1.
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
2.
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
3.
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
4.
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
5.
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
6.
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
7.
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
8.
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
9.
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
10.
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
11.
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
12.
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
