1.
Gloucestershire
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Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the fertile valley of the River Severn. The county town is the city of Gloucester, and other towns include Cheltenham, Cirencester, Stroud. Gloucestershire is a historic county mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in the 10th century, though the areas of Winchcombe, Gloucestershire originally included Bristol, then a small town. The local rural community moved to the city, and Bristols population growth accelerated during the industrial revolution. Bristol became a county in its own right, separate from Gloucestershire and it later became part of the administrative County of Avon from 1974 to 1996. Upon the abolition of Avon in 1996, the north of Bristol became a unitary authority area of South Gloucestershire and is now part of the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire. The official former postal county abbreviation was Glos, rather than the frequently used but erroneous Gloucs. or Glouc. In July 2007, Gloucestershire suffered the worst flooding in recorded British history, the RAF conducted the largest peace time domestic operation in its history to rescue over 120 residents from flood affected areas. The damage was estimated at over £2 billion, the county recovered rapidly from the disaster, investing in attracting tourists to visit the many sites and diverse range of shops in the area. This is a chart of trend of gross value added of Gloucestershire at current basic prices published by Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling. Gloucestershire has mainly comprehensive schools with seven schools, two are in Stroud, one in Cheltenham and four in Gloucester. There are 42 state secondary schools, not including sixth form colleges, all but about two schools in each district have a sixth form, but the Forest of Dean only has two schools with sixth forms. All schools in South Gloucestershire have sixth forms, each has campuses at multiple locations throughout the county. Most of the old market towns have parish churches, at Deerhurst near Tewkesbury, and Bishops Cleeve near Cheltenham, there are churches of special interest on account of the pre-Norman work they retain. These are, however, adjudged to be of English workmanship, other notable buildings include Calcot Barn in Calcot, a relic of Kingswood Abbey. Thornbury Castle is a Tudor country house, the pretensions of which evoked the jealousy of Cardinal Wolsey against its builder, Edward Stafford, duke of Buckingham, near Cheltenham is the 15th-century mansion of Southam de la Bere, of timber and stone. Memorials of the de la Bere family appear in the church at Cleeve, the mansion contains a tiled floor from Hailes Abbey
2.
Castle Hill, Filleigh
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Castle Hill in the parish of Filleigh in North Devon, is an early Palladian country house situated 3 miles north-west of South Molton and 8 miles south-east of Barnstaple. Whose family is earliest recorded as residing in the 12th century at the manor of Whympston in the parish of Modbury in South Devon, the Fortescue family became major land owners, influential in British and West Country history. The house was reconstructed following a disastrous fire in 1934. It was designated a Grade II* listed building in 1967, the park and gardens are Grade I listed in the National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens. Today the property is leased by Eleanor, Countess of Arran, the only historic residence of the Fortescue family now remaining as a seat of the Earls Fortescue is Ebrington Manor in Gloucestershire, a very modest building in comparison to Castle Hill. The manor of Filleigh has been held by the Fortescue family since the 15th century, although the main seat until the late 17th century was Weare Giffard. An older late Tudor manor house on the site was re-modelled in 1684 by Arthur Fortescue, a plaque to the left of the north entrance front of the main range is inscribed in Latin, Re-Edificat Per Arthur Fortescue AR AD1684. In 1728/9 he appointed Burlingtons favoured builder Roger Morris to reface the house in Portland stone, the former hall was remodelled as a double-height saloon. A circular library was added in the early 19th century, in 1841 the architect Edward Blore added a porte-cochere on the north side of the main range, now demolished and replaced in 1974 by an entrance porch to the design of Raymond Erith. Blore also refashioned the entrance hall and stairs and added a top storey with mansard roof, in 1861 Blore added at the east side of the house service wings and stables, thus considerably elongating the southern appearance of the building beyond the east wing. The service wing is set back from the east wing by the width of the road which passes directly in front of it. Adjoining it on its east end and extending backwards to give the ensemble an L-shape, is Blores stable block, a major fire broke out in the early morning of 9 March 1934 and burned for two days. It destroyed much of the interior and killed two members of staff, the housekeeper and a maid, the 5th Earl had recently installed a central heating system, the boiler of which, situated underneath the library floor, had malfunctioned. After the fire the house was restored to the 18th-century style by Lord Gerald Wellesley, soldier, diplomat and architect, the house is surrounded by landscaped grounds containing many picturesque structures and decorative points-de-vue. This made available a site for the planned landscaping. Other points-de-vue include the Sham Castle, the Triumphal Arch, the Ebrington Tower, a sham castle dating from about 1746, occupies the hill behind the house to the north, possibly inspired by Vanbrugh, and is said to be the feature which gave the house its name. It served for a while as a hall, at which time it was lined with oak panelling from nearby North Aller House. The building was converted into a dwelling house, originally intended for a couple to tend the tame pheasants
3.
Weare Giffard
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Weare Giffard is a small village, parish and former manor in North Devon. The church and manor house are situated 2 1/2 miles NW of Great Torrington in North Devon, most of the houses within the parish are situated some 1/2-mile east of the church. The church is situated on a hillside to the north and slightly above the wide, the Church of the Holy Trinity and the adjacent Weare Giffard Hall are designated members of the Grade I listed buildings in Devon. The historian of Devon Tristram Risdon supposed the name Weare to be derived from a weir which was historically situated in the river to catch fish. The construction of a fish-weir generally required a licence from the feudal overlord, many disputes are recorded in the medieval records over disputes concerning fish-weirs. One of the earliest holders of the manor was the 13th-century Sir Walter Giffard, after whom the manor took its suffix. He left a daughter Emma as his sole heiress who married thrice, Firstly to Hugh Widworthy, secondly to Sir William Trewin, for whom she produced issue, William Trewin, who took the surname de Wear in lieu of his patronymic. Thirdly to Sir Robert Dynham, without issue, stone effigies of an early member of the Giffard family and his wife exist in the Parish Church, now housed separately in arched niches set into the north wall of the nave. The original location of these effigies was in the north transept, the estate of Brightley in the parish of Chittlehampton, about 10 miles east of Weare Giffard, was acquired by Sir Roger Giffard on his marriage to Margaret Coblegh, the heiress of Brightley. Over the porch of Brightley Barton, now a large farmhouse, Roger was a son of Sir Thomas Giffard of the manor of Halsbury, about 13 miles west of Weare Giffard. The Giffards of Halsbury appear to have been a line of the Giffards of Weare. Bartholomew Giffard of Clovelly, married Joan de Halsbury, the heiress of Halsbury, the 13th-century Testa de Nevill lists the manor of Clovelly as being held by Sir Roger Giffard from his overlord Sir Walter Giffard of Wear. The senior male line at Clovelly died out in 1303 on the death of Sir Matthew Giffard, the last of in the male line of the de Wear family was William de Wear, who died c. The senior line of the Denzell family became extinct in the line on the death of John Denzel, serjeant-at-law and Attorney-General to the Queen Consort. It was a branch of this family which had acquired Weare Giffard by marriage to the heiress of Weare. Richard Denzell had one son, also named Richard, by his wife the de Wear heiress, the arms of Denzell were, Sable, a mullet in chief and a crescent in base argent. These arms survive sculpted on a bench-end, c,1510, in Weare Giffard Church and also sculpted in stone on the monument to Sir Richard de Pomeroy, in Berry Pomeroy Church. The Denzell arms are shown in the second quarter of the arms of Richard Fortescue on his monumental brasses in Filleigh Church
4.
Meaux
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Meaux is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in the metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located 41.1 km east-northeast from the center of Paris, Meaux is a subprefecture of the Seine-et-Marne department. In France, a subprefecture is the chef-lieu of an arrondissement and it is also the chef-lieu of two other smaller administrative land divisions, the cantons of Meaux-Nord and Meaux-Sud. Finally, since its creation in 2003, Meaux has been the center and the town of an agglomeration community. With a population of 51,398 inhabitants, Meaux is the second most populated city in the Seine-et-Marne department after Chelles, inhabitants of Meaux are called Meldois. Both names Meaux and Meldois originated with the Meldi, the Latin name of the original Gaulish tribe who occupied this area of the valley of the Marne river. Although during the Roman period the city was called Iantinum by the Romans, a meander of the Marne river divides the old city into the North Quarter and the South Quarter. The South Quarter of the old city includes the historic covered market. Centuries later, in 1806, during the Napoleonic era, was built the Canal de lOurcq, Meaux is nowadays mainly known for Brie de Meaux and the local variety of mustard. Following the official administrative French AOC there are two designations of Brie de Meaux, Brie de Meaux fermier and Brie de Meaux laitier, several festivals and concerts are celebrated in Meaux, venues for live music like the Music Festival Musikelles. Theres a local concert band in Meaux, LHarmonie du Pays de Meaux. It is constituted by three different ensembles, following different ages, Les Minimes, Les Juniors and LHarmonie de Meaux, the band is also one of the two official music academies of the town. The other one is the conservatory of the city, the show represents the history of Meaux all along the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, and also, more recently, during World War I. There is only one cinema in Meaux, The Majestic, a stage theatre. In modern days there are three theatres in the city. One is the Théâtre Gérard Philippe, a theatre, situated close to the covered market. In an eastern area of Meaux, the Beauval quarter, there is the stage theatre of the town, the Salle Champagne, located in the Espace Caravelle. Private theatre companies and community arts associations play in all three theatres, two museums can be found in Meaux, the Musée Bossuet and the Musée de la Grande Guerre du pays de Meaux
5.
Hundred Years' War
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Each side drew many allies into the war. It was one of the most notable conflicts of the Middle Ages, the war marked both the height of chivalry and its subsequent decline, and the development of strong national identities in both countries. After the Norman Conquest, the kings of England were vassals of the kings of France for their possessions in France, the French kings had endeavored, over the centuries, to reduce these possessions, to the effect that only Gascony was left to the English. Through his mother, Isabella of France, Edward III of England was the grandson of Philip IV of France and nephew of Charles IV of France, in 1316, a principle was established denying women succession to the French throne. When Charles IV died in 1328, Isabella, unable to claim the French throne for herself, the French rejected the claim, maintaining that Isabella could not transmit a right that she did not possess. Several overwhelming English victories in the war—especially at Crecy, Poitiers, however, the greater resources of the French monarchy precluded a complete conquest. Historians commonly divide the war into three separated by truces, the Edwardian Era War, the Caroline War, and the Lancastrian War. Later historians adopted the term Hundred Years War as a historiography periodization to encompass all of these events, the war owes its historical significance to multiple factors. By its end, feudal armies had been replaced by professional troops. Although primarily a conflict, the war gave impetus to ideas of French. The wider introduction of weapons and tactics supplanted the feudal armies where heavy cavalry had dominated, the war precipitated the creation of the first standing armies in Western Europe since the time of the Western Roman Empire and thus helping to change their role in warfare. With respect to the belligerents, in France, civil wars, deadly epidemics, famines, English political forces over time came to oppose the costly venture. The dissatisfaction of English nobles, resulting from the loss of their continental landholdings, the root causes of the conflict can be found in the demographic, economic and political crises of 14th century Europe. The outbreak of war was motivated by a rise in tension between the Kings of France and England about Guyenne, Flanders and Scotland. The dynastic question, which due to an interruption of the direct male line of the Capetians, was the official pretext. The question of succession to the French throne was raised after the death of Louis X in 1316. Louis X left only a daughter, and his posthumous son John I lived only a few days, Philip, Count of Poitiers, brother of Louis X, asserted that women were ineligible to succeed to the French throne. Through his political sagacity he won over his adversaries and succeeded to the French throne as Philip V of France, by the same law that he procured, his daughters were denied the succession, which passed to his younger brother, Charles IV, in 1322
6.
John Fortescue (judge)
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Sir John Fortescue was the Chief Justice of the Kings Bench and was the author of De Laudibus Legum Angliae, first published posthumously circa 1543), an influential treatise on English law. In the course of Henry VIs reign, Fortescue was appointed one of the governors of Lincolns Inn three times and served as a Member of Parliament from 1421 to 1437. He became one of the Kings Serjeants during the Easter term of 1441, during the Wars of the Roses, Henry VI was deposed in 1461 by Edward of York, who ascended the throne as Edward IV. Henry and his queen, Margaret of Anjou, later fled to Scotland, Fortescue remained loyal to Henry, and as a result was attainted of treason. He is believed to have given the nominal title of Chancellor of England during Henrys exile. He accompanied Queen Margaret and her court while they remained on the Continent between 1463 and 1471, and wrote De Laudibus Legum Angliae for the instruction of young Prince Edward. After the defeat of the House of Lancaster, he submitted to Edward IV who reversed his attainder in October 1471, Fortescue was born in about 1394 at Norris, in the parish of North Huish in Devon. His eldest brother was Henry Fortescue, Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas in Ireland, the earliest surviving record of the Fortescue family relates to its 12th-century holding of the manor of Whympston, in the parish of Modbury, Devon. He was educated at Exeter College, Oxford, favoured by many Devonshire gentry families and he was elected as a Member of Parliament for Tavistock, Totnes, Plympton Erle and Wiltshire. During the reign of Henry VI, Fortescue was thrice appointed one of the governors of Lincolns Inn. During the Easter term of 1441 he was one of the Kings Serjeants, and on 25 January in the following year Chief Justice of the Kings Bench. As a judge Fortescue was recommended for his wisdom, gravity and uprightness and he held his office during the remainder of the reign of Henry VI, to whom he was loyal, as a result, he was attainted of treason in the first parliament of Edward IV. When Henry subsequently fled to Scotland, he is supposed to have appointed Fortescue, in 1463 Fortescue accompanied Queen Margaret and her court in their exile on the Continent, and returned with them to England in 1471. On the defeat of the Lancastrian party he made his submission to Edward IV, filleigh later became the principal seat of the senior line of the Fortescue family, where the Palladian mansion Castle Hill was built c. Sir Martin Fortescue was the ancestor of the Earls Fortescue, Robert Fortescue, who married Elizabeth Trenchard. Maud Fortescue, who married Robert Corbet, Elizabeth Fortescue, who married Edward Whalesbrough. The exact date of Fortescues death is not known, but is believed to be shortly before 18 December 1479. A painted stone effigy of John Fortescue, wearing his robes of office with collar of ermine, exists within the church
7.
Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales
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The Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales is the head of the judiciary and President of the Courts of England and Wales. The Lord Chief Justice is also the nominal President of the Criminal Division of the Court of Appeal and Head of Criminal Justice, but can appoint another judge to these positions under the 2005 Act. The Lord Chief Justices equivalent in Scotland is the Lord President of the Court of Session, there is also a Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland, successor to the Lord Chief Justice of Ireland of the pre-Partition era. The current Lord Chief Justice is Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd, who took over the role on 1 October 2013, although the Court of the Kings Bench had existed since 1234, the title of chief justice was not used until 1268. In the intermediary period, one of the justices would be considered the senior judge, the suffix and Wales, now found in statutes and elsewhere, was unilaterally appended by Lord Bingham of Cornhill between 1996 and 2000. The Constitutional Reform Act 2005 made the Lord Chief Justice the President of the Courts of England and Wales, vesting the office with many of the powers formerly held by the Lord Chancellor. While the Lord Chief Justice retains the role of President of the Criminal Division of the Court of Appeal, the first Lord Chief Justice to act as head of the judiciary under the provisions of the CRA was Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers. The CRA also provides that the Lord Chief Justice is chosen by a specially appointed committee convened by the Judicial Appointments Commission
8.
Bishop of Exeter
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The Bishop of Exeter is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Exeter in the Province of Canterbury. The current incumbent, since 30 April 2014, is Robert Atwell, the incumbent signs his name as his Christian name or forename followed by Exon. abbreviated from the Latin Episcopus Exoniensis. From the first bishop until the sixteenth century the Bishops of Exeter were in communion with the Roman Catholic Church. However, during the Reformation the church in England broke away from the authority of the Pope, since the Reformation, the Bishop and Diocese of Exeter has been part of the Church of England and of the Anglican Communion. The history of Christianity in the South West of England remains to some degree obscure, at a certain point the historical county of Devon formed part of the diocese of Wessex. Lyfing became Bishop of Crediton in 1027 and shortly afterwards became Bishop of Cornwall, werstans successor appears to have been Putta, who was murdered whilst travelling from his see at Tawton to visit the Saxon viceroy Uffa, whose residence was at Crediton. The Diocese of Crediton was created out of the Diocese of Sherborne in 909 to cover the area of Devon, Crediton was chosen as the site for its cathedral possibly due it having been the birthplace of Saint Boniface and the existence of a monastery there. In 1046, Leofric became the Bishop of Crediton, following his appointment he decided that the see should be moved to the larger and more culturally significant and defensible walled town of Exeter. In 1050, King Edward the Confessor authorised that Exeter was to be the seat of the bishop for Devon and Cornwall, thus, Leofric became the last diocesan Bishop of Crediton and the first Bishop of Exeter. At first the Abbey Church of St Mary and St Peter, founded by Athelstan in 932, rebuilt in 1019, etc. finally demolished 1971, the cathedral is dedicated to St Peter. As it now stands, the cathedral is in the decorated style and it was begun by Peter Quinel, continued by Bytton and Stapeldon, and completed, much as it has since remained, by John Grandisson during his long tenure of 42 years. In many respects Exeter cathedral resembles those of France rather than found in England. Its special features are the towers and the choir, containing much early stained glass. There is also a throne, separated from the nave by a choir screen. In a comparison with certain other English cathedrals, it is perhaps disadvantaged by the absence of a tower and a general lack of elevation. The bishops of Exeter, like the population of the diocese, always enjoyed considerable independence. The result was a long and stable line of bishops, leading to active Christian observance in the area, the diocese contained 604 parishes grouped in four archdeaconries, Cornwall, Barnstaple, Exeter, and Totnes. There were Benedictine, Augustinian, Premonstratensian, Franciscan and Dominican religious houses, Vesey, despite his Catholic sympathies, held the see until 1551, when he finally had to resign, and was replaced by the Bible translator Miles Coverdale
9.
Henry V of England
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Henry V was King of England from 1413 until his death at the age of 36 in 1422. He was the second English monarch who came from the House of Lancaster, after his fathers death in 1413, Henry assumed control of the country and embarked on war with France in the ongoing Hundred Years War between the two nations. His military successes culminated in his famous victory at the Battle of Agincourt and he was the son of 20-year-old Henry of Bolingbroke, and 16-year-old Mary de Bohun. He was also the grandson of the influential John of Gaunt, at the time of his birth, Richard II of England, his cousin once removed, was king. As he was not close to the line of succession to the throne and his grandfather, John of Gaunt, was the guardian of the king at that time. Upon the exile of Henrys father in 1398, Richard II took the boy into his own charge, the young Henry accompanied King Richard to Ireland, and while in the royal service, he visited Trim Castle in County Meath, the ancient meeting place of the Irish Parliament. He was created Prince of Wales at his fathers coronation, and Duke of Lancaster on 10 November 1399 and his other titles were Duke of Cornwall, Earl of Chester, and Duke of Aquitaine. A contemporary record notes that during that year Henry spent time at The Queens College, Oxford, under the care of his uncle Henry Beaufort, from 1400 to 1404, he carried out the duties of High Sheriff of Cornwall. It was there that the prince was almost killed by an arrow that became stuck in his face. An ordinary soldier might have died from such a wound, the operation was successful, but it left Henry with permanent scars, evidence of his experience in battle. The Welsh revolt of Owain Glyndŵr absorbed Henrys energies until 1408, then, as a result of the kings ill health, Henry began to take a wider share in politics. From January 1410, helped by his uncles Henry Beaufort and Thomas Beaufort – legitimised sons of John of Gaunt – he had control of the government. Both in foreign and domestic policy he differed from the king, the quarrel of father and son was political only, though it is probable that the Beauforts had discussed the abdication of Henry IV, and their opponents certainly endeavoured to defame the prince. It may be that the tradition of Henrys riotous youth, immortalised by Shakespeare, is due to political enmity. Henrys record of involvement in war and politics, even in his youth, the most famous incident, his quarrel with the chief justice, has no contemporary authority and was first related by Sir Thomas Elyot in 1531. The story of Falstaff originated in Henrys early friendship with Sir John Oldcastle, shakespeares Falstaff was originally named Oldcastle, following his main source, The Famous Victories of Henry V. However, his descendants objected, and the name was changed. That friendship, and the political opposition to Thomas Arundel, Archbishop of Canterbury. If so, their disappointment may account for the statements of ecclesiastical writers like Thomas Walsingham that Henry, after Henry IV died on 20 March 1413, Henry V succeeded him and was crowned on 9 April 1413 at Westminster Abbey, London, Kingdom of England
10.
Henry VI of England
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Henry VI was King of England from 1422 to 1461 and again from 1470 to 1471, and disputed King of France from 1422 to 1453. Henry inherited the long-running Hundred Years War, where Charles VII contested his claim to the French throne. Henry married Charless niece, Margaret of Anjou, partially in the hope of achieving peace in 1445, the war recommenced, with France taking the upper hand, by 1453, Calais was Henrys only remaining territory on the continent. Henry experienced a breakdown after the failure of the war. Civil war broke out in 1460, leading to a period of dynastic conflict known as the Wars of the Roses. Henry was taken prisoner by Richard of York at Northampton on 10 July 1460 but was rescued that December by forces loyal to Margaret and he was deposed on 29 March 1461 following the victory at Towton by Richards son, who took the throne as Edward IV. Henry suffered another breakdown and, despite Margaret continuing to lead a resistance to Edward, he was captured by Edwards forces in 1465 and imprisoned in the Tower of London. Richard Neville, the Earl of Warwick, restored Henry to the throne in 1470, Henry died in the Tower during the night of 21 May 1471, possibly killed on the orders of Edward. He was buried at Chertsey Abbey, before being moved to Windsor Castle in 1484, miracles were attributed to Henry after his death, and he was informally regarded as a saint and martyr until the 16th century. He left a legacy of educational institutions, having founded Eton College, Kings College and All Souls College, William Shakespeare wrote a trilogy of plays about his life, depicting him as weak-willed and easily influenced by his wife, Margaret. Henry was the child and heir of King Henry V. He was born on 6 December 1421 at Windsor Castle and he succeeded to the throne as King of England at the age of nine months upon his fathers death on 31 August 1422, he was the youngest person ever to succeed to the English throne. A few weeks later on 21 October 1422 in accordance with the Treaty of Troyes of 1420 and his mother, Catherine of Valois, was then 20 years old. As Charles VIs daughter, she was viewed with suspicion by English nobles and was prevented from playing a full role in her sons upbringing. On 28 September 1423, the nobles swore loyalty to Henry VI and they summoned Parliament in the Kings name and established a regency council to govern until the King should come of age. One of Henry Vs surviving brothers, John, Duke of Bedford, was appointed regent of the realm and was in charge of the ongoing war in France. During Bedfords absence, the government of England was headed by Henry Vs other surviving brother, Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester and his duties were limited to keeping the peace and summoning Parliament. Henry Vs half-uncle Henry Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester, had an important place on the Council, after the Duke of Bedford died in 1435, the Duke of Gloucester claimed the Regency himself, but was contested in this by the other members of the Council
