Biography.

"Ancien Régime".

Born in Saint-Sauveur-Lendelin (Manche), after studies of philosophy at the "Collège de Navarre", he started his career during the "Ancien Régime", making his first appearance as a lawyer in Paris in 1762. He filled the posts of "censeur du Roi" (1766) and then Inspector General of the Domains of the Crown (1768).  During the early 1760s, Lebrun became a disciple of Montesquieu and an admirer of the British Constitution, travelling through Southern Netherlands, the Dutch Republic, and finally to the Kingdom of Great Britain (where he witnessed the debates in the London Parliament).  He became one of Chancellor René Nicolas de Maupéou's chief advisers, taking part in his struggle against the "parlements" and sharing his downfall in 1774. Lebrun then devoted himself to literature, translating Torquato Tasso's "Jerusalem Delivered" (1774) and the "Iliad" (1776). He retreated from public life to his property in Grillon, attempting to live a life as envisaged by the "philosophe" Jean-Jacques Rousseau. During the cabinet of Jacques Necker, he was consulted on several occasions, but never appointed to high office.

Constituent Assembly and provincial politics.

At the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789, he foresaw its importance in his volume "La voix du Citoyen", published the same year, and predicted the course which events would take. In the Estates-General and (after he took the "Tennis Court Oath") in the National Constituent Assembly, where he sat as deputy for the Third Estate in the bailiwick of Dourdan, he professed Liberalism and proposed various financial laws, without affiliating to any particular faction. A partisan of constitutional monarchy even after King Louis XVI's flight to Varennes (June 1791), he became the target for the suspicions of the Jacobin Club.  After the voting of the 1791 Constitution, he was ineligible for the Legislative Assembly (like all former members of the Constituent Assembly), and became instead president of the directory of Seine-et-Oise "département".  Lebrun retired from this position on 7 August 1792, and again retired to Dourdan. Three days later, the storming of the Tuileries Palace signalled the move towards the establishment of the French Republic by the creation of the National Convention. Lebrun further aroused the indignation of republicans when he accepted to represent Dourdan in the electoral college of Seine-et-Oise which nominated deputies to the Convention.

Terror, Thermidor, and Directory.

A suspect during the Reign of Terror, he was twice arrested: the first time in September 1793, liberated after the intervention of Joseph Augustin Crassous (representative on mission to Seine-et-Oise); the second time in June 1794 (paradoxically, on orders from the same Crassous) - threatened with the guillotine, he was saved by a relative of his who stole his record of prosecution, thus causing a delay long enough for Lebrun to be saved by the Thermidorian Reaction.  In 1795, Lebrun was elected as a deputy to the French Directory's Council of Ancients and, although a supporter of the House of Bourbon, he voted against prosecutions of Jacobins, and showed himself in favour of national reconciliation.

Consulate, Empire, and Restoration.

Lebrun was made Third Consul following Napoleon Bonaparte's 18 Brumaire coup in the Year VIII (9–10 November 1799; "see French Consulate"). In this capacity, he took an active part in Napoleon's reorganization of the national finances and in the administration of France's "départements". He was made a member of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres in 1803, and in 1804, he was appointed Arch-Treasurer of the French Empire. From 1805 to 1806, he was governor-general of Liguria, during which time he completed its annexation by France.  He opposed Napoleon's restoration of the "noblesse" and, in 1808, only reluctantly accepted the title of "duc de Plaisance" (Duke of Piacenza), a rare, nominal, but hereditary "duché grand-fief", extinguished in 1926. From 1811 to 1813, he served as governor-general of a part of the annexed Netherlands, reorganizing its "départements" - Zuyderzée and Bouches-de-la-Meuse. He was assisted by Antoine de Celles and Goswin de Stassart. Although to a certain extent opposed to the autocracy of the Emperor, he was not in favor of his deposition, although he accepted the "fait accompli" of the Bourbon Restoration in April 1814. Louis XVIII made him a Peer of France, but during the subsequent Hundred Days, he accepted from Napoleon the post of "grand maître de l'Université". As a consequence, he was suspended from the House of Peers when the Bourbons returned again in 1815, but was recalled in 1819. He died five years later in Sainte-Mesme (then in Seine-et-Oise, now in Yvelines).

Charles-François Lebrun, 1st duc de Plaisance (19 March 1739 – 16 June 1824), was a French statesman who served as Third Consul of the French Republic and was later created Arch-Treasurer and Prince of the Empire by Napoleon I.


Early life and family background.

She was born in Forte dei Marmi, Tuscany, Italy, the seventh and youngest child of the World War I Italian flying ace Fulco, Prince Ruffo di Calabria, 6th Duke of Guardia Lombarda (1884–1946). Her mother was Donna Luisa Gazelli dei Conti di Rossana e di Sebastiano (1896–1989), a matrilineal descendant of the Marquis de Lafayette, a hero of the American Revolution. She is of Italian and Belgian ancestry and was hailed as one of the leading beauties of Europe in her youth.  Queen Paola is fluent in Italian, French, German and English. Less fluent, and the cause of occasional criticism, is her Dutch, the mother tongue of nearly 60 percent of Belgians.  Ademarus Rufus, who died in 1049, held the title of "Comes" in southern Italy and Siggerio Ruffo became Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II's grand marshal of the Kingdom of Sicily in 1235. The family divided into two branches after the 14th century: the Ruffo di Calabria and the Ruffo di Scaletta, to the former of which the Queen belongs.  Queen Paola's brother, Don Fabrizio Ruffo di Calabria-Santipau (1922–2005), head of the entire family from 1975, was historical heir to the titles of Prince of Scilla, Prince of Palazzolo, Duke of Guardia Lombarda, Count of Sinopoli, Marquis of Licodia Eubea, Count of Nicotera, Baron of Calanna and of Crispano, Patrician of Naples.  Queen Paola is related to historically eminent Roman and southern Italian noble families, including the Colonna, Orsini, Pallavicini, Alliata and Rospigliosi. Among her distinguished ancestors of the French aristocracy were the American general Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette and the Dukes of Noailles.  Since the fall of the Italian monarchy in 1946, the Princes Ruffo di Calabria have become connected by marriage, in addition to the Belgian royal family, to such formerly reigning dynasties as the Orléans, the Savoys and the Bonapartes.

Marriage and family.

In 1958, the Prince of Liège went to the Vatican to witness the coronation of Pope John XXIII. At a reception at the Belgian embassy, the Prince met Italian Donna Paola Ruffo di Calabria. "We were both shy, so we only talked a little," Paola said later about their first meeting. Shy but smitten, Prince Albert later proposed marriage to Paola, and she accepted. Their engagement was announced at the Chateau of Laeken in 1959. The Prince of Liège married Donna Paola Ruffo di Calabria at St. Goedele Cathedral in Brussels on 2 July 1959.

Issue.

The couple have three children:

Health.

In 2015, the court announced Queen Paola was taking "a period of total rest" following doctors' orders. They also announced that she had to cancel a planned visit to the Biennale in Venice. Further communications were kept private. The Queen sent a message to Grosio, where she was expected to visit the residence of her aunt the Marchioness Margherita Pallavicini Mossi. Newspapers believed that the Queen suffered from a stroke during the holiday. The palace later announced she was being treated for a cardiac arrhythmia.

Activities.

Apart from her activities in the company of King Albert II, Queen Paola devotes her time to issues that are close to her heart, mainly in the social and cultural sphere.  Queen Paola has demonstrated interest in contemporary Belgian arts, visiting the "Venetian Biennale" several times. She has acquired works of Jan Fabre, Michael Borremans and others for the Royal collection. She has often met with such artists as Luc Tuymans and Dirk Braeckman.  She takes a keen interest in the protection and preservation of Belgium's heritage. She makes numerous visits to cultural sites, from Beguine convents to early 19th century industrial facilities.  Queen Paola is interested in both new and traditional crafts, and takes every opportunity to encourage the exercise and teaching of craft professions.  Queen Paola keeps abreast of contemporary art and regularly supports major exhibitions and artistic performances both in Belgium and abroad. On the initiative of Queen Paola, contemporary artists have had the opportunity to design and make original works within the Palace of Brussels.  In 1992, Queen Paola set up the Queen Paola Foundation, which focus on integration and training for young people. The Queen Paola Foundation's activities are geared towards social integration, support for teachers at all levels of the education system and schools in socio-economically disadvantaged areas.  Queen Paola is Honorary Chairman of the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel and of Missing Children Europe.

Queen Paola of Belgium ("née" "Donna" Paola Ruffo di Calabria; born 11 September 1937) is the wife of King Albert II and was Queen of the Belgians from 1993 until his abdication in 2013 in favour of their son King Philippe.


Biography.

Early life.

Alexander David Turner was born in Sheffield on 6 January 1986, the only child of secondary school teachers Penny (née Druce) and David Turner. He was raised in Sheffield's High Green suburb. He has said that his parents came from "very different backgrounds"; his mother, from Amersham, Buckinghamshire, taught German and was "fascinated by language". His father, a Sheffield native, taught music and physics. Turner's parents were both music fans and his earliest musical memories involve The Beatles and The Beach Boys. During car journeys, his mother played music by Led Zeppelin, David Bowie, and The Eagles. His father was a fan of jazz and swing music, particularly Frank Sinatra. He had played the saxophone, trumpet, and piano in big bands. Turner himself was taught some scales on the family keyboard by his father and took professional piano lessons until he was eight years old.  From the age of five, Turner grew up alongside neighbour Matt Helders; they attended primary school, secondary school, and college together. At their primary school graduation ceremony, Turner and Helders joined some other friends in a mimed

2002–2004: Formation of Arctic Monkeys.

At the age of 15, Turner's weekends revolved around girls and drinking cider with his friends. Joe Carnall, a schoolfriend, has said Turner was "always the quiet one" in their social circle. After friends began forming bands and playing live, Turner, Helders, and Nicholson decided to start Arctic Monkeys in mid-2002. According to Nicholson, Turner already had "instruments about the house" and was conversant in the basics of musicianship because of his father's job as a music teacher. Helders bought a drum kit, while Turner suggested that Nicholson learn bass guitar,

2005–2007: Rise to fame.

Arctic Monkeys came to national attention in early 2005. They received their first mention in a national newspaper in April, with a "Daily Star" reporter describing them as "the most exciting band to emerge this year". They self-released an EP, featuring the single "Fake Tales of San Francisco", in May and commenced their first nationwide tour soon afterwards. In June, in the midst of a bidding war, Arctic Monkeys signed to the independent label Domino Recording Company. After initial sessions with James Ford and Mike Crossey, they recorded an album in rural Lincolnshire with producer Jim Abbiss. Turner began dating London-based student Johanna Bennett around this time. In October, the single "I Bet You Look Good on the

2008–2011: Musical experimentation.

The Last Shadow Puppets' debut album, "The Age of the Understatement", was released in April 2008, shortly after Turner had moved from Sheffield to east London. Co-written by Turner and Kane, the album was recorded in the Loire Valley, France and featured string arrangements by Owen Pallett. Alexa Chung, dating Turner since mid-2007, featured in the music video for "My Mistakes Were Made For You". Hogan of "Pitchfork" noted that, lyrically, Turner was "moving from his anthropologically detailed Arctics brushstrokes to bold, cinematic gestures." Petridis of "The Guardian" detected "the audible enthusiasm of an artist broadening his scope" and praised "a certain fearlessness on display". During a tour

2012–2017: International success.

By 2012, Arctic Monkeys were based in Los Angeles, with Turner and Helders sharing a house. Arctic Monkeys toured the US as the support act for The Black Keys in early 2012. While they had previously opened for Oasis and Queens of the Stone Age at one-off shows, it was the band's first time to tour as a supporting act. They released "R U Mine?" as a standalone single in preparation for the tour, with Turner's new girlfriend, Arielle Vandenberg, appearing in the music video. Later that year, Arctic Monkeys performed "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor" and a cover

2018 onward: "Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino".

"Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino", Arctic Monkeys' sixth album, was released in May 2018. After receiving a Steinway Vertegrand piano as a 30th birthday present from his manager, Turner wrote the space-themed album from the perspective of "a lounge-y character". He recorded demos at home, alone and later with Helders, and shared them with Cook in early 2017. Cook was initially taken-aback by the change in direction but was "very, very excited by what he’d come up with." By mid–2017, the whole band was recording the project, produced by Turner and James Ford, in

Artistry.

Influences.

Turner was "into hip-hop in a big way" as a teenager. When he first started writing lyrics, Roots Manuva's "Run Come Save Me" was his main influence. He also listened to Rawkus Records and Lyricist Lounge compilations, and artists such as Dr Dre, Snoop Dogg, OutKast, Eminem and The Streets. He has repeatedly cited Method Man as one of his favourite lyricists, and has referenced the Wu-Tang Clan in his own lyrics.  For Turner, The Strokes were "that one band that comes along

Songwriting.

Kate Mossman of the "New Statesman" described Turner as "one of the great lyricists of the 21st century", writing that his songs are "full of lovingly extended metaphors" and "mordant Morrissey-style observations". Mike Laws of the "Village Voice" characterised him as "a writer without peer in virtually all of rock" and identified "rapid-fire prosody and facility with internal rhyme" as Turner's trademarks. Simon Armitage, writing in "The Guardian", said: "Of all those writing lyrics today, Turner is among the most poetic. His use of internal rhyme exists to be admired and envied... Turner is a storyteller and

Voice.

In the early years of his career, Turner performed in a strong Sheffield dialect. Simon Armitage remarked: "I can't think of another singer whose regional identity has been so unapologetically and naturally intoned through his

Stage persona.

In an otherwise positive review of a 2006 show, Richard Cromelin of the "Los Angeles Times" noted that Turner seemed "a little spooked by the attention" and hoped he would learn "to reach out more to the audience" in time. In 2007, Kitty Empire of "The Observer" noted that he was a "reserved" presence on stage: "He chats a bit to about 15 people in the middle of the front rows, and only looks up at the balcony, once, a little apprehensively." Following Arctic Monkeys' headlining appearance at Glastonbury Festival in 2007, Rosie Swash of "The Guardian" remarked upon Turner's "steady, wry stage presence": "Arctic Monkeys don't do ad-libbing, they don't do crowd interaction, and they don't do encores." Simon Price of "The Independent" said Turner seemed "to freeze like a rabbit in the spotlights" during a headlining set at Reading Festival in 2009.  In late 2011, Turner began to change his stage persona and style, most notably changing his hairstyle to a "rockabilly-inspired quiff". Brian Hiatt

Discography.

Solo  Arctic Monkeys  The Last Shadow Puppets  Other collaborations

Alexander David Turner (born 6 January 1986) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the frontman and principal songwriter of the rock band Arctic Monkeys, with whom he has released six albums. He has also recorded with his side project The Last Shadow Puppets and as a solo artist.


Biography.

The Baron József Eötvös de Vásárosnamény was born in the Hungarian aristocratic family Eötvös de Vásárosnamény. His father was the Baron Ignác Eötvös de Vásárosnamény (1786–1851), lord of the bedchamber, vice-chancellor of the Kingdom of Hungary, and his mother was the Baroness Anne von der Lilien (1786–1858).  He received an excellent education and also spent many years in western Europe, assimilating the new ideas both literary and political, and making the acquaintance of the leaders of the Romantic school. On his return to Hungary he wrote his first political work, "Prison Reform"; and at the diet of 1839–1840 he made a great impression by his eloquence and learning. One of his first speeches (published, with additional matter, in 1841) warmly advocated Jewish emancipation. On 13 September 1842 he married the noble lady Ágnes Rosty de Barkóc (1825–1913), member of the illustrious noble family Rosty de Barkóc that originally hailed from the Vas county, daughter of Albert Rosty de Barkóc (1779–1847), jurist, landowner, vice-ispán of the county of Békés ("alispán of Békés"). Baron Eötvös' brother in law was Pál Rosty de Barkóc (1830–1874), a Hungarian nobleman, photographer, explorer, who visited Texas, New Mexico, Mexico, Cuba and Venezuela between 1857 and 1859. His other brother in law through his wife was dr. Ágoston Trefort (1817–1888) was a Hungarian politician, who served as Minister of Religion and Education, as he married the other Rosty sister, Ilona Rosty de Barkóc (1826–1870).  Eötvös disseminated his progressive ideas in the columns of the "Pesti Hírlap", as well as in his novels "The Village Notary" (1844–1846) – one of the classics of Hungarian literature – "Hungary in 1514", and the comedy "Long live Equality!". The February Hungarian Revolution of 1848 was the complete triumph of Eötvös's ideas, and he held the portfolio of public worship and instruction in the first Hungarian ministry. Eötvös, Ferenc Deák and István Széchenyi represented the pacific, moderating influence in the council of ministers, but when the premier, Lajos Batthyány, resigned, Eötvös retired for a time to Munich during the War of Independence. Yet he continued to serve the cause in his influential writings, for example "Influence of the Ruling Ideas of the 19th century on the State" (Pest, 1851–1854, German editions at Vienna and Leipzig the same year).  On his return home, in 1851, he abstained from all political movements. In 1859 he published "The Guarantees of the Power and Unity of Austria" (the German edition was published in Leipzig the same year), in which he tried to arrive at a compromise between personal union and ministerial responsibility on the one hand and centralization on the other. After the Italian war, however, such a position was regarded as inadequate by the majority of the nation. In the diets of 1861, 1865, and 1867 Eötvös was one of the most loyal followers of Deák, with whose policy he now completely associated himself. On the formation of the Andrássy cabinet in February 1867 he once more accepted the portfolio of public worship and education, being the only one of the ministers of 1848 who thus returned to office. He had now, at last, the opportunity of realizing the ideals of a lifetime. That very year the diet passed his bill for the emancipation of the Jews; though his further efforts in the direction of religious liberty were less successful, owing to the opposition of the Catholics. Perhaps his greatest achievement was the National Schools Act, the most complete system of education provided for Hungary since the days of Maria Theresa. In 1866, he was elected president of the Hungarian academy. He died at Pest on 2 February 1871. On 3 May 1879 a statue was erected to him at Pest in the square which bears his name.  Eötvös occupies a prominent place in Hungarian literature. The best of his verses are to be found in his ballads, but he is better known for his novels. When he published "The Carthusians", written on the occasion of the floods at Pest in 1838, the Hungarian novel was still in its infancy, being chiefly represented by the historico-epics of Jsikh. Eötvös first modernized it, giving prominence in his pages to current social problems and political aspirations. The famous "Village Notary" came still nearer to actual life, while "Hungary in 1514" is especially interesting because it attributes the great national catastrophe of the Battle of Mohács to the blind selfishness of the Hungarian nobility and the intense sufferings of the people under them. The best edition of Eötvös collected works is that of 1891, in 17 volumes. Comparatively few of his writings have been translated, but there is a good English version (London, 1850) and numerous German versions of "The Village Notary", while "The Emancipation of the Jews" has been translated into Italian and German (Pest, 1841– 1842), and a German translation of "Hungary in 1514", under the title of "Der Bauernkrieg in Ungarn" was published at Pest in 1850.

Family.

Loránd Eötvös  Actor and playwright Leo Ditrichstein was a grandson. Eotvos's name is sometimes spelled Joseph von Etooes.

József baron Eötvös de Vásárosnamény (pronunciation: ['jɔ:ʒef 'øtvøʃ dɛ 'va:ʃa:rɔʃnɒme:ɲ]; 3 September 1813 – 2 February 1871) was a Hungarian writer and statesman, the son of Ignác baron Eötvös de Vásárosnamény and Anna von Lilien, who stemmed from an Erbsälzer family of Werl in Germany. Eötvös name is sometimes anglicised as Joseph von Eotvos.


History.

The world's first designated bus lane was created in Chicago in 1940.  The first bus lanes in Europe were established in 1963 in the German city of Hamburg, when the tram system was closed and the former segrated tram tracks were converted for bus travel. Other large German cities soon followed, and the implementation of bus lanes was officially sanctioned in the German highway code in 1970. Many experts from other countries (Japan among the first) studied the German example and implemented similar solutions. On 15 January 1964 the first bus lane in France was designated along the "quai du Louvre" in Paris and the first contraflow lane was established on the old "pont de l’Alma" on 15 June 1966.  On 26 February 1968 the first bus lane in London was put into service on Vauxhall Bridge. The first contraflow bus lane in the UK was introduced in King's Road, Reading as a temporary measure when the road was made one-way (eastwards to Cemetery Junction) on 16 June 1968. The initial reason was to save the expense of rerouting the trolleybus, which was due to be scrapped on 3 November of that year. However the experiment proved so successful that it was made permanent for use by motor buses.  By 1972 there were over of with-flow bus lanes in 100 cities within OECD member countries, and the network grew substantially in the following decades.  The El Monte Busway between El Monte and Downtown Los Angeles was the first dedicated busway in the US, constructed in 1974.

Design.

Bus lanes may be located in different locations on a street, such as on the sides of a street near the curb, or down the center. They may be long, continuous networks, or short segments used to allow buses to bypass bottlenecks or reduce route complexity, such as in a contraflow bus lane.  Bus lanes may be demarcated in several ways. Descriptive text such as "BUS LANE" may be marked prominently on the road surface, particularly at the beginning and end. Some cities use a diamond-shaped pavement marking to indicate an exclusive bus lane. The road surface may have a distinctive color, usually red, which has been shown to reduce prohibited vehicles from entering bus lanes. Road signs may communicate when a bus lane is in effect.  Bus lanes may also be physically separated from other traffic using bollards, curbs, or other raised elements.  In some cities, such as The Hague in the Netherlands, buses are allowed to use reserved tram tracks, usually laid in the middle of the road and raised slightly above the road surface.

Operation.

Bus lanes may have separate sets of dedicated traffic signals, to allow transit signal priority at intersections.  Peak-only bus lanes are enforced only at certain times of the day, usually during rush hour, reverting to a general purpose or parking lane at other times. Peak-only bus lanes may be in effect only in the main direction of travel, such as towards a downtown during morning rush hour traffic, with the buses using general purpose lanes in the other direction.  Entire streets can be designated as bus lanes (such as Oxford Street in London, Princes Street in Edinburgh, or Fulton Street in Downtown Brooklyn), allowing buses, taxis and delivery vehicles only, or a contra-flow bus lane can allow buses to travel in the opposite direction to other vehicles.  Some locations allow bicyclists or taxis to use bus lanes, however where bus or bicycle volumes are high, mixed traffic operations may result in uncomfortable conditions or delays. Certain other vehicles may also be permitted in bus lanes, such as taxis, high occupancy vehicles, motorcycles, or bicycles. Police, ambulance services and fire brigades can also use these lanes.  In the Netherlands mixed bus/cycle lanes are uncommon. According to the Sustainable Safety guidelines they would violate the principle of homogeneity and put road users of very different masses and speed behaviour into the same lane, which is generally discouraged.

Enforcement.

Bus lanes can become ineffective if weak enforcement allows use by unauthorized vehicles or illegal parking.  Evidence from the operation of urban arterials in Brisbane, Australia shows that a properly enforced bus lane, operating as designed without interference, can increase passenger throughput. In 2009 and 2010 traffic surveys showed that in Brisbane on a number of urban arterials with Bus and Transit lanes, non-compliance rates were approaching 90%. Following enhanced enforcement of the lanes, non-compliance rates dropped and overall efficiency of the Bus and Transit lanes improved with an up to 12% increase in total passenger throughput in the lane. Average bus journey times dropped, in some cases, by up to 19%.  Some cities, including San Francisco and New York, employ automated camera enforcement, using either stationary cameras adjacent to the bus lane, or cameras on the front of buses to automatically issue citations to vehicles obstructing the bus lane.

Effectiveness.

Bus lanes give priority to buses, cutting down on journey times where roads are congested with other traffic and increasing the reliability of buses. The introduction of bus lanes can significantly assist in the reduction of air pollution.  Bus lanes marked with colored pavement have been shown to reduce intrusions into bus lanes, speeding travel time and increasing bus reliability.

Major networks.

Some network lengths of bus lanes in major cities, listed by buses per km of bus lane):  The busiest bus lane in the United States is the Lincoln Tunnel XBL (exclusive bus lane) along the Lincoln Tunnel Approach and Helix in Hudson County, New Jersey, which carries approximately 700 buses per hour during morning peak times an average of one bus every 5.1 seconds. In contrast, the Cross Harbour Tunnel in Hong Kong carries 14,500 buses per day, or an average of about 605 an hour all day (not just peak times), but the bus lane must give way to all the other road users resulting in long queues of buses.

Criticism.

The installation of bus lanes requires additional space to either be constructed (increasing the impact of the road on the surrounding area, and possibly requiring taking of private land), or space must be taken from existing lanes, reducing the space available for private vehicles.

A bus lane or bus-only lane is a lane restricted to buses, often on certain days and times, and generally used to speed up public transport that would be otherwise held up by traffic congestion. Bus lanes are a key component of a high-quality bus rapid transit (BRT) network, improving bus travel speeds and reliability by reducing delay caused by other traffic.


Life.

In his youth, Jan Rokycana entered the Augustinian monastery in Rokycany. Later, he left the monastery to study in Prague, gaining his baccalaureate in 1415. He joined the movement against Jan Želivský, after which he had to flee from Prague. He also opposed the Taborites, most notably at Konopiště in 1423. Later in Prague he opposed Jan Žižka, when he was blamed for the defeat of the Prague militia at Malešov.  In 1427 he became the vicar of Týn church. He even opposed Sigismund Korybut. In 1429 he became the "správcem duchovenstva podobojí", or the Vicar General of the Prague Archbishopric. In 1430 he earned his Master of Arts, and in 1435 became rector of Charles University.  On 4 October 1441 he convened an assembly of all estates at Kutná Hora, where the fundamentals of Hussite belief were laid down as the law of the land. In the year 1442 he made his peace with Jan Příbram. In 1444, the courts found in his favour against the Taborites, who still refused to comply with the unanimous policy and the Tabor doctrine was decried.  In 1449, he started to correspond regularly with Pope Nicholas V, because he needed to carry out ordinations to the priesthood. In the end, he tried to come to see the Pope in person, but was unable to pass through Germany. For this reason, in 1451 he started talks with Constantinople about the potential cooperation of the Hussite and Greek Churches, but had to give up in 1452, when Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Turks.  King Ladislaus Posthumus (1440 - 1457) was unsure of Rokycan's agenda, so he avoided his sermons. In 1457, Jan Rokycana started corresponding again directly with the Pope (now Pope Callixtus III), though this was interrupted by Ladislaus's death.  The situation was somewhat improved by the rise of Jiří z Poděbrad, and although Jiří z Poděbrad tried to reduce the power of the church, Jan Rokycana supported his election through his lectures. From the beginning, Jan endorsed Jiří z Poděbrad's politics and had all churches ring their bells to mark the reconciliation of the Vratislavskys. In return, Jiří z Poděbrad considered him to represent the church and alternated between attending Jan Rokycana’s masses and those in Saint Vitus Cathedral.  In 1461, Jiří z Poděbrad began aspiring to the crown of the Holy Roman Emperor, which would surely have meant renouncing the chalice of Hussitism. This led Jan Rokycana to speak against Jiří z Poděbrad in his sermons. On 7 February 1465 he took part in a dispute over the king's ministry, after which the king requested greater cooperation from the church. A year later, in 1466, Jan Rokycana suffered a stroke, after which he started to have trouble speaking. He was buried in Týn church.  For his seal, he used a horseshoe with a star, probably in memory of his father, who was a blacksmith.

Works.

He has also been credited by some sources with the composing of several songs.

References.

This article was translated from the Czech-language version (see "Česky" in the navigation bar on the left side of the screen), although some facts and dates do not exactly correspond to other articles in Wikipedia (see Links above).

John of Rokycany, also known as "Jan of Rokycany", in Czech language "Jan Rokycana", and "Jan z Rokycan" (c. 1396 in Rokycany, Bohemia - 21 February 1471 in Prague) was a Czech Hussite theologian in the Kingdom of Bohemia and a key figure of the Bohemian Reformation.


People.

Frank O'Hara was at the center of the group before his death in 1966. Because of his numerous friendships and his post as a curator at the Museum of Modern Art, he provided connections between the poets and painters such as Jane Freilicher, Fairfield Porter, and Larry Rivers (who was O'Hara's lover). There were many joint works and collaborations, particularly between poets such as O'Hara, Kenneth Koch, John Ashberry, and James Schuyler: Rivers inspired a play by Koch, Koch and Ashbery together wrote the poem "A Postcard to Popeye", Ashbery and Schuyler wrote the novel "A Nest of Ninnies", and Schuyler collaborated on an ode with O'Hara, whose portrait was painted by Rivers.  Ron Padgett and Ted Berrigan both came to the group from Tulsa, Oklahoma.  Koch, O'Hara, Schuyler, and Ashbery were quite different as poets, but they admired each other and had much in common personally:  All four were inspired by French Surrealists such as Raymond Roussel, Pierre Reverdy, and Guillaume Apollinaire. David Lehman, in his book on the New York poets, wrote: "They favored wit, humor and the advanced irony of the blague (that is, the insolent prank or jest) in ways more suggestive of Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg than of the New York School abstract expressionist painters after whom they were named."

Poetry.

Concerning the New York School poets, critics argued that their work was a reaction to the Confessionalist movement in Contemporary Poetry. Their poetic subject matter was often light, violent, or observational, while their writing style was often described as cosmopolitan and world-traveled.  The poets often wrote in an immediate and spontaneous manner reminiscent of stream of consciousness writing, often using vivid imagery. They drew on inspiration from Surrealism and the contemporary avant-garde art movements, in particular the action painting of their friends in the New York City art world circle such as Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning.  Poets often associated with the New York School include John Ashbery, Frank O'Hara, Kenneth Koch, James Schuyler, Barbara Guest, Ted Berrigan, Bernadette Mayer, Alice Notley, Kenward Elmslie, Frank Lima, Ron Padgett, Lewis Warsh, Tom Savage and Joseph Ceravolo.

Visual art.

The New York School which represented the New York abstract expressionists of the 1950s was documented through a series of artists' committee invitational exhibitions commencing with the 9th Street Art Exhibition in 1951 and followed by consecutive exhibitions at the Stable Gallery, NYC: Second Annual Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture, 1953; Third Annual Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture, 1954; Fourth Annual Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture, 1955; Fifth Annual Exhibitions of Painting and Sculpture, 1956 and Sixth New York Artists’ Annual Exhibition, 1957.  Included in the New York School were Bradley Walker Tomlin, Rosemarie Beck, and Philip Guston.  Other New York School artists, including those of the 1960s, have included painters Richard Pousette-Dart, Cecile Gray Bazelon, William Baziotes, Nell Blaine, Seymour Boardman, Ilya Bolotowsky, Ernest Briggs, Peter Busa, Lawrence Calcagno, Nicolas Carone, Nanno de Groot, Beauford Delaney, Lynne Mapp Drexler, Edward Dugmore, Amaranth Ehrenhalt, John Ferren, Perle Fine, Karl Hagedorn, John Hultberg, Albert Kotin, Clarence Major, Knox Martin, Misha Reznikoff, William Scharf, Ethel Schwabacher, Kendall Shaw, Thomas Sills, Merton Simpson, Hedda Sterne, and Jack Stewart. In addition, painter/sculptors Karel Appel, Claire Falkenstein, Betty Parsons, and Antoni Tàpies are known as members of the New York School.

Galleries.

The Anita Shapolsky Gallery in New York City specializes in 1950s and 1960s New York School art, and exhibits expressionism, geometric abstraction, and painterly abstraction. It most frequently exhibits works in oil and acrylic, as well as sculpture. The Tibor de Nagy Gallery and Stable Gallery have also exhibited New York School art, and in 1998, the Gagosian Gallery also in New York City presented an exhibit of New York School art.

Music.

The term also refers to a circle of composers in the 1950s which included John Cage, Morton Feldman, Earle Brown and Christian Wolff. Their music influenced the music and events of the Fluxus group, and drew its name from the Abstract Expressionist painters above.

Dance.

During the 1960s the Judson Dance Theater located at the Judson Memorial Church, New York City, revolutionized Modern dance. Combining in new ways the idea of Performance art, radical and new Choreography, sound from avant-garde composers, and dancers in collaboration with several New York School Visual artists.  The group of artists that formed Judson Dance Theater are considered the founders of Postmodern dance. The theater grew out of a dance composition class taught by Robert Dunn, a musician who had studied with John Cage. The artists involved with Judson Dance Theater were avant-garde experimenatalists who rejected the confines of ballet technique, vocabulary and theory.  The first Judson concert took place on July 6, 1962, with dance works presented by Steve Paxton, Freddie Herko, David Gordon, Alex and Deborah Hay, Yvonne Rainer, Elaine Summers, William Davis, and Ruth Emerson. Seminal dance artists that were a part of the Judson Dance Theater include: David Gordon, Steve Paxton, Yvonne Rainer, Trisha Brown, Lucinda Childs, Deborah Hay, Elaine Summers, Sally Gross, Aileen Passloff, and Meredith Monk. The years 1962 to 1964 are considered the golden age of the Judson Dance Theater.  During the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s New York School artists collaborated with several other choreographer / dancers including: Simone Forti, Anna Halprin, Merce Cunningham, Martha Graham, and Paul Taylor.

The New York School was an informal group of American poets, painters, dancers, and musicians active in the 1950s and 1960s in New York City. They often drew inspiration from surrealism and the contemporary avant-garde art movements, in particular action painting, abstract expressionism, jazz, improvisational theater, experimental music, and the interaction of friends in the New York City art world's vanguard circle.


Characteristics.

The smooth-coated otter is a relatively large otter, from in weight and in head-body length, with a tail long. It is distinguished from other otter species by its more rounded head and a hairless nose in the shape of a distorted diamond. Its tail is flattened, in contrast to the more rounded tails of other otters. Its legs are short and strong, with large webbed feet bearing strong claws. As its name suggests, it has unusually short and sleek fur; this is dark to reddish brown along the back, while the underside is light brown to almost grey in color. Females have two pairs of teats.

Taxonomy.

"Lutra perspicillata" was the scientific name proposed by Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire in 1826 for a brown otter collected in Sumatra. "Lutrogale" was proposed as generic name by John Edward Gray in 1865 for otters with a convex forehead and nose, using "perspicillata" as type species. In the 19th and 20th centuries, several zoological specimens were described, including:  The smooth-coated otter is the only living species in the genus "Lutrogale". Three subspecies are recognised:  The smooth-coated otter groups with the Asian small-clawed otter and the African clawless otter into a sister clade to the genus "Lutra". The smooth-coated otter and the Asian small-clawed otter genetically diverged about 1.33 ± 0.78 million years ago. Hybridisation of smooth-coated otter males with Asian small-clawed otter females occurred in Singapore. The resulting offspring and their descendants bred back into the smooth-coated otter population, but maintained the genes of their small-clawed otter ancestors. Today, a population of at least 60 hybrid otters exists in Singapore.  Fossils belonging to the genus "Lutrogale" are known from the early Pleistocene in Java. Two fossil species, an earlier form, "L. robusta", and the more recent "L. palaeoleptonyx", are known. They probably fed primarily on shellfish.

Distribution and habitat.

The smooth-coated otter has been recorded in Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, southwest China, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesian islands of Borneo, Sumatra and Java, and Brunei. An isolated population is also found in the marshes of Iraq.  It occurs in areas where fresh water is plentiful — wetlands and seasonal swamps, rivers, lakes, and rice paddies. Where it is the only occurring otter species, it lives in almost any suitable habitat. But where it is sympatric with other otter species, it avoids smaller streams and canals in favour of larger water bodies. Although it is often found in saltwater near the coast, especially on smaller islands, it requires a nearby source of fresh water.  The population in the Mesopotamian Marshes was feared to have perished, but otter tracks were found in 2009, suggesting the population may have survived. Skins of smooth-coated otters were found during surveys between 2005 and 2012 in the vicinity of Hammar and Hawizeh Marshes. Tracks and scat found in Erbil Province were also thought to have been left by smooth-coated otters.  In southern Bangladesh, smooth-coated otters are used for commercial fishing. They are bred in captivity, trained, and used to chase fish into fishing nets. By 2011, this fishing technique was used by about 300 fishermen, with an additional 2,000 people indirectly dependent on the technique for their livelihood.

Behaviour and ecology.

The smooth-coated otter lives in groups of up to 11 individuals. They rest on sandy riverbanks and establish their dens under tree roots or among boulders. Observations in Peninsular Malaysia indicate that they are active foremost during the day, with a short rest during midday. They mark their playground by urinating and sprainting on rocks or vegetation.  They communicate through vocalisations such as whistles, chirps, and wails.

Diet.

Smooth-coated otters were observed to forage on river banks among tree trunks. They feed mainly on fish including "Trichogaster", climbing gourami and catfish. During the rice planting season, they also hunt rats in rice fields. Snakes, amphibians and insects constitute a small portion of their diet. Especially in areas where they share habitat with other otter species, they prefer larger fish, typically between in length.  In Kuala Selangor Nature Park, an otter group was observed hunting. They formed an undulating, slightly V-shaped line, pointing in the direction of movement and nearly as wide as the creek. The largest individuals occupied the middle section. In this formation, they undulated wildly through the creek, causing panic‐stricken fish to jump out of the water a few metres ahead. They suddenly dived and grasped the fish with their snouts. Then they moved ashore, tossed the fish up a little on the muddy part of the bank, and swallowed it head‐first in one piece.

Reproduction.

Smooth-coated otters form small family groups of a mated pair with up to four offspring from previous seasons. Copulation occurs in water and lasts less than one minute.  So long as the food supply is sufficient, they breed throughout the year, but where otters are dependent on monsoons for precipitation, breeding occurs between October and February. A litter of up to five pups is born after a gestation period of 60 to 63 days. The mothers give birth to and raise their young in a burrow near water. They may either construct such a burrow themselves, or they may take over an abandoned one. At birth, the pups are blind and helpless, but after 10 days, their eyes open, and they are weaned at about three to five months. They reach adult size at about a year of age, and sexual maturity at two or three years.

Threats.

The smooth-coated otter is threatened by poaching, loss and destruction of wetlands, as these are converted for settlements, agriculture and hydroelectric projects; water courses are being polluted by pesticides such as chlorinated hydrocarbons and organophosphates. These factors lead to a reduced prey base. Otters are indiscriminately killed especially at aquaculture sites. Trapping of otters is prevalent in India, Nepal, and Bangladesh.  Along the Chambal River in India, smooth-coated otters are most vulnerable during winter when they rear young. During this season, they are disturbed by humans harvesting crops and removing wood along rocky stretches of the river.  Six juvenile smooth-coated otters were discovered in a bag left at Bangkok airport in January 2013. This was the first case of smooth-coated otters thought to have been destined for the illegal pet trade. At least seven smooth-coated otters were offered for sale through websites by traders in Thailand and Malaysia between 2016 and 2017.

Conservation.

The smooth-coated otter is a protected species in most range countries and listed globally as a vulnerable species. It had been listed on CITES Appendix II since 1977. Since August 2019, it is included in CITES Appendix I, thus strengthening its protection in regards to international trade.

The smooth-coated otter ("Lutrogale perspicillata") is an otter species occurring in most of the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, with a disjunct population in Iraq. It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 1996 and is threatened by habitat loss, pollution of wetlands and poaching for the illegal wildlife trade. As its name indicates, its fur is smooth and shorter than that of other otter species.


Description.

It is a relatively large-sized pheasant. The bird is about long. The male weighs up to rams and the female. The adult male has multicoloured plumage throughout, while the female, as in other pheasants, is more subdued in colour. Notable features in the male include a long, metallic green crest, coppery feathers on the back and neck, and a prominent white rump that is most visible when the bird is in flight. The tail feathers of the male are uniformly rufous, becoming darker towards the tips, whereas the lower tail coverts of females are white, barred with black and red. The female has a prominent white patch on the throat and a white strip on the tail. The first-year male and the juvenile resemble the female, but the first-year male is larger and the juvenile is less distinctly marked.

Distribution and habitat.

The Himalayan monal's native range extends from Afghanistan and Pakistan through the Himalayas in India, Nepal, southern Tibet, and Bhutan. In Pakistan, it is most common in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and has also been recorded in Kaghan, Palas Valley, and Azad Kashmir. It lives in upper temperate oak-conifer forests interspersed with open grassy slopes, cliffs and alpine meadows between 2400 and 4500 meters, where it is most common between 2700 and 3700 meters. It descends to in the winter. It tolerates snow and digs through it to obtain plant roots and invertebrate prey.

Behaviour and ecology.

The breeding season is April through August, and they generally form pairs at this time. In winter they congregate in large coveys and roost communally.

Conservation.

In some areas, the species is threatened due to poaching and other anthropogenic factors. In the western Himalayas, the local monal population responded negatively to human disturbance involving hydroelectric power development. The male monal was under hunting pressure in Himachal Pradesh, where the crest feather was used to decorate men's hats, until 1982, when hunting was banned in the state.  The pheasant is not considered endangered in Pakistan and can be easily located. In some areas, the population density of the species is as high as five pairs per square mile. The main threat to the species is poaching, as the crest is valuable. It is thought to bring status to its wearer and is a symbol of authority.

The Himalayan monal ("Lophophorus impejanus"), also known as the Impeyan monal and Impeyan pheasant, is a pheasant native to Himalayan forests and shrublands at elevations of. It is part of the family Phasianidae and is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. It is the national bird of Nepal, where it is known as the danphe or danfe.


Life.

In 1379 he became the owner of the castle Hrádek. In 1379 he succeeded to the archbishopric of his uncle Jan Očko z Vlašimi who had stepped down. Soon he became Chancellor to Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia. The next year the capital was struck by a Plague epidemic, which struck him as well. He recovered, but this episode left deep scars on his character and he began to examine theological and philosophical problems at his castle Helfenburk u Úštěka. He had abandoned public life because of a quarrel with Wenceslav IV, which was mainly over the matter of the Popes of Avignon. Jan was still loyal to Pope Urban VI, to whom the king was not. In 1384 he left his chancellor post. The quarrel with the king removed him completely from political life, and he retired to his castle and abandoned the post of archbishop on 2 July 1396. He was succeeded as archbishop by Olbram ze Škvorce.  While on his castle, he fell from a newly built tower and miraculously managed to grab hold of something before falling to the ground. He died in Rome in 1400, and all his possessions, including his castle, passed to the Archbishops of Prague.

Artistic works.

His musical works were compiled in the book "Die Hymnen Johanns von Jenstein, Erzbischofs von Prag" of Q. M. Dreves. The book was published in German in 1886. His literary activity was very rich and includes not only religious and philosophical works, but also poems.

Jan z Jenštejna, (1348 in Prague, Bohemia, Crown of Bohemia – 17 June 1400 in Rome) was the Archbishop of Prague from 1379 to 1396. He studied in Bologna, Padova, Montpellier and Paris. He was also a poet, writer and composer.


Structure.

Like many masses, Beethoven's Missa solemnis is in five movements:

Scoring and music.

The mass is scored for a quartet of vocal soloists, a substantial chorus, and the full orchestra, and each at times is used in virtuosic, textural, and melodic capacities. The orchestra consists 2 flutes; 2 oboes, 2 clarinets (in A, C, and B); 2 bassoons; contrabassoon; 4 horns (in D, E, B basso, E, and G); 2 trumpets (D, B, and C); alto, tenor, and bass trombone; timpani; organ continuo; strings (violins I and II, violas, cellos, and basses); soprano, alto, tenor, and bass soloists; and mixed choir.  The writing displays Beethoven's characteristic disregard for the performer, and is in several places both technically and physically exacting, with many sudden changes of dynamic, metre and tempo. This is consistent throughout, starting with the opening Kyrie where the syllables "Ky-ri" are delivered either "forte" or with sforzando, but the final "e" is piano. As noted above, the reprise of the "Et vitam venturi" fugue is particularly taxing, being both subtly different from the previous statements of the theme and counter-theme, and delivered at around twice the speed. The orchestral parts also include many demanding sections, including the violin solo in the "Sanctus" and some of the most demanding work in the repertoire for bassoon and contrabassoon.  A typical performance of the complete work runs 80 to 85 minutes. The difficulty of the piece combined with the requirements for a full orchestra, large chorus, and highly trained soloists, both vocal and instrumental, mean that it is not often performed by amateur or semi-professional ensembles.

Reception.

Some critics have been troubled that, as Theodor W. Adorno put it, "there is something peculiar about the Missa solemnis." In many ways, it is an atypical work, even for Beethoven. Missing is the sustained exploration of themes through development that is one of Beethoven's hallmarks. The massive fugues at the end of the Gloria and Credo align it with the work of his late period—but his simultaneous interest in the theme and variations form is absent. Instead, the Missa presents a continuous musical narrative, almost without repetition, particularly in the Gloria and Credo, the two longest movements. The style, Adorno has noted, is close to treatment of themes in imitation that one finds in the Flemish masters such as Josquin des Prez and Johannes Ockeghem, but it is unclear whether Beethoven was consciously imitating their techniques to meet the peculiar demands of the Mass text. Donald Tovey has connected Beethoven to the earlier tradition in a different way:

The Missa solemnis in D major, Op. 123, is a solemn mass composed by Ludwig van Beethoven from 1819 to 1823. It was first performed on 7 April 1824 in Saint Petersburg, Russia, under the auspices of Beethoven's patron Prince Nikolai Galitzin; an incomplete performance was given in Vienna on 7 May 1824, when the Kyrie, Credo, and Agnus Dei were conducted by the composer. It is generally considered one of the composer's supreme achievements and, along with Bach's Mass in B minor, one of the most significant mass settings of the common practice period.


History.

The order was formed from the remnants of the Livonian Brothers of the Sword after their defeat by Samogitians in 1236 at the Battle of Schaulen (Saule). They were incorporated into the Teutonic Knights and became known as the Livonian Order in 1237. Between 1237 and 1290, the Livonian Order conquered all of Courland, Livonia and Semigallia. In 1298, Lithuanians took Karkus Castle north of Riga, and defeated the order in the Battle of Turaida, killing Livonian Land Master Bruno and 22 knights. In 1346, the order bought the Duchy of Estonia from King Valdemar IV of Denmark. Life within the order's territory is described in the "Chronicle of Balthasar Russow" ("Chronica der Provinz Lyfflandt").  The Teutonic Order fell into decline following its defeat in the Battle of Grunwald in 1410 and the secularization of its Prussian territories by Albert of Brandenburg in 1525, while the Livonian Order managed to maintain an independent existence.  The Livonian Order's defeat in the Battle of Swienta (Pabaiskas) on September 1, 1435, which claimed the lives of the master and several high-ranking knights, brought the order closer to its neighbors in Livonia. The Livonian Confederation agreement ("eiine fruntliche eyntracht") was signed in Walk on December 4, 1435, by the Archbishop of Riga, the bishops of Courland, Dorpat, Ösel-Wiek and Reval; the representatives of the Livonian Order and vassals, and the deputies of Riga, Reval and Dorpat city municipal councils.  During the Livonian War, however, the order suffered a decisive defeat by troops of Muscovite Russia in the Battle of Ergeme in 1560. The Livonian Order then sought protection from Sigismund II Augustus, the King of Poland and the Grand Duke of Lithuania, who had intervened in a war between Bishop William of Riga and the Brothers in 1557.  After coming to an agreement with Sigismund II, Augustus and his representatives (especially Mikołaj "the Black" Radziwiłł), the last Livonian Master, Gotthard Kettler, secularized the order and converted to Lutheranism. In the southern part of the Brothers' lands he created the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia for his family. Most of the remaining lands were seized by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The north of Estonia was taken back by Denmark and Sweden.  From the 14th to the 16th centuries, Middle Low German as spoken in the towns of the Hanseatic League was the established language, but was subsequently succeeded by High German as official language in the course of the 16th and 17th centuries.

Masters of the Livonian Order.

The Livonian Master, like the grandmaster of the Teutonic Order, was elected by his fellow knights for a life term. The grandmaster exercised supervisory powers and his advice was considered equal to a command. The grandmaster of Teutonic knights did not limit local autonomy, he rarely visited Livonia or sent ambassadors for oversight.  Hermann Balk 1237–1238 Dietrich von Grüningen 1238–1242 Dietrich von Grüningen 1244–1246 Andreas von Stierland 1248–1253 Anno von Sangershausen 1253–1256 Burchard von Hornhausen 1256–1260 Werner von Breithausen 1261–1263 Konrad von Mandern 1263–1266 Otto von Lutterberg 1266–1270 Walther von Nortecken 1270–1273 Ernst von Rassburg 1273–1279 Konrad von Feuchtwangen 1279–1281 Wilken von Endorp 1281–1287 Konrad von Herzogenstein 1288–1290 Halt von Hohembach –1293 Heinrich von Dinkelaghe 1295–1296 Bruno 1296–1298 Gottfried von Rogga 1298–1307 Gerhard van Joeck 1309–1322 Johannes Ungenade 1322–1324 Reimar Hane 1324–1328 Everhard von Monheim 1328–1340 Burchard von Dreileben 1340–1345 Goswin von Hercke 1345–1359 Arnold von Vietinghof 1359–1364 Wilhelm von Vrymersheim 1364–1385 Robin von Eltz 1385–1389 Wennemar Hasenkamp von Brüggeneye 1389–1401 Konrad von Vietinghof 1401–1413 Diderick Tork 1413–1415 Siegfried Lander von Spanheim 1415–1424 Zisse von Rutenberg 1424–1433 Franco Kerskorff 1433–1435 Heinrich von Bockenvorde 1435–1437 Heinrich Vinke von Overbergen 1438–1450 Johann Osthoff von Mengede 1450–1469 Johann Wolthuss von Herse 1470–1471 Bernd von der Borch 1471–1483 Johann Freytag von Loringhoven 1483–1494 Wolter von Plettenberg 1494–1535 Hermann Hasenkamp von Brüggeneye 1535–1549 Johann von der Recke 1549–1551 Heinrich von Galen 1551–1557 Johann Wilhelm von Fürstenberg 1557–1559 Godert (Gotthard) Kettler 1559–1561

Commanderies of the Livonian Order.

Across modern territory of Estonia and Latvia

The Livonian Order was an autonomous branch of the Teutonic Order, formed in 1237. From 1435 to 1561 it was a member of the Livonian Confederation.


History.

Microsoft released the first version of QuickBASIC on August 18, 1985 on a single 5.25" 360kB floppy disk. QuickBASIC version 2.0 and later contained an Integrated Development Environment (IDE), allowing users to edit directly in its on-screen text editor.  Although still supported in QuickBASIC, line numbers became optional. Program jumps also worked with named labels. Later versions also added control structures, such as multiline conditional statements and loop blocks.  Microsoft's "PC BASIC Compiler" was included for compiling programs into DOS executables. Beginning with version 4.0, the editor included an interpreter that allowed the programmer to run the program without leaving the editor. The interpreter was used to debug a program before creating an executable file. Unfortunately, there were some subtle differences between the interpreter and the compiler, which meant that large programs that ran correctly in the interpreter might fail after compilation, or not compile at all because of differences in the memory management routines.  The last version of QuickBASIC was version 4.5 (1988), although development of the Microsoft BASIC Professional Development System (PDS) continued until its last release of version 7.1 in October 1990. At the same time, the QuickBASIC packaging was silently changed so that the disks used the same compression used for BASIC PDS 7.1. The Basic PDS 7.x version of the IDE was called QuickBASIC Extended (QBX), and it only ran on DOS, unlike the rest of Basic PDS 7.x, which also ran on OS/2. The successor to QuickBASIC and Basic PDS was Visual Basic version 1.0 for MS-DOS, shipped in Standard and Professional versions. Later versions of Visual Basic did not include DOS versions, as Microsoft concentrated on Windows applications.  A subset of QuickBASIC 4.5, named QBasic, was included with MS-DOS 5 and later versions, replacing the GW-BASIC included with previous versions of MS-DOS. Compared to QuickBASIC, QBasic is limited to an interpreter only, lacks a few functions, can only handle programs of a limited size, and lacks support for separate program modules. Since it lacks a compiler, it cannot be used to produce executable files, although its program source code can still be compiled by a QuickBASIC 4.5, PDS 7.x or VBDOS 1.0 compiler, if available.  QuickBASIC 1.00 for the Apple Macintosh operating system was launched in 1988. It was officially supported on machines running System 6 with at least 1 MB of RAM. QuickBASIC could also be run on System 7, as long as 32-bit addressing was disabled; this was not possible on Motorola 68040-based Macintosh machines.

Syntax example.

Hello, World, shortest version: ?"Hello, World" Hello, World, extended version:  CLS PRINT "Hello, World" END 99 bottles of beer:  LET BOTTLES = 99: LET BOTTLES$ = "99": LET BOTTLE$ = " bottles" FOR A = 1 TO 99 PRINT BOTTLES$; BOTTLE$; " of beer on the wall, "; BOTTLES$; BOTTLE$; " of beer." LET BOTTLES = BOTTLES - 1 IF BOTTLES > 0 THEN LET BOTTLES$ = LTRIM$(STR$(BOTTLES)): LET PRONOUN$ = "one" IF BOTTLES = 0 THEN LET BOTTLES$ = "no more": LET PRONOUN$ = "it" IF BOTTLES <> 1 THEN LET BOTTLE$ = " bottles" IF BOTTLES = 1 THEN LET BOTTLE$ = " bottle" PRINT "Take "; PRONOUN$; " down and pass it around, "; BOTTLES$; BOTTLE$; " of beer on the wall." PRINT: NEXT A PRINT "No more bottles of beer on the wall, no more bottles of beer." PRINT "Go to the store and buy some more, 99 bottles of beer on the wall." Graphics example:  SCREEN 13 DIM a(3976) AS INTEGER, b(3976) AS INTEGER, c(3976) AS INTEGER DIM d(3976) AS INTEGER, e(3976) AS INTEGER col% = 16: col1% = 16: col2% = 16: col3% = 16: col4% = 16 col5% = 16: col6% = 16: col7% = 16: flag = 1: flag1 = 1 flag2 = 1: flag3 = 1:flag4 = 1: flag5 = 1: flag6 = 1: flag7 = 1 DO LOOP UNTIL LEN(INKEY$) Bubble sort: REM sample of bubble sort N = 10 DIM A(N) AS INTEGER FOR L = 1 TO N NEXT FOR X = 1 TO N NEXT FOR L = 1 TO N NEXT END

Current uses.

QuickBASIC has an unofficial community of hobby programmers who use the compiler to write video games, GUIs and utilities. The community has dedicated several Web sites, message boards and online magazines to the language.  Today, programmers sometimes use DOS emulators, such as DOSBox, to run QuickBASIC on Linux and on modern personal computer hardware that no longer supports the compiler. Alternatives to this include FreeBASIC and QB64, but they cannot yet run "all" QBasic/QuickBASIC programs.  Since 2008, a set of TCP/IP routines for QuickBASIC 4.x and 7.1 has revitalized some interest in the software. In particular, the vintage computer hobbyist community has been able to write software for old computers that run DOS, allowing these machines to access other computers through a LAN or the internet. This has allowed systems even as old as an 8088 to serve new functions, such as acting as a Web server or using IRC.

Successors.

Microsoft's Visual Basic was the successor of QuickBASIC. Other compilers, like PowerBASIC and FreeBASIC, have varying degrees of compatibility. QB64, a multiplatform QuickBASIC to C++ translator, retains close to 100% compatibility and compiles natively for Windows, Linux and macOS.

Microsoft QuickBASIC (also QB) is an Integrated Development Environment (or IDE) and compiler for the BASIC programming language that was developed by Microsoft. QuickBASIC runs mainly on DOS, though there was also a short-lived version for the classic Mac OS. It is loosely based on GW-BASIC but adds user-defined types, improved programming structures, better graphics and disk support and a compiler in addition to the interpreter. Microsoft marketed QuickBASIC as the introductory level for their BASIC Professional Development System. Microsoft marketed two other similar IDEs for C and Pascal, viz QuickC and QuickPascal.


Young years.

Savinkov was born in Kharkov (Kharkiv), the son of a judge in Warsaw. In 1897 he entered the law department of St. Petersburg University but was expelled in 1899 because of participation in students' riots. Later he studied in Berlin and Heidelberg. From 1898 he was a member of various socialist organizations. In 1901 he was arrested and sent to exile to Vologda. He served the exile with some prominent Russian intellectuals including Nikolai Berdyaev and Anatoly Lunacharsky. However he became disappointed with Marxism and shifted to terrorism. In 1903 Savinkov escaped abroad and joined the Socialist Revolutionary Party, where he soon became Deputy Head of its Combat Organization under Yevno Azef.

Socialist Revolutionary Party.

In 1906, he was arrested and sentenced to death for his assassination of Vyacheslav von Plehve, the Russian Minister of Interior, and participation in the assassination of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia. However, he escaped from his prison cell in Odessa and exiled himself to avoid recapture. When Azef was revealed as an agent of the Okhrana in 1908, Savinkov was appointed leader of the Fighting Organization, but by now was not strong enough to conduct any serious operations. While in France Savinkov volunteered in the French Army during World War I. In April 1917, several months after the February Revolution, he returned to Russia, and in July became Deputy War Minister under Alexander Kerensky. On 30 August, however, he resigned his post and was expelled from the Socialist Revolutionary Party due to his role in the coup of General Lavr Kornilov.

Civil war.

Savinkov remained in Russia after the October revolution and organised a new counter-revolutionary organisation called the "Society for the Defence of the Motherland and Freedom", whose headquarters were at 4 Molochny Alley in Moscow, where his deputy Dr. Grigoriev maintained a medical establishment as a façade.  Savinkov, a leader of the "Society for Defence of Motherland and Freedom", managed organisation of several armed uprisings against the Bolsheviks, the most notable being in Yaroslavl, Rybinsk, and Murom in July 1918. Savinkov returned to France after these uprisings were crushed by the Red Army. There, he held various posts in the Russian emigre societies and was Admiral Aleksandr Kolchak's main representative in Paris. During the Polish-Bolshevik War of 1919–1920, he moved to Poland, where he formed a Russian political organisation responsible for the formation of several infantry and cavalry units out of former Red Army POWs. Together with Merezhkovsky, he published in Warsaw a newspaper entitled «За свободу!» ('For Freedom!). Once the Polish-Bolshevik War concluded in October 1921, Polish authorities sent Savinkov out of the country in order not to cause further friction with the Soviets.

Trust Operation and death.

He was an acquaintance of Sidney Reilly, the legendary renegade British agent, and was involved in a number of counter-revolutionary plots against the Bolsheviks, sometimes collaborating with the British Secret Intelligence Service (SIS). These efforts were effectively undermined by the Trust Operation implemented by the Soviet security agency OGPU. Savinkov was lured into the USSR to meet with false conspirators and consequently arrested. The USSR Supreme Court sentenced him to death but the Presidium of VTsIK converted the sentence to 10 years imprisonment. During his trial, Savinkov declared that he recognized the Bolsheviks and assumed his defeat. While imprisoned, he wrote satirical stories about white émigrés and was allowed to see them published in Moscow. According to the NKVD, he committed suicide by jumping from a window in the Lubyanka prison, in Moscow. However, according to modern publications by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and others, Savinkov was killed in prison by OGPU officers. Semyon Ignatyev wrote at the time of the Doctors' Plot that Stalin complained that the MGB was too humane in its interrogation of prisoners exclaiming, "Do you want to be more humanistic than Lenin, who ordered Dzerzhinsky to throw Savinkov out a window?" (Lenin had been already dead for several months by the time Savinkov returned to Russia.)

Legacy.

Boris Savinkov wrote several books. His most famous are an autobiography, "Memoirs of a Terrorist", and a loosely autobiographical novel called "The Pale Horse". Savinkov's works raised huge controversy among SRs. Many of them disclaimed them as "spoofs" on terrorism.

Boris Viktorovich Savinkov (Russian: Бори́с Ви́кторович Са́винков; 19 January 1879 – 7 May 1925) was a Russian writer and revolutionary. As one of the leaders of the Fighting Organisation of the Socialist Revolutionary Party, he was responsible for the assassinations of several high-ranking imperial officials in 1904 and 1905.


Youth.

William was the son of Duke Robert Curthose of Normandy and Sibylla of Conversano. His father was the son of King William the Conqueror of England. Robert was defeated and captured by his brother King Henry I of England at the Battle of Tinchebrai in 1106. He accompanied Henry to Falaise where Henry met his nephew William Clito for the first time. Henry placed his nephew in the custody of Helias of Saint Saens, count of Arques, who had married a natural daughter of Duke Robert, his friend and patron. The boy William stayed in his sister's and Helias's care until August 1110, when the king abruptly sent agents to demand the boy be handed over to him. Helias was at the time away from home, so his household concealed the boy and smuggled him to their master, who fled the duchy and found safety among Henry's enemies.

First Norman Rebellion, 1118–19.

William's first refuge was with King Henry's great enemy, Robert de Bellême, who had extensive estates south of the duchy. On Robert's capture in 1112, William and Helias fled to the court of the young Count Baldwin VII of Flanders, William's cousin. In 1118 a powerful coalition of Norman counts and barons was sufficiently disenchanted with King Henry to ally with Count Baldwin and rebel. They took up William Clito's cause and commenced a dangerous rebellion.  The Norman border counts and Count Baldwin between them were too powerful for the king and seized much of the north of the duchy. But the promising campaign abruptly ended with Baldwin's serious injury at the siege of Arques (September 1118). The next year the cause of William Clito was taken up by King Louis VI of France. He invaded the duchy down the river Seine, and on 20 August 1119 was met by the troops of King Henry at the Battle of Brémule, where the French were decisively defeated.  William had ridden as a new knight amongst the king's guard that day, and barely escaped capture. His cousin, King Henry's son, William Adelin, the next day sent him back the horse he had lost in the battle with other "necessities" in a courtly gesture. The rebellion collapsed, but William continued to find support at the French court. Louis brought his case to the pope's attention in October 1119 at Reims, and forced Henry I to justify his treatment of the exiled boy.

Second Norman Rebellion, 1123–24.

The death by drowning of William Adelin, King Henry's only legitimate son, on 25 November 1120 transformed William Clito's fortunes. He was now the obvious male heir to England and Normandy, and a significant party of Norman aristocrats adopted his cause. Henry's problems became worse, as his son William Adelin had been betrothed to Matilda of Anjou, daughter of Count Fulk V of Anjou and Fulk wanted her dowry, several castles and towns in Maine, returned, which Henry refused. Fulk in turn betrothed his daughter Sibylla to William Clito giving him the county of Maine, between Normandy and Anjou, as her dowry. King Henry astutely appealed to canon law, however, and the marriage was eventually annulled in August 1124 on the grounds that the couple were within the prohibited degrees of consanguinity.  In the meantime, a serious aristocratic rebellion broke out in Normandy in favour of William, but was defeated by Henry's intelligence network and the lack of organisation of the leaders, who were defeated at the battle of Bourgtheroulde in March 1124. Louis VI was distracted from active intervention as Henry I got his son-in-law, the Emperor Henry V, to threaten Louis from the east.

Count of Flanders.

Louis VI made great efforts to further William's cause in 1127. In January he granted him the royal estates in the French Vexin as a base to attack down the Seine into Normandy, and he was married to the queen's half-sister Joanna of Montferrat. The murder of Count Charles the Good of Flanders on 2 March 1127 gave King Louis an even better chance to further William's fortunes. He marched into Flanders at the head of an army and on 30 March got the barons of the province to accept William as their new count.  Initially, William did well, securing most of the county by the end of May. But English money and the emergence of a rival in Thierry of Alsace led to a deterioration in his position. In February 1128 Saint-Omer and Ghent declared against him, as did Bruges in March. In May 1128 Lille too welcomed Thierry, leaving William controlling little more than the southern fringe of Flanders. However, he struck back at Bruges and at the battle of Axspoele south of the town on 21 June, William, with his Norman knights and French allies, defeated Thierry.  At this point he was joined by Count Godfrey I of Louvain, and together their armies besieged Aalst on 12 July, with the probable intention of going on from there to reduce Ghent. But during the course of the siege he was wounded in the arm in a scuffle with a foot soldier. The wound became gangrenous and William died at the age of twenty-five on 28 July 1128, attended to the end by his faithful brother-in-law, Helias of Saint Saens. William's body was carried to the abbey of St Bertin in St Omer and buried there. He left no children and was survived by his imprisoned father by six years.

William Clito (25 October 110228 July 1128) reigned as Count of Flanders and claimed the Duchy of Normandy. His nickname "Clito" was a Medieval Latin term equivalent to the Anglo-Saxon ""Aetheling"" and its Latinized form ""Adelinus"" (used to refer to his first cousin, William Adelin). Both terms signified "man of royal blood" or, the modern equivalent, "prince". It may have been derived from the Latin "inclitus/inclutus", "celebrated."


Definition.

There is no single, widely accepted definition for rare diseases. Some definitions rely solely on the number of people living with a disease, and other definitions include other factors, such as the existence of adequate treatments or the severity of the disease.  In the United States, the Rare Diseases Act of 2002 defines "rare disease" strictly according to prevalence, specifically "any disease or condition that affects fewer than 200,000 people in the United States", or about 1 in 1,500 people. This definition is essentially the same as that of the Orphan Drug Act of 1983, a federal law that was written to encourage research into rare diseases and possible cures.  In Japan, the legal definition of a rare disease is one that affects fewer than 50,000 patients in Japan, or about 1 in 2,500 people.  However, the European Commission on Public Health defines rare diseases as "life-threatening or chronically debilitating diseases which are of such low prevalence that special combined efforts are needed to address them". The term "low prevalence" is later defined as generally meaning fewer than 1 in 2,000 people. Diseases that are statistically rare, but not also life-threatening, chronically debilitating, or inadequately treated, are excluded from their definition.  The definitions used in the medical literature and by national health plans are similarly divided, with definitions ranging from 1/1,000 to 1/200,000.

Relationship to orphan diseases.

Because of definitions that include reference to treatment availability, a lack of resources, and severity of the disease, the term "orphan disease" is used as a synonym for "rare disease". But in the United States and the European Union, "orphan diseases" have a distinct legal meaning.  The United States' Orphan Drug Act includes both rare diseases and any non-rare diseases "for which there is no reasonable expectation that the cost of developing and making available in the United States a drug for such disease or condition will [be] recovered from sales in the United States of such drug" as "orphan diseases".  The European Organization for Rare Diseases (EURORDIS) also includes both rare diseases and neglected diseases into a larger category of "orphan diseases".

Prevalence.

Prevalence (number of people living with a disease at a given moment), rather than incidence (number of new diagnoses in a given year), is used to describe the impact of rare diseases. The Global Genes Project estimates some 300 million people worldwide are affected by a rare disease.  The European Organization for Rare Diseases (EURORDIS) estimates that as many as 5,000 to 7,000 distinct rare diseases exist, and as much as 6% to 8% of the population of the European Union is affected by one. Only about 400 rare diseases have therapies and about 80% have a genetic component according to Rare Genomics Institute.  Rare diseases can vary in prevalence between populations, so a disease that is rare in some populations may be common in others. This is especially true of genetic diseases and infectious diseases. An example is cystic fibrosis, a genetic disease: it is rare in most parts of Asia but relatively common in Europe and in populations of European descent. In smaller communities, the founder effect can result in a disease that is very rare worldwide being prevalent within the smaller community. Many infectious diseases are prevalent in a given geographic area but rare everywhere else. Other diseases, such as many rare forms of cancer, have no apparent pattern of distribution but are simply rare. The classification of other conditions depends in part on the population being studied: All forms of cancer in children are generally considered rare, because so few children develop cancer, but the same cancer in adults may be more common.  About 40 rare diseases have a far higher prevalence in Finland; these are known collectively as Finnish heritage disease. Similarly, there are rare genetic diseases among the Amish religious communities in the US and among ethnically Jewish people.

Characteristics.

A rare disease is defined as one that affects fewer than 200,000 people across a broad range of possible disorders. Chronic genetic diseases are commonly classified as rare. Among numerous possibilities, rare diseases may result from bacterial or viral infections, allergies, chromosome disorders, degenerative and proliferative causes, affecting any body organ. Rare diseases may be chronic or incurable, although many short-term medical conditions are also rare diseases.

Public research and government policy.

United States.

The NIH's Office of Rare Diseases Research (ORDR) was established by H.R. 4013/Public Law 107-280 in 2002. H.R. 4014, signed the same day, refers to the "Rare Diseases Orphan Product Development Act". Similar initiatives have been proposed in Europe. The ORDR also runs the Rare Diseases Clinical Research Network (RDCRN). The RDCRN provides support for clinical studies and facilitating collaboration, study enrollment and data sharing.

United Kingdom.

In 2013 the United Kingdom government published "The UK Strategy for Rare Diseases" which "aims to ensure no one gets left behind just because they have a rare disease", with 51 recommendations for care and treatment across the UK to be implemented by 2020. Health services in the four constituent countries agreed to adopt implementation plans by 2014 but by October 2016 the Health Service in England had not produced a plan and the all-party parliamentary group on Rare, Genetic and Undiagnosed Conditions produced a report "Leaving No One Behind: Why England needs an implementation plan for the UK Strategy for Rare Diseases" in February 2017. In March 2017 it was announced that NHS England would develop an implementation plan. In January 2018 NHS England published its "Implementation Plan for the UK Strategy for Rare Diseases".

Public awareness.

Rare Disease Day is held in Europe, Canada, and the United States on the last day of February to raise awareness for rare diseases.

A rare disease is any disease that affects a small percentage of the population. In some parts of the world, an orphan disease is a rare disease whose rarity means there is a lack of a market large enough to gain support and resources for discovering treatments for it, except by the government granting economically advantageous conditions to creating and selling such treatments. Orphan drugs are ones so created or sold.


Biography.

Strunz was born on 24 February 1910 in Weiden in der Oberpfalz (Upper Palatinate, Bavaria, Germany). He attended the 'Goethe-Oberrealschule Regensburg', a high school with a strong scientific background in Regensburg. In 1929 he began his studies in natural sciences at the University of Munich and specialized in Mineralogy. He received his doctorate degree in philosophy in 1933 from the University of Munich and two years later his doctorate degree in technical sciences from the Technical University Munich.  After he graduated he was granted a research scholarship at the Victoria University (Manchester, England) where he worked with William Lawrence Bragg. He then went on to the ETH Zurich (Switzerland), where he was an assistant to Paul Niggli.  In 1937 Strunz went on to the Mineralogical Museum of the Museum für Naturkunde (Berlin, Germany), where he was Paul Ramdohr's assistant. Two years later, in 1939, he was appointed professor to the 'Friedrich-Wilhelm University', now Humboldt University in Berlin. He held that position beyond the end of the second world war in 1946.  In 1946 he moved on to the University of Regensburg where he established a department for mineralogy and geology.  In 1951 he was appointed to the Berlin Institute of Technology as a professor, where he established a department for mineralogy. He would keep this position until emirating in 1978.  Strunz died on 19 April 2006 in Unterwössen (Bavaria, Germany).

Work.

Strunz developed a classification for minerals that is based on their chemical composition and their crystal structure, now known as Nickel-Strunz classification. It was first published in 1941. A major revision was published in 1966 together with Christel Tennyson. The 9th edition was published 2001 together with Ernest Henry Nickel.  Strunz was a founding member of the International Mineralogical Association, and was the head of the Mineral Data Commission between 1958 and 1970. He published over 200 scientific papers and multiple books, mostly about mineral classification and crystal chemistry.  He made many scientific expeditions to most of Europe's countries, Madagascar, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Tanzania.  He discovered 14 new minerals including chudobaite, fleischerite, hagendorfite, laueite, liandradite, petscheckite and stranskiite.

Honors.

In 1985 Strunz received the 'Bundesverdienstkreuz 1. Klasse' (Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, 1st class). He was an honorary member of over 20 national and international scientific organizations, a member of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, and holder of the Emanuel Bořický medal, which is awarded by the Charles University in Prague.  The minerals strunzite, ferristrunzite, and ferrostrunzite are named after him.

Karl Hugo Strunz (24 February 1910 – 19 April 2006) was a German mineralogist. He is best known for creating the Nickel-Strunz classification, the ninth edition of which was published together with Ernest Henry Nickel.


Biography.

Saint-Pierre was born at the château of Saint-Pierre-Église near Cherbourg, where his father, the Marquis de Saint-Pierre, was "grand bailli" of Cotentin. He was educated by the Jesuits. The youngest of five children and unsuited to a military career owing to poor health, he became a priest.  He was introduced by family connections into the salons of Madame de la Fayette and the Marquise de Lambert in Paris. He was elected to the Académie française in 1695, although he had previously produced no notable work; his election was an episode in the Quarrel of the Ancients and the Moderns, Saint-Pierre being a clear representative of the latter. The same year he gained a footing at court as chaplain to Madame, the king's sister-in-law. From 1703 to his death, he was abbot of Tiron.  Contrary to a widely believed opinion, it is not while working as a negotiator of the Treaty of Utrecht (1712–13) that he developed his project of universal peace. Saint-Pierre worked on the idea from 1708 and published early versions from 1712.  In 1718, he published "Discours sur la polysynodie", where he proposed that appointed ministers be replaced by elected councils. As a consequence of his criticism of the policy of Louis XIV (d. 1715) he was expelled from the Académie later the same year.  In 1724, with Pierre-Joseph Alary he founded the Club de l'Entresol, an independent discussion group on the English model; the club was closed by Louis XV for political reasons in 1731.  He died in Paris on 29 April 1743 aged 85.

Ideas.

Saint-Pierre's works are centered on an acute and visionary criticism of politics, law and social institutions. He had a great influence on Rousseau, who left elaborate examinations of some of them, and was a forerunner of Kant's 1795 essay on perpetual peace. He can be seen as an early proponent of the ideas of the Enlightenment.  Saint-Pierre was one of the first to mention the possibility of a European union made by independent and autonomous states. His work on a European community directly inspired the idea of an international order based on the principle of collective self-defense, and was important to the creation of the Concert of Europe, and later the League of Nations, whose successor is the United Nations Organisation. Friederich the Great of Prussia wrote to Voltair on the 'Projet pour rendre la paix perpétuelle en Europe': "The Abbe de Saint-Pierre has sent me a fine work on how to re-establish peace in Europe. The thing is very practicable. All it lacks to be successful, is the consent of all Europe and a few other such small details."  Ideas contributed by Saint-Pierre include:

Works.

Correspondence.

Saint-Pierre exchanged letters with a number of luminaries of his time, including Voltaire. His letters often ended with the formula "Paradise to those who do good".

Charles-Irénée Castel, abbé de Saint-Pierre (18 February 1658 – 29 April 1743) was a French author whose ideas were novel for his times. His proposal of an international organisation to maintain peace was perhaps the first in history, with the possible exception of George of Poděbrady's "Tractatus" (1462–1464). He influenced Rousseau and Kant.


Family.

Karl Philipp was born 18/19 April 1771 in Vienna, the son of Johann Nepomuk Anton of Schwarzenberg and Marie Eleonore Countess of Öttingen-Wallerstein. He was one of thirteen siblings, seven of whom did not reach adulthood.

Imperial service.

Karl Philipp entered the imperial cavalry in 1788, fought in 1789 under Lacy and Loudon against the Turks, distinguished himself by his bravery, and became a major in 1792. In the French campaign of 1793 he served in the advanced guard of the army commanded by Prince Josias of Coburg, and at Le Cateau-Cambrésis in 1794 his impetuous charge at the head of his regiment, vigorously supported by twelve British squadrons, broke a whole corps of the French, killed and wounded 3,000 men, and captured 32 of the enemy's guns. He was immediately decorated with the Knight's Cross of the Military Order of Maria Theresa.  After taking part in the battles of Amberg and Würzburg in 1796 during the French Revolutionary Wars, he was raised to the rank of general-major, and, in 1799, he subsequently was promoted to Feldmarschall-Leutnant. At the Battle of Hohenlinden (3 December 1800) he led a division in the right wing. During the retreat, his promptitude and courage saved the right wing of the Austrian army from destruction, and the Archduke Charles of Austria afterwards entrusted him with the command of the rearguard. In 1804 Prince Karl Philipp was created "Fürst zu Schwarzenberg" in a title identical to, but separate from, that of his brother,.  In the war of 1805 he held command of a division under Mack, and when Napoleon surrounded Ulm in October, Schwarzenberg was one of the band of cavalry, under the Archduke Ferdinand of Austria-Este, which cut its way through the hostile lines. In the same year he received the Commander's Cross of the Order of Maria Theresa and in 1809 he was awarded the Order of the Golden Fleece.  In 1806–1809 Schwarzenberg served as the Austrian ambassador to Russia. He returned to Austria in time to take part in the Battle of Wagram (July 1809), leading a cavalry division in the Reserve Corps and was soon afterwards promoted to general of cavalry. After the signing of Treaty of Schönbrunn (14 October 1809), he was sent to Paris to negotiate the 1810 marriage between Napoleon and the Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria. The prince gave a ball in honour of the bride on 1 July 1810, which ended in a fire that killed many of the guests, including his own sister-in-law, wife of his older brother, Joseph.  Napoleon held Schwarzenberg in great esteem, and at his request the prince took command of the Austrian auxiliary corps in the Russian campaign of 1812. The Austrian general won some minor victories against the Russians at Gorodetschna and Wolkowisk. Afterwards, under instructions from Napoleon, he remained for some months inactive at Pultusk.  In 1813, when Austria, after many hesitations, took the side of the allies against Napoleon, Schwarzenberg, recently promoted to Feldmarschall, was appointed commander-in-chief of the allied Grand Army of Bohemia. As such, he was the senior of the allied generals who conducted the campaign of 1813–1814. Under his command, the allied army was mauled by Napoleon at the Battle of Dresden on 26–27 August and driven back into Bohemia. However, his army defeated pursuing French forces at the Second Battle of Kulm (17 September 1813). Returning to the fray, he led the Allied army north again and played a major role in Napoleon's decisive defeat at the Battle of Leipzig on 16–18 October. During the invasion of France in 1814 he attacked through Switzerland and beat a French force at the Battle of Bar-sur-Aube on 27 February 1814. He repelled an attack by Napoleon in the Battle of Arcis-sur-Aube on 20–21 March and overcame the last barrier before Paris by winning the Battle of Fère-Champenoise on 25 March. His capture of the French capital on 31 March after the Battle of Paris resulted in the overthrow of Napoleon.  The next year, during the Hundred Days when Napoleon escaped from Elba and regained the French throne, in the hostilities that followed Schwarzenberg commanded the Army of the Upper Rhine (an Austrian-allied army of about a quarter of a million men). But shortly afterwards, having lost his sister Caroline, to whom he was deeply attached, he fell ill. A stroke disabled him in 1817, and in 1820, when revisiting Leipzig, the scene of the "Battle of the Nations" that he had directed seven years before, he suffered a second stroke. He died there on 15 October.

Marriage and descendants.

The Prince married the Countess Maria Anna von Hohenfeld (20 May 1767–1848), who was the widow of Prince Anton Esterhazy. They had three sons:  Of Schwarzenberg's nephews, Felix Schwarzenberg, the statesman, was also notable, and Friedrich Johann Josef Coelestin (1809–1885) was a cardinal and a prominent figure in papal and Austrian history.

References.

Attribution:

Karl Philipp, Fürst zu Schwarzenberg (or Charles Philip, Prince of Schwarzenberg; 18/19 April 1771 – 15 October 1820) was an Austrian field marshal.


Horus cult center.

Nekhen was the center of the cult of a hawk deity, Horus of Nekhen, which raised one of the most ancient Egyptian temples in this city. It retained its importance as the cultic center for this divine patron of the kings long after the site had otherwise declined.  The first settlement at Nekhen dates from either the predynastic Amratian culture (circa 4400 BC) or, perhaps, during the late Badari culture (circa 5000 BC). At its height from about 3400 BC, Nekhen had at least 5,000 and possibly, as many as 10,000 inhabitants.  The ruins of the city originally were excavated toward the end of the nineteenth century by the English archaeologists James Quibell and Frederick W. Green. Quibell and Green discovered the "Main Deposit", a foundation deposit beneath the temple, in 1894. Quibell originally was trained under Flinders Petrie, the father of modern Egyptology, however, he failed to follow Petrie's methods. The temple was a difficult site to excavate to begin with, so his excavation was poorly conducted and then poorly documented. Specifically, the situational context of the items therein is poorly recorded and often, the reports of Quibell and Green are in contradiction.  The most famous artifact commonly associated with the main deposit, the Narmer Palette, now is thought probably not to have been in the main deposit at all. Quibell's report made in 1900 put the palette in the deposit, but Green's report in 1902 put it about one to two yards away. Green's version is substantiated by earlier field notes (Quibell kept none), so it is now the accepted record of events.  The main deposit dates to the early Old Kingdom, but the artistic style of the objects in the deposit indicate that they were from Naqada III and were moved into the deposit at a later date. The other important item in the deposit clearly dates to the late prehistoric. This object, the Scorpion Macehead, depicts a king known only by the ideogram for scorpion, now called Scorpion II, participating in what seems to be a ritual irrigation ceremony. Although the Narmer Palette is more famous because it shows the first king to wear both the crowns of Upper and Lower Egypt, the Scorpion Macehead also indicates some early military hostility with the north by showing dead lapwings, the symbol of Lower Egypt, hung from standards.  John Garstang excavated at Hierakonpolis in 1905-06. He initially hoped to excavate the town site but encountered difficulties working there, and soon turned his attention to the ‘fort’ of second dynasty King Khasekhemwy instead. Beneath the ‘fort’, Garstang excavated a Predynastic cemetery consisting of 188 graves, which served the bulk of the city’s population during the late Predynastic and Early Dynastic periods, revealing the burial practices of the non-elite Egyptians living at Hierakonpolis.  More recently, the concession was excavated further by a multinational team of archaeologists, Egyptologists, geologists, and members of other sciences, which was coordinated by Michael Hoffman until his death in 1990, then by Barbara Adams of University College London and Dr. Renee Friedman representing the University of California, Berkeley and the British Museum until Barbara Adams's death in 2001, and by Renée Friedman thereafter.

Possible ritual structures.

The structure at Nekhen known by the misnomer "fort" is a massive mud-brick enclosure built by Pharaoh Khasekhemwy of the Second Dynasty. It appears to be similar in structure and ritual purpose as the similarly misidentified 'forts' constructed at Abydos, all without apparent military function. The true function of these structures is unknown, but they seem to be related to the rituals of kingship and the culture. Religion was interwoven inexorably with kingship in Ancient Egypt.  The ritual structure was built on a prehistoric cemetery. The excavations there, as well as the work of later brick robbers, have seriously undermined the walls and led to the near collapse of the structure. For two years, during 2005 and 2006, the team led by Friedman was attempting to stabilize the existing structure and support the endangered areas of the structure with new mudbricks.

Oldest known Egyptian painted tomb.

Other discoveries at Nekhen include Tomb 100, the oldest tomb with painted decoration on its plaster walls. The sepulchre is thought to date to the Gerzeh culture (ca. 3500-3200 BC).  The decoration shows presumed religious scenes and images that include figures featured in Egyptian culture for three thousand years—a funerary procession of barques, presumably a goddess standing between two upright lionesses, a wheel of various horned quadrupeds, several examples of a staff that became associated with the deity of the earliest cattle culture and one being held up by a heavy-breasted goddess. Animals depicted include onagers or zebras, ibexes, ostriches, lionesses, impalas, gazelles and cattle.

Oldest known zoo.

The oldest known zoological collection was revealed during excavations at Nekhen in 2009 of a menagerie that dates to ca. 3500 BC. The animals included hippopotami, hartebeest, elephants, baboons and African wildcats.

Continuous activity.

There are later tombs at Nekhen, dating to the Middle Kingdom, Second Intermediate Period, and New Kingdom. In the painted tomb of Horemkhauef a biographical inscription reporting Horemkhauef's journey to the capital was found. He lived during the Second Intermediate Period. Because it had a strong association with Egyptian religious ideas about kingship, the temple of Horus at Nekhen was used as late as the Ptolemaic Kingdom, persisting as a religious center throughout the thousands of years of Ancient Egyptian culture.

Artifacts.

Cylinder seals.

Cylinders seals at Hierakonpolis include some of the first known scenes of the Pharaoh smiting his enemies with a mace. Cylinder seals are generally thought to have been derived from Mesopotamian examples.

Cosmetic palettes from Hierakonpolis.

Several of the finest pre-Dynastic decorated palettes were discovered in Hierakonpolis. They often display Mesopotamia-inspired animals such as the Serpopards, and also incorporate some of the first hieroglyphs.

Nekhen () or Hierakonpolis (; "Hierakōn polis" "Hawk City", ) was the religious and political capital of Upper Egypt at the end of prehistoric Egypt ( 3200–3100 BC) and probably also during the Early Dynastic Period ( 3100–2686 BC).