after its defeat in World War II. In 1946, each house of the Diet formed its own National Diet Library Standing Committee, hani Gorō, a Marxist historian who had been imprisoned during the war for thought crimes and had been elected to the House of Councillors after the war, spearheaded the reform efforts. Hani envisioned the new body as both a citadel of popular sovereignty, and the means of realizing a peaceful revolution, the National Diet Library opened in June 1948 in the present-day State Guest-House with an initial collection of 100,000 volumes. The first Librarian of the Diet Library was the politician Tokujirō Kanamori, the philosopher Masakazu Nakai served as the first Vice Librarian. In 1949, the NDL merged with the National Library and became the national library in Japan. At this time the collection gained a million volumes previously housed in the former National Library in Ueno. In 1961, the NDL opened at its present location in Nagatachō, in 1986, the NDLs Annex was completed to accommodate a combined total of 12 million books and periodicals. The Kansai-kan, which opened in October 2002 in the Kansai Science City, has a collection of 6 million items, in May 2002, the NDL opened a new branch, the International Library of Childrens Literature, in the former building of the Imperial Library in Ueno. This branch contains some 400,000 items of literature from around the world. Though the NDLs original mandate was to be a library for the National Diet. In the fiscal year ending March 2004, for example, the library reported more than 250,000 reference inquiries, in contrast, as Japans national library, the NDL collects copies of all publications published in Japan. The NDL has an extensive collection of some 30 million pages of documents relating to the Occupation of Japan after World War II. This collection include the documents prepared by General Headquarters and the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers, the Far Eastern Commission, the NDL maintains a collection of some 530,000 books and booklets and 2 million microform titles relating to the sciences
