Life and work.

She was born in Berlin and christened Johanna Klara Eleonore Renner. Her father Wilhelm Renner who joined the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in 1933, became an engineer, business executive, Wehrwirtschaftsführer at Hugo Schneider AG and also headed the employment office that developed the anti-tank weapon Panzerfaust. Later, she chose the portmanteau "Hannelore" to be used as her first name.  In the days following Germany's defeat in World War II, at the age of 12, Hannelore Kohl was "one of the girls battered and defiled by Stalin's soldiers", multiple times raped by multiple Soviet soldiers and then thrown out of a window In addition to the obvious psychological impact, the attacks left her with a fractured vertebra and back pain for the rest of her life. In order to help others with similar injuries, in 1983 she founded the Kuratorium ZNS, a foundation that helps those with trauma-induced injuries to the central nervous system, and became its president.  Hannelore Kohl had trained as an interpreter of English and French, which she spoke fluently. She had to end her studies in 1952, when her father died, and worked for some years as a foreign-language secretary. She later utilized her fluency in English and French in personal diplomacy alongside her husband, who spoke no foreign languages.  On 5 July 2001, Hannelore was found dead at age 68 in her Ludwigshafen home. She had apparently committed suicide with an overdose of sleeping pills, after years of suffering from what she had claimed to be a very rare and painful photo allergy induced by an earlier penicillin treatment that had forced her to avoid practically all sunlight for years. Hannelore's biographer,, cited "medical experts to support his theory that the bizarre light allergy of her later years may have been a psychosomatic reaction to the suppressed traumas of the war." In 2005, the Kuratorium ZNS was renamed ZNS - Hannelore Kohl Stiftung in her honor.  Kohl's collection of German-style cooking recipes, "Kulinarische Reise durch Deutsche Länder" ("Culinary Journey through German Regions"), was published in 1996.

Johanna Klara Eleonore "Hannelore" Kohl (née Renner) (7 March 1933 – 5 July 2001) was the first wife of German Chancellor Helmut Kohl. She met him for the first time at a prom in Ludwigshafen, Germany in 1948, when she was 15 years old, and they became engaged in 1953. They were married from 1960 until her death in 2001, including during his entire political career. They were the parents of Walter Kohl and Peter Kohl.


History.

In 1539 Jonsdorf was first mentioned in a document which showed the selling of land to ten new settlers by the monastery of Oybin. In 1547 the whole land of Oybin had been sold to the city of Zittau by Maximilian the Second.  In 1580 Hieronymus Richter established the first sandstone quarry inside the rock formations surrounding Jonsdorf to produce millstones. Some decades later, in 1667, the city-council of Zittau decided to found some additional quarries in the district between Jonsdorf and Waltersdorf. The production of millstone ended in 1917.  In the next years the two villages grew. After cutting down a forest between the villages of old and new Jonsdorf in 1731, both parts of the villages were unified. The construction of a church in Jonsdorf started in the same year.  Like many other villages and towns in Upper Lusatia, Jonsdorf established a special kind of industry in the 18th and 19th century - the weaving of linen. The first touristic development in the village started in 1841 when Karl Linke opened the first cold water cure house "(Kaltwasseranstalt)" applying hydrotherapy. The spa-tourism became more and more important in the years later. In 1890 a narrow-gauge railway link was opened between Zittau and Jonsdorf and helped the village to flourish.  After the end of World War II and the arrival of expelled Sudeten Germans from Bohemia, a small development programme was set up that included the construction of an icedome and a forest theatre in the 1950s. In 1984 a new school was opened. New projects after the reunification of Germany improved the economical structure even further. A leisure centre with an ice rink went into operation in 1996, and in 2004 a butterfly house "(Schmetterlingshaus)" was opened.

Sights.

The most important sights of the village are the mountains and rock formations that surround it, which often have very bizarre shapes. The village itself offers some special institution out of the cure-tradition for example a park. There are also some of the old timber-frame houses "(Umgebindehäuser)" that offer some wonderful views with their jolly colors and the flowers that surround them.

The community of Jonsdorf is located in the south of the Kreis Görlitz in the southeast of the German federal state of Saxony. It is embedded into a valley of the Zittau Mountains, part of the Lusatian Mountains.


History.

Sněžka was one of the first European mountains visited by many tourists. This was mainly due to the relatively minor technical difficulties of the ascent and the fact that since the sixteenth century, many resort visitors flocked to the nearby Cieplice Śląskie-Zdrój and the highly visible Sněžka, visually dominant over all Krkonoše was for them an important attraction.  The first historical account of an ascent to the peak is in 1456, by an unknown Venetian merchant searching for precious stones. The first settlements on the mountain soon appeared, being primarily mining communities, tapping into its deposits of copper, iron and arsenic. The mining shafts, totalling in length, remain to this day.  The first recorded German name was "Riseberg" ("giant mountain", cf. "Riesengebirge", "Giant Mountains"), mentioned by Georg Agricola in 1546. Fifteen years later the name "Riesenberg" appears on Martin Helwig's map of Silesia. The German name later changed to "Riesenkoppe" ("giant top") and finally to "Schneekoppe" ("snow top", "snowy head").  In Czech, the mountain was initially called "Pahrbek Sněžný" ("snow hill"); later "Sněžka", with the eventual name "Sněžovka", meaning "snowy" or "snow-covered", which was adopted in 1823. An older Polish name for the mountain was "Góra Olbrzymia", meaning "giant mountain".  The first building on the mountaintop was the Chapel of Saint Lawrence ("Laurentiuskapelle"), built ca. 1665–1681 by the Silesian noble Schaffgotsch family to mark their dominion, serving also as an inn for a brief period of time. The territory including the mines were the property of the Schaffgotsch family until 1945. The so-called "Prussian hut" ("Preußische Baude") was built on the Silesian (now Polish) side in 1850, followed by the "Bohemian hut" ("Česká bouda") on the Bohemian (now Czech) side in 1868, both built with the purpose of providing lodging. The Prussian hut was rebuilt twice after fires (1857 and 1862), and the (after 1945) "Polish hut" was finally demolished in 1967. The Bohemian hut fell into disrepair after 1990 and was demolished in 2004.  A wooden weather station was built on the mountaintop ca. 1900, being the only weather station in Central Europe remaining intact after World War II. It was demolished in the 1980s.

Today.

One side of the mountain is in the Czech Republic; the other belongs to Poland. The area is very popular in summer with tourists from the Czech Republic, Poland, and Germany, who enjoy hiking in the alpine environment unique to this area.  On the Polish side a disc-shaped observatory with a weather station and restaurant was built in 1974, and the St. Lawrence Chapel. On the Czech side are a post office, and a chairlift station, connecting the peak with the town of Pec pod Sněžkou at the base of the mountain.  Although the mountain is the highest natural peak in the Czech Republic, the actual highest point is the top of the television transmitter on Praděd, reaching 1,652 metres (1,491+162 m). If the Polish observatory is taken into account, Sněžka peaks at 1,620 metres.  In 2004 a new post office and observation platform replaced an old post office and the remains of the Bohemian hut, which had been closed since the 1980s.  In March 2009 the Polish observatory suffered serious damage to the upper disc as a result of extreme weather and structural failure. The upper disc's floor broke, though a fast response from the Technical University of Wrocław saved the remaining disc from taking any further damage. The restaurant and meteo offices were reopened soon after the construction team had finished clearing the debris and securing what was left of the observatory. After detailed inspection it was determined that no further damage should occur and the building was restored to its previous state. The upper disc was restored to its 1974 design (with contemporary improvements), skipping certain "improvements" made in 1980s and 1990s which were suspected to contribute to the structural failure of March 2009.  The old chairlift to the top of Sněžka was replaced by a new cable car system. Since February 2014, the four-person cabins in two sections have carried 250 visitors per hour from the Czech city Pec pod Sněžkou.  There are many marked tourist routes from the Polish side to the summit, mainly from the city of Karpacz. It is possible to take a chairlift from Karpacz to Kopa (1377 m a.s.l.) which significantly shortens the way to the summit.  Śnieżka belongs to the Crown of Europe, Crown of Polish Mountains and Crown of Sudetes.

Climate.

Due to high altitude the climate is maritime polar (Köppen: "ET") not far from a continental subpolar climate ("Dfc"). The difference should be at least 6 °C lower on annual average compared to the weather station in the plains.

Sněžka or Śnieżka (in Czech and Polish respectively, "Schneekoppe" in German) is a mountain on the border between the Czech Republic and Poland, the most prominent point of the Silesian Ridge in the Krkonoše mountains. At, its summit is the highest point in the Czech Republic, in Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in the Krkonoše and in the entire Sudetes.


Early life.

Mary Read was born in the Kingdom of England in 1685. Her mother had married a sailor and had a son. After her husband disappeared at sea, Mary's mother became pregnant after an extramarital love affair. Read's mother attempted to hide the pregnancy by going to live with friends in the country. Shortly thereafter, her son died, and she gave birth to Mary. In financial distress, her mother decided to disguise Mary as her dead son, in order to receive monetary support from her late husband's mother. The grandmother was apparently fooled, and mother and daughter lived on the inheritance into Mary's teen years. Dressed as a boy, Read found work as a foot-boy, and, then, employment on a ship.  She later joined the British military, which was allied with Dutch forces against the French (this could have been during the Nine Years War or during the War of the Spanish Succession). Read, in male disguise, proved herself through battle, but fell in love with a Flemish soldier. When they married, she used their military commission and gifts from intrigued brethren in arms to acquire an inn named "De drie hoefijzers" ("The Three Horseshoes") near Breda Castle in The Netherlands.  Upon her husband's early death, Read resumed male dress and military service in the Netherlands. With peace, there was no room for advancement, so she quit and boarded a ship bound for the West Indies.

Becoming a pirate.

Read's ship was taken by pirates, whom she willingly joined. She accepted the King's pardon c. 1718–1719, then took a commission to privateer, but joined the crew in mutiny. In 1720 she joined pirate John "Calico Jack" Rackham and his companion, Anne Bonny, who both believed her to be a man. On 22 August 1720, the three stole an armed sloop named "William" from port in Nassau. Scholars are uncertain how female pirates like Read and Bonny concealed their sex in a male-dominated environment. Some scholars, however, have theorized that the wearing of breeches by female pirates may have been either a method of hiding their identity or simply as practical clothing that solidified their working place on board the ship among the other seamen.  When Bonny told Read that she was a woman (apparently because she was attracted to her), Read revealed that she too was a woman. To abate the jealousy of her lover, Rackham, who suspected romantic involvement between the two, Bonny told him that Read was a woman. Speculation over the relationship between Bonny and Read led to images depicting the two in battle together.  A victim of the pirates, Dorothy Thomas, left a description of Read and Bonny: They "wore men's jackets, and long trousers, and handkerchiefs tied about their heads: and... each of them had a machete and pistol in their hands and they cursed and swore at the men to murder her [Dorothy Thomas]." Thomas also recorded that she knew that they were women, "from the largeness of their breasts."

Capture and imprisonment.

On 15 November 1720 pirate hunter, Captain Jonathan Barnet, took Rackham's crew by surprise, while they hosted a rum party with another crew of Englishmen at Negril Point off the west coast of the Colony of Jamaica. After a volley of fire disabled the pirate vessel, Rackham's crew and their "guests" fled to the hold, leaving only the women and one other to fight Barnet's boarding party (it is also possible that Rackham and his crew were too drunk to fight). Allegedly, Read angrily shot into the hold, killing one, and wounding others, when the men would not come up and fight with them. Barnet's crew eventually overcame the women. Rackham surrendered, requesting "quarter".  Rackham and his crew were arrested and brought to trial in what is now Spanish Town, Jamaica, where they were sentenced to hang for acts of piracy, as were Read and Bonny. However, the women claimed they were both "quick with child" (known as "pleading the belly"), and received temporary stays of execution.  Read died of a violent fever while in prison. Her 28 April 1721 burial is in the records of St. Catherine's church in Jamaica. There is no record of the burial of her baby, suggesting that she may have died while pregnant.

Mary Read (1685 – 28 April 1721), also known as Mark Read, was an English pirate. She and Anne Bonny are two of the most famed female pirates of all time, and among the few women known to have been convicted of piracy during the early 18th century, at the height of the "Golden Age of Piracy".


Life.

He was born at Lamarche in the Vosges in 1764, son of Charles Perrin and wife Marie Anne Floriot, paternal grandson of Charles Perrin and wife Gabrielle Guerin, born in 1696, and great-grandson of Pierre Perrin and wife Anne Louvière. At the age of 17 he enlisted in the artillery regiment in Grenoble as a private soldier, and after ten years' service he applied for and received his discharge because of his disgust at the manners revolutionary army and settled at Valence. Soon afterwards he joined the local volunteers, and distinguishing himself in the war on the Alpine frontier, in less than a year he had risen to the command of a battalion. In Drôme, Valence, on 16 May 1791 he married Jeanne Josephine Muguet, by whom he had issue which was extinct in the male line by 1917.

Military career.

The Revolutionary Wars.

For his bravery at the siege of Toulon in 1793 he was raised to the rank of général de brigade. He afterwards served for some time with the army of the Eastern Pyrenees, and in the Italian campaign of 1796–1799 he so acquitted himself at Mondovì, Rovereto and Mantua that he was promoted to be general of the division.  After commanding for some time the forces in the department of Vendée, he was again deployed to Italy, where he performed well in service against the papal troops, and took an important part in the battle of Marengo. In 1802 he was made governor of the colony of Louisiana for a short time, in 1803 he commanded the Batavian army, and afterwards he acted for eighteen months (1805–1806) as French plenipotentiary at Copenhagen. In that year he married for a second time in June at's-Hertogenbosch to Julie Vosch van Avesaat (1781–1831), by whom he had an only daughter who died unmarried and without issue.

The Napoleonic Wars.

On the outbreak of hostilities with Prussia (the War of the Fourth Coalition) he joined the V Army Corps under Marshal Jean Lannes as chief of the general staff. He distinguished himself at the battles of Saalfeld and Jena, and at Friedland he commanded the I Corps in such a manner that Napoleon made him a Marshal of France.  After the peace of Tilsit he became governor of Berlin, and in 1808 he was created duke of Belluno (the title was extinguished in 1853). In the same year he was sent to Spain, where he took a prominent part in the Peninsular War (especially against Blake at the Battle of Espinosa, and later at the battles of Talavera, Barrosa and Cádiz), until his appointment in 1812 to a corps command in the invasion of Russia. At first his corps was posted in the east Prussia but it was later moved up to Smolensk support the invading forces. from Here his most important service was in protecting the retreating army at the crossing of the Berezina River.  He took an active part in the wars of 1813–1814, until in February 1814 he arrived too late at Montereau-sur-Yonne. The result was a scene of violent recrimination and his supersession by the emperor, who transferred his command to Gérard. Thus wounded in his "amour-propre", Victor now transferred his allegiance to the Bourbon dynasty, and in December 1814 received from Louis XVIII the command of the second military division. In 1815, on the return of Napoleon from exile in Elba Victor accompanied the king to Ghent.

The Bourbon Restoration.

When the second restoration followed the Battle of Waterloo he was made a peer of France. He became president of a commission which inquired into the conduct of the officers during the Hundred Days, and dismissed Napoleon's sympathizers. In 1821 he was appointed war minister and held this office for two years. In 1830 he was major-general of the royal guard, and after the July Revolution of that year he retired altogether into private life. He died in Paris on 1 March 1841. His papers for the period 1793–1800 have been published (Paris, 1846).

Personal life.

He married firstly in May 1791 Jeanne-Josephine Muguet and had four children:  He married secondly in June 1803 Julie Vosch van Avesaet (1781–1831) and had a daughter:

Evaluation.

Victor had mixed military talents. He was an excellent organizer and tactician. During his time in Spain he destroyed entire Spanish armies with Cannae like envelopments and even fought Wellington to a virtual tactical draw at Talavera. However he was a timid strategist often afraid of taking risks. Nevertheless, he recognized new developments in warfare and implemented them throughout his career. At the Beresina River in 1812, he made excellent use of reverse slope defenses showing that he learned something from Wellington.  On the contrary in his book “Napoleon and His Marshals” MacDonell calls Victor a stupid soldier. He claims the closest Victor ever came to victory is when he changed his name from Perrin into Victor. Dunn-Pattison says of him “Not specially dowered by fortune with talents for war” but does praise his courage and sense of honor.

Claude Victor-Perrin, 1st Duke of Belluno (7 December 1764 – 1 March 1841) was a French soldier and military commander during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. He was made a Marshal of the Empire in 1807 by Napoleon.


History.

Some varieties of bull and terrier from England and Ireland began to find their way into America as early as 1850. Some dogs became very famous for their dog fighting skills. Already developed as an American dog, such dogs became a new breed, which was recognized by the United Kennel Club (UKC) in February 1898 as the American Pit Bull Terrier. On June 10, 1936, about 50 UKC registered Pit Bull Terrier dogs were accepted for registration in the American Kennel Club (AKC) Stud Book with a new breed name and a new purpose, belonging to the AKC terrier group. The name "Staffordshire Terrier" was chosen, with the claim that the ancestors of the breed originally came from Staffordshire County in England. The name of the breed was revised January 1, 1969, to "American Staffordshire Terrier" to distinguish it from the British Staffordshire Bull Terrier, a separate breed from the Bull-type terrier group, recognized in England in 1935.  The AKC opened the AmStaff Stud Book to UKC dogs for a few more times until the 1970s. Since then, only dogs with AKC registration were to be bred together, if the offspring was to be registered. This fact, along with the breed selection based entirely on conformation through decades, has transformed the American Staffordshire Terrier into a new different breed, separated from the American Pit Bull Terrier.  The breed's popularity began to decline in the United States following World War II.  In 2017 the American Kennel Club ranked the American Staffordshire Terrier as the 83rd most popular purebred in the United States.

Temperament.

According to the American Kennel Club "The American Staffordshire Terrier, known to their fans as AmStaffs, are smart, confident, good-natured companions. Their courage is proverbial. A responsibly bred, well-socialized AmStaff is a loyal, trustworthy friend to the end."

Description.

According to AKC's published breed standard which was approved June 10, 1936, the "American Staffordshire Terrier should give the impression of great strength for his size, a well put-together dog, muscular, but agile and graceful, keenly alive to his surroundings. He should be stocky, not long-legged or racy in outline. His courage is proverbial." His head should be medium in length with a broad skull, a distinct stop, and pronounced muscles in the cheek. The ears should be set high on their head and can be cropped or uncropped, but the latter is preferred. Height and weight should be in proportion. A height of about at shoulders for the male and for the female is to be considered preferable. The nose should always be black. Many coat colors are accepted. However, dogs with liver or black-and-tan coat, and dogs with more than 80% white are discouraged.

Health.

Their life expectancy is generally 12 years with good care. The breed may be vulnerable to skin allergies, urinary tract infections (UTI), and autoimmune diseases. Spondylosis and osteoarthritis are common in older dogs. Other notable issues may include: congenital heart disease, elbow dysplasia, hip dysplasia, luxating patella, thyroid dysfunction, and cerebellar ataxia.  American Staffordshire Terrier pups should not be weaned before they are 8–10 weeks old.

Breed-specific legislation.

Worldwide, the American Staffordshire Terrier has often been included in breed bans that target pit bull type dogs and/or fighting dog breeds. Such breed-specific legislation may range from outright bans on possession to restrictions and conditions of ownership.

Popularity.

In 2017, the breed was the 8th most popular dog according to Australian National Kennel Council. According to Société Centrale Canine it is the 6th most popular dog in France. According to American Kennel Club, it was the 83rd most popular dog in 2017.

The American Staffordshire Terrier, also known as the AmStaff, is a medium-sized, short-coated American dog breed. The height of an American Staffordshire Terrier is 17-19 inches tall and weighs 40-70 pounds. The American Kennel Club describes the breed as "confident, smart and good-natured." American Staffordshire Terriers are similar to American Pit Bull Terriers.


History.

Flagellation (from Latin "flagellare", to whip) was quite a common practice amongst the more fervently religious throughout antiquity.  Following the example of the Benedictine monk Peter Damian in the 11th century, flagellation became a form of penance in the Catholic Church and its monastic orders. The 11th-century zealot Dominicus Loricatus repeated the entire Psalter twenty times in one week, accompanying each psalm with a hundred lash-strokes to his back. The distinction of the Flagellants was to take this self-mortification into the cities and other public spaces as a demonstration of piety.

Spread in the 14th century.

The first recorded incident was in Central Italy in Perugia, in 1259, the year after severe crop damage and famine throughout Europe. From Perugia the phenomenon seemed to spread across Northern Italy and into Austria. Other incidents are recorded in 1296, 1333-34 (the Doves), notably at the time of the Black Death (1349), and 1399. The practice peaked during the Black Death. Spontaneously Flagellant groups arose across Northern and Central Europe in 1349, including in England. However, enthusiasm for the movement diminished as suddenly as it arose. When they preached that mere participation in their processions cleaned sins, the Pope banned the movement in January 1261.  Initially the Catholic Church tolerated the Flagellants and individual monks and priests joined in the early movements. By the 14th century, the Church was less tolerant and the rapid spread of the movement was alarming. Clement VI officially condemned them in a bull of October 20, 1349 and instructed Church leaders to suppress the Flagellants. This position was reinforced in 1372 by Gregory XI who associated the Flagellants with other heretical groups, notably the Beghards. They were accused of heresies including doubting the need for the sacraments, denying ordinary ecclesiastical jurisdiction and claiming to work miracles.  The Inquisition was active against any revival of the movement in the 15th century, but action against the flagellants was often taken by the local princes. In 1414, 80–90 followers of Konrad Schmid were burned in Thuringia, in Germany, even though they had recanted. Three hundred were burnt in one day in 1416, also in Thuringia. Other trials where the accused were condemned as Flagellants were recorded as late as the 1480s. The practice of flagellation within the bounds of the Catholic Church continued as an accepted form of penance.  Rulers like Catherine de' Medici and France's King Henry III supported Flagellants but Henry IV banned them. Flagellant orders like "Hermanos Penitentes" (Spanish 'Penitential Brothers') also appeared in colonial Spanish America, even against the specific orders of Church authorities.

In Italy.

The first recorded cases of mass popular flagellation occurred in Perugia, in 1259. The prime cause of the Perugia episode is unclear, but it followed an outbreak of an epidemic and chroniclers report how mania spread throughout almost all the people of the city. Thousands of citizens gathered in great processions, singing and with crosses and banners, they marched throughout the city whipping themselves. It is reported that surprising acts of charity and repentance accompanied the marchers. However, one chronicler noted that anyone who did not join in the flagellation was accused of being in league with the devil. They also killed Jews and priests who opposed them. Marvin Harris links them to the Messianic preaching of Gioacchino da Fiore.  Similar processions occurred across Northern Italy, with groups up to 10,000 strong processing in Modena, Bologna, Reggio and Parma. Although certain city authorities refused the Flagellant processions entry.  A similar movement arose again in 1399, again in Northern Italy in the form of the White Penitents or "Bianchi" movement. This rising is said to have been started by a peasant who saw a vision. The movement became known as the "laudesi" from their constant hymn singing. At its peak, a group of over 15,000 adherents gathered in Modena and marched to Rome, but the movement rapidly faded when one of its leaders was burned at the stake by order of Boniface IX.

In Germany.

The German and Low Countries movement, the Brothers of the Cross, is particularly well documented - they wore white robes and marched across Germany in 33.5 day campaigns (each day referred to a year of Jesus's earthly life) of penance, only stopping in any one place for no more than a day. They established their camps in fields near towns and held their rituals twice a day. The ritual began with the reading of a letter, claimed to have been delivered by an angel and justifying the Flagellants' activities. Next, the followers would fall to their knees and scourge themselves, gesturing with their free hands to indicate their sin and striking themselves rhythmically to songs, known as "Geisslerlieder", until blood flowed. Sometimes the blood was soaked up in rags and treated as a holy relic. Originally members were required to receive permission to join from their spouses and to prove that they could pay for their food. However, some towns began to notice that sometimes Flagellants brought plague to towns where it had not yet surfaced. Therefore, later they were denied entry. They responded with increased physical penance.  In Germany they claimed they could resurrect emperor Frederick II, who would bring an age of social justice.

Modern flagellants.

Roman Catholic.

Modern processions of hooded Flagellants are still a feature of various Mediterranean Catholic countries, mainly in Spain, Italy and some former colonies, usually every year during Lent. They also occur in the Philippines during Holy Week. For example, in the commune of Guardia Sanframondi in Campania, Italy, such parades are organized once every seven years. In Italy, members of the Flagellant movement were called "disciplinati", while "laudesi" never practiced flagellation, but met together in their own chapel to sing "laudi" (canticles) in honour of the Blessed Virgin, but which gradually assumed a dramatic form and grew into a theatrical form known as "rappresentazioni sacre". A play in the Roman dialect of the 14th century, edited by Vattasso (Studi e Testi, no. 4, p. 53), explicitly bears the title lauda.  Some Roman Catholics in Philippines practice flagellation as a form of devout worship, sometimes in addition to self-crucifixion

Los hermanos penitentes.

In English, "the penitent brothers." This is a semi-secret society of flagellants among the Hispanic Roman Catholics of Colorado and New Mexico.

Other religions.

Unrelated practices exist in non-Roman Catholic traditions, including actual flagellation amongst some Shiites (commemorating the martyrdom of Husayn ibn Ali).

Flagellants are practitioners of an extreme form of mortification of their own flesh by whipping it with various instruments. Most notably, Flagellantism was a 14th-century movement, consisting of radicals in the Catholic Church. It began as a militant pilgrimage and was later condemned by the Catholic Church as heretical. The followers were noted for including public flagellation in their rituals. This was a common practice during the Black Death, or the Great Plague.


Biography.

Blahnik was born in Santa Cruz de la Palma, in the Canary Islands (Spain), to a Czech father and Spanish mother. His father left Prague in the 1930s to avoid rising fascism; his grandparents disappeared in the 1950s after the Communists took charge. His mother's family owned a banana plantation in the island city of Santa Cruz de la Palma, where he grew up alongside his sister, Evangelina. He was homeschooled when he was a child. After he grew up, he attended a Swiss boarding school. Later, his parents wanted him to be a diplomat and enrolled him at the University of Geneva majoring in Politics and Law. However, Blahnik changed his majors to Literature and Architecture. In 1965, he got his degree and moved to Paris to study art at the École des Beaux-Arts and Stage Set Design at the Louvre Art School, all while working at a vintage clothing shop. In 1969, he moved to London to work as a buyer at fashion boutique "Feathers" and wrote for "L’Uomo Vogue", an Italian men's version of "Vogue".  In 1969, Blahnik had a chance to meet Diana Vreeland, the editor-in-chief of "U.S Vogue", while he was traveling in New York. He then presented his portfolio of fashions and set designs to Vreeland, at which point she looked him straight in the eye and said, "Young man, make things, make accessories, make shoes." She admired his shoe sketches and advised him to concentrate on designing footwear. Blahnik followed her advice and worked on designing shoes.  In 1971, Ossie Clark invited him to create shoes for his runway show, he also designed shoes for other London fashion designers, such as Jean Muir and Zandra Rhodes. From 1971, Blahnik was selling Manolo Blahnik shoes for Zapata. With a loan of £2,000, Blahnik bought the Zapata Shoe Company from its owner and opened his own boutique. In 1974, Blahnik became the second man ever to be featured on the cover of "U.K. Vogue" (after Helmut Berger).  In 1977, Blahnik created his first American collection. These were sold in 1978 through Bloomingdales. Blahnik opened his first boutique in the US in 1979.  Manolo Blahnik's flagship store remains in Old Church Street in the Chelsea district of London.  Blahnik's boutiques are located in London, New York, Geneva, Madrid, Barcelona, Moscow, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Seoul, Singapore, Tokyo, and Taipei. Bloomingdales (for which he created his first American collection), Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, Barneys, Bergdorf Goodman and Saks Fifth Avenue carry his line in the United States and newly opened in Dubai Mall. The company has signed a long-term deal with the shoewear retailer Kurt Geiger to operate Manolo Blahnik boutiques.  In 2000, Blahnik, together with Neiman Marcus, launched the first commercial virtual reality online showroom featuring 3D models of his shoes. The entire collection was sold out online within three weeks.  Blahnik was elevated to the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame in 1987. In 2007, Blahnik was appointed as an honorary Commander of the Order of the British Empire for his service to the British fashion industry.  Blahnik currently resides in Bath, United Kingdom and was awarded an honorary degree from Bath Spa University in July 2012.

Early development.

One of Blahnik's greatest inspirations was his mother. She studied fashion magazines and interpreted the latest fashion trend on her clothing. Blahnik and his family often travelled to Paris and Madrid ordering clothes. His mother was always dissatisfied with the shoes from their hometown, so she made her own. She learned the rudiments of her craft from a local Canary Island cobbler and as a boy, Blahnik loved to watch his mother when she made beautiful shoes. He has inherited his mother's love for brocade and satin fabrics and recounted how, as a boy, he found a trunk filled with shoes by the famous Russian, Pierre Yantorny all made from silks, antique lace and brocades trimmed with delicate buckles. All were light, elegant and feminine; attributes Blahnik later brought to his own designs.  When Blahnik was attending university he lived with his aunt and uncle. Meanwhile, his aunt deeply influenced his fashion sense and style. He refined his tastes and learned to appreciate the beauty of luxury, art, and happiness and beauty. Blahnik recalled that according to his aunt, "happiness was having the single most elegant handbag ever made, in every color available."

Shoes.

Blahnik never studied shoemaking formally. He learned the skills by visiting shoe factories and talking to pattern cutters, technicians and machine operators. At first, he designed men's footwear, but he immediately found that men's shoe design limited his imagination and lacked the element of fashion so made focus on woman shoes. When mainstream shoe style was still dominated by clunky platforms in the 1970s, he revived the sleek stiletto heel, which has since become a classic. Also, he dislikes wedges and believes in the power of heels and the sex appeal they convey.

Film: Manolo: The Boy Who Made Shoes for Lizards.

Blahnik is the subject of the 2017 documentary film: "Manolo: The Boy Who Made Shoes for Lizards," written and directed by Michael Roberts

Awards and honours.

Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA)  British Fashion Council  Honors

Manuel "Manolo" Blahnik Rodríguez (; born 27 November 1942), is a Spanish fashion designer and founder of the eponymous high-end shoe brand.


History.

It is often claimed that the game dates back to the Viking Age and has survived since then on the Swedish island of Gotland, although there is no evidence of this. The (Society (of) Gotland Games), formed in 1912, does not list kubb as one of the traditional games from Gotland. The earliest mention of a kubb-like game comes from the second edition of the Swedish Encyclopedia “Nordisk familjebok” (the Nordic familybook) in 1911. It's there called "Kägelkrig" (Skittles war) and is described as a variation of skittles and played with a ball. The game in its modern conception became popular in the late 1980s when commercial kubb sets were first manufactured.  The key feature of the game (opposing teams throwing) is shared by the games kyykkä and bunnock, both of which come from Karelia or neighbouring areas. The game has now gained international interest, and an annual World Championship has been held since 1995 on Gotland. Large kubb tournaments now occur throughout Europe and the United States of America. Belgium alone held over 50 tournaments in 2012.  On December 13, 2011, Eau Claire, Wisconsin declared itself to be the 'Kubb Capital of North America'. The city has hosted the U.S. National Kubb Championship since 2007, and is home to Kubbnation Magazine and many clubs and leagues, including the Eau Claire Kubb League, which is the largest weekly kubb league in the world. In addition, kubb sets are in the local schools, with some schools having kubb units in physical education classes and kubb clubs.

Game pieces.

There are typically twenty-three game pieces used in kubb:

Setup.

According to the US Championship Rules and World Championship Rules, kubb is played on a rectangular pitch 5 metres by 8 metres. Corner stakes are placed so that a rectangle is formed. The center stakes are placed in the middle of the sidelines (long edges of the rectangle), which divides the pitch into two halves. No other markers are required to demarcate the field's boundaries, although markings that do not interfere with game play are allowed (such as chalk lines). The king is placed upright in the center of the pitch, and the kubbs are placed on the baselines (short edges of the rectangle), five kubbs on each side equidistant from each other. Kubbs starting the game on the baseline are referred to as base kubbs. The baseline should run through the center of the kubbs. For young children, the 8-meter pitch length can be shortened.

Rulesets.

Two official tournament rulesets available for kubb are the World Championship Rules and the U.S. National Championship Rules.

Play overview.

Kubb is played between two teams, which may consist of only one person per team.  There are two phases for each team's turn:  If a kubb is thrown out of play, "i.e.", outside the boundary markers or not beyond the middle line (Note: after being raised, at least half of the kubb must be in the field of play to be considered in play), then one more attempt is given. If this also goes out, the kubb becomes a "punishment kubb" and can be placed anywhere in the target half by the opposing team as long as it is at least one baton length from a corner marker or the King. If a thrown kubb knocks over an existing baseline or field kubb, then the field kubbs are raised at the location where they rest, and baseline kubbs are raised at their original location.  Play then changes hands, and Team B throws the batons at Team A's kubbs, but must first knock down any standing field kubbs. If a baseline kubb is knocked down before all remaining field kubbs, the baseline kubb is returned to its upright position. (Field kubbs that right themselves due to the momentum of the impact are considered knocked down. Also kubbs are considered knocked down if they end up tilting and relying on a game piece for support.) Again, all kubbs that are knocked down are thrown back over onto the opposite half of the field and then stood.  If either team does not knock down all field kubbs before their turn is over, the kubb closest to the centerline now represents the opposite team's baseline, and throwers may step up to that line to throw at their opponent's kubbs. This rule applies only to throwing the batons at the opposite team's field and baseline kubbs; fallen kubbs are thrown from the original baseline, as are attempts to knock over the king.  Play continues in this fashion until a team is able to knock down all kubbs on one side, from both the field and the baseline. If that team still has batons left to throw, they now attempt to knock over the king. If a thrower successfully topples the king, his team has won the game.  If at any time during the game the king is knocked down by a baton or kubb, the throwing team immediately loses the game.  In tournaments, winners are typically determined by playing best out of three.  For informal play between players of widely differing abilities, such as an adult and a child, it is permissible to shorten the length of the pitch. Another option is for both players to play on the same team and keep switching sides during play.

Tournaments.

The Kubb World Championship is held annually on the island of Gotland, Sweden. The U.S. Championship is held annually in Eau Claire, WI.  Tournaments in the U.S. have exploded since 2007, especially in the Midwest. In 2016, the U.S. tournament list includes over 40 tournaments. The majority of tournaments are located in Minnesota and Wisconsin.  In 2013, the U.S. Midwest Championship was re-introduced. The annual tournament travels throughout the Midwest.  European tournaments are held in Sweden, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Czech Republic, the U.K. and Italy. Most countries have their own national championship tournament.

Kubb (pronounced in Swedish or in Gutnish) is a lawn game where the objective is to knock over wooden blocks ("kubbs") by throwing wooden batons ("kastpinnar") at them. Kubb can be described as a combination of bowling and horseshoes. Play takes place on a small rectangular playing field, known as a "pitch". "Kubbs" are placed at both ends of the pitch, and the "king", a larger wooden block, is placed in the middle of the pitch. Some rules vary from country to country and from region to region, but the ultimate objective of the game is to knock over the "kubbs" on the opposing side of the pitch, and then to knock over the "king", before the opponent does. Games can last from five minutes to well over an hour. The game can be played on a variety of surfaces such as grass, sand, concrete, snow, or even ice.


History.

Haguenau dates from the beginning of the 12th century, when Duke Frederick II the One-Eyed (1090 – 6 April 1147) of Swabia erected a hunting lodge on an island in the Moder River. The medieval King and Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa fortified the settlement and gave it town rights, important for further development, in 1154. On the site of the hunting lodge he founded an imperial palace he regarded as his favourite residence. In this palace were preserved the "Crown Jewels of the Holy Roman Empire", i.e. the jewelled imperial crown, sceptre, imperial orb, and sword of Charlemagne.  Richard of Cornwall, King of the Romans, made it an imperial city in 1257. Subsequently, through Rudolph I of Germany (House of Habsburg) Haguenau became the seat of the of Hagenau, the German imperial advocate in Lower Alsace. In the 14th century, it housed the executive council of the Decapole, a defensive and offensive association of ten Alsatian towns against external aggression, economic expansion and related political instability. In the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, Alsace was ceded to France, which had repeatedly invaded and looted the region in the past. In 1673 King Louis XIV had the fortifications as well as the remains of the king's palace razed in order to extinguish German traditions. Haguenau was recaptured by German troops in 1675, but was taken again by the French two years later, when it was nearly destroyed by fire set by looting French troops.  In 1793 Prussians and Austrians had occupied Lower Alsace from the Lauter to Moder to support the Royalists and before the year's end were driven back over the border by the French Revolutionary Army, causing the “great flight”.  In 1871, Haguenau was ceded to the German Empire upon its victory in the Franco-Prussian War; the community was made part of Alsace-Lorraine, with its Germanic spelling–"Hagenau"–restored.  The Haguenau Airport was built in 1916 by the German military to train fighter and bomber pilots to fight in the First World War.  Hagenau was part of the briefly independent Republic of Alsace-Lorraine after World War I, before being returned to France in 1919.

Second World War.

In the Second World War, Germany retook the town in 1940. In November 1944 the area surrounding Haguenau was under the control of the 256th Volksgrenadier Division under the command of General Gerhard Franz.  On 1 December 1944, the 314th Infantry Regiment of the 79th Division, XV Corps, 7th U.S. Army, moved into the area near Haguenau, and on 7 December the regiment was given the assignment to take it and the town forest just north that included German ammunition dumps. The attack began at 0645, 9 December, and sometime during the night of 10 December and the early morning of 11 December the Germans withdrew under the cover of darkness leaving the town proper largely under American control.  Before they withdrew, the Germans demolished bridges, useful buildings, and even the town park. However, as experienced by Haguenau throughout its history, the Germans came back and retook the town in late January. Most of the inhabitants fled with the assistance of the U.S. Army. The Americans launched an immediate counterattack to retake the town. The 313th Infantry Regiment of the 79th Division was relieved by the 101st Airborne Division on 5 February 1945. The 36th Infantry Division would relieve the 101st on 23 February 1945. On March 15 the Allied Operation Undertone, a combined effort of the U.S. Seventh and French 1st Armies of the U.S. Sixth Army Group was launched to drive the Germans back along a 75 km line from Saarbrücken to Haguenau. The last German soldier was not cleared out of the town until March 19, 1945, after house-to-house fighting.  Much of the town had been destroyed despite the Allied reluctance to use artillery to clear out the Germans. Technical Sergeant Morris E. Crain, Company E, 141st Infantry Regiment, 36th Infantry Division was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for providing covering fire for his men on 13 March 1945.

Economy.

The town has a well balanced economy. Centuries of troubled history in the buffer lands between France and Germany have given Haguenau a rich historical and cultural heritage which supports a lively tourist trade. There is also a thriving light manufacturing sector centred on the industrial zone to the west of the town. Here the presence nearby of significant retail developments testifies to Haguenau's importance as a regional commercial centre. The recent extension of the ring road has improved access to the commercial and industrial zones and reduced the traffic congestion which used to be a frequent challenge for vehicle drivers using the road which follows the line of the old town walls on the western side of town.

Sights.

Architecture.

In spite of the extensive destruction Haguenau suffered during the many wars experienced by Alsace, especially the Thirty Years War, the French conquest in 1677 and the Second World War, it still possesses monuments from nine centuries, even if nothing is left of arguably the most prestigious of them, Frederick I Barbarossa's imperial palace ("Kaiserpfalz").  Medieval Haguenau retains three gates from its former fortification, the "Tour des Chevaliers" (Tower of the knights), the "Tour des Pêcheurs" (Tower of the fishermen) and the "Porte de Wissembourg" (Wissembourg gate), two fairly large Gothic churches, Saint-Georges and Saint-Nicolas, an ancient water-mill and the old custom-house ("Ancienne Douane"). Both Saint-Georges and Saint-Nicolas Church have lost many of their artistic treasures over the centuries, especially their medieval stained glass windows and outside sculptures. Still, both display to this day some fine liturgical furniture (altars, choir stalls, organ cases, church tabernacles, calvaries...). Saint-Nicolas has become the receptacle for the baroque wooden decoration of the church of the destroyed Neubourg Abbey nearby.  French Baroque and classicism has bequeathed the town several buildings, among which the former hospital and the current town hall. The Synagogue (1820) is a fine example of French Neo-classicism, as is the theatre ("Théâtre municipal") (1846). The large Hop hall ("Halle au houblon") is a good example of historicism in architecture. It was built by the French in 1867 and extended twice by the Germans, in 1881 and 1908.  The Basilica of Our Lady in the locality of Marienthal is a vast Gothic Revival sanctuary (1863–1866). It keeps two early 15th-century statues, and a host of sculptures from around 1519.  Haguenau's streets are adorned by attractive fountains, the medieval Saint-Georges fountain, the 18th-century Bee fountain ("Fontaine aux abeilles") and the 1825 Dolphin fountain ("Fontaine aux dauphins").

Higher education.

The "Institut universitaire de technologie de Haguenau" (IUT) was founded in 2006. It is a branch of the University of Strasbourg.

Twin towns.

Haguenau is twinned with Landau (Germany).

Media.

Episode eight of the TV Second World War miniseries "Band of Brothers" is set in Haguenau.

Haguenau (, ; Alsatian: "Hàwenau" or "Hàjenöi"; and historically in English: "Hagenaw") is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department of France, of which it is a sub-prefecture.


The building.

King Ludwig I of Bavaria ordered Leo von Klenze to erect a new building for the gallery for the Wittelsbach collection in 1826. The Alte Pinakothek was the largest museum in the world and structurally and conceptually well advanced through the convenient accommodation of skylights for the cabinets. Even the Neo-Renaissance exterior of the Pinakothek clearly stands out from the castle-like museum type common in the early 19th century. It is closely associated with the function and structure of the building as a museum. Very modern in its day, the building became exemplary for museum buildings in Germany and in Europe after its inauguration in 1836, and thus became a model for new galleries like the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, and galleries in Rome, Brussels and Kassel.  The museum building was severely damaged by bombing in World War II but was reconstructed and reopened to the public on 7 June 1957, with President Theodor Heuss attending. Director Ernst Buckner oversaw the rebuilding project, ensuring that the building remained true to its original architecture. The ornate, pre-war interior, including the large loggia facing the south façade in the upper floor, was not restored. A new wall covering was created in 2008 for the rooms on the upper floor of the Alte Pinakothek with a woven and dyed silk from Lyon. The new color scheme of green and red draws on the design of the rooms dating back to the time of construction of the Alte Pinakothek, and was predominant until the 20th century. Already for King Ludwig I and his architect Leo von Klenze, the use of a wall covering alternately in red and green represented the continuation of a tradition that dates back to the exhibition of the old masters of the late 16th century in many of the major art galleries of Europe (Florence, London, Madrid, St. Petersburg, Paris, Vienna).

History.

The Wittelsbach collection was begun by Duke Wilhelm IV (1508–1550) who ordered important contemporary painters to create several history paintings, including "The Battle of Alexander at Issus" of Albrecht Altdorfer. Elector Maximilian I (1597–1651) commissioned in 1616 four hunt paintings from Peter Paul Rubens and acquired many other paintings, especially the work of Albrecht Dürer. He even obtained "The Four Apostles" in the year 1627 due to pressure on the Nuremberg city fathers. A few years later however 21 paintings were confiscated and moved to Sweden during the occupation of Munich in the Thirty Years war. Maximilian's grandson Maximilian II Emanuel (1679–1726) purchased a large number of Dutch and Flemish paintings when he was Governor of the Spanish Netherlands. So he bought for example in 1698 in Antwerp from Gisbert van Colen 12 pictures of Peter Paul Rubens and 13 of Van Dyck, with the pictures of Rubens from the personal estate of the artist which were therefore not intended for sale. Under Max Emanuel's successors, the purchases were largely discontinued due to the tight budget.  Also Max Emanuel's cousin Johann Wilhelm, Elector Palatine (1690–1716) collected Netherlandish paintings. He ordered from Peter Paul Rubens "The Big Last Judgment" and received Raphael's "Canigiani Holy Family" as a dowry of his wife. Charles Theodore, Elector of Bavaria (1742–1799) had a strong preference for Netherlandish paintings as well, among other paintings he acquired Rembrandt's "The Holy Family". By the late 18th century a large number of the paintings were displayed in Schleissheim Palace, and accessible to the public. After the reunion of Bavaria and the Electorate of the Palatinate in 1777, the galleries of Mannheim, Düsseldorf and Zweibrücken were moved to Munich, in part to protect the collections during the wars which followed the French revolution. Even though 72 paintings including "The Battle of Alexander at Issus" were taken to Paris in 1800 by the invading armies of Napoleon I (1769–1821), who was a noted admirer of Alexander the Great. The Louvre held it until 1804, when Napoleon declared himself Emperor of France and took it for his own use. When the Prussians captured the Château de Saint-Cloud in 1814 as part of the War of the Sixth Coalition, they supposedly found the painting hanging in Napoleon's bathroom. Most of the paintings have not been returned.  With the secularisation many paintings from churches and former monasteries entered into state hands. King Ludwig I of Bavaria collected especially Early German and Early Dutch paintings but also masterpieces of the Italian renaissance. In 1827 he acquired the collection Boisserée with 216 Old German and Old Dutch masters; in 1828, the king managed to also purchase the collection of the Prince Wallerstein, with 219 Upper German and Upper Swabian paintings. In 1838 Johann Georg von Dillis issued the first catalogue.  After the times of King Ludwig I the acquisitions almost ended. Only from 1875 the directors Franz von Reber and Hugo von Tschudi secured important new acquisitions, such as the "Madonna of the Carnation" of Leonardo da Vinci and "The Disrobing of Christ" of El Greco.  The predilection of the Wittelsbach rulers for some painters made the collection quite strong in those areas but neglected others. Since the 1960s the Pinakothek has filled some of these gaps: for example, a deficit of 18th-century paintings was addressed by the integration into the collection of works loaned from two Bavarian banks. Among these paintings were Nicolas Lancret's "The Bird Cage" and François Boucher's "Madame Pompadour".  In April 1988, the serial vandal Hans-Joachim Bohlmann splashed acid on three paintings by Albrecht Dürer, namely "Lamentation for Christ", "Paumgartner Altar" and inflicting damage estimated at 35 million euros. In 1990 Dierick Bouts' "Ecce agnus dei" was acquired.  On 5 August 2014, the museum rejected a request by a descendant of the banker Carl Hagen for the repatriation of Jacob Ochtervelt's "Das Zitronenscheibchen" ("The Lemon Slice") on the grounds that it had been unlawfully acquired as a result of Nazi persecution. An investigation by the museum established that it had been lawfully purchased at the time for a fair price and that the Hagen family's interest extended only to a security on the painting.

Collection.

The museum is under the supervision of the Bavarian State Painting Collections which also owns an expanded collection of several thousand European paintings from the 13th to 18th centuries. Especially its collection of Early Italian, Old German, Old Dutch and Flemish paintings is one of the most important in the world.  More than 800 of these paintings are exhibited at the Old Pinakothek. Due to limited space in the building, some associated galleries throughout Bavaria such as the baroque galleries in Schleissheim Palace and Neuburg Palace additionally have works by the Old Masters on display. From 2014 through 2017, wings of the museum were sequentially closed for renovation, and the artworks in closed sections were unavailable for viewing.

Gallery.

Selected pieces:

The Alte Pinakothek (, "Old Pinakothek") is an art museum located in the Kunstareal area in Munich, Germany. It is one of the oldest galleries in the world and houses a significant collection of Old Master paintings. The name Alte (Old) Pinakothek refers to the time period covered by the collection—from the fourteenth to the eighteenth century. The Neue Pinakothek, re-built in 1981, covers nineteenth-century art, and Pinakothek der Moderne, opened in 2002, exhibits modern art. All three galleries are part of the Bavarian State Painting Collections, an organization of the Free state of Bavaria.


Background.

The French term "Entente Cordiale" (usually translated as "cordial agreement" or "cordial understanding") comes from a letter written in 1843 by the British Foreign Secretary Lord Aberdeen to his brother, in which he mentioned "a cordial, good understanding" between the two nations. This was translated into French as "Entente Cordiale" and used by Louis Philippe I in the French Chamber that year. When used today the term almost always denotes the "second" Entente Cordiale, that is to say, the written and partly secret agreement signed in London between the two powers on 8 April 1904.  The agreement was a change for both countries. France had been isolated from the other European powers, mostly as a result of the efforts of German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck to estrange France from potential allies, as it was thought that France might seek revenge for its defeat in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71. Britain had maintained a policy of "splendid isolation" on the European continent for nearly a century, intervening in continental affairs only when it was considered necessary to protect British interests and to maintain the continental balance of power. The situation for both countries changed in the last decade of the 19th century.  The change had its roots in a British loss of confidence after the Second Boer War, and a growing fear that the country was isolated in the face of a potentially aggressive Germany. As early as March 1881, the French statesman Léon Gambetta and the Prince of Wales, Albert Edward, met at the Château de Breteuil to discuss an alliance against Germany. The Scramble for Africa prevented the countries from coming to terms, however. On the initiative of Colonial Secretary Joseph Chamberlain, there were three rounds of British-German talks between 1898 and 1901. The UK decided not to join the Triple Alliance, broke off the negotiations with Berlin, and revived the idea of a British-French alliance. When the Russo-Japanese War was about to erupt, France and the UK found themselves on the verge of being dragged into the conflict on the side of their respective allies. France was firmly allied with Russia, while the UK had recently signed the Anglo-Japanese Alliance. In order to avoid going to war, both powers "shucked off their ancient rivalry" and resolved their differences in Africa, the Americas, Asia, and the Pacific. Toward this end, French foreign minister Théophile Delcassé, and Lord Lansdowne, the British Foreign Secretary, negotiated an agreement on colonial matters, and Lord Lansdowne and Paul Cambon, the French Ambassador to the UK, signed the resulting convention on 8 April 1904.

Documents signed.

The Entente was composed of three documents:

Aftermath.

It is unclear what exactly the "Entente" meant to the British Foreign Office. For example, in early 1911, following French press reports contrasting the virility of the Triple Alliance with the moribund state of the "Entente", Eyre Crowe minuted: "The fundamental fact of course is that the "Entente" is not an alliance. For purposes of ultimate emergencies it may be found to have no substance at all. For the "Entente" is nothing more than a frame of mind, a view of general policy which is shared by the governments of two countries, but which may be, or become, so vague as to lose all content."  The Triple Alliance collapsed when Italy remained neutral at the outbreak of World War I, while the Entente endured.

Commemoration.

The 100th anniversary of the Entente Cordiale in 2004 was marked by a number of official and unofficial events, including a state visit to France in April by Queen Elizabeth II, and a return visit by President Chirac in November. British troops (the band of the Royal Marines, the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment, the Grenadier Guards and the King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery) also led the Bastille Day parade in Paris for the first time, with the Red Arrows flying overhead.  At both London Waterloo International and Paris Gare du Nord, the flags of the Great Britain and of France were depicted connected with the words 'Entente cordiale' superimposed on posters. Some French political leaders had complained about the name "Waterloo" for the destination of trains from Paris because the British terminus is named after the 1815 battle in which a British-led alliance defeated Napoleon's army, and in 1998 French politician Florent Longuepée wrote to British Prime Minister Tony Blair demanding, without success, that the name be changed. In November 2007 St Pancras International became the new London terminus for the Eurostar service.

Entente Cordiale Scholarships.

The name "Entente Cordiale" is used for the Entente Cordiale Scholarships scheme, a selective Franco-British scholarship scheme which was announced on 30 October 1995 by British Prime Minister John Major and French President Jacques Chirac at an Anglo-French summit in London. It provides funding for British and French students to study for one academic year on the other side of the Channel. The scheme is administered by the French embassy in London for British students, and by the British Council France and the UK embassy in Paris for French students. Funding is provided by the private sector and foundations. The scheme aims to foster mutual understanding and to promote exchanges between the British and French leaders of tomorrow. The programme was initiated by Sir Christopher Mallaby, British ambassador to France between 1993 and 1996.

The Entente Cordiale () (English: Cordial Agreement) was a series of agreements signed on 8 April 1904 between the United Kingdom and the French Republic which saw a significant improvement in Anglo-French relations. Beyond the immediate concerns of colonial expansion addressed by the agreement, the signing of the Entente Cordiale marked the end of almost a thousand years of intermittent conflict between the two states and their predecessors, and replaced the "modus vivendi" that had existed since the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815 with a more formal agreement. The Entente Cordiale was the culmination of the policy of Théophile Delcassé, France's foreign minister from 1898, who believed that a Franco-British understanding would give France some security against any German system of alliances in Western Europe. Credit for the success of the negotiation belongs chiefly to Paul Cambon, France's ambassador, and to the British foreign secretary Lord Lansdowne.


Biography.

Pausewang was born in Wichstadtl (now Mladkov), Eastern Bohemia, a member of the German minority in Czechoslovakia. Her father was Siegfried Pausewang, and she was the eldest of six siblings. After the Nazis annexed the area, she became a Jungmädel at age 10 and remained in the organisation until age 17. Her father died in World War II, and her mother fled with the children to the West settling in Wiesbaden. Pausewang studied pedagogy and taught in German primary schools "(Volksschule)", then from 1956 for Germany's foreign school services in South America, in Chile, Venezuela and Columbia. She returned to Germany with her son in 1972. She lived in Schlitz, Hesse, where she taught until her retirement in 1989, and where she wrote most of her novels. After her retirement, she achieved her Ph.D. with a dissertation entitled ""Vergessene Jugendschriftsteller der Erich-Kästner-Generation" ("Forgotten young-adult writers of Erich Kästner's generation).  Pausewang wrote around 100 novels. In 2011, she named as her four main topics:  She wrote her novel "Die Wolke" (literally: "The Cloud") in 1987, after the Chernobyl disaster, using information that the organisation "Ärzte gegen den Atomtod" (Physicians against nuclear death) had published at the end of the 1970s. In 1988, it was awarded the Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis, the Kurd Laßwitz Award and the Deutscher Science Fiction Preis in the category Best Novel. It was translated as "Fall-Out" by Patricia Crampton and published in 1994. She wrote in 2011, after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, that she was determined to take her readers serious regardless of age, and she wanted to warn of dangers of her time."  Her novel "Dark Hours" was included in the New York Public Library's 2007 list of Books for the Teen Age Reader, and in the Texas Library Association's 2007–2008 "Tayshas" High School Reading List, and received the Silver Medal in Juvenile/Young Adult Fiction from the Independent Publisher Book Awards. Pausewang was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. Several schools were named after her, and she received the Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis for her life's work in 2017. Her books "Die Wolke" and "Die letzten Kinder von Schewenhorn" became part of required reading in schools.  From 2016, she lived in a senior citizens' home in Baunach, where she died on 23 January 2020.

Publications.

Publications by Gudrung Pausewang (Gudrun Wilcke) are held by the German National Library, including:

Gudrun Pausewang (3 March 1928 – 23 January 2020), less commonly known by her married name, Gudrun Wilcke, was a German author of children's and young adult literature. She was known for books such as "The Last Children of Schewenborn" and "Die Wolke" (translated as "Fall-Out") which were made part of German school canons. Among her primary topics were work for peace and protection of the environment, namely warning of the dangers of nuclear energy. Her books have been translated into English and received international recognition and awards.


Bar.

Originally, the word "bar" came from the vertical lines drawn through the staff to mark off metrical units and not the bar-like (i.e., rectangular) dimensions of a typical measure of music. In British English, these vertical lines are called "bar", too, but often the term "bar line" is used in order to make the distinction clear. A "double bar line" (or "double bar") can consist of two single bar lines drawn close together, separating two sections within a piece, or a bar line followed by a thicker bar line, indicating the end of a piece or movement. Note that "double bar" refers not to a type of "bar" (i.e., measure), but to a type of "bar line". Another term for the bar line denoting the end of a piece of music is "music end".  A "repeat sign" (or, "repeat bar line") looks like the music end, but it has two dots, one above the other, indicating that the section of music that is before is to be repeated. The beginning of the repeated passage can be marked by a "begin-repeat sign"; if this is absent the repeat is understood to be from the beginning of the piece or movement. This begin-repeat sign, if appearing at the beginning of a staff, does not act as a bar line because no bar is before it; its only function is to indicate the beginning of the passage to be repeated.  In music with a regular meter, bars function to indicate a periodic accent in the music, regardless of its duration. In music employing mixed meters, bar lines are instead used to indicate the beginning of rhythmic note groups, but this is subject to wide variation: some composers use dashed bar lines, others (including Hugo Distler) have placed bar lines at different places in the different parts to indicate varied groupings from part to part.  Igor Stravinsky said of bar lines:  Bars and bar lines also indicate grouping: rhythmically of beats within and between bars, within and between phrases, and on higher levels such as meter.

History.

The earliest barlines, used in keyboard and vihuela music in the 15th and 16th centuries, didn't reflect a regular meter at all but were only section divisions, or in some cases marked off every beat.  Barlines began to be introduced into ensemble music in the late 16th century but continued to be used irregularly for a time. Not until the mid-17th century were barlines used in the modern style with every measure being the same length, and they began to be associated with time signatures.  Modern editions of early music that was originally notated without barlines sometimes use a mensurstrich as a compromise.

Hypermeasure.

A hypermeasure, large-scale or high-level measure, or measure-group is a metric unit in which, generally, each regular measure is one beat (actually hyperbeat) of a larger meter. Thus a beat is to a measure as a measure/hyperbeat is to a hypermeasure. Hypermeasures must be larger than a notated bar, perceived as a unit, consist of a pattern of strong and weak beats, and along with adjacent hypermeasures, which must be of the same length, create a sense of hypermeter. The term was coined by Edward T. Cone in "Musical Form and Musical Performance" (New York: Norton, 1968), and is similar to the less formal notion of a phrase.

In musical notation, a bar (or measure) is a segment of time corresponding to a specific number of beats in which each beat is represented by a particular note value and the boundaries of the bar are indicated by vertical bar lines. Dividing music into bars provides regular reference points to pinpoint locations within a musical composition. It also makes written music easier to follow, since each bar of staff symbols can be read and played as a batch.


Performance history.

The reception of "Der Freischütz" surpassed Weber's own hopes and it quickly became an international success, with productions in Vienna the same year followed by Dresden, Leipzig, Hamburg, Munich, Karlsruhe, Königsberg, Prague, other German centres, Riga and Copenhagen. 1824 saw productions in four London theatres in four different adaptations, as well as the French premiere at the Théâtre de l'Odéon as "Robin des Bois".  A version in French with recitatives was prepared by Hector Berlioz together with an orchestration of Weber's Invitation to the Dance for an interlude in a production at the Paris Opera in 1841. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky criticised Berlioz's arrangement in the Bolshoi Theatre production of 1873 as "utterly incongruous", "tasteless" and "silly" because it intermitted the rustic opera by a completely urban piece of music. In 1879 he again criticised a performance in Paris: Berlioz's arrangement again underlay the production at the Paris Opéra-Comique in 2011.  His orchestration of "Invitation à la valse" soon became a concert piece in its own right.  Also Weber's overture and the "Huntsmen's Chorus" from act 3 ("With princely enjoyment and manly employment") are often performed as concert pieces.

Synopsis.

Act 1.

At a shooting contest, the assistant forester Max loses to a peasant, Kilian, who is proclaimed "King of marksmen" (Chorus: "Viktoria! Der Meister soll leben"—"Victory! Long live the master"). Kilian mocks him good-naturedly ("Schaut der Herr mich an als König"—"Let him gaze on me as king").  Max wants to marry his bride Agathe, daughter of the head forester Kuno. For this, he has to prove his marksmanship and score in a shooting probe before Ottokar, the sovereign prince, on the following day.  As Max has had ill luck for several days, he muses his dismal prospects of losing Agathe by failing the shooting test (Trio of Kuno, Kaspar, and Max; chorus: "O diese Sonne"—"O this sun"). Left alone, in deep melancholy he recalls happy days (Aria: "Durch die Wälder, durch die Auen"—"Through the forests, through the meadows").  Kaspar, the first assistant forester, tries to imbue Max with wine and courage ("Hier im ird'schen Jammerthal"—"Here in this vale of tears"). He had wooed formerly for Agathe but she had chosen Max. This marriage would make Max also heir of Kuno. For this reset behind Max, the second assistant, Kaspar seeks revenge from all three. He hands Max his gun and Max, to his own astonishment, hits an eagle soaring at a great height. Kaspar explains that the gun had been loaded with his last magic bullet.  He persuades Max to meet him at midnight in the terrible Wolf's Glen to cast seven more of the magic bullets. (Six hit, but the seventh belongs to the Evil One who can guide it wherever he pleases.) He warns Max not to tell a soul about their purpose so as not to endanger them. Left alone, Kaspar triumphs and boasts of his insidiousness (Aria: "Schweig! damit dich Niemand warnt"—"Silence, let no one warn him").

Act 2.

"Agathe's chamber"  At the moment when Max shoots the magic bullet, a picture of Agathe's ancestor hanging on the wall falls to the floor, slightly wounding her. Agathe's cousin and companion Ännchen refastens the hook (Duet: "Schelm, halt fest!"—"Rogue, hold fast!"). She endeavours to cheer Agathe with jests (Ännchen: "Kommt ein schlanker Bursch gegangen"—"Comes a pretty boy this path"). Agathe, still hesitative, tells of her meeting with the hermit. He had indicated a danger from which his white consecrated roses shall protect her.  Left alone Agathe awaits Max with the news of his success (Recitative and aria: "Wie nahte mir der Schlummer...Leise, leise"—"How did slumber approach me...Low, low"). Max arrives, acknowledging that while he has not been the victor, he has killed an eagle. Though the night is falling he has to leave again to bring in a stag which he had shot in the Wolf's Glen (Trio: "Wie? Was? Entsetzen!"—"How? What? Oh, horror!").  "The Wolf's Glen at night"  As the bell chimes twelve Kaspar calls upon Samiel, the Black Huntsman, for assistance in casting the magic bullets. Having already sold his own soul, which is due the next day, Kaspar offers Max’s soul in exchange of a prolongation by three more years. Agathe is to be killed by Max's magic bullet, despair will then make him the Devil's, him - and the father. Samiel agrees ambiguously: "So be it - By the gates of hell! Tomorrow he or you!"  As Max arrives the spirit of his mother warns him to abandon the project. But Samiel conjures up Agathe, seemingly drowning herself in despair whereupon Max plunges into the glen. With demoniacal noise, the casting of the bullets begins.

Act 3.

"The meeting of the marksmen"  Having split the seven bullets between them, Max has used three during the hunt in the morning. Kaspar spoils his third on a fox. Thus Max's remaining bullet is the seventh, the Devil's bullet.  "Agathe's chamber"  Agathe is praying (Aria: "Und ob die Wolke sie verhülle"—"Through clouds obscure"), her doubts having returned owing to a dream of ill omen where she was a white dove which Max shot. Ännchen tries to cheer her with a spooky tale (Aria: "Einst träumte meiner sel'gen Base"—"My deceased cousin had a dream"). The bridesmaids bring the box with the bridal wreath (Song: "Wir winden dir den Jungfern-Kranz"—"We wind round thee the bridal wreath"). But as they open it they find a funeral wreath. Recalling the hermit's promise that the white roses will protect her, Agathe proposes to twine them to the bridal wreath. "The shooting probe"  Prince Ottokar awaits Max at his tent (Chorus of foresters: "Was gleicht wohl auf Erden"—"What excels the pleasures of the chase"). As probe Max is ordered to shoot the dove pointed out to him. Max takes aim, fires and Agathe, who has just entered the scene, falls as if hit (Finale: "Schaut, o schaut"—"See, oh see"). But her bridal wreath and the hermit behind her have deflected the bullet. It strikes Kaspar. Agathe revives from her faint and Kaspar, seeing a holy hermit by her side, realizes that he has failed. Samiel grasps him instead of Max, whereupon Kaspar expires cursing hell and heaven.  Prince Ottokar orders the corpse to be thrown into the Wolf's Glen. Then he demands and receives explanation from Max who confesses to shooting with magic bullets. Regardless of pleas from Kuno, Agathe, peasants, and huntsmen, the infuriated Prince forbids the marriage and banishes Max from the country.  The hermit appeases (Aria: Wer legt auf ihn so strengen Bann! Ein Fehltritt, ist er solcher Büssung wert?—"Who lays so strict a sentence upon him? An error, is it worthy of such atonement?"). Only love of Agathe and fear of losing her had caused Max to stray from a life that was formerly without fault. Who is to raise the first stone? Who does not look into his own heart? After a faultless probationary year Max should marry Agathe. To the exuberant joy of all the Prince accepts this judgement. After the probation he himself will place the hand of Agathe in that of Max.  In the end all join in a prayer of thanks.

Instrumentation.

The opera is scored for a standard-sized orchestra composed of:

References.

Notes  Sources

, Op. 77, J. 277, (usually translated as "The Marksman" or "The Freeshooter" is a German opera with spoken dialogue in three acts by Carl Maria von Weber with a libretto by Friedrich Kind. It premiered on 18 June 1821 at the Schauspielhaus Berlin.


Early life and family.

Barclay de Tolly was a descendant of the Scottish Clan Barclay, with roots in Towie (Towy or Tolly; ) in Aberdeenshire. He was born in, Duchy of Courland and Semigallia (present-day Pamūšis, Šiauliai County, Lithuania) and raised in Beckhof, Livonia, Russian Empire (now part of Estonia). The commonly accepted birth date of 27 December 1761 is actually the day of his baptism in the Lutheran church of the town Zaumel. He was a German-speaking descendant of a Scottish family, as his ancestor Peter Barclay had settled in Livonia in the 17th century.  From 1765, the young Barclay de Tolly grew up in St. Petersburg and was raised by his aunt. Gregory Fremont-Barnes and Todd Fisher, who are amongst the world's leading Napoleonic-era scholars, state that this was a common occurrence amongst the German Protestants, and it gave the young man an exposure to higher society unavailable in the Baltic provinces. His grandfather Wilhelm Barclay de Tolly served as the mayor of Riga, while his father Bogdan Barclay de Tolly (1734–1781) served in the Russian army before being admitted into the ranks of the Russian nobility by the Tsar.  The future field marshal started his active service in the Imperial Russian Army in 1776, and he would spend the rest of his life with the military. He had two brothers who also served in the Russian army, Axel Heinrich Barclay de Tolly, a Major General of Engineers, and Erich Johann Barclay de Tolly, a Major of Artillery.

Service history.

Barclay was enlisted in the Pskov Carabineer Regiment on 13 May 1776, and he achieved the rank of a cornet by May 1778. In the same year, he joined the Imperial jaeger regiments, and joined alongside the rest of his unit the army of Prince Potemkin. In 1788–1789, during the Russo-Turkish War of 1787-1792, Barclay served against the Turks, under the command of Victor Amadeus of Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym. During this campaign, he distinguished himself in the taking of Ochakov and Akkerman.  In 1789, he was transferred to the Finnish front during the Russo-Swedish War of 1788-1790, and four years later, he fought against the Poles. He was a lieutenant colonel by 1794 after serving as aide-de-camp to various senior officers in several campaigns. In that year, he was appointed commander of the Estland Jaeger Corps, and three years later commander of the 4th Jaeger Regiment, becoming its chief in 1799, soon after being promoted to general major for his service in the Polish Campaign of 1794.  In the war of 1806 against Napoleon, Barclay took a distinguished part in the Battle of Pultusk (December 1806) and was wounded at the Battle of Eylau (7 February 1807), where his conduct won him promotion to the rank of lieutenant general. After a period of convalescence, Barclay returned to the army and in 1808 commanded operations against the Swedes during the Finnish War. In 1809, he successfully marched over the frozen Gulf of Bothnia, which allowed him to surprise the enemy and seize Umeå in Sweden. For this exploit, immortalized by the Russian poet Baratynsky, he was made full general and Governor-General of Finland. A year later, he became Minister of War, retaining the post until 1813.

Napoleon's invasion.

During Napoleon's invasion of Russia in 1812, Barclay assumed the supreme command of the 1st Army of the West, the largest of the Russian armies facing Napoleon. He used a strategy of retreat leaving behind scorched earth from the beginning of the campaign in order to draw the French supply lines deep into Russian territory and retreated to the village of Tsaryovo-Zaimishche between Moscow and Smolensk, although some consider the strategy merely an confluence of diverse circumstances and not attributable to the will of one man.  Nevertheless, the Russians keenly opposed the appointment of a foreigner as commander-in-chief. His rivals spread rumors of his being Napoleon's agent, and the populace condemned him as a coward. Barclay was forced by his subordinates and the Tsar to engage Napoleon at Smolensk (17–18 August 1812). Napoleon forced Barclay to retreat when he threatened Barclay's only escape route. After losing the Holy City of Smolensk, the outcry of officers and civilians grew to a point where the Tsar could no longer ignore it. He appointed Kutuzov, previously a general at the battle of Austerlitz, as the over-all commander of the Russian forces. Barclay remained General of the 1st Army of the West.  Barclay commanded the right flank at the Battle of Borodino (7 September 1812) with great valour and presence of mind and during the celebrated council at Fili advised Kutuzov to surrender unfortified Moscow to the enemy. His illness made itself known at that time and he was forced to leave the army soon afterwards.  After Napoleon was driven from Russia, the eventual success of Barclay's tactics made him a romantic hero, misunderstood by his contemporaries and rejected by the court. His popularity soared, and his honour was restored by the tsar.

Foreign campaigns.

Barclay was re-employed in the field and took part in the German Campaign of 1813 and the French Campaign of 1814, which ended the War of the Sixth Coalition (1812–1814). After Kutuzov's death, he once again became commander-in-chief of the Russian forces at the Battle of Bautzen (21 May 1813), and in this capacity he served at Dresden (26–27 August 1813), Kulm (29–30 August 1813) and Leipzig (16–19 October 1813). In the latter battle, he commanded a central part of the Allied forces so effectively that the tsar bestowed upon him the title of count.  Barclay took part in the invasion of France in 1814 and commanded the taking of Paris, receiving the baton of a Field Marshal in reward. In 1815 he again served as commander-in-chief of the Russian army, which after the Hundred Days occupied France, and he was created a prince at the close of the war.  As his health grew worse, he left the military and settled down in his Jõgeveste manor (German exonym: "Beckhof", Polish: "Tepelshof") (nowadays Southern Estonia). Barclay de Tolly died at Insterburg (Chernyakhovsk), East Prussia, on 26 May 1818 (14 May, Old Style) on his way from his Livonian manor to Germany, where he wanted to renew his health. His and his wife Helene Auguste Eleonore von Smitten's remains were embalmed and put into the mausoleum built to a design by Apollon Shchedrin and Vasily Demut-Malinovsky in 1832 in Jõgeveste (in Helme, Estonia). A grand statue of him was erected in front of the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg at the behest of Emperor Nicholas I. He is also commemorated by a modern statue in Riga, a full-size bronze-mounted statue by Vladimir Surovtsev in Chernyakhovsk, a bust monument in Tartu, and the so-called "Barclay's leaning house" in Tartu (which was acquired by his widow after his death).  After the extinction of the Barclay de Tolly princely line with his son Magnus on 29 October 1871 (17 October, Old Style), Alexander II allowed the field marshal's sister's grandson through female lineage, Alexander von Weymarn, to assume the title of Prince Barclay de Tolly-Weymarn on 12 June 1872 (31 May, Old Style).

Prince Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly (; – ) was a Baltic German field marshal and Minister of War of the Russian Empire during Napoleon's invasion in 1812 and the War of the Sixth Coalition. Barclay implemented a number of reforms during this time that improved supply system in the army, doubled the number of army troops, and implemented new combat training principles. He was also the Governor-General of Finland.


Origin.

The exact origins of the terms 'beat music' and 'Merseybeat' are uncertain. The "beat" in each, however, derived from the driving rhythms which the bands had adopted from their rock and roll, rhythm and blues and soul music influences, rather than the Beat Generation literary movement of the 1950s. As the initial wave of rock and roll subsided in the later 1950s, "big beat" music, later shortened to "beat", became a live dance alternative to the balladeers like Tommy Steele, Marty Wilde, and Cliff Richard who were dominating the charts. The German anthropologist and music critic Ernest Borneman, who lived in England from 1933 to 1960, claimed to have coined the term in a column in "Melody Maker" magazine to describe the British imitation of American Rock'n'Roll, Rhythm & Blues and Skiffle bands.  The name "Mersey Beat" was used for a Liverpool music magazine founded in 1961 by Bill Harry. Harry claims to have coined the term "based on a policeman's beat and not that of the music". The band the Pacifics were renamed the Mersey Beats in February 1962 by Bob Wooler, MC at the Cavern Club, and in April that year they became the Merseybeats. With the rise of the Beatles in 1963, the terms Mersey sound and Merseybeat were applied to bands and singers from Liverpool, the first time in British pop music that a sound and a location were linked together. The equivalent scenes in Birmingham and London were described as Brum beat and the Tottenham Sound respectively.

Characteristics.

The most distinctive characteristic of beat music was its strong beat, using the backbeat common to rock and roll and rhythm and blues, but often with a driving emphasis on all the beats of 4/4 bar. The rhythm itself—described by Alan Clayson as "a changeless four-four offbeat on the snare drum"—was developed in the clubs in Hamburg, West Germany, where many English groups, including the Beatles, performed in the early 1960s and where it was known as the "mach schau" (make show) beat. The 8/8 rhythm was flexible enough to be adopted for songs from a range of genres. In addition, according to music writer Dave Laing,  "[T]he chord playing of the rhythm guitar was broken up into a series of separate strokes, often one to the bar, with the regular plodding of the bass guitar and crisp drumming behind it. This gave a very different effect from the monolithic character of rock, in that the beat was given not by the duplication of one instrument in the rhythm section by another, but by an interplay between all three. This flexibility also meant that beat music could cope with a greater range of time-signatures and song shapes than rock & roll had been able to".  Beat groups usually had simple guitar-dominated line-ups, with vocal harmonies and catchy tunes. The most common instrumentation of beat groups featured lead, rhythm and bass guitars plus drums, as popularized by the Beatles, the Searchers, and others. Beat groups—even those with a separate lead singer—often sang both verses and choruses in close harmony, resembling doo wop, with nonsense syllables in the backing vocals.

Emergence.

In the late 1950s, a flourishing culture of groups began to emerge, often out of the declining skiffle scene, in major urban centres in the UK like Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham and London. This was particularly true in Liverpool, where it has been estimated that there were around 350 different bands active, often playing ballrooms, concert halls and clubs. Liverpool was perhaps uniquely placed within Britain to be the point of origin of a new form of music. Commentators have pointed to a combination of local solidarity, industrial decline, social deprivation, and the existence of a large population of Irish origin, the influence of which has been detected in Beat music. It was also a major port with links to America, particularly through the Cunard Yanks, which made for much greater access to American records and instruments like guitars, which could not easily be imported due to trade restrictions. As a result, Beat bands were heavily influenced by American groups of the era, such as Buddy Holly and the Crickets (from which group the Beatles derived their name, combining it with a pun on the beat in their music), and to a lesser extent by British rock and roll groups such as the Shadows.  After the national success of the Beatles in Britain from 1962, a number of Liverpool performers were able to follow them into the charts, including Gerry & The Pacemakers, the Searchers, and Cilla Black. The first act who were not from Liverpool or managed by Brian Epstein to break through in the UK were Freddie and the Dreamers, who were based in Manchester, a short distance away, as were Herman's Hermits and the Hollies.  Outside of Liverpool many local scenes were less influenced by rock and roll and more by the rhythm and blues and later directly by the blues. These included bands from Birmingham who were often grouped with the beat movement, the most successful being the Spencer Davis Group and the Moody Blues. Similar blues influenced bands who broke out from local scenes to national prominence were the Animals from Newcastle and Them from Belfast. From London, the term "Tottenham Sound" was largely based around the Dave Clark Five, but other London-based British rhythm and blues and rock bands who benefited from the beat boom of this era included the Rolling Stones, the Kinks and the Yardbirds.

British Invasion.

The Beatles' appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show" soon after led to chart success. During the next two years, the Animals, Petula Clark, the Dave Clark Five, the Rolling Stones, Donovan, Peter and Gordon, Manfred Mann, Freddie and the Dreamers, The Zombies, Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders, Herman’s Hermits, and the Troggs would have one or more number one singles in America.

Freakbeat.

Freakbeat is a subgenre of rock and roll music developed mainly by harder-driving British groups, often those with a mod following during the Swinging London period of the mid to late 1960s. Freakbeat bridges "British Invasion mod/R&B/pop and psychedelia". The term was coined by English music journalist Phil Smee. Allmusic writes that "freakbeat" is loosely defined, but generally describes the more obscure but hard-edged artists of the British Invasion era such as the Creation, the Pretty Things or Denny Laine's early solo work. Other bands often mentioned as Freakbeat are the Action, the Move, the Smoke, the Sorrows, and Wimple Winch.

Decline.

By 1967 beat music was beginning to sound out of date, particularly compared with the "harder edged" blues rock that was beginning to emerge.  Most of the groups that had not already disbanded by 1967, like the Beatles, moved into different forms of rock music and pop music, including psychedelic rock and eventually progressive rock.

Influence.

Beat was a major influence on the American garage rock and folk rock movements, and would be a source of inspiration for subsequent rock music subgenres, including Britpop in the 1990s.

Beat music, British beat, or Merseybeat (after bands from Liverpool and nearby areas beside the River Mersey) is a popular music genre, influenced by American rock and roll, British skiffle, and traditional pop music, that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1960s.