diff --git "a/wikipedia_11.txt" "b/wikipedia_11.txt" new file mode 100644--- /dev/null +++ "b/wikipedia_11.txt" @@ -0,0 +1,10000 @@ + 1969 – Jeremy Schaap, American journalist and author + 1969 – Keith Tyson, English painter and illustrator +1970 – Lawrence Frank, American basketball player and coach + 1970 – Jason Hetherington, Australian rugby league player + 1970 – Jay Mohr, American actor, producer, and screenwriter + 1970 – River Phoenix, American actor (d. 1993) +1971 – Demetrio Albertini, Italian footballer and manager + 1971 – Tim Gutberlet, German footballer + 1971 – Gretchen Whitmer, 49th Governor of Michigan +1972 – Mark Butcher, English cricketer and singer + 1972 – Raul Casanova, Puerto Rican-American baseball player + 1972 – Anthony Calvillo, Canadian football player + 1972 – Martin Grainger, English footballer and manager + 1972 – Manuel Vidrio, Mexican footballer, coach, and manager +1973 – Casey Blake, American baseball player + 1973 – Kerry Walmsley, New Zealand cricketer +1974 – Lexi Alexander, American film and television director + 1974 – Mark Bellhorn, American baseball player + 1974 – Benjamin Limo, Kenyan runner + 1974 – Konstantin Novoselov, Russian-English physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate + 1974 – Ray Park, Scottish actor and stuntman +1975 – Eliza Carthy, English folk musician + 1975 – Sean Marks, New Zealand basketball player and manager + 1975 – Jarkko Ruutu, Finnish ice hockey player +1976 – Scott Caan, American actor + 1976 – Pat Garrity, American basketball player and executive + 1976 – Melanie Gabriel, English singer +1977 – Douglas Sequeira, Costa Rican footballer and manager + 1977 – Jared Fogle, American spokesman and criminal +1978 – Kobe Bryant, American basketball player and businessman (d. 2020) + 1978 – Julian Casablancas, American singer-songwriter and producer + 1978 – Randal Tye Thomas, American journalist and politician (d. 2014) + 1978 – Andrew Rannells, American actor and singer +1979 – Jessica Bibby, Australian basketball player + 1979 – Saskia Clark, English sailor + 1979 – Edgar Sosa, Mexican boxer + 1979 – Zuzana Váleková, Slovak tennis player +1980 – Denny Bautista, Dominican baseball player + 1980 – Nadine Jolie Courtney, American journalist, reality personality and author + 1980 – Joanne Froggatt, English actress + 1980 – Rex Grossman, American football player + 1980 – Nenad Vučković, Serbian handball player +1981 – Carlos Cuéllar, Spanish footballer + 1981 – Jaime Lee Kirchner, American actress + 1981 – Stephan Loboué, Ivorian footballer +1982 – Natalie Coughlin, American swimmer + 1982 – Scott Palguta, American soccer player + 1982 – Cristian Tudor, Romanian footballer (d. 2012) +1983 – James Collins, Welsh footballer + 1983 – Athena Farrokhzad, Iranian-Swedish poet, playwright, and critic + 1983 – Sun Mingming, Chinese basketball player + 1983 – Tony Moll, American football player + 1983 – Fiona Onasanya, British politician and criminal + 1983 – Bruno Spengler, Canadian race car driver +1984 – Glen Johnson, English footballer + 1984 – Eric Tai, New Zealand rugby player and actor +1985 – Valeria Lukyanova, Moldovan-Ukrainian model and singer +1986 – Sky Blu, American rapper and DJ + 1986 – Neil Cicierega, American comedian and musician + 1986 – Ayron Jones, American musician + 1986 – Brett Morris, Australian rugby league player + 1986 – Josh Morris, Australian rugby league player +1987 – Darren Collison, American basketball player +1988 – Olga Govortsova, Belarusian tennis player + 1988 – Carl Hagelin, Swedish ice hockey player + 1988 – Jeremy Lin, American basketball player + 1988 – Kim Matula, American actress + 1988 – Miles Mikolas, American baseball player +1989 – Lianne La Havas, British singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist + 1989 – Trixie Mattel, American drag queen, actor, and country singer + 1989 – Heiko Schwarz, German footballer + 1989 – TeddyLoid, Japanese musician +1990 – Seth Curry, American basketball player + 1990 – Mike Yastrzemski, American baseball player +1992 – Nicola Docherty, Scottish footballer +1993 – Taylor Decker, American football player + 1993 – Tyler Glasnow, American baseball player + 1993 – Iván López, Spanish professional footballer +1994 – August Ames, Canadian pornographic actress (d. 2017) + 1994 – Jusuf Nurkić, Bosnian basketball player +1995 – Gabriela Lee, Romanian tennis player + 1995 – Cameron Norrie, British tennis player +1997 – Lil Yachty, American rapper and singer +1998 – P. J. Washington, American basketball player + +Deaths + +Pre-1600 +30 BC – Caesarion, Egyptian king (b. 47 BC) + 30 BC – Marcus Antonius Antyllus, Roman soldier (b. 47 BC) +93 – Gnaeus Julius Agricola, Roman general and politician (b. AD 40) + 406 – Radagaisus, Gothic king + 634 – Abu Bakr, Arabian caliph (b. 573) + 992 – Volkold, bishop of Meissen +1106 – Magnus, Duke of Saxony (b. 1045) +1176 – Emperor Rokujō of Japan (b. 1164) +1305 – William Wallace, Scottish knight and rebel leader (b. c.1270) +1328 – Nicolaas Zannekin, Flemish peasant leader (in the battle of Cassel) +1329 – Frederick IV, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1282) +1335 – Heilwige Bloemardinne, Christian mystic (b. c. 1265) +1348 – John de Stratford, Archbishop of Canterbury +1363 – Chen Youliang, founder of the Dahan regime (b. 1320) +1367 – Gil Álvarez Carrillo de Albornoz, Spanish cardinal (b. 1310) +1478 – Johannes Pullois, Franco-Flemish composer (b. c. 1420?) +1481 – Thomas de Littleton, English judge and legal author (b. c. 1407) +1498 – Isabella of Aragon, Queen of Portugal, eldest daughter of Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon (b. 1470) +1507 – Jean Molinet, French poet and composer (b. 1435) +1519 – Philibert Berthelier, Swiss soldier (b. 1465) +1540 – Guillaume Budé, French philosopher and scholar (b. 1467) +1568 – Thomas Wharton, 1st Baron Wharton (b. 1495) +1574 – Ebussuud Efendi, Turkish lawyer and jurist (b. 1490) +1591 – Luis de León, Spanish poet and academic (b. 1527) + +1601–1900 +1618 – Gerbrand Adriaenszoon Bredero, Dutch poet and playwright (b. 1585) +1628 – George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire (b. 1592) +1652 – John Byron, 1st Baron Byron, English soldier and politician (b. 1600) +1706 – Edward Nott, English politician, Colonial Governor of Virginia (b. 1654) +1723 – Increase Mather, American minister and author (b. 1639) +1806 – Charles-Augustin de Coulomb, French physicist and engineer (b. 1736) +1813 – Alexander Wilson, Scottish-American poet, ornithologist, and illustrator (b. 1766) +1819 – Oliver Hazard Perry, American commander (b. 1785) +1831 – Ferenc Kazinczy, Hungarian author and poet (b. 1759) + 1831 – August Neidhardt von Gneisenau, Prussian field marshal (b. 1760) +1853 – Alexander Calder, American lawyer and politician (b. 1806) +1867 – Auguste-Marseille Barthélemy, French poet and author (b. 1796) +1880 – William Thompson, British boxer (b. 1811) +1892 – Deodoro da Fonseca, Brazilian field marshal and politician, 1st President of Brazil (b. 1827) +1900 – Kuroda Kiyotaka, Japanese general and politician, 2nd Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1840) + +1901–present +1924 – Heinrich Berté, Slovak-Austrian composer (b. 1856) +1926 – Rudolph Valentino, Italian actor (b. 1895) +1927 – Nicola Sacco, Italian anarchist convicted of murder (b. 1891) + 1927 – Bartolomeo Vanzetti, Italian anarchist convicted of murder (b. 1888) +1933 – Adolf Loos, Austrian architect and theoretician, designed Villa Müller (b. 1870) +1937 – Albert Roussel, French composer (b. 1869) +1944 – Abdülmecid II, Ottoman sultan (b. 1868) + 1944 – Stefan Filipkiewicz, Polish painter and illustrator (b. 1879) +1949 – Helen Churchill Candee, American geographer, journalist, and author (b. 1858) +1954 – Jaan Sarv, Estonian mathematician and scholar (b. 1877) +1960 – Oscar Hammerstein II, American director, producer, and composer (b. 1895) +1962 – Walter Anderson, Russian-German ethnologist and academic (b. 1885) + 1962 – Hoot Gibson, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1892) +1964 – Edmond Hogan, Australian politician, 30th Premier of Victoria (b. 1883) +1966 – Francis X. Bushman, American actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1883) +1967 – Georges Berger, Belgian race car driver (b. 1918) + 1967 – Nathaniel Cartmell, American runner and coach (b. 1883) +1974 – Roberto Assagioli, Italian psychiatrist and author (b. 1888) +1975 – Faruk Gürler, Turkish general (b. 1913) +1977 – Naum Gabo, Russian sculptor and academic (b. 1890) +1982 – Stanford Moore, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1913) +1987 – Didier Pironi, French race car and boat driver (b. 1952) +1989 – Mohammed Abed Elhai, Sudanese poet and academic (b. 1944) + 1989 – R. D. Laing, Scottish psychiatrist and author (b. 1927) +1990 – David Rose, American pianist and composer (b. 1910) +1994 – Zoltán Fábri, Hungarian director and screenwriter (b. 1917) +1995 – Alfred Eisenstaedt, German-American photographer and journalist (b. 1898) +1996 – Margaret Tucker, Australian author and activist (b. 1904) +1997 – Eric Gairy, Grenadian educator and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Grenada (b. 1922) + 1997 – John Kendrew, English biochemist and crystallographer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1917) +1999 – Norman Wexler, American screenwriter (b. 1926) + 1999 – James White, Irish author (b. 1928) +2000 – John Anthony Kaiser, American priest and missionary (b. 1932) +2001 – Kathleen Freeman, American actress (b. 1919) + 2001 – Peter Maas, American journalist and author (b. 1929) +2002 – Hoyt Wilhelm, American baseball player and coach (b. 1922) +2003 – Bobby Bonds, American baseball player and manager (b. 1946) + 2003 – Jack Dyer, Australian footballer and coach (b. 1913) + 2003 – Jan Sedivka, Czech-Australian violinist and educator (b. 1917) + 2003 – Michael Kijana Wamalwa, Kenyan lawyer and politician, 8th Vice President of Kenya (b. 1944) +2005 – Brock Peters, American actor (b. 1927) +2006 – Maynard Ferguson, Canadian trumpet player and bandleader (b. 1928) +2008 – John Russell, English-American author and critic (b. 1919) +2012 – Jerry Nelson, American puppeteer and voice actor (b. 1934) + 2012 – Josepha Sherman, American anthologist and author (b. 1946) +2013 – Richard J. Corman, American businessman, founded the R.J. Corman Railroad Group (b. 1955) + 2013 – William Glasser, American psychiatrist and author (b. 1925) + 2013 – Charles Lisanby, American production designer and set director (b. 1924) + 2013 – Konstanty Miodowicz, Polish ethnographer and politician (b. 1951) + 2013 – Vesna Rožič, Slovenian chess player (b. 1987) + 2013 – Tatyana Zaslavskaya, Russian sociologist and economist (b. 1927) +2014 – Albert Ebossé Bodjongo, Cameroonian footballer (b. 1989) + 2014 – Annefleur Kalvenhaar, Dutch cyclist (b. 1994) + 2014 – Birgitta Stenberg, Swedish author and illustrator (b. 1932) + 2014 – Jaume Vallcorba Plana, Spanish philologist and publisher (b. 1949) +2015 – Augusta Chiwy, Congolese-Belgian nurse (b. 1921) + 2015 – Guy Ligier, French rugby player and race car driver (b. 1930) + 2015 – Enrique Reneau, Honduran footballer (b. 1971) + 2015 – Paul Royle, Australian lieutenant and pilot (b. 1914) +2021 – Elizabeth Blackadder, Scottish painter and printmaker (b. 1931) +2023 – Dmitry Utkin, Russian army officer, founder of Wagner Group (b. 1970) + 2023 – Yevgeny Prigozhin, Russian businessman, chief of Wagner Group (b. 1961) + +Holidays and observances +Battle of Kursk Day (Russia) + Christian feast day: +Ascelina +Asterius, Claudius, and Neon +Éogan of Ardstraw +Lupus (Luppus) of Novae +Philip Benitius +Quiriacus and companions, of Ostia +Rose of Lima +Tydfil +Zacchaeus of Jerusalem +August 23 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) +Day of the National Flag (Ukraine) +European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism or Black Ribbon Day (European Union and other countries), and related observances: +Liberation from Fascist Occupation Day (Romania) +International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition +National Day for Physicians (Iran) + +References + +External links + + + + + +Days of the year +August + + +Events + +Pre-1600 + 367 – Gratian, son of Roman Emperor Valentinian I, is named co-Augustus at the age of eight by his father. + 394 – The Graffito of Esmet-Akhom, the latest known inscription in Egyptian hieroglyphs, is written. + 410 – The Visigoths under king Alaric I begin to pillage Rome. +1185 – Sack of Thessalonica by the Normans. +1200 – King John of England, signer of the first Magna Carta, marries Isabella of Angoulême in Angoulême Cathedral. +1215 – Pope Innocent III issues a bull declaring Magna Carta invalid. +1349 – Six thousand Jews are killed in Mainz after being blamed for the bubonic plague. +1482 – The town and castle of Berwick-upon-Tweed is captured from Scotland by an English army. +1516 – The Ottoman Empire under Selim I defeats the Mamluk Sultanate and captures present-day Syria at the Battle of Marj Dabiq. +1561 – Willem of Orange marries duchess Anna of Saxony. + +1601–1900 +1608 – The first official English representative to India lands in Surat. +1643 – A Dutch fleet establishes a new colony in the ruins of Valdivia in southern Chile. +1662 – The 1662 Book of Common Prayer is legally enforced as the liturgy of the Church of England, precipitating the Great Ejection of Dissenter ministers from their benefices. +1682 – William Penn receives the area that is now the state of Delaware, and adds it to his colony of Pennsylvania. +1690 – Job Charnock of the East India Company establishes a factory in Calcutta, an event formerly considered the founding of the city (in 2003 the Calcutta High Court ruled that the city's foundation date is unknown). +1743 – The War of the Hats: The Swedish army surrenders to the Russians in Helsinki, ending the war and starting Lesser Wrath. +1781 – American Revolutionary War: A small force of Pennsylvania militia is ambushed and overwhelmed by an American Indian group, which forces George Rogers Clark to abandon his attempt to attack Detroit. +1789 – The first naval battle of the Svensksund began in the Gulf of Finland. +1812 – Peninsular War: A coalition of Spanish, British, and Portuguese forces succeed in lifting the two-and-a-half-year-long Siege of Cádiz. +1814 – British troops invade Washington, D.C. and during the Burning of Washington the White House, the Capitol and many other buildings are set ablaze. +1815 – The modern Constitution of the Netherlands is signed. +1816 – The Treaty of St. Louis is signed in St. Louis, Missouri. +1820 – Constitutionalist insurrection at Oporto, Portugal. +1821 – The Treaty of Córdoba is signed in Córdoba, now in Veracruz, Mexico, concluding the Mexican War of Independence from Spain. +1857 – The Panic of 1857 begins, setting off one of the most severe economic crises in United States history. +1870 – The Wolseley expedition reaches Manitoba to end the Red River Rebellion. +1898 – Count Muravyov, Foreign Minister of Russia presents a rescript that convoked the First Hague Peace Conference. + +1901–present +1909 – Workers start pouring concrete for the Panama Canal. +1911 – Manuel de Arriaga is elected and sworn in as the first President of Portugal. +1914 – World War I: German troops capture Namur. + 1914 – World War I: The Battle of Cer ends as the first Allied victory in the war. +1929 – Second day of two-day Hebron massacre during the 1929 Palestine riots: Arab attacks on the Jewish community in Hebron in the British Mandate of Palestine, result in the death of 65–68 Jews; the remaining Jews are forced to flee the city. +1931 – Resignation of the United Kingdom's Second Labour Government. Formation of the UK National Government. +1932 – Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to fly across the United States non-stop (from Los Angeles to Newark, New Jersey). +1933 – The Crescent Limited train derails in Washington, D.C., after the bridge it is crossing is washed out by the 1933 Chesapeake–Potomac hurricane. +1936 – The Australian Antarctic Territory is created. +1937 – Spanish Civil War: the Basque Army surrenders to the Italian Corpo Truppe Volontarie following the Santoña Agreement. + 1937 – Spanish Civil War: Sovereign Council of Asturias and León is proclaimed in Gijón. +1938 – Kweilin incident: A Japanese warplane shoots down the Kweilin, a Chinese civilian airliner, killing 14. It is the first recorded instance of a civilian airliner being shot down. +1941 – The Holocaust: Adolf Hitler orders the cessation of Nazi Germany's systematic T4 euthanasia program of the mentally ill and the handicapped due to protests, although killings continue for the remainder of the war. +1942 – World War II: The Battle of the Eastern Solomons. Japanese aircraft carrier Ryūjō is sunk, with the loss of seven officers and 113 crewmen. The US carrier is heavily damaged. +1944 – World War II: Allied troops begin the attack on Paris. +1949 – The treaty creating the North Atlantic Treaty Organization goes into effect. +1950 – Edith Sampson becomes the first black U.S. delegate to the United Nations. +1951 – United Air Lines Flight 615 crashes near Decoto, California, killing 50 people. +1954 – The Communist Control Act goes into effect, outlawing the American Communist Party. + 1954 – Vice president João Café Filho takes office as president of Brazil, following the suicide of Getúlio Vargas. +1963 – Buddhist crisis: As a result of the Xá Lợi Pagoda raids, the US State Department cables the United States Embassy, Saigon to encourage Army of the Republic of Vietnam generals to launch a coup against President Ngô Đình Diệm if he did not remove his brother Ngô Đình Nhu. +1967 – Led by Abbie Hoffman, the Youth International Party temporarily disrupts trading at the New York Stock Exchange by throwing dollar bills from the viewing gallery, causing trading to cease as brokers scramble to grab them. +1970 – Vietnam War protesters bomb Sterling Hall at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, leading to an international manhunt for the perpetrators. +1981 – Mark David Chapman is sentenced to 20 years to life in prison for murdering John Lennon. +1989 – Colombian drug barons declare "total war" on the Colombian government. + 1989 – Tadeusz Mazowiecki is chosen as the first non-communist prime minister in Central and Eastern Europe. +1991 – Mikhail Gorbachev resigns as head of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. + 1991 – Ukraine declares itself independent from the Soviet Union. +1992 – Hurricane Andrew makes landfall in Homestead, Florida as a Category 5 hurricane, causing up to $25 billion (1992 USD) in damages. +1995 – Microsoft Windows 95 was released to the public in North America. +1998 – First radio-frequency identification (RFID) human implantation tested in the United Kingdom. +2001 – Air Transat Flight 236 loses all engine power over the Atlantic Ocean, forcing the pilots to conduct an emergency landing in the Azores. +2004 – Ninety passengers die after two airliners explode after flying out of Domodedovo International Airport, near Moscow. The explosions are caused by suicide bombers from Chechnya. +2006 – The International Astronomical Union (IAU) redefines the term "planet" such that Pluto is now considered a dwarf planet. +2008 – Sixty-five passengers are killed when Iran Aseman Airlines Flight 6895 crashes during an emergency landing at Manas International Airport in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. + 2008 – A Cessna 208 Caravan crashes in Cabañas, Zacapa, Guatemala, killing 11 people. +2010 – In San Fernando, Tamaulipas, Mexico, 72 illegal immigrants are killed by Los Zetas and eventually found dead by Mexican authorities. + 2010 – Henan Airlines Flight 8387 crashes at Yichun Lindu Airport in Yichun, Heilongjiang, China, killing 44 out of the 96 people on board. + 2010 – Agni Air Flight 101 crashes near Shikharpur, Makwanpur, Nepal, killing all 14 people on board. +2012 – Anders Behring Breivik, perpetrator of the 2011 Norway attacks, is sentenced to 21 years of preventive detention. +2014 – A magnitude 6.0 earthquake strikes the San Francisco Bay Area; it is the largest in that area since 1989. +2016 – An earthquake strikes Central Italy with a magnitude of 6.2, with aftershocks felt as far as Rome and Florence. Around 300 people are killed. +2017 – The National Space Agency of Taiwan successfully launches the observation satellite Formosat-5 into space. +2020 – Erin O’Toole is elected leader of the Conservative Party of Canada. +2023 – Japan officially begins discharging treated radioactive water from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the Pacific Ocean, sparking international concerns and condemnation. + +Births + +Pre-1600 +1016 – Fujiwara no Genshi, Japanese empress consort (d. 1039) +1113 – Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou (d. 1151) +1198 – Alexander II of Scotland (d. 1249) +1358 – John I of Castile (d. 1390) +1393 – Arthur III, Duke of Brittany (d. 1458) +1423 – Thomas Rotherham, English cleric (d. 1500) +1498 – John, Hereditary Prince of Saxony (d. 1537) +1510 – Elisabeth of Brandenburg, Duchess of Brunswick-Calenberg-Göttingen (d. 1558) +1552 – Lavinia Fontana, Italian painter and educator (d. 1614) +1556 – Sophia Brahe, Danish horticulturalist and astronomer (d. 1643) +1561 – Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk (d. 1626) +1578 – John Taylor, English poet and author (d. 1653) +1591 – Robert Herrick, English poet and cleric (d. 1674) + +1601–1900 +1631 – Philip Henry, English minister (d. 1696) +1635 – Peder Griffenfeld, Danish lawyer and politician (d. 1699) +1684 – Sir Robert Munro, 6th Baronet, British politician (d. 1746) +1714 – Alaungpaya, Burmese king (d. 1760) +1758 – Duchess Sophia Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (d. 1794) +1759 – William Wilberforce, English philanthropist and politician (d. 1833) +1772 – William I of the Netherlands (d. 1840) +1787 – James Weddell, Belgian-English sailor, hunter, and explorer (d. 1834) +1824 – Antonio Stoppani, Italian geologist and scholar (d. 1891) +1837 – Théodore Dubois, French organist, composer, and educator (d. 1924) +1843 – Boyd Dunlop Morehead, Australian politician, 10th Premier of Queensland (d. 1905) +1845 – James Calhoun, American lieutenant (d. 1876) +1851 – Tom Kendall, Australian cricketer and journalist (d. 1924) +1852 – Agnes Marshall, English culinary entrepreneur, inventor, and celebrity chef (d. 1905) +1860 – David Bowman, Australian lawyer and politician (d. 1916) +1862 – Zonia Baber, American geographer and geologist (d. 1956) +1863 – Dragutin Lerman, Croatian explorer (d. 1918) +1865 – Ferdinand I of Romania (d. 1927) +1872 – Max Beerbohm, English essayist, parodist, and caricaturist (d. 1956) +1884 – Earl Derr Biggers, American author and playwright (d. 1933) +1887 – Harry Hooper, American baseball player (d. 1974) +1888 – Valentine Baker, Welsh co-founder of the Martin-Baker Aircraft Company (d. 1942) +1890 – Duke Kahanamoku, American swimmer, actor, and surfer (d. 1968) + 1890 – Jean Rhys, Dominican-English novelist (d. 1979) +1893 – Haim Ernst Wertheimer, German-Israeli biochemist and academic (d. 1978) +1895 – Richard Cushing, American cardinal (d. 1970) +1897 – Fred Rose, American pianist, songwriter, and publisher (d. 1954) +1898 – Malcolm Cowley, American novelist, poet, literary critic (d. 1989) +1899 – Jorge Luis Borges, Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator (d. 1986) + 1899 – Albert Claude, Belgian biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1983) + +1901–present +1901 – Preston Foster, American actor (d. 1970) +1902 – Fernand Braudel, French historian and academic (d. 1985) + 1902 – Carlo Gambino, Italian-American mob boss (d. 1976) +1903 – Karl Hanke, German businessman and politician (d. 1945) +1904 – Ida Cook, English campaigner for Jewish refugees, and romantic novelist as Mary Burchell (d. 1986) +1905 – Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1974) + 1905 – Siaka Stevens, Sierra Leonean police officer and politician, 1st President of Sierra Leone (d. 1988) +1907 – Bruno Giacometti, Swiss architect, designed the Hallenstadion (d. 2012) +1908 – Shivaram Rajguru, Indian activist (d. 1931) +1909 – Ronnie Grieveson, South African cricketer and soldier (d. 1998) +1913 – Charles Snead Houston, American physician and mountaineer (d. 2009) +1915 – Wynonie Harris, American singer and guitarist (d. 1969) + 1915 – James Tiptree Jr. (Alice Bradley Sheldon), American psychologist and science fiction author (d. 1987) +1918 – Sikander Bakht, Indian field hockey player and politician, Indian Minister of External Affairs (d. 2004) +1919 – Tosia Altman, member of the Polish resistance in World War II (d. 1943) + 1919 – J. Gordon Edwards, American entomologist, mountaineer, and DDT advocate (d. 2004) + 1919 – Enrique Llanes, Mexican wrestler (d. 2004) +1920 – Alex Colville, Canadian painter and academic (d. 2013) +1921 – Eric Simms, English ornithologist and conservationist (d. 2009) +1922 – René Lévesque, Canadian journalist and politician, 23rd Premier of Quebec (d. 1987) + 1922 – Howard Zinn, American historian, author, and activist (d. 2010) +1923 – Arthur Jensen, American psychologist and academic (d. 2012) +1924 – Alyn Ainsworth, English singer and conductor (d. 1990) + 1924 – Louis Teicher, American pianist (d. 2008) +1926 – Nancy Spero, American painter and academic (d. 2009) +1927 – Anjali Devi, Indian actress and producer (d. 2014) + 1927 – David Ireland, Australian author and playwright (d. 2022) + 1927 – Harry Markowitz, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2023) + 1929 – Betty Dodson, American author and educator (d. 2020) +1930 – Jackie Brenston, American singer-songwriter and saxophonist (d. 1979) + 1930 – Roger McCluskey, American race car driver (d. 1993) +1932 – Robert D. Hales, American captain and religious leader (d. 2017) + 1932 – Richard Meale, Australian pianist and composer (d. 2009) + 1932 – Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, English cardinal (d. 2017) +1933 – Prince Rupert Loewenstein, Spanish-English banker and manager (d. 2014) +1934 – Kenny Baker, English actor (d. 2016) +1936 – A. S. Byatt, English novelist and poet + 1936 – Kenny Guinn, American banker and politician, 27th Governor of Nevada (d. 2010) + 1936 – Arthur B. C. Walker Jr., American physicist and academic (d. 2001) +1937 – Moshood Abiola, Nigerian businessman and politician (d. 1998) + 1937 – Susan Sheehan, Austrian-American journalist and author +1938 – David Freiberg, American singer and bass player + 1938 – Mason Williams, American guitarist and composer +1940 – Madsen Pirie, British academic, President and co-founder of the Adam Smith Institute + 1940 – Francine Lalonde, Canadian educator and politician (d. 2014) + 1940 – Keith Savage, English rugby player +1941 – Alan M. Roberts, English academic, Professor of Zoology at the University of Bristol +1942 – Max Cleland, American captain and politician (d. 2021) + 1942 – Jimmy Soul, American pop-soul singer (d. 1988) +1943 – John Cipollina, American rock guitarist (d. 1989) +1944 – Bill Goldsworthy, Canadian-American ice hockey player and coach (d. 1996) + 1944 – Gregory Jarvis, American engineer, and astronaut (d. 1986) + 1944 – Rocky Johnson, Canadian-American wrestler and trainer (d. 2020) +1945 – Ronee Blakley, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress + 1945 – Molly Duncan, Scottish saxophonist (d. 2019) + 1945 – Ken Hensley, English rock singer-songwriter and musician (d. 2020) + 1945 – Marsha P. Johnson, American gay liberation activist and drag queen (d. 1992) + 1945 – Vince McMahon, American wrestler, promoter, and entrepreneur; co-founded WWE +1947 – Anne Archer, American actress and producer + 1947 – Paulo Coelho, Brazilian author and songwriter + 1947 – Roger De Vlaeminck, Belgian cyclist and coach + 1947 – Joe Manchin, American politician, 34th Governor of West Virginia + 1947 – Vladimir Masorin, Russian admiral +1948 – Kim Sung-il, South Korean commander and pilot + 1948 – Jean Michel Jarre, French pianist, composer, and producer + 1948 – Sauli Niinistö, Finnish captain and politician, 12th President of Finland + 1948 – Alexander McCall Smith, Rhodesian-Scottish author and educator +1949 – Stephen Paulus, American composer and educator (d. 2014) + 1949 – Joe Regalbuto, American actor and director +1951 – Danny Joe Brown, American southern rock singer-songwriter and musician (d. 2005) + 1951 – Orson Scott Card, American novelist, critic, public speaker, essayist, and columnist + 1951 – Oscar Hijuelos, American author and academic (d. 2013) +1952 – Marion Bloem, Dutch author, director, and painter + 1952 – Linton Kwesi Johnson, Jamaican dub poet +1953 – Sam Torrance, Scottish golfer and sportscaster +1954 – Alain Daigle, Canadian ice hockey player + 1954 – Heini Otto, Dutch footballer, coach, and manager +1955 – Kevin Dunn, American actor + 1955 – Mike Huckabee, American minister and politician, 44th Governor of Arkansas +1956 – Gerry Cooney, American boxer + 1956 – Dick Lee, Singaporean singer-songwriter and playwright +1957 – Jeffrey Daniel, American singer-songwriter and dancer + 1957 – Stephen Fry, English actor, journalist, producer, and screenwriter +1958 – Steve Guttenberg, American actor and producer +1959 – Meg Munn, English social worker and politician +1960 – Cal Ripken Jr., American baseball player and coach +1961 – Jared Harris, English actor +1962 – Craig Kilborn, American television host + 1962 – Emile Roemer, Dutch educator and politician +1963 – John Bush, American singer-songwriter + 1963 – Hideo Kojima, Japanese director, screenwriter and video game designer + 1963 – Francis Pangilinan, Filipino lawyer and politician +1964 – Éric Bernard, French racing driver + 1964 – Mark Cerny, American video game designer, programmer, producer and business executive + 1964 – Salizhan Sharipov, Kyrgyzstani-Russian lieutenant, pilot, and astronaut +1965 – Marlee Matlin, American actress and producer + 1965 – Reggie Miller, American basketball player and sportscaster + 1965 – Brian Rajadurai, Sri Lankan-Canadian cricketer +1967 – Michael Thomas, English footballer +1968 – Benoît Brunet, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster + 1968 – Shoichi Funaki, Japanese-American wrestler and sportscaster + 1968 – Andreas Kisser, Brazilian guitarist, songwriter, and producer + 1968 – Tim Salmon, American baseball player and sportscaster +1969 – Jans Koerts, Dutch cyclist +1970 – Rich Beem, American golfer + 1970 – David Gregory, American journalist + 1970 – Tugay Kerimoğlu, Turkish footballer and manager +1972 – Jean-Luc Brassard, Canadian skier and radio host + 1972 – Ava DuVernay, American director and screenwriter + 1972 – Todd Young, American politician +1973 – Andrew Brunette, Canadian ice hockey player and coach + 1973 – Dave Chappelle, American comedian, actor, producer and screenwriter + 1973 – James D'Arcy, English actor + 1973 – Inge de Bruijn, Dutch swimmer + 1973 – Carmine Giovinazzo, American actor +1974 – Jennifer Lien, American actress +1975 – Roberto Colombo, Italian footballer + 1975 – Mark de Vries, Surinamese-Dutch footballer +1976 – Simon Dennis, English rower and academic + 1976 – Alex O'Loughlin, Australian actor, writer, director, and producer +1977 – Denílson de Oliveira Araújo, Brazilian footballer + 1977 – Robert Enke, German footballer (d. 2009) + 1977 – Per Gade, Danish footballer + 1977 – John Green, American author and vlogger + 1977 – Jürgen Macho, Austrian footballer +1978 – Derek Morris, Canadian ice hockey player +1979 – Vahur Afanasjev, Estonian author and poet + 1979 – Orlando Engelaar, Dutch footballer + 1979 – Michael Redd, American basketball player +1981 – Chad Michael Murray, American actor, model, and author +1982 – José Bosingwa, Portuguese footballer + 1982 – Kim Källström, Swedish footballer +1983 – Brett Gardner, American baseball player + 1983 – Marcel Goc, German ice hockey player + 1983 – George Perris, Greek-French singer-songwriter and pianist +1984 – Erin Molan, Australian journalist and sportscaster + 1984 – Charlie Villanueva, Dominican-American basketball player +1986 – Joseph Akpala, Nigerian footballer + 1986 – Arian Foster, American football player, rapper, and actor +1987 – Anže Kopitar, Slovenian ice hockey player +1988 – Rupert Grint, English actor + 1988 – Brad Hunt, Canadian ice hockey player + 1988 – Manu Ma'u, New Zealand rugby league player + 1988 – Maya Yoshida, Japanese footballer +1989 – Reynaldo, Brazilian footballer + 1989 – Rocío Igarzábal, Argentinian actress and singer +1990 – Juan Pedro Lanzani, Argentinian actor and singer +1991 – Enrique Hernández, Puerto Rican baseball player + 1991 – Wang Zhen, Chinese race walker +1992 – Jemerson, Brazilian footballer +1993 – Allen Robinson, American football player + 1993 – Maryna Zanevska, Belgian tennis player +1995 – Noah Vonleh, American basketball player + 1995 – Lady Amelia Windsor, member of the British royal family +1997 – Alan Walker, British-Norwegian DJ and record producer +1998 – Sofia Richie, American model and social media personality +2000 – Griffin Gluck, American actor +2001 – Mildred Maldonado, Mexican rhythmic gymnast + +Deaths + +Pre-1600 + 691 – Fu Youyi, official of the Tang Dynasty + 842 – Saga, Japanese emperor (b. 786) + 895 – Guthred, king of Northumbria + 927 – Doulu Ge, chancellor of Later Tang + 927 – Wei Yue, chancellor of Later Tang + 942 – Liu, empress dowager of Later Jin + 948 – Zhang Ye, Chinese general and chancellor +1042 – Michael V Kalaphates, Byzantine emperor (b. 1015) +1103 – Magnus Barefoot, Norwegian king (b. 1073) +1217 – Eustace the Monk, French pirate (b. 1170) +1313 – Henry VII, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1275) +1372 – Casimir III, Duke of Pomerania (b. 1348) +1497 – Sophie of Pomerania, Duchess of Pomerania (b. 1435) +1507 – Cecily of York, English princess (b. 1469) +1540 – Parmigianino, Italian painter and etcher (b. 1503) +1542 – Gasparo Contarini, Italian cardinal (b. 1483) +1572 – Gaspard II de Coligny, French admiral (b. 1519) + 1572 – Charles de Téligny, French soldier and diplomat (b. 1535) +1595 – Thomas Digges, English mathematician and astronomer (b. 1546) + +1601–1900 +1617 – Rose of Lima, Peruvian saint (b. 1586) +1647 – Nicholas Stone, English sculptor and architect (b. 1586) +1679 – Jean François Paul de Gondi, French cardinal and author (b. 1614) +1680 – Thomas Blood, Irish colonel (b. 1618) + 1680 – Ferdinand Bol, Dutch painter and etcher (b. 1616) +1683 – John Owen, English theologian and academic (b. 1616) +1759 – Ewald Christian von Kleist, German poet and soldier (b. 1715) +1770 – Thomas Chatterton, English poet and prodigy (b. 1752) +1779 – Cosmas of Aetolia, Greek monk and saint (b. 1714) +1798 – Thomas Alcock, English priest and author (b. 1709) +1804 – Peggy Shippen, American wife of Benedict Arnold and American Revolutionary War spy (b. 1760) +1818 – James Carr, American lawyer and politician (b. 1777) +1821 – John William Polidori, English writer and physician (b. 1795) +1832 – Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot, French physicist and engineer (b. 1796) +1832 – Richard Weymouth, British Royal Navy commander (b. 1780/81) +1838 – Ferenc Kölcsey, Hungarian poet, critic, and politician (b. 1790) +1841 – Theodore Hook, English civil servant and composer (b. 1788) + 1841 – John Ordronaux, French-American soldier (b. 1778) +1888 – Rudolf Clausius, German physicist and mathematician (b. 1822) +1895 – Albert F. Mummery, English mountaineer and author (b. 1855) + +1901–present +1923 – Kate Douglas Wiggin, American author and educator (b. 1856) +1930 – Tom Norman, English businessman and showman (b. 1860) +1932 – Kate M. Gordon, American activist (b. 1861) +1939 – Frederick Carl Frieseke, American painter and educator (b. 1874) +1940 – Paul Gottlieb Nipkow, Polish-German technician and inventor, invented the Nipkow disk (b. 1860) +1943 – Antonio Alice, Argentinian painter and educator (b. 1886) + 1943 – Ettore Muti Italian aviator, adventurer and politician (b. 1902) + 1943 – Simone Weil, French philosopher and activist (b. 1909) +1946 – James Clark McReynolds, American lawyer and judge, 48th United States Attorney General (b. 1862) +1954 – Getúlio Vargas, Brazilian lawyer and politician, 14th President of Brazil (b. 1882) +1956 – Kenji Mizoguchi, Japanese director and screenwriter (b. 1898) +1958 – Paul Henry, Irish painter and educator (b. 1876) +1967 – Henry J. Kaiser, American businessman, founded Kaiser Shipyards and Kaiser Aluminum (b. 1882) +1974 – Alexander P. de Seversky, Russian-American pilot and businessman, co-founded Republic Aviation (b. 1894) +1977 – Buddy O'Connor, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1916) +1978 – Louis Prima, American singer-songwriter, trumpet player, and actor (b. 1910) +1979 – Hanna Reitsch, German soldier and pilot (b. 1912) +1980 – Yootha Joyce, English actress (b. 1927) +1982 – Félix-Antoine Savard, Canadian priest and author (b. 1896) +1983 – Kalevi Kotkas, Estonian-Finnish high jumper and discus thrower (b. 1913) + 1983 – Scott Nearing, American economist, educator, and activist (b. 1883) +1985 – Paul Creston, American composer and educator (b. 1906) +1987 – Malcolm Kirk, English rugby player and wrestler (b. 1936) +1990 – Sergei Dovlatov, Russian-American journalist and author (b. 1941) + 1990 – Gely Abdel Rahman, Sudanese-Egyptian poet and academic (b. 1931) +1991 – Bernard Castro, Italian-American inventor (b. 1904) +1992 – André Donner, Dutch academic and judge (b. 1918) +1997 – Luigi Villoresi, Italian racing driver (b. 1907) +1998 – E. G. Marshall, American actor (b. 1910) +1999 – Mary Jane Croft, American actress (b. 1916) + 1999 – Alexandre Lagoya, Egyptian guitarist and composer (b. 1929) +2000 – Andy Hug, Swiss martial artist and kick-boxer (b. 1964) +2001 – Jane Greer, American actress (b. 1924) + 2001 – Roman Matsov, Estonian violinist, pianist, and conductor (b. 1917) +2002 – Nikolay Guryanov, Russian priest and mystic (b. 1909) +2003 – Wilfred Thesiger, Ethiopian-English explorer and author (b. 1910) +2004 – Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, Swiss-American psychiatrist and academic (b. 1926) +2006 – Rocco Petrone, American soldier and engineer (b. 1926) + 2006 – Léopold Simoneau, Canadian tenor and educator (b. 1916) +2007 – Andrée Boucher, Canadian educator and politician, 39th Mayor of Quebec City (b. 1937) + 2007 – Aaron Russo, American director and producer (b. 1943) +2010 – Satoshi Kon, Japanese director and screenwriter (b. 1963) +2011 – Seyhan Erözçelik, Turkish poet and author (b. 1962) + 2011 – Mike Flanagan, American baseball player, coach, and sportscaster (b. 1951) +2012 – Dadullah, Pakistani Taliban leader (b. 1965) + 2012 – Pauli Ellefsen, Faroese surveyor and politician, 6th Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands (b. 1936) + 2012 – Steve Franken, American actor (b. 1932) + 2012 – Félix Miélli Venerando, Brazilian footballer and manager (b. 1937) +2013 – Gerry Baker, American soccer player and manager (b. 1938) + 2013 – Nílton de Sordi, Brazilian footballer and manager (b. 1931) + 2013 – Julie Harris, American actress (b. 1925) + 2013 – Muriel Siebert, American businesswoman and philanthropist (b. 1928) +2014 – Richard Attenborough, English actor, director, producer, and politician (b. 1923) + 2014 – Antônio Ermírio de Moraes, Brazilian businessman (b. 1928) +2015 – Charlie Coffey, American football player and coach (b. 1934) + 2015 – Joseph F. Traub, German-American computer scientist and academic (b. 1932) + 2015 – Justin Wilson, English racing driver (b. 1978) +2016 – Walter Scheel, German politician, 4th President of Germany (b. 1919) +2017 – Jay Thomas, American actor, comedian, and radio talk show host (b. 1948) +2020 – Gail Sheehy, American author, journalist, and lecturer (b. 1936) +2021 – Charlie Watts, English musician (b. 1941) +2023 – Windham Rotunda, American professional wrestler, most commonly known as Bray Wyatt (b. 1987) + +Holidays and observances +Christian feast day: +Abbán of Ireland +Aurea of Ostia +Bartholomew the Apostle (Roman Catholic, Anglican) +Jeanne-Antide Thouret +Maria Micaela Desmaisieres +Massa Candida (Martyrs of Utica) +Owen (Audoin) +August 24 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) +Flag Day (Liberia) +Independence Day or Den' Nezalezhnosti, celebrates the independence of Ukraine from the Soviet Union in 1991. +International Strange Music Day +National Waffle Day (United States) +Nostalgia Night (Uruguay) +Willka Raymi (Cusco, Peru) + +References + +External links + +Days of the year +August +An antipope () is a person who claims to be Bishop of Rome and leader of the Catholic Church in opposition to the legitimately elected pope. Between the 3rd and mid-15th centuries, antipopes were supported by factions within the Church itself and secular rulers. + +Sometimes it was difficult to distinguish which of two claimants should be called pope and which antipope, as in the case of Pope Leo VIII and Pope Benedict V. + +History +Hippolytus of Rome (d. 235) is commonly considered to be the earliest antipope, as he headed a separate group within the Church in Rome against Pope Callixtus I. Hippolytus was reconciled to Callixtus's second successor, Pope Pontian, and both he and Pontian are honoured as saints by the Catholic Church with a shared feast day on 13 August. Whether two or more persons have been confused in this account of Hippolytus and whether Hippolytus actually declared himself to be the Bishop of Rome, remains unclear, since no such claim by Hippolytus has been cited in the writings attributed to him. + +Eusebius quotes from an unnamed earlier writer the story of Natalius, a 3rd-century priest who accepted the bishopric of the Adoptionists, a heretical group in Rome. Natalius soon repented and tearfully begged Pope Zephyrinus to receive him into communion. + +Novatian (d. 258), another third-century figure, certainly claimed the See of Rome in opposition to Pope Cornelius, and if Natalius and Hippolytus were excluded because of the uncertainties concerning them, Novatian could then be said to be the first antipope. + +The period in which antipopes were most numerous was during the struggles between the popes and the Holy Roman Emperors of the 11th and 12th centuries. The emperors frequently imposed their own nominees to further their own causes. The popes, likewise, sometimes sponsored rival imperial claimants (anti-kings) in Germany to overcome a particular emperor. + +The Western Schism – which began in 1378, when the French cardinals, claiming that the election of Pope Urban VI was invalid, elected antipope Clement VII as a rival to the Roman Pope – led eventually to two competing lines of antipopes: the Avignon line as Clement VII moved back to Avignon, and the Pisan line. The Pisan line, which began in 1409, was named after the town of Pisa, Italy, where the (Pisan) council had elected antipope Alexander V as a third claimant. To end the schism, in May 1415, the Council of Constance deposed antipope John XXIII of the Pisan line. Pope Gregory XII of the Roman line resigned in July 1415. In 1417, the council also formally deposed antipope Benedict XIII of Avignon, but he adamantly refused to resign. Afterwards, Pope Martin V was elected and was accepted everywhere except in the small and rapidly diminishing area of influence of Benedict XIII. + +List of historical antipopes + +The following table gives the names of the antipopes included in the list of popes and antipopes in the Annuario Pontificio, with the addition of the names of Natalius (in spite of doubts about his historicity) and Antipope Clement VIII (whose following was insignificant). + +An asterisk marks those who were included in the conventional numbering of later popes who took the same name. More commonly, the antipope is ignored in later papal regnal numbers; for example, there was an Antipope John XXIII, but the new Pope John elected in 1958 was also called John XXIII. For the additional confusion regarding popes named John, see Pope John numbering. + +The list of popes and antipopes in the Annuario Pontificio attaches the following note to the name of Pope Leo VIII (963–965): + +At this point, as again in the mid-11th century, we come across elections in which problems of harmonising historical criteria and those of theology and canon law make it impossible to decide clearly which side possessed the legitimacy whose factual existence guarantees the unbroken lawful succession of the successors of Saint Peter. The uncertainty that in some cases results has made it advisable to abandon the assignation of successive numbers in the list of the popes. + +Thus, because of the obscurities about mid-11th-century canon law and the historical facts, the Annuario Pontificio lists Sylvester III as a pope, without thereby expressing a judgement on his legitimacy. The Catholic Encyclopedia places him in its List of Popes, but with the annotation: "Considered by some to be an antipope". Other sources classify him as an antipope. + +As Celestine II resigned before being consecrated and enthroned in order to avoid a schism, Oxford's A Dictionary of Popes (2010) considers he "...is classified, unfairly, as an antipope," a position historian Salvador Miranda also shares. + +Those with asterisks (*) were counted in subsequent papal numbering. + +Quasi-cardinal-nephews + +Many antipopes created cardinals, known as quasi-cardinals, and a few created cardinal-nephews, known as quasi-cardinal-nephews. + +Modern minor claimants +Antipopes still exist today, but all are minor claimants, without the support of any Cardinal. Examples include Palmarians, Apostles of Infinite Love Antipopes, and an unknown number of many other Sedevacantist claimants. + +Antipope of Alexandria +As the Patriarch of Alexandria, Egypt, has historically also held the title of pope, a person who, in opposition to someone who is generally accepted as a legitimate pope of Alexandria, claims to hold that position may also be considered an antipope. Coptic lector Max Michel became an antipope of Alexandria, calling himself Maximos I. His claim to the Alexandrine papacy was dismissed by both the Coptic Orthodox Pope Shenouda III and Pope Theodore II of the Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria. The Coptic pope of Alexandria and the Greek pope of Alexandria currently view one another, not as antipopes, but rather as successors to differing lines of apostolic succession that formed as a result of christological disputes in the fifth century. + +In fiction +Antipopes have appeared as fictional characters. These may be either in historical fiction, as fictional portraits of well-known historical antipopes or as purely imaginary antipopes. + Jean Raspail's novel l'Anneau du pêcheur (The Fisherman's Ring), and Gérard Bavoux's Le Porteur de lumière (The Light-bringer). + The fictional synth-pop artist Zladko Vladcik claims to be "The Anti-Pope" in one of his songs. + Dan Simmons's novels Endymion and The Rise of Endymion feature a Father Paul Duré who is the routinely murdered antipope Teilhard I. At the end of the last novel, it is mentioned that the person calling himself the pope of the Technocore loyal Catholics is recognized by very few even among those, and he is referred to as an antipope. + In the Girl Genius comics series, set in a gaslamp fantasy version of Europe thrown into chaos by mad science (among other things), there is a brief reference to the existence of seven popes—all of whom apparently ordered a particular text burned. + Ralph McInerny's novel The Red Hat features a schism between liberals and conservatives following the election of a conservative African Pope; the liberal faction elect an Italian cardinal who calls himself "Pius XIII". + In the video game Crusader Kings II by Swedish developer Paradox Interactive, Catholic rulers may appoint one of their bishops as an antipope. An emperor-tier ruler such as the Holy Roman Emperor may declare war on the Papal States to install their antipope as the "true" pope, thereby vassalizing the Papacy. + In the video game Age of Empires II the third scenario in the game's Barbarossa campaign is called "Pope and Antipope" and is based on the Siege of Crema and the subsequent Wars of the Guelphs and Ghibellines. + In episode 3 of The Black Adder (set in the late 15th century), "The Archbishop", Baldrick remarks on selling counterfeit papal pardons, that one for the highest crimes requires the signatures of "both popes" (implying one pope and one antipope). At the end of the episode, the Mother Superior of the local convent informs Edmund that he has been excommunicated by "all three popes". +The Last Fisherman by Randy England features an anti-pope John XXIV elected in opposition to Pope Brendan I. +Bud McFarlane's Pierced by a Sword includes an anti-pope John XXIV who is elected when the assassination attempt on Pope Patrick (fictional successor to John Paul II) is believed to have succeeded. He commits suicide at the end of the book. +Chilling Adventures of Sabrina features an antipope who leads the Churches of Darkness. This antipope reigns in the Vatican Necropolis beneath Rome. + +See also + List of papal elections + Papal conclave + Papal selection before 1059 + Sedevacantism + Pretender + +References + +External links and bibliography + + Catholic Encyclopedia: "Antipope" + Encyclopædia Britannica: "Antipope" + The Pope Encyclopaedia: "Antipope" + Kelly, J.N.D, The Oxford Dictionary of Popes, Oxford University Press, US (1986), . + Raspail, Jean, 'L'Anneau du pêcheur, Paris: Albin Michel, 1994. 403 pp. . + Bavoux, Gérard, Le Porteur de lumière, Paris: Pygmalion, 1996. 329 pp. . + + +Ecclesiastical titles +History of the papacy +Lists of Catholic popes +Aquaculture (less commonly spelled aquiculture), also known as aquafarming, is the controlled cultivation ("farming") of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, mollusks, algae and other organisms of value such as aquatic plants (e.g. lotus). Aquaculture involves cultivating freshwater, brackish water and saltwater populations under controlled or semi-natural conditions, and can be contrasted with commercial fishing, which is the harvesting of wild fish. Mariculture, commonly known as marine farming, refers specifically to aquaculture practiced in seawater habitats and lagoons, as opposed to freshwater aquaculture. Pisciculture is a type of aquaculture that consists of fish farming to obtain fish products as food. + +Aquaculture can also be defined as the breeding, growing, and harvesting of fish and other aquatic plants, also known as farming in water. It is an environmental source of food and commercial product which help to improve healthier habitats and used to reconstruct population of endangered aquatic species. Technology has increased the growth of fish in coastal marine waters and open oceans due to the increased demand for seafood. + +Aquaculture can be conducted in completely artificial facilities built on land (onshore aquaculture), as in the case of fish tank, ponds, aquaponics or raceways, where the living conditions rely on human control such as water quality (oxygen), feed, temperature. Alternatively, they can be conducted on well-sheltered shallow waters nearshore of a body of water (inshore aquaculture), where the cultivated species are subjected to a relatively more naturalistic environments; or on fenced/enclosed sections of open water away from the shore (offshore aquaculture), where the species are either cultured in cages, racks or bags, and are exposed to more diverse natural conditions such as water currents (such as ocean currents), diel vertical migration and nutrient cycles. + +According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), aquaculture "is understood to mean the farming of aquatic organisms including fish, molluscs, crustaceans and aquatic plants. Farming implies some form of intervention in the rearing process to enhance production, such as regular stocking, feeding, protection from predators, etc. Farming also implies individual or corporate ownership of the stock being cultivated." The reported output from global aquaculture operations in 2019 was over 120 million tonnes valued at US$274 billion. However, there are issues with the reliability of the reported figures. Further, in current aquaculture practice, products from several kilograms of wild fish are used to produce one kilogram of a piscivorous fish like salmon. Plant and insect-based feeds are also being developed to help reduce wild fish been used for aquaculture feed. + +Particular kinds of aquaculture include fish farming, shrimp farming, oyster farming, mariculture, pisciculture, algaculture (such as seaweed farming), and the cultivation of ornamental fish. Particular methods include aquaponics and integrated multi-trophic aquaculture, both of which integrate fish farming and aquatic plant farming. The FAO describes aquaculture as one of the industries most directly affected by climate change and its impacts. Some forms of aquaculture have negative impacts on the environment, such as through nutrient pollution or disease transfer to wild populations. + +Overview + +Harvest stagnation in wild fisheries and overexploitation of popular marine species, combined with a growing demand for high-quality protein, encouraged aquaculturists to domesticate other marine species. At the outset of modern aquaculture, many were optimistic that a "Blue Revolution" could take place in aquaculture, just as the Green Revolution of the 20th century had revolutionized agriculture. Although land animals had long been domesticated, most seafood species were still caught from the wild. Concerned about the impact of growing demand for seafood on the world's oceans, prominent ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau wrote in 1973: "With earth's burgeoning human populations to feed, we must turn to the sea with new understanding and new technology." + +About 430 (97%) of the species cultured were domesticated during the 20th and 21st centuries, of which an estimated 106 came in the decade to 2007. Given the long-term importance of agriculture, to date, only 0.08% of known land plant species and 0.0002% of known land animal species have been domesticated, compared with 0.17% of known marine plant species and 0.13% of known marine animal species. Domestication typically involves about a decade of scientific research. Domesticating aquatic species involves fewer risks to humans than do land animals, which took a large toll in human lives. Most major human diseases originated in domesticated animals, including diseases such as smallpox and diphtheria, that like most infectious diseases, move to humans from animals. No human pathogens of comparable virulence have yet emerged from marine species. + +Biological control methods to manage parasites are already being used, such as cleaner fish (e.g. lumpsuckers and wrasse) to control sea lice populations in salmon farming. Models are being used to help with spatial planning and siting of fish farms in order to minimize impact. + +The decline in wild fish stocks has increased the demand for farmed fish. However, finding alternative sources of protein and oil for fish feed is necessary so the aquaculture industry can grow sustainably; otherwise, it represents a great risk for the over-exploitation of forage fish. + +Aquaculture production now exceeds capture fishery production and together the relative GDP contribution has ranged from 0.01 to 10%. Singling out aquaculture's relative contribution to GDP, however, is not easily derived due to lack of data. + +Another recent issue following the banning in 2008 of organotins by the International Maritime Organization is the need to find environmentally friendly, but still effective, compounds with antifouling effects. + +Many new natural compounds are discovered every year, but producing them on a large enough scale for commercial purposes is almost impossible. + +It is highly probable that future developments in this field will rely on microorganisms, but greater funding and further research is needed to overcome the lack of knowledge in this field. + +Species groups + +Aquatic plants + +Microalgae, also referred to as phytoplankton, microphytes, or planktonic algae, constitute the majority of cultivated algae. Macroalgae commonly known as seaweed also have many commercial and industrial uses, but due to their size and specific requirements, they are not easily cultivated on a large scale and are most often taken in the wild. + +In 2016, aquaculture was the source of 96.5 percent by volume of the total 31.2 million tonnes of wild-collected and cultivated aquatic plants combined. Global production of farmed aquatic plants, overwhelmingly dominated by seaweeds, grew in output volume from 13.5 million tonnes in 1995 to just over 30 million tonnes in 2016. + +Seaweed farming + +Fish + +The farming of fish is the most common form of aquaculture. It involves raising fish commercially in tanks, fish ponds, or ocean enclosures, usually for food. A facility that releases juvenile fish into the wild for recreational fishing or to supplement a species' natural numbers is generally referred to as a fish hatchery. Worldwide, the most important fish species used in fish farming are, in order, carp, salmon, tilapia, and catfish. + +In the Mediterranean, young bluefin tuna are netted at sea and towed slowly towards the shore. They are then interned in offshore pens (sometimes made from floating HDPE pipe) where they are further grown for the market. In 2009, researchers in Australia managed for the first time to coax southern bluefin tuna to breed in landlocked tanks. Southern bluefin tuna are also caught in the wild and fattened in grow-out sea cages in southern Spencer Gulf, South Australia. + +A similar process is used in the salmon-farming section of this industry; juveniles are taken from hatcheries and a variety of methods are used to aid them in their maturation. For example, as stated above, some of the most important fish species in the industry, salmon, can be grown using a cage system. This is done by having netted cages, preferably in open water that has a strong flow, and feeding the salmon a special food mixture that aids their growth. This process allows for year-round growth of the fish, thus a higher harvest during the correct seasons. An additional method, known sometimes as sea ranching, has also been used within the industry. Sea ranching involves raising fish in a hatchery for a brief time and then releasing them into marine waters for further development, whereupon the fish are recaptured when they have matured. + +Crustaceans + +Commercial shrimp farming began in the 1970s, and production grew steeply thereafter. Global production reached more than 1.6 million tonnes in 2003, worth about US$9 billion. About 75% of farmed shrimp is produced in Asia, in particular in China and Thailand. The other 25% is produced mainly in Latin America, where Brazil is the largest producer. Thailand is the largest exporter. + +Shrimp farming has changed from its traditional, small-scale form in Southeast Asia into a global industry. Technological advances have led to ever higher densities per unit area, and broodstock is shipped worldwide. Virtually all farmed shrimp are penaeids (i.e., shrimp of the family Penaeidae), and just two species of shrimp, the Pacific white shrimp and the giant tiger prawn, account for about 80% of all farmed shrimp. These industrial monocultures are very susceptible to disease, which has decimated shrimp populations across entire regions. Increasing ecological problems, repeated disease outbreaks, and pressure and criticism from both nongovernmental organizations and consumer countries led to changes in the industry in the late 1990s and generally stronger regulations. In 1999, governments, industry representatives, and environmental organizations initiated a program aimed at developing and promoting more sustainable farming practices through the Seafood Watch program. + +Freshwater prawn farming shares many characteristics with, including many problems with, marine shrimp farming. Unique problems are introduced by the developmental lifecycle of the main species, the giant river prawn. + +The global annual production of freshwater prawns (excluding crayfish and crabs) in 2007 was about 460,000 tonnes, exceeding 1.86 billion dollars. Additionally, China produced about 370,000 tonnes of Chinese river crab. + +In addition astaciculture is the freshwater farming of crayfish (mostly in the US, Australia, and Europe). + +Molluscs + +Aquacultured shellfish include various oyster, mussel, and clam species. These bivalves are filter and/or deposit feeders, which rely on ambient primary production rather than inputs of fish or other feed. As such, shellfish aquaculture is generally perceived as benign or even beneficial. + +Depending on the species and local conditions, bivalve molluscs are either grown on the beach, on longlines, or suspended from rafts and harvested by hand or by dredging. In May 2017 a Belgian consortium installed the first of two trial mussel farms on a wind farm in the North Sea. + +Abalone farming began in the late 1950s and early 1960s in Japan and China. Since the mid-1990s, this industry has become increasingly successful. Overfishing and poaching have reduced wild populations to the extent that farmed abalone now supplies most abalone meat. Sustainably farmed molluscs can be certified by Seafood Watch and other organizations, including the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). WWF initiated the "Aquaculture Dialogues" in 2004 to develop measurable and performance-based standards for responsibly farmed seafood. In 2009, WWF co-founded the Aquaculture Stewardship Council with the Dutch Sustainable Trade Initiative to manage the global standards and certification programs. + +After trials in 2012, a commercial "sea ranch" was set up in Flinders Bay, Western Australia, to raise abalone. The ranch is based on an artificial reef made up of 5000 () separate concrete units called abitats (abalone habitats). The 900 kg abitats can host 400 abalone each. The reef is seeded with young abalone from an onshore hatchery. The abalone feed on seaweed that has grown naturally on the habitats, with the ecosystem enrichment of the bay also resulting in growing numbers of dhufish, pink snapper, wrasse, and Samson fish, among other species. + +Brad Adams, from the company, has emphasised the similarity to wild abalone and the difference from shore-based aquaculture. "We're not aquaculture, we're ranching, because once they're in the water they look after themselves." + +Other groups +Other groups include aquatic reptiles, amphibians, and miscellaneous invertebrates, such as echinoderms and jellyfish. They are separately graphed at the top right of this section, since they do not contribute enough volume to show clearly on the main graph. + +Commercially harvested echinoderms include sea cucumbers and sea urchins. In China, sea cucumbers are farmed in artificial ponds as large as . + +Global fish production + +Global fish production peaked at about 171 million tonnes in 2016, with aquaculture representing 47 percent of the total and 53 percent if non-food uses (including reduction to fishmeal and fish oil) are excluded. With capture fishery production relatively static since the late 1980s, aquaculture has been responsible for the continuing growth in the supply of fish for human consumption. Global aquaculture production (including aquatic plants) in 2016 was 110.2 million tonnes, with the first-sale value estimated at US$244 billion. Three years later, in 2019 the reported output from global aquaculture operations was over 120 million tonnes valued at US$274 billion. + +The contribution of aquaculture to the global production of capture fisheries and aquaculture combined has risen continuously, reaching 46.8 percent in 2016, up from 25.7 percent in 2000. With 5.8 percent annual growth rate during the period 2001–2016, aquaculture continues to grow faster than other major food production sectors, but it no longer has the high annual growth rates experienced in the 1980s and 1990s. + +In 2012, the total world production of fisheries was 158 million tonnes, of which aquaculture contributed 66.6 million tonnes, about 42%. The growth rate of worldwide aquaculture has been sustained and rapid, averaging about 8% per year for over 30 years, while the take from wild fisheries has been essentially flat for the last decade. The aquaculture market reached $86 billion in 2009. + +Aquaculture is an especially important economic activity in China. Between 1980 and 1997, the Chinese Bureau of Fisheries reports, aquaculture harvests grew at an annual rate of 16.7%, jumping from 1.9 million tonnes to nearly 23 million tonnes. In 2005, China accounted for 70% of world production. Aquaculture is also currently one of the fastest-growing areas of food production in the U.S. + +About 90% of all U.S. shrimp consumption is farmed and imported. In recent years, salmon aquaculture has become a major export in southern Chile, especially in Puerto Montt, Chile's fastest-growing city. + +A United Nations report titled The State of the World Fisheries and Aquaculture released in May 2014 maintained fisheries and aquaculture support the livelihoods of some 60 million people in Asia and Africa. FAO estimates that in 2016, overall, women accounted for nearly 14 percent of all people directly engaged in the fisheries and aquaculture primary sector. + +Over-reporting by China +China overwhelmingly dominates the world in reported aquaculture output, reporting a total output which is double that of the rest of the world put together. However, there are some historical issues with the accuracy of China's returns. + +In 2001, scientists Reg Watson and Daniel Pauly expressed concerns that China was over reporting its catch from wild fisheries in the 1990s. They said that made it appear that the global catch since 1988 was increasing annually by 300,000 tonnes, whereas it was really shrinking annually by 350,000 tonnes. Watson and Pauly suggested this may have been related to Chinese policies where state entities that monitored the economy were also tasked with increasing output. Also, until more recently, the promotion of Chinese officials was based on production increases from their own areas. + +China disputed this claim. The official Xinhua News Agency quoted Yang Jian, director general of the Agriculture Ministry's Bureau of Fisheries, as saying that China's figures were "basically correct". However, the FAO accepted there were issues with the reliability of China's statistical returns, and for a period treated data from China, including the aquaculture data, apart from the rest of the world. + +Aquacultural methods + +Mariculture + +Mariculture refers to the cultivation of marine organisms in seawater, usually in sheltered coastal or offshore waters. The farming of marine fish is an example of mariculture, and so also is the farming of marine crustaceans (such as shrimp), mollusks (such as oysters), and seaweed. Channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus), hard clams (Mercenaria mercenaria) and Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) are prominent in the U.S. mariculture. + +Mariculture may consist of raising the organisms on or in artificial enclosures such as in floating netted enclosures for salmon and on racks for oysters. In the case of enclosed salmon, they are fed by the operators; oysters on racks filter feed on naturally available food. Abalone have been farmed on an artificial reef consuming seaweed which grows naturally on the reef units. + +Integrated + +Integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA) is a practice in which the byproducts (wastes) from one species are recycled to become inputs (fertilizers, food) for another. Fed aquaculture (for example, fish, shrimp) is combined with inorganic extractive and organic extractive (for example, shellfish) aquaculture to create balanced systems for environmental sustainability (biomitigation), economic stability (product diversification and risk reduction) and social acceptability (better management practices). + +"Multi-trophic" refers to the incorporation of species from different trophic or nutritional levels in the same system. This is one potential distinction from the age-old practice of aquatic polyculture, which could simply be the co-culture of different fish species from the same trophic level. In this case, these organisms may all share the same biological and chemical processes, with few synergistic benefits, which could potentially lead to significant shifts in the ecosystem. Some traditional polyculture systems may, in fact, incorporate a greater diversity of species, occupying several niches, as extensive cultures (low intensity, low management) within the same pond. A working IMTA system can result in greater total production based on mutual benefits to the co-cultured species and improved ecosystem health, even if the production of individual species is lower than in a monoculture over a short-term period. + +Sometimes the term "integrated aquaculture" is used to describe the integration of monocultures through water transfer. For all intents and purposes, however, the terms "IMTA" and "integrated aquaculture" differ only in their degree of descriptiveness. Aquaponics, fractionated aquaculture, integrated agriculture-aquaculture systems, integrated peri-urban-aquaculture systems, and integrated fisheries-aquaculture systems are other variations of the IMTA concept. + +Urban aquaculture + +Netting materials +Various materials, including nylon, polyester, polypropylene, polyethylene, plastic-coated welded wire, rubber, patented rope products (Spectra, Thorn-D, Dyneema), galvanized steel and copper are used for netting in aquaculture fish enclosures around the world. All of these materials are selected for a variety of reasons, including design feasibility, material strength, cost, and corrosion resistance. + +Recently, copper alloys have become important netting materials in aquaculture because they are antimicrobial (i.e., they destroy bacteria, viruses, fungi, algae, and other microbes) and they therefore prevent biofouling (i.e., the undesirable accumulation, adhesion, and growth of microorganisms, plants, algae, tubeworms, barnacles, mollusks, and other organisms). By inhibiting microbial growth, copper alloy aquaculture cages avoid costly net changes that are necessary with other materials. The resistance of organism growth on copper alloy nets also provides a cleaner and healthier environment for farmed fish to grow and thrive. + +Issues + +If performed without consideration for potential local environmental impacts, aquaculture in inland waters can result in more environmental damage than wild fisheries, though with less waste produced per kg on a global scale. Local concerns with aquaculture in inland waters may include waste handling, side-effects of antibiotics, competition between farmed and wild animals, and the potential introduction of invasive plant and animal species, or foreign pathogens, particularly if unprocessed fish are used to feed more marketable carnivorous fish. If non-local live feeds are used, aquaculture may introduce exotic plants or animals with disastrous effects. Improvements in methods resulting from advances in research and the availability of commercial feeds has reduced some of these concerns since their greater prevalence in the 1990s and 2000s . + +Fish waste is organic and composed of nutrients necessary in all components of aquatic food webs. In-ocean aquaculture often produces much higher than normal fish waste concentrations. The waste collects on the ocean bottom, damaging or eliminating bottom-dwelling life. Waste can also decrease dissolved oxygen levels in the water column, putting further pressure on wild animals. An alternative model to food being added to the ecosystem, is the installation of artificial reef structures to increase the habitat niches available, without the need to add any more than ambient feed and nutrient. This has been used in the "ranching" of abalone in Western Australia. + +Impacts on wild fish +Some carnivorous and omnivorous farmed fish species are fed wild forage fish. Although carnivorous farmed fish represented only 13 percent of aquaculture production by weight in 2000, they represented 34 percent of aquaculture production by value. + +Farming of carnivorous species like salmon and shrimp leads to a high demand for forage fish to match the nutrition they get in the wild. Fish do not actually produce omega-3 fatty acids, but instead accumulate them from either consuming microalgae that produce these fatty acids, as is the case with forage fish like herring and sardines, or, as is the case with fatty predatory fish, like salmon, by eating prey fish that have accumulated omega-3 fatty acids from microalgae. To satisfy this requirement, more than 50 percent of the world fish oil production is fed to farmed salmon. + +Farmed salmon consume more wild fish than they generate as a final product, although the efficiency of production is improving. To produce one kilograms of farmed salmon, products from several kilograms of wild fish are fed to them – this can be described as the "fish-in-fish-out" (FIFO) ratio. In 1995, salmon had a FIFO ratio of 7.5 (meaning 7.5 kilograms of wild fish feed were required to produce one kilogram of salmon); by 2006 the ratio had fallen to 4.9. Additionally, a growing share of fish oil and fishmeal come from residues (byproducts of fish processing), rather than dedicated whole fish. In 2012, 34 percent of fish oil and 28 percent of fishmeal came from residues. However, fishmeal and oil from residues instead of whole fish have a different composition with more ash and less protein, which may limit its potential use for aquaculture. + +As the salmon farming industry expands, it requires more wild forage fish for feed, at a time when seventy-five percent of the world's monitored fisheries are already near to or have exceeded their maximum sustainable yield. The industrial-scale extraction of wild forage fish for salmon farming then impacts the survivability of the wild predator fish who rely on them for food. An important step in reducing the impact of aquaculture on wild fish is shifting carnivorous species to plant-based feeds. Salmon feeds, for example, have gone from containing only fishmeal and oil to containing 40 percent plant protein. The USDA has also experimented with using grain-based feeds for farmed trout. When properly formulated (and often mixed with fishmeal or oil), plant-based feeds can provide proper nutrition and similar growth rates in carnivorous farmed fish. + +Another impact aquaculture production can have on wild fish is the risk of fish escaping from coastal pens, where they can interbreed with their wild counterparts, diluting wild genetic stocks. Escaped fish can become invasive, out-competing native species. + +Animal welfare + +As with the farming of terrestrial animals, social attitudes influence the need for humane practices and regulations in farmed marine animals. Under the guidelines advised by the Farm Animal Welfare Council good animal welfare means both fitness and a sense of well-being in the animal's physical and mental state. This can be defined by the Five Freedoms: +Freedom from hunger & thirst +Freedom from discomfort +Freedom from pain, disease, or injury +Freedom to express normal behaviour +Freedom from fear and distress + +However, the controversial issue in aquaculture is whether fish and farmed marine invertebrates are actually sentient, or have the perception and awareness to experience suffering. Although no evidence of this has been found in marine invertebrates, recent studies conclude that fish do have the necessary receptors (nociceptors) to sense noxious stimuli and so are likely to experience states of pain, fear and stress. Consequently, welfare in aquaculture is directed at vertebrates, finfish in particular. + +Common welfare concerns +Welfare in aquaculture can be impacted by a number of issues such as stocking densities, behavioural interactions, disease and parasitism. A major problem in determining the cause of impaired welfare is that these issues are often all interrelated and influence each other at different times. + +Optimal stocking density is often defined by the carrying capacity of the stocked environment and the amount of individual space needed by the fish, which is very species specific. Although behavioural interactions such as shoaling may mean that high stocking densities are beneficial to some species, in many cultured species high stocking densities may be of concern. Crowding can constrain normal swimming behaviour, as well as increase aggressive and competitive behaviours such as cannibalism, feed competition, territoriality and dominance/subordination hierarchies. This potentially increases the risk of tissue damage due to abrasion from fish-to-fish contact or fish-to-cage contact. Fish can suffer reductions in food intake and food conversion efficiency. In addition, high stocking densities can result in water flow being insufficient, creating inadequate oxygen supply and waste product removal. Dissolved oxygen is essential for fish respiration and concentrations below critical levels can induce stress and even lead to asphyxiation. Ammonia, a nitrogen excretion product, is highly toxic to fish at accumulated levels, particularly when oxygen concentrations are low. + +Many of these interactions and effects cause stress in the fish, which can be a major factor in facilitating fish disease. For many parasites, infestation depends on the host's degree of mobility, the density of the host population and vulnerability of the host's defence system. Sea lice are the primary parasitic problem for finfish in aquaculture, high numbers causing widespread skin erosion and haemorrhaging, gill congestion, and increased mucus production. There are also a number of prominent viral and bacterial pathogens that can have severe effects on internal organs and nervous systems. + +Improving welfare +The key to improving welfare of marine cultured organisms is to reduce stress to a minimum, as prolonged or repeated stress can cause a range of adverse effects. Attempts to minimise stress can occur throughout the culture process. Understanding and providing required environmental enrichment can be vital for reducing stress and benefit aquaculture objects such as improved growth body condition and reduced damage from aggression. During grow-out it is important to keep stocking densities at appropriate levels specific to each species, as well as separating size classes and grading to reduce aggressive behavioural interactions. Keeping nets and cages clean can assist positive water flow to reduce the risk of water degradation. + +Not surprisingly disease and parasitism can have a major effect on fish welfare and it is important for farmers not only to manage infected stock but also to apply disease prevention measures. However, prevention methods, such as vaccination, can also induce stress because of the extra handling and injection. Other methods include adding antibiotics to feed, adding chemicals into water for treatment baths and biological control, such as using cleaner wrasse to remove lice from farmed salmon. + +Many steps are involved in transport, including capture, food deprivation to reduce faecal contamination of transport water, transfer to transport vehicle via nets or pumps, plus transport and transfer to the delivery location. During transport water needs to be maintained to a high quality, with regulated temperature, sufficient oxygen and minimal waste products. In some cases anaesthetics may be used in small doses to calm fish before transport. + +Aquaculture is sometimes part of an environmental rehabilitation program or as an aid in conserving endangered species. + +Coastal ecosystems +Aquaculture is becoming a significant threat to coastal ecosystems. About 20 percent of mangrove forests have been destroyed since 1980, partly due to shrimp farming. An extended cost–benefit analysis of the total economic value of shrimp aquaculture built on mangrove ecosystems found that the external costs were much higher than the external benefits. Over four decades, of Indonesian mangroves have been converted to shrimp farms. Most of these farms are abandoned within a decade because of the toxin build-up and nutrient loss. + +Pollution from sea cage aquaculture + +Salmon farms are typically sited in pristine coastal ecosystems which they then pollute. A farm with 200,000 salmon discharges more fecal waste than a city of 60,000 people. This waste is discharged directly into the surrounding aquatic environment, untreated, often containing antibiotics and pesticides." There is also an accumulation of heavy metals on the benthos (seafloor) near the salmon farms, particularly copper and zinc. + +In 2016, mass fish kill events impacted salmon farmers along Chile's coast and the wider ecology. Increases in aquaculture production and its associated effluent were considered to be possible contributing factors to fish and molluscan mortality. + +Sea cage aquaculture is responsible for nutrient enrichment of the waters in which they are established. This results from fish wastes and uneaten feed inputs. Elements of most concern are nitrogen and phosphorus which can promote algal growth, including harmful algal blooms which can be toxic to fish. Flushing times, current speeds, distance from the shore and water depth are important considerations when locating sea cages in order to minimize the impacts of nutrient enrichment on coastal ecosystems. + +The extent of the effects of pollution from sea-cage aquaculture varies depending on where the cages are located, which species are kept, how densely cages are stocked and what the fish are fed. Important species-specific variables include the species' food conversion ratio (FCR) and nitrogen retention. + +Freshwater ecosystems +Whole-lake experiments carried out at the Experimental Lakes Area in Ontario, Canada, have displayed the potential for cage aquaculture to source numerous changes in freshwater ecosystems. Following the initiation of an experimental rainbow trout cage farm in a small boreal lake, dramatic reductions in mysis concentrations associated with a decrease in dissolved oxygen were observed. Significant increases in ammonium and total phosphorus, a driver for eutrophication in freshwater systems, were measured in the hypolimnion of the lake. Annual phosphorus inputs from aquaculture waste exceeded that of natural inputs from atmospheric deposition and inflows, and phytoplankton biomass has had a fourfold annual increase following the initiation of the experimental farm. + +Genetic modification +A type of salmon called the AquAdvantage salmon has been genetically modified for faster growth, although it has not been approved for commercial use, due to controversy. The altered salmon incorporates a growth hormone from a Chinook salmon that allows it to reach full size in 16–28 months, instead of the normal 36 months for Atlantic salmon, and while consuming 25 percent less feed. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration reviewed the AquAdvantage salmon in a draft environmental assessment and determined that it "would not have a significant impact (FONSI) on the U.S. environment." + +Fish diseases, parasites and vaccines +A major difficulty for aquaculture is the tendency towards monoculture and the associated risk of widespread disease. Aquaculture is also associated with environmental risks; for instance, shrimp farming has caused the destruction of important mangrove forests throughout southeast Asia. + +In the 1990s, disease wiped out China's farmed Farrer's scallop and white shrimp and required their replacement by other species. + +Needs of the aquaculture sector in vaccines +Aquaculture has an average annual growth rate of 9.2%, however, the success and continued expansion of the fish farming sector is highly dependent on the control of fish pathogens including a wide range of viruses, bacteria, fungi, and parasites. In 2014, it was estimated that these parasites cost the global salmon farming industry up to 400 million Euros. This represents 6–10% of the production value of the affected countries, but it can go up to 20% (Fisheries and Oceans Canada, 2014). Since pathogens quickly spread within a population of cultured fish, their control is vital for the sector. +Historically, the use of antibiotics was against bacterial epizootics but the production of animal proteins has to be sustainable, which means that preventive measures that are acceptable from a biological and environmental point of view should be used to keep disease problems in aquaculture at an acceptable level. So, this added to the efficiency of vaccines resulted in an immediate and permanent reduction in the use of antibiotics in the 90s. In the beginning, there were fish immersion vaccines efficient against the vibriosis but proved ineffective against the furunculosis, hence the arrival of injectable vaccines: first water-based and after oil-based, much more efficient (Sommerset, 2005). + +Development of new vaccines +It is the important mortality in cages among farmed fish, the debates around DNA injection vaccines, although effective, their safety and their side effects but also societal expectations for cleaner fish and security, lead research on new vaccine vectors. Several initiatives are financed by the European Union to develop a rapid and cost-effective approach to using bacteria in feed to make vaccines, in particular thanks to lactic bacteria whose DNA is modified (Boudinot, 2006). In fact, vaccinating farmed fish by injection is time-consuming and costly, so vaccines can be administered orally or by immersion by being added to feed or directly into water. This allows vaccinating many individuals at the same time while limiting the associated handling and stress. +Indeed, many tests are necessary because the antigens of the vaccines must be adapted to each species or not present a certain level of variability or they will not have any effect. For example, tests have been done with two species: Lepeophtheirus salmonis (from which the antigens were collected) and Caligus rogercresseyi (which was vaccinated with the antigens), although the homology between the two species is important, the level of variability made the protection ineffective (Fisheries and Oceans Canada, 2014). + +Recent vaccines development in aquaculture +There are 24 vaccines available and one for lobsters. The first vaccine was used in the USA against enteric red mouth in 1976. However, there are 19 companies and some small stakeholders are producing vaccines for aquaculture nowadays. The novel approaches are a way forward to prevent the loss of 10% of aquaculture through disease. Genetically modified vaccines are not being used in the EU due to societal concerns and regulations. Meanwhile, DNA vaccines are now authorised in the EU. +There are challenges in fish vaccine development, immune response due to lack of potent adjScientists are considering microdose application in future. But there are also exciting opportunities in aquaculture vaccinology due to the low cost of technology, regulations change and novel antigen expression and delivery systems. +In Norway subunit vaccine (VP2 peptide) against infectious pancreatic necrosis is being used. In Canada, a licensed DNA vaccine against Infectious hematopoietic necrosis has been launched for industry use. +Fish have large mucosal surfaces, so the preferred route is immersion, intraperitoneal and oral respectively. Nanoparticles are in progress for delivery purposes. The common antibodies produced are IgM and IgT. Normally booster is not required ifn Fish because more memory cells are produced in response to the booster rather than an increased level of antibodies. +mRNA vaccines are alternative to DNA vaccines because they are more safe, stable, easily producible at a large scale and mass immunization potential. Recently these are used in cancer prevention and therapeutics. Studies in rabies has shown that efficacy depends on dose and route of administration. These are still in infancy. + +Economic gains +In 2014, the aquaculture produced fish overtook wild caught fish, in supply for human food. This means there is a huge demand for vaccines, in prevention of diseases. The reported annual loss fish, calculates to >10 billion USD. This is from approximately 10% of all fishes dying from infectious diseases. +The high annual losses increases the demand for vaccines. Even though there are about 24 traditionally used vaccines, there is still demand for more vaccines. The breakthrough of DNA-vaccines has sunk the cost of vaccines. + +The alternative to vaccines would be antibiotics and chemotherapy, which are more expensive and with bigger drawbacks. DNA-vaccines have become the most cost-efficient method of preventing infectious diseases. This bouts well for DNA-vaccines becoming the new standard both in fish vaccines, and in general vaccines. + +Salinization/acidification of soils +Sediment from abandoned aquaculture farms can remain hypersaline, acidic and eroded. This material can remain unusable for aquaculture purposes for long periods thereafter. Various chemical treatments, such as adding lime, can aggravate the problem by modify the physicochemical characteristics of the sediment. + +Plastic pollution +Aquaculture produces a range of marine debris, depending on the product and location. The most frequently documented type of plastic is expanded polystyrene (EPS), used extensively in floats and sea cage collars (MEPC 2020). Other common waste items include cage nets and plastic harvest bins. A review of aquaculture as a source of marine litter in the North, Baltic and Mediterranean Seas identified 64 different items, 19 of which were unique to aquaculture . Estimates of the amount of aquaculture waste entering the oceans vary widely, depending on the methodologies used. For example, in the European Economic Area loss estimates have varied from a low of 3,000 tonnes to 41,000 tonnes per year. + +Ecological benefits + +While some forms of aquaculture can be devastating to ecosystems, such as shrimp farming in mangroves, other forms can be beneficial. Shellfish aquaculture adds substantial filter feeding capacity to an environment which can significantly improve water quality. A single oyster can filter 15 gallons of water a day, removing microscopic algal cells. By removing these cells, shellfish are removing nitrogen and other nutrients from the system and either retaining it or releasing it as waste which sinks to the bottom. By harvesting these shellfish, the nitrogen they retained is completely removed from the system. Raising and harvesting kelp and other macroalgae directly remove nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus. Repackaging these nutrients can relieve eutrophic, or nutrient-rich, conditions known for their low dissolved oxygen which can decimate species diversity and abundance of marine life. Removing algal cells from the water also increases light penetration, allowing plants such as eelgrass to reestablish themselves and further increase oxygen levels. + +Aquaculture in an area can provide for crucial ecological functions for the inhabitants. Shellfish beds or cages can provide habitat structure. This structure can be used as shelter by invertebrates, small fish or crustaceans to potentially increase their abundance and maintain biodiversity. Increased shelter raises stocks of prey fish and small crustaceans by increasing recruitment opportunities in turn providing more prey for higher trophic levels. One study estimated that 10 square meters of oyster reef could enhance an ecosystem's biomass by 2.57 kg Herbivore shellfish will also be preyed on. This moves energy directly from primary producers to higher trophic levels potentially skipping out on multiple energetically costly trophic jumps which would increase biomass in the ecosystem. + +Seaweed farming is a carbon negative crop, with a high potential for climate change mitigation. The IPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate recommends "further research attention" as a mitigation tactic. Regenerative ocean farming is a polyculture farming system that grows a mix of seaweeds and shellfish while sequestering carbon, decreasing nitrogen in the water and increasing oxygen, helping to regenerate and restore local habitat like reef ecosystems. + +Prospects +Global wild fisheries are in decline, with valuable habitat such as estuaries in critical condition. The aquaculture or farming of piscivorous fish, like salmon, does not help the problem because they need to eat products from other fish, such as fish meal and fish oil. Studies have shown that salmon farming has major negative impacts on wild salmon, as well as the forage fish that need to be caught to feed them. Fish that are higher on the food chain are less efficient sources of food energy. + +Apart from fish and shrimp, some aquaculture undertakings, such as seaweed and filter-feeding bivalve mollusks like oysters, clams, mussels and scallops, are relatively benign and even environmentally restorative. Filter-feeders filter pollutants as well as nutrients from the water, improving water quality. Seaweeds extract nutrients such as inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus directly from the water, and filter-feeding mollusks can extract nutrients as they feed on particulates, such as phytoplankton and detritus. + +Some profitable aquaculture cooperatives promote sustainable practices. New methods lessen the risk of biological and chemical pollution through minimizing fish stress, fallowing netpens, and applying integrated pest management. Vaccines are being used more and more to reduce antibiotic use for disease control. + +Onshore recirculating aquaculture systems, facilities using polyculture techniques, and properly sited facilities (for example, offshore areas with strong currents) are examples of ways to manage negative environmental effects. + +Recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) recycle water by circulating it through filters to remove fish waste and food and then recirculating it back into the tanks. This saves water and the waste gathered can be used in compost or, in some cases, could even be treated and used on land. While RAS was developed with freshwater fish in mind, scientists associated with the Agricultural Research Service have found a way to rear saltwater fish using RAS in low-salinity waters. Although saltwater fish are raised in off-shore cages or caught with nets in water that typically has a salinity of 35 parts per thousand (ppt), scientists were able to produce healthy pompano, a saltwater fish, in tanks with a salinity of only 5 ppt. Commercializing low-salinity RAS are predicted to have positive environmental and economical effects. Unwanted nutrients from the fish food would not be added to the ocean and the risk of transmitting diseases between wild and farm-raised fish would greatly be reduced. The price of expensive saltwater fish, such as the pompano and cobia used in the experiments, would be reduced. However, before any of this can be done researchers must study every aspect of the fish's lifecycle, including the amount of ammonia and nitrate the fish will tolerate in the water, what to feed the fish during each stage of its lifecycle, the stocking rate that will produce the healthiest fish, etc. + +Some 16 countries now use geothermal energy for aquaculture, including China, Israel, and the United States. In California, for example, 15 fish farms produce tilapia, bass, and catfish with warm water from underground. This warmer water enables fish to grow all year round and mature more quickly. Collectively these California farms produce 4.5 million kilograms of fish each year. + +Global goals +The UN Sustainable Development Goal 14 ("life below water"), Target 14.7 includes aquaculture: "By 2030, increase the economic benefits to small island developing states and least developed countries from the sustainable use of marine resources, including through sustainable management of fisheries, aquaculture and tourism". Aquaculture's contribution to GDP is not included in SDG Target 14.7 but methods for quantifying this have been explored by FAO. + +National laws, regulations, and management +Laws governing aquaculture practices vary greatly by country and are often not closely regulated or easily traceable. + +In the United States, land-based and nearshore aquaculture is regulated at the federal and state levels; however, no national laws govern offshore aquaculture in U.S. exclusive economic zone waters. In June 2011, the Department of Commerce and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released national aquaculture policies to address this issue and "to meet the growing demand for healthy seafood, to create jobs in coastal communities, and restore vital ecosystems." Large aquaculture facilities (i.e. those producing per year) which discharge wastewater are required to obtain permits pursuant to the Clean Water Act. Facilities that produce at least of fish, molluscs or crustaceans a year are subject to specific national discharge standards. Other permitted facilities are subject to effluent limitations that are developed on a case-by-case basis. + +By country +Aquaculture by Country: + +History + +The Gunditjmara, the local Aboriginal Australian people in south-western Victoria, Australia, may have raised short-finned eels as early as about 4,580 BCE. Evidence indicates they developed about of volcanic floodplains in the vicinity of Lake Condah into a complex of channels and dams, and used woven traps to capture eels, and preserve them to eat all year round. The Budj Bim Cultural Landscape, a World Heritage Site, is thought to be one of the oldest aquaculture sites in the world. + +Oral tradition in China tells of the culture of the common carp, Cyprinus carpio, as long ago as 2000–2100 BCE (around 4,000 years BP), but the earliest significant evidence lies in the literature, in the earliest monograph on fish culture called The Classic of Fish Culture, by Fan Li, written around 475 BCE ( BP). Another ancient Chinese guide to aquaculture was by Yang Yu Jing, written around 460 BCE, showing that carp farming was becoming more sophisticated. The Jiahu site in China has circumstantial archeological evidence as possibly the oldest aquaculture locations, dating from 6200BCE (about 8,200 years BP), but this is speculative. When the waters subsided after river floods, some fish, mainly carp, were trapped in lakes. Early aquaculturists fed their brood using nymphs and silkworm faeces, and ate them. + +Ancient Egyptians might have farmed fish (especially gilt-head bream) from Lake Bardawil about 1,500 BCE (about 3,500 BP), and they traded them with Canaan. + +Gim cultivation is the oldest aquaculture in Korea. Early cultivation methods used bamboo or oak sticks, which were replaced by newer methods that utilized nets in the 19th century. Floating rafts have been used for mass production since the 1920s. + +Japanese cultivated seaweed by providing bamboo poles and, later, nets and oyster shells to serve as anchoring surfaces for spores. + +Romans bred fish in ponds and farmed oysters in coastal lagoons before 100 CE. + +In central Europe, early Christian monasteries adopted Roman aquacultural practices. Aquaculture spread in Europe during the Middle Ages since away from the seacoasts and the big rivers, fish had to be salted so they did not rot. Improvements in transportation during the 19th century made fresh fish easily available and inexpensive, even in inland areas, making aquaculture less popular. The 15th-century fishponds of the Trebon Basin in the Czech Republic are maintained as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. + +Hawaiians constructed oceanic fish ponds. A remarkable example is the "Menehune" fishpond dating from at least 1,000 years ago, at Alekoko. Legend says that it was constructed by the mythical Menehune dwarf people. + +In the first half of the 18th century, German Stephan Ludwig Jacobi experimented with external fertilization of brown trouts and salmon. He wrote an article "Von der künstlichen Erzeugung der Forellen und Lachse" (On the Artificial Production of Trout and Salmon) summarizing his findings, and is regarded as the founder of artificial fish rearing in Europe. By the latter decades of the 18th century, oyster farming had begun in estuaries along the Atlantic Coast of North America. + +The word aquaculture appeared in an 1855 newspaper article in reference to the harvesting of ice. It also appeared in descriptions of the terrestrial agricultural practise of sub-irrigation in the late 19th century before becoming associated primarily with the cultivation of aquatic plant and animal species. + +In 1859, Stephen Ainsworth of West Bloomfield, New York, began experiments with brook trout. By 1864, Seth Green had established a commercial fish-hatching operation at Caledonia Springs, near Rochester, New York. By 1866, with the involvement of Dr. W. W. Fletcher of Concord, Massachusetts, artificial fish hatcheries were underway in both Canada and the United States. When the Dildo Island fish hatchery opened in Newfoundland in 1889, it was the largest and most advanced in the world. The word aquaculture was used in descriptions of the hatcheries experiments with cod and lobster in 1890. + +By the 1920s, the American Fish Culture Company of Carolina, Rhode Island, founded in the 1870s was one of the leading producers of trout. During the 1940s, they had perfected the method of manipulating the day and night cycle of fish so that they could be artificially spawned year around. + +Californians harvested wild kelp and attempted to manage supply around 1900, later labeling it a wartime resource. + +See also + +Agroecology +Alligator farm +Certification for Aquaculture Professionals +Fisheries science +Fishery +Industrial aquaculture +List of commercially important fish species +Maggots used as food for fish +Oyster farming +Recirculating aquaculture system +Resource decoupling + +References + +Sources + + podcast + +GESAMP (2008) Assessment and communication of environmental risks in coastal aquaculture FAO Reports and Studies No 76. +Hepburn, J. 2002. Taking Aquaculture Seriously. Organic Farming, Winter 2002 © Soil Association. + +The Scottish Association for Marine Science and Napier University. 2002. Review and synthesis of the environmental impacts of aquaculture +Higginbotham James Piscinae: Artificial Fishponds in Roman Italy University of North Carolina Press (June 1997) +Wyban, Carol Araki (1992) Tide and Current: Fishponds of Hawai'I University of Hawaiʻi Press:: +Timmons, M.B., Ebeling, J.M., Wheaton, F.W., Summerfelt, S.T., Vinci, B.J., 2002. Recirculating Aquaculture Systems: 2nd edition. Cayuga Aqua Ventures. + +Free content work + +Further reading + Holmer, Marianne. Aquaculture in the Ecosystem. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer, 2008. + Molyneaux, Paul. Swimming in Circles: Aquaculture and the End of Wild Oceans. New York: Thunder’s Mouth Press, 2006. + Stickney, Robert R. Aquaculture: An Introductory Text. Oxford, UK; Cambridge, MA: CABI Publishing, 2005. + World Bank. Changing the Face of the Waters: The Promise and Challenge of Sustainable Aquaculture. Washington, DC: World Bank, 2007. + +External links + +Aquaculture topic page from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution + +The Coastal Resources Center +NOAA aquaculture +The University of Hawaiʻi's AquacultureHub + + +Domesticated animals +Buildings and structures used to confine animals +Sustainable food system +In algorithmic information theory (a subfield of computer science and mathematics), the Kolmogorov complexity of an object, such as a piece of text, is the length of a shortest computer program (in a predetermined programming language) that produces the object as output. It is a measure of the computational resources needed to specify the object, and is also known as algorithmic complexity, Solomonoff–Kolmogorov–Chaitin complexity, program-size complexity, descriptive complexity, or algorithmic entropy. It is named after Andrey Kolmogorov, who first published on the subject in 1963 and is a generalization of classical information theory. + +The notion of Kolmogorov complexity can be used to state and prove impossibility results akin to Cantor's diagonal argument, Gödel's incompleteness theorem, and Turing's halting problem. +In particular, no program P computing a lower bound for each text's Kolmogorov complexity can return a value essentially larger than P's own length (see section ); hence no single program can compute the exact Kolmogorov complexity for infinitely many texts. + +Definition +Consider the following two strings of 32 lowercase letters and digits: + + abababababababababababababababab , and + 4c1j5b2p0cv4w1x8rx2y39umgw5q85s7 + +The first string has a short English-language description, namely "write ab 16 times", which consists of 17 characters. The second one has no obvious simple description (using the same character set) other than writing down the string itself, i.e., "write 4c1j5b2p0cv4w1x8rx2y39umgw5q85s7" which has 38 characters. Hence the operation of writing the first string can be said to have "less complexity" than writing the second. + +More formally, the complexity of a string is the length of the shortest possible description of the string in some fixed universal description language (the sensitivity of complexity relative to the choice of description language is discussed below). It can be shown that the Kolmogorov complexity of any string cannot be more than a few bytes larger than the length of the string itself. Strings like the abab example above, whose Kolmogorov complexity is small relative to the string's size, are not considered to be complex. + +The Kolmogorov complexity can be defined for any mathematical object, but for simplicity the scope of this article is restricted to strings. We must first specify a description language for strings. Such a description language can be based on any computer programming language, such as Lisp, Pascal, or Java. If P is a program which outputs a string x, then P is a description of x. The length of the description is just the length of P as a character string, multiplied by the number of bits in a character (e.g., 7 for ASCII). + +We could, alternatively, choose an encoding for Turing machines, where an encoding is a function which associates to each Turing Machine M a bitstring . If M is a Turing Machine which, on input w, outputs string x, then the concatenated string w is a description of x. For theoretical analysis, this approach is more suited for constructing detailed formal proofs and is generally preferred in the research literature. In this article, an informal approach is discussed. + +Any string s has at least one description. For example, the second string above is output by the pseudo-code: + + function GenerateString2() + return "4c1j5b2p0cv4w1x8rx2y39umgw5q85s7" + +whereas the first string is output by the (much shorter) pseudo-code: + + function GenerateString1() + return "ab" × 16 + +If a description d(s) of a string s is of minimal length (i.e., using the fewest bits), it is called a minimal description of s, and the length of d(s) (i.e. the number of bits in the minimal description) is the Kolmogorov complexity of s, written K(s). Symbolically, + +K(s) = |d(s)|. + +The length of the shortest description will depend on the choice of description language; but the effect of changing languages is bounded (a result called the invariance theorem). + +Invariance theorem + +Informal treatment +There are some description languages which are optimal, in the following sense: given any description of an object in a description language, said description may be used in the optimal description language with a constant overhead. The constant depends only on the languages involved, not on the description of the object, nor the object being described. + +Here is an example of an optimal description language. A description will have two parts: + + The first part describes another description language. + The second part is a description of the object in that language. + +In more technical terms, the first part of a description is a computer program (specifically: a compiler for the object's language, written in the description language), with the second part being the input to that computer program which produces the object as output. + +The invariance theorem follows: Given any description language L, the optimal description language is at least as efficient as L, with some constant overhead. + +Proof: Any description D in L can be converted into a description in the optimal language by first describing L as a computer program P (part 1), and then using the original description D as input to that program (part 2). The +total length of this new description D′ is (approximately): + +|D′ | = |P| + |D| + +The length of P is a constant that doesn't depend on D. So, there is at most a constant overhead, regardless of the object described. Therefore, the optimal language is universal up to this additive constant. + +A more formal treatment +Theorem: If K1 and K2 are the complexity functions relative to Turing complete description languages L1 and L2, then there is a constant c – which depends only on the languages L1 and L2 chosen – such that + +∀s. −c ≤ K1(s) − K2(s) ≤ c. + +Proof: By symmetry, it suffices to prove that there is some constant c such that for all strings s + +K1(s) ≤ K2(s) + c. + +Now, suppose there is a program in the language L1 which acts as an interpreter for L2: + + function InterpretLanguage(string p) + +where p is a program in L2. The interpreter is characterized by the following property: + + Running InterpretLanguage on input p returns the result of running p. + +Thus, if P is a program in L2 which is a minimal description of s, then InterpretLanguage(P) returns the string s. The length of this description of s is the sum of + + The length of the program InterpretLanguage, which we can take to be the constant c. + The length of P which by definition is K2(s). + +This proves the desired upper bound. + +History and context +Algorithmic information theory is the area of computer science that studies Kolmogorov complexity and other complexity measures on strings (or other data structures). + +The concept and theory of Kolmogorov Complexity is based on a crucial theorem first discovered by Ray Solomonoff, who published it in 1960, describing it in "A Preliminary Report on a General Theory of Inductive Inference" as part of his invention of algorithmic probability. He gave a more complete description in his 1964 publications, "A Formal Theory of Inductive Inference," Part 1 and Part 2 in Information and Control. + +Andrey Kolmogorov later independently published this theorem in Problems Inform. Transmission in 1965. Gregory Chaitin also presents this theorem in J. ACM – Chaitin's paper was submitted October 1966 and revised in December 1968, and cites both Solomonoff's and Kolmogorov's papers. + +The theorem says that, among algorithms that decode strings from their descriptions (codes), there exists an optimal one. This algorithm, for all strings, allows codes as short as allowed by any other algorithm up to an additive constant that depends on the algorithms, but not on the strings themselves. Solomonoff used this algorithm and the code lengths it allows to define a "universal probability" of a string on which inductive inference of the subsequent digits of the string can be based. Kolmogorov used this theorem to define several functions of strings, including complexity, randomness, and information. + +When Kolmogorov became aware of Solomonoff's work, he acknowledged Solomonoff's priority. For several years, Solomonoff's work was better known in the Soviet Union than in the Western World. The general consensus in the scientific community, however, was to associate this type of complexity with Kolmogorov, who was concerned with randomness of a sequence, while Algorithmic Probability became associated with Solomonoff, who focused on prediction using his invention of the universal prior probability distribution. The broader area encompassing descriptional complexity and probability is often called Kolmogorov complexity. The computer scientist Ming Li considers this an example of the Matthew effect: "...to everyone who has, more will be given..." + +There are several other variants of Kolmogorov complexity or algorithmic information. The most widely used one is based on self-delimiting programs, and is mainly due to Leonid Levin (1974). + +An axiomatic approach to Kolmogorov complexity based on Blum axioms (Blum 1967) was introduced by Mark Burgin in the paper presented for publication by Andrey Kolmogorov. + +Basic results +In the following discussion, let K(s) be the complexity of the string s. + +It is not hard to see that the minimal description of a string cannot be too much larger than the string itself — the program GenerateString2 above that outputs s is a fixed amount larger than s. + +Theorem: There is a constant c such that + +∀s. K(s) ≤ |s| + c. + +Uncomputability of Kolmogorov complexity + +A naive attempt at a program to compute K + +At first glance it might seem trivial to write a program which can compute K(s) for any s, such as the following: + + function KolmogorovComplexity(string s) + for i = 1 to infinity: + for each string p of length exactly i + if isValidProgram(p) and evaluate(p) == s + return i + +This program iterates through all possible programs (by iterating through all possible strings and only considering those which are valid programs), starting with the shortest. Each program is executed to find the result produced by that program, comparing it to the input s. If the result matches then the length of the program is returned. + +However this will not work because some of the programs p tested will not terminate, e.g. if they contain infinite loops. There is no way to avoid all of these programs by testing them in some way before executing them due to the non-computability of the halting problem. + +What is more, no program at all can compute the function K, be it ever so sophisticated. This is proven in the following. + +Formal proof of uncomputability of K + +Theorem: There exist strings of arbitrarily large Kolmogorov complexity. Formally: for each natural number n, there is a string s with K(s) ≥ n. + +Proof: Otherwise all of the infinitely many possible finite strings could be generated by the finitely many programs with a complexity below n bits. + +Theorem: K is not a computable function. In other words, there is no program which takes any string s as input and produces the integer K(s) as output. + +The following proof by contradiction uses a simple Pascal-like language to denote programs; for sake of proof simplicity assume its description (i.e. an interpreter) to have a length of bits. +Assume for contradiction there is a program + + function KolmogorovComplexity(string s) + +which takes as input a string s and returns K(s). All programs are of finite length so, for sake of proof simplicity, assume it to be bits. +Now, consider the following program of length bits: + + function GenerateComplexString() + for i = 1 to infinity: + for each string s of length exactly i + if KolmogorovComplexity(s) ≥ 8000000000 + return s + +Using KolmogorovComplexity as a subroutine, the program tries every string, starting with the shortest, until it returns a string with Kolmogorov complexity at least bits, i.e. a string that cannot be produced by any program shorter than bits. However, the overall length of the above program that produced s is only bits, which is a contradiction. (If the code of KolmogorovComplexity is shorter, the contradiction remains. If it is longer, the constant used in GenerateComplexString can always be changed appropriately.) + +The above proof uses a contradiction similar to that of the Berry paradox: "The smallest positive integer that cannot be defined in fewer than twenty English words". It is also possible to show the non-computability of K by reduction from the non-computability of the halting problem H, since K and H are Turing-equivalent. + +There is a corollary, humorously called the "full employment theorem" in the programming language community, stating that there is no perfect size-optimizing compiler. + +Chain rule for Kolmogorov complexity + +The chain rule for Kolmogorov complexity states that + +K(X,Y) = K(X) + K(Y|X) + O(log(K(X,Y))). + +It states that the shortest program that reproduces X and Y is no more than a logarithmic term larger than a program to reproduce X and a program to reproduce Y given X. Using this statement, one can define an analogue of mutual information for Kolmogorov complexity. + +Compression +It is straightforward to compute upper bounds for K(s) – simply compress the string s with some method, implement the corresponding decompressor in the chosen language, concatenate the decompressor to the compressed string, and measure the length of the resulting string – concretely, the size of a self-extracting archive in the given language. + +A string s is compressible by a number c if it has a description whose length does not exceed |s| − c bits. This is equivalent to saying that K(s) ≤ |s| − c. Otherwise, s is incompressible by c. A string incompressible by 1 is said to be simply incompressible – by the pigeonhole principle, which applies because every compressed string maps to only one uncompressed string, incompressible strings must exist, since there are 2n bit strings of length n, but only 2n − 1 shorter strings, that is, strings of length less than n, (i.e. with length 0, 1, ..., n − 1). + +For the same reason, most strings are complex in the sense that they cannot be significantly compressed – their K(s) is not much smaller than |s|, the length of s in bits. To make this precise, fix a value of n. There are 2n bitstrings of length n. The uniform probability distribution on the space of these bitstrings assigns exactly equal weight 2−n to each string of length n. + +Theorem: With the uniform probability distribution on the space of bitstrings of length n, the probability that a string is incompressible by c is at least 1 − 2−c+1 + 2−n. + +To prove the theorem, note that the number of descriptions of length not exceeding n − c is given by the geometric series: + + 1 + 2 + 22 + ... + 2n − c = 2n−c+1 − 1. + +There remain at least + + 2n − 2n−c+1 + 1 + +bitstrings of length n that are incompressible by c. To determine the probability, divide by 2n. + +Chaitin's incompleteness theorem + +By the above theorem (), most strings are complex in the sense that they cannot be described in any significantly "compressed" way. However, it turns out that the fact that a specific string is complex cannot be formally proven, if the complexity of the string is above a certain threshold. The precise formalization is as follows. First, fix a particular axiomatic system S for the natural numbers. The axiomatic system has to be powerful enough so that, to certain assertions A about complexity of strings, one can associate a formula FA in S. This association must have the following property: + +If FA is provable from the axioms of S, then the corresponding assertion A must be true. This "formalization" can be achieved based on a Gödel numbering. + +Theorem: There exists a constant L (which only depends on S and on the choice of description language) such that there does not exist a string s for which the statementK(s) ≥ L       (as formalized in S) + +can be proven within S. + +Proof Idea: The proof of this result is modeled on a self-referential construction used in Berry's paradox. We firstly obtain a program which enumerates the proofs within S and we specify a procedure P which takes as an input an integer L and prints the strings x which are within proofs within S of the statement K(x) ≥ L. By then setting L to greater than the length of this procedure P, we have that the required length of a program to print x as stated in K(x) ≥ L as being at least L is then less than the amount L since the string x was printed by the procedure P. This is a contradiction. So it is not possible for the proof system S to prove K(x) ≥ L for L arbitrarily large, in particular, for L larger than the length of the procedure P, (which is finite). + +Proof: + +We can find an effective enumeration of all the formal proofs in S by some procedure + + function NthProof(int n) + +which takes as input n and outputs some proof. This function enumerates all proofs. Some of these are proofs for formulas we do not care about here, since every possible proof in the language of S is produced for some n. Some of these are complexity formulas of the form K(s) ≥ n where s and n are constants in the language of S. There is a procedure + + function NthProofProvesComplexityFormula(int n) + +which determines whether the nth proof actually proves a complexity formula K(s) ≥ L. The strings s, and the integer L in turn, are computable by procedure: + + function StringNthProof(int n) + + function ComplexityLowerBoundNthProof(int n) + +Consider the following procedure: + + function GenerateProvablyComplexString(int n) + for i = 1 to infinity: + if NthProofProvesComplexityFormula(i) and ComplexityLowerBoundNthProof(i) ≥ n return StringNthProof(i) + +Given an n, this procedure tries every proof until it finds a string and a proof in the formal system S of the formula K(s) ≥ L for some L ≥ n; if no such proof exists, it loops forever. + +Finally, consider the program consisting of all these procedure definitions, and a main call: + + GenerateProvablyComplexString(n0) + +where the constant n0 will be determined later on. The overall program length can be expressed as U+log2(n0), where U is some constant and log2(n0) represents the length of the integer value n0, under the reasonable assumption that it is encoded in binary digits. We will choose n0 to be greater than the program length, that is, such that n0 > U+log2(n0). This is clearly true for n0 sufficiently large, because the left hand side grows linearly in n0 whilst the right hand side grows logarithmically in n0 up to the fixed constant U. + +Then no proof of the form "K(s)≥L" with L≥n0 can be obtained in S, as can be seen by an indirect argument: +If ComplexityLowerBoundNthProof(i) could return a value ≥n0, then the loop inside GenerateProvablyComplexString would eventually terminate, and that procedure would return a string s such that + +This is a contradiction, Q.E.D. + +As a consequence, the above program, with the chosen value of n0, must loop forever. + +Similar ideas are used to prove the properties of Chaitin's constant. + +Minimum message length + +The minimum message length principle of statistical and inductive inference and machine learning was developed by C.S. Wallace and D.M. Boulton in 1968. MML is Bayesian (i.e. it incorporates prior beliefs) and information-theoretic. It has the desirable properties of statistical invariance (i.e. the inference transforms with a re-parametrisation, such as from polar coordinates to Cartesian coordinates), statistical consistency (i.e. even for very hard problems, MML will converge to any underlying model) and efficiency (i.e. the MML model will converge to any true underlying model about as quickly as is possible). C.S. Wallace and D.L. Dowe (1999) showed a formal connection between MML and algorithmic information theory (or Kolmogorov complexity). + +Kolmogorov randomnessKolmogorov randomness defines a string (usually of bits) as being random if and only if every computer program that can produce that string is at least as long as the string itself. To make this precise, a universal computer (or universal Turing machine) must be specified, so that "program" means a program for this universal machine. A random string in this sense is "incompressible" in that it is impossible to "compress" the string into a program that is shorter than the string itself. For every universal computer, there is at least one algorithmically random string of each length. Whether a particular string is random, however, depends on the specific universal computer that is chosen. This is because a universal computer can have a particular string hard-coded in itself, and a program running on this universal computer can then simply refer to this hard-coded string using a short sequence of bits (i.e. much shorter than the string itself). + +This definition can be extended to define a notion of randomness for infinite sequences from a finite alphabet. These algorithmically random sequences can be defined in three equivalent ways. One way uses an effective analogue of measure theory; another uses effective martingales. The third way defines an infinite sequence to be random if the prefix-free Kolmogorov complexity of its initial segments grows quickly enough — there must be a constant c such that the complexity of an initial segment of length n is always at least n−c. This definition, unlike the definition of randomness for a finite string, is not affected by which universal machine is used to define prefix-free Kolmogorov complexity. + +Relation to entropy +For dynamical systems, entropy rate and algorithmic complexity of the trajectories are related by a theorem of Brudno, that the equality holds for almost all . + +It can be shown that for the output of Markov information sources, Kolmogorov complexity is related to the entropy of the information source. More precisely, the Kolmogorov complexity of the output of a Markov information source, normalized by the length of the output, converges almost surely (as the length of the output goes to infinity) to the entropy of the source. + +Conditional versions + +The conditional Kolmogorov complexity of two strings is, roughly speaking, defined as the Kolmogorov complexity of x given y as an auxiliary input to the procedure. + +There is also a length-conditional complexity , which is the complexity of x given the length of x'' as known/input. + +See also + Berry paradox + Code golf + Data compression + Descriptive complexity theory + Grammar induction + Inductive reasoning + Kolmogorov structure function + Levenshtein distance + Solomonoff's theory of inductive inference + Sample entropy + +Notes + +References + +Further reading + +External links + The Legacy of Andrei Nikolaevich Kolmogorov + Chaitin's online publications + Solomonoff's IDSIA page + Generalizations of algorithmic information by J. Schmidhuber + + Tromp's lambda calculus computer model offers a concrete definition of K()] + Universal AI based on Kolmogorov Complexity by M. Hutter: + David Dowe's Minimum Message Length (MML) and Occam's razor pages. + + +Computability theory +Descriptive complexity +Measures of complexity +Computational complexity theory +“Hymn to Proserpine” is a poem by Algernon Charles Swinburne, published in Poems and Ballads in 1866. The poem is addressed to the goddess Proserpina, the Roman equivalent of Persephone, but laments the rise of Christianity for displacing the pagan goddess and her pantheon. + +The epigraph at the beginning of the poem is the phrase Vicisti, Galilaee, Latin for "You have conquered, O Galilean", the supposed dying words of the Emperor Julian. He had tried to reverse the official endorsement of Christianity by the Roman Empire. The poem is cast in the form of a lament by a person professing the paganism of classical antiquity and lamenting its passing, and expresses regret at the rise of Christianity. + +The line "Time and the Gods are at strife" inspired the title of Lord Dunsany's Time and the Gods. + +The poem is quoted by Sue Bridehead in Thomas Hardy's 1895 novel, Jude the Obscure and also by Edward Ashburnham in Ford Madox Ford's The Good Soldier. + +See also + “The Garden of Proserpine”, another poem by A. C. Swinburne + Poems and Ballads + +References + +External links + +Full text at the University of Toronto Library + +British poems +1866 poems +Victorian poetry +Proserpina +Poetry by Algernon Charles Swinburne +"The Triumph of Time" is a poem by Algernon Charles Swinburne, published in Poems and Ballads in 1866. It is in adapted ottava rima and is full of elaborate use of literary devices, particularly alliteration. The theme, which purports to be autobiographical, is that of rejected love. The speaker deplores the ruin of his life, and in tones at times reminiscent of Hamlet, craves oblivion, for which the sea serves as a constant metaphor. + +See also +Poems and Ballads + +Notes + +External links + +Complete text of the poem +Victorian Web article on the poem + +British poems +1866 poems +Poetry by Algernon Charles Swinburne + + +Events + +Pre-1600 + 224 – The Battle of Hormozdgan is fought. Ardashir I defeats and kills Artabanus V effectively ending the Parthian Empire. + 357 – Emperor Constantius II enters Rome for the first time to celebrate his victory over Magnus Magnentius. +1192 – Assassination of Conrad of Montferrat (Conrad I), King of Jerusalem, in Tyre, two days after his title to the throne is confirmed by election. The killing is carried out by Hashshashin. +1253 – Nichiren, a Japanese Buddhist monk, propounds Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō for the very first time and declares it to be the essence of Buddhism, in effect founding Nichiren Buddhism. +1294 – Temür, grandson of Kublai, is elected Khagan of the Mongols with the reigning title Oljeitu. +1503 – The Battle of Cerignola is fought. It is noted as one of the first European battles in history won by small arms fire using gunpowder. + +1601–1900 +1611 – Establishment of the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, The Catholic University of the Philippines, the largest Catholic university in the world. +1625 – A combined Spanish and Portuguese fleet of 52 ships commences the recapture of Bahia from the Dutch during the Dutch–Portuguese War. +1758 – The Marathas defeat the Afghans in the Battle of Attock and capture the city. +1788 – Maryland becomes the seventh state to ratify the United States Constitution. +1789 – Mutiny on the Bounty: Lieutenant William Bligh and 18 sailors are set adrift and the rebel crew returns to Tahiti briefly and then sets sail for Pitcairn Island. +1792 – France invades the Austrian Netherlands (present day Belgium and Luxembourg), beginning the French Revolutionary Wars. +1794 – Sardinians, headed by Giovanni Maria Angioy, start a revolution against the Savoy domination, expelling Viceroy Balbiano and his officials from Cagliari, the capital and largest city of the island. +1796 – The Armistice of Cherasco is signed by Napoleon Bonaparte and Vittorio Amedeo III, King of Sardinia, expanding French territory along the Mediterranean coast. +1869 – Chinese and Irish laborers for the Central Pacific Railroad working on the First transcontinental railroad lay ten miles of track in one day, a feat which has never been matched. +1881 – Billy the Kid escapes from the Lincoln County jail in Mesilla, New Mexico. +1887 – A week after being arrested by the Prussian Secret Police, French police inspector Guillaume Schnaebelé is released on order of William I, German Emperor, defusing a possible war. + +1901–present +1910 – Frenchman Louis Paulhan wins the 1910 London to Manchester air race, the first long-distance aeroplane race in the United Kingdom. +1920 – The Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic is founded. +1923 – Wembley Stadium is opened, named initially as the Empire Stadium. +1930 – The Independence Producers hosted the first night game in the history of Organized Baseball in Independence, Kansas. +1941 – The Ustaše massacre nearly 200 Serbs in the village of Gudovac, the first massacre of their genocidal campaign against Serbs of the Independent State of Croatia. +1944 – World War II: Nine German E-boats attacked US and UK units during Exercise Tiger, the rehearsal for the Normandy landings, killing 946. +1945 – Benito Mussolini and his mistress Clara Petacci are shot dead by Walter Audisio, a member of the Italian resistance movement. + 1945 – The Holocaust: Nazi Germany carries out its final use of gas chambers to execute 33 Upper Austrian socialist and communist leaders in Mauthausen concentration camp. +1947 – Thor Heyerdahl and five crew mates set out from Peru on the Kon-Tiki to demonstrate that Peruvian natives could have settled Polynesia. +1948 – Igor Stravinsky conducted the premiere of his American ballet, Orpheus at the New York City Center. +1949 – The Hukbalahap are accused of assassinating former First Lady of the Philippines Aurora Quezon, while she is en route to dedicate a hospital in memory of her late husband; her daughter and ten others are also killed. +1952 – Dwight D. Eisenhower resigns as Supreme Allied Commander of NATO in order to campaign in the 1952 United States presidential election. + 1952 – The Treaty of San Francisco comes into effect, restoring Japanese sovereignty and ending its state of war with most of the Allies of World War II. + 1952 – The Sino-Japanese Peace Treaty (Treaty of Taipei) is signed in Taipei, Taiwan between Japan and the Republic of China to officially end the Second Sino-Japanese War. +1965 – United States occupation of the Dominican Republic: American troops land in the Dominican Republic to "forestall establishment of a Communist dictatorship" and to evacuate U.S. Army troops. +1967 – Vietnam War: Boxer Muhammad Ali refuses his induction into the United States Army and is subsequently stripped of his championship and license. +1969 – Charles de Gaulle resigns as President of France. +1970 – Vietnam War: U.S. President Richard Nixon formally authorizes American combat troops to take part in the Cambodian campaign. +1973 – The Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd, recorded in Abbey Road Studios goes to number one on the US Billboard chart, beginning a record-breaking 741-week chart run. +1975 – General Cao Văn Viên, chief of the South Vietnamese military, departs for the US as the North Vietnamese Army closes in on victory. +1977 – The Red Army Faction trial ends, with Andreas Baader, Gudrun Ensslin and Jan-Carl Raspe found guilty of four counts of murder and more than 30 counts of attempted murder. +1978 – The President of Afghanistan, Mohammed Daoud Khan, is overthrown and assassinated in a coup led by pro-communist rebels. + 1986 – High levels of radiation resulting from the Chernobyl disaster are detected at a nuclear power plant in Sweden, leading Soviet authorities to publicly announce the accident. +1988 – Near Maui, Hawaii, flight attendant Clarabelle "C.B." Lansing is blown out of Aloha Airlines Flight 243, a Boeing 737, and falls to her death when part of the plane's fuselage rips open in mid-flight. +1994 – Former Central Intelligence Agency counterintelligence officer and analyst Aldrich Ames pleads guilty to giving U.S. secrets to the Soviet Union and later Russia. +1996 – Whitewater controversy: President Bill Clinton gives a 4 hour videotaped testimony for the defense. + 1996 – Port Arthur massacre, Tasmania: A gunman, Martin Bryant, opens fire at the Broad Arrow Cafe in Port Arthur, Tasmania, killing 35 people and wounding 23 others. +2004 – CBS News released evidence of the Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse. The photographs show rape and abuse from the American troops over Iraqi detainees. + +Births + +Pre-1600 +AD 32 – Otho, Roman emperor (d. 69 AD) +1402 – Nezahualcoyotl, Acolhuan philosopher, warrior, poet and ruler (d. 1472) +1442 – Edward IV, king of England (d. 1483) +1545 – Yi Sun-sin, Korean commander (d. 1598) +1573 – Charles de Valois, Duke of Angoulême, son of Charles IX (d. 1650) + +1601–1900 +1604 – Joris Jansen Rapelje, Dutch settler in colonial North America (d. 1662) +1623 – Wilhelmus Beekman, Dutch politician (d. 1707) +1630 – Charles Cotton, English poet and author (d. 1687) +1676 – Frederick I, prince consort and king of Sweden (d. 1751) +1715 – Franz Sparry, Austrian composer and educator (d. 1767) +1758 – James Monroe, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 5th President of the United States (d. 1831) +1761 – Marie Harel, French cheesemaker (d. 1844) +1765 – Sylvestre François Lacroix, French mathematician and academic (d. 1834) +1819 – Ezra Abbot, American scholar and academic (d. 1884) +1827 – William Hall, Canadian soldier, Victoria Cross recipient (d. 1904) +1838 – Tobias Asser, Dutch lawyer and scholar, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1913) +1848 – Ludvig Schytte, Danish pianist, composer, and educator (d. 1909) +1854 – Hertha Marks Ayrton, Polish-British engineer, mathematician, and physicist. (d. 1923) +1855 – José Malhoa, Portuguese painter (d. 1933) +1863 – Josiah Thomas, English-Australian miner and politician, 7th Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs (d. 1933) + 1863 – Nikolai von Meck, Russian engineer (d. 1929) +1865 – Charles W. Woodworth, American entomologist and academic (d. 1940) +1868 – Lucy Booth, English composer (d. 1953) + 1868 – Georgy Voronoy, Ukrainian-Russian mathematician and academic (d. 1908) +1874 – Karl Kraus, Austrian journalist and author (d. 1936) + 1874 – Sidney Toler, American actor and director (d. 1947) +1876 – Nicola Romeo, Italian engineer and businessman (d. 1938) +1878 – Lionel Barrymore, American actor and director (d. 1954) +1886 – Erich Salomon, German-born news photographer (d. 1944) + 1886 – Art Shaw, American hurdler (d. 1955) +1888 – Walter Tull, English footballer and soldier (d. 1918) +1889 – António de Oliveira Salazar, Portuguese economist and politician, 100th Prime Minister of Portugal (d. 1970) +1896 – Na Hye-sok, South Korean journalist, poet, and painter (d. 1948) + 1896 – Tristan Tzara, Romanian-French poet and critic (d. 1963) +1897 – Ye Jianying, Chinese general and politician, Head of State of the People's Republic of China (d. 1986) +1900 – Alice Berry, Australian activist (d. 1978) + 1900 – Heinrich Müller, German SS officer (d. 1945) + 1900 – Jan Oort, Dutch astronomer and academic (d. 1992) + +1901–present +1901 – H. B. Stallard, English runner and surgeon (d. 1973) +1902 – Johan Borgen, Norwegian author and critic (d. 1979) +1906 – Kurt Gödel, Czech-American mathematician, philosopher, and academic (d. 1978) + 1906 – Paul Sacher, Swiss conductor and philanthropist (d. 1999) +1908 – Ethel Catherwood, American-Canadian high jumper and javelin thrower (d. 1987) + 1908 – Jack Fingleton, Australian cricketer, journalist, and sportscaster (d. 1981) + 1908 – Oskar Schindler, Czech-German businessman (d. 1974) +1909 – Arthur Võõbus, Estonian-American theologist and orientalist (d. 1988) +1910 – Sam Merwin, Jr., American author (d. 1996) +1911 – Lee Falk, American director, producer, and playwright (d. 1999) +1912 – Odette Hallowes, French soldier and spy (d. 1995) + 1912 – Kaneto Shindō, Japanese director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2012) +1913 – Rose Murphy, American singer (d. 1989) +1914 – Michel Mohrt, French author, historian (d. 2011) +1916 – Ferruccio Lamborghini, Italian businessman, created Lamborghini (d. 1993) +1917 – Robert Cornthwaite, American actor (d. 2006) +1921 – Rowland Evans, American soldier, journalist, and author (d. 2001) + 1921 – Simin Daneshvar, Iranian author and academic (d. 2012) +1923 – Carolyn Cassady, American author (d. 2013) + 1923 – William Guarnere, American sergeant (d. 2014) +1924 – Dick Ayers, American author and illustrator (d. 2014) + 1924 – Blossom Dearie, American singer and pianist (d. 2009) + 1924 – Kenneth Kaunda, Zambian educator and politician, first president of Zambia (d. 2021) +1925 – T. John Lesinski, American judge and politician, 51st Lieutenant Governor of Michigan (d. 1996) + 1925 – John Leonard Thorn, English lieutenant, author, and academic (d. 2023) +1926 – James Bama, American artist and illustrator (d. 2022) + 1926 – Bill Blackbeard, American historian and author (d. 2011) + 1926 – Harper Lee, American novelist (d. 2016) + 1926 – Hulusi Sayın, Turkish general (d. 1991) +1928 – Yves Klein, French painter (d. 1962) + 1928 – Eugene Merle Shoemaker, American geologist and astronomer (d. 1997) +1930 – James Baker, American lawyer and politician, 61st United States Secretary of State + 1930 – Carolyn Jones, American actress (d. 1983) +1933 – Miodrag Radulovacki, Serbian-American neuropharmacologist and academic (d. 2014) +1934 – Lois Duncan, American journalist and author (d. 2016) +1935 – Pedro Ramos, Cuban baseball player + 1935 – Jimmy Wray, Scottish boxer and politician (d. 2013) +1936 – Tariq Aziz, Iraqi journalist and politician, Iraqi Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 2015) +1937 – Saddam Hussein, Iraqi general and politician, 5th President of Iraq (d. 2006) + 1937 – Jean Redpath, Scottish singer-songwriter (d. 2014) + 1937 – John White, Scottish international footballer (d. 1964) +1938 – Madge Sinclair, Jamaican-American actress (d. 1995) +1941 – Ann-Margret, Swedish-American actress, singer, and dancer + 1941 – Lucien Aimar, French cyclist + 1941 – John Madejski, English businessman and academic + 1941 – Karl Barry Sharpless, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate + 1941 – Iryna Zhylenko, Ukrainian poet and author (d. 2013) +1942 – Mike Brearley, English cricketer and psychoanalyst +1943 – Aryeh Bibi, Iraqi-born Israeli politician +1944 – Elizabeth LeCompte, American director and producer + 1944 – Jean-Claude Van Cauwenberghe, Belgian politician, 10th Minister-President of Wallonia + 1944 – Alice Waters, American chef and author +1946 – Nour El-Sherif, Egyptian actor and producer (d. 2015) + 1946 – Ginette Reno, Canadian singer-songwriter and actress + 1946 – Larissa Grunig, American theorist and activist +1947 – Christian Jacq, French historian and author + 1947 – Nicola LeFanu, English composer and academic + 1947 – Steve Khan, American jazz guitarist +1948 – Terry Pratchett, English journalist, author, and screenwriter (d. 2015) + 1948 – Marcia Strassman, American actress and singer (d. 2014) +1949 – Jeremy Cooke, English lawyer and judge + 1949 – Paul Guilfoyle, American actor + 1949 – Bruno Kirby, American actor and director (d. 2006) +1950 – Willie Colón, Puerto Rican-American trombonist and producer + 1950 – Jay Leno, American comedian, talk show host, and producer + 1950 – Steve Rider, English journalist and sportscaster +1951 – Tim Congdon, English economist and politician + 1951 – Larry Smith, Canadian football player and politician +1952 – Chuck Leavell, American singer-songwriter and keyboard player + 1952 – Mary McDonnell, American actress +1953 – Roberto Bolaño, Chilean novelist, short-story writer, poet, and essayist (d. 2003) + 1953 – Kim Gordon, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer + 1953 – Brian Greenhoff, English footballer and coach (d. 2013) +1954 – Timothy Curley, American educator + 1954 – Michael P. Jackson, American politician, 3rd Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security + 1954 – Vic Sotto, Filipino actor-producer, singer-songwriter, comedian and television personality + 1954 – Ron Zook, American football player and coach +1955 – Saeb Erekat, Chief Palestinian negotiator (d. 2020) + 1955 – Eddie Jobson, English keyboard player and violinist + 1955 – Dieter Rubach, German bass player +1956 – Jimmy Barnes, Scottish-Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist +1957 – Wilma Landkroon, Dutch singer +1958 – Hal Sutton, American golfer +1960 – Tom Browning, American baseball player + 1960 – Elena Kagan, American lawyer and jurist, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States + 1960 – Phil King, English bass player + 1960 – Ian Rankin, Scottish author + 1960 – Jón Páll Sigmarsson, Icelandic strongman and weightlifter (d. 1993) + 1960 – Walter Zenga, Italian footballer and manager +1963 – Sandrine Dumas, French actress, director, and screenwriter + 1963 – Lloyd Eisler, Canadian figure skater and coach + 1963 – Marc Lacroix, Belgian biochemist and academic +1964 – Stephen Ames, Trinidadian golfer + 1964 – Noriyuki Iwadare, Japanese composer + 1964 – Ajay Kakkar, Baron Kakkar, English surgeon and academic + 1964 – Barry Larkin, American baseball player, manager, and sportscaster + 1964 – L'Wren Scott, American model and fashion designer (d. 2014) +1965 – Jennifer Rardin, American author (d. 2010) +1966 – John Daly, American golfer + 1966 – Too Short, American rapper, producer and actor +1967 – Chris White, English engineer and politician +1968 – Howard Donald, English singer-songwriter and producer + 1968 – Andy Flower, South-African-Zimbabwean cricketer and coach +1969 – LeRon Perry Ellis, American basketball player +1970 – Richard Fromberg, Australian tennis player + 1970 – Nicklas Lidström, Swedish ice hockey player and scout + 1970 – Diego Simeone, Argentinian footballer and manager +1971 – Brad McEwan, Australian journalist + 1971 – Bridget Moynahan, American actress +1972 – Violent J, American rapper + 1972 – Helena Tulve, Estonian composer + 1972 – Jean-Paul van Gastel, Dutch footballer and manager +1973 – Jorge Garcia, American actor and producer + 1973 – Earl Holmes, American football player and coach + 1973 – Andrew Mehrtens, South African-New Zealand rugby player +1974 – Penélope Cruz, Spanish actress and producer + 1974 – Margo Dydek, Polish basketball player and coach (d. 2011) + 1974 – Richel Hersisia, Dutch boxer + 1974 – Vernon Kay, English radio and television host + 1974 – Dominic Matteo, Scottish footballer and journalist +1975 – Michael Walchhofer, Austrian skier +1976 – Shane Jurgensen, Australian cricketer +1977 – Titus O'Neil, American wrestler and football player +1978 – Lauren Laverne, English singer and television and radio host + 1978 – Robert Oliveri, American actor + 1978 – Nate Richert, American actor +1979 – Scott Fujita, American football player and sportscaster +1980 – Bradley Wiggins, English cyclist +1981 – Jessica Alba, American model and actress + 1981 – Pietro Travagli, Italian rugby player +1982 – Nikki Grahame, English model and journalist (d. 2021) + 1982 – Chris Kaman, American basketball player +1983 – Josh Brookes, Australian motorcycle racer + 1983 – David Freese, American baseball player + 1983 – Roger Johnson, English footballer + 1983 – Graham Wagg, English cricketer + 1983 – Thomas Waldrom, New Zealand-English rugby player +1984 – Dmitri Torbinski, Russian footballer +1985 – Lucas Jakubczyk, German sprinter and long jumper + 1985 – Deividas Stagniūnas, Lithuanian ice dancer +1986 – Roman Polák, Czech ice hockey player + 1986 – Jenna Ushkowitz, Korean-American actress, singer, and dancer +1987 – Ryan Conroy, Scottish footballer + 1987 – Daequan Cook, American basketball player + 1987 – Drew Gulak, American wrestler + 1987 – Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Indian actress and model + 1987 – Bradley Johnson, English footballer + 1987 – Zoran Tošić, Serbian footballer +1988 – Jonathan Biabiany, French footballer + 1988 – Juan Manuel Mata, Spanish footballer + 1988 – Katariina Tuohimaa, Finnish tennis player +1989 – Emil Salomonsson, Swedish footballer + 1989 – Kim Sung-kyu, South Korean singer +1990 – Niels-Peter Mørck, Danish footballer +1992 – Blake Bortles, American football player + 1992 – DeMarcus Lawrence, American football player +1993 – Matt Chapman, American baseball player + 1993 – Craig Garvey, Australian rugby league player + 1993 – Eva Samková, Czech snowboarder +1995 – Jonathan Benteke, Belgian footballer + 1995 – Melanie Martinez, American singer +1997 – Denzel Ward, American football player +1998 – Song Yu-bin, South Korean singer and actor + +Deaths + +Pre-1600 + 224 – Artabanus IV of Parthia (b. 191) + 948 – Hu Jinsi, Chinese general and prefect + 988 – Adaldag, archbishop of Bremen + 992 – Jawhar as-Siqilli, Fatimid statesman +1109 – Abbot Hugh of Cluny (b. 1024) +1192 – Conrad of Montferrat (b. 1140) +1197 – Rhys ap Gruffydd, prince of Deheubarth (b. 1132) +1257 – Shajar al-Durr, sovereign sultana of Egypt +1260 – Luchesius Modestini, founding member of the Third Order of St. Francis +1400 – Baldus de Ubaldis, Italian jurist (b. 1327) +1489 – Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland, English politician (b. 1449) +1533 – Nicholas West, English bishop and diplomat (b. 1461) + +1601–1900 +1643 – Francisco de Lucena, Portuguese politician (b. 1578) +1710 – Thomas Betterton, English actor and manager (b. 1630) +1716 – Louis de Montfort, French priest and saint (b. 1673) +1726 – Thomas Pitt, English merchant and politician (b. 1653) +1741 – Magnus Julius De la Gardie, Swedish general and politician (b. 1668) +1772 – Johann Friedrich Struensee, German physician and politician (b. 1737) +1781 – Cornelius Harnett, American merchant, farmer, and politician (b. 1723) +1813 – Mikhail Kutuzov, Russian field marshal (b. 1745) +1816 – Johann Heinrich Abicht, German philosopher, author, and academic (b. 1762) +1841 – Peter Chanel, French priest, missionary, and martyr (b. 1803) +1853 – Ludwig Tieck, German author and poet (b. 1773) +1858 – Johannes Peter Müller, German physiologist and anatomist (b. 1801) +1865 – Samuel Cunard, Canadian-English businessman, founded Cunard Line (b. 1787) +1881 – Antoine Samuel Adam-Salomon, French sculptor and photographer (b. 1818) +1883 – John Russell, English hunter and dog breeder (b. 1795) + +1901–present +1902 – Cyprien Tanguay, Canadian priest and historian (b. 1819) +1903 – Josiah Willard Gibbs, American scientist (b. 1839) +1905 – Fitzhugh Lee, American general and politician, 40th Governor of Virginia (b. 1835) +1921 – Maurice Moore (Irish republican), executed member of the Irish Republican Army (b. 1894) +1925 – Richard Butler, English-Australian politician, 23rd Premier of South Australia (b. 1850) +1928 – May Jordan McConnel, Australian trade unionist and suffragist (b. 1860) +1929 – Hendrik van Heuckelum, Dutch footballer (b. 1879) +1936 – Fuad I of Egypt (b. 1868) +1939 – Anne Walter Fearn, American physician (b. 1867) +1944 – Mohammed Alim Khan, Manghud ruler (b. 1880) + 1944 – Frank Knox, American journalist and politician, 46th United States Secretary of the Navy (b. 1874) +1945 – Roberto Farinacci, Italian soldier and politician (b. 1892) + 1945 – Hermann Fegelein, German general (b. 1906) + 1945 – Benito Mussolini, Italian journalist and politician, 27th Prime Minister of Italy (b. 1883) +1946 – Louis Bachelier, French mathematician and academic (b. 1870) +1954 – Léon Jouhaux, French union leader, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1879) +1956 – Fred Marriott, American race car driver (b. 1872) +1957 – Heinrich Bär, German colonel and pilot (b. 1913) +1962 – Bennie Osler, South African rugby player (b. 1901) +1963 – Wilhelm Weber, German gymnast (b. 1880) +1970 – Ed Begley, American actor (b. 1901) +1973 – Clas Thunberg, Finnish speed skater (b. 1893) +1976 – Richard Hughes, American author and poet (b. 1900) +1977 – Ricardo Cortez, American actor (b. 1900) + 1977 – Sepp Herberger, German footballer and coach (b. 1897) +1978 – Mohammed Daoud Khan, Afghan commander and politician, 1st President of Afghanistan (b. 1909) +1980 – Tommy Caldwell, American bass player (b. 1949) +1987 – Ben Linder, American engineer and activist (b. 1959) +1989 – Esa Pakarinen, Finnish actor and musician (b. 1911) +1991 – Steve Broidy, American film producer (b. 1905) +1992 – Francis Bacon, Irish painter (b. 1909) +1993 – Diva Diniz Corrêa, Brazilian zoologist (b. 1918) + 1993 – Jim Valvano, American basketball player, coach, and sportscaster (b. 1946) +1994 – Berton Roueché, American journalist and author (b. 1910) +1996 – Lester Sumrall, American minister, founded LeSEA (b. 1913) +1997 – Ann Petry, American novelist (b. 1908) +1998 – Jerome Bixby, American author and screenwriter (b. 1923) +1999 – Rory Calhoun, American actor, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1922) + 1999 – Rolf Landauer, German-American physicist and engineer (b. 1927) + 1999 – Alf Ramsey, English footballer and manager (b. 1920) + 1999 – Arthur Leonard Schawlow, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1921) +2000 – Jerzy Einhorn, Polish-Swedish physician and politician (b. 1925) + 2000 – Penelope Fitzgerald, English author and poet (b. 1916) +2002 – Alexander Lebed, Russian general and politician (b. 1950) + 2002 – Lou Thesz, American wrestler and trainer (b. 1916) +2005 – Percy Heath, American bassist (b. 1923) + 2005 – Chris Candido, American wrestler (b. 1971) + 2005 – Taraki Sivaram, Sri Lankan journalist and author (b. 1959) +2006 – Steve Howe, American baseball player (b. 1958) +2007 – Dabbs Greer, American actor (b. 1917) + 2007 – René Mailhot, Canadian journalist (b. 1942) + 2007 – Tommy Newsom, American saxophonist and bandleader (b. 1929) + 2007 – Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker, German physicist and philosopher (b. 1912) + 2007 – Bertha Wilson, Scottish-Canadian lawyer and jurist (b. 1923) +2009 – Ekaterina Maximova, Russian ballerina and actress (b. 1939) + 2009 – Richard Pratt, Polish-Australian businessman (b. 1934) +2011 – Erhard Loretan, Swiss mountaineer (b. 1959) +2012 – Fred Allen, New Zealand rugby player and coach (b. 1920) + 2012 – Matilde Camus, Spanish poet and author (b. 1919) + 2012 – Al Ecuyer, American football player (b. 1937) + 2012 – Patricia Medina, English actress (b. 1919) + 2012 – Milan N. Popović, Serbian psychiatrist and author (b. 1924) + 2012 – Aberdeen Shikoyi, Kenyan rugby player (b. 1985) +2013 – Brad Lesley, American baseball player (b. 1958) + 2013 – Fredrick McKissack, American author (b. 1939) + 2013 – John C. Reynolds, American computer scientist and academic (b. 1935) + 2013 – Jack Shea, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1928) + 2013 – János Starker, Hungarian-American cellist and educator (b. 1924) + 2013 – Paulo Vanzolini, Brazilian singer-songwriter and zoologist (b. 1924) + 2013 – Bernie Wood, New Zealand journalist and author (b. 1939) +2014 – Barbara Fiske Calhoun, American cartoonist and painter (b. 1919) + 2014 – William Honan, American journalist and author (b. 1930) + 2014 – Dennis Kamakahi, American guitarist and composer (b. 1953) + 2014 – Edgar Laprade, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1919) + 2014 – Jack Ramsay, American basketball player, coach, and sportscaster (b. 1925) + 2014 – Idris Sardi, Indonesian violinist and composer (b. 1938) + 2014 – Frederic Schwartz, American architect, co-designed Empty Sky (b. 1951) + 2014 – Ryan Tandy, Australian rugby player (b. 1981) +2015 – Antônio Abujamra, Brazilian actor and director (b. 1932) + 2015 – Marcia Brown, American author and illustrator (b. 1918) + 2015 – Michael J. Ingelido, American general (b. 1916) +2016 – Jenny Diski, English author and screenwriter (b. 1947) +2017 – Mariano Gagnon, American Catholic priest and author (b. 1929) +2018 – James Hylton, American race car driver (b. 1934) +2019 – Richard Lugar, American politician (b. 1932) + 2019 – John Singleton, American film director (b. 1968) +2021 – Michael Collins, American astronaut (b. 1930) + 2021 – El Risitas, Spanish comedian (b. 1956) + +Holidays and observances +Christian feast day: +Aphrodisius and companions +Gianna Beretta Molla +Kirill of Turov (Orthodox, added to Roman Martyrology in 1969) +Louis de Montfort +Pamphilus of Sulmona +Peter Chanel +Vitalis and Valeria of Milan +April 28 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) +Mujahideen Victory Day (Afghanistan) +National Heroes Day (Barbados) +Restoration of Sovereignty Day (Japan) +Sardinia Day (Sardinia) +Workers' Memorial Day and World Day for Safety and Health at Work (international) +National Day of Mourning (Canada) + +References + +External links + + BBC: On This Day + + Historical Events on April 28 + +Days of the year +April +Alfred the Great (also spelled Ælfred; – 26 October 899) was King of the West Saxons from 871 to 886, and King of the Anglo-Saxons from 886 until his death in 899. He was the youngest son of King Æthelwulf and his first wife Osburh, who both died when Alfred was young. Three of Alfred's brothers, Æthelbald, Æthelberht and Æthelred, reigned in turn before him. Under Alfred's rule, considerable administrative and military reforms were introduced, prompting lasting change in England. + +After ascending the throne, Alfred spent several years fighting Viking invasions. He won a decisive victory in the Battle of Edington in 878 and made an agreement with the Vikings, dividing England between Anglo-Saxon territory and the Viking-ruled Danelaw, composed of Scandinavian York, the north-east Midlands and East Anglia. Alfred also oversaw the conversion of Viking leader Guthrum to Christianity. He defended his kingdom against the Viking attempt at conquest, becoming the dominant ruler in England. Alfred began styling himself as "King of the Anglo-Saxons" after reoccupying London from the Vikings. Details of his life are described in a work by 9th-century Welsh scholar and bishop Asser. + +Alfred had a reputation as a learned and merciful man of a gracious and level-headed nature who encouraged education, proposing that primary education be conducted in English, rather than Latin, and improving the legal system and military structure and his people's quality of life. He was given the epithet "the Great" in the 16th century and is the only English monarch to be labelled as such. + +Family + +Alfred was a son of Æthelwulf, king of Wessex, and his wife Osburh. According to his biographer, Asser, writing in 893, "In the year of our Lord's Incarnation 849 Alfred, King of the Anglo-Saxons", was born at the royal estate called Wantage, in the district known as Berkshire (which is so called from Berroc Wood, where the box tree grows very abundantly)." This date has been accepted by the editors of Asser's biography, Simon Keynes and Michael Lapidge, and by other historians such as David Dumville and Richard Huscroft. West Saxon genealogical lists state that Alfred was 23 when he became king in April 871, implying that he was born between April 847 and April 848. This dating is adopted in the biography of Alfred by Alfred Smyth, who regards Asser's biography as fraudulent, an allegation which is rejected by other historians. Richard Abels in his biography discusses both sources but does not decide between them and dates Alfred's birth as 847/849, while Patrick Wormald in his Oxford Dictionary of National Biography article dates it 848/849. Berkshire had been historically disputed between Wessex and the midland kingdom of Mercia, and as late as 844, a charter showed that it was part of Mercia, but Alfred's birth in the county is evidence that, by the late 840s, control had passed to Wessex. + +He was the youngest of six children. His eldest brother, Æthelstan, was old enough to be appointed sub-king of Kent in 839, almost 10 years before Alfred was born. He died in the early 850s. Alfred's next three brothers were successively kings of Wessex. Æthelbald (858–60) and Æthelberht (860–65) were also much older than Alfred, but Æthelred (865–71) was only a year or two older. Alfred's only known sister, Æthelswith, married Burgred, king of Mercia in 853. Most historians think that Osburh was the mother of all Æthelwulf's children, but some suggest that the older ones were born to an unrecorded first wife. Osburh was descended from the rulers of the Isle of Wight. She was described by Alfred's biographer Asser as "a most religious woman, noble by temperament and noble by birth". She had died by 856 when Æthelwulf married Judith, daughter of Charles the Bald, king of West Francia. + +In 868, Alfred married Ealhswith, daughter of the Mercian nobleman Æthelred Mucel, ealdorman of the Gaini, and his wife Eadburh, who was of royal Mercian descent. Their children were Æthelflæd, who married Æthelred, Lord of the Mercians; Edward the Elder, Alfred's successor as king; Æthelgifu, abbess of Shaftesbury; Ælfthryth, who married Baldwin, count of Flanders; and Æthelweard. + +Background + +Alfred's grandfather, Ecgberht, became king of Wessex in 802, and in the view of the historian Richard Abels, it must have seemed very unlikely to contemporaries that he would establish a lasting dynasty. For 200 years, three families had fought for the West Saxon throne, and no son had followed his father as king. No ancestor of Ecgberht had been a king of Wessex since Ceawlin in the late sixth century, but he was believed to be a paternal descendant of Cerdic, the founder of the West Saxon dynasty. This made Ecgberht an ætheling – a prince eligible for the throne. But after Ecgberht's reign, descent from Cerdic was no longer sufficient to make a man an ætheling. When Ecgberht died in 839, he was succeeded by his son Æthelwulf; all subsequent West Saxon kings were descendants of Ecgberht and Æthelwulf, and were also sons of kings. + +At the beginning of the ninth century, England was almost wholly under the control of the Anglo-Saxons. Mercia dominated southern England, but its supremacy came to an end in 825 when it was decisively defeated by Ecgberht at the Battle of Ellendun. The two kingdoms became allies, which was important in the resistance to Viking attacks. In 853, King Burgred of Mercia requested West Saxon help to suppress a Welsh rebellion, and Æthelwulf led a West Saxon contingent in a successful joint campaign. In the same year Burgred married Æthelwulf's daughter, Æthelswith. + +In 825, Ecgberht sent Æthelwulf to invade the Mercian sub-kingdom of Kent, and its sub-king, Baldred, was driven out shortly afterwards. By 830, Essex, Surrey and Sussex had submitted to Ecgberht, and he had appointed Æthelwulf to rule the south-eastern territories as king of Kent. The Vikings ravaged the Isle of Sheppey in 835, and the following year they defeated Ecgberht at Carhampton in Somerset, but in 838 he was victorious over an alliance of Cornishmen and Vikings at the Battle of Hingston Down, reducing Cornwall to the status of a client kingdom. When Æthelwulf succeeded, he appointed his eldest son Æthelstan as sub-king of Kent. Ecgberht and Æthelwulf may not have intended a permanent union between Wessex and Kent because they both appointed sons as sub-kings, and charters in Wessex were attested (witnessed) by West Saxon magnates, while Kentish charters were witnessed by the Kentish elite; both kings kept overall control, and the sub-kings were not allowed to issue their own coinage. + +Viking raids increased in the early 840s on both sides of the English Channel, and in 843 Æthelwulf was defeated at Carhampton. In 850, Æthelstan defeated a Danish fleet off Sandwich in the first recorded naval battle in English history. In 851 Æthelwulf and his second son, Æthelbald, defeated the Vikings at the Battle of Aclea and, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, "there made the greatest slaughter of a heathen raiding-army that we have heard tell of up to this present day, and there took the victory". Æthelwulf died in 858 and was succeeded by his oldest surviving son, Æthelbald, as king of Wessex and by his next oldest son, Æthelberht, as king of Kent. Æthelbald only survived his father by two years, and Æthelberht then for the first time united Wessex and Kent into a single kingdom. + +Childhood + +According to Asser, in his childhood Alfred won a beautifully decorated book of English poetry, offered as a prize by his mother to the first of her sons able to memorise it. He must have had it read to him because his mother died when he was about six and he did not learn to read until he was 12. In 853, Alfred is reported by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle to have been sent to Rome where he was confirmed by Pope Leo IV, who "anointed him as king". Victorian writers later interpreted this as an anticipatory coronation in preparation for his eventual succession to the throne of Wessex. This is unlikely; his succession could not have been foreseen at the time because Alfred had three living elder brothers. A letter of Leo IV shows that Alfred was made a "consul" and a misinterpretation of this investiture, deliberate or accidental, could explain later confusion. It may be based upon the fact that Alfred later accompanied his father on a pilgrimage to Rome where he spent some time at the court of Charles the Bald, king of the Franks, around 854–855. On their return from Rome in 856, Æthelwulf was deposed by his son Æthelbald. With civil war looming, the magnates of the realm met in council to form a compromise. Æthelbald retained the western shires (i.e. historical Wessex), and Æthelwulf ruled in the east. After King Æthelwulf died in 858, Wessex was ruled by three of Alfred's brothers in succession: Æthelbald, Æthelberht and Æthelred. + +The reigns of Alfred's brothers + +Alfred is not mentioned during the short reigns of his older brothers Æthelbald and Æthelberht. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle describes the Great Heathen Army of Danes landing in East Anglia with the intent of conquering the four kingdoms which constituted Anglo-Saxon England in 865. Alfred's public life began in 865 at age 16 with the accession of his third brother, 18-year-old Æthelred. During this period, Bishop Asser gave Alfred the unique title of secundarius, which may indicate a position similar to the Celtic tanist, a recognised successor closely associated with the reigning monarch. This arrangement may have been sanctioned by Alfred's father or by the Witan to guard against the danger of a disputed succession should Æthelred fall in battle. It was a well known tradition among other Germanic peoples – such as the Swedes and Franks to whom the Anglo-Saxons were closely related – to crown a successor as royal prince and military commander. + +Viking invasion +In 868, Alfred was recorded as fighting beside Æthelred in a failed attempt to keep the Great Heathen Army led by Ivar the Boneless out of the adjoining Kingdom of Mercia. The Danes arrived in his homeland at the end of 870, and nine engagements were fought in the following year, with mixed results; the places and dates of two of these battles have not been recorded. A successful skirmish at the Battle of Englefield in Berkshire on 31 December 870 was followed by a severe defeat at the siege and the Battle of Reading by Ivar's brother Halfdan Ragnarsson on 5 January 871. Four days later, the Anglo-Saxons won a victory at the Battle of Ashdown on the Berkshire Downs, possibly near Compton or Aldworth. The Saxons were defeated at the Battle of Basing on 22 January. They were defeated again on 22 March at the Battle of Merton (perhaps Marden in Wiltshire or Martin in Dorset). Æthelred died shortly afterwards in April. + +King at war + +Early struggles +In April 871 King Æthelred died and Alfred acceded to the throne of Wessex and the burden of its defence, even though Æthelred left two under-age sons, Æthelhelm and Æthelwold. This was in accordance with the agreement that Æthelred and Alfred had made earlier that year in an assembly at an unidentified place called Swinbeorg. The brothers had agreed that whichever of them outlived the other would inherit the personal property that King Æthelwulf had left jointly to his sons in his will. The deceased's sons would receive only whatever property and riches their father had settled upon them and whatever additional lands their uncle had acquired. The unstated premise was that the surviving brother would be king. Given the Danish invasion and the youth of his nephews, Alfred's accession probably went uncontested. + +While he was busy with the burial ceremonies for his brother, the Danes defeated the Saxon army in his absence at an unnamed spot and then again in his presence at Wilton in May. The defeat at Wilton smashed any remaining hope that Alfred could drive the invaders from his kingdom. Alfred was forced instead to make peace with them. Although the terms of the peace are not recorded, Bishop Asser wrote that the pagans agreed to vacate the realm and made good their promise. + +The Viking army withdrew from Reading in the autumn of 871 to take up winter quarters in Mercian London. Although not mentioned by Asser or by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Alfred probably paid the Vikings silver to leave, much as the Mercians were to do in the following year. Hoards dating to the Viking occupation of London in 871/872 have been excavated at Croydon, Gravesend and Waterloo Bridge. These finds hint at the cost involved in making peace with the Vikings. For the next five years, the Danes occupied other parts of England. + +In 876, under Guthrum, Oscetel and Anwend, the Danes slipped past the Saxon army and attacked and occupied Wareham in Dorset. Alfred blockaded them but was unable to take Wareham by assault. He negotiated a peace that involved an exchange of hostages and oaths, which the Danes swore on a "holy ring" associated with the worship of Thor. The Danes broke their word, and after killing all the hostages, slipped away under cover of night to Exeter in Devon. + +Alfred blockaded the Viking ships in Devon, and with a relief fleet having been scattered by a storm, the Danes were forced to submit. The Danes withdrew to Mercia. In January 878, the Danes made a sudden attack on Chippenham, a royal stronghold in which Alfred had been staying over Christmas "and most of the people they killed, except the King Alfred, and he with a little band made his way by wood and swamp, and after Easter he made a fort at Athelney in the marshes of Somerset, and from that fort kept fighting against the foe". From his fort at Athelney, an island in the marshes near North Petherton, Alfred was able to mount a resistance campaign, rallying the local militias from Somerset, Wiltshire and Hampshire. 878 was the nadir of the history of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. With all the other kingdoms having fallen to the Vikings, Wessex alone was resisting. + +The cake legend +A legend tells how when Alfred first fled to the Somerset Levels, he was given shelter by a peasant woman who, unaware of his identity, left him to watch some wheaten cakes she had left cooking on the fire. Preoccupied with the problems of his kingdom, Alfred accidentally let the cakes burn and was roundly scolded by the woman upon her return. There is no contemporary evidence for the legend, but it is possible that there was an early oral tradition. The first known written account of the incident is from about 100 years after Alfred's death. + +Counter-attack and victory + +In the seventh week after Easter (4–10 May 878), around Whitsuntide, Alfred rode to Egbert's Stone east of Selwood where he was met by "all the people of Somerset and of Wiltshire and of that part of Hampshire which is on this side of the sea (that is, west of Southampton Water), and they rejoiced to see him". Alfred's emergence from his marshland stronghold was part of a carefully planned offensive that entailed raising the fyrds of three shires. This meant not only that the king had retained the loyalty of ealdormen, royal reeves and king's thegns, who were charged with levying and leading these forces, but that they had maintained their positions of authority in these localities well enough to answer his summons to war. Alfred's actions also suggest a system of scouts and messengers. + +Alfred won a decisive victory in the ensuing Battle of Edington which may have been fought near Westbury, Wiltshire. He then pursued the Danes to their stronghold at Chippenham and starved them into submission. One of the terms of the surrender was that Guthrum convert to Christianity. Three weeks later, the Danish king and 29 of his chief men were baptised at Alfred's court at Aller, near Athelney, with Alfred receiving Guthrum as his spiritual son. + +According to Asser, + +At Wedmore, Alfred and Guthrum negotiated what some historians have called the Treaty of Wedmore, but it was to be some years after the cessation of hostilities that a formal treaty was signed. Under the terms of the so-called Treaty of Wedmore, the converted Guthrum was required to leave Wessex and return to East Anglia. Consequently, in 879 the Viking army left Chippenham and made its way to Cirencester. The formal Treaty of Alfred and Guthrum, preserved in Old English in Corpus Christi College, Cambridge (Manuscript 383), and in a Latin compilation known as Quadripartitus, was negotiated later, perhaps in 879 or 880, when King Ceolwulf II of Mercia was deposed. + +That treaty divided up the kingdom of Mercia. By its terms, the boundary between Alfred's and Guthrum's kingdoms was to run up the River Thames to the River Lea, follow the Lea to its source (near Luton), from there extend in a straight line to Bedford, and from Bedford follow the River Ouse to Watling Street. + +Alfred succeeded to Ceolwulf's kingdom consisting of western Mercia, and Guthrum incorporated the eastern part of Mercia into an enlarged Kingdom of East Anglia (henceforward known as the Danelaw). By terms of the treaty, moreover, Alfred was to have control over the Mercian city of London and its mints—at least for the time being. In 825, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle had recorded that the people of Essex, Sussex, Kent and Surrey surrendered to Egbert, Alfred's grandfather. From then until the arrival of the Great Heathen Army, Essex had formed part of Wessex. After the foundation of Danelaw, it appears that some of Essex would have been ceded to the Danes, but how much is not clear. + +880s + +With the signing of the Treaty of Alfred and Guthrum, an event most commonly held to have taken place around 880 when Guthrum's people began settling East Anglia, Guthrum was neutralised as a threat. The Viking army, which had stayed at Fulham during the winter of 878–879, sailed for Ghent and was active on the continent from 879 to 892. + +There were local raids on the coast of Wessex throughout the 880s. In 882, Alfred fought a small sea battle against four Danish ships. Two of the ships were destroyed, and the others surrendered. This was one of four sea battles recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, three of which involved Alfred. Similar small skirmishes with independent Viking raiders would have occurred for much of the period as they had for decades. + +In 883, Pope Marinus exempted the Saxon quarter in Rome from taxation, probably in return for Alfred's promise to send alms annually to Rome, which may be the origin of the medieval tax called Peter's Pence. The pope sent gifts to Alfred, including what was reputed to be a piece of the True Cross. + +After the signing of the treaty with Guthrum, Alfred was spared any large-scale conflicts for some time. Despite this relative peace, the king was forced to deal with a number of Danish raids and incursions. Among these was a raid in Kent, an allied kingdom in South East England, during the year 885, which was possibly the largest raid since the battles with Guthrum. Asser's account of the raid places the Danish raiders at the Saxon city of Rochester, where they built a temporary fortress in order to besiege the city. In response to this incursion, Alfred led an Anglo-Saxon force against the Danes who, instead of engaging the army of Wessex, fled to their beached ships and sailed to another part of Britain. The retreating Danish force supposedly left Britain the following summer. + +Not long after the failed Danish raid in Kent, Alfred dispatched his fleet to East Anglia. The purpose of this expedition is debated, but Asser claims that it was for the sake of plunder. After travelling up the River Stour, the fleet was met by Danish vessels that numbered 13 or 16 (sources vary on the number), and a battle ensued. The Anglo-Saxon fleet emerged victorious, and as Henry of Huntingdon writes, "laden with spoils". The victorious fleet was surprised when attempting to leave the River Stour and was attacked by a Danish force at the mouth of the river. The Danish fleet defeated Alfred's fleet, which may have been weakened in the previous engagement. + +King of the Anglo-Saxons + +A year later, in 886, Alfred reoccupied the city of London and set out to make it habitable again. Alfred entrusted the city to the care of his son-in-law Æthelred, ealdorman of Mercia. Soon afterwards, Alfred restyled himself as "King of the Anglo-Saxons". The restoration of London progressed through the latter half of the 880s and is believed to have revolved around a new street plan; added fortifications in addition to the existing Roman walls; and, some believe, the construction of matching fortifications on the south bank of the River Thames. + +This is also the period in which almost all chroniclers agree that the Saxon people of pre-unification England submitted to Alfred. In 888, Æthelred, the archbishop of Canterbury, also died. One year later Guthrum, or Athelstan by his baptismal name, Alfred's former enemy and king of East Anglia, died and was buried in Hadleigh, Suffolk. Guthrum's death changed the political landscape for Alfred. The resulting power vacuum stirred other power-hungry warlords eager to take his place in the following years. + +Viking attacks (890s) +After another lull, in the autumn of 892 or 893, the Danes attacked again. Finding their position in mainland Europe precarious, they crossed to England in 330 ships in two divisions. They entrenched themselves, the larger body at Appledore, Kent, and the lesser under Hastein, at Milton, also in Kent. The invaders brought their wives and children with them, indicating a meaningful attempt at conquest and colonisation. Alfred, in 893 or 894, took up a position from which he could observe both forces. + +While he was in talks with Hastein, the Danes at Appledore broke out and struck north-westwards. They were overtaken by Alfred's eldest son Edward, and were defeated at the Battle of Farnham in Surrey. They took refuge on an island at Thorney, on the River Colne between Buckinghamshire and Middlesex, where they were blockaded and forced to give hostages and promise to leave Wessex. They then went to Essex and after suffering another defeat at Benfleet, joined with Hastein's force at Shoebury. + +Alfred had been on his way to relieve his son at Thorney when he heard that the Northumbrian and East Anglian Danes were besieging Exeter and an unnamed stronghold on the North Devon shore. Alfred at once hurried westward and raised the Siege of Exeter. The fate of the other place is not recorded. + +The force under Hastein set out to march up the Thames Valley, possibly with the idea of assisting their friends in the west. They were met by a large force under the three great ealdormen of Mercia, Wiltshire and Somerset and forced to head off to the north-west, being finally overtaken and blockaded at Buttington. (Some identify this with Buttington Tump at the mouth of the River Wye, others with Buttington near Welshpool.) An attempt to break through the English lines failed. Those who escaped retreated to Shoebury. After collecting reinforcements, they made a sudden dash across England and occupied the ruined Roman walls of Chester. The English did not attempt a winter blockade but contented themselves with destroying all the supplies in the district. + +Early in 894 or 895 lack of food obliged the Danes to retire once more to Essex. At the end of the year, the Danes drew their ships up the River Thames and the River Lea and fortified themselves north of London. A frontal attack on the Danish lines failed but later in the year, Alfred saw a means of obstructing the river to prevent the egress of the Danish ships. The Danes realised that they were outmanoeuvred, struck off north-westwards and wintered at Cwatbridge near Bridgnorth. The next year, 896 (or 897), they gave up the struggle. Some retired to Northumbria, some to East Anglia. Those who had no connections in England returned to the continent. + +Military reorganisation + +The Germanic tribes who invaded Britain in the fifth and sixth centuries relied upon the unarmoured infantry supplied by their tribal levy, or fyrd, and it was upon this system that the military power of the several kingdoms of early Anglo-Saxon England depended. The fyrd was a local militia in the Anglo-Saxon shire in which all freemen had to serve; those who refused military service were subject to fines or loss of their land. According to the law code of King Ine of Wessex, issued in , + +Wessex's history of failures preceding Alfred's success in 878 emphasised to him that the traditional system of battle he had inherited played to the Danes' advantage. While the Anglo-Saxons and the Danes attacked settlements for plunder, they employed different tactics. In their raids the Anglo-Saxons traditionally preferred to attack head-on by assembling their forces in a shield wall, advancing against their target and overcoming the oncoming wall marshalled against them in defence. The Danes preferred to choose easy targets, mapping cautious forays to avoid risking their plunder with high-stake attacks for more. Alfred determined their tactic was to launch small attacks from a secure base to which they could retreat should their raiders meet strong resistance. + +The bases were prepared in advance, often by capturing an estate and augmenting its defences with ditches, ramparts and palisades. Once inside the fortification, Alfred realised, the Danes enjoyed the advantage, better situated to outlast their opponents or crush them with a counter-attack because the provisions and stamina of the besieging forces waned. + +The means by which the Anglo-Saxons marshalled forces to defend against marauders also left them vulnerable to the Vikings. It was the responsibility of the shire fyrd to deal with local raids. The king could call up the national militia to defend the kingdom but in the case of the Viking raids, problems with communication and raising supplies meant that the national militia could not be mustered quickly enough. It was only after the raids had begun that a call went out to landowners to gather their men for battle. Large regions could be devastated before the fyrd could assemble and arrive. Although the landowners were obliged to the king to supply these men when called, during the attacks in 878 many of them abandoned their king and collaborated with Guthrum. + +With these lessons in mind Alfred capitalised on the relatively peaceful years following his victory at Edington with an ambitious restructuring of Saxon defences. On a trip to Rome Alfred had stayed with Charles the Bald, and it is possible that he may have studied how the Carolingian kings had dealt with Viking raiders. Learning from their experiences he was able to establish a system of taxation and defence for Wessex. There had been a system of fortifications in pre-Viking Mercia that may have been an influence. When the Viking raids resumed in 892 Alfred was better prepared to confront them with a standing, mobile field army, a network of garrisons and a small fleet of ships navigating the rivers and estuaries. + +Administration and taxation +Tenants in Anglo-Saxon England had a threefold obligation based on their landholding: the so-called "common burdens" of military service, fortress work, and bridge repair. This threefold obligation has traditionally been called trinoda necessitas or trimoda necessitas. The Old English name for the fine due for neglecting military service was . To maintain the burhs, and to reorganise the fyrd as a standing army, Alfred expanded the tax and conscription system based on the productivity of a tenant's landholding. The hide was the basic unit of the system on which the tenant's public obligations were assessed. A hide is thought to represent the amount of land required to support one family. The hide differed in size according to the value and resources of the land and the landowner would have to provide service based on how many hides he owned. + +Burghal system + +The foundation of Alfred's new military defence system was a network of burhs, distributed at tactical points throughout the kingdom. There were thirty-three burhs, about apart, enabling the military to confront attacks anywhere in the kingdom within a day. + +Alfred's burhs (of which 22 developed into boroughs) ranged from former Roman towns, such as Winchester, where the stone walls were repaired and ditches added, to massive earthen walls surrounded by wide ditches, probably reinforced with wooden revetments and palisades, such as at Burpham in West Sussex. The size of the burhs ranged from tiny outposts such as Pilton in Devon, to large fortifications in established towns, the largest being at Winchester. + +A document now known as the Burghal Hidage provides an insight into how the system worked. It lists the hidage for each of the fortified towns contained in the document. Wallingford had a hidage of 2,400, which meant that the landowners there were responsible for supplying and feeding 2,400 men, the number sufficient for maintaining of wall. A total of 27,071 soldiers were needed, approximately one in four of all the free men in Wessex. Many of the burhs were twin towns that straddled a river and were connected by a fortified bridge, like those built by Charles the Bald a generation before. The double-burh blocked passage on the river, forcing Viking ships to navigate under a garrisoned bridge lined with men armed with stones, spears or arrows. Other burhs were sited near fortified royal villas, allowing the king better control over his strongholds. + +The burhs were connected by a road system maintained for army use (known as herepaths). The roads allowed an army quickly to be assembled, sometimes from more than one burh, to confront the Viking invader. The road network posed significant obstacles to Viking invaders, especially those laden with booty. The system threatened Viking routes and communications making it far more dangerous for them. The Vikings lacked the equipment for a siege against a burh and a developed doctrine of siegecraft, having tailored their methods of fighting to rapid strikes and unimpeded retreats to well-defended fortifications. The only means left to them was to starve the burh into submission but this gave the king time to send his field army or garrisons from neighbouring burhs along the army roads. In such cases, the Vikings were extremely vulnerable to pursuit by the king's joint military forces. Alfred's burh system posed such a formidable challenge against Viking attack that when the Vikings returned in 892 and stormed a half-built, poorly garrisoned fortress up the Lympne estuary in Kent, the Anglo-Saxons were able to limit their penetration to the outer frontiers of Wessex and Mercia. Alfred's burghal system was revolutionary in its strategic conception and potentially expensive in its execution. His contemporary biographer Asser wrote that many nobles balked at the demands placed upon them even though they were for "the common needs of the kingdom". + +English navy +Alfred also tried his hand at naval design. In 896 he ordered the construction of a small fleet, perhaps a dozen or so longships that, at 60 oars, were twice the size of Viking warships. This was not, as the Victorians asserted, the birth of the English Navy. Wessex had possessed a royal fleet before this. Alfred's older brother sub-king Æthelstan of Kent and Ealdorman Ealhhere had defeated a Viking fleet in 851 capturing nine ships and Alfred had conducted naval actions in 882. The year 897 marked an important development in the naval power of Wessex. The author of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle related that Alfred's ships were larger, swifter, steadier and rode higher in the water than either Danish or Frisian ships. It is probable that, under the classical tutelage of Asser, Alfred used the design of Greek and Roman warships, with high sides, designed for fighting rather than for navigation. + +Alfred had seapower in mind; if he could intercept raiding fleets before they landed, he could spare his kingdom from being ravaged. Alfred's ships may have been superior in conception, but in practice they proved to be too large to manoeuvre well in the close waters of estuaries and rivers, the only places in which a naval battle could be fought. The warships of the time were not designed to be ship killers but rather troop carriers. It has been suggested that, like sea battles in late Viking age Scandinavia, these battles may have entailed a ship coming alongside an opposing vessel, lashing the two ships together and then boarding the craft. The result was a land battle involving hand-to-hand fighting on board the two lashed vessels. + +In the one recorded naval engagement in 896, Alfred's new fleet of nine ships intercepted six Viking ships at the mouth of an unidentified river in the south of England. The Danes had beached half their ships and gone inland. Alfred's ships immediately moved to block their escape. The three Viking ships afloat attempted to break through the English lines. Only one made it; Alfred's ships intercepted the other two. Lashing the Viking boats to their own, the English crew boarded and proceeded to kill the Vikings. One ship escaped because Alfred's heavy ships became grounded when the tide went out. A land battle ensued between the crews. The Danes were heavily outnumbered, but as the tide rose, they returned to their boats which, with shallower drafts, were freed first. The English watched as the Vikings rowed past them but they suffered so many casualties (120 dead against 62 Frisians and English) that they had difficulty putting out to sea. All were too damaged to row around Sussex, and two were driven against the Sussex coast (possibly at Selsey Bill). The shipwrecked crew were brought before Alfred at Winchester and hanged. + +Legal reform + +In the late 880s or early 890s, Alfred issued a long domboc or law code consisting of his own laws, followed by a code issued by his late seventh-century predecessor King Ine of Wessex. Together these laws are arranged into 120 chapters. In his introduction Alfred explains that he gathered together the laws he found in many "synod-books" and "ordered to be written many of the ones that our forefathers observed—those that pleased me; and many of the ones that did not please me, I rejected with the advice of my councillors, and commanded them to be observed in a different way". + +Alfred singled out in particular the laws that he "found in the days of Ine, my kinsman, or Offa, king of the Mercians, or King Æthelberht of Kent who first among the English people received baptism". He appended, rather than integrated, the laws of Ine into his code and although he included, as had Æthelbert, a scale of payments in compensation for injuries to various body parts, the two injury tariffs are not aligned. Offa is not known to have issued a law code, leading historian Patrick Wormald to speculate that Alfred had in mind the legatine capitulary of 786 that was presented to Offa by the papal legate George of Ostia. + +About a fifth of the law code is taken up by Alfred's introduction which includes translations into English of the Ten Commandments, a few chapters from the Book of Exodus, and the Apostolic Letter from the Acts of the Apostles (15:23–29). The introduction may best be understood as Alfred's meditation upon the meaning of Christian law. It traces the continuity between God's gift of law to Moses to Alfred's own issuance of law to the West Saxon people. By doing so, it linked the holy past to the historical present and represented Alfred's law-giving as a type of divine legislation. + +Similarly Alfred divided his code into 120 chapters because 120 was the age at which Moses died and, in the number-symbolism of early medieval biblical exegetes, 120 stood for law. The link between Mosaic law and Alfred's code is the Apostolic Letter which explained that Christ "had come not to shatter or annul the commandments but to fulfill them; and he taught mercy and meekness" (Intro, 49.1). The mercy that Christ infused into Mosaic law underlies the injury tariffs that figure so prominently in barbarian law codes since Christian synods "established, through that mercy which Christ taught, that for almost every misdeed at the first offence secular lords might with their permission receive without sin the monetary compensation which they then fixed". + +The only crime that could not be compensated with a payment of money was treachery to a lord "since Almighty God adjudged none for those who despised Him, nor did Christ, the Son of God, adjudge any for the one who betrayed Him to death; and He commanded everyone to love his lord as Himself". Alfred's transformation of Christ's commandment, from "Love your neighbour as yourself" (Matt. 22:39–40) to love your secular lord as you would love the Lord Christ himself, underscores the importance that Alfred placed upon lordship which he understood as a sacred bond instituted by God for the governance of man. + +When one turns from the domboc introduction to the laws themselves, it is difficult to uncover any logical arrangement. The impression is of a hodgepodge of miscellaneous laws. The law code, as it has been preserved, is singularly unsuitable for use in lawsuits. In fact, several of Alfred's laws contradicted the laws of Ine that form an integral part of the code. Patrick Wormald's explanation is that Alfred's law code should be understood not as a legal manual but as an ideological manifesto of kingship "designed more for symbolic impact than for practical direction". In practical terms the most important law in the code may well have been the first: "We enjoin, what is most necessary, that each man keep carefully his oath and his pledge" which expresses a fundamental tenet of Anglo-Saxon law. + +Alfred devoted considerable attention and thought to judicial matters. Asser underscores his concern for judicial fairness. Alfred, according to Asser, insisted upon reviewing contested judgments made by his ealdormen and reeves and "would carefully look into nearly all the judgements which were passed [issued] in his absence anywhere in the realm to see whether they were just or unjust". A charter from the reign of his son Edward the Elder depicts Alfred as hearing one such appeal in his chamber while washing his hands. + +Asser represents Alfred as a Solomonic judge, painstaking in his own judicial investigations and critical of royal officials who rendered unjust or unwise judgments. Although Asser never mentions Alfred's law code he does say that Alfred insisted that his judges be literate so that they could apply themselves "to the pursuit of wisdom". The failure to comply with this royal order was to be punished by loss of office. + +The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, commissioned at the time of Alfred, was probably written to promote unification of England, whereas Asser's The Life of King Alfred promoted Alfred's achievements and personal qualities. It was possible that the document was designed this way so that it could be disseminated in Wales because Alfred had acquired overlordship of that country. + +Foreign relations +Asser speaks grandiosely of Alfred's relations with foreign powers but little definite information is available. His interest in foreign countries is shown by the insertions which he made in his translation of Orosius. He corresponded with Elias III, the patriarch of Jerusalem, and embassies to Rome conveying the English alms to the pope were fairly frequent. Around 890, Wulfstan of Hedeby undertook a journey from Hedeby on Jutland along the Baltic Sea to the Prussian trading town of Truso. Alfred personally collected details of this trip. + +Alfred's relations with the Celtic princes in the western half of Great Britain are clearer. Comparatively early in his reign, according to Asser, the southern Welsh princes, owing to the pressure on them from North Wales and Mercia, commended themselves to Alfred. Later in his reign, the North Welsh followed their example and the latter cooperated with the English in the campaign of 893 (or 894). That Alfred sent alms to Irish and Continental monasteries may be taken on Asser's authority. The visit of three pilgrim "Scots" (i.e., Irish) to Alfred in 891 is undoubtedly authentic. The story that, in his childhood, he was sent to Ireland to be healed by Saint Modwenna may show Alfred's interest in that island. + +Religion, education and culture + +In the 880s, at the same time that he was "cajoling and threatening" his nobles to build and man the burhs, Alfred, perhaps inspired by the example of Charlemagne almost a century before, undertook an equally ambitious effort to revive learning. During this period, the Viking raids were often seen as a divine punishment, and Alfred may have wished to revive religious awe in order to appease God's wrath. + +This revival entailed the recruitment of clerical scholars from Mercia, Wales and abroad to enhance the tenor of the court and of the episcopacy; the establishment of a court school to educate his own children, the sons of his nobles, and intellectually promising boys of lesser birth; an attempt to require literacy in those who held offices of authority; a series of translations into the vernacular of Latin works the king deemed "most necessary for all men to know"; the compilation of a chronicle detailing the rise of Alfred's kingdom and house, with a genealogy that stretched back to Adam, thus giving the West Saxon kings a biblical ancestry. + +Very little is known of the church under Alfred. The Danish attacks had been particularly damaging to the monasteries. Although Alfred founded monasteries at Athelney and Shaftesbury, these were the first new monastic houses in Wessex since the beginning of the eighth century. According to Asser, Alfred enticed foreign monks to England for his monastery at Athelney because there was little interest for the locals to take up the monastic life. + +Alfred undertook no systematic reform of ecclesiastical institutions or religious practices in Wessex. For him, the key to the kingdom's spiritual revival was to appoint pious, learned, and trustworthy bishops and abbots. As king, he saw himself as responsible for both the temporal and spiritual welfare of his subjects. Secular and spiritual authority were not distinct categories for Alfred. + +He was equally comfortable distributing his translation of Gregory the Great's Pastoral Care to his bishops so that they might better train and supervise priests and using those same bishops as royal officials and judges. Nor did his piety prevent him from expropriating strategically sited church lands, especially estates along the border with the Danelaw, and transferring them to royal thegns and officials who could better defend them against Viking attacks. + +Effect of Danish raids on education +The Danish raids had a devastating effect on learning in England. Alfred lamented in the preface to his translation of Gregory's Pastoral Care that "learning had declined so thoroughly in England that there were very few men on this side of the Humber who could understand their divine services in English or even translate a single letter from Latin into English: and I suppose that there were not many beyond the Humber either". Alfred undoubtedly exaggerated, for dramatic effect, the abysmal state of learning in England during his youth. That Latin learning had not been obliterated is evidenced by the presence in his court of learned Mercian and West Saxon clerics such as Plegmund, Wæferth, and Wulfsige. + +Manuscript production in England dropped off precipitously around the 860s when the Viking invasions began in earnest, not to be revived until the end of the century. Numerous Anglo-Saxon manuscripts burnt along with the churches that housed them. A solemn diploma from Christ Church, Canterbury, dated 873, is so poorly constructed and written that historian Nicholas Brooks posited a scribe who was either so blind he could not read what he wrote or who knew little or no Latin. "It is clear", Brooks concludes, "that the metropolitan church [of Canterbury] must have been quite unable to provide any effective training in the scriptures or in Christian worship". + +Establishment of a court school +Alfred established a court school for the education of his own children, those of the nobility, and "a good many of lesser birth". There they studied books in both English and Latin and "devoted themselves to writing, to such an extent… they were seen to be devoted and intelligent students of the liberal arts". He recruited scholars from the Continent and from Britain to aid in the revival of Christian learning in Wessex and to provide the king personal instruction. Grimbald and John the Saxon came from Francia; Plegmund (whom Alfred appointed archbishop of Canterbury in 890), Bishop Wærferth of Worcester, Æthelstan, and the royal chaplains Werwulf, from Mercia; and Asser, from St David's in southwestern Wales. + +Advocacy of education in English + +Alfred's educational ambitions seem to have extended beyond the establishment of a court school. Believing that without Christian wisdom there can be neither prosperity nor success in war, Alfred aimed "to set to learning (as long as they are not useful for some other employment) all the free-born young men now in England who have the means to apply themselves to it". Conscious of the decay of Latin literacy in his realm, Alfred proposed that primary education be taught in English, with those wishing to advance to holy orders to continue their studies in Latin. + +There were few "books of wisdom" written in English. Alfred sought to remedy this through an ambitious court-centred programme of translating into English the books he deemed "most necessary for all men to know". It is unknown when Alfred launched this programme, but it may have been during the 880s when Wessex was enjoying a respite from Viking attacks. Alfred was, until recently, often considered to have been the author of many of the translations, but this is now considered doubtful in almost all cases. Scholars more often refer to translations as "Alfredian", indicating that they probably had something to do with his patronage, but are unlikely to be his own work. + +Apart from the lost Handboc or Encheiridio, which seems to have been a commonplace book kept by the king, the earliest work to be translated was the Dialogues of Gregory the Great, a book greatly popular in the Middle Ages. The translation was undertaken at Alfred's command by Wærferth, Bishop of Worcester, with the king merely furnishing a preface. Remarkably, Alfred – undoubtedly with the advice and aid of his court scholars – translated four works himself: Gregory the Great's Pastoral Care, Boethius's Consolation of Philosophy, St. Augustine's Soliloquies and the first fifty psalms of the Psalter. + +One might add to this list the translation, in Alfred's law code, of excerpts from the Vulgate Book of Exodus. The Old English versions of Orosius's Histories against the Pagans and Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People are no longer accepted by scholars as Alfred's own translations because of lexical and stylistic differences. Nonetheless, the consensus remains that they were part of the Alfredian programme of translation. Simon Keynes and Michael Lapidge suggest this also for Bald's Leechbook and the anonymous Old English Martyrology. + +The preface of Alfred's translation of Pope Gregory the Great's Pastoral Care explained why he thought it necessary to translate works such as this from Latin into English. Although he described his method as translating "sometimes word for word, sometimes sense for sense", the translation keeps very close to the original although, through his choice of language, he blurred throughout the distinction between spiritual and secular authority. Alfred meant the translation to be used, and circulated it to all his bishops. Interest in Alfred's translation of Pastoral Care was so enduring that copies were still being made in the 11th century. + +Boethius's Consolation of Philosophy was the most popular philosophical handbook of the Middle Ages. Unlike the translation of the Pastoral Care, the Alfredian text deals very freely with the original and, though the late Dr. G. Schepss showed that many of the additions to the text are to be traced not to the translator himself but to the glosses and commentaries which he used, still there is much in the work which is distinctive to the translation and has been taken to reflect philosophies of kingship in Alfred's milieu. It is in the Boethius that the oft-quoted sentence occurs: "To speak briefly: I desired to live worthily as long as I lived, and after my life to leave to them that should come after, my memory in good works." The book has come down to us in two manuscripts only. In one of these the writing is prose, in the other a combination of prose and alliterating verse. The latter manuscript was severely damaged in the 18th and 19th centuries. + +The last of the Alfredian works is one which bears the name Blostman ('Blooms') or Anthology. The first half is based mainly on the Soliloquies of St Augustine of Hippo, the remainder is drawn from various sources. The material has traditionally been thought to contain much that is Alfred's own and highly characteristic of him. The last words of it may be quoted; they form a fitting epitaph for the noblest of English kings. "Therefore, he seems to me a very foolish man, and truly wretched, who will not increase his understanding while he is in the world, and ever wish and long to reach that endless life where all shall be made clear." Alfred appears as a character in the twelfth- or 13th-century poem The Owl and the Nightingale where his wisdom and skill with proverbs is praised. The Proverbs of Alfred, a 13th-century work, contains sayings that are not likely to have originated with Alfred but attest to his posthumous medieval reputation for wisdom. + +The Alfred jewel, discovered in Somerset in 1693, has long been associated with King Alfred because of its Old English inscription AELFRED MEC HEHT GEWYRCAN ('Alfred ordered me to be made'). The jewel is about long, made of filigreed gold, enclosing a highly polished piece of quartz crystal beneath which is set in a cloisonné enamel plaque with an enamelled image of a man holding floriate sceptres, perhaps personifying Sight or the Wisdom of God. + +It was at one time attached to a thin rod or stick based on the hollow socket at its base. The jewel certainly dates from Alfred's reign. Although its function is unknown, it has been often suggested that the jewel was one of the æstels – pointers for reading – that Alfred ordered sent to every bishopric accompanying a copy of his translation of the Pastoral Care. Each æstel was worth the princely sum of 50 mancuses which fits in well with the quality workmanship and expensive materials of the Alfred jewel. + +Historian Richard Abels sees Alfred's educational and military reforms as complementary. Restoring religion and learning in Wessex, Abels contends, was to Alfred's mind as essential to the defence of his realm as the building of the burhs. As Alfred observed in the preface to his English translation of Gregory the Great's Pastoral Care, kings who fail to obey their divine duty to promote learning can expect earthly punishments to befall their people. The pursuit of wisdom, he assured his readers of the Boethius, was the surest path to power: "Study wisdom, then, and, when you have learned it, condemn it not, for I tell you that by its means you may without fail attain to power, yea, even though not desiring it". + +The portrayal of the West-Saxon resistance to the Vikings by Asser and the chronicler as a Christian holy war was more than mere rhetoric or propaganda. It reflected Alfred's own belief in a doctrine of divine rewards and punishments rooted in a vision of a hierarchical Christian world order in which God is the Lord to whom kings owe obedience and through whom they derive their authority over their followers. The need to persuade his nobles to undertake work for the 'common good' led Alfred and his court scholars to strengthen and deepen the conception of Christian kingship that he had inherited by building upon the legacy of earlier kings including Offa, clerical writers including Bede, and Alcuin and various participants in the Carolingian renaissance. This was not a cynical use of religion to manipulate his subjects into obedience but an intrinsic element in Alfred's worldview. He believed, as did other kings in ninth-century England and Francia, that God had entrusted him with the spiritual as well as physical welfare of his people. If the Christian faith fell into ruin in his kingdom, if the clergy were too ignorant to understand the Latin words they butchered in their offices and liturgies, if the ancient monasteries and collegiate churches lay deserted out of indifference, he was answerable before God, as Josiah had been. Alfred's ultimate responsibility was the pastoral care of his people. + +Appearance and character + +Asser wrote of Alfred in his Life of King Alfred, + +It is also written by Asser that Alfred did not learn to read until he was 12 years old or later, which is described as "shameful negligence" of his parents and tutors. Alfred was an excellent listener and had an incredible memory and he retained poetry and psalms very well. A story is told by Asser about how his mother held up a book of Saxon poetry to him and his brothers, and said; "I shall give this book to whichever one of you can learn it the fastest." After excitedly asking, "Will you really give this book to the one of us who can understand it the soonest and recite it to you?" Alfred then took it to his teacher, learned it, and recited it back to his mother. + +Alfred is noted as carrying around a small book, probably a medieval version of a small pocket notebook, that contained psalms and many prayers that he often collected. Asser writes: these "he collected in a single book, as I have seen for myself; amid all the affairs of the present life he took it around with him everywhere for the sake of prayer, and was inseparable from it." An excellent hunter in every branch of the sport, Alfred is remembered as an enthusiastic huntsman against whom nobody's skills could compare. + +He was the youngest of his brothers, and he was probably the most open-minded. He was an early advocate for education. His desire for learning could have come from his early love of English poetry and inability to read or physically record it until later in life. Asser writes that Alfred "could not satisfy his craving for what he desired the most, namely the liberal arts; for, as he used to say, there were no good scholars in the entire kingdom of the West Saxons at that time". + +Family + +In 868, Alfred married Ealhswith, daughter of a Mercian nobleman, Æthelred Mucel, Ealdorman of the Gaini. The Gaini were probably one of the tribal groups of the Mercians. Ealhswith's mother, Eadburh, was a member of the Mercian royal family. + +They had five or six children together, including Edward the Elder who succeeded his father as king; Æthelflæd who became lady of the Mercians; and Ælfthryth who married Baldwin II, Count of Flanders. Alfred's mother was Osburga, daughter of Oslac of the Isle of Wight, Chief Butler of England. Asser, in his Vita Ælfredi asserts that this shows his lineage from the Jutes of the Isle of Wight. + +Osferth was described as a relative in King Alfred's will and he attested charters in a high position until 934. A charter of King Edward's reign described him as the king's brother – mistakenly according to Keynes and Lapidge, but in the view of Janet Nelson, he probably was an illegitimate son of King Alfred. + +Death and burial + +Alfred died on 26 October 899 at the age of 50 or 51. How he died is unknown, but he suffered throughout his life with a painful and unpleasant illness. His biographer Asser gave a detailed description of Alfred's symptoms, and this has allowed modern doctors to provide a possible diagnosis. It is thought that he had either Crohn's disease or haemorrhoids. His grandson King Eadred seems to have had a similar illness. + +Alfred was temporarily buried at the Old Minster in Winchester with his wife Ealhswith and later, his son Edward the Elder. Before his death he had ordered the construction of the New Minster hoping that it would become a mausoleum for him and his family. Four years after his death, the bodies of Alfred and his family were exhumed and moved to their new resting place in the New Minster and remained there for 211 years. When William the Conqueror rose to the English throne after the Norman conquest in 1066, many Anglo-Saxon abbeys were demolished and replaced with Norman cathedrals. One of those unfortunate abbeys was the very New Minster abbey where Alfred was laid to rest. Before demolition, the monks at the New Minster exhumed the bodies of Alfred and his family to safely transfer them to a new location. The New Minster monks moved to Hyde in 1110 a little north of the city, and they transferred to Hyde Abbey along with Alfred's body and those of his wife and children, which were interred before the high altar. + +In 1536, many Roman Catholic churches were vandalized by the people of England spurred by disillusionment with the church during the Dissolution of the Monasteries. One such Catholic church was the site of Alfred's burial, Hyde Abbey. Once again, Alfred's place of rest was disturbed for the now 3rd time. Hyde Abbey was dissolved in 1538 during the reign of Henry VIII, the church site was demolished and treated like a quarry, as the stones that made up the abbey were then re-used in local architecture. The stone graves housing Alfred and his family stayed underground, and the land returned to farming. These graves remained intact until 1788 when the site was acquired by the county for the construction of a town jail. + +Before construction began, convicts that would later be imprisoned at the site were sent in to prepare the ground, to ready it for building. While digging the foundation trenches, the convicts discovered the coffins of Alfred and his family. The local Catholic priest, Dr. Milner recounts this event:The convicts broke the stone coffins into pieces, the lead, which lined the coffins, was sold for two guineas, and the bones within scattered around the area. + +The prison was demolished between 1846 and 1850. Further excavations were inconclusive in 1866 and 1897. In 1866, amateur antiquarian John Mellor claimed to have recovered a number of bones from the site which he said were those of Alfred. These came into the possession of the vicar of nearby St Bartholomew's Church who reburied them in an unmarked grave in the church graveyard. + +Excavations conducted by the Winchester Museums Service of the Hyde Abbey site in 1999 located a second pit dug in front of where the high altar would have been located, which was identified as probably dating to Mellor's 1866 excavation. The 1999 archeological excavation uncovered the foundations of the abbey buildings and some bones, suggested at the time to be those of Alfred; they proved instead to belong to an elderly woman. In March 2013, the Diocese of Winchester exhumed the bones from the unmarked grave at St Bartholomew's and placed them in secure storage. The diocese made no claim that they were the bones of Alfred, but intended to secure them for later analysis, and from the attentions of people whose interest may have been sparked by the recent identification of the remains of Richard III. The bones were radiocarbon-dated but the results showed that they were from the 1300s and therefore not of Alfred. In January 2014, a fragment of pelvis that had been unearthed in the 1999 excavation of the Hyde site, and had subsequently lain in a Winchester museum store room, was radiocarbon-dated to the correct period. It has been suggested that this bone may belong to either Alfred or his son Edward, but this remains unproven. + +Legacy + +Henry VI of England attempted unsuccessfully to have Alfred canonized by Pope Eugene IV in 1441. The current "Roman Martyrology" does not mention Alfred. The Anglican Communion venerates him as a Christian hero, with a Lesser Festival on 26 October, and he may often be found depicted in stained glass in Church of England parish churches. + +In 2007 the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church canonised "All Saints of the British Isles" including King Alfred. He is honoured during the Feast of all Saints of the British Isles on the third Sunday after Pentecost and on his feast day of 26 October. There is an Orthodox Mission named after St Alfred in Middleburg, Florida. + +Alfred commissioned Bishop Asser to write his biography, which inevitably emphasised Alfred's positive aspects. Later medieval historians such as Geoffrey of Monmouth also reinforced Alfred's favourable image. By the time of the Reformation, Alfred was seen as a pious Christian ruler who promoted the use of English rather than Latin, and so the translations that he commissioned were viewed as untainted by the later Roman Catholic influences of the Normans. Consequently, it was writers of the 16th century who gave Alfred his epithet as "the Great", not any of Alfred's contemporaries. The epithet was retained by succeeding generations who admired Alfred's patriotism, success against barbarism, promotion of education, and establishment of the rule of law. + +A number of educational establishments are named in Alfred's honour: + The University of Winchester created from the former King Alfred's College, Winchester (1928 to 2004) + Alfred University and Alfred State College in Alfred, New York; the local telephone exchange for Alfred University is 871 in commemoration of the year of Alfred's ascension to the throne. Additionally, the mascot of Alfred University is named Lil' Alf and is modeled after the king + The University of Liverpool created a King Alfred Chair of English Literature + King Alfred's Academy, a secondary school in Wantage, Oxfordshire, the birthplace of Alfred + King's Lodge School in Chippenham, Wiltshire, so named because King Alfred's hunting lodge is reputed to have stood on or near the site of the school + The King Alfred School and Specialist Sports Academy, Burnham Road, Highbridge, so named due to its rough proximity to Brent Knoll (a Beacon site) and Athelney + The King Alfred School in Barnet, North London, UK + King Alfred's house in Bishop Stopford's School at Enfield + King Alfred Swimming Pool & Leisure complex in Hove, Brighton UK + +The Royal Navy named one ship and two shore establishments HMS King Alfred, and one of the early ships of the U.S. Navy was named USS Alfred in his honour. In 2002, Alfred was ranked number 14 in the BBC's list of the 100 Greatest Britons following a UK-wide vote. + +Statues + +Pewsey + +A prominent statue of King Alfred the Great stands in the middle of Pewsey. It was unveiled in June 1913 to commemorate the coronation of King George V. + +Southwark +A statue of Alfred the Great located in Trinity Church Square, Southwark is considered to be the oldest outdoor statue in London, and part of it has been found to date to Roman times. The sculpture was thought to be medieval until 2021 conservation work. The lower half was then discovered to be Bath Stone and part of a colossal ancient sculpture dedicated to the goddess Minerva. It is typical of the 2nd Century, dating to around the reign of Hadrian. The lower older half is likely to have been carved by a continental craftsman used to working with British stone. The upper half dates to the late 18th or early 19th century, cast to fit the lower portion from Coade stone. + +Wantage + +A statue of Alfred the Great, situated in the Wantage market place, was sculpted by Count Gleichen, a relative of Queen Victoria, and unveiled on 14 July 1877 by the Prince and Princess of Wales. The statue was vandalised on New Year's Eve 2007, losing part of its right arm and axe. After the arm and axe were replaced, the statue was again vandalised on Christmas Eve 2008, losing its axe. + +Winchester +A bronze statue of Alfred the Great stands at the eastern end of The Broadway, close to the site of Winchester's medieval East Gate. The statue was designed by Hamo Thornycroft, cast in bronze by Singer & Sons of Frome and erected in 1899 to mark one thousand years since Alfred's death. The statue is placed on a pedestal consisting of two immense blocks of grey Cornish granite. + +Alfred University, New York + +The centerpiece of Alfred University's quad is a bronze statue of the king, created in 1990 by then-professor William Underhill. It features the king as a young man, holding a shield in his left hand and an open book in his right. + +Cleveland, Ohio +A marble statue of Alfred the Great stands on the North side of the Cuyahoga County Courthouse in Cleveland, Ohio. It was sculpted by Isidore Konti in 1910. + +Chronology + +Notes + +Citations + +Sources + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + — "Note: This electronic edition [of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle] is a collation of material from nine diverse extant versions of the Chronicle. It contains primarily the translation of Rev. James Ingram, as published in the [1847] Everyman edition". It was "Originally compiled on the orders of King Alfred the Great, approximately A.D. 890, and subsequently maintained and added to by generations of anonymous scribes until the middle of the 12th Century". + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +Attribution: + +Further reading + +External links + + Alfred the Great at the official website of the British monarchy + Alfred the Great at BBC History + + + + +840s births +899 deaths +Year of birth uncertain +9th-century Christians +9th-century English monarchs +9th-century translators +Boat and ship designers +English Christians +House of Wessex +Medieval legislators +Monarchs of England before 1066 +Patrons of literature +People from Wantage +Translators from Latin +Translators of philosophy +West Saxon monarchs +Alessandro Algardi (July 31, 1598 – June 10, 1654) was an Italian high-Baroque sculptor active almost exclusively in Rome. In the latter decades of his life, he was, along with Francesco Borromini and Pietro da Cortona, one of the major rivals of Gian Lorenzo Bernini, in Rome. He is now most admired for his portrait busts that have great vivacity and dignity. + +Early years +Algardi was born in Bologna, where at a young age, he was apprenticed in the studio of Agostino Carracci. However, his aptitude for sculpture led him to work for Giulio Cesare Conventi (1577–1640), an artist of modest talents. His two earliest known works date back to this period: two statues of saints, made of chalk, in the Oratory of Santa Maria della Vita in Bologna. By the age of twenty, Ferdinando I, Duke of Mantua, began commissioning works from him, and he was also employed by local jewelers for figurative designs. After a short residence in Venice, he went to Rome in 1625 with an introduction from the Duke of Mantua to the late pope's nephew, Cardinal Ludovico Ludovisi, who employed him for a time in the restoration of ancient statues. + +Tomb of Pope Leo XI +Propelled by the Borghese and Barberini patronage, Gian Lorenzo Bernini and his studio garnered most of the major Roman sculptural commissions. For nearly a decade, Algardi struggled for recognition. In Rome he was aided by friends that included Pietro da Cortona and his fellow Bolognese, Domenichino. His early Roman commissions included terracotta and some marble portrait busts, while he supported himself with small works like crucifixes. In the 1630s he worked on the tombs of the Mellini family in the Mellini Chapel in Santa Maria del Popolo. + +Algardi's first major commission came about in 1634, when Cardinal Ubaldini (Medici) contracted for a funeral monument for his great-uncle, Pope Leo XI, the third of the Medici popes, who had reigned for less than a month in 1605. The monument was started in 1640, and mostly completed by 1644. The arrangement mirrors the one designed by Bernini for the Tomb of Urban VIII (1628–47), with a central hieratic sculpture of the pope seated in full regalia and offering a hand of blessing, while at his feet, two allegorical female figures flank his sarcophagus. However, in Bernini's tomb, the vigorous upraised arm and posture of the pope is counterbalanced by an active drama below, wherein the figures of Charity and Justice are either distracted by putti or lost in contemplation, while skeletal Death actively writes the epitaph. Algardi's tomb is much less dynamic. The allegorical figures of Magnanimity and Liberality have an impassive, ethereal dignity. Some have identified the helmeted figure of Magnanimity with that of Athena and iconic images of Wisdom. Liberality resembles Duquesnoy's famous Santa Susanna, but rendered more elegant. The tomb is somberly monotone and lacks the polychromatic excitement that detracts from the elegiac mood of Urban VIII's tomb. + +In 1635–38, Pietro Boncompagni commissioned from Algardi a colossal statue of Philip Neri with kneeling angels for Santa Maria in Vallicella, completed in 1640. Immediately after this, Algardi produced a sculptural group of the beheading of Saint Paul with two figures: a kneeling, resigned saint and the executioner poised to strike the sword-blow, for the church of San Paolo, Bologna. These works established his reputation, alongside two reliefs of The Martyrdom of St Paul and The Rest on the Flight into Egypt (a contemporary replica of the latter is now in the Victoria and Albert Museum). Like Bernini's characteristic works, they often express the Baroque aesthetic of depicting dramatic attitudes and emotional expressions, yet Algardi's sculpture has a restraining sobriety in contrast to those of his rival. + +Papal favour under Innocent X and Spanish commissions + +With the death of the Barberini Pope Urban VIII in 1644 and the accession of the Pamphilj Pope Innocent X, the Barberini family and fell into disrepute, resulting in fewer commissions for Bernini. Algardi, on the other hand, was embraced by the new pope and the pope's nephew, Camillo Pamphilj. Algardi's portraits were highly prized, and their formal severity contrasts with Bernini's more vivacious expression. A large hieratic bronze of Innocent X by Algardi is now to be found in the Capitoline Museums. + +Algardi was not renowned for his architectural abilities. Although he was in charge of the project for the papal villa, the Villa Pamphili, now Villa Doria Pamphili, outside the Porta San Pancrazio in Rome, he may have had professional guidance on the design of the casino from the architect/engineer Girolamo Rainaldi and help with supervising its construction from his assistant Giovanni Francesco Grimaldi. The casino was a showcase for the Pamphili collection of sculpture, ancient and contemporary, on which Algardi was well able to advise. In the villa grounds, Algardi and his studio executed sculpture-encrusted fountains and other garden features, where some of his free-standing sculpture and bas-reliefs remain. + +In 1650 Algardi met Diego Velázquez, who obtained commissions for his work from Spain. As a consequence there are four chimney-pieces by Algardi in the Royal Palace of Aranjuez, and in the gardens, the figures on the fountain of Neptune are also by him. The Augustinian monastery at Salamanca contains the tomb of the Count and Countess de Monterey, another work by Algardi. + +Fuga d'Attila relief + +Algardi's large, dramatic, high-relief marble panel of Pope Leo and Attila, created from 1646 to 1653, is commonly referred to as Fuga d'Attila or Flight of Attila. It was created for St Peter's Basilica, and it reinvigorated the use of such marble reliefs. There had been large marble reliefs used previously in Roman churches, but for most patrons, sculpted marble altarpieces were far too costly. In this relief, the two principal figures, the stern and courageous pope and the dismayed and frightened Attila, surge forward from the center into three dimensions. Only they two see the descending angelic warriors rallying to the pope's defense, while all others in the background reliefs, persist in performing their respective earthly duties. + +The subject was apt for a papal state seeking to increase its power, since it depicts the historical legend wherein Saint Leo the Great, the first pope to receive the epithet, with supernatural aid, deterred the Huns from looting Rome. From a baroque standpoint, the incident is common theme: a moment of divine intervention in the affairs of man. Algardi's patron's message through the relief would be that all viewers should be sternly reminded of the papal capacity to invoke divine retribution against enemies. + +In his later years Algardi controlled a large studio and amassed a great fortune. Algardi's classicizing manner was carried on by pupils, including Ercole Ferrata and Domenico Guidi, and Antonio Raggi initially trained with him. The latter two completed his design for an altarpiece of the Vision of Saint Nicholas at San Nicola da Tolentino, Rome, using two separate marble pieces linked together in one event and place, yet successfully separating the divine and earthly spheres. Other lesser known assistants from his studio include Francesco Barrata, Girolamo Lucenti, and Giuseppe Peroni. + +Algardi died in Rome within a year of completing his famous relief, which was admired by contemporaries. + +Critical assessment and legacy + +Algardi was also known for his portraiture which shows an obsessive attention to details of psychologically revealing physiognomy in a sober but immediate naturalism, and minute attention to costume and draperies, such as in the busts of Laudivio Zacchia, Camillo Pamphilj, and of Muzio Frangipane and his two sons Lello and Roberto. + +In temperament, his style was more akin to the classicized and restrained baroque of Duquesnoy than to the emotive works of other baroque artists. From an artistic point of view, he was most successful in portrait-statues and groups of children, where he was obliged to follow nature most closely. His terracotta models, some of them finished works of art, were prized by collectors. An outstanding series of terracotta models is at the Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg. + +Gallery + +Sources + + + Alessandro Algardi in the "History of Art" + Artnet Resource Library: Alessandro Algardi + Web Gallery of Art: Algardi, sculptures + Roderick Conway-Morris, "Casting light on a Baroque sculptor", International Herald Tribune, March 20, 1999: Review of exhibition "Algardi: The Other Face of the Baroque,", 1999 + A landscape pen-and-ink drawing by Giovanni Francesco Grimaldi, c 1650, to which Algardi has added figures of the Holy Family (Getty Museum) + Images of nearly all works + Roberto Piperno, "Three busts by Alessandro Algardi" Busts of members of the Frangipane family in S. Marcello al Corso +Works by Algardi in Europeana + +Notes + +References + +1598 births +1654 deaths +Italian Baroque sculptors +Artists from Bologna +17th-century Italian sculptors +Italian male sculptors +Alger of Liège (1055–1131), known also as Alger of Cluny and Algerus Magister, was a learned clergyman and canonist from Liège, author of several notable works. + +Alger was first deacon and scholaster of church of St Bartholomew in his native Liège and was then appointed () as a canon in St. Lambert's Cathedral. Moreover, he acted as the personal secretary of bishop Otbert from 1103. He declined offers from German bishops and finally retired to the monastery of Cluny after 1121, where he died at a high age, leaving behind a solid reputation for piety and intelligence. + +He played a leading role in the trial of Rupert of Deutz in 1116. + +His History of the Church of Liège, and many of his other works, are lost. The most important remaining are: +De Misericordia et Justitia (On Mercy and Justice), a collection of biblical extracts and sayings of Church Fathers with commentary (an important work for the history of church law and discipline), which is to be found in the Anecdota of Martène, vol. v. +De Sacramentis Corporis et Sanguinis Domini; a treatise, in three books, against the Berengarian heresy, highly commended by Peter of Cluny and Erasmus. In this book, he also took on Rupert of Deutz' views on the Eucharist and predestination. +De Gratia et Libero Arbitrio; given in Bernard Pez's Anecdota, vol. iv. +De Sacrificio Missae; given in the Collectio Scriptor. Vet. of Angelo Mai, vol. ix. p. 371. +De dignitate ecclesie Leodiensis, which established the reciprocal obligations of the primary and secondary churches; inserted in the Liber officiorum ecclesie Leodiensis (1323). + +A biography was written by Nicholas of Liège: De Algero veterum testimonia. + +References + +12th-century Roman Catholic priests +1055 births +1131 deaths +11th-century Roman Catholic priests +Clergy from the Prince-Bishopric of Liège +Clergy from Liège +Algiers ( ; ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 census was 2,988,145 and in 2020 was estimated to be around 4,500,000. Algiers is in the north-central part of Algeria. + +Algiers is situated on the west side of the Bay of Algiers, in the Mediterranean Sea. The modern part of the city is built on the level ground by the seashore; the old part, the ancient city of the deys, climbs the steep hill behind the modern town and is crowned by the Casbah or citadel (a UNESCO World Heritage Site), above the sea. The Casbah and the two quays form a triangle. + +Names +The city's name is derived via French and Catalan from the Arabic name (), "The Islands". This name refers to the four former islands which lay off the city's coast before becoming part of the mainland in 1525. is itself a truncated form of the city's older name (), "islands of Mazghanna", used by early medieval geographers such as Muhammad al-Idrisi and Yaqut al-Hamawi. The name was given by Buluggin ibn Ziri after he established the city on the ruins of the Phoenician city of Icosium in 950. During Ottoman rule, the name of the capital, al-Jazā'ir, was extended over the entire country, giving it the English name Algeria derived from the French name Algérie. + +In classical antiquity, the ancient Greeks knew the town as (), which was Latinized as Icosium under Roman rule. The Greeks explained the name as coming from their word for "twenty" (, ), supposedly because it had been founded by 20 companions of Hercules when he visited the Atlas Mountains during his labors. + +Algiers is also known as (, "The Joyous") or "Algiers the White" () for its whitewashed buildings. + +History + +Early history + +The city's earliest history was as a small port in Carthage where Phoenicians were trading with other Mediterraneans. After the Punic Wars, the Roman Republic eventually took over administration of the town, which they called Icosium. Its ruins now form part of the modern city's marine quarter, with the Rue de la Marine following a former Roman road. Roman cemeteries existed near Bab-el-Oued and Bab Azoun. The city was given Latin rights by the emperor Vespasian. The bishops of Icosium are mentioned as late as the 5th century, but the ancient town fell into obscurity during the Muslim conquest of the Maghreb. + +The present city was founded in 944 by Buluggin ibn Ziri, the founder of the Berber Zirid dynasty. He had built his own house and a Sanhaja center at Ashir in 935 just south of Algiers. Although the Zirid dynasty was overthrown by Roger II of Sicily in 1148, the Zirids had already lost control of Algiers to their cousins the Hammadids in 1014. + +The city was wrested from the Hammadids by the Almohad Caliphate in 1159, and in the 13th century came under the dominion of the Ziyanid sultans of the Kingdom of Tlemcen. Nominally part of the sultanate of Tlemcen, Algiers had a large measure of independence under Thaaliba amirs of its own due to Oran being the chief seaport of the Ziyanids. + +The Peñón of Algiers, an islet in front of Algiers harbour, had been occupied by the Spaniards as early as 1302. Thereafter, a considerable amount of trade began to flow between Algiers and Spain. However, Algiers continued to be of comparatively little importance until after the expulsion of the Moors from Spain, many of whom sought asylum in the city. In 1510, following their occupation of Oran and other towns on the coast of Africa, the Spaniards fortified the islet of Peñon and imposed a levy intended to suppress the Barbary pirates. + +Ottoman rule + +In 1516, the amir of Algiers, Selim b. Teumi, invited the corsair brothers Oruç Reis and Hayreddin Barbarossa to expel the Spaniards. Oruç Reis came to Algiers, ordered the assassination of Selim, and seized the town and ousted the Spanish in the Capture of Algiers (1516). Hayreddin, succeeding Aruj after the latter was killed in battle against the Spaniards in the 1518 fall of Tlemcen, was the founder of the pashaluk, which subsequently became the beylik, of Algeria. Barbarossa lost Algiers in 1524 but regained it with the 1529 Capture of Peñón of Algiers, and then formally invited the Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent to accept sovereignty over the territory and to annex Algiers to the Ottoman Empire. + +Algiers from this time became the chief seat of the Barbary pirates. In October 1541 in the Algiers expedition, the King of Spain and Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor sought to capture the city, but a storm destroyed a great number of his ships, and his army of some 30,000, chiefly made up of Spaniards, was defeated by the Algerians under their pasha, Hassan. + +Formally part of the Ottoman Empire but essentially free from Ottoman control, starting in the 16th century Algiers turned to piracy and ransoming. Due to its location on the periphery of both the Ottoman and European economic spheres, and depending for its existence on a Mediterranean that was increasingly controlled by European shipping, backed by European navies, piracy became the primary economic activity. Repeated attempts were made by various nations to subdue the pirates that disturbed shipping in the western Mediterranean and engaged in slave raids as far north as Iceland. By the 17th century, up to 40% of the city's 100,000 inhabitants were enslaved Europeans. The United States fought two wars (the First and Second Barbary Wars) over Algiers' attacks on shipping. + +Among the notable people held for ransom was the future Spanish novelist, Miguel de Cervantes, who was held captive in Algiers for almost five years, and wrote two plays set in Algiers of the period. The primary source for knowledge of Algiers of this period, since there are no contemporary local sources, is the Topografía e historia general de Argel (1612, but written earlier), published by Diego de Haedo, but whose authorship is disputed. This work describes in detail the city, the behavior of its inhabitants, and its military defenses, with the unsuccessful hope of facilitating an attack by Spain so as to end the piracy. + +A significant number of renegades lived in Algiers at the time, Christians converted voluntarily to Islam, many fleeing the law or other problems at home. Once converted to Islam, they were safe in Algiers. Many occupied positions of authority, such as Samson Rowlie, an Englishman who became Treasurer of Algiers. + +The city under Ottoman control was enclosed by a wall on all sides, including along the seafront. In this wall, five gates allowed access to the city, with five roads from each gate dividing the city and meeting in front of the Ketchaoua Mosque. In 1556, a citadel was constructed at the highest point in the wall. A major road running north to south divided the city in two: The upper city (al-Gabal, or 'the mountain') which consisted of about fifty small quarters of Andalusian, Jewish, Moorish and Kabyle communities, and the lower city (al-Wata, or 'the plains') which was the administrative, military and commercial centre of the city, mostly inhabited by Ottoman Turkish dignitaries and other upper-class families. + +In August 1816, the city was bombarded by a British squadron under Lord Exmouth (a descendant of Thomas Pellew, taken in an Algerian slave raid in 1715), assisted by men-of-war from the Kingdom of the Netherlands, destroying the corsair fleet harboured in Algiers. + +French rule + +The history of Algiers from 1830 to 1962 is bound to the larger history of Algeria and its relationship to France. On July 4, 1830, under the pretext of an affront to the French consul—whom the dey had hit with a fly-whisk when the consul said the French government was not prepared to pay its large outstanding debts to two Algerian merchants—a French army under General de Bourmont attacked the city in the 1830 invasion of Algiers. The city capitulated the following day. Algiers became the capital of French Algeria. + +Many Europeans settled in Algiers, and by the early 20th century they formed a majority of the city's population. During the 1930s, the architect Le Corbusier drew up plans for a complete redesign of the colonial city. Le Corbusier was highly critical of the urban style of Algiers, describing the European district as "nothing but crumbling walls and devastated nature, the whole a sullied blot". He also criticised the difference in living standards he perceived between the European and African residents of the city, describing a situation in which "the 'civilised' live like rats in holes" whereas "the 'barbarians' live in solitude, in well-being". However, these plans were ultimately ignored by the French administration. + +During World War II, Algiers was the first city to be seized from the Axis by the Allies in Operation Terminal, a part of Operation Torch. + +In 1962, after a bloody independence struggle in which hundreds of thousands (estimates range between 350,000 and 1,500,000) died (mostly Algerians but also French and Pieds-Noirs) during fighting between the French Army and the Algerian Front de Libération Nationale, Algeria gained its independence, with Algiers as its capital. Since then, despite losing its entire pied-noir population, the city has expanded massively. It now has about five million inhabitants, or 10 percent of Algeria's population—and its suburbs now cover most of the surrounding Mitidja plain. + +Algerian War + +Algiers also played a pivotal role in the Algerian War (1954–1962), particularly during the Battle of Algiers when the 10th Parachute Division of the French Army, starting on January 7, 1957, and on the orders of the French Minister of Justice François Mitterrand (who authorized any means "to eliminate the insurrectionists"), led attacks against the Algerian fighters for independence. Algiers remains marked by this battle, which was characterized by merciless fighting between FLN forces which carried out a guerrilla campaign against the French military and police and pro-French Algerian soldiers, and the French Army which responded with a bloody repression, torture and blanket terrorism against the native population. The demonstrations of May 13 during the crisis of 1958 provoked the fall of the Fourth Republic in France, as well as the return of General de Gaulle to power. + +Independence +Algeria achieved independence on July 5, 1962. Run by the FLN that had secured independence, Algiers became a member of Non-Aligned Movement during the Cold War. In October 1988, one year before the fall of the Berlin Wall, Algiers was the site of demonstrations demanding the end of the single-party system and the creation of a real democracy baptized the "Spring of Algier". The demonstrators were repressed by the authorities (more than 300 dead), but the movement constituted a turning point in the political history of modern Algeria. In 1989, a new constitution was adopted that put an end to the one-party rule and saw the creation of more than fifty political parties, as well as official freedom of the press. + +Crisis of the 1990s +The city became the theatre of many political demonstrations of all descriptions until 1993. In 1991, a political entity dominated by religious conservatives called the Islamic Salvation Front engaged in a political test of wills with the authorities. In the 1992 elections for the Algerian National Assembly, the Islamists garnered a large amount of support in the first round. Fearing an eventual win by the Islamists, the army canceled the election process, setting off a civil war between the State and armed religious conservatives which would last for a decade. + +On December 11, 2007, two car bombs exploded in Algiers. One bomb targeted two United Nations office buildings and the other targeted a government building housing the Supreme Court. The death toll was at least 62, with over two hundred injured in the attacks. However, only 26 remained hospitalized the following day. , it is speculated that the attack was carried out by the Al Qaida cell within the city. + +Indigenous terrorist groups have been actively operating in Algeria since around 2002. + +Geography + +Districts of Algiers + + The Casbah (of Al Qasbah, "the Citadel"), Ier District of Algiers: called Al-Djazaïr Al Mahroussa ("Well Kept Algiers"), is founded on the ruins of old Icosium. It is a small city which, built on a hill, goes down towards the sea, divided in two: the High city and the Low city. One finds there masonries and mosques of the 17th century; Ketchaoua mosque (built in 1794 by the Dey Baba Hassan) flanked by two minarets, mosque el Djedid (built in 1660, at the time of Turkish regency) with its large finished ovoid cupola points some and its four coupolettes, mosque El Kébir (oldest of the mosques, it was built by Almoravid Youssef Ibn Tachfin and rebuilt later in 1794), mosque Ali Betchnin (Raïs, 1623), Dar Aziza, palate of Jénina. In the Kasbah, there are also labyrinths of lanes and houses that are very picturesque, and if one gets lost there, it is enough to go down again towards the sea to reposition oneself. + Bab El Oued: Literally the River's Gate, the popular district which extends from the Casbah beyond "the gate of the river". It is the capital's darling and best liked borough. Famous for its square with "the three clocks" and for its "market Triplet", it is also a district of workshops and manufacturing plants. + Edge of sea: from 1840, the architects Pierre-August Guiauchain and Charles Frédéric Chassériau designed new buildings apart from the Casbah, town hall, law courts, buildings, theatre, palace of the Governor, and casino, to form an elegant walk bordered by arcades which is today the boulevard Che Guevara (formerly the Boulevard of the Republic). + Kouba (will daira of Hussein-dey): Kouba is an old village which was absorbed by the expansion of the town of Algiers. Kouba quickly developed under the French colonial era then continued growing due to formidable demographic expansion that Algiers saw after the independence of Algeria in 1962. It is today a district of Algiers which is largely made up of houses, villas, and buildings not exceeding five stories. + El Harrach, a suburb of Algiers, is located about to the east of the city. + The communes of Hydra, Ben Aknoun, El-Biar and Bouzareah form what the inhabitants of Algiers call the "Heights of Algiers". These communes shelter the majority of the foreign embassies of Algiers, of many ministries and university centres, which makes it one of the administrative and policy centres of the country. + The Didouche Mourad street is located in the 3rd district Of Algiers. It extends from the Grande Post office to the Heights of Algiers. It crosses in particular the place Audin, the Faculty of Algiers, The Crowned Heart and the Freedom Park (formerly Galland). It is bordered by smart stores and restaurants along most of its length. It is regarded as the heart of the capital. + +Climate +Algiers has a Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification Csa). Its proximity to the Mediterranean Sea aids in moderating the city's temperatures. As a result, Algiers usually does not see the extreme temperatures that are experienced in the adjacent interior. Algiers on average receives roughly of rain per year, the bulk of which is seen between October and April. The precipitation is higher than in most of coastal Mediterranean Spain, and similar to most of coastal Mediterranean France, as opposed to the interior North African semi-arid or arid climate. + +Snow is very rare; in 2012, the city received of snowfall, its first snowfall in eight years. + +Climate change +A 2019 paper published in PLOS One estimated that under Representative Concentration Pathway 4.5, a "moderate" scenario of climate change where global warming reaches ~ by 2100, the climate of Algiers in the year 2050 would most closely resemble the current climate of Perth in Australia. The annual temperature would increase by , and the temperature of the warmest month by , while the temperature of the coldest month would be higher. According to Climate Action Tracker, the current warming trajectory appears consistent with , which closely matches Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 4.5. + +Moreover, according to the 2022 IPCC Sixth Assessment Report, Algiers is one of 12 major African cities (Abidjan, Alexandria, Algiers, Cape Town, Casablanca, Dakar, Dar es Salaam, Durban, Lagos, Lomé, Luanda and Maputo) which would be the most severely affected by the future sea level rise. It estimates that they would collectively sustain cumulative damages of U$65 billion under RCP 4.5 and US$86.5 billion for the high-emission scenario RCP 8.5 by the year 2050. Additionally, RCP 8.5 combined with the hypothetical impact from marine ice sheet instability at high levels of warming would involve up to US$137.5 billion in damages, while the additional accounting for the "low-probability, high-damage events" may increase aggregate risks to $187 billion for the "moderate" RCP 4.5, $206 billion for RCP 8.5 and $397 billion under the high-end ice sheet instability scenario. Since sea level rise would continue for about 10,000 years under every scenario of climate change, future costs of sea level rise would only increase, especially without adaptation measures. The Casbah is on a list of 10 African World Heritage Site most threatened by sea level rise. + +Government + +The city (and province) of Algiers is composed of 13 administrative districts, sub-divided into 57 communes listed below with their populations at the 1998 and 2008 Censuses: + +Local architecture + +There are many public buildings of interest, including the whole Kasbah quarter, Martyrs Square (Sahat ech-Chouhada ساحة الشهداء), the government offices (formerly the British consulate), the "Grand", "New", and Ketchaoua Mosques, the Roman Catholic cathedral of Notre Dame d'Afrique, the Bardo Museum, the old Bibliothèque Nationale d'Alger—a moorish palace built in 1799–1800 and the new National Library, built in a style reminiscent of the British Library. + +The main building in the Kasbah was begun in 1516 on the site of an older building, and served as the palace of the deys until the French conquest. A road has been cut through the centre of the building, the mosque turned into barracks, and the hall of audience allowed to fall into ruin. There still remain a minaret and some marble arches and columns. Traces exist of the vaults in which were stored the treasures of the dey. + +Djamaa el Kebir (Jamaa-el-Kebir الجامع الكبير) is the oldest mosque in Algiers. It was first built by Yusuf ibn Tashfin, but reconstructed many times. The pulpit (minbar منبر) bears an inscription showing that the building existed in 1097. The minaret was built by the sultan of Tlemcen, in 1324. The interior of the mosque is square and is divided into aisles by columns joined by Moorish arches. + +The New Mosque (Jamaa-el-Jedid الجامع الجديد), dating from the 17th century, is in the form of a Greek cross, surmounted by a large white cupola, with four small cupolas at the corners. The minaret is high. The interior resembles that of the Grand Mosque. + +The church of the Holy Trinity (built in 1870) stands at the southern end of the rue d'Isly near the site of the demolished Fort Bab Azoun باب عزون. The interior is richly decorated with various coloured marbles. Many of these marbles contain memorial inscriptions relating to the British residents (voluntary and involuntary) of Algiers from the time of John Tipton, the first English consul, in 1580 (NB Some sources give 1585). One tablet records that in 1631 two Algerine pirate crews landed in Ireland, sacked Baltimore, and enslaved its inhabitants. + +The Ketchaoua Mosque (Djamaa Ketchaoua جامع كتشاوة), at the foot of the Casbah, was before independence in 1962 the cathedral of St Philippe, itself made in 1845 from a mosque dating from 1612. The principal entrance, reached by a flight of 23 steps, is ornamented with a portico supported by four black-veined marble columns. The roof of the nave is of Moorish plaster work. It rests on a series of arcades supported by white marble columns. Several of these columns belonged to the original mosque. In one of the chapels was a tomb containing the bones of Geronimo. The building seems a curious blend of Moorish and Byzantine styles. + +Algiers possesses a college with schools of law, medicine, science and letters. The college buildings are large and handsome. The Bardo Museum holds some of the ancient sculptures and mosaics discovered in Algeria, together with medals and Algerian money. + +The port of Algiers is sheltered from all winds. There are two harbours, both artificial—the old or northern harbour and the southern or Agha harbour. The northern harbour covers an area of . An opening in the south jetty affords an entrance into Agha harbour, constructed in Agha Bay. Agha harbour has also an independent entrance on its southern side. The inner harbour was begun in 1518 by Khair-ad-Din Barbarossa (see History, below), who, to accommodated his pirate vessels, caused the island on which was Fort Penon to be connected with the mainland by a mole. The lighthouse which occupies the site of Fort Penon was built in 1544. + +Algiers was a walled city from the time of the deys until the close of the 19th century. The French, after their occupation of the city (1830), built a rampart, parapet and ditch, with two terminal forts, Bab Azoun باب عزون to the south and Bab-el-Oued اد to the north. The forts and part of the ramparts were demolished at the beginning of the 20th century, when a line of forts occupying the heights of Bouzareah بوزريعة (at an elevation of above the sea) took their place. + +Notre Dame d'Afrique, a church built (1858–1872) in a mixture of the Roman and Byzantine styles, is conspicuously situated overlooking the sea, on the shoulder of the Bouzareah hills, +to the north of the city. Above the altar is a statue of the Virgin depicted as a black woman. The church also contains a solid silver statue of the archangel Michael, belonging to the confraternity of Neapolitan fishermen. + +Villa Abd-el-Tif, former residence of the dey, was used during the French period, to accommodate French artists, chiefly painters, and winners of the Abd-el-Tif prize, among whom Maurice Boitel, for a while of two years. Nowadays, Algerian artists are back in the villa's studios. + +Monuments + + Notre Dame d'Afrique, accessible by one cable car, is one of the city's most outstanding monuments: located in the district of Z' will ghara, the basilica was built around 1858. + Monument des Martyrs (Marquand E' chahid): an iconic concrete monument commemorating the Algerian war for independence. The monument was opened in 1982 on the 20th anniversary of Algeria's independence. It is fashioned in the shape of three standing palm leaves which shelter the "Eternal Flame" beneath. At the edge of each palm leaf stands a statue of a soldier, each representing a stage of Algeria's struggle. + + The El Jedid mosque at the Place des Martyrs near the port. + Place of the Emir Abdelkader (formerly Bugeaud): in memory of the famous emir Abd El-Kader, resistant during French conquest of Algeria. + Grand Post Office (1910, by Voinot and Tondoire): construction of the neo-Moorish type which is in full centre town of Algiers. + The Jardin d'essai (Garden of Test; El-Hamma): situated in the east of Algiers, it extends over and contains exotic plants and gardens. It was created in 1832 by A. Hardy. + Villa Abd-el-Hair, with the top of the Garden of test, one of the old residences of the dey, where until 1962, were placed the artists prizes winner of Price Abd-el-Hair, and in particular Maurice Boitel and Andre Hamburg. + Citadel. + Riadh El-Feth (shopping centre and art gallery). + Ketchaoua Mosque (This mosque became the Saint-Philippe cathedral during colonization before becoming again a mosque). + National Library, is in the district of El HAMMA and was built in the 1990s. + Djamaa el Kebir at the Rue de la Marine. It is the oldest mosque of Algiers and was built during the reign of the Almoravid sultan Yusuf ibn Tashfin. + Le Bastion 23 – Palais des Rais, built in 1576 by Dey Ramdhan Pacha and located in the lower Casbah in the Bab El Oued neighborhood. + +Demographics + +As of 2012, Algiers has a population of about 3,335,418. + +The ethnic distribution is 53% from an Arabic-speaking background, 44% from a Berber-speaking background and 3% foreign-born. + +Economy + +Algiers is an important economic, commercial and financial center, with a stock exchange capitalized at 60 million euros. The city has the highest cost of living of any city in North Africa, as well as the 50th highest worldwide, as of March 2007, having gained one position compared to the previous year. + +Mohamed Ben Ali El Abbar, president of the Council of Administration of the Emirate Group EMAAR, presented five "megaprojects" to Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, during a ceremony which took place Saturday, July 15, in the People's Palace of Algiers. These projects will transform the city of Algiers and its surroundings by equipping them with a retail area and restoration and leisure facilities. + +The first project will concentrate on the reorganization and the development of the infrastructures of the railway station "Aga" located in the downtown area. The ultramodern station intended to accommodate more than 80.000 passengers per day, will become a centre of circulation in the heart of the grid system, surrounded by commercial offices and buildings and hotels intended for travellers in transit. A shopping centre and three high-rise office buildings rising with the top of the commercial zone will accompany the project. + +The second project will not relate to the bay of Algiers and aims to revitalize the sea front. The development of the sea front will include marinas, channels, luxury hotels, offices, apartments of great standing, luxury stores and leisure amenities. A crescent-shaped peninsula will be set up on the open sea. The project of the bay of Algiers will also comprise six small islands, of which four of round form, connected to each other by bridges and marinas and will include tourist and residential complexes. + +The third project will relate to restructuring an area of Algiers, qualified by the originators of the project of "city of wellness". El Abbar indicated to the journalists that the complex would be "agreeable for all those which will want to combine tourism and well-being or tourism and relaxation". The complex will include a university, a research center and a medical centre. It should also include a hospital complex, a care centre, a hotel zone, an urban centre and a thermal spa with villas and apartments. The university will include a medical school and a school for care male nurses which will be able to accommodate 500 students. The university campus will have the possibility of seeing setting up broad ranges of buildings of research laboratories and residences. + +Another project relates to technological implantation of a campus in Sidi Abdellah, south-east from Algiers. This site will include shopping centres, residential zones with high standard apartments and a golf course surrounded by villas and hotels. Two other residential zones, including 1.800 apartments and 40 high standard villas, will be built on the surrounding hills. + +The fifth project is that of the tourist complex Colonel Abbès, which will be located west from Algiers. This complex will include several retail zones, meeting places, and residential zones composed of apartments and villas with views of the sea. + +There is another project under construction, by the name of Algiers Medina. The first step of the project is nearly complete. + +A Hewlett-Packard office for French-speaking countries in Africa is in Algiers. + +Tourist installations + +Some to the west of Algiers are such seaside resorts as Sidi Fredj (ex-Sidi Ferruch), Palm Beach, Douaouda, Zéralda, and the Club of the Pines (residence of State); there are tourist complexes, Algerian and other restaurants, souvenir shops, supervised beaches, and other amenities. The city is also equipped with important hotel complexes such as the hotel Hilton, El-Aurassi or El Djazair. Algiers also has the first water park in the country. The tourism of Algiers is growing but is not as developed as that of the larger cities in Morocco or Tunisia. + +Education + +The presence of a large diplomatic community in Algiers prompted the creation of multiple international educational institutions. These schools include : + + American International School of Algiers; + British School Algiers + El Kalimat School (English-language school); + Lycée International Alexandre-Dumas d'Alger (French school); + Roma Italian School of Algiers; + Russian Embassy School in Algiers. + +There was formerly the École japonaise d'Alger (アルジェ日本人学校 Aruje Nihonjin Gakkō), a school for Japanese children. + +Public transport + + ETUSA (urban and suburban bus transportation for Algiers) operates bus service in Algiers and the surrounding suburbs. 54 lines are operating, with service from 5:30 a.m. to 12:45 a.m. + SNTF (national railroad company) operates commuter-rail lines connecting the capital to the surrounding suburbs. + Algiers Metro, opened November 1, 2011. + Algiers tramway, opened on May 8, 2011. + Houari Boumediene Airport is located from the city. The airport serves domestics, many European cities, West Africa, the Middle East, Asia and North America. On July 5, 2006, a new international air terminal was opened for service. The terminal is managed by Aéroports de Paris. + +4 urban beltways: + El Madania – Belouizdad + Notre Dame d'Afrique – Bologhine + Memorial des Martyres/Riad el Feth – Jardin d'essais + Palais de la culture – Oued Kniss + +Sports +Algiers is the sporting centre of Algeria. The city has a number of professional clubs in the variety of sports, which have won national and international titles. Among the sports facilities within the city, there is an enormous sporting complex – Complex of OCO – Mohamed Boudiaf. This includes the Stade 5 Juillet 1962 (capacity ), a venue for athletics, an Olympic swimming pool, a multisports room (the Cupola), an 18-hole golf course, and several tennis courts. + +The following major sporting events have been held in Algiers (not-exhaustive list): + +Football clubs +Major association football club based in Algiers include: + +International relations + +Twin towns – sister cities +Algiers is twinned with: + +Montreal, Canada +Moscow, Russia +Sofia, Bulgaria + +In addition, many of the wards and cities within Algiers maintain sister-city relationships with other foreign cities. + +Cooperation agreements +Algiers has cooperation agreements with: +Lisbon, Portugal +Paris, France + +Films about Algiers + + Algiers, 1938, starring Charles Boyer and Hedy Lamarr, and directed by John Cromwell; + The Battle of Algiers, 1966, directed by Gillo Pontecorvo; + Tahya ya Didou, Alger Insolite, 1970, Mohammed Zinet; + Bab El-Oued City, 1994, directed by Merzak Allouache; + Viva Laldjérie, 2003, directed by Nadir Moknèche, with Biyouna and Lubna Azabal; + Bab el Web, 2004, directed by Merzak Allouache, with Samy Naceri, Julie Gayet, Faudel; + Once upon a time in the Oued, 2005, directed by Djamel Bensalah; + Beur, White, Red, 2005, directed by Mahmoud Zemmouri. + Delice Paloma, 2007, directed by Nadir Moknèche, with Biyouna and Nadia Kaci. + Abbott and Costello in the Foreign Legion, 1950, starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello. + Carry on Spying 1964, directed by Gerald Thomas with Kenneth Williams, Charles Hawtrey, Barbara Windsor & Renee Houston + +Notable people + +See also + Barbary pirates + Botanical Garden Hamma + List of Ottoman governors of Algiers + +References + +Citations + +Bibliography + + + Carroll, David. Albert Camus the Algerian (Columbia University Press, 2007). + Emerson, Charles. 1913: In Search of the World Before the Great War (2013) compares Algiers to 20 major world cities; pp 267–79. + . + . + . + +External links + + +944 establishments +Barbary Wars +Capitals in Africa +Former Spanish colonies +Mediterranean port cities and towns in Algeria +Populated coastal places in Algeria +World Heritage Sites in Algeria +Coastal cities in Algeria +Populated places in Algiers Province +Province seats of Algeria +Populated places established in the 10th century +10th-century establishments in Africa +Ḥasan Ibn al-Haytham (Latinized as Alhazen; ; full name ; ) was a medieval mathematician, astronomer, and physicist of the Islamic Golden Age from present-day Iraq. Referred to as "the father of modern optics", he made significant contributions to the principles of optics and visual perception in particular. His most influential work is titled Kitāb al-Manāẓir (Arabic: , "Book of Optics"), written during 1011–1021, which survived in a Latin edition. The works of Alhazen were frequently cited during the scientific revolution by Isaac Newton, Johannes Kepler, Christiaan Huygens, and Galileo Galilei. + +Ibn al-Haytham was the first to correctly explain the theory of vision, and to argue that vision occurs in the brain, pointing to observations that it is subjective and affected by personal experience. He also stated the principle of least time for refraction which would later become the Fermat's principle. He made major contributions to catoptrics and dioptrics by studying reflection, refraction and nature of images formed by light rays. Ibn al-Haytham was an early proponent of the concept that a hypothesis must be supported by experiments based on confirmable procedures or mathematical reasoning—an early pioneer in the scientific method five centuries before Renaissance scientists. On account of this, he is sometimes described as the world's "first true scientist". He was also a polymath, writing on philosophy, theology and medicine. + +Born in Basra, he spent most of his productive period in the Fatimid capital of Cairo and earned his living authoring various treatises and tutoring members of the nobilities. Ibn al-Haytham is sometimes given the byname al-Baṣrī after his birthplace, or al-Miṣrī ("the Egyptian"). Al-Haytham was dubbed the "Second Ptolemy" by Abu'l-Hasan Bayhaqi and "The Physicist" by John Peckham. Ibn al-Haytham paved the way for the modern science of physical optics. + +Biography + +Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen) was born c. 965 to a family of Arab or Persian origin in Basra, Iraq, which was at the time part of the Buyid emirate. His initial influences were in the study of religion and service to the community. At the time, society had a number of conflicting views of religion that he ultimately sought to step aside from religion. This led to him delving into the study of mathematics and science. He held a position with the title vizier in his native Basra, and made a name for himself on his knowledge of applied mathematics. As he claimed to be able to regulate the flooding of the Nile, he was invited to meet the Fatimid Caliph al-Hakim in order to realise a hydraulic project at Aswan. However, Ibn al-Haytham was forced to concede the impracticability of his project. + +Upon his return to Cairo, he was given an administrative post. After he proved unable to fulfill this task as well, he contracted the ire of the caliph al-Hakim, and is said to have been forced into hiding until the caliph's death in 1021, after which his confiscated possessions were returned to him. +Legend has it that Alhazen feigned madness and was kept under house arrest during this period. During this time, he wrote his influential Book of Optics. Alhazen continued to live in Cairo, in the neighborhood of the famous University of al-Azhar, and lived from the proceeds of his literary production until his death in c. 1040. (A copy of Apollonius' Conics, written in Ibn al-Haytham's own handwriting exists in Aya Sofya: (MS Aya Sofya 2762, 307 fob., dated Safar 415 A.H. [1024]).) + +Among his students were Sorkhab (Sohrab), a Persian from Semnan, and Abu al-Wafa Mubashir ibn Fatek, an Egyptian prince. + +Book of Optics + +Alhazen's most famous work is his seven-volume treatise on optics Kitab al-Manazir (Book of Optics), written from 1011 to 1021. In it, Ibn al-Haytham was the first to explain that vision occurs when light reflects from an object and then passes to one's eyes, and to argue that vision occurs in the brain, pointing to observations that it is subjective and affected by personal experience. + +Optics was translated into Latin by an unknown scholar at the end of the 12th century or the beginning of the 13th century. + +This work enjoyed a great reputation during the Middle Ages. The Latin version of De aspectibus was translated at the end of the 14th century into Italian vernacular, under the title De li aspecti. + +It was printed by Friedrich Risner in 1572, with the title Opticae thesaurus: Alhazeni Arabis libri septem, nuncprimum editi; Eiusdem liber De Crepusculis et nubium ascensionibus (English: Treasury of Optics: seven books by the Arab Alhazen, first edition; by the same, on twilight and the height of clouds). +Risner is also the author of the name variant "Alhazen"; before Risner he was known in the west as Alhacen. +Works by Alhazen on geometric subjects were discovered in the Bibliothèque nationale in Paris in 1834 by E. A. Sedillot. In all, A. Mark Smith has accounted for 18 full or near-complete manuscripts, and five fragments, which are preserved in 14 locations, including one in the Bodleian Library at Oxford, and one in the library of Bruges. + +Theory of optics + +Two major theories on vision prevailed in classical antiquity. The first theory, the emission theory, was supported by such thinkers as Euclid and Ptolemy, who believed that sight worked by the eye emitting rays of light. The second theory, the intromission theory supported by Aristotle and his followers, had physical forms entering the eye from an object. Previous Islamic writers (such as al-Kindi) had argued essentially on Euclidean, Galenist, or Aristotelian lines. The strongest influence on the Book of Optics was from Ptolemy's Optics, while the description of the anatomy and physiology of the eye was based on Galen's account. Alhazen's achievement was to come up with a theory that successfully combined parts of the mathematical ray arguments of Euclid, the medical tradition of Galen, and the intromission theories of Aristotle. Alhazen's intromission theory followed al-Kindi (and broke with Aristotle) in asserting that "from each point of every colored body, illuminated by any light, issue light and color along every straight line that can be drawn from that point". This left him with the problem of explaining how a coherent image was formed from many independent sources of radiation; in particular, every point of an object would send rays to every point on the eye. + +What Alhazen needed was for each point on an object to correspond to one point only on the eye. He attempted to resolve this by asserting that the eye would only perceive perpendicular rays from the object—for any one point on the eye, only the ray that reached it directly, without being refracted by any other part of the eye, would be perceived. He argued, using a physical analogy, that perpendicular rays were stronger than oblique rays: in the same way that a ball thrown directly at a board might break the board, whereas a ball thrown obliquely at the board would glance off, perpendicular rays were stronger than refracted rays, and it was only perpendicular rays which were perceived by the eye. As there was only one perpendicular ray that would enter the eye at any one point, and all these rays would converge on the centre of the eye in a cone, this allowed him to resolve the problem of each point on an object sending many rays to the eye; if only the perpendicular ray mattered, then he had a one-to-one correspondence and the confusion could be resolved. He later asserted (in book seven of the Optics) that other rays would be refracted through the eye and perceived as if perpendicular. His arguments regarding perpendicular rays do not clearly explain why only perpendicular rays were perceived; why would the weaker oblique rays not be perceived more weakly? His later argument that refracted rays would be perceived as if perpendicular does not seem persuasive. However, despite its weaknesses, no other theory of the time was so comprehensive, and it was enormously influential, particularly in Western Europe. Directly or indirectly, his De Aspectibus (Book of Optics) inspired much activity in optics between the 13th and 17th centuries. Kepler's later theory of the retinal image (which resolved the problem of the correspondence of points on an object and points in the eye) built directly on the conceptual framework of Alhazen. + +Alhazen showed through experiment that light travels in straight lines, and carried out various experiments with lenses, mirrors, refraction, and reflection. His analyses of reflection and refraction considered the vertical and horizontal components of light rays separately. + +Alhazen studied the process of sight, the structure of the eye, image formation in the eye, and the visual system. Ian P. Howard argued in a 1996 Perception article that Alhazen should be credited with many discoveries and theories previously attributed to Western Europeans writing centuries later. For example, he described what became in the 19th century Hering's law of equal innervation. He wrote a description of vertical horopters 600 years before Aguilonius that is actually closer to the modern definition than Aguilonius's—and his work on binocular disparity was repeated by Panum in 1858. Craig Aaen-Stockdale, while agreeing that Alhazen should be credited with many advances, has expressed some caution, especially when considering Alhazen in isolation from Ptolemy, with whom Alhazen was extremely familiar. Alhazen corrected a significant error of Ptolemy regarding binocular vision, but otherwise his account is very similar; Ptolemy also attempted to explain what is now called Hering's law. In general, Alhazen built on and expanded the optics of Ptolemy. + +In a more detailed account of Ibn al-Haytham's contribution to the study of binocular vision based on Lejeune and Sabra, Raynaud showed that the concepts of correspondence, homonymous and crossed diplopia were in place in Ibn al-Haytham's optics. But contrary to Howard, he explained why Ibn al-Haytham did not give the circular figure of the horopter and why, by reasoning experimentally, he was in fact closer to the discovery of Panum's fusional area than that of the Vieth-Müller circle. In this regard, Ibn al-Haytham's theory of binocular vision faced two main limits: the lack of recognition of the role of the retina, and obviously the lack of an experimental investigation of ocular tracts. + +Alhazen's most original contribution was that, after describing how he thought the eye was anatomically constructed, he went on to consider how this anatomy would behave functionally as an optical system. His understanding of pinhole projection from his experiments appears to have influenced his consideration of image inversion in the eye, which he sought to avoid. He maintained that the rays that fell perpendicularly on the lens (or glacial humor as he called it) were further refracted outward as they left the glacial humor and the resulting image thus passed upright into the optic nerve at the back of the eye. He followed Galen in believing that the lens was the receptive organ of sight, although some of his work hints that he thought the retina was also involved. + +Alhazen's synthesis of light and vision adhered to the Aristotelian scheme, exhaustively describing the process of vision in a logical, complete fashion. + +His research in catoptrics (the study of optical systems using mirrors) was centred on spherical and parabolic mirrors and spherical aberration. He made the observation that the ratio between the angle of incidence and refraction does not remain constant, and investigated the magnifying power of a lens. + +Law of reflection + +Alhazen was the first physicist to give complete statement of the law of reflection. He was first to state that the incident ray, the reflected ray, and the normal to the surface all lie in a same plane perpendicular to reflecting plane. + +Alhazen's problem + +His work on catoptrics in Book V of the Book of Optics contains a discussion of what is now known as Alhazen's problem, first formulated by Ptolemy in 150 AD. It comprises drawing lines from two points in the plane of a circle meeting at a point on the circumference and making equal angles with the normal at that point. This is equivalent to finding the point on the edge of a circular billiard table at which a player must aim a cue ball at a given point to make it bounce off the table edge and hit another ball at a second given point. Thus, its main application in optics is to solve the problem, "Given a light source and a spherical mirror, find the point on the mirror where the light will be reflected to the eye of an observer." This leads to an equation of the fourth degree. This eventually led Alhazen to derive a formula for the sum of fourth powers, where previously only the formulas for the sums of squares and cubes had been stated. His method can be readily generalized to find the formula for the sum of any integral powers, although he did not himself do this (perhaps because he only needed the fourth power to calculate the volume of the paraboloid he was interested in). He used his result on sums of integral powers to perform what would now be called an integration, where the formulas for the sums of integral squares and fourth powers allowed him to calculate the volume of a paraboloid. Alhazen eventually solved the problem using conic sections and a geometric proof. His solution was extremely long and complicated and may not have been understood by mathematicians reading him in Latin translation. +Later mathematicians used Descartes' analytical methods to analyse the problem. An algebraic solution to the problem was finally found in 1965 by Jack M. Elkin, an actuarian. Other solutions were discovered in 1989, by Harald Riede and in 1997 by the Oxford mathematician Peter M. Neumann. +Recently, Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories (MERL) researchers solved the extension of Alhazen's problem to general rotationally symmetric quadric mirrors including hyperbolic, parabolic and elliptical mirrors. + +Camera Obscura +The camera obscura was known to the ancient Chinese, and was described by the Han Chinese polymath Shen Kuo in his scientific book Dream Pool Essays, published in the year 1088 C.E. Aristotle had discussed the basic principle behind it in his Problems, but Alhazen's work contained the first clear description of camera obscura. and early analysis of the device. + +Ibn al-Haytham used a camera obscura mainly to observe a partial solar eclipse. +In his essay, Ibn al-Haytham writes that he observed the sickle-like shape of the sun at the time of an eclipse. The introduction reads as follows: "The image of the sun at the time of the eclipse, unless it is total, demonstrates that when its light passes through a narrow, round hole and is cast on a plane opposite to the hole it takes on the form of a moonsickle." + +It is admitted that his findings solidified the importance in the history of the camera obscura but this treatise is important in many other respects. + +Ancient optics and medieval optics were divided into optics and burning mirrors. Optics proper mainly focused on the study of vision, while burning mirrors focused on the properties of light and luminous rays. On the shape of the eclipse is probably one of the first attempts made by Ibn al-Haytham to articulate these two sciences. + +Very often Ibn al-Haytham's discoveries benefited from the intersection of mathematical and experimental contributions. This is the case with On the shape of the eclipse. Besides the fact that this treatise allowed more people to study partial eclipses of the sun, it especially allowed to better understand how the camera obscura works. This treatise is a physico-mathematical study of image formation inside the camera obscura. Ibn al-Haytham takes an experimental approach, and determines the result by varying the size and the shape of the aperture, the focal length of the camera, the shape and intensity of the light source. + +In his work he explains the inversion of the image in the camera obscura, the fact that the image is similar to the source when the hole is small, but also the fact that the image can differ from the source when the hole is large. All these results are produced by using a point analysis of the image. + +Refractometer + +In the seventh tract of his book of optics, Alhazen described an apparatus for experimenting with various cases of refraction, in order to investigate the relations between the angle of incidence, the angle of refraction and the angle of deflection. This apparatus was a modified version of an apparatus used by Ptolemy for similar purpose. + +Unconscious inference + +Alhazen basically states the concept of unconscious inference in his discussion of colour before adding that the inferential step between sensing colour and differentiating it is shorter than the time taken between sensing and any other visible characteristic (aside from light), and that "time is so short as not to be clearly apparent to the beholder." Naturally, this suggests that the colour and form are perceived elsewhere. Alhazen goes on to say that information must travel to the central nerve cavity for processing and:the sentient organ does not sense the forms that reach it from the visible objects until +after it has been affected by these forms; thus it does not sense color as color or light as light until after it has been affected by the form of color or light. Now the affectation received by the sentient organ from the form of color or of light is a certain change; and change must take place in time; …..and it is in the time during which the form extends from the sentient organ's surface to the cavity of the common nerve, and in (the time) following that, that the sensitive faculty, which exists in the whole of the sentient body will perceive color as color…Thus the last sentient's perception of color as such and of light as such takes place at a time following that in which the form arrives from the surface of the sentient organ to the cavity of the common nerve. + +Color constancy + +Alhazen explained color constancy by observing that the light reflected from an object is modified by the object's color. He explained that the quality of the light and the color of the object are mixed, and the visual system separates light and color. In Book II, Chapter 3 he writes:Again the light does not travel from the colored object to the eye unaccompanied by the color, nor does the form of the color pass from the colored object to the eye unaccompanied by the light. Neither the form of the light nor that of the color existing in the colored object can pass except as mingled together and the last sentient can only +perceive them as mingled together. Nevertheless, the sentient perceives that the visible object is luminous and that the light seen in the object is other than the color and that these are two properties. + +Other contributions +The Kitab al-Manazir (Book of Optics) describes several experimental observations that Alhazen made and how he used his results to explain certain optical phenomena using mechanical analogies. He conducted experiments with projectiles and concluded that only the impact of perpendicular projectiles on surfaces was forceful enough to make them penetrate, whereas surfaces tended to deflect oblique projectile strikes. For example, to explain refraction from a rare to a dense medium, he used the mechanical analogy of an iron ball thrown at a thin slate covering a wide hole in a metal sheet. A perpendicular throw breaks the slate and passes through, whereas an oblique one with equal force and from an equal distance does not. He also used this result to explain how intense, direct light hurts the eye, using a mechanical analogy: Alhazen associated 'strong' lights with perpendicular rays and 'weak' lights with oblique ones. The obvious answer to the problem of multiple rays and the eye was in the choice of the perpendicular ray, since only one such ray from each point on the surface of the object could penetrate the eye. + +Sudanese psychologist Omar Khaleefa has argued that Alhazen should be considered the founder of experimental psychology, for his pioneering work on the psychology of visual perception and optical illusions. Khaleefa has also argued that Alhazen should also be considered the "founder of psychophysics", a sub-discipline and precursor to modern psychology. Although Alhazen made many subjective reports regarding vision, there is no evidence that he used quantitative psychophysical techniques and the claim has been rebuffed. + +Alhazen offered an explanation of the Moon illusion, an illusion that played an important role in the scientific tradition of medieval Europe. Many authors repeated explanations that attempted to solve the problem of the Moon appearing larger near the horizon than it does when higher up in the sky. Alhazen argued against Ptolemy's refraction theory, and defined the problem in terms of perceived, rather than real, enlargement. He said that judging the distance of an object depends on there being an uninterrupted sequence of intervening bodies between the object and the observer. When the Moon is high in the sky there are no intervening objects, so the Moon appears close. The perceived size of an object of constant angular size varies with its perceived distance. Therefore, the Moon appears closer and smaller high in the sky, and further and larger on the horizon. Through works by Roger Bacon, John Pecham and Witelo based on Alhazen's explanation, the Moon illusion gradually came to be accepted as a psychological phenomenon, with the refraction theory being rejected in the 17th century. Although Alhazen is often credited with the perceived distance explanation, he was not the first author to offer it. Cleomedes ( 2nd century) gave this account (in addition to refraction), and he credited it to Posidonius ( 135–50 BCE). Ptolemy may also have offered this explanation in his Optics, but the text is obscure. Alhazen's writings were more widely available in the Middle Ages than those of these earlier authors, and that probably explains why Alhazen received the credit. + +Scientific method + +An aspect associated with Alhazen's optical research is related to systemic and methodological reliance on experimentation (i'tibar)(Arabic: اختبار) and controlled testing in his scientific inquiries. Moreover, his experimental directives rested on combining classical physics (ilm tabi'i) with mathematics (ta'alim; geometry in particular). This mathematical-physical approach to experimental science supported most of his propositions in Kitab al-Manazir (The Optics; De aspectibus or Perspectivae) and grounded his theories of vision, light and colour, as well as his research in catoptrics and dioptrics (the study of the reflection and refraction of light, respectively). + +According to Matthias Schramm, Alhazen "was the first to make a systematic use of the method of varying the experimental conditions in a constant and uniform manner, in an experiment showing that the intensity of the light-spot formed by the projection of the moonlight through two small apertures onto a screen diminishes constantly as one of the apertures is gradually blocked up." G. J. Toomer expressed some skepticism regarding Schramm's view, partly because at the time (1964) the Book of Optics had not yet been fully translated from Arabic, and Toomer was concerned that without context, specific passages might be read anachronistically. While acknowledging Alhazen's importance in developing experimental techniques, Toomer argued that Alhazen should not be considered in isolation from other Islamic and ancient thinkers. Toomer concluded his review by saying that it would not be possible to assess Schramm's claim that Ibn al-Haytham was the true founder of modern physics without translating more of Alhazen's work and fully investigating his influence on later medieval writers. + +Other works on physics + +Optical treatises + +Besides the Book of Optics, Alhazen wrote several other treatises on the same subject, including his Risala fi l-Daw (Treatise on Light). He investigated the properties of luminance, the rainbow, eclipses, twilight, and moonlight. Experiments with mirrors and the refractive interfaces between air, water, and glass cubes, hemispheres, and quarter-spheres provided the foundation for his theories on catoptrics. + + Celestial physics +Alhazen discussed the physics of the celestial region in his Epitome of Astronomy, arguing that Ptolemaic models must be understood in terms of physical objects rather than abstract hypotheses—in other words that it should be possible to create physical models where (for example) none of the celestial bodies would collide with each other. The suggestion of mechanical models for the Earth centred Ptolemaic model "greatly contributed to the eventual triumph of the Ptolemaic system among the Christians of the West". Alhazen's determination to root astronomy in the realm of physical objects was important, however, because it meant astronomical hypotheses "were accountable to the laws of physics", and could be criticised and improved upon in those terms. + +He also wrote Maqala fi daw al-qamar (On the Light of the Moon). + + Mechanics + +In his work, Alhazen discussed theories on the motion of a body. In his Treatise on Place, Alhazen disagreed with Aristotle's view that nature abhors a void, and he used geometry in an attempt to demonstrate that place (al-makan) is the imagined three-dimensional void between the inner surfaces of a containing body. + + Astronomical works + + On the Configuration of the World + +In his On the Configuration of the World Alhazen presented a detailed description of the physical structure of the earth: + +The book is a non-technical explanation of Ptolemy's Almagest, which was eventually translated into Hebrew and Latin in the 13th and 14th centuries and subsequently had an influence on astronomers such as Georg von Peuerbach during the European Middle Ages and Renaissance. + + Doubts Concerning Ptolemy + +In his Al-Shukūk ‛alā Batlamyūs, variously translated as Doubts Concerning Ptolemy or Aporias against Ptolemy, published at some time between 1025 and 1028, Alhazen criticized Ptolemy's Almagest, Planetary Hypotheses, and Optics, pointing out various contradictions he found in these works, particularly in astronomy. Ptolemy's Almagest concerned mathematical theories regarding the motion of the planets, whereas the Hypotheses concerned what Ptolemy thought was the actual configuration of the planets. Ptolemy himself acknowledged that his theories and configurations did not always agree with each other, arguing that this was not a problem provided it did not result in noticeable error, but Alhazen was particularly scathing in his criticism of the inherent contradictions in Ptolemy's works. He considered that some of the mathematical devices Ptolemy introduced into astronomy, especially the equant, failed to satisfy the physical requirement of uniform circular motion, and noted the absurdity of relating actual physical motions to imaginary mathematical points, lines and circles: + +Having pointed out the problems, Alhazen appears to have intended to resolve the contradictions he pointed out in Ptolemy in a later work. Alhazen believed there was a "true configuration" of the planets that Ptolemy had failed to grasp. He intended to complete and repair Ptolemy's system, not to replace it completely. In the Doubts Concerning Ptolemy Alhazen set out his views on the difficulty of attaining scientific knowledge and the need to question existing authorities and theories: + +He held that the criticism of existing theories—which dominated this book—holds a special place in the growth of scientific knowledge. + + Model of the Motions of Each of the Seven Planets + +Alhazen's The Model of the Motions of Each of the Seven Planets was written 1038. Only one damaged manuscript has been found, with only the introduction and the first section, on the theory of planetary motion, surviving. (There was also a second section on astronomical calculation, and a third section, on astronomical instruments.) Following on from his Doubts on Ptolemy, Alhazen described a new, geometry-based planetary model, describing the motions of the planets in terms of spherical geometry, infinitesimal geometry and trigonometry. He kept a geocentric universe and assumed that celestial motions are uniformly circular, which required the inclusion of epicycles to explain observed motion, but he managed to eliminate Ptolemy's equant. In general, his model didn't try to provide a causal explanation of the motions, but concentrated on providing a complete, geometric description that could explain observed motions without the contradictions inherent in Ptolemy's model. + + Other astronomical works + +Alhazen wrote a total of twenty-five astronomical works, some concerning technical issues such as Exact Determination of the Meridian, a second group concerning accurate astronomical observation, a third group concerning various astronomical problems and questions such as the location of the Milky Way; Alhazen made the first systematic effort of evaluating the Milky Way's parallax, combining Ptolemy's data and his own. He concluded that the parallax is (probably very much) smaller than Lunar parallax, and the Milky way should be a celestial object. Though he was not the first who argued that the Milky Way does not belong to the atmosphere, he is the first who did quantitative analysis for the claim. +The fourth group consists of ten works on astronomical theory, including the Doubts and Model of the Motions discussed above. + + Mathematical works + +In mathematics, Alhazen built on the mathematical works of Euclid and Thabit ibn Qurra and worked on "the beginnings of the link between algebra and geometry". + +He developed a formula for summing the first 100 natural numbers, using a geometric proof to prove the formula. + + Geometry + +Alhazen explored what is now known as the Euclidean parallel postulate, the fifth postulate in Euclid's Elements, using a proof by contradiction, and in effect introducing the concept of motion into geometry. He formulated the Lambert quadrilateral, which Boris Abramovich Rozenfeld names the "Ibn al-Haytham–Lambert quadrilateral". He was criticised by Omar Khayyam who pointed that Aristotle had condemned the use of motion in geometry. + +In elementary geometry, Alhazen attempted to solve the problem of squaring the circle using the area of lunes (crescent shapes), but later gave up on the impossible task. The two lunes formed from a right triangle by erecting a semicircle on each of the triangle's sides, inward for the hypotenuse and outward for the other two sides, are known as the lunes of Alhazen; they have the same total area as the triangle itself. + + Number theory + +Alhazen's contributions to number theory include his work on perfect numbers. In his Analysis and Synthesis, he may have been the first to state that every even perfect number is of the form 2n−1(2n − 1) where 2n − 1 is prime, but he was not able to prove this result; Euler later proved it in the 18th century, and it is now called the Euclid–Euler theorem. + +Alhazen solved problems involving congruences using what is now called Wilson's theorem. In his Opuscula, Alhazen considers the solution of a system of congruences, and gives two general methods of solution. His first method, the canonical method, involved Wilson's theorem, while his second method involved a version of the Chinese remainder theorem. + + Calculus +Alhazen discovered the sum formula for the fourth power, using a method that could be generally used to determine the sum for any integral power. He used this to find the volume of a paraboloid. He could find the integral formula for any polynomial without having developed a general formula. + + Other works + + Influence of Melodies on the Souls of Animals + +Alhazen also wrote a Treatise on the Influence of Melodies on the Souls of Animals, although no copies have survived. It appears to have been concerned with the question of whether animals could react to music, for example whether a camel would increase or decrease its pace. + + Engineering + +In engineering, one account of his career as a civil engineer has him summoned to Egypt by the Fatimid Caliph, Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, to regulate the flooding of the Nile River. He carried out a detailed scientific study of the annual inundation of the Nile River, and he drew plans for building a dam, at the site of the modern-day Aswan Dam. His field work, however, later made him aware of the impracticality of this scheme, and he soon feigned madness so he could avoid punishment from the Caliph. + + Philosophy + +In his Treatise on Place, Alhazen disagreed with Aristotle's view that nature abhors a void, and he used geometry in an attempt to demonstrate that place (al-makan) is the imagined three-dimensional void between the inner surfaces of a containing body. Abd-el-latif, a supporter of Aristotle's philosophical view of place, later criticized the work in Fi al-Radd 'ala Ibn al-Haytham fi al-makan (A refutation of Ibn al-Haytham's place) for its geometrization of place. + +Alhazen also discussed space perception and its epistemological implications in his Book of Optics. In "tying the visual perception of space to prior bodily experience, Alhazen unequivocally rejected the intuitiveness of spatial perception and, therefore, the autonomy of vision. Without tangible notions of distance and size for +correlation, sight can tell us next to nothing about such things." Alhazen came up with many theories that shattered what was known of reality at the time. These ideas of optics and perspective did not just tie into physical science, rather existential philosophy. This led to religious viewpoints being upheld to the point that there is an observer and their perspective, which in this case is reality. + + Theology +Alhazen was a Muslim and most sources report that he was a Sunni and a follower of the Ash'ari school.Kaminski, Joseph J. "The Trajectory of the Development of Islamic ThoughtA Comparison Between Two Earlier and Two Later Scholars." The Contemporary Islamic Governed State. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, 2017. 31–70. "For example, Ibn al-Haytham and Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī were among the most important medieval scholars who used the scientific method in their approach to natural science, and they were both Ash'arites" Ziauddin Sardar says that some of the greatest Muslim scientists, such as Ibn al-Haytham and Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī, who were pioneers of the scientific method, were themselves followers of the Ashʿari school of Islamic theology. Like other Ashʿarites who believed that faith or taqlid should apply only to Islam and not to any ancient Hellenistic authorities, Ibn al-Haytham's view that taqlid should apply only to prophets of Islam and not to any other authorities formed the basis for much of his scientific skepticism and criticism against Ptolemy and other ancient authorities in his Doubts Concerning Ptolemy and Book of Optics. + +Alhazen wrote a work on Islamic theology in which he discussed prophethood and developed a system of philosophical criteria to discern its false claimants in his time. +He also wrote a treatise entitled Finding the Direction of Qibla by Calculation in which he discussed finding the Qibla, where prayers (salat) are directed towards, mathematically. + +There are occasional references to theology or religious sentiment in his technical works, e.g. +in Doubts Concerning Ptolemy: + +In The Winding Motion: + +Regarding the relation of objective truth and God: + + Legacy + +Alhazen made significant contributions to optics, number theory, geometry, astronomy and natural philosophy. Alhazen's work on optics is credited with contributing a new emphasis on experiment. + +His main work, Kitab al-Manazir (Book of Optics), was known in the Muslim world mainly, but not exclusively, through the thirteenth-century commentary by Kamāl al-Dīn al-Fārisī, the Tanqīḥ al-Manāẓir li-dhawī l-abṣār wa l-baṣā'ir. In al-Andalus, it was used by the eleventh-century prince of the Banu Hud dynasty of Zaragossa and author of an important mathematical text, al-Mu'taman ibn Hūd. A Latin translation of the Kitab al-Manazir was made probably in the late twelfth or early thirteenth century. This translation was read by and greatly influenced a number of scholars in Christian Europe including: Roger Bacon, Robert Grosseteste, Witelo, Giambattista della Porta, Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo Galilei, Christiaan Huygens, René Descartes, and Johannes Kepler. Meanwhile, in the Islamic world, Alhazen's work influenced Averroes' writings on optics, and his legacy was further advanced through the 'reforming' of his Optics by Persian scientist Kamal al-Din al-Farisi (died c. 1320) in the latter's Kitab Tanqih al-Manazir (The Revision of [Ibn al-Haytham's] Optics). Alhazen wrote as many as 200 books, although only 55 have survived. Some of his treatises on optics survived only through Latin translation. During the Middle Ages his books on cosmology were translated into Latin, Hebrew and other languages. + +Although only one commentary on Alhazen's optics has survived the Islamic Middle Ages, Geoffrey Chaucer mentions the work in The Canterbury Tales: +"They spoke of Alhazen and Vitello, +And Aristotle, who wrote, in their lives, +On strange mirrors and optical instruments." + +The impact crater Alhazen on the Moon is named in his honour, as was the asteroid 59239 Alhazen. In honour of Alhazen, the Aga Khan University (Pakistan) named its Ophthalmology endowed chair as "The Ibn-e-Haitham Associate Professor and Chief of Ophthalmology". Alhazen, by the name Ibn al-Haytham, is featured on the obverse of the Iraqi 10,000-dinar banknote issued in 2003, and on 10-dinar notes from 1982. + +The 2015 International Year of Light celebrated the 1000th anniversary of the works on optics by Ibn Al-Haytham. + + Commemorations + +In 2014, the "Hiding in the Light" episode of Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey, presented by Neil deGrasse Tyson, focused on the accomplishments of Ibn al-Haytham. He was voiced by Alfred Molina in the episode. + +Over forty years previously, Jacob Bronowski presented Alhazen's work in a similar television documentary (and the corresponding book), The Ascent of Man. In episode 5 (The Music of the Spheres), Bronowski remarked that in his view, Alhazen was "the one really original scientific mind that Arab culture produced", whose theory of optics was not improved on till the time of Newton and Leibniz. + +H. J. J. Winter, a British historian of science, summing up the importance of Ibn al-Haytham in the history of physics wrote: +After the death of Archimedes no really great physicist appeared until Ibn al-Haytham. If, therefore, we confine our interest only to the history of physics, there is a long period of over twelve hundred years during which the Golden Age of Greece gave way to the era of Muslim Scholasticism, and the experimental spirit of the noblest physicist of Antiquity lived again in the Arab Scholar from Basra. + +UNESCO declared 2015 the International Year of Light and its Director-General Irina Bokova dubbed Ibn al-Haytham 'the father of optics'. Amongst others, this was to celebrate Ibn Al-Haytham's achievements in optics, mathematics and astronomy. An international campaign, created by the 1001 Inventions organisation, titled 1001 Inventions and the World of Ibn Al-Haytham featuring a series of interactive exhibits, workshops and live shows about his work, partnering with science centers, science festivals, museums, and educational institutions, as well as digital and social media platforms. The campaign also produced and released the short educational film 1001 Inventions and the World of Ibn Al-Haytham. + + List of works + +According to medieval biographers, Alhazen wrote more than 200 works on a wide range of subjects, of which at least 96 of his scientific works are known. Most of his works are now lost, but more than 50 of them have survived to some extent. Nearly half of his surviving works are on mathematics, 23 of them are on astronomy, and 14 of them are on optics, with a few on other subjects. Not all his surviving works have yet been studied, but some of the ones that have are given below. + + Book of Optics (كتاب المناظر) + Analysis and Synthesis (مقالة في التحليل والتركيب) + Balance of Wisdom (ميزان الحكمة) + Corrections to the Almagest (تصويبات على المجسطي) + Discourse on Place (مقالة في المكان) + Exact Determination of the Pole (التحديد الدقيق للقطب) + Exact Determination of the Meridian (رسالة في الشفق) + Finding the Direction of Qibla by Calculation (كيفية حساب اتجاه القبلة) + Horizontal Sundials (المزولة الأفقية) + Hour Lines (خطوط الساعة) + Doubts Concerning Ptolemy (شكوك على بطليموس) + Maqala fi'l-Qarastun (مقالة في قرسطون) + On Completion of the Conics (إكمال المخاريط) + On Seeing the Stars (رؤية الكواكب) + On Squaring the Circle (مقالة فی تربیع الدائرة) + On the Burning Sphere (المرايا المحرقة بالدوائر) + On the Configuration of the World (تكوين العالم) + On the Form of Eclipse (مقالة فی صورة ‌الکسوف) + On the Light of Stars (مقالة في ضوء النجوم) + On the Light of the Moon (مقالة في ضوء القمر) + On the Milky Way (مقالة في درب التبانة) + On the Nature of Shadows (كيفيات الإظلال) + On the Rainbow and Halo (مقالة في قوس قزح) + Opuscula (Minor Works) + Resolution of Doubts Concerning the Almagest (تحليل شكوك حول الجست) + Resolution of Doubts Concerning the Winding Motion + The Correction of the Operations in Astronomy (تصحيح العمليات في الفلك) + The Different Heights of the Planets (اختلاف ارتفاع الكواكب) + The Direction of Mecca (اتجاه القبلة) + The Model of the Motions of Each of the Seven Planets (نماذج حركات الكواكب السبعة) + The Model of the Universe (نموذج الكون) + The Motion of the Moon (حركة القمر) + The Ratios of Hourly Arcs to their Heights + The Winding Motion (الحركة المتعرجة) + Treatise on Light (رسالة في الضوء) + Treatise on Place (رسالة في المكان) + Treatise on the Influence of Melodies on the Souls of Animals (تأثير اللحون الموسيقية في النفوس الحيوانية) + كتاب في تحليل المسائل الهندسية (A book in engineering analysis) + الجامع في أصول الحساب (The whole in the assets of the account) + قول فی مساحة الکرة (Say in the sphere) + القول المعروف بالغریب فی حساب المعاملات (Saying the unknown in the calculation of transactions) + خواص المثلث من جهة العمود (Triangle properties from the side of the column) + رسالة فی مساحة المسجم المکافی (A message in the free space) + شرح أصول إقليدس (Explain the origins of Euclid) + المرايا المحرقة بالقطوع (The burning mirrors of the rainbow) + مقالة في القرصتن (Treatise on Centers of Gravity) + + Lost works + A Book in which I have Summarized the Science of Optics from the Two Books of Euclid and Ptolemy, to which I have added the Notions of the First Discourse which is Missing from Ptolemy's Book + Treatise on Burning Mirrors + Treatise on the Nature of [the Organ of] Sight and on How Vision is Achieved Through It + + See also + + "Hiding in the Light" + History of mathematics + Theoretical physics + History of optics + History of physics + History of science + History of scientific method + Hockney–Falco thesis + Mathematics in medieval Islam + Physics in medieval Islam + Science in the medieval Islamic world + Fatima al-Fihri + Islamic Golden Age + + Notes + + References + + Sources + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Reprinted in + + + + + + + + + + + + (Books I-III (2001) Vol 1 Commentary and Latin text via JSTOR; Vol 2 English translation I: TOC pp. 339–41, II: TOC pp. 415–16, III: TOC pp. 559–60, Notes 681ff, Bibl. via JSTOR) + + + (Books 4–5 (2006) 95 4 – Vol 1 Commentary and Latin text via JSTOR; 95 5 – Vol 2 English translation IV: TOC pp. 289–94, V: TOC pp. 377–84, Notes, Bibl. via JSTOR) + (Book 6 (2008) 98 (#1, section 1) – Vol 1 Commentary and Latin text via JSTOR; 98 (#1, section 2) – Vol 2 English translation VI:TOC pp. 155–160, Notes, Bibl. via JSTOR) + (Book 7 (2010) 100(#3, section 1) – Vol 1 Commentary and Latin text via JSTOR; 100(#3, section 2) – Vol 2 English translation VII: TOC pp. 213–18, Notes, Bibl. via JSTOR) + + + + + + + + + + + + + Further reading + Primary + + + + 2 vols: . (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society), 2006 – 95(#2) Books 4–5 Vol 1 Commentary and Latin text via JSTOR; 95(#3) Vol 2 English translation, Notes, Bibl. via JSTOR + Smith, A. Mark, ed. and trans. (2008) Alhacen on Image-formation and distortion in mirrors : a critical edition, with English translation and commentary, of Book 6 of Alhacen's De aspectibus, [the Medieval Latin version of Ibn al-Haytham's Kitāb al-Manāzir], Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, 2 vols: Vol 1 98(#1, section 1 – Vol 1 Commentary and Latin text); 98(#1, section 2 – Vol 2 English translation). (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society), 2008. Book 6 (2008) Vol 1 Commentary and Latin text via JSTOR; Vol 2 English translation, Notes, Bibl. via JSTOR + Smith, A. Mark, ed. and trans. (2010) Alhacen on Refraction : a critical edition, with English translation and commentary, of Book 7 of Alhacen's De aspectibus, [the Medieval Latin version of Ibn al-Haytham's Kitāb al-Manāzir], Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, 2 vols: 100(#3, section 1 – Vol 1, Introduction and Latin text); 100'''(#3, section 2 – Vol 2 English translation). (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society), 2010. Book 7 (2010) Vol 1 Commentary and Latin text via JSTOR;Vol 2 English translation, Notes, Bibl. via JSTOR + + Secondary + + Belting, Hans, Afterthoughts on Alhazen's Visual Theory and Its Presence in the Pictorial Theory of Western Perspective, in: Variantology 4. On Deep Time Relations of Arts, Sciences and Technologies in the Arabic-Islamic World and Beyond, ed. by Siegfried Zielinski and Eckhard Fürlus in cooperation with Daniel Irrgang and Franziska Latell (Cologne: Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König, 2010), pp. 19–42. + + + + + Graham, Mark. How Islam Created the Modern World. Amana Publications, 2006. + + Roshdi Rashed, Optics and Mathematics: Research on the history of scientific thought in Arabic, Variorum reprints, Aldershot, 1992. + Roshdi Rashed, Geometry and Dioptrics the tenth century: Ibn Sahl al-Quhi and Ibn al-Haytham (in French), Les Belles Lettres, Paris, 1993 + Roshdi Rashed, Infinitesimal Mathematics, vols. 1–5, al-Furqan Islamic Heritage Foundation, London, 1993–2006 + + Siegfried Zielinski & Franziska Latell, How One Sees'', in: Variantology 4. On Deep Time Relations of Arts, Sciences and Technologies in the Arabic-Islamic World and Beyond, ed. by Siegfried Zielinski and Eckhard Fürlus in cooperation with Daniel Irrgang and Franziska Latell (Cologne: Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König, 2010), pp. 19–42. Buchhandlung Walther-König - KWB 45: Variantology 4 + +External links + + + (PDF version) + 'A Brief Introduction on Ibn al-Haytham' based on a lecture delivered at the Royal Society in London by Nader El-Bizri + Ibn al-Haytham on two Iraqi banknotes + The Miracle of Light – a UNESCO article on Ibn al-Haytham + Biography from Malaspina Global Portal + Short biographies on several "Muslim Heroes and Personalities" including Ibn al-Haytham + + + Biography from Trinity College (Connecticut) + Biography from Molecular Expressions + The First True Scientist from BBC News + Over the Moon From The UNESCO Courier on the occasion of the International Year of Astronomy 2009 + The Mechanical Water Clock Of Ibn Al-Haytham, Muslim Heritage + Alhazen's (1572) Opticae thesaurus (English) – digital facsimile from the Linda Hall Library + + +960s births +1040 deaths +10th-century mathematicians +11th-century astronomers +11th-century mathematicians +Scholars under the Buyid dynasty +Mathematicians from the Fatimid Caliphate +Iraqi astronomers +Mathematicians under the Buyid dynasty +Iraqi scientists +Engineers of the medieval Islamic world +Medieval physicists +Philosophers of the medieval Islamic world +Philosophers of science +Natural philosophers +People from Basra +Precursors of photography +Scientists who worked on qibla determination +Inventors of the medieval Islamic world +History of scientific method +History of optics +11th-century inventors +Alessandro di Cristofano di Lorenzo del Bronzino Allori (Florence, 31 May 153522 September 1607) was an Italian painter of the late Mannerist Florentine school. + +Biography +In 1540, after the death of his father, Allori was brought up and trained in art by a close friend, often referred to as his 'uncle', the mannerist painter Agnolo Bronzino, whose name he sometimes assumed in his pictures. Allori supplemented this training with a study trip to Rome, between 1554 and 1560, and with anatomical research which included the dissection of human corpses, provided by the Hospital of Santa Maria Nuova. + +In the prime of his career, Allori headed one of the "two most important workshops in Florence in the second half of the 16th century" (the other being headed by Santi di Tito). He served as First Consul of the Accademia del Disegno in 1573, and was made head of the Arazzeria Medicea, Florence's state-owned tapestry workshop, in 1581. Allori also worked, under the guidance of Giorgio Vasari, among the team of artists who decorated the Studiolo of Francesco I. He contributed two painted panels, depicting a Banquet of Cleopatra and a landscape with figures diving for pearls. + +S. J. Freedberg derides Allori as derivative, claiming he illustrates "the ideal of Maniera by which art (and style) are generated out of pre-existing art." The cold and polished appearance of his painted figures makes them resemble statues as much as living beings. The art historian Simona Lecchini Giovannoni is more positive, remarking that Allori lends life and immediacy to his paintings through his minute and realistic depictions of vegetal motifs (especially flowers), household articles, and textiles of all kinds; the "grandiose, introverted figures" are thus enabled to "approach the spectator, not with dialogue and sentiment, but through the tangible evidence of objects and details". + +Among his collaborators was Giovanni Maria Butteri and his main pupil was Giovanni Bizzelli. Cristofano dell'Altissimo, Cesare Dandini, Aurelio Lomi, John Mosnier, Alessandro Pieroni, Giovanni Battista Vanni, and Monanni also were his pupils. He was the father of the painter Cristofano Allori (1577–1621). + +In some ways, Allori is the last of the line of prominent Florentine painters, of generally undiluted Tuscan artistic heritage: Andrea del Sarto worked with Fra Bartolomeo (as well as Leonardo da Vinci), Pontormo briefly worked under Andrea, and trained Bronzino, who trained Allori. Subsequent generations in the city would be strongly influenced by the tide of Baroque styles pre-eminent in other parts of Italy. + +Main works + + Portrait of a Young Man (1561; Ashmolean Museum, Oxford) + Christ and the Samaritan Woman (Altarpiece, 1575, Santa Maria Novella, now Prato) + Road to Calvary (1604, Rome) + Dead Christ and Angels, (Museum Fine Arts, Budapest) + Portrait of Piero de Médici, (São Paulo Art Museum, São Paulo) + Pearl Fishing (1570–72, Studiolo of Francesco I, Palazzo Vecchio, Florence) + Susanna and the Elders (202 × 117 cm, Musée Magnin, Dijon) + Allegory of Human Life + The Miracle of St. Peter Walking on Water + Venus and Cupid, (Musée Fabre, Montpellier) + Additions to Andrea del Sarto's Tribute to Caesar (1582; Villa di Poggio a Caiano) + +In 2006 the BBC foreign correspondent Sir Charles Wheeler returned an original Alessandro Allori painting to the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin. He had been given it in Germany in 1952, but only recently realized its origin and that it must have been looted in the wake of World War II. The work is possibly a portrait of Eleonora (Dianora) di Toledo de' Medici, niece of Eleonora di Toledo, and measures 12 cm x 16 cm. + +Gallery + +References + + Alessandro Allori in the "History of Art" + Painting in Italy 1500-1600, Freedberg, S.J. (Penguin History of Art, 2nd Edition, 1983). + +External links + + Alessandro Allori Paintings Gallery (Public Domain Paintings - www.art.onilm.com) + +1535 births +1607 deaths +16th-century Italian painters +Italian male painters +17th-century Italian painters +Painters from Florence +Italian Mannerist painters +Italian portrait painters +The Almoravid dynasty () was an imperial Berber Muslim dynasty centered in the territory of present-day Morocco. It established an empire in the 11th century that stretched over the western Maghreb and Al-Andalus, starting in the 1050s and lasting until its fall to the Almohads in 1147. The dynasty emerged from a coalition of the Lamtuna, Gudala, and Massufa, nomadic Berber tribes living in what is now Mauritania and the Western Sahara, traversing the territory between the Draa, the Niger, and the Senegal rivers. During their expansion into the Maghreb, the Almoravids founded the city of Marrakesh as a capital, . + +The Almoravids were crucial in preventing the fall of Al-Andalus (Muslim rule in Iberia) to the Iberian Christian kingdoms, when they decisively defeated a coalition of the Castilian and Aragonese armies at the Battle of Sagrajas in 1086. This enabled them to control an empire that stretched north to south. Their rulers never claimed the title of caliph and instead took on the title of Amir al-Muslimīn ("Prince of the Muslims") while formally acknowledging the overlordship of the Abbasid Caliphs in Baghdad. However, the rule of the dynasty was relatively short-lived. The Almoravids fell—at the height of their power—when they failed to stop the Masmuda-led rebellion initiated by Ibn Tumart. As a result, their last king Ishaq ibn Ali was killed in Marrakesh in April 1147 by the Almohad Caliphate, which replaced them as a ruling dynasty both in the Maghreb and Al-Andalus. + +Name +The term "Almoravid" comes from the Arabic "" (), through the . The transformation of the in "" to the in is an example of betacism in Spanish. + +In Arabic, "" literally means "one who is tying" but figuratively means "one who is ready for battle at a fortress". The term is related to the notion of , a North African frontier monastery-fortress, through the root r-b-t ( "": to tie, to unite or "": to encamp). + +The name "Almoravid" was tied to a school of Malikite law called "Dar al-Murabitin" founded in Sus al-Aksa, modern day Morocco, by a scholar named Waggag ibn Zallu. Ibn Zallu sent his student Abdallah ibn Yasin to preach Malikite Islam to the Sanhaja Berbers of the Adrar (present-day Mauritania). Hence, the name of the Almoravids comes from the followers of the Dar al-Murabitin, "the house of those who were bound together in the cause of God." + +It is uncertain exactly when or why the Almoravids acquired that appellation. Al-Bakri, writing in 1068, before their apex, already calls them the al-Murabitun, but does not clarify the reasons for it. Writing three centuries later, Ibn Abi Zar suggested it was chosen early on by Abdallah ibn Yasin because, upon finding resistance among the Gudala Berbers of Adrar (Mauritania) to his teaching, he took a handful of followers to erect a makeshift ribat (monastery-fortress) on an offshore island (possibly Tidra island, in the Bay of Arguin). Ibn 'Idhari wrote that the name was suggested by Ibn Yasin in the "persevering in the fight" sense, to boost morale after a particularly hard-fought battle in the Draa valley , in which they had taken many losses. Whichever explanation is true, it seems certain the appellation was chosen by the Almoravids for themselves, partly with the conscious goal of forestalling any tribal or ethnic identifications. + +The name might be related to the ribat of Waggag ibn Zallu in the village of Aglu (near present-day Tiznit), where the future Almoravid spiritual leader Abdallah ibn Yasin got his initial training. The 13th-century Moroccan biographer Ibn al-Zayyat al-Tadili, and Qadi Ayyad before him in the 12th century, note that Waggag's learning center was called Dar al-Murabitin (The house of the Almoravids), and that might have inspired Ibn Yasin's choice of name for the movement. + +Contemporaries frequently referred to them as the al-mulathimun ("the veiled ones", from , Arabic for "veil"). The Almoravids veiled themselves below the eyes with a tagelmust, a custom they adapted from southern Sanhaja Berbers (this can still be seen among the modern Tuareg people, but it was unusual further north). Although practical for the desert dust, the Almoravids insisted on wearing the veil everywhere, as a badge of "foreignness" in urban settings, partly as a way of emphasizing their puritan credentials. It served as the uniform of the Almoravids. Under their rule, sumptuary laws forbade anybody else from wearing the veil, thereby making it the distinctive dress of the ruling class. In turn, the succeeding Almohads made a point of mocking the Almoravid veil as symbolic of effeminacy and decadence. + +History + +Origins + +The Berbers of the Maghreb in the early Middle Ages could be roughly classified into three major groups: the Zenata across the north, the Masmuda, concentrated in central Morocco, and the Sanhaja, clustered in the western part of the Sahara and the hills of the eastern Maghreb. The eastern Sanhaja included the Kutama Berbers, who had been the base of the Fatimid rise in the early 10th century, and the Zirid dynasty, who ruled Ifriqiya as vassals of the Fatimids after the latter moved to Egypt in 972. The western Sanhaja were divided into several tribes: the Gazzula and the Lamta in the Draa valley and the foothills of the Anti-Atlas range; further south, encamped in the western Sahara, were the Massufa, the Banu Warith; and most southerly of all, the Lamtuna and Gudala, in littoral Mauritania down to the borderlands of the Senegal River. + +The western Sanhaja had been converted to Islam some time in the 9th century. They were subsequently united in the 10th century and, with the zeal of new converts, launched several campaigns against the "Sudanese" (pagan peoples of sub-Saharan Africa). Under their king Tinbarutan ibn Usfayshar, the Sanhaja Lamtuna erected (or captured) the citadel of Aoudaghost, a critical stop on the trans-Saharan trade route. After the collapse of the Sanhaja union, Aoudaghost passed over to the Ghana Empire; and the trans-Saharan routes were taken over by the Zenata Maghrawa of Sijilmasa. The Maghrawa also exploited this disunion to dislodge the Sanhaja Gazzula and Lamta out of their pasturelands in the Sous and Draa valleys. Around 1035, the Lamtuna chieftain Abu Abdallah Muhammad ibn Tifat (alias Tarsina), tried to reunite the Sanhaja desert tribes, but his reign lasted less than three years. + +Around 1040, Yahya ibn Ibrahim, a chieftain of the Gudala (and brother-in-law of the late Tarsina), went on pilgrimage to Mecca. On his return, he stopped by Kairouan in Ifriqiya, where he met Abu Imran al-Fasi, a native of Fez and a jurist and scholar of the Sunni Maliki school. At this time, Ifriqiya was in ferment. The Zirid ruler, al-Mu'izz ibn Badis, was openly contemplating breaking with his Shi'ite Fatimid overlords in Cairo, and the jurists of Kairouan were agitating for him to do so. Within this heady atmosphere, Yahya and Abu Imran fell into conversation on the state of the faith in their western homelands, and Yahya expressed his disappointment at the lack of religious education and negligence of Islamic law among his southern Sanhaja people. With Abu Imran's recommendation, Yahya ibn Ibrahim made his way to the ribat of Waggag ibn Zelu in the Sous valley of southern Morocco, to seek out a Maliki teacher for his people. Waggag assigned him one of his residents, Abdallah ibn Yasin. + +Abdallah ibn Yasin was a Gazzula Berber, and probably a convert rather than a born Muslim. His name can be read as "son of Ya-Sin" (the title of the 36th surah of the Quran), suggesting he had obliterated his family past and was "re-born" of the Holy Book. Ibn Yasin certainly had the ardor of a puritan zealot; his creed was mainly characterized by a rigid formalism and a strict adherence to the dictates of the Quran, and the Orthodox tradition. (Chroniclers such as al-Bakri allege Ibn Yasin's learning was superficial.) Ibn Yasin's initial meetings with the Guddala people went poorly. As he had more ardor than depth, Ibn Yasin's arguments were disputed by his audience. He responded to questioning with charges of apostasy and handed out harsh punishments for the slightest deviations. The Guddala soon had enough and expelled him almost immediately after the death of his protector, Yahya ibn Ibrahim, sometime in the 1040s. + +Ibn Yasin, however, found a more favorable reception among the neighboring Lamtuna people. Probably sensing the useful organizing power of Ibn Yasin's pious fervor, the Lamtuna chieftain Yahya ibn Umar al-Lamtuni invited the man to preach to his people. The Lamtuna leaders, however, kept Ibn Yasin on a careful leash, forging a more productive partnership between them. Invoking stories of the early life of Muhammad, Ibn Yasin preached that conquest was a necessary addendum to Islamicization, that it was not enough to merely adhere to God's law, but necessary to also destroy opposition to it. In Ibn Yasin's ideology, anything and everything outside of Islamic law could be characterized as "opposition". He identified tribalism, in particular, as an obstacle. He believed it was not enough to urge his audiences to put aside their blood loyalties and ethnic differences, and embrace the equality of all Muslims under the Sacred Law, it was necessary to make them do so. For the Lamtuna leadership, this new ideology dovetailed with their long desire to refound the Sanhaja union and recover their lost dominions. In the early 1050s, the Lamtuna, under the joint leadership of Yahya ibn Umar and Abdallah ibn Yasin—soon calling themselves the al-Murabitin (Almoravids)—set out on a campaign to bring their neighbors over to their cause. + +Expansion + +Early conquests +In the early 1050s, a kind of triumvirate emerged in leading the Almoravid movement, including Abdallah Ibn Yasin, Yahya Ibn Umar and his brother Abu Bakr Ibn Umar. The movement was now dominated by the Lamtuna rather than the Guddala. During the 1050s the Almoravids began their expansion and their conquest of the Saharan tribes. Their first major targets were two strategic cities located at the northern and southern edges of desert: Sijilmasa in the north and Awdaghust (Aoudaghost). Control of these two cities would allow the Almoravids to effectively control the trans-Saharan trade routes. Sijilmasa was controlled by the Maghrawa, a part of the northern Zenata Berber confederation, while Awdaghust was controlled by the Soninke. Both cities were captured in 1054 or 1055. Sijilmasa was captured first and its leader, Mas'ud Ibn Wannudin, was killed, along with other Maghrawa leaders. According to historical sources, the Almoravid army rode on camels and numbered 30,000, though this number may be an exaggeration. Strengthened with the spoils of their victory, they left a garrison of Lamtuna tribesmen in the city and then turned south to capture Awdaghust, which they accomplished that same year. Although the town was mainly Muslim, the Almoravids pillaged the city and treated the population harshly on the basis that they recognized the pagan king of Ghana. + +Not long after the main Almoravid army left Sijilmasa the city rebelled and the Maghrawa returned, slaughtering the Lamtuna garrison. Ibn Yasin responded by organizing a second expedition to recapture it, but the Guddala refused to join him and returned instead to their homelands in the desert regions along the Atlantic coast. Historian Amira Bennison suggests that some Almoravids, including the Guddala, were unwilling to be dragged into a conflict with the powerful Zanata tribes of the north and this created tension with those, like Ibn Yasin, who saw northern expansion as the next step in their fortunes. While Ibn Yasin went north, Yahya Ibn Umar remained in the south in the Adrar, the heartland of the Lamtuna, in a defensible and well-provisioned place called Jabal Lamtuna, about 10 kilometres northwest of modern Atar. His stronghold there was a fortress called Azuggi (also rendered variably as Azougui or Azukki), which had been built earlier by his brother Yannu ibn Umar al-Hajj. Some scholars, including Attilio Gaudio, Christiane Vanacker, and Brigitte Himpan and Diane Himpan-Sabatier describe Azuggi as the "first capital" of the Almoravids. Yahya ibn Umar was subsequently killed in battle against the Guddala in 1055 or 1056, or later in 1057. + +Meanwhile, Ibn Yasin in the north had ordered Abu Bakr to take command of the Almoravid army and they soon recaptured Sijilmasa. By 1056, they had conquered Taroudant and the Sous Valley, continuing to impose Maliki Islamic law over the communities they conquered. When the campaign concluded that year, they retired to Sijilmasa and established their base there. It was around this time that Abu Bakr appointed his cousin, Yusuf ibn Tashfin, to command the garrison of the city. + +In 1058 they crossed the High Atlas and conquered Aghmat, a prosperous commercial town near the foothills of the mountains, and made it their capital. They then came in contact with the Barghawata, a Berber tribal confederation who followed an Islamic "heresy" preached by Salih ibn Tarif three centuries earlier. The Barghawata occupied the region northwest of Aghmat and along the Atlantic coast. They resisted the Almoravids fiercely and the campaign against them was bloody. Abdullah ibn Yasin was killed in battle with them in 1058 or 1059, at a place called Kurīfalalt or Kurifala. By 1060, however, they were conquered by Abu Bakr ibn Umar and were forced to convert to orthodox Islam. Shortly after this, Abu Bakr had reached as far as Meknes. + +Towards 1068, Abu Bakr married a noble and wealthy Berber woman, Zaynab an-Nafzawiyyah, who would become very influential in the development of the dynasty. Zaynab was the daughter of a wealthy merchant from Kairouan who had settled in Aghmat. She had been previously married to Laqut ibn Yusuf ibn Ali al-Maghrawi, the ruler of Aghmat, until the latter was killed during the Almoravid conquest of the city. + +Founding of Marrakesh and internal division +It was around this time that Abu Bakr ibn Umar founded the new capital of Marrakesh. Historical sources cite a variety of dates for this event ranging from 1062, given by Ibn Abi Zar and Ibn Khaldun, to 1078 (470 AH), given by Muhammad al-Idrisi. The year 1070, given by Ibn Idhari, is more commonly used by modern historians, although 1062 is still cited by some writers. Shortly after founding the new city, Abu Bakr was compelled to return south to the Sahara in order to suppress a rebellion by the Guddala and their allies which threatened the desert trade routes, in either 1060 or 1071. His wife Zaynab appears to have been unwilling to follow him south and he granted her a divorce. Apparently on Abu Bakr's instructions, she was then married to Yusuf Ibn Tashfin. Before leaving, Abu Bakr appointed Ibn Tashfin as his deputy in charge of the new Almoravid territories in the north. According to Ibn Idhari, Zaynab became his most important political advisor. + +A year later, after suppressing the revolt in the south, Abu Bakr returned north toward Marrakesh, expecting to resume his control of the city and of the Almoravid forces in North Africa. Ibn Tashfin, however, was now unwilling to give up his own position of leadership. While Abu Bakr was still camped near Aghmat, Ibn Tashfin sent him lavish gifts but refused to obey his summons, reportedly on the advice of Zaynab. Abu Bakr recognized that he was unable to force the issue and was unwilling to fight a battle over control of Marrakesh, so he decided to voluntarily recognize Ibn Tashfin's leadership in the Maghreb. The two men met on neutral ground between Aghmat and Marrakesh to confirm the arrangement. After a short stay in Aghmat, Abu Bakr returned south to continue his leadership of the Almoravids in the Sahara. + +Following this, the Almoravid Empire was divided into two distinct but co-dependent parts: one led by Ibn Tashfin in the north, and another led by Abu Bakr in the south. Abu Bakr continued to be formally acknowledged as the supreme leader of the Almoravids until his death in 1087. Historical sources give no indication that the two leaders treated each other other as enemies and Ibn Tashfin continued to mint coins in Abu Bakr's name until the latter's death. Following Abu Bakr's departure, Ibn Tashfin was largely responsible for building the Almoravid state in the Maghreb over the next two decades. One of Abu Bakr's sons, Ibrahim, who served as the Almoravid leader in Sijilmasa between 1071 and 1076 (according to the coinage minted there), did develop a rivalry with Ibn Tashfin and attempted to confront him toward 1076. He marched to Aghmat with the intention of reclaiming his father's position in the Maghreb. Another Almoravid commander, Mazdali ibn Tilankan, who was related to both men, diffused the situation and convinced Ibrahim to join his father in the south rather than start a civil war. + +Further conquests in the Maghreb +Ibn Tashfin had in the meantime helped to bring the large area of what is now Morocco, Western Sahara, and Mauritania under Almoravid control. He spent at least several years capturing each fort and settlement in the region around Fez and in northern Morocco. After most of the surrounding region was under his control, he was finally able to conquer Fez definitively. However, there is some contradiction and uncertainty among historical sources regarding the exact chronology of these conquests, with some sources dating the main conquests to the 1060s and others dating them to the 1070s. Some modern authors cite the date of the final conquest of Fez as 1069 (461 AH). Historian Ronald Messier gives the date more specifically as 18 March 1070 (462 AH). Other historians date this conquest to 1074 or 1075. + +In 1079 Ibn Tashfin sent an army 20,000 strong from Marrakesh to push towards what is now Tlemcen to attack the Banu Ya'la, the Zenata tribe occupying the area. Led by Mazdali Ibn Tilankan, the army defeated the Banu Ya'la in battle near the valley of the Moulaya River and executed their commander, Mali Ibn Ya'la, the son of Tlemcen's ruler. However, Ibn Tilankan did not push to Tlemcen right away as the city of Oujda, occupied by the Bani Iznasan, was too strong to capture. Instead, Ibn Tashfin himself returned with an army in 1081 that captured Oujda and then conquered Tlemcen, massacring the Maghrawa forces there and their leader, al-Abbas Ibn Bakhti al-Maghrawi. He pressed on and by 1082 he had captured Algiers. Ibn Tashfin subsequently treated Tlemcen as his eastern base. At that time the city had consisted of an older settlement called Agadir, but Ibn Tashfin founded a new city next to it called Takrart, which later merged with Agadir in the Almohad period to become the present city. + +The Almoravids subsequently clashed with the Hammadids to the east multiple times, but they did not make a sustained effort to conquer the central Maghrib and instead focused their efforts on other fronts. Eventually, in 1104, they signed a peace treaty with the Hammadids. Algiers became their easternmost outpost. + +Before campaigning in Al-Andalus, where the Taifas emirs were requesting his help, Ibn Tashfin made the capture of Ceuta his primary objective instead. Ceuta, controlled by Zenata forces under the command of Diya al-Dawla Yahya, was the last major city on the African side of the Strait of Gibraltar that still held out against him. In return for a promise to help him against the encroaching Christian kingdoms, Ibn Tashfin demanded that al-Mu'tamid ibn Abbad, the ruler of Seville, provide assistance in besieging the city. Al-Mu'tamid obliged and sent a fleet to blockade the city by sea, while Ibn Tashfin's son Tamim led the siege by land. The city finally surrendered in June–July 1083 or in August 1084. + +Under Ibn Tashfin, the western Maghreb was divided into well-defined administrative provinces for the first time – prior to this, it had been mostly tribal territory. A developing central government was established in Marrakesh, while Ibn Tashfin entrusted key provinces to important allies and relatives. The nascent Almoravid state was funded in part by the taxes allowed under Islamic law and by the gold that came from Ghana in the south, but in practice it remained dependent on the spoils of new conquests. The majority of the Almoravid army continued to be composed of Sanhaja recruits, but Ibn Tashfin also began recruiting slaves to form a personal guard (ḥashm), including 5000 black soldiers ('abid) and 500 white soldiers (uluj, likely of European origin). + +Southern Almoravids and the Ghana Empire +After leaving Yusuf Ibn Tashfin in the north and returning south, Abu Bakr Ibn Umar reportedly made Azuggi his base. The town acted as the capital of the southern Almoravids under him and his successors. Despite the importance of the Saharan trade routes to the Almoravids, the history of the southern wing of the empire is not well documented in Arabic historical sources and is often neglected in histories of the Maghreb and al-Andalus. This has also encouraged a division in modern studies about the Almoravids, with archeology playing a greater role in the study of the southern wing, in the absence of more textual sources. The exact nature and impact of the Almoravid presence in the Sahel is a strongly debated topic among Africanists. + +According to Arab tradition, the Almoravids under Abu Bakr's leadership conquered the Ghana Empire, founded by the Soninke, sometime around 1076–77. An example of this tradition is the record of historian Ibn Khaldun, who cited Shaykh Uthman, the faqih of Ghana, writing in 1394. According to this source, the Almoravids weakened Ghana and collected tribute from the Sudan, to the extent that the authority of the rulers of Ghana dwindled away, and they were subjugated and absorbed by the Sosso, a neighboring people of the Sudan. Traditions in Mali related that the Sosso attacked and took over Mali as well, and the ruler of the Sosso, Sumaouro Kanté, took over the land. + +However, criticism from Conrad and Fisher (1982) argued that the notion of any Almoravid military conquest at its core is merely perpetuated folklore, derived from a misinterpretation or naive reliance on Arabic sources. According to Professor Timothy Insoll, the archaeology of ancient Ghana simply does not show the signs of rapid change and destruction that would be associated with any Almoravid-era military conquests. + +Dierke Lange agreed with the original military incursion theory but argues that this doesn't preclude Almoravid political agitation, claiming that the main factor of the demise of the Ghana Empire owed much to the latter. According to Lange, Almoravid religious influence was gradual, rather than the result of military action; there the Almoravids gained power by marrying among the nation's nobility. Lange attributes the decline of ancient Ghana to numerous unrelated factors, one of which is likely attributable to internal dynastic struggles instigated by Almoravid influence and Islamic pressures, but devoid of military conquest. + +This interpretation of events has been disputed by later scholars like Sheryl L. Burkhalter, who argued that, whatever the nature of the "conquest" in the south of the Sahara, the influence and success of the Almoravid movement in securing west African gold and circulating it widely necessitated a high degree of political control. + +The traditional position says that the ensuing war with the Almoravids pushed Ghana over the edge, ending the kingdom's position as a commercial and military power by 1100. It collapsed into tribal groups and chieftaincies, some of which later assimilated into the Almoravids while others founded the Mali Empire. + +The Arab geographer Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri wrote that the Almoravids ended Ibadi Islam in Tadmekka in 1084 and that Abu Bakr "arrived at the mountain of gold" in the deep south. Abu Bakr finally died in Tagant in November 1087 following an injury in battle—according to oral tradition, from an arrow – while fighting in the historic region of the Sudan. + +After the death of Abu Bakr (1087), the confederation of Berber tribes in the Sahara was divided between the descendants of Abu Bakr and his brother Yahya, and would have lost control of Ghana. Sheryl Burkhalter suggests that Abu Bakr's son Yahya was the leader of the Almoravid expedition that conquered Ghana in 1076, and that the Almoravids would have survived the loss of Ghana and the defeat in the Maghreb by the Almohads, and would have ruled the Sahara until the end of the 12th century. + +Iberian Peninsula and the northern wing + +In 1086 Yusuf ibn Tashfin was invited by the Muslim taifa princes of Al-Andalus in the Iberian Peninsula to defend their territories from the encroachment of Alfonso VI, King of León and Castile. In that year, Ibn Tashfin crossed the Strait of Gibraltar to Algeciras, and defeated Castile at the Battle of Sagrajas. He was prevented from following up his victory by trouble in Africa, which he chose to settle in person. + +He returned to Iberia in 1090, avowedly for the purpose of annexing the taifa principalities of Iberia. He was supported by most of the Iberian people, who were discontented with the heavy taxation imposed upon them by their spendthrift rulers. Their religious teachers, as well as others in the east (most notably, al-Ghazali in Persia and al-Turtushi in Egypt, who was himself an Iberian by birth from Tortosa), detested the taifa rulers for their religious indifference. The clerics issued a fatwa (a non-binding legal opinion) that Yusuf was of sound morals and had the religious right to dethrone the rulers, whom he saw as heterodox in their faith. By 1094, Yusuf had annexed most of the major taifas, with the exception of the one at Zaragoza. The Almoravids were victorious at the Battle of Consuegra, during which the son of El Cid, Diego Rodríguez, perished. Alfonso, with some Leónese, retreated into the castle of Consuegra, which was besieged for eight days until the Almoravids withdrew to the south. + +After friendly correspondence with the caliph at Baghdad, whom he acknowledged as Amir al-Mu'minin ("Commander of the Faithful"), Yusuf ibn Tashfin in 1097 assumed the title of Amir al Muslimin ("Commander of the Muslims"). He died in 1106, when he was reputed to have reached the age of 100. The Almoravid power was at its height at Yusuf's death: the Moorish empire then included all of Northwest Africa as far eastward as Algiers, and all of Iberia south of the Tagus and as far eastward as the mouth of the Ebro, and including the Balearic Islands. + +In 1108 Tamim Al Yusuf defeated the Kingdom of Castile at the Battle of Uclés. Yusuf did not reconquer much territory from the Christian kingdoms, except that of Valencia; but he did hinder the progress of the Christian Reconquista by uniting al-Andalus. In 1134, at the Battle of Fraga, the Almoravids were victorious and even succeeded in slaying Alfonso the Battler in the battle. + +Decline + +Under Yusuf's son and successor, Ali ibn Yusuf, Sintra and Santarém were added, and he invaded Iberia again in 1119 and 1121, but the tide had turned, as the French had assisted the Aragonese to recover Zaragoza. In 1138, Ali ibn Yusuf was defeated by Alfonso VII of León and Castile, and in the Battle of Ourique (1139), by Afonso I of Portugal, who thereby won his crown. Lisbon was conquered by the Portuguese in 1147. + +According to some scholars, Ali ibn Yusuf represented a new generation of leadership that had forgotten the desert life for the comforts of the city. He was defeated by the combined action of his Christian foes in Iberia and the agitation of the Almohads (Muwahhids) in Morocco. After Ali ibn Yusuf's death in 1143, his son Tashfin ibn Ali lost ground rapidly before the Almohads. In 1146 he was killed in a fall from a precipice while attempting to escape after a defeat near Oran. + +His two successors were Ibrahim ibn Tashfin and Ishaq ibn Ali, but their reigns were short. The conquest of the city of Marrakesh by the Almohads in 1147 marked the fall of the dynasty, though fragments of the Almoravids continued to struggle throughout the empire. Among these fragments, there was the rebel Yahya Al-Sahrāwiyya, who resisted Almohad rule in the Maghreb for eight years after the fall of Marrakesh before surrendering in 1155. Also in 1155, the remaining Almoravids were forced to retreat to the Balearic Islands and later Ifriqiya under the leadership of the Banu Ghaniya, who were eventually influential in the downfall of their conquerors, the Almohads, in the Eastern part of the Maghreb. + +Culture + +Religion + +The Almoravid movement started as a conservative Islamic reform movement inspired by the Maliki school of jurisprudence. The writings of Abu Imran al-Fasi, a Moroccan Maliki scholar, influenced Yahya Ibn Ibrahim and the early Almoravid movement. + +Art + +Amira Bennison describes the art of the Almoravid period as influenced by the "integration of several areas into a single political unit and the resultant development of a widespread Andalusi–Maghribi style", as well as the tastes of the Sanhaja rulers as patrons of art. Bennison also challenges Robert Hillenbrand's characterization of the art of al-Andalus and the Maghreb as provincial and peripheral in consideration of Islamic art globally, and of the contributions of the Almoravids as "sparse" as a result of the empire's "puritanical fervour" and "ephemerality." + +At first, the Almoravids, subscribing to the conservative Maliki school of Islamic jurisprudence, rejected what they perceived as decadence and a lack of piety among the Iberian Muslims of the Andalusi taifa kingdoms. However, monuments and textiles from Almería from the late Almoravid period indicate that the empire had changed its attitude with time. + +Artistic production under the Almoravids included finely constructed minbars produced in Córdoba; marble basins and tombstones in Almería; fine textiles in Almería, Málaga, Seville; and luxury ceramics. + +Marble work +A large group of marble tombstones have been preserved from the first half of the 12th century. They were crafted in Almería in Al-Andalus, at a time when it was a prosperous port city under Almoravid control. The tombstones were made of Macael marble, which was quarried locally, and carved with extensive Kufic inscriptions that were sometimes adorned with vegetal or geometric motifs. These demonstrate that the Almoravids not only reused Umayyad marble columns and basins, but also commissioned new works. The inscriptions on them are dedicated to various individuals, both men and women, from a range of different occupations, indicating that such tombstones were relatively affordable. The stones take the form of either rectangular stelae or of long horizontal prisms known as mqabriyyas (similar to the ones found in the much later Saadian Tombs of Marrakesh). They have been found in many locations across West Africa and Western Europe, which is evidence that a wide-reaching industry and trade in marble existed. A number of pieces found in France were likely acquired from later pillaging. Some of the most ornate tombstones found outside Al-Andalus were discovered in Gao-Saney in the African Sahel, testament to the reach of Almoravid influence into the African continent. + +Two Almoravid-period marble columns have also been found reused as spolia in later monuments in Fes. One is incorporated into the window of the Dar al-Muwaqqit (timekeeper's house) overlooking the courtyard of the Qarawiyyin Mosque, built in the Marinid period. The other is embedded into the decoration of the exterior southern façade of the Zawiya of Moulay Idris II, a structure which was rebuilt by Ismail Ibn Sharif. + +Textiles +The fact that Ibn Tumart, leader of the Almohad movement, is recorded as having criticized Sultan Ali ibn Yusuf for "sitting on a luxurious silken cloak" at his grand mosque in Marrakesh indicates the important role of textiles under the Almoravids. + +Many of the remaining fabrics from the Almoravid period were reused by Christians, with examples in the reliquary of San Isidoro in León, a chasuble from Saint-Sernin in Toulouse, the Chasuble of San Juan de Ortega in the church of Quintanaortuña (near Burgos), the shroud of San Pedro de Osma, and a fragment found at the church of Thuir in the eastern Pyrenees. Some of these pieces are characterized by the appearance of Kufic or "Hispano-Kufic" woven inscriptions, with letters sometimes ending in ornamental vegetal flourishes. The Chasuble of San Juan de Ortega is one such example, made of silk and gold thread and dating to the first half of the 12th century. The Shroud of San Pedro de Osma is notable for its inscription stating "this was made in Baghdad", suggesting that it was imported. However, more recent scholarship has suggested that the textile was instead produced locally in centres such as Almeria, but that they were copied or based on eastern imports. It's even possible that the inscription was knowingly falsified in order to exaggerate its value to potential sellers; Al-Saqati of Málaga, a 12th-century writer and market inspector, wrote that there were regulations designed to prohibit the practice of making such false inscriptions. As a result of the inscription, many of these textiles are known in scholarship as the "Baghdad group", representing a stylistically coherent and artistically rich group of silken textiles seemingly dating to reign of Ali ibn Yusuf or the first half of the 12th century. Aside from the inscription, the shroud of San Pedro de Osma is decorated with images of two lions and harpies inside roundels that are ringed by images of small men holding griffins, repeating across the whole fabric. The chasuble from Saint-Sernin is likewise decorated with figural images, in this case a pair of peacocks repeating in horizontal bands, with vegetal stems separating each pair and small kufic inscriptions running along the bottom. + +The decorative theme of having a regular grid of roundels containing images of animals and figures, with more abstract motifs filling the spaces in between, has origins traced as far back as Persian Sasanian textiles. In subsequent periods, starting with the Almohads, these roundels with figurative imagery are progressively replaced with more abstract roundels, while epigraphic decoration becomes more prominent than before. + +Calligraphy and manuscript illumination +In early Islamic manuscripts, Kufic was the main script used for religious texts. Western or Maghrebi Kufic evolved from the standard (or eastern) Kufic style and was marked by the transformation of the low swooping sections of letters from rectangular forms to long semi-circular forms. It is found in 10th century Qurans before the Almoravid period. Almoravid Kufic is the variety of Maghrebi Kufic script that was used as an official display script during the Almoravid period. + +Eventually, Maghrebi Kufic gave rise to a distinctive cursive script known as "Maghrebi", the only cursive script of Arabic derived from Kufic, which was fully formed by the early 12th century under the Almoravids. This style was commonly used in Qurans and other religious works from this period onward, but it was rarely ever used in architectural inscriptions. One version of this script during this early period is the Andalusi script, which was associated with Al-Andalus. It was usually finer and denser, and while the loops of letters below the line are semi-circular, the extensions of letters above the line continue to use straight lines that recall its Kufic origins. Another version of the script is rounder and larger, and is more associated with the Maghreb, although it is nonetheless found in Andalusi volumes too. + +The oldest known illuminated Quran from the western Islamic world (i.e. the Maghreb and Al-Andalus) dates from 1090, towards the end of the first Taifas period and the beginning of the Almoravid domination in Al-Andalus. It was produced either in the Maghreb or Al-Andalus and is now kept at the Uppsala University Library. Its decoration is still in the earliest phases of artistic development, lacking the sophistication of later volumes, but many of the features that were standard in later manuscripts are present: the script is written in the Maghrebi style in black ink, but the diacritics (vowels and other orthographic signs) are in red or blue, simple gold and black roundels mark the end of verses, and headings are written in gold Kufic inside a decorated frame and background. It also contains a frontispiece, of relatively simple design, consisting of a grid of lozenges variously filled with gold vegetal motifs, gold netting, or gold Kufic inscriptions on red or blue backgrounds. + +More sophisticated illumination is already evident in a copy of a sahih dated to 1120 (during the reign of Ali ibn Yusuf), also produced in either the Maghreb or Al-Andalus, with a rich frontispiece centered around a large medallion formed by an interlacing geometric motif, filled with gold backgrounds and vegetal motifs. A similarly sophisticated Quran, dated to 1143 (at the end of Ali ibn Yusuf's reign) and produced in Córdoba, contains a frontispiece with an interlacing geometric motif forming a panel filled with gold and a knotted blue roundel at the middle. + +Ceramics +The Almoravid conquest of al-Andalus caused a temporary rupture in ceramic production, but it returned in the 12th century. There is a collection of about 2,000 Maghrebi-Andalusi ceramic basins or bowls () in Pisa, where they were used to decorated churches from the early 11th to fifteenth centuries. There were a number of varieties of ceramics under the Almoravids, including cuerda seca pieces. The most luxurious form was iridescent lustreware, made by applying a metallic glaze to the pieces before a second firing. This technique came from Iraq and flourished in Fatimid Egypt. + +Minbars + +The Almoravid minbars– such as the minbar of the Grand Mosque of Marrakesh commissioned by Sultan Ali ibn Yusuf (1137), or the minbar for the University of al-Qarawiyyin (1144) – expressed the Almoravids' Maliki legitimacy, their "inheritance of the Umayyad imperial role", and the extension of that imperial power into the Maghreb. Both minbars are exceptional works of marquetry and woodcarving, decorated with geometric compositions, inlaid materials, and arabesque reliefs. + +Architecture + +The Almoravid period, along with the subsequent Almohad period, is considered one of the most formative stages of Moroccan and Moorish architecture, establishing many of the forms and motifs of this style that were refined in subsequent centuries. Manuel Casamar Perez remarks that the Almoravids scaled back the Andalusi trend towards heavier and more elaborate decoration which had developed since the Caliphate of Córdoba and instead prioritized a greater balance between proportions and ornamentation. + +The two centers of artistic production in the Islamic west before the rise of the Almoravids were Kairouan and Córdoba, both former capitals in the region which served as sources of inspiration. The Almoravids were responsible for establishing a new imperial capital at Marrakesh, which became a major center of architectural patronage thereafter. The Almoravids adopted the architectural developments of al-Andalus, such as the complex interlacing arches of the Great Mosque in Córdoba and of the Aljaferia palace in Zaragoza, while also introducing new ornamental techniques from the east such as muqarnas ("stalactite" or "honeycomb" carvings). + +After taking control of Al-Andalus in the Battle of Sagrajas, the Almoravids sent Muslim, Christian and Jewish artisans from Iberia to North Africa to work on monuments. The Great Mosque in Algiers (), the Great Mosque of Tlemcen (1136) and al-Qarawiyyin (expanded in 1135) in Fez are important examples of Almoravid architecture. The Almoravid Qubba is one of the few Almoravid monuments in Marrakesh surviving, and is notable for its highly ornate interior dome with carved stucco decoration, complex arch shapes, and minor muqarnas cupolas in the corners of the structure. The central nave of the expanded Qarawiyyin Mosque notably features the earliest full-fledged example of muqarnas vaulting in the western Islamic world. The complexity of these muqarnas vaults at such an early date – only several decades after the first simple muqarnas vaults appeared in distant Iraq – has been noted by architectural historians as surprising. Another high point of Almoravid architecture is the intricate ribbed dome in front of the mihrab of the Great Mosque of Tlemcen, which likely traces its origins to the 10th-century ribbed domes of the Great Mosque of Córdoba. The structure of the dome is strictly ornamental, consisting of multiple ribs or intersecting arches forming a twelve-pointed star pattern. It is also partly see-through, allowing some outside light to filter through a screen of pierced and carved arabesque decoration that fills the spaces between the ribs. + +Aside from more ornamental religious structures, the Almoravids also built many fortifications, although most of these in turn were demolished or modified by the Almohads and later dynasties. The new capital, Marrakesh, initially had no city walls but a fortress known as the Ksar el-Hajjar ("Fortress of Stone") was built by the city's founder, Abu Bakr ibn Umar, in order to house the treasury and serve as an initial residence. Eventually, circa 1126, Ali Ibn Yusuf also constructed a full set of walls, made of rammed earth, around the city in response to the growing threat of the Almohads. These walls, although much restored and partly expanded in later centuries, continue to serve as the walls of the medina of Marrakesh today. The medina's main gates were also first built at this time, although many of them have since been significantly modified. Bab Doukkala, one of the western gates, is believed to have best preserved its original Almoravid layout. It has a classic bent entrance configuration, of which variations are found throughout the medieval period of the Maghreb and Al-Andalus. Elsewhere, the archaeological site of Tasghîmût, southeast of Marrakesh, and Amargu, northeast of Fes, provide evidence about other Almoravid forts. Built out of rubble stone or rammed earth, they illustrate similarities with older Hammadid fortifications, as well as an apparent need to build quickly during times of crisis. The walls of Tlemcen (present-day Algeria) were likewise partly built by the Almoravids, using a mix of rubble stone at the base and rammed earth above. + +In domestic architecture, none of the Almoravid palaces or residences have survived, and they are known only through texts and archaeology. During his reign, Ali Ibn Yusuf added a large palace and royal residence on the south side of the Ksar el-Hajjar (on the present site of the Kutubiyya Mosque). This palace was later abandoned and its function was replaced by the Almohad Kasbah, but some of its remains have been excavated and studied in the 20th century. These remains have revealed the earliest known example in Morocco of a riad garden (an interior garden symmetrically divided into four parts). In 1960 other excavations near Chichaoua revealed the remains of a domestic complex or settlement dating from the Almoravid period or even earlier. It consisted of several houses, two hammams, a water supply system, and possibly a mosque. On the site were found many fragments of architectural decoration which are now preserved at the Archeological Museum of Rabat. These fragments are made of deeply-carved stucco featuring Kufic and cursive Arabic inscriptions as well as vegetal motifs such as palmettes and acanthus leaves. The structures also featured painted decoration in red ochre, typically consisting of border motifs composed of two interlacing bands. Similar decoration has also been found in the remains of former houses excavated in 2006 under the 12th-century Almoravid expansion of the Qarawiyyin Mosque in Fes. In addition to the usual border motifs were larger interlacing geometric motifs as well as Kufic inscriptions with vegetal backgrounds, all executed predominantly in red. + +Literature + +The Almoravid movement has its intellectual origins in the writings and teachings of Abu Imran al-Fasi, who first inspired Yahya Ibn Ibrahim of the Guddala tribe in Kairouan. Ibn Ibrahim then inspired Abdallah ibn Yasin to organize for jihad and start the Almoravid movement. + +Moroccan literature flourished in the Almoravid period. The political unification of Morocco and al-Andalus under the Almoravid dynasty rapidly accelerated the cultural interchange between the two continents, beginning when Yusuf ibn Tashfin sent al-Mu'tamid ibn Abbad, former poet king of the Taifa of Seville, into exile in Tangier and ultimately Aghmat. + +The historians Ibn Hayyan, Al-Bakri, Ibn Bassam, and al-Fath ibn Khaqan all lived in the Almoravid period. Ibn Bassam authored , Al-Fath ibn Khaqan authored Qala'idu l-'Iqyan, and Al-Bakri authored al-Masālik wa ’l-Mamālik (Book of Roads and Kingdoms). + +In the Almoravid period two writers stand out: Qadi Ayyad and Avempace. Ayyad is known for having authored Kitāb al-Shifāʾ bī Taʾrif Ḥuqūq al-Muṣṭafá. Many of the Seven Saints of Marrakesh were men of letters. + +The muwashshah was an important form of poetry and music in the Almoravid period. Great poets from the period are mentioned in anthologies such as , Rawd al-Qirtas, and Mu'jam as-Sifr. + +The Moroccan historian noted that there were 104 paper mills in Fez under Yusuf ibn Tashfin in the 11th century. + +Military organization +Abdallah ibn Yasin imposed very strict disciplinary measures on his forces for every breach of his laws. The Almoravids' first military leader, Yahya ibn Umar al-Lamtuni, gave them a good military organization. Their main force was infantry, armed with javelins in the front ranks and pikes behind, which formed into a phalanx, and was supported by camelmen and horsemen on the flanks. They also had a flag carrier at the front who guided the forces behind him; when the flag was upright, the combatants behind would stand and when it was turned down, they would sit. + +Al-Bakri reports that, while in combat, the Almoravids did not pursue those who fled in front of them. Their fighting was intense and they did not retreat when disadvantaged by an advancing opposing force; they preferred death over defeat. These characteristics were possibly unusual at the time. + +Legends +After the death of El Cid, Christian chronicles reported a legend of a Turkish woman leading a band of 300 "Amazons", black female archers. This legend was possibly inspired by the ominous veils on the faces of the warriors and their dark skin colored blue by the indigo of their robes. + +List of rulers + +Sanhaja tribal leaders recognizing the spiritual authority of Abdallah ibn Yasin (d. 1058 or 1059): + Yahya Ibn Ibrahim al-Jaddali (also referred to as al-Jawhar ibn Sakkum) + Yahya ibn Umar al-Lamtuni (d. 1055 or 1056) + Abu Bakr ibn Umar (d. 1087) + +Subsequent rulers: + Yusuf ibn Tashfin (1061–1106, initially as Abu Bakr's lieutenant in the north) + Ibrahim ibn Abu Bakr (ruler of Sijilmasa, 1070–1075) + Ali ibn Yusuf (1106–1143) + Tashfin ibn Ali (1143–1145) + Ibrahim ibn Tashfin (1145, dethroned quickly) + Ishaq ibn Ali (1145–1147) + +Family tree + +Timeline + +Notes + +References + +Citations + +Bibliography + + + + + + Brett, M. and E. Fentress (1996), The Berbers. Oxford: Blackwell. + + Hrbek, I. and J. Devisse (1988), "The Almoravids", in M. Elfasi, ed., General History of Africa, Africa from the Seventh to the Eleventh Century, UNESCO. 1992 edition, Ch. 13, pp. 336–366. + + + + + + + Levtzion, N. and J. F. P. Hopkins, eds (1981), Corpus of Early Arabic Sources for West African History, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. 2000 edition. + + + + Moraes Farias, P. F. de (1967), "The Almoravids: Some Questions Concerning the Character of the Movement", Bulletin de l’IFAN, series B, 29:3–4, pp. 794–878. + + + + + + + +11th century in al-Andalus +12th century in al-Andalus +Medieval Algeria +History of Mauritania +History of Western Sahara +11th-century establishments in Africa +1147 disestablishments +12th-century disestablishments in Morocco +States and territories established in 1040 +States and territories disestablished in 1147 +Historical transcontinental empires +Former empires in Africa +Aloe (; also written Aloë) is a genus containing over 650 species of flowering succulent plants. The most widely known species is Aloe vera, or "true aloe". It is called this because it is cultivated as the standard source for assorted pharmaceutical purposes. Other species, such as Aloe ferox, are also cultivated or harvested from the wild for similar applications. + +The APG IV system (2016) places the genus in the family Asphodelaceae, subfamily Asphodeloideae. Within the subfamily it may be placed in the tribe Aloeae. In the past, it has been assigned to the family Aloaceae (now included in the Asphodeloidae) or to a broadly circumscribed family Liliaceae (the lily family). The plant Agave americana, which is sometimes called "American aloe", belongs to the Asparagaceae, a different family. + +The genus is native to tropical and southern Africa, Madagascar, Jordan, the Arabian Peninsula, and various islands in the Indian Ocean (Mauritius, Réunion, Comoros, etc.). A few species have also become naturalized in other regions (Mediterranean, India, Australia, North and South America, Hawaiian Islands, etc.). + +Etymology +The genus name Aloe is derived from the Arabic word alloeh, meaning "bitter and shiny substance" or from Hebrew ahalim, plural of ahal. + +Description + +Most Aloe species have a rosette of large, thick, fleshy leaves. Aloe flowers are tubular, frequently yellow, orange, pink, or red, and are borne, densely clustered and pendant, at the apex of simple or branched, leafless stems. Many species of Aloe appear to be stemless, with the rosette growing directly at ground level; other varieties may have a branched or unbranched stem from which the fleshy leaves spring. They vary in color from grey to bright-green and are sometimes striped or mottled. Some aloes native to South Africa are tree-like (arborescent). + +Systematics + +The APG IV system (2016) places the genus in the family Asphodelaceae, subfamily Asphodeloideae. In the past it has also been assigned to the families Liliaceae and Aloeaceae, as well as the family Asphodelaceae sensu stricto, before this was merged into the Asphodelaceae sensu lato. + +The circumscription of the genus has varied widely. Many genera, such as Lomatophyllum, have been brought into synonymy. Species at one time placed in Aloe, such as Agave americana, have been moved to other genera. Molecular phylogenetic studies, particularly from 2010 onwards, suggested that as then circumscribed, Aloe was not monophyletic and should be divided into more tightly defined genera. In 2014, John Charles Manning and coworkers produced a phylogeny in which Aloe was divided into six genera: Aloidendron, Kumara, Aloiampelos, Aloe, Aristaloe and Gonialoe. + +Species + +Over 600 species are accepted in the genus Aloe, plus even more synonyms and unresolved species, subspecies, varieties, and hybrids. Some of the accepted species are: + +Aloe aculeata Pole-Evans +Aloe africana Mill. +Aloe albida (Stapf) Reynolds +Aloe albiflora Guillaumin +Aloe arborescens Mill. +Aloe arenicola Reynolds +Aloe argenticauda Merxm. & Giess +Aloe bakeri Scott-Elliot +Aloe ballii Reynolds +Aloe ballyi Reynolds +Aloe brevifolia Mill. +Aloe broomii Schönland +Aloe buettneri A.Berger +Aloe camperi Schweinf. +Aloe capitata Baker +Aloe comosa Marloth & A.Berger +Aloe cooperi Baker +Aloe corallina Verd. +Aloe dewinteri Giess ex Borman & Hardy +Aloe erinacea D.S.Hardy +Aloe excelsa A.Berger +Aloe ferox Mill. +Aloe forbesii Balf.f. +Aloe helenae Danguy +Aloe hereroensis Engl. +Aloe inermis Forssk. +Aloe inyangensis Christian +Aloe jawiyon S.J.Christie, D.P.Hannon & Oakman ex A.G.Mill. +Aloe jucunda Reynolds +Aloe khamiesensis Pillans +Aloe kilifiensis Christian +Aloe maculata All. +Aloe marlothii A.Berger +Aloe mubendiensis Christian +Aloe namibensis Giess +Aloe nyeriensis Christian & I.Verd. +Aloe pearsonii Schönland +Aloe peglerae Schönland +Aloe perfoliata L. +Aloe perryi Baker +Aloe petricola Pole-Evans +Aloe polyphylla Pillans +Aloe rauhii Reynolds +Aloe reynoldsii Letty +Aloe scobinifolia Reynolds & Bally +Aloe sinkatana Reynolds +Aloe squarrosa Baker ex Balf.f. +Aloe striata Haw. +Aloe succotrina Lam. +Aloe suzannae Decary +Aloe thraskii Baker +Aloe vera (L.) Burm.f. +Aloe viridiflora Reynolds +Aloe wildii (Reynolds) Reynolds + +In addition to the species and hybrids between species within the genus, several hybrids with other genera have been created in cultivation, such as between Aloe and Gasteria (× Gasteraloe), and between Aloe and Astroloba (×Aloloba). + +Uses +Aloe species are frequently cultivated as ornamental plants both in gardens and in pots. Many aloe species are highly decorative and are valued by collectors of succulents. Aloe vera is used both internally and externally on humans as folk or alternative medicine. The Aloe species is known for its medicinal and cosmetic properties. Around 75% of Aloe species are used locally for medicinal uses. The plants can also be made into types of special soaps or used in other skin care products (see natural skin care). + +Numerous cultivars with mixed or uncertain parentage are grown. Of these, Aloe ‘Lizard Lips’ has gained the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit. + +Aloe variegata has been planted on graves in the superstitious belief that this ensures eternal life. + +Historical uses + +Historical use of various aloe species is well documented. Documentation of the clinical effectiveness is available, although relatively limited. + +Of the 500+ species, only a few were used traditionally as herbal medicines, Aloe vera again being the most commonly used species. Also included are A. perryi and A. ferox. The Ancient Greeks and Romans used Aloe vera to treat wounds. In the Middle Ages, the yellowish liquid found inside the leaves was favored as a purgative. Unprocessed aloe that contains aloin is generally used as a laxative, whereas processed juice does not usually contain significant aloin. + +Some species, particularly Aloe vera, are used in alternative medicine and first aid. Both the translucent inner pulp and the resinous yellow aloin from wounding the aloe plant are used externally for skin discomforts. As an herbal medicine, Aloe vera juice is commonly used internally for digestive discomfort. + +According to Cancer Research UK, a potentially deadly product called T-UP is made of concentrated aloe, and promoted as a cancer cure. They say "there is currently no evidence that aloe products can help to prevent or treat cancer in humans". + +Aloin in OTC laxative products +On May 9, 2002, the US Food and Drug Administration issued a final rule banning the use of aloin, the yellow sap of the aloe plant, for use as a laxative ingredient in over-the-counter drug products. Most aloe juices today do not contain significant aloin. + +Chemical properties +According to W. A. Shenstone, two classes of aloins are recognized: (1) nataloins, which yield picric and oxalic acids with nitric acid, and do not give a red coloration with nitric acid; and (2) barbaloins, which yield aloetic acid (C7H2N3O5), chrysammic acid (C7H2N2O6), picric and oxalic acids with nitric acid, being reddened by the acid. This second group may be divided into a-barbaloins, obtained from Barbados Aloe, and reddened in the cold, and b-barbaloins, obtained from Aloe Socotrina and Zanzibar Aloe, reddened by ordinary nitric acid only when warmed or by fuming acid in the cold. Nataloin (2C17H13O7·H2O) forms bright-yellow scales, barbaloin (C17H18O7) prismatic crystals. Aloe species are used in essential oils as a safety measure to dilute the solution before they are applied to the skin. + +Flavoring +Aloe perryi, A. barbadensis, A. ferox, and hybrids of this species with A. africana and A. spicata are listed as natural flavoring substances in the US government Electronic Code of Federal Regulations. Aloe socotrina is said to be used in yellow Chartreuse. + +Heraldic occurrence +Aloe rubrolutea occurs as a charge in heraldry, for example in the Civic Heraldry of Namibia. + +Gallery + +See also + List of Aloe species + List of ineffective cancer treatments + List of Southern African indigenous trees + +References + +Further reading + +External links + + +Asphodelaceae genera +Laxatives +Cosmetics chemicals +Succulent plants +Alyattes (Lydian language: ; ; reigned c. 635-585 BC), sometimes described as Alyattes I, was the fourth king of the Mermnad dynasty in Lydia, the son of Sadyattes, grandson of Ardys, and great-grandson of Gyges. He died after a reign of 57 years and was succeeded by his son Croesus. + +Alyattes was the first monarch who issued coins, made from electrum (and his successor Croesus was the first to issue gold coins). Alyattes is therefore sometimes mentioned as the originator of coinage, or of currency. + +Name +The most likely etymology for the name derives it, via a form with initial digamma (), itself originally from a Lydian (Lydian alphabet: ). The name meant "lion-ness" (i.e. the state of being a lion), and was composed of the Lydian term (), meaning "lion", to which was added an abstract suffix (). + +Chronology + +Dates for the Mermnad kings are uncertain and are based on a computation by J. B. Bury and Russell Meiggs (1975) who estimated c.687–c.652 BC for the reign of Gyges. Herodotus 1.16, 1.25, 1.86 gave reign lengths for Gyges' successors, but there is uncertainty about these as the total exceeds the timespan between 652 (probable death of Gyges, fighting the Cimmerians) and 547/546 (fall of Sardis to Cyrus the Great). Bury and Meiggs concluded that Ardys and Sadyattes reigned through an unspecified period in the second half of the 7th century BC, but they did not propose dates for Alyattes except their assertion that his son Croesus succeeded him in 560 BC. The timespan 560–546 BC for the reign of Croesus is almost certainly accurate. + +However, based on an analysis of sources contemporary with Gyges, such as Neo-Assyrian records, Anthony Spalinger has convincingly deduced dated Gyges's death to 644 BCE, and Alexander Dale has consequently dated Alyattes's reign as starting in c. 635 BCE and ending in 585 BCE. + +Life and reign +Alyattes was the son of the king Sadyattes of Lydia and his sister and queen, Lyde of Lydia, both the children of the king Ardys of Lydia. Alyattes ascended to the kingship of Lydia during period of severe crisis: during the 7th century BCE, the Cimmerians, a nomadic people from the Eurasian Steppe who had invaded Western Asia, attacked Lydia several times but had been repelled by Alyattes's great-grandfather, Gyges. In 644 BCE, the Cimmerians, led by their king Lygdamis, attacked Lydia for the third time. The Lydians were defeated, Sardis was sacked, and Gyges was killed, following which he was succeeded by his son Ardys. In 637 BCE, during the seventh regnal year of Ardys, the Thracian Treres tribe who had migrated across the Thracian Bosporus and invaded Anatolia, under their king Kobos, and in alliance with the Cimmerians and the Lycians, attacked Lydia. They defeated the Lydians again and for a second time sacked the Lydian capital of Sardis, except for its citadel. It is probable that Ardys was killed during this Cimmerian attack or was deposed in 637 BC for being unable to protect Lydia from the Cimmerian attacks, and Ardys's son and successor Sadyattes might have also been either killed during another Cimmerian attack in 653 BCE or deposed that year for his inability to successfully protect Lydia from the Cimmerian incursions. Alyattes thus succeeded his father Sadyattes amidst extreme turmoil in 635 BCE. + +Initial relations with the Ionians +Alyattes started his reign by continuing the hostilities with the Ionian city of Miletus started by Sadyattes. Alyattes's war with Miletus consisted largely of a series of raids to capture the Milesians' harvest of grain, which were severely lacking in the Lydian core regions. These hostilities lasted until Alyattes's sixth year (c. 630 BCE), when he finally made peace with the city's tyrant Thrasybulus, and a treaty of friendship as well as one of military alliance was concluded between Lydia and Miletus whereby, since Miletus lacked auriferous and other metallurgic resources while cereals were scarce in Lydia, trade of Lydian metal in exchange of Milesian cereal was initiated to seal these treaties, according to which Miletus voluntarily provided Lydia with military auxiliaries and would profit from the Lydian control of the routes in inner Anatolia, and Lydia would gain access to the markets and maritime networks of the Milesians in the Black Sea and at Naucratis. Herodotus's account of Alyattes's illness, caused by Lydian troops' destruction of the temple Athena in Assesos, and which was cured after he heeded the Pythia and rebuilt two temples of Athena in Assesos and then made peace with Miletus, is a largely legendary account of these events which appears to not be factual. This legendary account likely arose as a result of Alyattes's offerings to the sanctuary of Delphi. + +Unlike with the other Greek cities of Anatolia, Alyattes always maintained very good relations with Ephesus, to whose ruling dynasty the Mermnads were connected by marriage: Alyattes's great-grandfather had married one of his daughters to the Ephesian tyrant Melas the Elder: Alyattes's grandfather Ardys had married his daughter Lyde to a grandson of Melas the Elder named Miletus (Lyde would later marry her own brother Sadyattes, and Alyattes would be born from this marriage); and Alyattes himself married one of his own daughters to the then tyrant of Miletus, a descendant of Miletus named Melas the Younger, and from this union would be born Pindar of Ephesus. One of the daughters of Melas the Younger might have in turn married Alyattes and become the mother of his less famous son, Pantaleon. Thanks to these close ties, Ephesus had never been subject to Lydian attacks and was exempt from paying tribute and offering military support to Lydia, and both the Greeks of Ephesus and the Anatolian peoples of the region, that is the Lydians and Carians, shared in common the temple of an Anatolian goddess equated by the Greeks to their own goddess Artemis. Lydia and Ephesus also shared important economic interests which allowed Ephesus to hold an advantageous position between the maritime trade routes of the Aegean Sea and the continental trade routes going through inner Anatolia and reaching Assyria, thus acting as an intermediary between the Lydian kingdom which controlled access to the trade routes leading to the inside of Asia and the Greeks inhabiting the European continent and the Aegean islands, and allowing Ephesus to profit from the goods transiting across its territory without fear of any military attack by the Lydians. These connections in turn provided Lydia with a port through which it could have access to the Mediterranean Sea. + +Offerings to Delphi +Like his great-grandfather Gyges, Alyattes also dedicated lavish offerings to the oracle of the god Apollo at Delphi. According to the Greek historian Herodotus, Alyattes's offerings consisted of a large silver crater and an iron crater-stand which had been made by welding by Glaucus of Chios, thus combining Lydian and Ionian artistic traditions. + +Alyattes's offering to Delphi might have been sent to please the sanctuary of Apollo and the Delphains, especially the priests, to impress the Greek visitors of the sanctuary, and to influence the oracle to advise to Periander of Corinth, an ally of Thrasybulus of Miletus, to convince the latter to make peace with Alyattes. + +Lyde of Lydia story +According to Tractatus de mulieribus (citing Xenophilos, who wrote the history of Lydia), Lyde was the wife and sister of Alyattes, the ancestor of Croesus. Lyde's son, Alyattes, when he inherited the kingdom from his father, committed the terrible crime of tearing the clothes of respectable people and spitting on many. She too held her son back as much as she could and placated those who were insulted with kind words and actions. She showed all his compassion to her son and made him feel great love for himself. When she believes that he is loved enough and abstains from food and other things, citing his illness as an excuse, Xenophilos accompanies his mother that he does not eat in the same way and has changed enough to be extremely honest and fair (someone).Alyattes after seeing this becomes a changed man. + +Relations with Caria +In the south, Alyattes continued what had been the Lydian policy since Gyges's reign of maintaining alliances with the city-states of the Carians, with whom the Lydians also had strong cultural connections, such as sharing the sanctuary of the god Zeus of Mylasa with the Carians and the Mysians because they believed these three peoples descended from three brothers. These alliances between the Lydian kings and the various Carian dynasts required the Lydian and Carian rulers had to support each other, and to solidify these alliances, Alyattes married a woman from the Carian aristocracy with whom he had a son, Croesus, who would eventually succeed him. These connections established between the Lydian kings and the Carian city-states ensured that the Lydians were able to control Caria through alliances with Carian dynasts ruling over fortified settlements, such as Mylasa and Pedasa, and through Lydian aristocrats settled in Carian cities, such as in Aphrodisias. + +Wars against the Cimmerians + +Alyattes had inherited more than one war from his father, and soon after his ascension and early during his reign, with Assyrian approval and in alliance with the Lydians, the Scythians under their king Madyes entered Anatolia, expelled the Treres from Asia Minor, and defeated the Cimmerians so that they no longer constituted a threat again, following which the Scythians extended their domination to Central Anatolia until they were themselves expelled by the Medes from Western Asia in the 600s BCE. This final defeat of the Cimmerians was carried out by the joint forces of Madyes, whom Strabo credits with expelling the Treres and Cimmerians from Asia Minor, and of Alyattes, whom Herodotus of Halicarnassus and Polyaenus claim finally defeated the Cimmerians. + +In Polyaenus' account of the defeat of the Cimmerians, he claimed that Alyattes used "war dogs" to expel them from Asia Minor, with the term "war dogs" being a Greek folkloric reinterpretation of young Scythian warriors who, following the Indo-European passage rite of the , would ritually take on the role of wolf- or dog-warriors. + +Immediately after this first victory of his over the Cimmerians, Alyattes expelled from the Lydian borderlands a final remaining pocket of Cimmerian presence who had been occupying the nearby city of Antandrus for one century, and to facilitate this he re-founded the city of Adramyttium in Aeolis. Alyattes installed his son Croesus as the governor of Adramyttium, and he soon expelled these last remaining Cimmerians from Asia Minor. Adramyttium was moreso an important site for Lydia because it was situated near Atarneus and Astyra, where rich mines were located. + +Eastern conquests +Alyattes turned towards Phrygia in the east. The kings of Lydia and of the former Phrygian kingdom had already entertained friendly relations before the destruction of the latter by the Cimmerians. After defeating the Cimmerians, Alyattes took advantage of the weakening of the various polities all across Anatolia by the Cimmerian raids and used the lack of a centralised Phrygian state and the traditionally friendly relations between the Lydian and Phrygian elites to extend Lydian rule eastwards to Phrygia. Lydian presence in Phrygia is archaeologically attested by the existence of a Lydian citadel in the Phrygian capital of Gordion, as well as Lydian architectural remains in northwest Phrygia, such as in Dascylium, and in the Phrygian Highlands at Midas City. Lydian troops might have been stationed in the aforementioned locations as well as in Hacıtuğrul, Afyonkarahisar, and Konya, which would have provided to the Lydian kingdom access to the produce and roads of Phrygia. The presence of a Lydian ivory plaque at Kerkenes Daǧ suggests that Alyattes's control of Phrygia might have extended to the east of the Halys River to include the city of Pteria, with the possibility that he may have rebuilt this city and placed a Phrygian ruler there: Pteria's strategic location would have been useful in protecting the Lydian Empire from attacks from the east, and its proximity to the Royal Road would have made of the city an important centre from which caravans could be protected. Phrygia under Lydian rule would continue to be administered by its local elites, such as the ruler of Midas City who held Phrygian royal titles such as (king) and (commander of the armies), but were under the authority of the Lydian kings of Sardis and had a Lydian diplomatic presence at their court, following the framework of the traditional vassalage treaties used since the period of the Hittite and Assyrian empires, and according to which the Lydian king imposed on the vassal rulers a "treaty of vassalage" which allowed the local Phrygian rulers to remain in power, in exchange of which the Phrygian vassals had the duty to provide military support and sometimes offer rich tribute to the Lydian kingdom. The status of Gordion and Dascylium is however less clear, and it is uncertain whether they were also ruled by local Phrygian kings vassal to the Lydian king, or whether they were directly ruled by Lydian governors. + +With the defeat of the Cimmerians having created a power vacuum in Anatolia, Alyattes continued his expansionist policy in the east, and of all the peoples to the west of the Halys River whom Herodotus claimed Alyattes's successor Croesus ruled over - the Lydians, Phrygians, Mysians, Mariandyni, Chalybes, Paphlagonians, Thyni and Bithyni Thracians, Carians, Ionians, Dorians, Aeolians, and Pamphylians - it is very likely that a number of these populations had already been conquered under Alyattes, especially since information is attested only about the relations between the Lydians and the Phrygians in both literary and archaeological sources, and there is no available data concerning relations between the other mentioned peoples and the Lydian kings. The only populations Herodotus claimed were independent of the Lydian Empire were the Lycians, who lived in a mountainous country which would not have been accessible to the Lydian armies, and the Cilicians, who had already been conquered by Neo-Babylonian Empire. Modern estimates nevertheless suggest that it is not impossible that the Lydians might have subjected Lycia, given that the Lycian coast would have been important for the Lydians because it was close to a trade route connecting the Aegean region, the Levant, and Cyprus. + +At some point in the later years of his reign, Alyattes conducted a military campaign in Caria, although the reason for this intervention is yet unknown. Alyattes's son Croesus, as governor of Adramyttium, had to provide his father with Ionian Greek mercenaries for this war. + +Later wars against the Ionians +In 600 BCE, Alyattes resumed his military activities in the west, and the second Ionian city he attacked was Smyrna despite the Lydian kings having previously established good relations with the Smyrniotes in the aftermath of a failed attack of Gyges on the city, leading to the Lydians using the port of Smyrna to export their products and import grain, Lydian craftsmen being allowed to settle in Smyrniot workshops, and Alyattes having provided funding to the inhabitants of the city for the construction of their temple of Athena. Alyattes was thus able to acquire a port which gave the Lydian kingdom permanent access to the sea and a stable source of grain to feed the population of his kingdom through this attack. Smyrna was placed under the direct rule of a member of the Mermnad dynasty, and Alyattes had new fortification walls built for Smyrna from around 600 to around 590 BCE. Although under direct Lydian rule Smyrna's temple of Athena and its houses were rebuilt and the city was not forced to provide the Lydian kingdom with military troops or tribute, Smyrna itself was in ruins, and it would only be around 580 BCE, under the reign of Alyattes's son Croesus, that Smyrna would finally start to recover. + +Alyattes also initially initiated friendly relations with the Ionian city of Colophon, which included a military alliance according to which the city had to offer the service of its famous and feared cavalry, which was itself made up of the aristocracy of Colophon, to the Lydian kingdom should Alyattes request their help. Following the capture of Smyrna, Alyattes attacked the Ionian city of Clazomenae, but the inhabitants of the city managed to successfully repel him with the help of the Colophonian cavalry. Following Alyattes's defeat, the Lydian kingdom and the city of Clazomenae concluded a reconciliation agreement which allowed Lydian craftsmen to operate in Clazomenae and allowed the kingdom of Lydia itself to participate in maritime trade, most especially in the olive oil trade produced by the craftsmen of Clazomenae, but also to use the city's port to export products manufactured in Lydia proper. Soon after capturing Smyrna and his failure to capture Clazomenae, Alyattes summoned the Colophonian cavalry to Sardis, where he had them massacred in violation of hospitality laws and redistributed their horses to Lydian cavalrymen, following which he placed Colophon itself under direct Lydian rule. The reason for Alyattes's breaking of the friendly relations with Colophon are unknown, although the archaeologist John Manuel Cook has suggested that Alyattes might have concluded a treaty of friendship and a military alliance with Colophon to secure the city's non-interference in his military operations against the other Greek cities on the western coast of Asia Minor, but Colophon first violated these agreements with Alyattes by supporting Clazomenae with its cavalry against Alyattes's attack, prompting the Lydian king to retaliate by massacring the mounted aristocracy of Colophon. + +The status of the other Ionian Greek cities on the western coast of Asia Minor, that is Teos, Lebedus, Teichiussa, Melie, Erythrae, Phocaea and Myus, is still uncertain for the period of Alyattes's reign, although they would all eventually be subjected by his son Croesus. + +War against the Medes + +Alyattes's eastern conquests extended the Lydian Empire till the Upper Euphrates according to the scholar Igor Diakonoff, who identified Alyattes with the Biblical Gog. This expansionism brought the Lydian Empire in conflict in the 590s BCE with the Medes, an Iranian people who had expelled the majority of the Scythians from Western Asia after participating in the destruction of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. After the majority of the Scythians were expelled by the Medes during that decade out of Western Asia and into the Pontic Steppe, a war broke out between the Median Empire and another group of Scythians, probably members of a splinter group who had formed a kingdom in what is now Azerbaijan. These Scythians left Median-ruled Transcaucasia and fled to Sardis, because the Lydians had been allied to the Scythians. After Alyattes refused to accede to the demands of the Median king Cyaxares that these Scythian refugees be handed to him, a war broke out between the Median and Lydian Kingdoms in 590 BCE which was waged in eastern Anatolia beyond Pteria. This war lasted five years, until a solar eclipse occurred in 585 BCE during a battle (hence called the Battle of the Eclipse) opposing the Lydian and Median armies, which both sides interpreted as an omen to end the war. The Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II and the king Syennesis of Cilicia acted as mediators in the ensuing peace treaty, which was sealed by the marriage of Cyaxares's son Astyages with Alyattes's daughter Aryenis, and the possible wedding of a daughter of Cyaxares with either Alyattes or with his son Croesus. The border between the Lydian and Median empires was fixed at a yet undetermined location in eastern Anatolia; the Graeco-Roman historians' traditional account of the Halys River as having been set as the border between the two kingdoms appears to have been a retroactive narrative construction based on symbolic role assigned by Greeks to the Halys as the separation between Lower Asia and Upper Asia as well as on the Halys being a later provincial border within the Achaemenid Empire. + +Death +Alyattes died shortly after the Battle of the Eclipse, in 585 BCE itself, following which Lydia faced a power struggle between his son Pantaleon, born from a Greek woman, and his other son Croesus, born from a Carian noblewoman, out of which the latter emerged successful. The tomb of Alyattes is located in Sardis at the site now called Bin Tepe, in a large tumulus measuring sixty metres in height and of a diameter of two hundred and fifty metres. The tomb consisted of an antechamber and a chamber with a door separating them, was built of well fitted and clamped large marble blocks, its walls were finely finished on the inside, and it contained a now lost crepidoma. The tomb of Alyattes was excavated by the Prussian Consul General Ludwig Peter Spiegelthal in 1853, and by American excavators in 1962 and the 1980s, although by then it had been broken in and looted by tomb robbers who left only alabastra and ceramic vessels. Before it was plundered, the tomb of Alyattes would likely have contained burial gifts consisting of furniture made of wood and ivory, textiles, jewellery, and large sets of solver and gold bowls, pitchers, craters, and ladles. + +He created the first coins in history made from electrum, a naturally occurring alloy of gold and silver. The weight of either precious metal could not just be weighed so they contained an imprint that identified the issuer who guaranteed the value of its contents. Today we still use a token currency, where the value is guaranteed by the state and not by the value of the metal used in the coins. Almost all coins used today descended from his invention after the technology passed into Greek usage through Hermodike II - a Greek princess from Cyme who was likely one of his wives (assuming he was referred to a dynastic 'Midas' because of the wealth his coinage amassed and because the electrum was sourced from Midas' famed river Pactolus); she was also likely the mother of Croesus (see croeseid symbolism). He standardised the weight of coins (1 stater = 168 grains of wheat). The coins were produced using an anvil die technique and stamped with a lion's head, the symbol of the Mermnadae. + +Tomb + +Alyattes' tomb still exists on the plateau between Lake Gygaea and the river Hermus to the north of the Lydian capital Sardis — a large mound of earth with a substructure of huge stones. (38.5723401, 28.0451151) It was excavated by Spiegelthal in 1854, who found that it covered a large vault of finely cut marble blocks approached by a flat-roofed passage of the same stone from the south. The sarcophagus and its contents had been removed by early plunderers of the tomb. All that was left were some broken alabaster vases, pottery and charcoal. On the summit of the mound were large phalli of stone. + +Herodotus described the tomb: + +Some authors have suggested that Buddhist stupas were derived from a wider cultural tradition from the Mediterranean to the Indus valley, and can be related to the funeral conical mounds on circular bases that can be found in Lydia or in Phoenicia from the 8th century B.C., such as the tomb of Alyattes. + +References + +Sources + + + + + +* + + + +Attribution: + This cites A. von Ölfers, "Über die lydischen Königsgräber bei Sardes," Abh. Berl. Ak., 1858. + +External links + Alyattes of Lydia by Jona Lendering + +585 BC deaths +Kings of Lydia +6th-century BC monarchs in Asia +7th-century BC monarchs in Asia +Year of birth unknown +Mermnad dynasty +The age of consent is the age at which a person is considered to be legally competent to consent to sexual acts. Consequently, an adult who engages in sexual activity with a person younger than the age of consent is unable to legally claim that the sexual activity was consensual, and such sexual activity may be considered child sexual abuse or statutory rape. The person below the minimum age is considered the victim, and their sex partner the offender, although some jurisdictions provide exceptions through "Romeo and Juliet laws" if one or both participants are underage, and are close in age. + +The term age of consent typically does not appear in legal statutes. Generally, a law will establish the age below which it is illegal to engage in sexual activity with that person. It has sometimes been used with other meanings, such as the age at which a person becomes competent to consent to marriage, but consent to sexual activity is the meaning now generally understood. It should not be confused with other laws regarding age minimums including, but not limited to, the age of majority, age of criminal responsibility, voting age, drinking age, and driving age. + +Age of consent laws vary widely from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, though most jurisdictions set the age of consent in the range 14 to 18 (with the exceptions of Argentina and Niger which set the age of consent for 13, Mexico which sets the age of consent between 12 and 15, and 14 Muslim states and the Vatican City that set the consent by marriage only). The laws may also vary by the type of sexual act, the gender of the participants or other considerations, such as involving a position of trust; some jurisdictions may also make allowances for minors engaged in sexual acts with each other, rather than a single age. Charges and penalties resulting from a breach of these laws may range from a misdemeanor, such as corruption of a minor, to what is popularly called statutory rape. + +There are many "grey areas" in this area of law, some regarding unspecific and untried legislation, others brought about by debates regarding changing societal attitudes, and others due to conflicts between federal and state laws. These factors all make age of consent an often confusing subject and a topic of highly charged debates. + +By continent + +Africa + Ages of consent in Africa + +Americas + Ages of consent in North America + Ages of consent in the United States + Ages of consent in South America + +Asia + Ages of consent in Asia + +Europe + Ages of consent in Europe + +Oceania + Ages of consent in Oceania + +History and social attitudes + +Traditional attitudes +In traditional societies, the age of consent for a sexual union was a matter for the family to decide, or a tribal custom. In most cases, this coincided with signs of puberty, menstruation for a woman, and pubic hair for a man. + +Reliable data for ages at marriage is scarce. In England, for example, the only reliable data in the early modern period comes from property records made after death. Not only were the records relatively rare, but not all bothered to record the participants' ages, and it seems that the more complete the records are, the more likely they are to reveal young marriages. Modern historians have sometimes shown reluctance to accept evidence of young ages of marriage, dismissing it as a 'misreading' by a later copier of the records. + +In the 12th century, Gratian, the influential compiler of canon law in medieval Europe, accepted the age of puberty for marriage to be around twelve for girls and around fourteen for boys but acknowledged consent to be meaningful if both children were older than seven years of age. There were authorities that said that such consent for entering marriage could take place earlier. Marriage would then be valid as long as neither of the two parties annulled the marital agreement before reaching puberty, or if they had already consummated the marriage. Judges sometimes honored marriages based on mutual consent at ages younger than seven: in contrast to established canon, there are recorded marriages of two- and three-year-olds. + +In China, 慶元條法事類 (Law Code of the Qingyuan Reign), published in 1202 which catelogued laws that came into effect from 1127 to 1195, introduced statutory rape in the following decree '諸強姦者，女十歲以下雖和也同，流三千里，配遠惡州；未成，配五百里；折傷者，絞。 Successful intercourse with girls younger than 10 is considered rape in all circumstances, punishable by exile 3000 li (miles) away into the uncivilized provinces; if the rape was unsuccessful, exile by 500 li; If injury occurs in process, death by hanging'. + +From 1275 in England; as part of its provisions on rape, the Statute of Westminster 1275 made it a misdemeanor to "ravish" a "maiden within age," whether with or without her consent. The phrase "within age" was later interpreted by jurist Sir Edward Coke (England, 17th century) as meaning the age of marriage, which at the time was twelve years of age. + +大明律·集解附例卷之二十五·刑律·犯姦, (Great Ming Code, 25th section, Criminal Code on Rape) came into effect from 1373, raised the age of consent to 12 by stating '十二歲以下幼女未有欲心故雖和同強論成姦者亦坐絞罪。 Girls younger than 12 lack rational sexual desires, therefore any intercourse with them is considered the same as rape and therefore punishable by death with hanging.' + +The American colonies followed the English tradition, and the law was more of a guide. For example, Mary Hathaway (Virginia, 1689) was only nine when she was married to William Williams. Sir Edward Coke "made it clear that the marriage of girls under 12 was normal, and the age at which a girl who was a wife was eligible for a dower from her husband's estate was 9 even though her husband be only four years old." + +In the 16th century, a small number of Italian and German states set the minimum age for sexual intercourse for girls, setting it at twelve years. Towards the end of the 18th century, other European countries also began to enact similar laws. The first French Constitution of 1791 established the minimum age at eleven years. Portugal, Spain, Denmark and the Swiss cantons initially set the minimum age at ten to twelve years. + +Age of consent laws were historically difficult to follow and enforce. Legal norms based on age were not, in general, common until the 19th century, because clear proof of exact age and precise date of birth were often unavailable. + +In 18th century Australia it was thought that children were inherently sinful and vulnerable to sexual temptations. Punishment for "giving in" to these temptations was generally left to parents and was not seen as a government matter, except in the case of rape. Australian children had few rights and were legally considered the chattel of their parents. From the late 18th century, and especially in the 19th century, attitudes started to change. By the mid-19th century there was increased concern over child sexual abuse. + +Reforms in the 19th and 20th century +A general shift in social and legal attitudes toward issues of sex occurred during the modern era. Attitudes on the appropriate age of permission for females to engage in sexual activity drifted toward adulthood. While ages from ten to thirteen years were typically regarded as acceptable ages for sexual consent in Western countries during the mid-19th century, by the end of the 19th century changing attitudes towards sexuality and childhood resulted in the raising of the age of consent. + +English common law had traditionally set the age of consent within the range of ten to twelve years old, but the Offences Against the Person Act 1875 raised this to thirteen in Great Britain and Ireland. Early feminists of the Social Purity movement, such as Josephine Butler and others, instrumental in securing the repeal of the Contagious Diseases Acts, began to turn towards the problem of child prostitution by the end of the 1870s. Sensational media revelations about the scourge of child prostitution in London in the 1880s then caused outrage among the respectable middle-classes, leading to pressure for the age of consent to be raised again. + +The investigative journalist William Thomas Stead of the Pall Mall Gazette was pivotal in exposing the problem of child prostitution in the London underworld through a publicity stunt. In 1885 he "purchased" one victim, Eliza Armstrong, the thirteen-year-old daughter of a chimney sweep, for five pounds and took her to a brothel where she was drugged. He then published a series of four exposés entitled The Maiden Tribute of Modern Babylon, which shocked its readers with tales of child prostitution and the abduction, procurement, and sale of young English virgins to Continental "pleasure palaces". The "Maiden Tribute" was an instant sensation with the reading public, and Victorian society was thrown into an uproar about prostitution. Fearing riots on a national scale, the Home Secretary, Sir William Harcourt, pleaded in vain with Stead to cease publication of the articles. A wide variety of reform groups held protest meetings and marched together to Hyde Park demanding that the age of consent be raised. The government was forced to propose the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885, which raised the age of consent from thirteen to sixteen and clamped down on prostitution. + +In the United States, as late as the 1880s most states set the minimum age at ten to twelve (in Delaware, it was seven in 1895). Inspired by the "Maiden Tribute" articles, female reformers in the U.S. initiated their own campaign, which petitioned legislators to raise the legal minimum age to at least sixteen, with the ultimate goal to raise the age to eighteen. The campaign was successful, with almost all states raising the minimum age to sixteen to eighteen years by 1920. + +In France, Portugal, Denmark, the Swiss cantons and other countries, the minimum age was raised to between thirteen and sixteen years in the following decades. Though the original arguments for raising the age of consent were based on morality, since then the raison d'être of the laws has changed to child welfare and a so-called right to childhood or innocence. + +In France, under the Napoleonic Code, the age of consent was set in 1832 at eleven, and was raised to thirteen in 1863. It was increased to fifteen in 1945. In the 1970s, a group of prominent French intellectuals advocated for the repeal of the age of consent laws, but did not succeed. + +In Spain, it was set in 1822 at "puberty age", and changed to twelve in 1870, which was kept until 1999, when it became 13; and in 2015 it was raised to 16. + +21st century +In the 21st century, concerns about child sex tourism and commercial sexual exploitation of children gained prominence, resulting in legislative changes in multiple jurisdictions, as well as the adoption of international laws. + +The Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse (Lanzarote, 25 October 2007), and the European Union's Directive 2011/92/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 2011 on combating the sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children and child pornography were adopted. + +The Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography came into force in 2002. + +The Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children, which came into force in 2003, prohibits commercial sexual exploitation of children. + +The Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (which came into force in 2008) also deals with commercial sexual exploitation of children. + +Several Western countries have raised their ages of consent in recent decades. These include Canada (in 2008—from 14 to 16); and in Europe, Iceland (in 2007—from 14 to 15), Lithuania (in 2010—from 14 to 16), Croatia (in 2013—from 14 to 15), Spain (in 2015—from 13 to 16), Romania (in 2020 from 15 to 16) and Estonia (in 2022—from 14 to 16). + +The International Criminal Court Statute does not provide a specific age of consent in its rape/sexual violence statute, but makes reference to sexual acts committed against persons "incapable of giving genuine consent"; and the explicative footnote states, "It is understood that a person may be incapable of giving genuine consent if affected by natural, induced or age-related incapacity." (see note 51) + +Law + +Sexual relations with a person under the age of consent is a crime in most countries; Jurisdictions use a variety of terms for the offense, including child sexual abuse, statutory rape, illegal carnal knowledge, corruption of a minor, besides others. + +The enforcement practices of age-of-consent laws vary depending on the social sensibilities of the particular culture (see above). Often, enforcement is not exercised to the letter of the law, with legal action being taken only when a sufficiently socially-unacceptable age gap exists between the two individuals, or if the perpetrator is in a position of power over the minor (e.g. a teacher, minister, or doctor). The sex of each participant can also influence perceptions of an individual's guilt and therefore enforcement. + +Age +The threshold age for engaging in sexual activity varies between jurisdictions. Most jurisdictions have set a fixed age of consent. However, some jurisdictions permit sex with a person after the onset of their puberty, such as Yemen, but only in marriage. Ages can also vary based on the type of calendar used, such as the lunar calendar, how birth dates in leap years are handled, or even the method by which birth date is calculated. + +Defenses and exceptions +The age of consent is a legal barrier to the minor's ability to consent and therefore obtaining consent is not in general a defense to having sexual relations with a person under the prescribed age, for example: + +Reasonable belief that the victim is over the age of consent +In some jurisdictions it is a defense if the accused can show their reasonable belief that the victim was over the age of consent. However, where such a defense is provided, it normally applies only when the victim is close to the age of consent or the accused can show due diligence in determining the age of the victim (e.g. an underage person who used a fake identification document claiming to be of legal age). + +Marriage +In various jurisdictions, age of consent laws do not apply if the parties are legally married to each other. Ruhollah Khomeini, First Supreme Leader of Iran, in Tahrir al-Wasilah apart from sexual penetration, which he said a girl must be at least 9 years old to do it; he considered other sexual pleasures to be unobjection, whether after 9 years old or before 9 years old, even if those sexual acts done with a suckling infant. + +Close-in-age exemptions + +Similar age +Some jurisdictions have laws explicitly allowing sexual acts with minors under the age of consent if their partner is close in age. In Canada, the age of consent is 16, but there are three close-in-age exemptions: sex with minors aged 14–15 is permitted if the partner is less than five years older, sex with minors aged 12–13 is permitted if the partner is less than two years older, and sex with minors aged 0–11 is permitted if the partner is 12 or 13 years of age, as long as the partner is not in a position of trust over the other minor. + +Age under threshold +Another approach takes the form of a stipulation that sexual intercourse between a minor and an older partner is legal under the condition that the latter does not exceed a certain age. For example, the age of consent in the US state of Delaware is 18, but it is allowed for teenagers aged 16 and 17 to engage in sexual intercourse as long as the older partner is younger than 30. The law in Canada for sex between minors aged 0–11 with a partner younger than 14 also takes this form. + +Similar maturity +Other countries state that the sexual conduct with the minor is not to be punished if the partners are of a similar age and development: for instance, the age of consent in Finland is 16, but the law states that the act will not be punished if "there is no great difference in the ages or the mental and physical maturity of the persons involved". In Slovenia, the age of consent is 15, but the activity is only deemed criminal if there is "a marked discrepancy between the maturity of the perpetrator and that of the victim". + +Homosexual and heterosexual age discrepancies +Some jurisdictions, such as the Bahamas, UK overseas territory of the Cayman Islands, Chile, Paraguay and Suriname have a higher age of consent for same-sex sexual activity. However, such discrepancies are increasingly being challenged. Within Bermuda for example (since 1 November 2019 under section 177 of the Criminal Code Act 1907) the age of consent for vaginal and oral sex is 16, but for anal sex it is 18. In Canada, the United Kingdom and Western Australia, for example, the age of consent was formerly 21 for same-sex sexual activity between males (with no laws regarding lesbian sexual activities), while it was 16 for heterosexual sexual activity; this is no longer the case and the age of consent for all sexual activity is 16. In June 2019, the Canadian government repealed the section of the criminal code that set a higher age of consent for anal intercourse. + Gender-age differentials In some jurisdictions (such as Indonesia), there are different ages of consent for heterosexual sexual activity that are based on the gender of each person. In countries where there are gender-age differentials, the age of consent may be higher for girls—for example in Papua New Guinea, where the age of consent for heterosexual sex is 16 for girls and 14 for boys, or they may be higher for males, such as in Indonesia, where males must be 19 years old and females must be 16 years old. There are also numerous jurisdictions—such as Kuwait and the Palestinian Territories—in which marriage laws govern the gender-age differential. In these jurisdictions, it is illegal to have sexual intercourse outside of marriage, so the de facto age of consent is the marriageable age. In Kuwait, this means that boys must be at least 17 and girls at least 15 years old. + +Position of authority/trust +In most jurisdictions where the age of consent is below 18 (such as England and Wales), in cases where a person aged 18 or older is in a position of trust over a person under 18, the age of consent usually rises to 18 or higher. Examples of such positions of trust include relationships between teachers and students. For example, in England and Wales the age of consent is 16, but if the person is a student of the older person it becomes 18. + +Circumstances of the relationship +In several jurisdictions, it is illegal to engage in sexual activity with a person under a certain age under certain circumstances regarding the relationship in question, such as if it involves taking advantage of or corrupting the morals of the young person. For example, while the age of consent is 14 in Germany and 16 in Canada, it is illegal in both countries to engage in sexual activity with a person under 18 if the activity exploits the younger person. Another example is in Mexico, where there is a crime called "estupro" defined as sexual activity with a person over the age of consent but under a certain age limit (generally 18) in which consent of the younger person was obtained through seduction and/or deceit. In Pennsylvania, the age of consent is officially 16, but if the older partner is 18 or older, they may still be prosecuted for corruption of minors for their corruption or tending to corrupt the morals of the younger person. + +Extraterritoriality + +A growing number of countries have specific extraterritorial legislation that prosecutes their citizens in their homeland should they engage in illicit sexual conduct in a foreign country with children. In 2008, ECPAT reported that 44 countries had extraterritorial child sex legislation. For example, PROTECT Act of 2003, a federal United States law bans sexual activity by its citizens with foreigners or with U.S. citizens from another state, if the partner is under 18 and the activity is illegal under the federal, state, or local law. This applies in cases where any of the partners travels into or out of the United States, or from one state into another, for the purpose of an illegal sexual encounter. + +Other issues + +Gender of participants +There is debate as to whether the gender of those involved should lead to different treatment of the sexual encounter, in law or in practice. Traditionally, age of consent laws regarding vaginal intercourse were often meant to protect the chastity of unmarried girls. Many feminists and social campaigners in the 1970s have objected to the social importance of virginity, and have also attempted to change the stereotypes of female passivity and male aggression; demanding that the law protect children from exploitation regardless of their gender, rather than dealing with concerns of chastity. This has led to gender-neutral laws in many jurisdictions. On the other hand, there is an opposing view which argues that the act of vaginal intercourse is an "unequal act" for males and females, due to issues such as pregnancy, increased risk of STDs, and risk of physical injury if the girl is too young and not physically ready. In the US, in Michael M. v. Superior Ct.450 U.S. 464 (1981) it was ruled that the double standard of offering more legal protection to girls is valid because "the Equal Protection Clause does not mean that the physiological differences between men and women must be disregarded". + +Traditionally, many age of consent laws dealt primarily with men engaging in sexual acts with underage girls and boys (the latter acts often falling under sodomy and buggery laws). This means that in some legal systems, issues of women having sexual contact with underage partners were rarely acknowledged. For example, until 2000, in the UK, before the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2000, there was no statutory age of consent for lesbian sex. In New Zealand, before 2005, there were no age of consent laws dealing with women having sex with underage boys. Previously, in Fiji, male offenders of child sexual abuse could receive up to life imprisonment, whilst female offenders would receive up to seven years. Situations like these have been attributed to societal views on traditional gender roles, and to constructs of male sexuality and female sexuality; according to E Martellozzo, "[V]iewing females as perpetrators of sexual abuse goes against every stereotype that society has of women: women as mothers and caregivers and not as people who abuse and harm". Alissa Nutting argues that women are not acknowledged as perpetrators of sex crimes because society does not accept that women have an autonomous sexuality of their own. + +Marriage and the age of consent + +The age at which a person can be legally married can differ from the age of consent. In jurisdictions where the marriageable age is lower than the age of consent, those laws usually override the age of consent laws in the case of a married couple where one or both partners are below the age of consent. Some jurisdictions prohibit all sex outside of marriage irrespective of age, as in the case of Yemen. + +Prostitution + +In many countries, there are specific laws dealing with child prostitution. + +Pornography and "jailbait" images + +In some countries, states, or other jurisdictions, the age of consent may be lower than the age at which a person can appear in pornographic images and films. In many jurisdictions, the minimum age for participation and even viewing such material is 18. As such, in some jurisdictions, films and images showing individuals under the age of 18, but above the age of consent, that meet the legal definition of child pornography are prohibited despite the fact that the sexual acts depicted are legal to engage in otherwise under that jurisdiction's age of consent laws. In those cases, it is only the filming of the sex act that is the crime as the act itself would not be considered a sex crime. For example, in the United States under federal law it is a crime to film minors below 18 in sexual acts, even in states where the age of consent is below 18. In those states, charges such as child pornography can be used to prosecute someone having sex with a minor, who could not otherwise be prosecuted for statutory rape, provided they filmed or photographed the act. + +Jailbait images can be differentiated from child pornography, as they do not feature minors before the onset of puberty, nor do they contain nudity. The images are, however, usually sexualized, often featuring tween or young teenagers in bikinis, skirts, underwear or lingerie. Whether or not these images are legal is debated. When questioned regarding their legality legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin stated he thought it was not illegal, though legal expert Sunny Hostin was more skeptical, describing jailbait images as "borderline" child pornography which may be illegal. + +Health + +The human immune system continues to develop after puberty. The age of exposure has an influence upon if the immune system can fend off infections in general, and this is also true in the case of some sexually transmitted diseases. For example, a risk factor for HPV strains causing genital warts is sexual debut at a young age; if this extends to the cancer causing strains, then sexual debut at a young age would potentially also increase risk of persistence of HPV infections that cause the very HPV induced cancers that are being diagnosed in spiking numbers of relatively young people. + +Initiatives to change the age of consent + +Age-of-consent reform refers to the efforts of some individuals or groups, for different reasons, to alter or abolish age-of-consent laws. These efforts advocate positions such as: + Introductions of close-in-age exceptions. + Reducing the age-of-consent for homosexual activity to match that of heterosexual activity. + A change in the way that age-of-consent laws are examined in court. + Either increases in the ages of consent or more severe penalties or both. + Either decreases in the ages of consent or less severe penalties or both. + Abolition of the age-of-consent laws either permanently or as a temporary, practical expedient. + +See also + + Adult film industry regulations + Age disparity in sexual relationships + Age of accountability + Age of candidacy + Age of Consent Act, 1891 (British India) + Age of consent reform (UK) + Age of consent by country + Age of majority + Age of reason (canon law) + Child sexual abuse + Comprehensive sex education + Convention on the Rights of the Child + Emancipation of minors + Fitness to plead, law of England and Wales + French petition against age of consent laws + Gillick competence + Legal age + Mature minor doctrine + Minors and abortion + Sex-positive movement + Sodomy law + The Maiden Tribute of Modern Babylon + Youth + Youth suffrage + Youth rights + +References + +Further reading + Brewer, Holly. By Birth or Consent: Children, Law, & the Anglo-American Revolution in Authority ; Univ. of North Carolina Press (Chapel Hill, 2005) + Robertson, Stephen (University of Sydney). "Age of Consent Laws." In: Children & Youth in History, Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media (CHNM) at George Mason University and the University of Missouri–Kansas City.—Includes links to primary sources. + Waites, Matthew (2005). The Age of Consent: Young People, Sexuality and Citizenship, (New York [United States] and Houndmills, Basingstoke [United Kingdom]: Palgrave Macmillan) + +External links + (Some information may be out of date) + + + +Adolescent sexuality +Age and society +Minimum ages +Sex laws +Sexuality and age +Statutory law +Alypius of Antioch was a geographer and a vicarius of Roman Britain, probably in the late 350s AD. He replaced Flavius Martinus after that vicarius' suicide. His rule is recorded is Ammianus XXIII 1, 3. + +Life +He came from Antioch and served under Constantius II and was probably appointed to ensure that nobody with western associations was serving in Britain during a time of mistrust, rebellion and suppression symbolised by the brutal acts of the imperial notary Paulus Catena. He may have had to deal with the insurrection of the usurper named Carausius II. + +Alypius was afterwards commissioned to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem as part of Julian's systematic attempt to reverse the Christianization of the Roman Empire by restoring pagan and, in this case, Jewish practices. Among the letters of Julian are two (29 and 30) addressed to Alypius; one inviting him to Rome, the other thanking him for a geographical treatise, which no longer exists. + +References + +Sources +Todd, M., Roman Britain, Fontana, London 1985 +Salway, P., Roman Britain, Oxford, 1986 + +Jews and Judaism in the Roman Empire +Ancient Romans in Britain +People from Antioch +Ancient Roman geographers +Roman governors of Britain +4th-century Romans +Late-Roman-era pagans +4th-century geographers +Amalasuintha (495 – 30 April 535) was a ruler of the Ostrogothic Kingdom from 526 to 535. Initially serving as regent for her son Athalaric, she became queen after his premature death. Highly educated, Amalasuintha was praised by both Cassiodorus and Procopius for her wisdom and her ability to speak three languages (Greek, Gothic, and Latin). Her status as an independent female monarch, and obvious affinity for Roman culture, caused discontent among the Gothic nobles in her court, and she was deposed and killed after six months of sole rule. + +Family +Amalasuintha was likely born in Ravenna in 495, the only child of Theodoric and his wife Audofleda, the sister of Clovis, King of the Franks. The union of Amalasuintha’s parents were of a political purpose, as many royal marriages were at the time. Theodoric married Audofleda about the year 493, after he had defeated the various Gothic kingdoms and sought an alliance with the Franks. Amalasuintha was born into the Amali dynasty on her father’s side, which dynasty comprised Goths of Germanic descent. Like her father, Amalasuintha was married out of political reasons to Eutharic, an Amali prince, to ensure a legitimate heir to the throne. They had two children together, Athalaric and Matasuntha. Eutharic died in 522, causing Theodoric some alarm, as his kingdom lacked an adult male heir to inherit the throne. As Amalasuintha's son Athalaric was only 10 years old at the time of Theodoric's death, Amalasuintha took control of the kingdom alongside her son as regent and, although accounts by Cassiodorus and Procopius refer to Athalaric as King, she effectively ruled on his behalf. + +Rule + +Regent +According to Procopius, the Goth aristocracy wanted Athalaric to be raised in the Gothic manner, but Amalasuintha wanted him to resemble the Roman princes. Amalasuintha had close ties to the Byzantine emperor Justinian I, which would have made her adherence to Roman learning and customs especially objectionable to her fellow Goths. The regency lasted until 534, when Athalaric died from what was most likely the combination of excessive drinking (a part of Gothic culture) and a disease, probably diabetes. In order to secure the power in the Amali name, Amalasuintha created the consortium regni that allowed her to continue to rule as queen while still presenting a public face that honored conservative Gothic tradition. She then appointed her older cousin Theodahad to rule as co-regent, in which Amalasuintha would play the male character and Theodahad would play the woman, as male and female monarchs sharing powers. Masculinity is the main characteristic attributed to Amalasuintha by Procopius and Cassiodorus, because she had a strong determination and temperament. + +Her tremendous influence in her position as regent can be seen in a diptych of Rufius Gennadius Probus Orestes in which she appears alongside her son, Athalaric, in 530. Deeply imbued with the old Roman culture, she gave to her son's education a more refined and literary turn than suited her Goth subjects. Conscious of her unpopularity, she banished – and afterwards put to death – three Gothic nobles whom she suspected of conspiring against her rule. At the same time, she opened negotiations with Justinian, with the view of removing herself and the Gothic treasure to Constantinople. + +Queen regnant +After Athalaric's death, Amalasuintha became queen and ruled alone for a short while before making her cousin Theodahad co-ruler with the intent of strengthening her position. Theodahad was a prominent leader of the Gothic military aristocracy that opposed her pro-Roman stances, and Amalasuintha believed this duumvirate might make supporters from her harshest critics. Instead Theodahad fostered the disaffection of the Goths, and either by his orders or with his permission, Amalasuintha was imprisoned on the island of Martana in Lake Bolsena, where on April 30 of 534/535 she was murdered in her bath. + +Death + +The death of Amalasuintha gave Justinian I a reason to go to war with the Ostrogoths and attempt to take Italy. According to the Eastern Roman historian Procopius, Amalasuintha was thinking about handing over Italy to Justinian around the time of her death. Shortly after Amalasuintha's murder, Theodahad was replaced by Witigis, Amalasuintha's son-in-law. With the people's support, Witigis had Theodahad put to death. + +Sources +The letters of Cassiodorus, chief minister and literary adviser of Amalasuintha, and the histories of Procopius and Jordanes, give us our chief information as to the character of Amalasuintha. Cassiodorus was a part of a greater pro-Roman party that desired to Romanize the traditional Ostrogothic kingship, further evidence of the pro-Roman circle that Amalasuintha surrounded herself with. + +Legacy + +The life of Amalasuintha was made the subject of a tragedy, the first play written by the young Carlo Goldoni and presented at Milan in 1733. + +Romanian poet George Coșbuc wrote a poem entitled Regina Ostrogotilor (The Queen of the Ostrogoths) in which Amalasuintha (as Amalasunda) speaks to Theodahad (mentioned as Teodat in the poem) shortly before he kills her. + +Asteroid 650 Amalasuntha is named in her honour. + +Amalasuintha is portrayed by Honor Blackman in the 1968 film Kampf um Rom. + +References + +Further reading +Craddock, Jonathan Paul. Amalasuintha: Ostrogothic Successor, A.D. 526–535. PhD diss. California State University, Long Beach, 1996. +Vitiello, Massimiliano. Amalasuintha: The Transformation of Queenship in the Post-Roman World. University of Pennsylvania Press, 2018. + +Year of birth unknown +535 deaths +6th-century women monarchs +Ostrogothic queens consort +Ostrogothic kings +Amali dynasty +6th-century monarchs in Europe +6th-century murdered monarchs +6th-century Ostrogothic people +6th-century Italian women +6th-century Christians +6th-century scholars +Women scholars and academics +Scholars of Latin literature +Scholars of Greek language +Queens regnant in Europe +6th-century kings of Italy +6th-century women regents +Amalric of Bena (; ; died ) was a French theologian, philosopher and sect leader, after whom the Amalricians are named. Reformers such as Martin Luther considered him to be a proto-Protestant. + +Biography +Amalric was born in the latter part of the 12th century at Bennes, a village between Ollé and Chauffours in the diocese of Chartres. + +Amalric taught philosophy and theology at the University of Paris and enjoyed a great reputation as a subtle dialectician; his lectures developing the philosophy of Aristotle attracted a large audience. In 1204 his doctrines were condemned by the university and, on a personal appeal to Pope Innocent III, the sentence was ratified, Amalric being ordered to return to Paris and recant his errors. + +His death was caused, it is said, by grief at the humiliation to which he had been subjected. +In 1209, ten of his followers were burnt before the gates of Paris and Amalric's own body was exhumed and burnt and the ashes given to the winds. The doctrines of his followers, known as the Amalricians, were formally condemned by the fourth Lateran Council in 1215. + +Propositions +Amalric appears to have derived his philosophical system from a selective reading of Eriugena, whose expressions he developed in a one-sided and strongly pantheistic form. + +Only three propositions can be attributed to him with certainty: +that God is all (omnia sunt deus) and thus all things are one because whatever is, is God (omnia unum, quia quidquid est, est Deus); +that every Christian is bound to believe that he is a member of the body of Christ, and that this belief is necessary for salvation; +that he who remains in love of God can commit no sin. + +Because of the first proposition, God himself is thought to be invisible and only recognizable in his creation. + +These three propositions were further developed by his followers, who maintained that God revealed Himself in a threefold revelation, the first in the Biblical patriarch Abraham, marking the epoch of the Father; the second in Jesus Christ, who began the epoch of the Son; and the third in Amalric and his disciples, who inaugurated the era of the Holy Ghost. + +Amalricians taught: +Hell is ignorance, therefore Hell is within all men, "like a bad tooth in a mouth"; +God is identical with all that is, even evil belongs to God and proves God's omnipotence; +A man who knows that God works through everything cannot sin, because every human act is then the act of God; +A man who recognizes the truth that God works through everything is already in Heaven and this is the only resurrection. There is no other life; man's fulfillment is in this life alone. + +Due to persecutions, this sect does not appear to have long survived the death of its founder. Not long after the burning of ten of their members (1210), the sect itself lost its importance, while some of the surviving Amalricians became Brethren of the Free Spirit. + +According to Hosea Ballou, then Pierre Batiffol and George T. Knight (1914) Amalric believed that all people would eventually be saved and this was one of the counts upon which he was declared a heretic by Pope Innocent III. + +See also +Brethren of the Free Spirit + +References + +Attribution: + This cites: + W. Preger, Geschichte der deutschen Mystik im Mittelalter (Leipzig, 1874, i. 167–173) + Hauréau, Histoire de la phil. scol. (Paris, 1872) + C. Schmidt, Histoire de l'Église d'Occident pendant le moyen âge (Paris, 1885) + Hefele, Conciliengeschichte (2nd ed., Freiburg, 1886) + +Sources + Christoph Ulrich Hahn: Geschichte der Ketzer im Mittelalter, Vol. 3 (Stuttgart, 1850) + Arno Borst: Religiöse und geistige Bewegungen im Hochmittelalter, Propyläen Weltgeschichte, Ullstein 1963, Vol. 5, p. 537 + Friedrich Heer Medieval World Europe 1100-1350 + Capelle, G. C., Amaury de Bène, étude sur son panthéisme formel (Paris, 1932). + Russell, J. B., The Influence of Amalric of Bene in Thirteenth Century Pantheism (Berkeley, 1957). + +1200s deaths +12th-century births +12th-century Christian universalists +12th-century Christian mystics +Christian universalist theologians +Roman Catholic mystics +Pantheists +Scholastic philosophers +Afonso I of Portugal (; 1106/1109/11111185), also called Afonso Henriques, nicknamed the Conqueror () and the Founder () by the Portuguese, and El-Bortukali (in Arabic "the Portuguese") and Ibn-Arrink or Ibn Arrinq (in Arabic or "son of Henry", "Henriques") by the Moors whom he fought, was the first king of Portugal. He achieved the independence of the County of Portugal, establishing a new kingdom and doubling its area with the , an objective that he pursued until his death. + +Afonso was the son of Theresa of León and Henry of Burgundy, rulers of the County of Portugal. Henry died in 1112, leaving Teresa to rule alone. Unhappy with Teresa's romantic relationship with Galician Fernando Pérez de Traba and his political influence, the Portuguese nobility rallied around Afonso, who revolted and defeated his mother at the Battle of São Mamede in 1128 and became Count of Portugal soon afterwards. In 1139, Afonso renounced the suzerainty of the Kingdom of León and established the independent Kingdom of Portugal. + +Afonso actively campaigned against the Moors in the south. In 1139 he won a decisive victory at the Battle of Ourique, and in 1147 he conquered Santarém and Lisbon from the Moors, with help from men on their way to the Holy Land for the Second Crusade. He secured the independence of Portugal following a victory over León at Valdevez and received papal approval through Manifestis Probatum. Afonso died in 1185 and was succeeded by his son, Sancho I. + +Youth +Afonso was the son of Theresa, the illegitimate daughter of King Alfonso VI of León, and her husband, Henry of Burgundy. According to the the future Portuguese king was born in Guimarães, which was at the time the most important political center of his parents. This was accepted by most Portuguese scholars until 1990, when Torquato de Sousa Soares proposed Coimbra, the center of the county of Coimbra and another political center of Afonso's progenitors, as his birthplace, which caused outrage in Guimarães and a polemic between this historian and José Hermano Saraiva. Almeida Fernandes later proposed Viseu as the birthplace of Afonso based on the , which states Afonso was born in 1109, a position followed by historian José Mattoso in his biography of the king. Abel Estefânio has suggested a different date and thesis, proposing 1106 as the birth date and the region of Tierra de Campos or even Sahagún as likely birth places based on the known itineraries of Henry and Teresa. His place of baptism is also under suspicion: according to tradition the place is indicated as being in the Church of São Miguel do Castelo, in Guimarães; however, there are doubts because of the date of the consecration of the Church, made in 1239. There are those who argue that the baptism actually took place in the Cathedral of Braga where he was baptised by Primate Archbishop Saint Gerald of Braga, which is politically sound for Count Henry to have the highest-ranking clergy baptise his heir. + +Henry and Theresa reigned jointly as count and countess of Portugal until his death on 22 May 1112 during the siege of Astorga, after which Theresa ruled Portugal alone. She would proclaim herself queen (a claim recognised by Pope Paschal II in 1116) but was captured and forced to reaffirm her vassalage to her half-sister, Urraca of León. + +It is not known who was the tutor of Afonso. Later traditions, probably started with João Soares Coelho (a bastard descendant of Egas Moniz through a female line) in the mid-13th century and ampliated by later chronicles such as the , asserted he had been Egas Moniz de Ribadouro, possibly with the help of oral memories that associated the tutor to the house of Ribadouro. Yet, contemporary documents, namely from the chancery of Afonso in his early years as count of Portucale, indicate according to Mattoso that the most likely tutor of Afonso Henriques was Egas Moniz's oldest brother, Ermígio Moniz, who, besides being the senior brother within the family of Ribadouro, became the "dapifer" and "majordomus" of Afonso I from 1128 until his death in 1135, which indicates his closer proximity to the prince. + +In an effort to pursue a larger share in the Leonese inheritance, his mother Teresa joined forces with Fernando Pérez de Trava, the most powerful count in Galicia. The Portuguese nobility disliked the alliance between Galicia and Portugal and rallied around Afonso. The Archbishop of Braga was also concerned with the dominance of Galicia, apprehensive of the ecclesiastical pretensions of his new rival the Galician Archbishop of Santiago de Compostela, Diego Gelmírez, who had claimed an alleged discovery of relics of Saint James in his town, as a way to gain power and riches over the other cathedrals in the Iberian Peninsula. In order to stop her son Afonso from overthrowing her, Teresa exiled him when he was twelve in the year 1120. In 1122, Afonso turned fourteen, the adult age in the 12th century. In symmetry with his cousin, Afonso made himself a knight on his own account in the Cathedral of Zamora in 1125. After the military campaign of Alfonso VII against his mother in 1127, Afonso revolted against her and proceeded to take control of the county from its queen. + +Sole count + +In 1128, near Guimarães at the Battle of São Mamede, Afonso and his supporters overcame troops under both his mother and her lover, Count Fernando Pérez de Traba of Galicia. Afonso exiled his mother to Galicia, and took over rule of the County of Portucale. Thus the possibility of re-incorporating Portucale into a Kingdom of Portugal and Galicia as before was eliminated and Afonso became sole ruler following demands for greater independence from the county's church and nobles. The battle was mostly ignored by the Leonese suzerain who was occupied at the time with a revolt in Castille. He was also, most likely, waiting for the reaction of the Galician families. After Teresa's death in 1131, Alfonso VII of León proceeded to demand vassalage from his cousin. On 6 April 1129, Afonso Henriques dictated the writ in which he proclaimed himself Prince of Portugal or Prince of the Portuguese, an act informally allowed by Afonso VII, as it was thought to be Afonso Henriques's right by blood, as one of two grandsons of the Emperor of Hispania. + +Afonso then turned his arms against the persistent problem of the Moors in the south. His campaigns were successful and, on 25 July 1139, he obtained an overwhelming victory in the Battle of Ourique, and straight after was (possibly unanimously) proclaimed King of the Portuguese by his soldiers, establishing his equality in rank to the other realms of the Peninsula, although the first reference to his royal title dates from 1140. The first assembly of the Portuguese Cortes convened at Lamego (wherein he would have been given the crown from the Archbishop of Braga, to confirm his independence) is a 17th-century embellishment of Portuguese history. + +Kingship +Complete independence from Alfonso VII of León's suzerainty, however, could not be achieved by military means alone. The County of Portugal still had to be acknowledged diplomatically by the neighboring lands as a kingdom and, most importantly, by the Catholic Church and the pope. Afonso wed Mafalda of Savoy, daughter of Count Amadeus III of Savoy, and sent ambassadors to Rome to negotiate with the pope. He succeeded in renouncing the suzerainty of his cousin, Alfonso VII of León, becoming instead a vassal of the papacy, as the kings of Sicily and Aragon had done before him. + +In Portugal he built several monasteries and convents and bestowed important privileges to religious orders. He is notably the builder of Alcobaça Monastery, to which he called the Cistercian Order of his uncle Bernard of Clairvaux of Burgundy. In 1143, he wrote to Pope Innocent II to declare himself and the kingdom servants of the church, swearing to pursue driving the Moors out of the Iberian Peninsula. Bypassing any king of León, Afonso declared himself the direct liege man of the papacy. Afonso continued to distinguish himself by his exploits against the Moors, from whom he wrested Santarém (see Conquest of Santarém) and Lisbon in 1147 (see Siege of Lisbon). He also conquered an important part of the land south of the Tagus River, although this was lost again to the Moors in the following years. + +Meanwhile, King Alfonso VII of León regarded the independent ruler of Portugal as nothing but a rebel. Conflict between the two was constant and bitter in the following years. Afonso became involved in a war, taking the side of the Aragonese king, an enemy of Castile. To ensure the alliance, his son Sancho was engaged to Dulce of Aragon. Finally after winning the Battle of Valdevez, the Treaty of Zamora (1143) established peace between the cousins and the recognition by the Kingdom of León that Portugal was a fully independent kingdom. + +In 1169 the now old King Afonso was possibly disabled in an engagement near Badajoz, by a fall from his horse and slamming against the castle gate, and made prisoner by the soldiers of King Ferdinand II of León, his son-in-law. He spent months at the hot springs of São Pedro do Sul, but never recovered and from this time onward the Portuguese king never rode a horse again. However, it is not certain if this was because of the disability: according to the later Portuguese chronistic tradition, this happened because Afonso would have to surrender himself again to Ferdinand or risk war between the two kingdoms if he ever rode a horse again. Portugal was obliged to surrender as his ransom almost all the conquests Afonso had made in Galicia (north of the Minho River) in the previous years. This event became known in Portuguese history as the Disaster of Badajoz (o Desastre de Badajoz). + +In 1179 the privileges and favors given to the Catholic Church were compensated. With consistent effort by several parties, such as the primate archbishop of Braga, Paio Mendes, in the papal court, the papal bull Manifestis Probatum was promulgated accepting the new king as vassal to the pope exclusively. In it Pope Alexander III also acknowledged Afonso as king and Portugal as an independent kingdom with the right to conquer lands from the Moors. + +In 1184, the Almohad caliph Abu Yaqub Yusuf rallied a great Almohad force to retaliate against the Portuguese raids done since the end of a five-year truce in 1178 and besieged Santarém, which was defended by Afonso's son Sancho. The Almohad siege failed when news arrived the archbishop of Compostella had come to the defense of the city and Fernando II of León himself with his army. The Almohads ended the siege and their retreat turned into a rout due to panic in their camp, with the Almohad caliph being injured in the process (according to one version, because of a crossbow bolt) and dying on the way back to Seville. Afonso died shortly after on 6 December 1185. The Portuguese revere him as a hero, both on account of his personal character and as the founder of their nation. There are mythical stories that it took ten men to carry his sword, and that Afonso wanted to engage other monarchs in personal combat, but no one would dare accept his challenge. It is also told, despite his honourable character, that he had a temper. Several chronicles give the example of a papal legate that brought a message from Pope Paschal II refusing to acknowledge Afonso's claim as king: either after committing or saying a small offense against him or after being simply read the letter, Afonso almost killed, in his rage, the papal representative, taking several portucalense nobles and soldiers to physically restrain the young would-be king. + +Scientific research + +In July 2006, the tomb of the king (which is located in the Santa Cruz Monastery in Coimbra) was to be opened for scientific purposes by researchers from the University of Coimbra (Portugal) and the University of Granada (Spain). The opening of the tomb provoked considerable concern among some sectors of Portuguese society and Portuguese State Agency for Architectural Patrimony (Instituto Português do Património Arquitectónico – IPPAR) halted the opening, requesting more protocols from the scientific team because of the importance of the king in the nation's heart and public thought. + +Descendants +In 1146, Afonso married Mafalda, daughter of Amadeus III, Count of Savoy and Mahaut of Albon, both appearing together for the first time in May of that year confirming royal charters. They had the following issue: + + Henry (5 March 1147 – 1155) named after his paternal grandfather, Henry, Count of Portugal, he died when he was only eight years old. Despite being just a child he represented his father at a council in Toledo at the age of three; + Urraca (1148–1211), married King Ferdinand II of León and was the mother of King Alfonso IX. The marriage was subsequently annulled in 1171 or 1172 and she retired in Zamora, one of the villas that she had received as part of her arras, and later at the Monastery of Santa María in Wamba, Valladolid where she was buried; + Teresa (1151–1218), countess consort of Flanders due to her marriage to Philip I and duchess consort of Burgundy through her second marriage to Odo III; + Mafalda (1153after 1162). In January 1160, her father and Ramón Berenguer IV, Count of Barcelona, negotiated the marriage of Mafalda to Alfonso, future King Alfonso II of Aragon who at that time was three or four years old. After the death of Ramón Berenguer IV in the summer of 1162, King Ferdinand II of León convinced his widow, Queen Petronilla, to cancel the infante's wedding plans with Mafalda and for Alfonso to marry instead Sancha, daughter of Alfonso VII of León and his second wife Queen Richeza of Poland. Mafalda died in her childhood at an unrecorded date. + Sancho, the future King Sancho I of Portugal (11 November 115426 March 1211). He was baptised with the name of Martin for having been born on the saint's feast day; + John (1156–25 August 1164); and + Sancha (1157–14 February 1166/67), born ten days before the death of her mother, Sancha died before reaching the age of ten on 14 February according to the death registry at the Monastery of Santa Cruz (Coimbra) where she was buried. + +Before his marriage to Mafalda, King Afonso fathered his first son with Chamoa Gómez, daughter of Count Gómez Núñez and Elvira Pérez, sister of Fernando and Bermudo Pérez de Traba: + + Afonso (1140–1207). Born around 1140, according to recent investigations, he is the same person as the one often called Fernando Afonso who was the alferes-mor of the king and later Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller. His presence in the court is first recorded in 1159. In 1169 he succeeded as alferes-mor his half-brother, Pedro Pais da Maia, the legitimate son of his mother and Paio Soares da Maia. + +The extramarital offspring by Elvira Gálter were: + Urraca Afonso. In 1185, her father gave her Avô, stipulating that this villa was to be inherited only by the children that she had with her husband Pedro Afonso de Ribadouro (also known as Pedro Afonso Viegas), grandson of Egas Moniz, which could indicate another previous or subsequent marriage. In 1187, she exchanged with her half-brother, King Sancho, this villa for Aveiro. She died after 1216, the year she made a donation to the Monastery of Tarouca. + Teresa Afonso. In some genealogies she appears as the daughter of Elvira Gálter, and in others as the daughter of Chamoa Gómez. Her first marriage was with Sancho Nunes de Barbosa with whom she had a daughter, Urraca Sanches, who married Gonçalo Mendes de Sousa, the father of Mendo Gonçalves de Sousa known as "Sousão". Her second husband was Fernando Martins Bravo, Lord of Bragança and Chaves, with no issue from this marriage. + +King Afonso was also the father of: + Pedro Afonso (died after 1183), Lord of Arega and Pedrógão, mayor of Abrantes in 1179, alferes of King Afonso I between 1181 and 1183, and Master of the Order of Aviz. + +See also + +Gallaecia +Galicia +History of Portugal +Timeline of Portuguese history +List of Knights Templar + +Notes + +References + +Bibliography + + + + + + + + + + + + +Portuguese Roman Catholics +Portuguese people of French descent +Portuguese people of Spanish descent +House of Burgundy-Portugal +People of the Reconquista +12th-century births +1185 deaths +Year of birth uncertain +12th-century Roman Catholics +Christians of the Second Crusade +Counts of Portugal (Asturias-León) +12th-century Portuguese monarchs +Portuguese revolutionaries +Founding monarchs +People from Guimarães +Afonso II (; English: Alphonzo; Archaic Portuguese: Affonso; Portuguese-Galician: Alfonso or Alphonso; Latin: Alphonsus; 23 April 118525 March 1223), nicknamed the Fat (o Gordo) or the Leper (o Gafo), was the third king of Portugal and the second but eldest surviving son of Sancho I of Portugal and Dulce of Aragon. Afonso succeeded his father on 27 March 1211. + +Reign + +As a king, Afonso II set a different approach of government. Hitherto, his father Sancho I and his grandfather Afonso I were mostly concerned with military issues either against the neighbouring Kingdom of Castile or against the Moorish lands in the south. Afonso did not pursue territory enlargement policies and managed to ensure peace with Castile during his reign. Despite this, some towns were conquered from the Moors by the private initiative of noblemen and clergy, as when Bishop Soeiro Viegas initiated the conquest of Alcácer do Sal. This does not mean that he was a weak or somehow cowardly man. The first years of his reign were marked instead by internal disturbances between Afonso and his brothers and sisters. The king managed to keep security within Portuguese borders only by outlawing and exiling his kin. + +Since military issues were not a government priority, Afonso established the state's administration and centralized power on himself. He designed the first set of Portuguese written laws. These were mainly concerned with private property, civil justice, and minting. Afonso also sent ambassadors to European kingdoms outside the Iberian Peninsula and began amicable commercial relations with most of them. + +Other reforms included the always delicate matters with the pope. In order to get the independence of Portugal recognized by Rome, his grandfather, Afonso I, had to legislate an enormous number of privileges to the Church. These eventually created a state within the state. With Portugal's position as a country firmly established, Afonso II endeavoured to weaken the power of the clergy and to apply a portion of the enormous revenues of the Catholic Church to purposes of national utility. These actions led to a serious diplomatic conflict between the pope and Portugal. After being excommunicated for his audacities by Pope Honorius III, Afonso II promised to make amends to the church, but he died in Coimbra on 25 March 1223 before making any serious attempts to do so. + +King Afonso was buried originally at the Monastery of Santa Cruz in Coimbra where his body remained for nearly ten years. His remains were transferred subsequently to Alcobaça Monastery, as he had stipulated in his will. He and his wife, Queen Urraca, were buried at its Royal Pantheon. + +Marriage and descendants +In 1206, he married Urraca, daughter of Alfonso VIII of Castile and Eleanor of England. The couple were both descendants of King Alfonso VI of León. The offspring of this marriage were: + + Sancho II (8 September 12074 January 1248), king of Portugal; + Afonso III (5 May 121016 February 1279), king of Portugal; + Eleanor (1211–1231), queen of Denmark + Ferdinand (1218–1246), lord of Serpa + +Out of wedlock, he had two illegitimate sons: + João Afonso (d. 9 October 1234), buried in the Alcobaça monastery; + Pedro Afonso (d. after 1249), who accompanied his brother King Afonso in the conquest of Faro in 1249. He had an illegitimate daughter named Constança Peres. + +Ancestry + +References + +Bibliography + + + + + +Portuguese infantes +House of Burgundy-Portugal +People excommunicated by the Catholic Church +1185 births +1223 deaths +People of the Reconquista +People from Coimbra +12th-century Portuguese people +13th-century Portuguese monarchs +Afonso III (; rare English alternatives: Alphonzo or Alphonse), or Affonso (Archaic Portuguese), Alfonso or Alphonso (Portuguese-Galician) or Alphonsus (Latin), the Boulonnais (Port. o Bolonhês), King of Portugal (5 May 121016 February 1279) was the first to use the title King of Portugal and the Algarve, from 1249. He was the second son of King Afonso II of Portugal and his wife, Urraca of Castile; he succeeded his brother, King Sancho II of Portugal, who died on 4 January 1248. + +Early life +Afonso was born in Coimbra. As the second son of King Afonso II of Portugal, he was not expected to inherit the throne, which was destined to go to his elder brother Sancho. + +He lived mostly in France, where he married Countess Matilda II of Boulogne in 1238, thereby becoming count of Boulogne, Mortain, Aumale and Dammartin-en-Goële jure uxoris. + +Reign +In 1246, conflicts between his brother, the king, and the church became unbearable. In 1247, Pope Innocent IV ordered Sancho II to be removed from the throne and to be replaced by the Count of Boulogne. Afonso did not refuse the papal order and consequently marched to Portugal. Since Sancho was not a popular king the order was not hard to enforce, and he fled in exile to Toledo, Castile, where he died on 4 January 1248. Until his brother's death and his own eventual coronation, Afonso retained and used the title of Visitador, Curador e Defensor do Reino (Overseer, Curator and Defender of the Kingdom). + +In order to ascend the throne Afonso abdicated his rights to the county of Boulogne in 1248. In 1253, he divorced Matilde in order to marry Beatrice of Castile, illegitimate daughter of Alfonso X, King of Castile, and Mayor Guillén de Guzmán. + +Determined not to make the same mistakes as his brother, Afonso III paid special attention to what the middle class, composed of merchants and small land owners, had to say. In 1254, in the city of Leiria, he held the first session of the Cortes, a general assembly comprising the nobility, the middle class and representatives of all municipalities. He also made laws intended to restrain the upper classes from abusing the least favored part of the population. Remembered as a notable administrator, Afonso III founded several towns, granted the title of city to many others and reorganized public administration. + +Afonso showed extraordinary vision for the time. Progressive measures taken during his kingship include: representatives of the commons, besides the nobility and clergy, were involved in governance; the end of preventive arrests such that henceforward all arrests had to be first presented to a judge to determine the detention measure; and fiscal innovation, such as negotiating extraordinary taxes with the mercantile classes and direct taxation of the Church, rather than debasement of the coinage. These may have led to his excommunication by the holy see and possibly precipitated his death, and his son Denis's premature rise to the throne at only 18 years old. + +Secure on the throne, Afonso III then proceeded to make war with the Muslim communities that still thrived in the south. In his reign the Algarve became part of the kingdom, following the capture of Faro. + +Final years and death +Following his success against the Moors, Afonso III had to deal with a political situation concerning the country's borders with Castile. The neighbouring kingdom considered that the newly acquired lands of the Algarve should be Castilian, not Portuguese, which led to a series of wars between the two kingdoms. Finally, in 1267, the Treaty of Badajoz (1267) was signed in Badajoz, determining that the southern border between Castile and Portugal should be the River Guadiana, as it is today. + +Afonso died in Alcobaça, Coimbra or Lisbon, aged 68. + +Marriages and descendants +Afonso's first wife was Matilda II, Countess of Boulogne, daughter of Renaud, Count of Dammartin, and Ida, Countess of Boulogne. They had no surviving children. He divorced Matilda in 1253 and, in the same year, married Beatrice of Castile, illegitimate daughter of Alfonso X, King of Castile, and Mayor Guillén de Guzmán. + +References + +Portuguese Roman Catholics +Portuguese infantes +House of Burgundy-Portugal +People of the Reconquista +1210 births +1279 deaths +People from Coimbra +13th-century Portuguese monarchs +Jure uxoris officeholders +Counts of Mortain +Counts of Aumale +Counts of Dammartin +Counts of Boulogne +Afonso IV (; 8 February 129128 May 1357), called the Brave (), was King of Portugal from 1325 until his death in 1357. He was the only legitimate son of King Denis of Portugal and Elizabeth of Aragon. + +Early life +Afonso, born in Lisbon, was the rightful heir to the Portuguese throne. However, he was not Denis' favourite son, the old king preferring his illegitimate son, Afonso Sanches. The notorious rivalry between the half brothers led to civil war several times. On 7 January 1325, Afonso IV's father died and he became king, whereupon he exiled his rival, Afonso Sanches, to Castile, and stripped him of all the lands and fiefdom given by their father. From Castile, Afonso Sanches orchestrated a series of attempts to usurp the crown. After a few failed attempts at invasion, the brothers signed a peace treaty, arranged by Afonso IV's mother, Elizabeth. + +In 1309, Afonso married Beatrice of Castile, daughter of King Sancho IV of Castile and María de Molina. The first-born of this union was a daughter, Maria of Portugal. + +King of Portugal and Algarve +In 1325 Alfonso XI of Castile entered a child-marriage with Constanza Manuel of Castile, the daughter of one of his regents. Two years later, he had the marriage annulled so he could marry Afonso's daughter, Maria of Portugal. Maria became Queen of Castile in 1328 upon her marriage to Alfonso XI, who soon became involved publicly with a mistress. Constanza was imprisoned in a castle in Toro while her father, Don Juan Manuel, waged war against Alfonso XI until 1329. Eventually, the two reached a peaceful accord after mediation by Juan del Campo, Bishop of Oviedo; this secured Constanza's release from prison. + +The public humiliation of his daughter led Afonso IV to have his son and heir, Peter I of Portugal, marry the no less aggrieved Castilian infanta, Constanza. Afonso subsequently started a war against Castile, peace arriving four years later, through the intervention of the infanta Maria herself. A year after the peace treaty was signed in Seville, Portuguese troops played an important role in defeating the Moors at the Battle of Río Salado in October 1340. + +Later life +Political intrigue marked the last part of Afonso IV's reign, although Castille was torn by civil war after Alfonso XI died. Henry of Trastámara challenged the new King Peter of Castile, who sent many Castilian nobles into exile in Portugal. Afonso's son Peter fell in love with his new wife's lady-in-waiting, Inês de Castro. Inês was the daughter of an important noble family from Galicia, with links (albeit illegitimate) to both the royal houses of Castile and Portugal. Her brothers were aligned with the Trastamara faction, and became favorites of Peter, much to the dismay of others at the Portuguese court, who considered them Castilian upstarts. When Constanza died weeks after giving birth to their third child, Peter began living openly with Inês, recognized all her children as his and refused to marry anyone other than Inês herself. His father refused to go to war again against Castile, hoping the heir apparent's infatuation would end, and tried to arrange another dynastic marriage for him. + +The situation became worse as the years passed and the aging Afonso lost control over his court. His grandson and Peter's only legitimate son, Ferdinand I of Portugal, was a sickly child, while Inês' illegitimate children thrived. Worried about his legitimate grandson's life, and the growing power of Castile within Portugal's borders, Afonso ordered Inês de Castro first imprisoned in his mother's old convent in Coimbra, and then murdered in 1355. He expected his son to give in and marry a princess, but Peter became enraged upon learning of his wife's decapitation in front of their young children. Peter put himself at the head of an army and devastated the country between the Douro and the Minho rivers before he was reconciled to his father in early 1357. Afonso died almost immediately after, in Lisbon in May. + +Afonso IV's nickname the Brave alludes to his martial exploits. However, his most important accomplishments were the relative peace enjoyed by the country during his long reign and the support he gave to the Portuguese Navy. Afonso granted public funding to raise a proper commercial fleet and ordered the first Portuguese maritime explorations. The conflict with Pedro, and the explorations he initiated, eventually became the foundation of the Portuguese national epic, Os Lusíadas by Luís de Camões. + +The dramatic circumstances of the relationship between father, son and Inês was used as the basis for the plot of more than twenty operas and ballets. The story with its tragic dénouement is immortalized in several plays and poems in Portuguese, such as Os Lusíadas by Luís de Camões (canto iii, stanzas 118–135), and in Spanish, including Nise lastimosa and Nise laureada (1577) by Jerónimo Bermúdez, Reinar despues de morir by Luis Vélez de Guevara, as well as a play by French playwright Henry de Montherlant called La Reine morte (The Dead Queen). Mary Russell Mitford also wrote a drama based on the story entitled Inez de Castro. Inês de Castro is a novel by Maria Pilar Queralt del Hierro in Spanish and Portuguese. + +Marriage and descendants +On 12 September 1309, Afonso married Beatrice of Castile, daughter of Sancho IV of Castile, and María de Molina, and had four sons and three daughters. Afonso broke the tradition of previous kings and did not have any children out of wedlock. + + Maria of Portugal, Queen of Castile (131318 January 1357), was the wife of Alfonso XI of Castile, and mother of the future King Peter of Castile. Due to the affair of her husband with his mistress Eleanor de Guzmán "it was an unfortunate union from the start, contributing to dampening the relations of both kingdoms"; + Afonso (1315–1317), died in his infancy. Buried at the disappeared Convento das Donas of the Dominican Order in Santarém; + Denis (born 12 February 1317), died a few months after his birth, and was buried in Alcobaça Monastery; + Peter I of Portugal (8 April 132018 January 1367), the first surviving male offspring, he succeeded his father. When his wife Constanza died in 1345, Beatrice took care of the education of the two orphans, the infantes Maria and Ferdinand I of Portugal, who later became king; + Isabel (21 December 132411 July 1326), buried at the Monastery of Santa Clara-a-Velha in Coimbra; + John (23 September 132621 June 1327), buried at the Monastery of São Dinis de Odivelas; + Eleanor of Portugal, Queen of Aragon (1328–1348), born in the same year as her sister Maria's wedding, she married King Peter IV of Aragon in November 1347 and died a year after her marriage, succumbing to the Black Death. + +Notes + +References + +Bibliography + + + + + + +Portuguese infantes +Portuguese Roman Catholics +House of Burgundy-Portugal +1291 births +1357 deaths +Nobility from Lisbon +People of the Reconquista +14th-century Portuguese monarchs +Afonso V () (15 January 1432 – 28 August 1481), known by the sobriquet the African (), was king of Portugal from 1438 until his death in 1481, with a brief interruption in 1477. His sobriquet refers to his military conquests in Northern Africa. + +Early life + +Afonso was born in Sintra, the second son of King Edward of Portugal by his wife Eleanor of Aragon. Following the death of his older brother, Infante João (1429–1433), Afonso acceded to the position of heir apparent and was made the first Prince of Portugal by his father, who sought to emulate the English Court's custom of a dynastic title that distinguished the heir apparent from the other children of the monarch. He was only six years old when he succeeded his father in 1438. + +During his minority, Afonso was placed under the regency of his mother, Eleanor, in accordance with the will left by his late father. As both a foreigner and a woman, the queen was not a popular choice for regent. When the cortes met in late 1438, a law was passed requiring a joint regency consisting of Eleanor and Pedro, Duke of Coimbra, the younger brother of the late king. The dual regency was a failure and in 1439, the cortes named Pedro "protector and guardian" of the king and "ruler and defender" of the kingdom. Eleanor attempted to resist, but without support in Portugal she fled to Castile. + +Pedro's main policies were concerned with restricting the political power of the great noble houses and expanding the powers of the crown. The country prospered under his rule, but not peacefully, as his laws interfered with the ambition of powerful nobles. The count of Barcelos, a personal enemy of the Duke of Coimbra (despite being half-brothers) eventually became the king's favourite uncle and began a constant struggle for power. In 1442, the king made the count his uncle Afonso the first Duke of Braganza. With this title and its lands, he became the most powerful man in Portugal and one of the richest men in Europe. To secure his position as regent, Pedro had Afonso marry his daughter, Isabella of Coimbra, in 1445. + +But on 9 June 1448, when the king came of age, Pedro had to surrender his power to Afonso V. The years of conspiracy by the Duke of Braganza finally came to a head. On 15 September of the same year, Afonso V nullified all the laws and edicts approved under the regency. In the following year, led by what were later discovered to be false accusations, Afonso declared Pedro a rebel and defeated his army in the Battle of Alfarrobeira, in which his uncle (and father-in-law) was killed. + +Invasion of Morocco + +Afonso V then turned his attentions to North Africa. In the reign of his grandfather John I, Ceuta had been conquered and taken over from the king of Morocco, and now the new king wanted to expand the conquests. The king's army conquered Alcácer Ceguer in 1458 and Arzila in 1471. Tangiers, on the other hand, was won and lost several times between 1460 and 1464. These achievements granted the king the nickname of the African or Africano. + +After the capture of Alcácer Ceguer in 1458, Afonso gave himself the title "king of Portugal and the Algarves", where the plural form of Algarve was meant to refer to both the original Kingdom of the Algarve in southern Portuguese as well as the new territories in Africa. + +The king also supported the exploration of the Atlantic Ocean led by prince Henry the Navigator but after Henry's death in 1460, he did nothing to continue Henry's work. Administratively, Afonso V was a passive king. He chose not to pursue the revision of laws or development of commerce, preferring instead to preserve the legacy of his father Edward and grandfather John I. In 1469, King Afonso V of Portugal granted Fernão Gomes the monopoly of trade in the Gulf of Guinea. + +In 1452, Pope Nicholas V issued the papal bull Dum Diversas, which granted Afonso V the right to reduce "Saracens, pagans and any other unbelievers" to hereditary slavery. This was reaffirmed and extended in the Romanus Pontifex bull of 1455 (also by Nicholas V). These papal bulls came to be seen by some as a justification for the subsequent era of slave trade and European colonialism. + +Castile +When the campaigns in Africa were over, Afonso V found new grounds for battle in neighboring Castile. On 11 December 1474 King Henry IV of Castile died without a male heir, leaving just one daughter, Joanna. However, her paternity was questioned; it was rumored that his wife, Queen Joan of Portugal (Afonso's sister) had an affair with a nobleman named Beltrán de La Cueva. The death of Henry ignited a war of succession with one faction supporting Joanna and the other supporting Isabella, Henry's half-sister. Afonso V was persuaded to intervene on behalf of Joanna, his niece. He betrothed himself to her, proclaimed himself king of Castile and led troops into the kingdom. Because of their close blood-relationship, a formal marriage had to wait for papal dispensation. + +On 12 May 1475 Afonso entered Castile with an army of 5,600 cavalry and 14,000 foot soldiers. In March 1476, after several skirmishes and much maneuvering, the 8, 000 men of Afonso and Prince João, faced a Castilian force of similar size in the battle of Toro. The Castilians were led by Isabella's husband, Prince Ferdinand II of Aragon, Cardinal Mendoza and the Duke of Alba. The fight was fierce and confusing but the result was a stalemate: While the forces of Cardinal Mendoza and the Duke of Alba won over their opponents led by the Portuguese King –who left the battlefield to take refuge in Castronuño, the troops commanded by Prince Joao defeated and persecuted the troops of the Castilian right wing, recovered the Portuguese royal standard, remaining ordered in the battlefield where they collected the fugitives of Afonso. Both sides claimed victory but Afonso's prospects for obtaining the Castilian crown were severely damaged. + +After the battle, Afonso sailed to France hoping to obtain the assistance of King Louis XI in his fight against Castile. But finding himself deceived by the French monarch, he returned to Portugal in 1477. Disillusioned, he abdicated for a few days in November 1477 in favor of his son John II, then after returning to the throne, he retired to a monastery in Sintra, where he died in 1481. + +Marriages and descendants + +Afonso married firstly, in 1447, Isabella of Coimbra, with whom he had three children: + +John, Prince of Portugal (29 January 1451). +Joan, Princess of Portugal (6 February 1452 – 12 May 1490): Known as Saint Joan of Portugal or Saint Joan Princess. +John II of Portugal (3 March 1455 – 25 October 1495): Succeeded his father as 13th King of Portugal. + +After the death of his wife in 1455, he had at least one child out of wedlock with Maria Soares da Cunha, daughter of Afonso's major valet, Fernao de Sa Alcoforado: +Alvaro Soares da Cunha (1466-1557), Noble of the Royal House, Lord of the House of Quintas in Sao Vicente de Pinheiro, Porto and Chief Guard of Pestilence in Porto. + +Ancestry + +Notes + +Bibliography +English +Downey, Kirstin: Isabella: the Warrior Queen, Anchor Books, New York, 2014 + + Miller, Townsend: The battle of Toro, 1476, in History Today, volume 14, 1964. + +Non-English + + Saul, António: Dom Afonso V, vol. 12 of Reis de Portugal, 2009, Temas e Debates-Actividades Editoriais, + +External links +Works of Afonso V at the National Digital Library of Portugal + +1432 births +1481 deaths +15th-century Portuguese monarchs +House of Aviz +Knights of the Garter +People from Sintra +Portuguese exploration in the Age of Discovery +Portuguese infantes +Portuguese people of English descent +Princes of Portugal +Sons of kings +Afonso VI (; 21 August 164312 September 1683), known as "the Victorious" (), was the second king of Portugal of the House of Braganza from 1656 until his death. He was initially under the regency of his mother, Luisa de Guzmán, until 1662, when he removed her to a convent and took power with the help of his favourite, the Luís de Vasconcelos e Sousa, 3rd Count of Castelo Melhor. + +Afonso's reign saw the end of the Restoration War (1640–68) and Spain's recognition of Portugal's independence. He also negotiated a French alliance through his marriage. In 1668, his brother Pedro II conspired to have him declared incapable of ruling, and took supreme de facto power as regent, although nominally Afonso was still sovereign. Queen Maria Francisca, Afonso's wife, received an annulment and subsequently married Pedro. Afonso spent the rest of his life and reign practically a prisoner. + +Early life +Afonso was the second of three sons born to King John IV and Queen Luisa. At the age of three, he experienced an illness that resulted in paralysis on the right side of his body. The condition was believed to have also affected his intellectual abilities. His father created him 10th Duke of Braganza. + +After the death of his eldest brother Teodósio, Prince of Brazil in 1653, Afonso became the heir apparent to the throne of the kingdom. He also received the crown-princely title 2nd Prince of Brazil. + +Reign + +He succeeded his father, John IV, in 1656 at the age of thirteen. His mother, Luisa de Guzmán, was named regent in his father's will. + +Luisa's regency continued even after Afonso came of age because he was considered mentally unfit for governing. In addition to lacking intellect, the king exhibited wild and disruptive behavior. In 1662, after Afonso terrorized Lisbon at night alongside his favorites, Luisa and her council responded by banishing some of the king's companions that were associated with the raids. Angered, Afonso took power with the help of Castelo-Melhor and Luisa's regency came to an end. She subsequently retired to a convent, where she died in 1666. + +Afonso appointed Castelo-Melhor as his private secretary (escrivão da puridade). He proved to be a competent minister. His astute military organization and sensible general appointments resulted in decisive military victories over the Spanish at Elvas (14 January 1659), Ameixial (8 June 1663) and Montes Claros (17 June 1665), culminating in the final Spanish recognition of sovereignty of Portugal's new ruling dynasty, the House of Braganza, on 13 February 1668 in the Treaty of Lisbon. + +Colonial affairs +Colonial affairs saw the Dutch conquest of Jaffna, Portugal's last colony in Portuguese Ceylon (1658), and the cession of Bombay and Tangier to England (23 June 1661) as dowry for Afonso's sister, Catherine of Braganza, who had married King Charles II of England. + +Marriage +Melhor successfully arranged for Afonso to marry Maria Francisca of Savoy, a relative of the Duke of Savoy, in 1666, but the marriage was short-lived. Maria Francisca filed for an annulment in 1667 based on the impotence of the king. The church granted her the annulment, and she married Afonso's brother, Peter II, Duke of Beja. + +Downfall + +Also in 1667, Peter managed to gain enough support to force Afonso to relinquish control of the government to him, and he became prince regent in 1668. While Pedro never formally usurped the throne, Afonso was king in name only for the rest of his life. For seven years after Peter's coup, Afonso was kept on the island of Terceira in the Azores. His health broken by this captivity, he was eventually permitted to return to the Portuguese mainland, but he remained powerless and kept under guard. At Sintra he died in 1683. + +The room where he was imprisoned is preserved at Sintra National Palace. + +Ancestry + +References + +Sources + +Portuguese infantes +Dukes of Braganza +Modern child monarchs +1643 births +1683 deaths +Portuguese people with disabilities +Princes of Brazil +House of Braganza +17th-century Portuguese monarchs +Nobility from Lisbon +Royalty and nobility with disabilities +Burials at the Monastery of São Vicente de Fora +Royal reburials +There has not been a monarch known as Alphonso or Alfonso I of Spain, the first king of that name of the unified Spain being Alfonso XII (1857–1885). Several precursor kingdoms have had an Alfonso I, including: + +Alfonso I of Asturias ( – 757) +Alfonso I of Aragon and Navarre ( – 1134), known as the Battler +Alfonso II of Aragon, also known as Alfons I, Count of Barcelona (1157–1196), called the Chaste or the Troubadour +Alfonso II of Asturias (842), nicknamed the Chaste (), was the king of Asturias during two different periods: first in the year 783 and later from 791 until his death in 842. Upon his death, Nepotian, a family member of undetermined relation, attempted to usurp the crown in place of the future Ramiro I. + +During his reign, which covered a span of 51 years, Alfonso discovered the supposed tomb of St. James the Great (called in Spanish) in the town of Compostela, which later became known as the city of Santiago de Compostela. He was the son of Fruela I and Munia, a Basque woman captured and brought back to Asturias by the former following a military campaign. + +Early life +He was born in Oviedo in 759 or 760. He was put under the guardianship of his aunt Adosinda after his father's death, but one tradition relates his being put in the Monastery of San Xulián de Samos. He was the governor of the palace during the reign of Adosinda's husband Silo. On Silo's death, he was elected king by Adosinda's allies, but the magnates raised his uncle Mauregatus to the throne instead. Alfonso fled to Álava where he found shelter with his maternal relatives. Mauregatus was succeeded by Bermudo I, Alfonso's cousin, who abdicated after his defeat at the Battle of the Burbia River. + +Alfonso proclaimed king +Alfonso was subsequently elected king on 14 September 791. Poets of a later generation invented the story of the secret marriage between his sister Ximena and Sancho, count of Saldana, and the feats of their son Bernardo del Carpio. Bernardo is the hero of a written to please the anarchical spirit of the nobles. + +Andalusian raids into Asturias +On accession to the throne, Hisham I, son of Abd al-Rahman I, commenced a string of military campaigns in the eastern Pyrenees and to the north-west. In 794, a raid spearheaded by Abd al-Karim dealt a major military blow to Alfonso II on the eastern fringes of the Kingdom of Asturias (Cantabria and Castile). The Asturian king asked for the assistance of the Basque Frankish vassal Belasco, master of Álava and bordering regions at the time. Abd al-Karim advanced deeper west into Asturias and pillaged the region, while his brother Abd al-Malik ventured into the western Asturian lands. + +Relations with Charlemagne and the Papacy +Under pressure from his enemies, Alfonso II reached out to Charlemagne, sending delegations to Toulouse and Aix-la-Chapelle in 796, 797, and 798. These diplomatic efforts may have aimed to strengthen his legitimacy and the Asturian government against ongoing internal unrest——viz., troubles in Galicia——and external attacks of the Ibn Mugait brothers, the generals Abd al-Karim and Abd al-Malik. + +Alfonso was acknowledged as a king by Charlemagne and the Pope, and Asturias as a kingdom for the first time. The king showed an interest in the Frankish cult of Saint Martin of Tours, and he encouraged Carolingian Church influence in Asturias. Also, during Alfonso's reign, the alleged resting place of St. James was revealed. Alfonso's envoys to Charlemagne's courts may have also dealt with the adoptionist controversy, which had brought Bermudo's kingdom into Charlemagne's view. It seems that Carolingian support did much to spur his raid into Andalusian territory up to Lisbon, which was captured and sacked by his troops in 798. + +Later events +In 825, he defeated Cordovan forces at Narón and Anceo and, thanks to these victories, the "repopulation" of parts of Galicia, León, and Castile was started— with charters granted that confirmed the possession of the territories. + +Alfonso also moved the capital from Pravia, where Silo had located it, to Oviedo, the city of his father's founding and his birth. There he constructed churches and a palace. He built San Tirso, where he is buried, and Santullano, on the outskirts. The Crónica Sebastianense records his death in 842, saying: + +tras haber llevado por 52 años casta, sobria, inmaculada, piadosa y gloriosamente el gobierno del reino + +[after having held for 52 years chastely, soberly, immaculately, piously, and gloriously the government of the realm] + +Tradition relates that in 814, the body of Saint James was discovered in Compostela and that Alfonso was the first pilgrim to the shrine at Libredón. + +References + +8th-century births +842 deaths +Beni Alfons +8th-century Asturian monarchs +9th-century Asturian monarchs +Amarasimha (IAST: , ) was a Sanskrit grammarian and poet from ancient India, of whose personal history hardly anything is known. He is said to have been "one of the nine gems that adorned the throne of Vikramaditya," and according to the evidence of Xuanzang, this is the Chandragupta Vikramaditya (Chandragupta II) who flourished about CE 375. Other sources describe him as belonging to the period of Vikramaditya of 7th century. Most of Amarasiṃha's works were lost, with the exception of the celebrated Amara-Kosha (IAST: ) (Treasury of Amara). The first reliable mention of the Amarakosha is in the Amoghavritti of Shakatayana composed during the reign of Amoghavarsha (814-867 CE) + +The Amarakosha is a lexicon of Sanskrit words in three books, and hence is sometimes called the Trikāṇḍī or the "Tripartite". It is also known as "Namalinganushasana". The Amarakosha contains 10,000 words, and is arranged, like other works of its class, in metre, to aid the memory. + +The first chapter of the Kosha was printed at Rome in Tamil character in 1798. An edition of the entire work, with English notes and an index by Henry Thomas Colebrooke appeared at Serampore in 1808. The Sanskrit text was printed at Calcutta in 1831. A French translation by ALA Loiseleur-Deslongchamps was published at Paris in 1839. B. L. Rice compiled the text in Kannada script with meanings in English and Kannada in 1927. + +References + +Attribution: + +External links + Amarakosha Sanskrit text + +Indian Buddhists +Indian male poets +4th-century Indian poets +Year of birth unknown +Year of death unknown +Sanskrit writers +Alfonso XII (Alfonso Francisco de Asís Fernando Pío Juan María de la Concepción Gregorio Pelayo de Borbón y Borbón; 28 November 185725 November 1885), also known as El Pacificador (Spanish: the Peacemaker), was King of Spain from 29 December 1874 to his death in 1885. + +After the Glorious Revolution of 1868 deposed his mother Isabella II from the throne, Alfonso studied in Austria and France. His mother abdicated in his favour in 1870, and he returned to Spain as king in 1874 following a military coup against the First Spanish Republic. Alfonso died aged 27 in 1885, and was succeeded by his son, Alfonso XIII, born the following year. The elder Alfonso's wife Maria Christina would serve as regent for the remainder of her pregnancy and until the younger Alfonso came of age. + +Paternity, early life, and exile +Alfonso was born in Madrid as the eldest son of the reigning Queen Isabella II on 28 November 1857. His official father, Isabella's husband Francisco de Asís, has been generally viewed as effeminate, impotent or homosexual, leading writers to question his biological paternity. There is speculation that Alfonso's biological father may have been Enrique Puigmoltó y Mayans, a captain of the guard. Others have assigned the fatherhood to Federico Puig Romero, a colonel who was murdered under unclear circumstances in 1866. The relationship of the queen with Puigmoltó was so much of a public hearsay at the time that Francisco de Asís initially refused to attend the baptism ceremony of Alfonso (the heir apparent), though he was eventually forced to do so. + +These rumours were used as political propaganda against Alfonso by the Carlists, and he came to be widely nicknamed "Puigmoltejo" in reference to his supposed father. His mother's accession had created a second cause of instability, the Carlist Wars, where the supporters of Don Carlos, Count of Molina as King of Spain rose to have him enthroned. + +In addition, within the context of the post-Napoleonic restorations and revolutions which engulfed Europe and the Americas, both the Carlistas and the Isabelino conservatives were opposed to the new Napoleonic constitutional system. Much like in Britain, which subtracted itself from the liberal constitutional process, Spanish conservatives wanted to continue with the traditional Organic Laws, such as the Fuero Juzgo, the Novísima Recopilación and the Partidas of Alfonso X. This led to a third cause of instability, the independence of most of the American possessions, recognized between 1823 and 1850. + +When Queen Isabella II and her husband were forced to leave Spain by the Revolution of 1868, Alfonso accompanied them to Paris. From there, he was sent to the Theresianum in Vienna to continue his studies. On 25 June 1870, he was recalled to Paris, where his mother abdicated in his favour, in the presence of a number of Spanish nobles who had tied their fortunes to those of the exiled queen. He assumed the name Alfonso XII, for although no king of united Spain had borne the name "Alfonso", the Spanish monarchy was regarded as continuous with the more ancient monarchy represented by the 11 kings of Asturias, León and Castile also named Alfonso. + +The Republic + +After the revolution, the Cortes decided to set up a new dynasty on the throne. Prince Amadeo of Savoy, the younger son of King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy and a distant cousin of Alfonso by common descent from Charles III, was recognized as King of Spain in November 1870. During a tumultuous reign, Amadeo was targeted by assassination attempts and struggled with opposition from both Carlists and republicans while his own faction split. After the Carlists revolted and the Third Carlist War broke out, he abdicated and returned to Italy in early 1873. + +Following Amadeo's abandonment, the First Spanish Republic was established, including the territories of Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Pacific Archipelagos. The first act of President Estanislao Figueras was to extend the abolition of slavery to Puerto Rico; Cuban slaves would have to wait until 1889. The republicans were not in agreement either, and they had to contend with a war in Cuba and Muslim uprisings in Spanish Morocco. In the midst of these crises, the Carlist War continued and the Carlist party made itself strong in areas with claims over their national and institutional specificity such as Catalonia and the Basque Country. This unrest led to the creation of a group in favour of the Bourbon Restoration, led by the moderate conservative Antonio Cánovas del Castillo. + +Alfonso was well-educated and cultured, especially compared to his mother. His tutors took great care to have him educated in good schools and to familiarize him with different cultures, languages and government models throughout Europe. During the Franco-Prussian War, Alfonso relocated from Paris to Geneva with his family, and then continued his studies at the Theresianum in Vienna in 1872. Cánovas began to take responsibility for Alfonso's education with the goal of shaping him into the ideal king for the planned Bourbon Restoration, and next sent him to the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, in England. The training he received there was severe but more cosmopolitan than it would have been in Spain, given its atmosphere at the time. + +On 1 December 1874, Alfonso issued the Sandhurst Manifesto, where he set the ideological basis of the Bourbon Restoration. It was drafted in reply to a birthday greeting from his followers, a manifesto proclaiming himself the sole representative of the Spanish monarchy. At the end of 1874, Brigadier Martínez Campos, who had long been working more or less openly for the king, led some battalions of the central army to Sagunto, rallied the troops sent against him to his own flag, and entered Valencia in the king's name. Thereupon the President resigned, and his power was transferred to the king's plenipotentiary and adviser, Cánovas. The 29 December 1874 military coup of Gen. Martínez Campos in Sagunto ended the failed republic and meant the rise of the young Prince Alfonso. + +Reign + +Within a few days after Cánovas del Castillo took power as Premier, the new king, proclaimed on 29 December 1874, arrived at Madrid, passing through Barcelona and Valencia and was acclaimed everywhere (1875). In 1876, a vigorous campaign against the Carlists, in which the young king took part, resulted in the defeat of Don Carlos and the Duke's abandonment of the struggle. + +Initially led by Cánovas del Castillo as moderate prime minister, what was thought at one time as a coup aimed at placing the military in the political-administrative positions of power, in reality ushered in a civilian regime that lasted until Primo de Rivera's 1923 coup d'état. Cánovas was the real architect of the new regime of the Restoration. + +In 1881 Alfonso refused to sanction a law by which the ministers were to remain in office for a fixed term of 18 months. Upon the consequent resignation of Cánovas del Castillo, he summoned Práxedes Mateo Sagasta, the Liberal leader, to form a new cabinet. + +In order to eliminate one of the problems of the reign of Isabel II, the single party and its destabilizing consequences, the Liberal Party was allowed to incorporate and participate in national politics, and the 'turnismo' or alternation was to become the new system. Turnismo would be endorsed in the Constitution of 1876 and the Pact of El Pardo (1885). It meant that liberal and conservative prime ministers would succeed each other ending thus the troubles. + +This led to the end of the Carlist revolts and the victory over the New York-backed Cuban revolutionaries, and led to a huge backing both by insular and peninsular Spaniards of Alfonso. His government continued the operations of the Ministry for Overseas Affairs which began under his mother's reign. The ministry was responsible for the theft of indigenous human remains and artifacts throughout colonized lands from 1863 to 1899. To this day, the majority of the stolen bodies of indigenous peoples, some still displayed in Spanish museums, have yet to be returned to their ancestral lands. + +Alfonso's short reign established the foundations for the final socioeconomic recuperation of Spain, bringing an end to the political instability that had dominated Spain for the past two-thirds of a century (see History of Spain (1808–1874)). Both Europe (the coastal regions, such as the Basque Country, Catalonia, and Asturias) and the colonies in the Antilles and Pacific were able to grow steadily. Cuba and Puerto Rico prospered to the point that Spain's first train was not in Spain proper but between Havana and Camagüey in Cuba, and the first telegraph in Latin America was in Puerto Rico, established by Samuel Morse, whose daughter and son-in-law lived there. Upon the American invasion of Puerto Rico, ten US dollars were needed to buy one Puerto Rican peso. + +Marriages +On 23 January 1878 at the Basilica of Atocha in Madrid, Alfonso married his first cousin, Princess María de las Mercedes, but she died within six months of the marriage. + +On 29 November 1879 at the Basilica of Atocha in Madrid, Alfonso married his double third cousin, Archduchess Maria Christina of Austria. During the honeymoon, a pastry cook named Otero fired at the young sovereign and his wife as they were driving in Madrid. + +The children of this marriage were: + María de las Mercedes, Princess of Asturias, (11 September 188017 October 1904), married on 14 February 1901 to Prince Carlos of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. She was titular heir to the throne of Spain from the death of her father until the posthumous birth of her brother. + María Teresa, (12 November 188223 September 1912), married to Prince Ferdinand of Bavaria on 12 January 1906 + Alfonso XIII (17 May 188628 February 1941). Born posthumously. He married Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg + +Alfonso had two sons by Elena Armanda Nicolasa Sanz y Martínez de Arizala (15 December 1849, in Castellón de la Plana – 24 December 1898, in Paris): + Alfonso Sanz y Martínez de Arizala (28 January 1880, in Madrid19 March 1970, in Paris), married in 1922 to María de Guadalupe de Limantour y Mariscal + Fernando Sanz y Martínez de Arizala (28 February 1881, in Madrid8 January 1925, in Pau, France), unmarried and without issue + +Death and impact + +In November 1885, Alfonso died aged 27 at the Royal Palace of El Pardo near Madrid. He had been suffering from tuberculosis, but the immediate cause of his death was a recurrence of dysentery. + +In 1902, his widow Maria Cristina initiated a national contest to build a monument in memory of Alfonso. The winning design, by José Grases Riera, was constructed in an artificial lake in Madrid's Parque del Buen Retiro in 1922. + +Coming to the throne at such an early age Alfonso had served no apprenticeship in the art of ruling. Benevolent and sympathetic in disposition, he won the affection of his people by fearlessly visiting districts ravaged by cholera or devastated by the 1884 Andalusian earthquake. His capacity for dealing with men was considerable, and he never allowed himself to become the instrument of any particular party. During his short reign, peace was established both at home and abroad, finances were well regulated, and the various administrative services were placed on a basis that afterwards enabled Spain to pass through the disastrous war with the United States without the threat of a revolution. + +Honours + Spain: Knight of the Golden Fleece, 1857 + : Grand Cross of the Tower and Sword, 1861 + French Empire: Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour, March 1863 + : Knight of St. Hubert, 1865 + : Grand Cross of St. Charles, 7 September 1865 + : Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold (civil), 20 February 1866 + : Grand Cross of St. Stephen, 1875 + : Grand Cross of the White Falcon, 1875 + Kingdom of Prussia: Knight of the Black Eagle, 13 June 1875 + Sweden-Norway: Knight of the Seraphim, 23 October 1877 + : Knight of the Elephant, 8 January 1878 + : Knight of the Annunciation, 4 February 1878 + : Grand Cordon of the Order of the Chrysanthemum, 11 September 1879 + : Stranger Knight Companion of the Garter, 24 October 1881 + : Knight of the Rue Crown, 1883 + +Ancestry + +See also + Monument to Alfonso XII + Reign of Alfonso XIII of Spain + Regency of Maria Christina of Austria + +Explanatory notes + +References + +External links + + Historiaantiqua. Alfonso XII; (Spanish) (2008) + + +1857 births +1885 deaths +19th-century Spanish monarchs +House of Bourbon (Spain) +Nobility from Madrid +Princes of Asturias +Restoration (Spain) +People of the Third Carlist War +Spanish infantes +1870s in Spain +1880s in Spain +Grand Masters of the Order of the Golden Fleece +Knights of the Golden Fleece of Spain +Grand Masters of the Order of Isabella the Catholic +Grand Crosses of the Order of Saint-Charles +Collars of the Order of Isabella the Catholic +Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic +Laureate Cross of Saint Ferdinand +Crosses of Military Merit +Grand Crosses of Military Merit +Crosses of Naval Merit +Grand Crosses of Naval Merit +Grand Masters of the Royal and Military Order of San Hermenegild +Recipients of the Royal and Military Order of Saint Hermenegild +Grand Crosses of the Royal and Military Order of San Hermenegild +Grand Masters of the Order of Calatrava +Knights of Calatrava +Grand Masters of the Order of Santiago +Knights of Santiago +Grand Masters of the Order of Alcántara +Knights of the Order of Alcántara +Grand Masters of the Order of Montesa +Knights of the Order of Montesa +Spanish captain generals +Captain generals of the Navy +Grand Crosses of the Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary +Extra Knights Companion of the Garter +19th-century deaths from tuberculosis +Collège Stanislas de Paris alumni +Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst +Deaths from dysentery +Infectious disease deaths in Spain +Burials in the Pantheon of Kings at El Escorial +Tuberculosis deaths in Spain +Navarrese titular monarchs +Alfonso XIII (Spanish: Alfonso León Fernando María Jaime Isidro Pascual Antonio de Borbón y Habsburgo-Lorena; French: Alphonse Léon Ferdinand Marie Jacques Isidore Pascal Antoine de Bourbon; 17 May 1886 – 28 February 1941), also known as El Africano or the African due to his Africanist views, was King of Spain from his birth until 14 April 1931, when the Second Spanish Republic was proclaimed. He was a monarch from birth as his father, Alfonso XII, had died the previous year. Alfonso's mother, Maria Christina of Austria, served as regent until he assumed full powers on his sixteenth birthday in 1902. + +Alfonso XIII's upbringing and public image were closely linked to the military estate, often presenting himself as a soldier-king. His effective reign started four years after the so-called 1898 Disaster, with various social factions projecting their expectations of national regeneration upon him. Similarly to other European monarchs of his time, he played an important political role, entailing a highly controversial use of his constitutional executive powers. His wedding with Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg in 1906 was marked by a regicide attempt, from which he escaped unharmed. + +With a divided opinion of the public eye on World War I, and moreover a split between the pro-German and pro-Entente sympathizers, Alfonso XIII leveraged his family relations to every major European royal family to help preserve the stance of neutrality espoused by the government. Several factors led to undermine the monarch's constitutional legitimacy: the rupture of the system, the further deepening of the Restoration system crisis in the 1910s, a trio of crises in 1917, the spiral of violence in Morocco, and the lead up to the installment of the dictatorship of Miguel Primo de Rivera through a 1923 military coup d'état that won the acquiescence from Alfonso XIII. + +Upon the political failure of the dictatorship, Alfonso XIII removed support from Primo de Rivera (who was thereby forced to resign in 1930) and favoured (during the so-called dictablanda) a return to the pre-1923 state of affairs. Nevertheless, he had lost most of his political capital along the way. He left Spain voluntarily after the municipal elections of April 1931 – which was understood as a plebiscite on maintaining the monarchy or declaring a republic – the result of which led to the proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic on 14 April 1931. + +His efforts with the European War Office during World War I earned him a nomination on the Nobel Peace Prize in 1917, which was ultimately won by the Red Cross. To date, he remains the only monarch known to have been nominated for a Nobel Prize. + +Reign + +Early life and education + +Alfonso XIII was born at Royal Palace of Madrid on 17 May 1886. He was the posthumous son of Alfonso XII of Spain, who had died in November 1885, and became king upon his birth. Just after he was born, he was carried naked to the prime minister Práxedes Mateo Sagasta on a silver tray. + +Five days later, he was carried in a solemn court procession with a Golden Fleece around his neck and was baptised with water specially brought from the River Jordan in Palestine. The French newspaper described the young king in 1889 as "the happiest and best-loved of all the rulers of the earth". His mother, Maria Christina of Austria, served as his regent until his sixteenth birthday. During the regency, in 1898, Spain lost its colonial rule over Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines to the United States as a result of the Spanish–American War. + +Alfonso became seriously ill during the 1889–1890 pandemic. His health deteriorated around 10 January 1890, and doctors reported his condition as the flu attacked his nervous system leaving the young king in a state of indolence. He eventually recovered. + +When Alfonso came of age in May 1902, the week of his majority was marked by festivities, bullfights, balls and receptions throughout Spain. He took his oath to the constitution before members of the Cortes on 17 May. + +Alfonso received, to a large extent, a military education that imbued him with "a Spanish nationalism strengthened by his military vocation". Besides the clique of military tutors, Alfonso also received political teachings from a liberal, , and moral precepts from an integrist, José Fernández de la Montaña. + +Engagement and marriage + +By 1905, Alfonso was looking for a suitable consort. On a state visit to the United Kingdom, he stayed in London at Buckingham Palace with King Edward VII. There he met Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg, the daughter of Edward's youngest sister Princess Beatrice, and a granddaughter of Queen Victoria. He found her attractive, and she returned his interest. There were obstacles to the marriage. Victoria was a Protestant, and would have to become a Catholic. Victoria's brother, Leopold, was a haemophiliac, so there was a 50 percent chance that Victoria was a carrier of the trait. Finally, Alfonso's mother Maria Christina wanted him to marry a member of her family, the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, or some other Catholic princess, as she considered the Battenbergs to be non-dynastic. + +Victoria was willing to change her religion, and her being a haemophilia carrier was only a possibility. Maria Christina was eventually persuaded to drop her opposition. In January 1906 she wrote an official letter to Princess Beatrice proposing the match. Victoria met Maria Christina and Alfonso in Biarritz, France, later that month, and converted to Catholicism in San Sebastián in March. + +In May, diplomats of both kingdoms officially executed the agreement of marriage. Alfonso and Victoria were married at the Royal Monastery of San Jerónimo in Madrid on 31 May 1906, with British royalty in attendance, including Victoria's cousins the Prince and Princess of Wales (later King George V and Queen Mary). The wedding was marked by an assassination attempt on Alfonso and Victoria by Catalan anarchist Mateu Morral. As the wedding procession returned to the palace, he threw a bomb from a window which killed 30 bystanders and members of the procession, while 100 others were wounded. + +On 10 May 1907, the couple's first child, Alfonso, Prince of Asturias, was born. Victoria was in fact a haemophilia carrier, and Alfonso inherited the condition. + +Neither of the two daughters born to the King and Queen were haemophilia carriers, but another of their sons, Gonzalo (1914–1934), had the condition. Alfonso distanced himself from his wife for transmitting the condition to their sons. From 1914 on, he had several mistresses, and fathered five illegitimate children. A sixth illegitimate child had been born before his marriage. + +World War I + +During World War I, because of his family connections with both sides and the division of popular opinion, Spain remained neutral. The King established an office for assistance to prisoners of war on all sides. This office used the Spanish diplomatic and military network abroad to intercede for thousands of POWs – transmitting and receiving letters for them, and other services. The office was located in the Royal Palace. + +Alfonso attempted to save the Russian Tsar Nicholas II and his family from the Bolsheviks who captured them, sending two telegrams offering the Russian royal family refuge in Spain. He later learned of the execution of the Romanov family, but was mistaken in believing that only Nicholas II and his son Alexei had been killed. As such, he continued to push for the Tsarina Alexandra and her four daughters to be brought to Spain, not having realized that they had also been murdered. + +Alfonso became gravely ill during the 1918 flu pandemic. Spain was neutral and thus under no wartime censorship restrictions, so his illness and subsequent recovery were reported to the world, while flu outbreaks in the belligerent countries were concealed. This gave the misleading impression that Spain was the most affected area and led to the pandemic being dubbed "the Spanish Flu". + +Cracking of the system and dictatorship + +Following World War I, Spain entered the lengthy yet victorious Rif War (1920–1926) to preserve its colonial rule over northern Morocco. Critics of the monarchy thought the war was an unforgivable loss of money and lives, and nicknamed Alfonso el Africano ("the African"). Alfonso had not acted as a strict constitutional monarch, and supported the Africanists who wanted to conquer for Spain a new empire in Africa to compensate for the lost empire in the Americas and elsewhere. The Rif War had starkly polarized Spanish society between the Africanists who wanted to conquer an empire in Africa vs. the abandonistas who wanted to abandon Morocco as not worth the blood and treasure. Alfonso liked to play favourites with his generals, and one of his most favoured generals was Manuel Fernández Silvestre. In 1921, when Silvestre advanced up into the Rif mountains of Morocco, Alfonso sent him a telegram whose first line read "Hurrah for real men!", urging Silvestre not to retreat at a time when Silvestre was experiencing major difficulties. Silvestre stayed the course, leading his men into the Battle of Annual, one of Spain's worst defeats. Alfonso, who was on holiday in the south of France at the time, was informed of the "Disaster of the Annual" while he was playing golf. Reportedly, Alfonso's response to the news was to shrug his shoulders and say "Chicken meat is cheap", before resuming his game. Alfonso remained in France and did not return to Spain to comfort the families of the soldiers lost in the battle, which many people at the time saw as a callous and cold act, a sign that the King was indifferent over the lives of his soldiers. In 1922, the Cortes started an investigation into the responsibility for the Annual disaster and soon discovered evidence that the King had been one of the main supporters of Silvestre's advance into the Rif mountains. + +After the "Disaster of the Annual", Spain's war in the Rif went from bad to worse, and as the Spanish were barely hanging on to Morocco, support for the abandonistas grew as many people could see no point to the war. In August 1923, Spanish soldiers embarking for Morocco mutinied, other soldiers in Málaga simply refused to board the ships that were to take them to Morocco, while in Barcelona huge crowds of left-wingers had staged anti-war protests at which Spanish flags were burned while the flag of the Rif Republic was waved about. With the Africanists comprising only a minority, it was clear that it was only a matter of time before the abandonistas forced the Spanish to give up on the Rif, which was part of the reason for the military coup d'état later in 1923. + +On 13 September 1923, Miguel Primo de Rivera, Captain General of Catalonia, staged a military coup with the collaboration from a quad of Africanist generals based in Madrid who were associated to the innermost military clique of Alfonso XIII and who wanted to prevent investigations about Annual from tarnishing the monarch (José Cavalcanti, Federico Berenguer, Leopoldo Saro and Antonio Dabán), even if Primo de Rivera had embraced Abandonista positions prior to that point. Primo de Rivera ruled as a dictator with the king's support until January 1930. + +On 28 January 1930, amid economic problems, general unpopularity and a putschist plot led by General Manuel Goded in motion, of which Alfonso XIII was most probably aware, Miguel Primo de Rivera was forced to resign, exiling to Paris, only to die a few weeks later of the complications from diabetes in combination with the effects of a flu. Alfonso XIII appointed General Dámaso Berenguer as the new prime minister. Back in 1926, Alfonso XIII had appointed Berenguer as Chief of Staff of the Military House of the King, a post conventionally fit for burned-out generals in order to move them away from the spotlight for a time in a show of affection. The new period was nicknamed as dictablanda. The King was so closely associated with the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera that it was difficult for him to distance himself from the regime that he had supported for almost seven years. The enforced changes relied on the incorrect assumption that Spaniards would accept the notion that nothing had happened after 1923 and that going back to the prior state of things was possible. + +Dethronement and politics in exile + +On 12 April, the Republican coalition, short of winning a majority of councillors overall, won a sweeping majority in major cities in the 1931 municipal elections, which were perceived as a plebiscite on monarchy. The results shocked the government, with foreign minister Romanones admitting to the press an "absolute monarchist defeat" and Civil Guard honcho José Sanjurjo reportedly telling government ministers that, given circumstances, the Armed Forces could not be "absolutely" relied upon for the sustainment of the monarchy. Alfonso XIII fled the country and the Second Spanish Republic was peacefully proclaimed on 14 April 1931. + +In November 1931, the Constituent Republican Cortes held an impassionate debate about the political responsibilities of the former monarch. Some of the grievances against the action of Alfonso XIII as a king included interference in the institutions to reinforce his personal power, bargaining personal support from the military clique with rewards and merits, his abuse of the power to dissolve the legislature, rendering the co-sovereignty between the Nation and the Crown a total fiction; that he had disproportionately fostered the Armed forces (often to contain internal protest), had used the armed forces abroad with imperialist aims alien to the interests of the nation but his own, that he had personally devised the military operation of Annual behind the back of the Council of Ministers, and that following the massacre of Annual that "cost the lives of thousands of Spanish lads", he had decided to launch a coup with the help of a few generals rather than facing scrutiny in the legislature. Other than Romanones, who exculpated the actions of the monarch, disconformity towards the Primo de Rivera dictatorship notwithstanding, no other legislator intervened in his favour, with the debate focusing on whether labelling the monarch's actions as a military rebellion, lèse-majesté, high treason, or even condemning "a delinquent personality" or "a wholly punishable life". The debate ended with an eloquent speech by Prime Minister Manuel Azaña pleading for the unanimity of the house "to condemn and exclude D. Alfonso de Borbón from the law, proclaiming the majesty of our republic, the unbreakable will of our civism and the permanence of the Spanish glories framed by the institutions freely given by the Nation". The house passed the act brought forward by the Commission of Responsibilities, summarizing Alfonso de Borbón's responsibilities as being guilty of high treason. + +Involved in anti-Republican plots from his exile, and keen to draw support from the Carlists in the context of the uneasy and competing relations between the Carlist and Alfonsist factions within the radicalised monarchist camp, in the aftermath of so-called Pact of Territet he issued a statement dated 23 January 1932 endorsing the manifesto launched by Carlist claimant Alfonso Carlos (in which the latter hinted at the cession of dynastic rights should the former king accept "those fundamental principles which in our traditional regime have been demanded of all Kings with precedence of personal rights"), with the dethroned king likewise accusing in the document the reformist Republic to be "inspired and sponsored by communism, freemasonry and judaism". + +In 1933, his two eldest sons, Alfonso and Jaime, renounced their claims to the defunct throne on the same day, and in 1934 his youngest son Gonzalo died. This left his third son Juan his only male heir. + +After the July 1936 attempted coup d'état against the democratically elected Republican government a war broke out in Spain. On 30 July 1936, Alfonso's son Juan took the initiative of leaving Cannes to go to Spain to join the rebel faction, with the former king (then in a hunting trip in Czechoslovakia) reportedly giving consent, so Juan de Borbón crossed the border set to join the front in Somosierra dressed in a blue jumpsuit and red beret under the fake name "Juan López". However, rebel general Emilio Mola, mastermind behind the putschist plot, was warned of the move and had Juan returned. The former king made it clear he favoured the rebel faction against the Republican government. In September 1936, the general who had emerged as leader of the rebel faction, Francisco Franco, declared that he would not restore Alfonso as king. + +Death + +On 15 January 1941, Alfonso XIII renounced his rights to the defunct Spanish throne in favour of Juan. He died of a heart attack in Rome on 28 February that year. + +In Spain, dictator Francisco Franco ordered three days of national mourning. The ex-king's funeral was held in Rome in the Church of Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri. He was buried in the Church of Santa Maria in Monserrato degli Spagnoli, the Spanish national church in Rome, immediately below the tombs of Popes Callixtus III and Alexander VI. In January 1980 his remains were transferred to El Escorial in Spain. + +Legacy +Alfonso was a promoter of tourism in Spain. The need for the lodging of his wedding guests prompted the construction of the luxurious Hotel Palace in Madrid. He also supported the creation of a network of state-run lodges, Paradores, in historic buildings of Spain. His fondness for the sport of football led to the patronage of several "royal" ("real" in Spanish) football clubs, the first being Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña in 1907. Selected others include Real Madrid, Real Sociedad, Real Betis, Real Unión, Espanyol, Real Zaragoza and Real Racing Club. + +An avenue in the northern Madrid neighbourhood of Chamartín, Avenida de Alfonso XIII, is named after him. A plaza or town centre in Iloilo City, Philippines (now Plaza Libertad) was named in his honour called Plaza Alfonso XIII. A street in Merthyr Tydfil, in Wales, was built especially to house Spanish immigrants in the mining industry and named Alphonso Street after Alfonso XIII. + +Ratoncito Pérez first appeared as the Spanish equivalent to the Tooth Fairy in a 1894 tale written by Luis Coloma for King Alfonso XIII, who had just lost a milk tooth at the age of eight, with the King appearing in the tale as "King Buby". The tale has been adapted into further literary works and movies since then, with the character of King Buby appearing in some. The tradition of Ratoncito Pérez replacing the lost milk teeth with a small payment or gift while the child sleeps is almost universally followed today in Spain and Hispanic America. Alfonso XIII is also mentioned on the plaque that the City Council of Madrid dedicated in 2003 to Ratoncito Pérez on the second floor of number eight of , where the mouse was said to have lived. + +Personal life + +Legitimate and illegitimate children + +Alfonso and his wife Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg (Ena) had seven children: +Alfonso, Prince of Asturias (1907–1938); +Infante Jaime, Duke of Segovia (1908–1975); +Infanta Beatriz (1909–2002); +Infante Fernando (stillborn 1910); +Infanta María Cristina (1911–1996); +Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona (1913–1993); +Infante Gonzalo (1914–1934). + +Alfonso also had a number of reported illegitimate children that are known, including: + (1905–1980; by French aristocrat Mélanie de Gaufridy de Dortan, married to Philippe de Vilmorin); +Juana Alfonsa Milán y Quiñones de León (1916–2005; by Alfonso's governess Béatrice Noon); +Anna María Teresa Ruiz y Moragas (1925–1965; by Spanish actress Carmen Ruiz Moragas) + (1929–2016; by Spanish actress Carmen Ruiz Moragas); +Carmen Gravina (1926–2006; by Carmen de Navascués). + +Attitude towards Jews +Alfonso was known for his friendly attitude towards Jews and publicly praised them. He took several actions to offer them protection. In 1917, Alfonso instructed the Spanish consul in Jerusalem, Antonio de la Cierva y Lewita, Count of Ballobar, to help protect Palestinian Jews. On another occasion, after a high official in Tetuan had committed onslaughts against Jews, a delegation composed of Catholics, Jews, and Muslims appealed to Alfonso. The King then removed the Tetuan official from power, in spite of the fact that the official possessed the support of the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs. According to the Jewish Professor Abraham S.E. Yahuda, Alfonso told Yahuda in private conversations that he would issue no policies of discrimination towards Jews, believing all of his Spanish subjects to be entitled to equal rights and protection. + +Pornographic cinema +Alfonso is occasionally referred to as "the playboy king", due in part to his promotion and collection of Spanish pornographic films, as well as his extramarital affairs. As King, Alfonso commissioned pornographic films through the Barcelona production company Royal Films, with the Count of Romanones acting as an intermediary figure between him and the company. Between forty and seventy pornographic films are said to have been shot in total (three of which have been preserved) and were screened in Barcelona's Chinatown, as well as during Alfonso's private screenings. The films, while silent and in black and white, were nonetheless very explicit for the time, showing full nudity and sex scenes. These films featured content considered immoral and degenerate, including sexual relationships involving Catholic priests, lesbianism, and "women with enormous breasts" (the last of which is said to have been Alfonso's passion). Most of these films were later destroyed during Franco's regime. + +This has led some to speculate that Alfonso may have possessed a sex addiction. + +Heraldry + +Honours + +Spanish honours +1,072nd Knight of the Golden Fleece, 1886 +Grand Cross of the Order of Charles III, with Collar, 1886 +Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic, with Collar, 1927 +Order of Santiago +Order of Calatrava +Order of Alcántara +Order of Montesa +Maestranza de caballería (Royal Cavalry Armory) of Ronda, Sevilla, Granada, Valencia and Zaragoza +Founder of the Civil Order of Alfonso XII, 23 May 1902 +Founder of the Order of Civil Merit, 25 June 1926 + +Foreign honours + +In the Royal Library of Madrid, there are books containing emblems of the Spanish monarch. + +Ancestry +Alfonso XIII is a rare example of endogamy. In the eleventh generation he is assumed to only have 111 ancestors whereas in a standard situation one expects to identify 1024 of them. Here we are with a situation of implex of 89%. + +See also +1902 Copa de la Coronación +List of covers of Time magazine (1920s), (1930s) + +Notes + +References + +Bibliography + +Churchill, Sir Winston. Great Contemporaries. London: T. Butterworth, 1937. Contains the most famous single account of Alfonso in the English language. The author, writing shortly after the Spanish Civil War began, retained considerable fondness for the ex-sovereign. +Collier, William Miller. At the Court of His Catholic Majesty. Chicago: McClurg, 1912. The author was American ambassador to Spain from 1905 to 1909. +Noel, Gerard. Ena: Spain's English Queen. London: Constable, 1984. Considerably more candid than Petrie about Alfonso, the private man, and about the miseries the royal family experienced because of their haemophiliac children. + +Petrie, Sir Charles. King Alfonso XIII and His Age. London: Chapman & Hall, 1963. Written as it was during Queen Ena's lifetime, this book necessarily omits the King's extramarital affairs; but it remains a useful biography, not least because the author knew Alfonso quite well, interviewed him at considerable length, and relates him to the wider Spanish intellectual culture of his time. +Pilapil, Vicente R. Alfonso XIII. Twayne's rulers and statesmen of the world series 12. New York: Twayne, 1969. +Sencourt, Robert. King Alfonso: A Biography. London: Faber, 1942. + +External links + +Historiaantiqua. Alfonso XIII; (2008) +Visit by Alphonso XIII to Deauville in 1922 (with images) + + +1886 births +1941 deaths +19th-century Spanish monarchs +20th-century Spanish monarchs +Nobility from Madrid +House of Bourbon (Spain) +Restoration (Spain) +Legitimist pretenders to the French throne +British field marshals +Modern child monarchs +Spanish infantes +Burials in the Pantheon of Kings at El Escorial +Spanish captain generals +Captain generals of the Navy +Grand Masters of the Order of the Golden Fleece +Knights of the Golden Fleece of Spain +Grand Masters of the Order of Isabella the Catholic +Recipients of the Order of Isabella the Catholic +Collars of the Order of Isabella the Catholic +Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic +Laureate Cross of Saint Ferdinand +Crosses of Military Merit +Grand Crosses of Military Merit +Crosses of Naval Merit +Grand Crosses of Naval Merit +Crosses of Aeronautical Merit +Grand Masters of the Royal and Military Order of San Hermenegild +Recipients of the Royal and Military Order of Saint Hermenegild +Grand Crosses of the Royal and Military Order of San Hermenegild +Grand Masters of the Order of Calatrava +Knights of Calatrava +Grand Masters of the Order of Santiago +Knights of Santiago +Grand Masters of the Order of Alcántara +Knights of the Order of Alcántara +Grand Masters of the Order of Montesa +Knights of the Order of Montesa +Grand Crosses of the Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary +Collars of the Order of the White Lion +Extra Knights Companion of the Garter +Honorary Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order +Bailiffs Grand Cross of Honour and Devotion of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta +Monarchs who abdicated +Dethroned monarchs +Navarrese titular monarchs +Royal reburials +Exiled royalty +Alfonso I (7 September 1134), called the Battler or the Warrior (), was King of Aragon and Navarre from 1104 until his death in 1134. He was the second son of King Sancho Ramírez and successor of his brother Peter I. With his marriage to Urraca, queen regnant of Castile, León and Galicia, in 1109, he began to use, with some justification, the grandiose title Emperor of Spain, formerly employed by his father-in-law, Alfonso VI. Alfonso the Battler earned his sobriquet in the Reconquista. He won his greatest military successes in the middle Ebro, where he conquered Zaragoza in 1118 and took Ejea, Tudela, Calatayud, Borja, Tarazona, Daroca, and Monreal del Campo. He died in September 1134 after an unsuccessful battle with the Muslims at the Battle of Fraga. + +His nickname comes from the Aragonese version of the Chronicle of San Juan de la Peña (c. 1370), which says that "they called him lord Alfonso the battler because in Spain there wasn't as good a knight who won twenty-nine battles" (clamabanlo don Alfonso batallador porque en Espayna no ovo tan buen cavallero que veynte nueve batallas vençió). + +Early life +His earliest years were passed in the monastery of Siresa, learning to read and write and to practice the military arts under the tutelage of Lope Garcés the Pilgrim, who was repaid for his services by his former charge with the county of Pedrola when Alfonso came to the throne. + +During his brother's reign, he participated in the taking of Huesca (the Battle of Alcoraz, 1096), which became the largest city in the kingdom and the new capital. He also joined El Cid's expeditions in Valencia. His father gave him the lordships of Biel, Luna, Ardenes, and Bailo. + +A series of deaths put Alfonso directly in line for the throne. His brother's children, Isabella and Peter (who married María Rodríguez, daughter of El Cid), died in 1103 and 1104 respectively. + +Matrimonial conflicts +A passionate fighting-man (he fought twenty-nine battles against Christian or Moor), he was married (when well over 30 years and a habitual bachelor) in 1109 to the ambitious Queen Urraca of León, a passionate woman unsuited for a subordinate role. The marriage had been arranged by her father Alfonso VI of León in 1106 to unite the two chief Christian states against the Almoravids, and to supply them with a capable military leader. But Urraca was tenacious of her right as queen regnant and had not learnt chastity in the polygamous household of her father. Husband and wife quarrelled with the brutality of the age and came to open war, even placing Urraca under siege at Astorga in 1112. Alfonso had the support of one section of the nobles who found their account in the confusion. Being a much better soldier than any of his opponents he won the Battle of Candespina and the Battle of Viadangos, but his only trustworthy supporters were his Aragonese, who were not numerous enough to keep Castile and León subjugated. The marriage of Alfonso and Urraca was declared null by the pope, as they were second cousins, in 1110, but he ignored the papal nuncio and clung to his liaison with Urraca until 1114. During his marriage, he had called himself "King and Emperor of Castile, Toledo, Aragón, Pamplona, Sobrarbe, and Ribagorza" in recognition of his rights as Urraca's husband; of his inheritance of the lands of his father, including the kingdom of his great-uncle Gonzalo; and his prerogative to conquer Andalusia from the Muslims. He inserted the title of imperator on the basis that he had three kingdoms under his rule. + +Alfonso's late marriage and his failure to remarry and produce the essential legitimate heir that should have been a dynastic linchpin of his aggressive territorial policies have been adduced as a lack of interest in women. Ibn al-Athir (1166–1234) describes Alfonso as a tireless soldier who would sleep in his armor without benefit of cover, whom when asked why he did not take his pleasure from women, responded that the man devoted to war needs the companionship of men not women. + +Church relations + +The king quarrelled with the church, and particularly the Cistercians, almost as violently as with his wife. As he defeated her, so he drove Archbishop Bernard into exile and replaced the abbot of Sahagún with his brother. He was finally compelled to give way in Castile and León to his stepson, Alfonso VII of Castile, son of Urraca and her first husband. The intervention of Pope Calixtus II brought about an arrangement between the old man and his young namesake. + +In 1122 in Belchite, he founded a confraternity of knights to fight against the Almoravids. It was the start of the military orders in Aragon. Years later, he organised a branch of the Militia Christi of the Holy Land at Monreal del Campo. + +Military expansion +Alfonso spent his first four years as king in near-constant war with the Muslims. In 1105, he conquered Ejea and Tauste and refortified Castellar and Juslibol. In 1106, he defeated Ahmad II al-Musta'in of Zaragoza at Valtierra. In 1107, he took Tamarite de Litera and San Esteban de Litera. +Then followed a period dominated by his relations with Castile and León through his wife, Urraca. He resumed his conquests in 1117 with Fitero, Corella, Cintruénigo, Murchante, Monteagudo, and Cascante. + +In 1118, the Council of Toulouse declared a crusade to assist in the conquest of Zaragoza. Many Frenchmen consequently joined Alfonso at Ayerbe. They took Almudévar, Gurrea de Gállego, and Zuera, besieging Zaragoza itself by the end of May. The city fell on 18 December, and the forces of Alfonso occupied the Azuda, the government tower. The great palace of the city was given to the monks of Bernard. Promptly, the city was made Alfonso's capital. Two years later, in 1120, he defeated a Muslim army intent on reconquering his new capital at the Battle of Cutanda. He promulgated the fuero of tortum per tortum, facilitating taking the law into one's own hands, which among others reassumed the Muslim right to dwell in the city and their right to keep their properties and practice their religion under their own jurisdiction as long as they maintained tax payment and relocated to the suburbs. + +In 1119, he retook Cervera, Tudejen, Castellón, Tarazona, Ágreda, Magallón, Borja, Alagón, Novillas, Mallén, Rueda, Épila and populated the region of Soria. He began the siege of Calatayud, but left to defeat the army at Cutanda trying to retake Zaragoza. When Calatayud fell, he took Bubierca, Alhama de Aragón, Ariza, and Daroca (1120). In 1123, he besieged and took Lleida, which was in the hands of the count of Barcelona. From the winter of 1124 to September 1125, he was on a risky expedition to Peña Cadiella deep in Andalusia. + +In the great raid of 1125, he carried away a large part of the subject Christians from Granada, and in the south-west of France, he had rights as king of Navarre. From 1125 to 1126, he was on campaign against Granada, where he was trying to install a Christian prince, and Córdoba, where he got only as far as Motril. In 1127, he reconquered Longares, but simultaneously lost all his Castilian possessions to Alfonso VII. He confirmed a treaty with Castile the next year (1128) with the Peace of Támara, which fixed the boundaries of the two realms. + +He conquered Molina de Aragón and populated Monzón in 1129, before besieging Valencia, which had fallen again upon the Cid's death. + +He went north of the Pyrenées in October 1130 to protect the Val d'Aran. Early in 1131, he besieged Bayonne. It is said he ruled "from Belorado to Pallars and from Bayonne to Monreal." + +At the siege of Bayonne in October 1131, three years before his death, he published a will leaving his kingdom to three autonomous religious orders based in Palestine and politically largely independent – the Knights Templars, the Hospitallers, and the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, whose influences might have been expected to cancel one another out. The will has greatly puzzled historians, who have read it as a bizarre gesture of extreme piety uncharacteristic of Alfonso's character, one that effectively undid his life's work. Elena Lourie (1975) suggested instead that it was Alfonso's attempt to neutralize the papacy's interest in a disputed succession – Aragon had been a fief of the papacy since 1068 – and to fend off Urraca's son from her first marriage, Alfonso VII of Castile, for the papacy would be bound to press the terms of such a pious testament. Generous bequests to important churches and abbeys in Castile had the effect of making the noble churchmen there beneficiaries who would be encouraged by the will to act as a brake on Alfonso VII's ambitions to break it – and yet among the magnates witnessing the will in 1131 there was not a single cleric. In the event it was a will that his nobles refused to carry out – instead bringing his brother Ramiro from the monastery to assume royal powers – an eventuality that Lourie suggests was Alfonso's hidden intent. + +His final campaigns were against Mequinenza (1133) and Fraga (1134), where García Ramírez, the future king of Navarre, and a mere 500 other knights fought with him. It fell on 17 July. He was dead by September. His tomb is in the monastery of San Pedro in Huesca. + +Death + +Succession + +The testament of Alfonso leaving his kingdom to the three orders was dismissed out of hand by the nobility of his kingdoms, and possible successors were sought. Alfonso's only brother, Ramiro, had been a Benedictine monk since childhood, and his commitment to the church, his temperament and vow of celibacy made him ill-suited to rule a kingdom under constant military threat and in need of a stable line of succession. The step-son of the deceased king, Alfonso VII of León, as reigning monarch and legitimate descendant of Sancho III of Navarre, put himself forward but garnered no local support. The nobility of Navarre aligned behind Pedro de Atarés, the grandson of Alfonso's illegitimate uncle, while the Aragonese nobility rallied around the abbot-bishop Ramiro. A convention was called at Borja in order to develop a consensus. Pedro de Atarés had so alienated his own partisans there with his perceived arrogance that they had abandoned him, yet at the same time were unwilling to accept Alfonso's younger brother Ramiro. The convention then broke up without ever arriving at a compromise, and the two regional factions proceeded to act independently. + +The choice of the Navarrese lords fell on García Ramírez, Lord of Monzón, descendant of an illegitimate son of García Sánchez III and protégé of Alfonso VII to be their king. The Aragonese took Ramiro out of a monastery and made him king, marrying him without papal dispensation to Agnes, sister of the Duke of Aquitaine, then betrothing their newborn daughter to Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Barcelona, who was then named Ramiro's heir. "The result of the crisis produced by the result of Alfonso I's will was a major reorientation of the peninsula's kingdoms: the separation of Aragon and Navarre, the union of Aragon and Catalonia and – a moot point but stressed particularly by some Castilian historians – the affirmation of 'Castilian hegemony' in Spain" by the rendering of homage for Zaragoza by Alfonso's eventual heir, Ramon Berenguer IV of Barcelona. + +Pseudo-Alfonso the Battler +Sometime during the reign of Alfonso II of Aragon, the Battler's grandnephew, a man came forward claiming to be Alfonso the Battler. The only contemporary references to this event are two letters of Alfonso II addressed to Louis VII of France; they were carried to Louis by Berengar, the Bishop of Lleida, but are not dated. According to the second of these, the pretender was then living in Louis's domains, meaning the Principality of Catalonia, which was ruled by Alfonso under Louis's suzerainty. This pretender was an old man (appropriately, since the Battler had died some decades earlier) and Alfonso II expressed confidence that Louis would arrest him at the earliest possible moment and bring him to justice. The first letter supplies sufficient information to date it approximately, since the Bishop sojourned at the court of Louis on his way to Rome. It is known from other sources that Berengar attended the Third Lateran Council in March 1179. The letters were probably written towards the end of 1178 or in January 1179 at the latest. According to an annalist source for the years 1089–1196, the pretender was received with honour and pomp in Zaragoza, Calatayud, and Daroca, which the Battler had conquered, but after it was found out that he was false he was executed before the city of Barcelona in 1181. Modern historian Antonio Ubieto Arteta has hypothesised that the Aragonese lords of the tenancies of Zaragoza, Calatayud, and Daroca – Pedro de Luesia, Loferrench de Luna, Pedro de Castillazuelo (lord of Calatayud), Pedro Cornel (lord of Murillo de Gállego), and the majordomo Jimeno de Artusilla, all of whom disappear between 1177 and 1181 in the documentation of their tenancies – supported, at least initially, the pretender. These lords also appear in the later legend of the Bell of Huesca, which has no historical basis, as the victims of Ramiro II (1136). Since, historically, they were not active in the 1130s, it is possible that the historically based legend of the pseudo-Alfonso had some influence on the genesis of the Bell of Huesca. + +The earliest chronicle source for the imposture is Rodrigo Jiménez de Rada, writing in the middle of the thirteenth century, who records that there were several legends then current about the death of Alfonso the Battler: some believed he perished in the battle of Fraga, some that his body had never been recovered, others that he was buried in the monastery of Montearagón, and still others that he had fled from Fraga in shame after his defeat and became a pilgrim as an act of penance. Some years later, Rodrigo writes, though he does not give a year, an impostor arose and was received by many as the Battler, though Alfonso II had him arrested and hanged. This is the earliest reference to the impostor's end. The legend was amplified in later years. According to the fourteenth-century Crónica de los Estados Peninsulares, the Battler went on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, where he lived for many years. The Crónica de San Juan de la Peña also recounts the incident, but it depends entirely on Rodrigo and the Estados Peninsulares. It is not until the seventeenth-century historian Jerónimo Zurita penned his Anales de la Corona de Aragón that new details were added to the legend. Zurita dates the impostor's appearance to the death of Raymond Berengar IV of Barcelona, who had been exercising power in Aragon, and the succession of the child Alfonso II in 1162. The death of the impostor, by hanging, must have occurred in 1163. + +Competitors for succession + +Notes + +References + +Sources + +Ubieto Arteta, Antonio. "La aparición del falso Alfonso I el Batallador." Argensola, 38 (1958), 29–38. + +1070s births +1134 deaths +12th-century Aragonese monarchs +12th-century Navarrese monarchs +Spanish Roman Catholics +12th-century Roman Catholics +Jure uxoris kings +Amaryllis () is the only genus in the subtribe Amaryllidinae (tribe Amaryllideae). It is a small genus of flowering bulbs, with two species. The better known of the two, Amaryllis belladonna, is a native of the Western Cape region of South Africa, particularly the rocky southwest area between the Olifants River Valley and Knysna. + +For many years there was confusion among botanists over the generic names Amaryllis and Hippeastrum, one result of which is that the common name 'amaryllis' is mainly used for cultivars of the genus Hippeastrum, widely sold in the winter months for their ability to bloom indoors. + +Plants of the genus Amaryllis are known as belladonna lily, Jersey lily, naked lady, amarillo, Easter lily in Southern Australia or, in South Africa, March lily due to its propensity to flower around March. This is one of numerous genera with the common name 'lily' due to their flower shape and growth habit. However, they are only distantly related to the true lily, Lilium. In the Victorian language of flowers, amaryllis means "love, beauty, and determination", and can also represent hope and achievement. + +Description + +Amaryllis is a bulbous plant, with each bulb being in diameter. It has several strap-shaped, hysteranthous, green leaves with midrib, long and broad, arranged in two rows. + +Each bulb produces one or two leafless, stout, persistent and erect stems tall, each of which bears at the top a cluster of two to twelve zygomorphic, funnel-shaped flowers without a tube. Each flower is diameter with six spreading tepals (three outer sepals, three inner petals, with similar appearance to each other). The usual color is white with crimson veins, but pink or purple also occur naturally. Stamens are very shortly connate basally, declinate, unequal. Style is declinate, stigma is three-lobed. Ovules are approx. 8 per locule. Seeds are compressed-globose, white to pink. The number of chromosomes is 2n = 22. + +Taxonomy +The single genus is in subtribe Amaryllidinae, in the tribe Amaryllideae. The taxonomy of the genus has been controversial. In 1753 Carl Linnaeus created the name Amaryllis belladonna, the type species of the genus Amaryllis. At the time both South African and South American plants were placed in the same genus; subsequently they were separated into two different genera. The key question is whether Linnaeus's type was a South African plant or a South American plant. If the latter, Amaryllis would be the correct name for the genus Hippeastrum, and a different name would have to be used for the genus discussed here. Alan W. Meerow et al. have briefly summarized the debate, which took place from 1938 onwards and involved botanists on both sides of the Atlantic. The outcome was a decision by the 14th International Botanical Congress in 1987 that Amaryllis should be a conserved name (i.e. correct regardless of priority) and ultimately based on a specimen of the South African Amaryllis belladonna from the Clifford Herbarium at the Natural History Museum in London. + +Species +, Amaryllis had only two accepted species, both native to the Cape Provinces of South Africa: +Amaryllis belladonna – south-west Cape Provinces; introduced into many parts of the world, including California, Great Britain, Australia and New Zealand +Amaryllis paradisicola – west Cape Provinces + +Phylogeny +Amaryllidinae are placed within Amaryllideae as follow: + +These are phylogenetically related as follows: + +Etymology +The name Amaryllis is taken from a shepherdess in Virgil's pastoral Eclogues, (from the Greek . + +Although the 1987 decision settled the question of the scientific name of the genus, the common name 'amaryllis' continues to be used differently. Bulbs sold as amaryllis and described as "ready to bloom for the holidays" belong to the allied genus Hippeastrum. The common name "naked lady" comes from the plant's pattern of flowering when the foliage has died down. This name is also used for other bulbs with a similar growth and flowering pattern; some of these have their own widely used and accepted common names, such as the resurrection lily (Lycoris squamigera). + +Habitat +In areas of its native habitat with mountainous fynbos flowering tends to be suppressed until after bush fires as dense overhead vegetation prevents growth. In more open sandy areas of the Western Cape, the plant flowers annually. Plants tend to be very localized in dense concentrations due to the seeds' large size and heavy weight. Strong winds shake loose the seeds, which fall to ground and immediately start to germinate, aided by the first winter rains. + +Ecology +The leaves are produced in the autumn or early spring in warm climates depending on the onset of rain and eventually die down by late spring. The bulb is then dormant until late summer. The plant is not frost-tolerant, nor does it do well in tropical environments since they require a dry resting period between leaf growth and flower spike production. + +One or two leafless stems arise from the bulb in the dry ground in late summer (March in its native habitat and August in USDA zone 7). + +The plant has a symbiotic relationship with carpenter bees. It is also visited by noctuid moths at night. The relative importance of these insects as pollinators has not yet been established; however, carpenter bees are thought to be the main pollinators of amaryllis on the Cape Peninsula. The plant's main parasite is the lily borer Brithys crini and/or Diaphone eumela. + +Cultivation + +Amaryllis belladonna was introduced into cultivation at the beginning of the eighteenth century. It reproduces slowly by either bulb division or seeds and has gradually naturalized from plantings in urban and suburban areas throughout the lower elevations and coastal areas in much of the West Coast of the US since these environments mimic their native South African habitat. Hardiness zones 6–8. It is also naturalized in Australia. + +There is an Amaryllis belladonna hybrid which was bred in the 1800s in Australia. No one knows the exact species it was crossed with to produce color variations of white, cream, peach, magenta and nearly red hues. The hybrids were crossed back onto the original Amaryllis belladonna and with each other to produce naturally seed-bearing crosses that come in a very wide range of flower sizes, shapes, stem heights and intensities of pink. Pure white varieties with bright green stems were bred as well. The hybrids are quite distinct in that the many shades of pink also have stripes, veining, darkened edges, white centers and light yellow centers, also setting them apart from the original light pink. In addition, the hybrids often produce flowers in a fuller circle rather than the "side-facing" habit of the "old-fashioned" pink. The hybrids are able to adapt to year-round watering and fertilization but can also tolerate completely dry summer conditions if need be. + +A. belladonna has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. + +Amaryllis belladonna has been crossed in cultivation with Crinum moorei to produce a hybrid called × Amarcrinum, which has named cultivars. Hybrids said to be between Amaryllis belladonna and Brunsvigia josephinae have been called × Amarygia. Neither hybrid genus name is accepted by the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. + +See also + + List of plants known as lily + +References + +Further reading + + + +Amaryllidoideae +Amaryllidaceae genera +Endemic flora of the Cape Provinces +Garden plants of Africa +Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus +Alfonso III (4 November 1265 – 18 June 1291), called the Liberal (el Liberal) and the Free (also "the Frank", from el Franc), was king of Aragon and Valencia, and count of Barcelona (as ) from 1285 until his death. He conquered the Kingdom of Majorca between his succession and 1287. + +Life +Alfonso was the son of King Peter III of Aragon and Constance, daughter and heiress of King Manfred of Sicily. + +Soon after assuming the throne, he conducted a campaign to reincorporate the Balearic Islands into the Kingdom of Aragon, which had been lost due to the division of the kingdom by his grandfather, James I of Aragon. Thus in 1285 he declared war on his uncle, James II of Majorca, and conquered both Majorca (1285) and Ibiza (1286), effectively reassuming suzerainty over the Kingdom of Majorca. He followed this with the conquest of Menorca – until then an autonomous Muslim state (Manûrqa) within the Kingdom of Majorca – on 17 January 1287, the anniversary of which now serves as Menorca's national holiday. + +Alfonso initially sought to maintain Aragonese control over Sicily by supporting the claims of his brother James II to the island. However, he later retracted his support for his brother shortly before his death and instead tried to make peace with the Papal States and with France. + +His reign was marred by a constitutional struggle with the Aragonese nobles, which eventually culminated in the articles of the Union of Aragon – the so-called "Magna Carta of Aragon", which devolved several key royal powers into the hands of lesser nobles. His inability to resist the demands of his nobles was to leave a heritage of disunity in Aragon and further dissent amongst the nobility, who increasingly saw little reason to respect the throne, and brought the Kingdom of Aragon close to anarchy. + +During his lifetime a dynastic marriage with Eleanor, daughter of King Edward I of England, was arranged. However, Alfonso died before meeting his bride, at the age of 25 in 1291, and was buried in the Franciscan convent in Barcelona; since 1852 his remains have been buried in Barcelona Cathedral. + +In culture +Dante Alighieri, in the Divine Comedy, recounts that he saw Alfonso's spirit seated outside the gates of Purgatory with the other monarchs whom Dante blamed for the chaotic political state of Europe during the 13th century. + +References + +Sources + +1265 births +1291 deaths +13th-century Aragonese monarchs +People from Valencia +Counts of Barcelona +Valencian monarchs +House of Aragon +Burials at Barcelona Cathedral +People of the War of the Sicilian Vespers +Aragonese infantes +Alfonso IV, called the Kind (also the Gentle or the Nice, ) (2 November 1299 – 24 January 1336) was King of Aragon and Count of Barcelona (as Alfons III) from 1327 to his death. His reign saw the incorporation of the County of Urgell, Duchy of Athens, and Duchy of Neopatria into the Crown of Aragon. + +Biography +Alfonso was born in Naples, the second son of James II and Blanche of Anjou. In 1314, aged 14, he married Teresa d'Entença y Cabrera, heiress of Urgell, who was the same age as him. Teresa's granduncle Ermengol X of Urgell had died childless in La Llitera; before his death, he had agreed to make Alfonso his heir, on condition that Alfonso would marry Teresa, who was his nearest kin. Alfonso was at this time only the second son (and not the heir) of the king of Aragon. He and his father readily agreed to Ermengol's condition, and Alfonso married Teresa in 1314 in the Cathedral of Lerida. The teenage bridegroom is reputed to have been so liberal in the expenses during the wedding, that the local counsels imposed restrictions on how much he could spend. Alfonso and Teresa became the parents of seven children. + +Alfonso became heir to the throne in December 1319 after his older brother James renounced his rights to become a monk. During the reign of his father, Alfonso was the procurator-general of the Crown, and in 1323–1324, he undertook the conquest of Sardinia. + +Alfonso's father and first wife Teresa died within a few days of each other in 1327. Teresa died in childbirth on 20 October 1327, and James II died on 2 November 1327, whereupon Alfonso became king. In 1329, he began a long war with the Republic of Genoa. The city of Sassari had previously surrendered to Alfonso in 1323, but rebelled three more times; its possession was contested by Genoa, which led to the protracted war. + +In February 1329, Alfonso married Eleanor of Castile (1308–1359), the sister of king Alfonso XI of Castile. Eleanor had been briefly married to Alfonso's elder brother James the monk. That marriage, which James had refused to consummate, had been annulled in 1319–20. Eleanor had thereafter retired to a convent (although she never took the veil) and had remained unmarried. By December the same year, the couple were rejoiced to become the parents of a son, Ferdinand, who was followed five years later by another son, John. + +Eleanor earnestly sought to advance the interests of her own infant sons over those of her stepson, the Infante Peter, who was the heir-apparent. She convinced her husband to grant very large and significant territories to her sons. on 28 December 1329, Alfonso granted his new-born son Ferdinand the Marquisate of Tortosa and the cities of Albarracín, Orihuela, Callosa d'en Sarrià, Guardamar, Alicante, Monforte, Elda, La Mola, Novelda and Aspe. Eleanor's younger son John, who was born five years later, was also granted several lordships when he was only a toddler: Elche, Biel and Bolsa were all bestowed upon him. These territories would be controlled by Eleanor, who had also received the city of Huesca and some other villages and castles belonging to the Aragonese crown at the time of her wedding. Nor was this all. While all of the above grants had been made from among the possessions of the Aragonese crown, the King also sought to bestow estates located within the Kingdom of Valencia upon the toddler Ferdinand, but he was prevented from doing so. When the King granted Ferdinand the cities of Xàtiva, Alzira, Sagunto, Morella, Burriana and Castellón de la Plana, all located in the Kingdom of Valencia, the local subjects protested, and for this reason the King decided to revoked these patents. These grants of land diminished the territorial patrimony of the crown and mainly affected the Infante Peter, Alfonso's son by his first wife, who however was too young to make any significant protest. However, the issue agitated the court, created a climate of resentment and divided the nobility into two camps. + +Alfonso died in January 1336, aged only 36. He was succeeded by Peter IV, his 16-year-old son from his first marriage. + +Children +By Teresa d'Entença: + Alfonso (1315–1317) + Constance (1318–1346), married in 1336 to James III of Majorca. + Peter IV (1319–1387), successor. + James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347), also inherited Entença and Antillon. + Elizabeth (1323–1327). + Frederick (1325-died young). + Sancho (1327), lived only a few days. + +By Eleanor of Castile: + Ferdinand (1329–1363), Marquis of Tortosa and Lord of Albarracín and Fraga; married Maria, Marchioness of Tortosa and was killed by order of his brother Peter IV. + John (1331–1358), Lord of Elche, Biel and Bolsa, married in 1355 to Isabel Núñez de Lara (daughter of Juan Núñez III de Lara) and was killed by order of his cousin Pedro of Castile. + +Ancestors + +Notes + +Sources + Diccionario universal de historia y de geografía, p. 152. By Lucas Alamán, Manuel Orozco y Berra + +External links + +1299 births +1336 deaths +14th-century Aragonese monarchs +Nobility from Naples +Valencian monarchs +Counts of Barcelona +House of Aragon +Aragonese infantes +Amasis II ( ; ḤMS) or Ahmose II was a pharaoh (reigned 570526 BCE) of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt, the successor of Apries at Sais. He was the last great ruler of Egypt before the Persian conquest. + +Life + +Most of our information about him is derived from Herodotus (2.161ff) and can only be imperfectly verified by monumental evidence. According to the Greek historian, he was of common origins. He was originally an officer in the Egyptian army. His birthplace was Siuph at Saïs. He took part in a general campaign of Pharaoh Psamtik II in 592 BC in Nubia. + +A revolt which broke out among native Egyptian soldiers gave him his opportunity to seize the throne. These troops, returning home from a disastrous military expedition to Cyrene in Libya, suspected that they had been betrayed in order that Apries, the reigning king, might rule more absolutely by means of his Greek mercenaries; many Egyptians fully sympathized with them. General Amasis, sent to meet them and quell the revolt, was proclaimed king by the rebels instead, and Apries, who then had to rely entirely on his mercenaries, was defeated. Apries fled to the Babylonians and was captured and killed mounting an invasion of his native homeland in 567 BCE with the aid of a Babylonian army. An inscription confirms the struggle between the native Egyptian and the foreign soldiery, and proves that Apries was killed and honourably buried in the third year of Amasis ( BCE). Amasis then married Khedebneithirbinet II, one of the daughters of his predecessor Apries, in order to legitimise his kingship. + +Some information is known about the family origins of Amasis: his mother was a certain Tashereniset, as a bust of her, today located in the British Museum, shows. A stone block from Mehallet el-Kubra also establishes that his maternal grandmother—Tashereniset's mother—was a certain Tjenmutetj. + +His court is relatively well known. The head of the gate guard Ahmose-sa-Neith appears on numerous monuments, including the location of his sarcophagus. He was referenced on monuments of the 30th Dynasty and apparently had a special significance in his time. Wahibre was 'Leader of the southern foreigners' and 'Head of the doors of foreigners', so he was the highest official for border security. Under Amasis the career of the doctor, Udjahorresnet, began, who was of particular importance to the Persians. Several "heads of the fleet" are known. Psamtek Meryneit and Pasherientaihet / Padineith are the only known viziers. + +Herodotus describes how Amasis II would eventually cause a confrontation with the Persian armies. According to Herodotus, Amasis was asked by Cambyses II or Cyrus the Great for an Egyptian ophthalmologist on good terms. Amasis seems to have complied by forcing an Egyptian physician into mandatory labor, causing him to leave his family behind in Egypt and move to Persia in forced exile. In an attempt to exact revenge for this, the physician grew very close to Cambyses and suggested that Cambyses should ask Amasis for a daughter in marriage in order to solidify his bonds with the Egyptians. Cambyses complied and requested a daughter of Amasis for marriage. + +Amasis, worrying that his daughter would be a concubine to the Persian king, refused to give up his offspring; Amasis also was not willing to take on the Persian empire, so he concocted a deception in which he forced the daughter of the ex-pharaoh Apries, whom Herodotus explicitly confirms to have been killed by Amasis, to go to Persia instead of his own offspring. + +This daughter of Apries was none other than Nitetis, who was, as per Herodotus's account, "tall and beautiful." Nitetis naturally betrayed Amasis and upon being greeted by the Persian king explained Amasis's trickery and her true origins. This infuriated Cambyses and he vowed to take revenge for it. Amasis died before Cambyses reached him, but his heir and son Psamtik III was defeated by the Persians. + +Herodotus also describes how, just like his predecessor, Amasis relied on Greek mercenaries and councilmen. One such figure was Phanes of Halicarnassus, who would later leave Amasis, for reasons that Herodotus does not clearly know, but suspects were personal between the two figures. Amasis sent one of his eunuchs to capture Phanes, but the eunuch was bested by the wise councilman and Phanes fled to Persia, meeting up with Cambyses and providing advice for his invasion of Egypt. Egypt was finally lost to the Persians during the battle of Pelusium in 525 BC. + +Egypt's wealth + +Amasis brought Egypt into closer contact with Greece than ever before. Herodotus relates that under his prudent administration, Egypt reached a new level of wealth; Amasis adorned the temples of Lower Egypt especially with splendid monolithic shrines and other monuments (his activity here is proved by existing remains). For example, a temple built by him was excavated at Tell Nebesha. + +Amasis assigned the commercial colony of Naucratis on the Canopic branch of the Nile to the Greeks, and when the temple of Delphi was burnt, he contributed 1,000 talents to the rebuilding. He also married a Greek princess named Ladice daughter of King Battus III and made alliances with Polycrates of Samos and Croesus of Lydia. Montaigne cites the story by Herodotus that Ladice cured Amasis of his impotence by praying to Venus/Aphropdite. + +Under Amasis, Egypt's agricultural based economy reached its zenith. Herodotus, who visited Egypt less than a century after Amasis II's death, writes that: + +His kingdom consisted probably of Egypt only, as far as the First Cataract, but to this he added Cyprus, and his influence was great in Cyrene, Libya. In his fourth year ( BCE), Amasis was able to defeat an invasion of Egypt by the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar II; henceforth, the Babylonians experienced sufficient difficulties controlling their empire that they were forced to abandon future attacks against Amasis. However, Amasis was later faced with a more formidable enemy with the rise of Persia under Cyrus who ascended to the throne in 559 BCE; his final years were preoccupied by the threat of the impending Persian onslaught against Egypt. With great strategic skill, Cyrus had destroyed Lydia in 546 BCE and finally defeated the Babylonians in 538 BCE which left Amasis with no major Near Eastern allies to counter Persia's increasing military might. Amasis reacted by cultivating closer ties with the Greek states to counter the future Persian invasion into Egypt but died in 526 BCE shortly before the Persians attacked. The final assault instead fell upon his son Psamtik III, whom the Persians defeated in 525 BCE after he had reigned for only six months. + +Tomb and desecration + +Amasis II died in 526 BC. He was buried at the royal necropolis of Sais within the temple enclosure of Neith, and while his tomb has not been rediscovered, Herodotus describes it for us: + +Herodotus also relates the desecration of Amasis' mummy when the Persian king Cambyses conquered Egypt and thus ended the 26th (Saite) Dynasty: + +Later reputation + +From the fifth century BCE, there is evidence of stories circulating about Amasis, in Egyptian sources (including a demotic papyrus of the third century BCE), Herodotus, Hellanikos, and Plutarch's Convivium Septem Sapientium. 'In those tales Amasis was presented as a non-conventional Pharaoh, behaving in ways unbecoming to a king but gifted with practical wisdom and cunning, a trickster on the throne or a kind of comic Egyptian Solomon'. + +Gallery of images + +References + +Further reading + + Leo Depuydt: Saite and Persian Egypt, 664 BC–332 BC (Dyns. 26–31, Psammetichus I to Alexander's Conquest of Egypt). In: Erik Hornung, Rolf Krauss, David A. Warburton (Hrsg.): Ancient Egyptian Chronology (= Handbook of Oriental studies. Section One. The Near and Middle East. Band 83). Brill, Leiden/Boston 2006, , S. 265–283 (Online). + +6th-century BC Pharaohs +Pharaohs of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt +526 BC deaths +Kings of Egypt in Herodotus +Year of birth unknown +Philhellenes +Alfonso the Magnanimous (Alfons el Magnànim in Catalan) (139627 June 1458) was King of Aragon and King of Sicily (as Alfonso V) and the ruler of the Crown of Aragon from 1416 and King of Naples (as Alfonso I) from 1442 until his death. He was involved with struggles to the throne of the Kingdom of Naples with Louis III of Anjou, Joanna II of Naples and their supporters, but ultimately failed and lost Naples in 1424. He recaptured it in 1442 and was crowned king of Naples. He had good relations with his vassal, Stjepan Kosača, and his ally, Skanderbeg, providing assistance in their struggles in the Balkans. He led diplomatic contacts with the Ethiopian Empire and was a prominent political figure of the early Renaissance, being a supporter of literature as well as commissioning several constructions for the Castel Nuovo. + +Early life +Born at Medina del Campo, he was the son of Ferdinand of Trastámara and Eleanor of Alburquerque. Ferdinand was the brother of King Henry III of Castile, and Alfonso was betrothed to his uncle King Henry's daughter Maria in 1408. In 1412, Ferdinand was selected to succeed to the territories of the Crown of Aragon. Alfonso and Maria's marriage was celebrated in Valencia on 12 June 1415. + +King Ferdinand died on 2 April 1416, and Alfonso succeeded him as king of Aragon, Valencia, and Majorca and count of Barcelona. He also claimed the island of Sardinia, though it was then in the possession of Genoa. Alfonso was also in possession of much of Corsica by the 1420s. + +Alfonso's marriage with Maria was childless. His mistress Lucrezia d'Alagno served as a de facto queen at the Neapolitan court as well as an inspiring muse. With another mistress, , Alfonso had three children: Ferdinand (1423–1494), Maria (who married Leonello d'Este), and Eleanor (who married Mariano Marzano). With +the last mistress Ippolita, married de'Giudici, Alfonso had one daughther Colia (1430-1473/5) married in 1445 with Emanuele d'Appiano, Lord of Piombino, Count of Holy Roman Empire. The d'Appiano d'Aragona family receive, in 1509 the title of Prince of Holy Roman Empire. + +Alfonso was the object of diplomatic contacts from the Empire of Ethiopia. In 1428, he received a letter from Yeshaq I of Ethiopia, borne by two dignitaries, which proposed an alliance against the Muslims and would be sealed by a dual marriage that would require Alfonso's brother Peter to bring a group of artisans to Ethiopia where he would marry Yeshaq's daughter. In return, Alfonso sent a party of 13 craftsmen, all of whom perished on the way to Ethiopia. He later sent a letter to Yeshaq's successor Zara Yaqob in 1450, in which he wrote that he would be happy to send artisans to Ethiopia if their safe arrival could be guaranteed, but it probably never reached Zara Yaqob. + +Struggle for Naples + +In 1421 the childless Queen Joanna II of Naples adopted and named him as heir to the Kingdom of Naples, and Alfonso went to Naples. Here he hired the condottiero Braccio da Montone with the task of reducing the resistance of his rival claimant, Louis III of Anjou, and his forces led by Muzio Attendolo Sforza. With Pope Martin V supporting Sforza, Alfonso switched his religious allegiance to the Aragonese antipope Benedict XIII. When Sforza abandoned Louis' cause, Alfonso seemed to have all his problems solved; however, his relationship with Joanna suddenly worsened, and in May 1423 he had her lover, Gianni Caracciolo, a powerful figure in the Neapolitan court, arrested. + +After an attempt to arrest the queen herself had failed, Joan called on Sforza who defeated the Aragonese militias near Castel Capuano in Naples. Alfonso fled to Castel Nuovo, but the help of a fleet of 22 galleys led by Giovanni da Cardona improved his situation. Sforza and Joanna ransomed Caracciolo and retreated to the fortress of Aversa. Here she repudiated her earlier adoption of Alfonso and, with the backing of Martin V, named Louis III as her heir instead. + +The duke of Milan, Filippo Maria Visconti, joined the anti-Aragonese coalition. Alfonso requested support from Braccio da Montone, who was besieging Joanna's troops in L'Aquila, but had to set sail for Spain, where a war had broken out between his brothers and the Kingdom of Castile. On his way towards Barcelona, Alfonso sacked Marseille, a possession of Louis III. + +In late 1423 the Genoese fleet of Filippo Maria Visconti moved in the southern Tyrrhenian Sea, rapidly conquering Gaeta, Procida, Castellammare and Sorrento. Naples, which was held by Alfonso's brother, Pedro de Aragon, was besieged in 1424 by the Genoese ships and Joanna's troops, now led by Francesco Sforza, the son of Muzio Sforza (who had met his death at L'Aquila). The city fell in April 1424. Pedro, after a short resistance in Castel Nuovo, fled to Sicily in August. Joanna II and Louis III again took possession of the realm, although the true power was in the hands of Gianni Caracciolo. + +An opportunity for Alfonso to reconquer Naples occurred in 1432, when Caracciolo was killed in a conspiracy. Alfonso tried to regain the favour of the queen, but failed, and had to wait for the death of both Louis (at Cosenza in 1434) and Joanna herself (February 1435). In her will, she bequeathed her realm to René of Anjou, Louis III's younger brother. This solution was opposed by the new pope, Eugene IV, who was the feudal overlord of the Kingdom of Naples. The Neapolitans having called in the French, Alfonso decided to intervene and, with the support of several barons of the kingdom, captured Capua and besieged the important sea fortress of Gaeta. His fleet of 25 galleys was met by the Genoese ships sent by Visconti, led by Biagio Assereto. In the Battle of Ponza that ensued, Alfonso was defeated and taken prisoner. + +In Milan, Alfonso impressed his captor with his cultured demeanor and persuaded him to let him go by persuading that it was not in Milan's interest to prevent the victory of the Aragonese party in Naples. Helped by a Sicilian fleet, Alfonso recaptured Capua and set his base in Gaeta in February 1436. Meanwhile, papal troops had invaded the Neapolitan kingdom, but Alfonso bribed their commander, Cardinal Giovanni Vitelleschi, and their successes waned. + +In the meantime, René had managed to reach Naples on 19 May 1438. Alfonso tried to besiege the city in the following September, but failed. His brother Pedro was killed during the battle. Castel Nuovo, where an Aragonese garrison resisted, fell to the Angevine mercenaries in August 1439. After the death of his condottiero Jacopo Caldora, however, René's fortune started to decline: Alfonso could easily capture Aversa, Salerno, Benevento, Manfredonia and Bitonto. René, whose possession included now only part of the Abruzzi and Naples, obtained 10,000 men from the pope, but the cardinal leading them signed a truce with Alfonso. Giovanni Sforza came with a reduced corps, as troops sent by Eugene IV had halted his father Francesco in the Marche. + +Alfonso, provided with the most impressive artillery of the times, again besieged Naples. The siege began on 10 November 1441, ending on 2 June the following year. After the return of René to Provence, Alfonso easily reduced the remaining resistance and made his triumphal entrance in Naples on 26 February 1443, as the monarch of a pacified kingdom. + +Alfonso then reunited under his dominion the kingdoms of Naples and Sicily, divided since the Sicilian Vespers. After the personal union, he began to call himself Rex Utriusque Siciliae; this was then used by other kings and his successors who ruled over those territories. + +Art and administration +Like many Renaissance rulers, Alfonso V was a patron of the arts. He founded the Academy of Naples under Giovanni Pontano, and for his entrance into the city in 1443 had a magnificent triumphal arch added to the main gate of Castel Nuovo. Alfonso V supplied the theme of Renaissance sculptures over the west entrance. + +Alfonso was particularly attracted to classical literature. He reportedly brought copies of the works of Livy and Julius Caesar on his campaigns; the poet Antonio Beccadelli even claimed that Alfonso was cured of a disease by the reading of a few pages from Quintus Curtius Rufus' history of Alexander the Great. Although this reputed erudition attracted scholars to his court, Alfonso apparently enjoyed pitting them against each other in spectacles of bawdy Latin rhetoric. + +After his conquest of Naples in 1442, Alfonso ruled primarily through his mercenaries and political lackeys. In his Italian kingdom, he maintained the former political and administrative institutions. His holdings in Spain were governed by his wife Maria. + +A unified General Chancellorship for the whole Aragonese realm was set up in Naples, although the main functionaries were of Aragonese nationality. Apart from financial, administrative and artistic improvements, his other accomplishments in the Sicilian kingdom include the restoration of the aqueducts, the drainage of marshy areas, and the paving of streets. + +Alfonso founded the first university of Sicily, the Siciliae Studium Generale. + +Later life + +Alfonso was also a powerful and faithful supporter of Skanderbeg, whom he decided to take under his protection as a vassal in 1451, shortly after the latter had scored his second victory against Murad II. In addition to financial assistance, he supplied the Albanian leader with troops, military equipment, and sanctuary for himself and his family if such a need should arise. This was because in 1448, while Skanderbeg was fighting off the Turkish invasions, three military columns, commanded by Demetrio Reres along with his sons Giorgio and Basilio, had been dispatched to help Alfonso V defeat the barons of Naples who had rebelled against him. + +He also supported Bosnian duke, Stjepan Vukčić Kosača, who turned to the king for help in his affairs in Bosnia. Alfonso made him "Knight of the Virgin", but did not provide any troops. On 15 February 1444, Stjepan signed a treaty with the king of Aragon and Naples, becoming his vassal in exchange for Alfonso's help against his enemies—Stephen Thomas and Ivaniš Pavlović (1441–1450) of the Pavlović noble family as well as the Republic of Venice. In the same treaty, Stjepan promised to pay Alfonso regular tribute instead of paying the Ottoman sultan as he had done until then. + +Alfonso, by formally submitting his reign to the Papacy, obtained the consent of Pope Eugene IV that the Kingdom of Naples would go to his illegitimate son, Ferdinand. He died in Castel dell'Ovo in 1458, while he was planning the conquest of Genoa. At the time, Alfonso was at odds with Pope Callixtus III, who died shortly afterwards. Alfonso's Iberian possessions had been ruled for him by his brother, who succeeded him as John II of Aragon. Sicily and Sardinia were also inherited by John II. + +Marriage and issue + +Alfonso had been betrothed to Maria of Castile (1401–1458; sister of John II of Castile) in Valladolid in 1408; the marriage was celebrated in Valencia on 12 June 1415. They failed to produce children. Alfonso had been in love with a woman of noble family named Lucrezia d'Alagno, who served as a de facto queen at the Neapolitan court as well as an inspiring muse. + +Genealogical records in the Old Occitan Chronicle of Montpellier in Le petit Thalamus de Montpellier indicate that Alphonso's relationship with his mistress, Giraldona Carlino (daughter of Enrique Carlino and his wife, Isabel), produced three children: + + His successor in Naples, King Ferdinand I of Naples, (born 1423; reigned 1458–1494). + (1425–1449) (died 1449, aged around 15 or 16). She had married in 1444 Leonello d'Este, deceased 1450. + Leonora d'Aragona, who married c. 1443, Mariano Marzano, Duke of Squillace, Prince of Rossano. Her daughter Francesca married Leonardo III Tocco. + +Notes + +References + +Sources + +Further reading + +1396 births +1458 deaths +15th-century Aragonese monarchs +15th-century kings of Sicily +15th-century monarchs of Naples +People from Medina del Campo +House of Trastámara +Aragonese infantes +Monarchs of Naples +Monarchs of Majorca +Valencian monarchs +Patrons of literature +Knights of the Golden Fleece +Counts of Barcelona +Knights of the Garter +Knights of the Dragon +Burials at the Poblet Monastery +Patrons of the visual arts +Counts of Malta +Founders of universities +Amathus or Amathous () was an ancient city and one of the ancient royal cities of Cyprus until about 300 BC. Some of its remains can be seen today on the southern coast in front of Agios Tychonas, about west of Larnaca and east of Limassol. Its ancient cult sanctuary of Aphrodite was the second most important in Cyprus, her homeland, after Paphos. + +Archaeological work has recently been continued at the site and many finds are exhibited in the Limassol Museum. + +History + +Pre-history and ancient era + +The pre-history of Amathus survives in both myth and archaeology. Archaeology has detected human activity from the earliest Iron Age, BC. +The city's legendary founder was Cinyras, linked with the birth of Adonis, who called the city after his mother Amathous. According to a version of the Ariadne legend noted by Plutarch, Theseus abandoned Ariadne at Amathousa, where she died giving birth to her child and was buried in a sacred tomb. According to Plutarch's source, Amathousians called the sacred grove where her shrine was situated the Wood of Aphrodite Ariadne. More purely Hellenic myth would have Amathus settled instead by one of the sons of Heracles, thus accounting for the fact that he was worshiped there. + +It was said in antiquity that the people of Amathus were autochthonous, most likely Eteocyprian or "Pelasgian". Their non-Greek language is confirmed on the site by Eteocypriot inscriptions in the Cypriot syllabary which alone in the Aegean world survived the Bronze Age collapse and continued to be used down to the 4th century BC. + +Amathus was built on the coastal cliffs with a natural harbour and flourished at an early date, soon requiring several cemeteries. Greeks from Euboea left their pottery at Amathus from the 10th century BC. During the post-Phoenician era of the 8th century BC, a palace was erected and a port was also constructed, which served the trade with the Greeks and the Levantines. A special burial ground for infants, a tophet served the culture of the Phoenicians. For the Hellenes, high on the cliff a temple was built, which became a worship site devoted to Aphrodite, in her particular local presence as Aphrodite Amathusia along with a bearded male Aphrodite called Aphroditos. The excavators discovered the final stage of the Temple of Aphrodite, also known as Aphrodisias, which dates approximately to the 1st century BC. According to the legend, it was where festive Adonia took place, in which athletes competed in hunting wild boars during sport competitions; they also competed in dancing and singing, all to the honour of Adonis. + +The earliest remains hitherto found on the site are tombs of the early Iron Age period of Graeco-Phoenician influences (1000-600 BC). Amathus is identified with Kartihadasti (Phoenician "New-Town") in the Cypriote tribute-list of Esarhaddon of Assyria (668 BC). It certainly maintained strong Phoenician sympathies, for it was its refusal to join the philhellene league of Onesilos of Salamis which provoked the revolt of Cyprus from Achaemenid Persia in 500-494 BC, when Amathus was besieged unsuccessfully and avenged itself by the capture and execution of Onesilos. Herodotus reports +"Because he had besieged them, the Amathusians cut off Onesilos’ head and brought it to Amathous, where they hung it above the gates. As it hung there empty, a swarm of bees entered it and filled it with honeycomb. When they sought advice about this event, an oracle told them to take the head down and bury it, and to make annual sacrifice to Onesilos as a hero, saying that it would be better for them if they did this. The Amathusians did as they were told and still perform these rites in my day." (Histories 5.114) + +Amathus was a rich and densely populated kingdom with a flourishing agriculture (grain and sheep) and copper mines situated very close to the northeast Kalavasos. + +Hellenistic era +About 385-380 BC, the philhellene Evagoras of Salamis was similarly opposed by Amathus, allied with Citium and Soli; and even after Alexander the city resisted annexation, and was bound over to give hostages to Seleucus. Its political importance was now ended but its temple of Adonis and Aphrodite Amathusia remained famous in Roman times. The epithet Amathusia in Roman poetry often means little more than "Cypriote," but attesting to the fame of the city. + +From the 4th century BC the pedestals of two sculptures donated by the last Basileus of Amathous, Androkles, representing his two sons, Orestheus and Andragoras, have survived. Their inscriptions are in both Eteocyprian and Greek languages. + +The decline of Amathus is often measured by the Ptolemaic gifts to Argos, where Amathus donated only 40 drachmas in 170-160 BC, but Kition and Salamis gave 208, Kourion 172, and Paphos 100. However, this figure contradicts the archaeologic evidence of new buildings in this period including a balneion, a bath, a gymnasium, as well as fortifications of the Acropolis, including a new tower. The port of Paphos appears to have lost traffic compared to Amathus in the Ptolemaic period, an indication that Paphos, as the capital of the island, perhaps offered fewer drachmas than the other cities for different reasons, like Amathus. + +Roman era + +In the Roman era Amathus became the capital of one of the four administrative regions of Cyprus. + +A Roman temple was built in the 1st century AD on top of the Hellenistic predecessor. The temple facilities remained so important in Roman times that 'Amathusia' was used as a synonym for 'Cypriot'. + +Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages +Later, in the 4th century AD, Amasus became the see of a Christian bishop and continued to flourish until the Byzantine period. Of its bishops, Heliodorus was at the Council of Chalcedon in 451 and Alexander at the Second Council of Nicaea in 787. In the late 6th century, Saint Ioannis Eleimonas (John the Charitable), protector of the Knights of St. John, was born in Amathus and after 614 sent Theodorus, bishop of Amathus, to Jerusalem to ransom some slaves. + +Today, Amathus is a see of the Church of Cyprus and is also listed (under the name "Amathus in Cypro", to distinguish it from "Amathus in Transjordan") as a titular see by the Catholic Church, which however, in line with the practice adopted after the Second Vatican Council, has made no appointments to the bishopric since the death of the last Latin titular bishop in 1984. + +Anastasius Sinaita, the famous 7th-century prolific monk of Saint Catherine's Monastery, was born here. It is thought that he left Cyprus after the 649 Arab conquest of the island, setting out for the Holy Land, and eventually becoming a monk on Sinai. + +Amathus declined and was already almost deserted when Richard Plantagenet won Cyprus by a victory there over Isaac Comnenus in 1191. The tombs were plundered and the stones from the beautiful edifices were brought to Limassol to be used for new constructions. Much later, in 1869, a great number of blocks of stone from Amathus were used for the construction of the Suez Canal. A ruined Byzantine church marks its site. + +In modern times +A new settlement close to Amathus but further inland, Agios Tychonas, is named after the bishop Saint Tychon of Amathus. The site of the ruins is within the borders of this village, though the expansion of the Limassol tourist area has threatened the ruins: it is speculated that some of the hotels are on top of the Amathus necropolis. + +The site and archaeology + +The city had vanished, except for fragments of wall and of a great stone urn on the acropolis, dating from the 6th century BC of which a similar vessel was taken to the Musée du Louvre in 1867. It is tall and weighs 14 tons. It was made from a single piece of stone and has four curved handles carved with bulls. In the 1870s, Luigi Palma di Cesnola excavated the necropolis of Amathus, as elsewhere in Cyprus, enriching the early collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art; some objects went to the British Museum. More modern archaeological joint Cypriote-French excavations started in 1980 and still continue. The Acropolis, the Temple of Aphrodite, the agora, the city's walls, the basilica and the port have all been excavated. + +Further archaeological objects found during the excavations are preserved at both the Cyprus Museum in Nicosia and the Limassol District Archaeological Museum. + +In the agora there are marble columns decorated with spirals and a huge paved squares. On the coastal side of the city there is an Early Christian basilica with mosaic floors decorated with semi-precious stones. Further, near the terraced road leading to the Temple, situated on the top of the cliff, several houses built in a row dating to the Hellenistic period have been discovered. At the east and west extremes of the city the two acropoleis are situated where a number of tombs have been found, many of which are intact. + +Two small sanctuaries, with terracotta votive offerings of Graeco-Phoenician age, lie not far off, but the location of the great shrines of Adonis and Aphrodite have not been identified (M. Ohnefalsch-Richter, Kypros, i. ch.1). + +Gallery + +Notes + +References +Richard Stillwell, ed. Princeton Encyclopaedia of Classical Sites, 1976: "Amathous, Cyprus" +Municipality of Limassol + +External links + + http://www.mcw.gov.cy/mcw/DA/DA.nsf/0/D20ED526826AB796C225719B00374A92?OpenDocument +Agias Tychonas: Amathus (English) + http://www.anastasiosofsinai.org/index.html (English) +StoryMap about Amathous (A. Cannavò, A. Rabot) + +Cities in ancient Cyprus +Archaeological sites in Cyprus +Former populated places in Cyprus +Alphons (Latinized Alphonsus, Adelphonsus, or Adefonsus) is a male given name recorded from the 8th century (Alfonso I of Asturias, r. 739–757) in the Christian successor states of the Visigothic kingdom in the Iberian peninsula. In the later medieval period it became a standard name in the Hispanic and Portuguese royal families. + +It is derived from a Gothic name, or a conflation of several Gothic names; from *Aþalfuns, composed of the elements aþal "noble" and funs "eager, brave, ready", and perhaps influenced by names such as *Alafuns, *Adefuns and *Hildefuns. +It is recorded as Adefonsus in the 9th and 10th century, and as Adelfonsus, Adelphonsus in the 10th to 11th. The reduced form Alfonso is recorded in the late 9th century, and the Portuguese form Afonso from the early 11th and Anfós in Catalan from the 12th century until the 15th. + +Variants of the name include: Alonso (Spanish), Alfonso (Spanish and Italian), Alfons (Dutch, German, Catalan, Polish, Croatian and Scandinavian), Afonso (Portuguese and Galician), Alphonse, Alfonse (Italian, French and English), etc. + +Middle Ages + +Iberian royal families +Asturias/Leon/Castile/Spain +Alfonso I of Asturias (739-757) +Alfonso II of Asturias (791-842) +Alfonso III of León (866-910) +Alfonso Fróilaz (925-926) +Alfonso IV of León (925-931) +Alfonso V of León (999-1028) +Alfonso VI of León (1065–1109) +Alfonso VII of León (1126–1157) +Alfonso VIII of Castile (1158–1214) +Alfonso IX of León (1188–1230) +Alfonso X of Castile (1252–1284) +Alfonso XI of Castile (1312–1350) +Aragon & Naples +Alfonso I of Aragon (1104–1134), known as el Batallador (The Battler) +Alfonso II of Aragon (1162–1196) +Alfonso III of Aragon (1285–1291) +Alfonso IV of Aragon (1327–1336) +Alfonso V of Aragon (1416–1458), also king of Naples and Sicily +Alfonso II of Naples (1448–1495) + +Other +Alfonso Jordan (1103–1148) +Alphonse, Count of Poitiers (1220–1271) +Alfonso of Valladolid (c. 1270 – c. 1347), Jewish convert to Christianity, philosopher, and mathematician +Alphonso, Earl of Chester (1273–1284), first son of Edward I of England, named after his godfather Alfonso X of Castile; died in childhood +Juan Alfonso de Baena (c. 1375 – c. 1434), Castilian troubadour + +Early modern period +Alphonse Daudet, French novelist and historian +Alfonso I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara during the time of the War of the League of Cambrai +Alphonse de Tonty, Baron de Paludy (c. 1659 – 1727) +Alfonso II d'Este, Duke of Ferrara from 1559 to 1597 +Alfonso II, Count of Provence, second son of Alfonso II of Aragon +Alfonso III d'Este, Duke of Modena and Reggio (1628–44) +Alfonso of Castile, Prince of Asturias, figurehead of rebelling magnates against his brother King Henry IV of Castile +Alfonso of Hauteville, Prince of Capua +Alphonsus Liguori, Roman Catholic theologian (1696–1787) +Joseph-Alphonse Esménard (1770–1811) + +Modern period + +Iberian/Sicilian nobility +Prince Alfonso, Count of Caserta (1841–1934), duke of Calabria and head of the royal house of the Two Sicilies +Alfonso XII of Spain (1857–1885) (ordinal numbering continues from the kings of Castile) +Alfonso XIII of Spain (1886–1931) +Infante Alfonso, Duke of Calabria, claimant to the title of the head of House of Bourbon Two Sicilies +Alfonso of Spain, Prince of Asturias, heir-apparent of the throne of Spain 1907–31 +Prince Alfonso of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (1924–2003), Spanish playboy and businessman +Infante Alfonso of Spain, younger brother of former King Juan Carlos of Spain +Fadrique Alfonso of Castile, fifth illegitimate child of Alfonso XI of Castile + +Alfons +Alfons Almi (1904-1991), Finnish opera singer and administrator +Alfons van Blaaderen (born 1963), Dutch physicist +Alfons Geleyns (1887-1914), Belgian private +Alfons Goppel (1905–1991), German politician +Alfons Gorbach (1898–1972), Austrian politician +Alfons Jēgers (1919–1999), Latvian football and hockey player +Alfons Karpiński (1875–1961), Polish painter +Alfons Rebane (1908–1976), Estonian military commander +Alfons Rissberger (born 1948), German author + +Alphonse +Alphonse Gabriel Capone (1899-1947), Chicago gangster + +Alfonso +Alfonso Cuarón, Mexican cinematographer +Alfonso Calderon (activist), Spanish born activist and advocate for gun control +Alfonso Calderón (poet), Chilean poet and writer +Alfonso Soriano, American baseball player +Alfonso Lizarazo, Colombian host and politician +Alfonso Mejia-Arias, Mexican musician, writer, social activist and politician of Roma origin (Gitano) +Alfonso Ribeiro, Caribbean-American actor and game show host. +Alfonso John Romero, American video-game designer, programmer, and developer +Alfonso Pérez, Spanish football (soccer) striker +Alfonso Oiterong, Palauan statesman, former Palau vice president 1981-1985 +Alicia Alfonso (born 1963), Uruguayan actress +Giovanni Alfonso Borelli, Italian physiologist and physicist +José Alfonso Belloso y Sánchez (1873–1938), Archbishop of San Salvador, El Salvador +Miguel Alfonso Pérez Aracil, Spanish football (soccer) midfielder + +Alfonse +Alfonse D'Amato (born 1937), United States Senator from New York +Abraham Alfonse Albert Gallatin (1761–1849), Swiss-American politician +Alphonse Mucha (1860-1939), Czech artist + +Alphonso +Alphonso Davies, Canadian soccer player born in Ghana, who grew up in Edmonton + +As a surname + +Alphonse, Alphonso, Alfonso is occasionally seen as a surname derived from the given name, the latter descending from Asturias and Cantabria. +Celestino Alfonso (1916-1944), Spanish republican and volunteer fighter in the French resistance during World War II +Roland Alphonso (1931–1998), Jamaican saxophonist +Kristian Alfonso (born 1963), Puerto Rican American soap opera actress +Michael Lee Alfonso (1965-2007), ring name "Mike Awesome", American professional wrestler +Equis Alfonso, known as X-Alfonso, Cuban hip-hop and afro-rock musician +Ozzie Alfonso, Cuban-American TV director and producer +Sadda Vidda Rajapakse Palanga Pathira Ambakumarage Ranjan Leo Sylvester Alphonsu, Sri Lankan Sinhala politician, actor, singer, writer + +Pseudonym +Bill Alfonso, ring name of William Matthew Sierra, former professional wrestling referee & manager + +Stage name +Alfons, the stage name of Emmanuel Peterfalvi, a French comedian + +Fictional characters +Alphonso, protagonist in Alfonso und Estrella, an opera by Franz Schubert +Don Alfonso, character in Mozart's opera Così fan tutte +Alphonso MacKenzie, fictional character in the Marvel Universe +Alfie Atkins, known as Alfons Åberg in Swedish, character created by Gunilla Bergström from Sweden +Alfonzo Dominico Jones, a dog in the Australian television series SeaChange +Alphonse "Big Boy" Caprice, character in the comic strip Dick Tracy +Alphonse and Gaston, French duo in a comic strip created by Frederick Burr Opper +Alphonse Elric from Fullmetal Alchemist +Alphonse Mephisto, fictional character in the animated television series South Park +Alfons Heiderich from Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa +Alphonso Ali, minor character in Bloom County +Monsieur Alfonse, character in the BBC sitcom Allo 'Allo! played by the actor Kenneth Connor +The name of a number of pets and the Patlabor of Noa Izumi from the anime Patlabor +Oren Pierre Alfonso from Kamen Rider Gaim + Alfonso "French" Sosa, a main character from The OA + +See also +Afonso +Ildefonso (disambiguation) + +References + +Italian masculine given names +Masculine given names +Spanish masculine given names +Portuguese masculine given names +Alfonso I may refer to: + +Alfonso I of Asturias (739–757), king of Asturias +Afonso I of Portugal (1094–1185), king of Portugal +Alfonso I of Aragon (1104–1134), known as Alfonso the Battler, king of Aragon and Navarre +Alfonso I, Duke of Gandia (1332–1412) +Alfonso V of Aragon (1396–1458), king of Naples as Alfonso I +Afonso I of Kongo (1456–1543), first Christian king of the Kingdom of Kongo +Alfonso I Piccolomini (1468–1498), duke of Amalfi +Alfonso I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara (1476–1534) +Alfonso XIII of Spain (1886–1941), known to French Legitimists as "Alphonse I" +Amati (, ) is the last name of a family of Italian violin makers who lived at Cremona from about 1538 to 1740. Their importance is considered equal to those of the Bergonzi, Guarneri, and Stradivari families. Today, violins created by Nicolò Amati are valued at around $600,000. Because of their age and rarity, Amati instruments are mostly kept in museum or private collections and are seldom played in public. + +Family members + +Andrea Amati + +Andrea Amati (20 December 1577) designed and created the violin, viola and cello known as the "violin family". Based in Cremona, Italy, he standardized the basic form, shape, size, materials and method of construction. Makers from nearby Brescia experimented, such as Gasparo da Salò, Micheli, Zanetto and Pellegrino, but it was Andrea Amati who gave the modern violin family their definitive profile. + +A claim that Andrea Amati received the first order for a violin from Lorenzo de' Medici in 1555 is invalid as Lorenzo de' Medici died in 1492. A number of Andrea Amati's instruments survived for some time, dating between 1538 (Amati made the first Cello called "The King" in 1538) and 1574. The largest number of these are from 1560, a set for an entire orchestra of 38 ordered by Catherine de Médicis the regent queen of France and bore hand painted royal French decorations in gold including the motto and coat of arms of her son Charles IX of France. Of these 38 instruments ordered, Amati created violins of two sizes, violas of two sizes and large-sized cellos. They were in use until the French revolution of 1789 and only 14 of these instruments survived. His work is marked by selection of the finest materials, great elegance in execution, soft clear amber, soft translucent varnish, and an in depth use of acoustic and geometrical principles in design. + +Antonio and Girolamo Amati +Andrea Amati was succeeded by his sons Antonio Amati (–1607) and Girolamo Amati (–1630). "The Brothers Amati", as they were known, implemented far-reaching innovations in design, including the perfection of the shape of the f-holes. They are also thought to have pioneered the modern alto format of viola, in contrast to older tenor violas, but the widespread belief that they were the first ones to do so + +Nicolò Amati + +Nicolò Amati (3 December 159612 April 1684) was the son of Girolamo Amati. He was the most eminent of the family. He improved the model adopted by the rest of the Amatis and produced instruments capable of yielding greater power of tone. His pattern was unusually small, but he also made a wider model now known as the "Grand Amati", which have become his most sought-after violins. + +Of his pupils, the most famous were Antonio Stradivari and Andrea Guarneri, the first of the Guarneri family of violin makers. (There is much controversy regarding the apprenticeship of Antonio Stradivari. While the label on Stradivari's first known violin states that he was a pupil of Amati, the validity of his statement is questioned. + +Girolamo Amati (Hieronymus II) +The last maker of the family was Nicolò's son, Girolamo Amati, known as Hieronymus II (26 February 164921 February 1740). He improved the arching of his father's instruments. + +Extant Amati instruments + +Amati instruments include some of the oldest extant examples of the violin family, dating to as far back as the mid-16th century. , they are only occasionally played in public. + +United Kingdom +Instruments in the UK include Andrea Amati violins from the set delivered to Charles IX of France in 1564. + Amati instruments at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. + Andrea Amati + Violin, 1564 (ex–French royal collection) + Viola + Amati instruments at the Royal Academy of Music Museum, London + Amati instrument at the Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery, Carlisle + Andrea Amati + Violin, 1564 (ex French royal collection) + Nicolò Amati + Double bass of 1631 played by Chi-chi Nwanoku + +United States +Amati instruments at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York) +Andrea Amati: + Violin, + Nicolò Amati: + Violin, 1669 + + Amati instruments at the National Music Museum (University of South Dakota): + Andrea Amati: + "The King", circa 1545, the world's oldest extant cello + Viola, 1560 + Violin, 1560 + Violin, 1574 + Girolamo Amati: + Double bass, 1680 + Violin, 1604 + Violin, 7/8-size, 1609 + Violino piccolo, 1613 + Nicolò Amati: + Violin, 1628 + +Violas + +The Stanley Solomon Tenore ca 1536 + +Andrea Amati ca 1536 + +Originally a tenor viola, the front is of pine of slightly wavy grain of medium width. The back is one-piece of maple, slab-cut, slightly flamed but with evident circular decorations. The little scroll is later, but it matches the instrument. The varnish is golden brown. + +Archivio della Liuteria Cremonese + +Tarisio + +The Witten, The IX Charles, The ex Collis ca 1560 + +Andrea Amati ca 1560 + +This rare viola is one of the best preserved of Andrea Amati's decorated instruments. It features gilt paintings of fleurs-de-lis and trefoils on its back, surrounding the monogram identified by Italian scholar Renato Meucci to be that of Marguerite de Valois-Angoulême. The Latin motto painted in gilt around the monogram, as well as around the ribs, is identical to that found on the Museum's Amati violin made at about the same time and may relate to the court of King Philip II of Spain. The loss of some of the mottoes' text, as well as other decorative elements painted on the back, clearly reveals that this instrument was reduced in both length and width from its original, large tenor dimensions. + +Fine Strings + +National Music Museum, The University of South Dakota + +National Music Museum, The University of South Dakota + +Tarisio + +From the Charles IX Set ca 1564 + +Andrea Amati ca 1564 + +Large tenor viola with Charles IX decoration. Two-piece back of small-figured maple, bearing the royal insignia and motto. Top of pine of varying grain. Original scroll. Golden-brown varnish. Label not original: "Andrea Amadi in Cremona M. D. L. xxiiij." (1574). + +Tarisio + +Tarisio + +Held at the Ashmolean Museum Oxford + +Andrea Amati ca 1564 + +Ashmolean Museum Oxford + +The ex Wahl ca 1568 + +Andrea Amati ca 1568 + +Two-piece back with an ebony inlay of "Chinese-knot" design. Scroll not original. Label not original, dated 1568. + +Strings Magazine + +Tarisio + +The ex Herrmann ca 1620 + +Antonio & Girolamo Amati ca 1620 + +Northern Italian viola attributed to Andrea Amati. Made, in our opinion, circa 1620 by a member of the Amati school. The head by another maker. The back is from one piece of slab cut maple with faint irregular flames. The sides are from slab cut maple similar to the back. The scroll is from quarter cut maple with faint narrow flames. The top is from two pieces of spruce with medium and narrow grain. The dimensions are somewhat reduced. The varnish has a golden brown color. Labelled "ANDREAS AMATIUS CREMONA 1567". + +Christie's + +Featured in . + +The Violetta ca 1570 + +Andrea Amati ca 1570 + +Two-piece back. The painted decoration is the coat of arms of the Spanish crown. Top with two small wings in the lower bouts. Scroll not original. Labeled "Niccolaus & Antonius Fratres Amati, Cremonem Fes...1649." + +Tarisio + +The Trampler ca 1580 + +Antonio & Girolamo Amati ca 1580–90 + +This instrument was cut down in size around 1800 from an original length of about 47 cm. The ribs are painted with the inscription: "Non AEtesin Homine sed Virtus Consideramus". + +Although the instrument comes with a certificate from Simone F. Sacconi attributing it to the Brothers Amati circa 1620, both Charles Beare and Jacques Francais believe it to be a work of Andrea Amati, possibly completed by the Brothers Amati, in which case its date would be closer to 1580. + +Tarisio + +Featured in . + +The Henry IV ca 1590 + +Girolamo Amati ca 1590 + +One-piece back, covered with a painting of the armorial bearings of Henry IV supported on each side by an angel. Top of spruce with an open and well-defined grain. Scroll: of faint narrow curl. Ribs of wood similar to back, inscribed in gilt letters "Dvo Proteci Tvnvs". Red-brown varnish. + +Tarisio + +Featured in . + +The Crocfisso, The Medecia ca 1594 + +Antonio & Girolamo Amati, ca 1594 + +Commissioned for the Medici family, known as the 'Viola Medicea' or the 'Viola del Crocifisso' after the crucifix decoration on its back. + +The Strad + +The Stauffer ca 1615 + +Antonio & Girolamo Amati ca 1615 + +One-piece back of medium curl sloping from left to right. Top of distinct grain, broadening slightly towards the flanks. Scroll of wood similar to back. Ribs of wood similar to back. Golden-brown varnish. Labeled "Antonius & Hieronymus Fr. Amati Cremonen. Andreæ fil. F 1615." + +Tarisio + +The Zukerman, The Kashkashian ca 1617 + +Antonio & Girolamo Amati ca 1617 + +Two-piece back. Dendrochronology report by Peter Ratcliff dates the youngest ring of bass and treble sides as 1613. + +Tarisio + +Held by the Cincinnati Art Museum ca 1619 + +Antonio & Girolamo Amati ca 1619 + +Cincinnati Art Museum + +The Medici, The Hamma ca 1619 + +Antonio & Girolamo Amati ca 1619 + +Two-piece back. + +Tarizio + +Held by the Royal Academy of Music London ca 1620 + +Antonio & Girolamo Amati ca 1620 + +One of the few surviving tenors which has not been reduced in size for modern playing. The head is particularly beautiful and well proportioned. The cheeks are flat, in the style of a cello head, although not so wide as to obstruct the player's left hand. The long and elegant pegbox tapers to a wide throat beneath the perfectly carved scroll. The volutes are hollowed and gather depth from the second through to the narrow final turn. The figured quarter-sawn maple used for the back and sides of the instrument is of a type commonly used by the Amatis. The continuous slope of the flame across the centre joint (achieved by reversing one half of the back before jointing), rather than the mirror-image pattern most commonly seen, is also a feature of their work. The front is of straight and even close-grained spruce. + +Royal Academy of Music London + +Tarisio + +The ex Wittgenstein ca 1620 + +Antonio & Girolamo Amati ca 1620 + +Two-piece back; the wax seal below the button depicts a woman's head. Top of narrow grain, widening towards the flanks. Scroll of wood similar to back. Ribs of wood similar to back. Golden-brown varnish. Labeled "Antonio & Hieronimus Fr. Amati / Cremonen Andrea F 1620." + +Tarisio + +Ingles & Hayday + +Held in the Galleria Estense Modena ca 1625 + +Girolamo Amati ca 1625 + +Labelled "Antonius, & Hieronymus, Fr. Amati Cremonen. Andrae fil. F.1620" (not original). + +Back of maple. Top of spruce with a pronounced, rather wide grain. Ribs of the same maple as the back. + +The subject of the book The Girolamo Amati viola in the Galleria Estense, Treasures of Italian Violin Making Vol I, 2014 + +The ex Vieuxtemps + +Nicolò Amati, date unknown + +Tarisio + +Nicolo Amati ca 1663 + +Two-piece spruce top of medium width grain widening to the edges, two-piece back of quarter sawn maple with faint flame of narrow width mostly horizontal, ribs and scroll of similar maple, and varnish of an orange-brown color over a golden ground. There is an original printed label inside the instrument reads "Nicolaus Amatus Cremonen. Hieronymi Fil. ac Antonij Nepos Fecit. 1663" + +National Museum of American History + +The Berkitz, The Romanov ca 1677 + +Nicolò Amati ca 1677 + +Tariso + +The Strad Shop + +The Strad Shop + +The ex Waters ca 1703 + +Nicolò Amati ca 1703 + +Toronto Symphony Orchestra + +Toronto Symphony Orchestra + +The ex Francais 1708 + +Girolamo Amati II ca 1708 + +Two-piece back of small curl. Top of pine of well-defined and rather open grain. Scroll of less pronounced curl. Ribs of less pronounced curl. Golden-brown varnish. Labeled "Hieronymus Amatus Cremonen Nicolai figlius fecit 1708." + +Tarisio + +Other Amati violas in the Tarisio archive + + Antonio & Girolamo Amati ca 1592 + Antonio & Girolamo Amati ca 1607 + Antonio & Girolamo Amati ca 1611 + Antonio & Girolamo Amati ca 1616 + Antonio & Girolamo Amati ca 1619 + Antonio & Girolamo Amati ca 1619 + Antonio & Girolamo Amati ca 1619 + Antonio & Girolamo Amati ca 1620 + Antonio & Girolamo Amati ca 1620 + Antonio & Girolamo Amati ca 1628 + +In popular culture + Patrick O'Brian's fictional British sea captain Jack Aubrey is described as owning a "fiddle far above his station, an Amati no less", in The Surgeon's Mate. In the Wine-Dark Sea, book fifteen of the series, Stephen Maturin now has a Girolamo Amati and Aubrey a Guarneri. + In Satyajit Ray's short story Bosepukure Khoonkharapi, the fictional detective Feluda deduces that a character was murdered because he owned an Amati violin. + In the manga and anime series Gunslinger Girl, Henrietta carries an Amati violin case. It contains a Fabrique Nationale P90 when on a mission, otherwise it contains a real violin. + On the radio show, Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar, the January 1956 episode "The Ricardo Amerigo Matter" centered on a stolen Amati violin. + In the 2022 Cormac McCarthy novels, The Passenger and Stella Maris, Alicia Western purchases an Amati violin for more than $200,000 while she is in her mid- to late teens, paying in cash from money she inherited. In Stella Maris, she relates this to her psychiatrist while in a psychiatric hospital, describing the details of the purchase and some history of the Amati instruments. McCarthy, C., The Passenger and Stella Maris, New York: Knopf (2022). + +See also + Antonio Stradivari + Amati Quartet + Dom Nicolò Amati (1662–1752), Italian luthier not part of this family but who adopted this surname + Luthier + San Maurizio, Venice + +Notes + +References + Dilworth, John (1992), "The Violin and Bow-Origins and Development" in: The Cambridge Companion to the Violin, ed. Robin Stowell. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 1–29. + +External links + Andrea Amati: Violin, Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, The Metropolitan Museum of Art +Instruments of the Amati family on the online database MIMO, website mimo-international.com. + +Amati instruments +Luthiers from Cremona +Italian families +Alfonso II may refer to: +Alfonso II of Asturias (791–842) +Alfonso II of Aragon (1162–1196) +Alfonso II, Count of Provence (1174–1209) +Afonso II of Portugal (1185–1223), "the Fat" +Alfonso, Count of Poitou (1220–1271), jure uxoris Alfonso II, Count of Toulouse +Alfonso II, Duke of Gandia (–1422) +Alfonso II of Naples (1448–1495) +Alfonso II Piccolomini (1499–1559), Neapolitan nobleman and military leader +Alfonso II d'Este (1533–1597), duke of Ferrara + +de:Liste der Herrscher namens Alfons#Alfons II. +Alfonso III may refer to: + +Alfonso III of Asturias (866–910), surnamed "the Great" +Afonso III of Portugal (1210–1279) +Alfonso III of Aragon (1285–1291) +Alfonso III d'Este, Duke of Modena and Reggio (1628–1644) +Alfonso III of Kongo (1666–1667) +Alfonso IV may refer to: +Alfonso IV of León (924–931) +Afonso IV of Portugal (1291–1357) +Alfonso IV of Aragon (1327–1336) +Alfonso IV of Ribagorza (1332–1412) + Alfonso IV d'Este (1634–1662), Duke of Modena and Regg +In Greek mythology, the Amazons (Ancient Greek: , singular , via Latin , ) are portrayed in a number of ancient epic poems and legends, such as the Labours of Heracles, the Argonautica and the Iliad. They were a group of female warriors and hunters, who were as skilled and courageous as men in physical agility, strength, archery, riding skills, and the arts of combat. Their society was closed to men and they only raised their daughters and returned their sons to their fathers, with whom they would only socialize briefly in order to reproduce. + +Courageous and fiercely independent, the Amazons, commanded by their queen, regularly undertook extensive military expeditions into the far corners of the world, from Scythia to Thrace, Asia Minor and the Aegean Islands, reaching as far as Arabia and Egypt. Besides military raids, the Amazons are also associated with the foundation of temples and the establishment of numerous ancient cities like Ephesos, Cyme, Smyrna, Sinope, Myrina, Magnesia, Pygela, etc. + +The texts of the original myths envisioned the homeland of the Amazons at the periphery of the then-known world. Various claims to the exact place ranged from provinces in Asia Minor (Lycia, Caria, etc.) to the steppes around the Black Sea, or even Libya (Libyan Amazon). However, authors most frequently referred to Pontus in northern Anatolia, on the southern shores of the Black Sea, as the independent Amazon kingdom where the Amazon queen resided at her capital Themiscyra, on the banks of the Thermodon river. + +Palaephatus, who himself might have been a fictional character, attempted to rationalize the Greek myths in his work On Unbelievable Tales. He suspected that the Amazons were probably men who were mistaken for women by their enemies because they wore clothing that reached their feet, tied up their hair in headbands, and shaved their beards. Probably the first in a long line of skeptics, he rejected any real basis for them, reasoning that because they did not exist during his time, most probably they did not exist in the past either. + +Decades of archaeological discoveries of burial sites of female warriors, including royalty, in the Eurasian Steppes suggest that the horse cultures of the Scythian, Sarmatian and Hittite peoples likely inspired the Amazon myth. In 2019, a grave with multiple generations of female Scythian warriors, armed and in golden headdresses, was found near Russia's Voronezh. + +Etymology + +Origin of the name + +The origin of the word is uncertain. It may be derived from an Iranian ethnonym *ha-mazan- 'warriors', a word attested indirectly through a derivation, a denominal verb in Hesychius of Alexandria's gloss (": 'to make war' in Persian"), where it appears together with the Indo-Iranian root *kar- 'make'. + +In the Persian language; "Hameh" means "all", and "Zan", nearly rhyming with the English word, "Man", means "Women/Woman". So, "Hameh Zan", when it refers to a group of people, refers to a group of women in Persian (without any elaboration or further information being explicated about the group in its "name"). + +It may alternatively be a Greek word descended from 'manless, without husbands' (alpha privative combined with a derivation from *man- cognate with Proto-Balto-Slavic *mangjá-, found in Czech muž) has been proposed, an explanation deemed "unlikely" by Hjalmar Frisk. A further explanation proposes Iranian *ama-janah 'virility-killing' as source. + +Among the ancient Greeks, the term Amazon was given a folk etymology as originating from (ἀμαζός 'breastless'), connected with an etiological tradition once claimed by Marcus Justinus who alleged that Amazons had their right breast cut off or burnt out. There is no indication of such a practice in ancient works of art, in which the Amazons are always represented with both breasts, although one is frequently covered. According to Philostratus Amazon babies were not fed just with the right breast. Author Adrienne Mayor suggests that the false etymology led to the myth. + +Alternative terms +Herodotus used the terms Androktones () 'killers/slayers of men' and Androleteirai () 'destroyers of men, murderesses'. Amazons are called Antianeirai () 'equivalent to men' and Aeschylus used Styganor () 'those who loathe all men'. + +In his work Prometheus Bound and in The Suppliants, Aeschylus called the Amazons "...τὰς ἀνάνδρους κρεοβόρους τ᾽ Ἀμαζόνας" 'the unwed, flesh-devouring Amazons'. In the Hippolytus tragedy, Phaedra calls Hippolytus, 'the son of the horse-loving Amazon' (). In his Dionysiaca, Nonnus calls the Amazons of Dionysus Androphonus () 'men slaying'. +Herodotus stated that in the Scythian language, the Amazons were called Oiorpata, which he explained as being from oior 'man' and pata 'to slay'. + +Historiography + +The ancient Greeks never had any doubts that the Amazons were, or had been, real. Not the only people enchanted by warlike women of nomadic cultures, such exciting tales also come from ancient Egypt, Persia, India, and China. Greek heroes of old had encounters with the queens of their martial society and fought them. However, their original home was not exactly known, thought to be in the obscure lands beyond the civilized world. As a result, for centuries scholars believed the Amazons to be purely imaginary, although +there were various proposals for a historical nucleus of the Amazons in Greek historiography. Some authors preferred comparisons to cultures of Asia Minor or even Minoan Crete. The most obvious historical candidates are Lycia and Scythia and Sarmatia in line with the account by Herodotus. In his Histories (5th century BC) Herodotus claims that the Sauromatae (predecessors of the Sarmatians), who ruled the lands between the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea, arose from a union of Scythians and Amazons. + +Herodotus also observed rather unusual customs among the Lycians of southwest Asia Minor. The Lycians obviously followed matrilineal rules of descent, virtue, and status. They named themselves along their maternal family line and a child's status was determined by the mother's reputation. This remarkably high esteem of women and legal regulations based on maternal lines, still in effect in the 5th century BC in the Lycian regions that Herodotus had traveled to, lent him the idea that these people were descendants of the mythical Amazons. + +Modern historiography no longer relies exclusively on textual and artistic material, but also on the vast archaeological evidence of over a thousand nomad graves from steppe territories from the Black Sea all the way to Mongolia. Discoveries of battle-scarred female skeletons buried with their weapons (bows and arrows, quivers, and spears) prove that women warriors were not merely figments of imagination, but the product of the Scythian/Sarmatian horse-centered lifestyle. + +Mythology + +According to myth, Otrera, the first Amazon queen, is the offspring of a romance between Ares the god of war and the nymph Harmonia of the Akmonian Wood, and as such a demigoddess. + +Early records refer to two events in which Amazons appeared prior to the Trojan War (before 1250 BC). Within the epic context, Bellerophon, Greek hero, and grandfather of the brothers and Trojan War veterans Glaukos and Sarpedon, faced Amazons during his stay in Lycia, when King Iobates sent Bellerophon to fight the Amazons, hoping they would kill him, yet Bellerophon slew them all. The youthful King Priam of Troy fought on the side of the Phrygians, who were attacked by Amazons at the Sangarios River. + +Amazons in the Trojan War +There are Amazon characters in Homer's Trojan War epic poem, the Iliad, one of the oldest surviving texts in Europe (around 8th century BC). +The now lost epic Aethiopis (probably by Arctinus of Miletus, 6th century BC), like the Iliad and several other epics, is one of the works that in combination form the Trojan War Epic Cycle. In one of the few references to the text, an Amazon force under queen Penthesilea, who was of Thracian birth, came to join the ranks of the Trojans after Hector's death and initially put the Greeks under serious pressure. Only after the greatest effort and the help of the reinvigorated hero Achilles, the Greeks eventually triumphed. Penthesilea died fighting the mighty Achilles in single combat. Homer himself deemed the Amazon myths to be common knowledge all over Greece, which suggests that they had already been known for some time before him. He was also convinced that the Amazons lived not at its fringes, but somewhere in or around Lycia in Asia Minor - a place well within the Greek world. + +Troy is mentioned in the Iliad as the place of Myrine's death. Later identified as an Amazon queen, according to Diodorus (1st century BC), the Amazons under her rule invaded the territories of the Atlantians, defeated the army of the Atlantian city of Cerne, and razed the city to the ground. + +In Scythia + +The Poet Bacchylides (6th century BC) and the historian Herodotus (5th century BC) located the Amazon homeland in Pontus at the southern shores of the Black Sea, and the capital Themiscyra at the banks of the Thermodon (modern Terme river), by the modern city of Terme. Herodotus also explains how it came to be that some Amazons would eventually be living in Scythia. A Greek fleet, sailing home upon defeating the Amazons in battle at the Thermodon river, included three ships crowded with Amazon prisoners. Once out at sea, the Amazon prisoners overwhelmed and killed the small crews of the prisoner ships and, despite not having even basic navigation skills, managed to escape and safely disembark at the Scythian shore. As soon as the Amazons had caught enough horses, they easily asserted themselves in the steppe in between the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea and, according to Herodotus, would eventually assimilate with the Scythians, whose descendants were the Sauromatae, the predecessors of the Sarmatians. + +Amazon homeland + +Strabo (1st century BC) visits and confirms the original homeland of the Amazons on the plains by the Thermodon river. However, long gone and not seen again during his lifetime, the Amazons had allegedly retreated into the mountains. Strabo, however, added that other authors, among them Metrodorus of Scepsis and Hypsicrates claim that after abandoning Themiscyra, the Amazons had chosen to resettle beyond the borders of the Gargareans, an all-male tribe native to the northern foothills of the Caucasian Mountains. The Amazons and Gargareans had for many generations met in secrecy once a year during two months in spring, in order to produce children. These encounters would take place in accordance with ancient tribal customs and collective offers of sacrifices. All females were retained by the Amazons themselves, and males were returned to the Gargareans. 5th century BC poet Magnes sings of the bravery of the Lydians in a cavalry-battle against the Amazons. + +Heracles myth + +Hippolyte was an Amazon queen killed by Heracles, who had set out to obtain the queen's magic belt in a task he was to accomplish as one of the Labours of Heracles. Although neither side had intended to resort to lethal combat, a misunderstanding led to the fight. In the course of this, Heracles killed the queen and several other Amazons. In awe of the strong hero, the Amazons eventually handed the belt to Heracles. In another version, Heracles does not kill the queen, but exchanges her kidnapped sister Melanippe for the belt. + +Theseus myth + +Queen Hippolyte was abducted by Theseus, who took her to Athens, where she experienced forced marriage, sexual slavery, rape, and- as a result of forced pregnancy- bore him a son, Hippolytus. In other versions, the kidnapped Amazon is called Antiope, the sister of Hippolyte. In revenge, the Amazons invaded Greece, plundered some cities along the coast of Attica, and besieged and occupied Athens. Hippolyte, who fought on the side of Athens, according to another account was killed during the final battle along with all of the Amazons. + +Amazons and Dionysus + +According to Plutarch, the god Dionysus and his companions fought Amazons at Ephesus. The Amazons fled to Samos and Dionysus pursued them and killed a great number of them at a site since called Panaema (blood-soaked field). The Christian author Eusebius writes that during the reign of Oxyntes, one of the mythical kings of Athens, the Amazons burned down the temple at Ephesus. + +In another myth Dionysus unites with the Amazons to fight against Cronus and the Titans. Polyaenus writes that after Dionysus has subdued the Indians, he allies with them and the Amazons and takes them into his service, who serve him in his campaign against the Bactrians. Nonnus in his Dionysiaca reports about the Amazons of Dionysus, but states that they do not come from Thermodon. + +Amazons and Alexander the Great + +Amazons are also mentioned by biographers of Alexander the Great, who report of Queen Thalestris bearing him a child (a story in the Alexander Romance). However, other biographers of Alexander dispute the claim, including the highly regarded Plutarch. He noted a moment when Alexander's naval commander Onesicritus read an Amazon myth passage of his Alexander History to King Lysimachus of Thrace who had taken part in the original expedition. The king smiled at him and said: "And where was I, then?" + +The Talmud recounts that Alexander wanted to conquer a "kingdom of women" but reconsidered when the women told him: + +Roman and ancient Egyptian records + +Virgil's characterization of the Volsci warrior maiden Camilla in the Aeneid borrows from the myths of the Amazons. Philostratus, in Heroica, writes that the Mysian women fought on horses alongside the men, just as the Amazons. The leader was Hiera, wife of Telephus. The Amazons are also said to have undertaken an expedition against the Island of Leuke, at the mouth of the Danube, where the ashes of Achilles were deposited by Thetis. The ghost of the dead hero so terrified the horses, that they threw off and trampled upon the invaders, who were forced to retreat. Virgil touches on the Amazons and their queen Penthesilea in his epic Aeneid (around 20 BC). + +The biographer Suetonius had Julius Caesar remark in his De vita Caesarum that the Amazons once ruled a large part of Asia. Appian provides a vivid description of Themiscyra and its fortifications in his account of Lucius Licinius Lucullus' Siege of Themiscyra in 71 BC during the Third Mithridatic War. + +An Amazon myth has been partly preserved in two badly fragmented versions around historical people in 7th century BC Egypt. The Egyptian prince Petechonsis and allied Assyrian troops undertook a joint campaign into the Land of Women, to the Middle East at the border to India. Petechonsis initially fought the Amazons, but soon fell in love with their queen Sarpot and eventually allied with her against an invading Indian army. This story is said to have originated in Egypt independently of Greek influences. + +Amazon queens +Sources provide names of individual Amazons, that are referred to as queens of their people, even as the head of a dynasty. Without a male companion, they are portrayed in command of their female warriors. Among the most prominent Amazon queens were: +Otrera, daughter of the nymph Harmonia and god of war, Ares. She is the mother of Hippolyta, Antiope, Melanippe, and Penthesilea and the mythical founder of the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus. +Hippolyte, daughter of Otrera and Ares. She is part of the Theseus and Heracles myths, in which Antiope is her sister. Alcippe, the only Amazon known to have sworn a chastity oath, belongs to her entourage. +Penthesilea, who kills her sister Hippolyte in a hunting accident, comes to the aid of the hard-pressed Trojans with her warriors, is defeated by Achilles, who mourns her. +Myrina, who leads a military expedition in Libya, defeats the Atlanteans, forms an alliance with the ruler of Egypt, and conquers numerous cities and islands. +Thalestris, the last known Amazon queen. According to legend, she meets the Greek conqueror Alexander the Great in 330 BC. Her home is the Thermodon region, or, variably, the Gates of Alexander, south of the Caspian Sea. +Lampedo and Marpesia, queens of the Amazons mentioned by Justin + +Various authors and chroniclers + +Quintus Smyrnaeus +Quintus Smyrnaeus, author of the Posthomerica lists the attendant warriors of Penthesilea: "Clonie was there, Polemusa, Derinoe, Evandre, and Antandre, and Bremusa, Hippothoe, dark-eyed Harmothoe, Alcibie, Derimacheia, Antibrote, and Thermodosa glorying with the spear." + +Diodorus Siculus +Diodorus Siculus lists twelve Amazons who challenged and died fighting Heracles during his quest for Hippolyta's girdle: Aella, Philippis, Prothoe, Eriboea, Celaeno, Eurybia, Phoebe, Deianeira, Asteria, Marpe, Tecmessa, Alcippe. After Alcippe's death, a group attack followed. Diodorus also mentions Melanippe, who Heracles set free after accepting her girdle and Antiope as ransom. + +Diodorus lists another group with Myrina as the queen who commanded the Amazons in a military expedition in Libya, as well as her sister Mytilene, after whom she named the city of the same name. Myrina also named three more cities after the Amazons who held the most important commands under her, Cyme, Pitane, and Priene. + +Justin and Paulus Orosius +Both Justin in his Epitome of Trogus Pompeius and Paulus Orosius give an account of the Amazons, citing the same names. Queens Marpesia and Lampedo shared the power during an incursion in Europe and Asia, where they were slain. Marpesia's daughter Orithyia succeeded them and was greatly admired for her skill on war. She shared power with her sister Antiope, but she was engaged in war abroad when Heracles attacked. Two of Antiope's sisters were taken prisoner, Melanippe by Heracles and Hippolyta by Theseus. Heracles latter restored Melanippe to her sister after receiving the queen's arms in exchange, though, on other accounts she was killed by Telamon. They also mention Penthesilea's role in the Trojan War. + +Hyginus +Another list of Amazons' names is found in Hyginus' Fabulae. Along with Hippolyta, Otrera, Antiope and Penthesilea, it attests the following names: Ocyale, Dioxippe, Iphinome, Xanthe, Hippothoe, Laomache, Glauce, Agave, Theseis, Clymene, Polydora. + +Perhaps the most important is Queen Otrera, consort of Ares and mother by him of Hippolyta and Penthesilea. She's also known for building a temple to Artemis at Ephesus. + +Valerius Flaccus +Another different set of names is found in Valerius Flaccus' Argonautica. He mentions Euryale, Harpe, Lyce, Menippe and Thoe. Of these Lyce also appears on a fragment, preserved in the Latin Anthology where she is said to have killed the hero Clonus of Moesia, son of Doryclus, with her javelin. + +Late Antiquity, Middle Age and Renaissance literature +Stephanus of Byzantium (7th-century CE) provides numerous alternative lists of the Amazons, including for those who died in combat against Heracles, describing them as the most prominent of their people. Both Stephanus and Eustathius connect these Amazons with the placename Thibais, which they claim to have been derived from the Amazon Thiba's name. Several of Stephanus' Amazons served as eponyms for cities in Asia Minor, like Cyme and Smyrna or Amastris, who was believed to lend her name to the city previously known as Kromna, although in fact it was named after the historical Amastris. The city Anaea in Caria was named after an Amazon. + +In his work Getica (on the origin and history of the Goths, ) Jordanes asserts that the Goths' ancestors, descendants of Magog, originally lived in Scythia, at the Sea of Azov between the Dnieper and Don Rivers. When the Goths were abroad campaigning against Pharaoh Vesosis, their women, on their own successfully fended off a raid by a neighboring tribe. Emboldened, the women established their own army under Marpesia, crossed the Don and invaded eastward into Asia. Marpesia's sister Lampedo remained in Europe to guard the homeland. They procreated with men once a year. These women conquered Armenia, Syria and all of Asia Minor, even reaching Ionia and Aeolis, holding this vast territory for 100 years. + +In Digenes Akritas, the twelfth century medieval epic of Basil, the Greco-Syrian knight of the Byzantine frontier, the hero battles and then commits adultery with the female warrior Maximo (killing her afterwards in one version of the epic), descended from some Amazons and taken by Alexander from the Brahmans. + +John Tzetzes lists in Posthomerica twenty Amazons, who fell at Troy. This list is unique in its attestation for all the names but Antianeira, Andromache and Hippothoe. Other than these three, the remaining 17 Amazons were named as Toxophone, Toxoanassa, Gortyessa, Iodoce, Pharetre, Andro, Ioxeia, Oistrophe, Androdaixa, Aspidocharme, Enchesimargos, Cnemis, Thorece, Chalcaor, Eurylophe, Hecate, and Anchimache. + +Famous medieval traveller John Mandeville mentions them in his book: + +Medieval and Renaissance authors credit the Amazons with the invention of the battle-axe. This is probably related to the sagaris, an axe-like weapon associated with both Amazons and Scythian tribes by Greek authors (see also Thracian tomb of Aleksandrovo kurgan). Paulus Hector Mair expresses astonishment that such a "manly weapon" should have been invented by a "tribe of women", but he accepts the attribution out of respect for his authority, Johannes Aventinus. + +Ariosto's Orlando Furioso contains a country of warrior women, ruled by Queen Orontea; the epic describes an origin much like that in Greek myth, in that the women, abandoned by a band of warriors and unfaithful lovers, rallied together to form a nation from which men were severely reduced, to prevent them from regaining power. The Amazons and Queen Hippolyta are also referenced in Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales in "The Knight's Tale". + +Amazons continued to be subject of scholarly debate during the European Renaissance, and with the onset of the Age of Exploration, encounters were reported from ever more distant lands. In 1542, Francisco de Orellana reached the Amazon River, naming it after the , a tribe of warlike women he claimed to have encountered and fought on the Nhamundá River, a tributary of the Amazon. Afterwards the whole basin and region of the Amazon (Amazônia in Portuguese, Amazonía in Spanish) were named after the river. Amazons also figure in the accounts of both Christopher Columbus and Walter Raleigh. + +Amazons in art + +Beginning around 550 BC. depictions of Amazons as daring fighters and equestrian warriors appeared on vases. After the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC the Amazon battle - Amazonomachy became popular motifs on pottery. By the sixth century BC, public and privately displayed artwork used the Amazon imagery for pediment reliefs, sarcophagi, mosaics, pottery, jewelry and even monumental sculptures, that adorned important buildings like the Parthenon in Athens. Amazon motifs remained popular until the Roman imperial period and into Late antiquity. + +Apart from the artistic desire to express the passionate womanhood of the Amazons in contrast with the manhood of their enemies, some modern historians interpret the popularity of Amazon in art as indicators of societal trends, both positive and negative. Greek and Roman societies, however, utilized the Amazon mythology as a literary and artistic vehicle to unite against a commonly-held enemy. The metaphysical characteristics of Amazons were seen as personifications of both nature and religion. Roman authors like Virgil, Strabo, Pliny the Elder, Curtius, Plutarch, Arrian, and Pausanius advocated the greatness of the state, as Amazon myths served to discuss the creation of origin and identity for the Roman people. However, that changed over time. Amazons in Roman literature and art have many faces, such as the Trojan ally, the warrior goddess, the native Latin, the warmongering Celt, the proud Sarmatian, the hedonistic and passionate Thracian warrior queen, the subdued Asian city, and the worthy Roman foe. + +In Renaissance Europe, artists started to reevaluate and depict Amazons based on Christian ethics. Queen Elizabeth of England was associated with Amazon warrior qualities (the foremost ancient examples of feminism) during her reign and was indeed depicted as such. Though, as explained in Divina Virago by Winfried Schleiner, Celeste T. Wright has given a detailed account of the bad reputation Amazons had in the Renaissance. She notes that she has not found any Elizabethans comparing the Queen to an Amazon and suggests that they might have hesitated to do so because of the association of Amazons with enfranchisement of women, which was considered contemptible. Elizabeth was present at a tournament celebrating the marriage of the Earl of Warwick and Anne Russell at Westminster Palace on 11 November 1565 involving male riders dressed as Amazons. They accompanied the challengers carrying their heraldry. These riders wore crimson gowns, masks with long hair attached, and swords. + +Peter Paul Rubens and Jan Brueghel depicted the Battle of the Amazons around 1598, a most dramatic baroque painting, followed by a painting of the Rococo period by Johann Georg Platzer, also titled Battle of the Amazons. In 19th-century European Romanticism German artist Anselm Feuerbach occupied himself with the Amazons as well. His paintings engendered all the aspirations of the Romantics: their desire to transcend the boundaries of the ego and of the known world; their interest in the occult in nature and in the soul; their search for a national identity, and the ensuing search for the mythic origins of the Germanic nation; finally, their wish to escape the harsh realities of the present through immersion in an idealized past. + +Archaeology + +Speculation that the idea of Amazons contains a core of reality is based on archaeological discoveries at kurgan burial sites in the steppes of southern Ukraine and Russia. The varied war weapons artifacts found in graves of numerous high-ranking Scythian and Sarmatian warrior women have led scholars to conclude that the Amazonian legend has been inspired by the real world: About 20% of the warrior graves on the lower Don and lower Volga contained women dressed for battle similar to how men dress. Armed women accounted for up to 25% of Sarmatian military burials. Russian archaeologist Vera Kovalevskaya asserts that when Scythian men were abroad fighting or hunting, women would have to be able to competently defend themselves, their animals, and their pastures. + +In early 20th century Minoan archeology a theory regarding Amazon origins in Minoan civilization was raised in an essay by Lewis Richard Farnell and John Myres. According to Myres, the tradition interpreted in the light of evidence furnished by supposed Amazon cults seems to have been very similar and may have even originated in Minoan culture. + +Modern legacy + +The city of Samsun in modern-day Samsun Province, Turkey features an Amazon Village museum, to help bring attention to the legacy of the Amazons and to promote both academic interest and tourism. An annual Amazon Celebration Festival takes place in the Terme district. + +During the Ottoman–Egyptian invasion of Mani in 1826, in the battle of Diros the women of Mani defeated the Ottoman army and for this were given the name of 'The Amazons of Diros'. + +From 1936 to 1939, annual propaganda events, called Night of the Amazons (Nacht der Amazonen) were performed in Nazi Germany at the Nymphenburg Palace Park in Munich. Announced as evening highlights of the International Horse Racing Week Munich-Riem, bare-breasted variety show girls of the SS-Cavalry, 2,500 participants and international guests performed at the open-air revue. These revues served to promote an allegedly emancipated female role and a cosmopolitan and foreigner-friendly Nazi regime. + +In literature and media + +Literature + Amazon Queen Hippolyta appears in William Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream and also in The Two Noble Kinsmen, which Shakespeare co-wrote with John Fletcher. + The Amazon queen Penthesilea, and her sexual frenzy, are at the center of the drama Penthesilea by Heinrich von Kleist in 1808. + Steven Pressfield's 2002 novel Last of the Amazons is a mythopoeia of Plutarch's texts, that surround Theseus' abduction of Queen Antiope and the Amazons' attack on Athens. An accurate and detailed portrayal of the Archaic Greek world, its life, people, weapons etc. dramatized as real as the sky. + William Moulton Marston, alongside his wife and their lover Olive Byrne, created their rendition of the mythical Amazons, whose members included the superheroine Wonder Woman, for DC Comics. Marston's Amazons are noteworthy for not just being physically superior to mortal men but also technologically superior, being able to create healing rays and undetectable jet planes that can be controlled through brain waves alone, although this element of Amazon society is applied inconsistently in appearances written after Marston's death. + In Rick Riordan's The Heroes of Olympus, the Amazons appear in The Son of Neptune and The Blood of Olympus. They are the founders and owners of the Amazon corporation. + In Philip Armstrong's historical-fantasy series, The Chronicles of Tupiluliuma, the Amazons appear as the Am'azzi. + In the Stieg Larsson novel The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest, the Amazons appear as the transitional topics between sections of the book. + Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo created the fictional queen Calafia, who ruled over a kingdom of black women, living in the style of Amazons, on the mythical Island of California. + Amazon Gazonga is a short comic series created by the Waltrip brothers in 1995. The comic centres around on a young amazon named Gazonga living in the Amazon rainforest. + GastroPhobia is a webcomic by Daisy McGuire, about the adventures of an exiled Amazon warrior and her son living in Ancient Greece, roughly 3408 years ago. + +Film and television + Franchises involving several Tarzan releases, that have featured Amazon tribes (Tarzan and the Amazons, Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle) + In the animated series The Mysterious Cities of Gold, a tribe of Amazons appeared in two episodes. + Frank Hart, portraying a misogynist, is kidnapped by Amazons in the 1980 film 9 to 5. + Amazons appear in the movies The Loves of Hercules (1960), Battle of the Amazons (1970), War Goddess (1973), Hundra (1983), Amazons (1986), Deathstalker II (1987), Ronal the Barbarian (2011), Hercules (2014) and DC Extended Universe films: Wonder Woman (2017), Justice League (2017), Wonder Woman 1984 (2020), Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021). + Amazons in television series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Young Hercules, and Xena: Warrior Princess, The Legend of the Hidden City and Huntik: Secrets & Seekers and Supernatural. + +Games +Amazons are featured in the following roleplay - and video games: Diablo, Heroes Unlimited, Aliens Unlimited, Amazon: Guardians of Eden, Flight of the Amazon Queen, A Total War Saga: Troy, Rome: Total War, Final Fantasy IV, Age of Wonders: Planetfall, Legend of Zelda series and Yu-Gi-Oh games. + +Military units + + Russian general and statesman Grigory Potemkin, and then favourite of Catherine the Great created an Amazons Company in 1787. Wives and daughters of the soldiers of the Greek Battalion of Balaklava were enlisted and formed this unit. + The Mino, or Minon, (Our Mothers) were a late 19th to early 20th-century all-female official military regiment of the former Kingdom of Dahomey (present-day Benin). Since the early 18th-century women contingents had already joined the army, usually during deployment, in order to inflate the army size. However, women proved themselves courageous and effective in active combat, and a regular unit was established. Western observers, who had allegedly perceived certain Amazon-like physical and mental qualities in these women, came up with the trivial epithet Dahomey Amazons. + +Social and religious activism + During the period 1905–1913, members of the militant Suffragette movement were frequently referred to as "Amazons" in books and newspaper articles. + In Ukraine Katerina Tarnovska leads a group called the Asgarda which claims to be a new tribe of Amazons. Tarnovska believes that the Amazons are the direct ancestors of Ukrainian women, and she has created an all-female martial art for her group, based on another form of fighting called Combat Hopak, but with a special emphasis on self-defense. + +Science +The Neptune trojans, asteroids 60° ahead or beyond Neptune on its orbit, are individually named after mythological Amazons. + +See also + + List of Amazons + Action heroine + Amazons (DC Comics) + Matriarchy + List of women warriors in folklore + Women in the military + Timeline of women in ancient warfare + Ares (father of amazons) + Shieldmaiden, female warrior in northern Europe + Onna-bugeisha, female warrior in Japanese nobility + Urduja, from Philippine mythology + Women warriors in literature and culture + +References + +Sources + +Primary + +Secondary + +Further reading + + Adams, Maeve. "Amazons." The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Gender and Sexuality Studies (2016): 1–4. + "AMAZONS Women of the Steppe and the Idea of the Female Warrior". In: Ball, Warwick. The Eurasian Steppe: People, Movement, Ideas. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2022. pp. 117–135. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781474488075-010 + Dowden, Ken. “THE AMAZONS: DEVELOPMENT AND FUNCTIONS”. In: Rheinisches Museum Für Philologie 140, no. 2 (1997): 97–128. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41234269. + Fialko, Elena (2018). "Scythian Female Warriors in the South of Eastern Europe". In: Folia Praehistorica Posnaniensia 22 (lipiec), 29–47. https://doi.org/10.14746/fpp.2017.22.02. + Guliaev, V. I. (2003). "Amazons in the Scythia: New finds at the Middle Don, Southern Russia". In: World Archaeology, 35:1, 112–125. DOI: 10.1080/0043824032000078117 + Hardwick, Lorna (1990). "Ancient Amazons - Heroes, Outsiders or Women?". In: Greece & Rome, 37, pp. 14–36. doi:10.1017/S0017383500029521 + Liccardo, Salvatore. "Different Gentes, Same Amazons: The Myth of Women Warriors at the Service of Ethnic Discourse." Medieval History Journal 21.2 (2018): 222–250. + Mayor, Adrienne. The Amazons: Lives and Legends of Warrior Women across the Ancient World. Princeton University Press, 2014. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt7zvndm. online review + Maartel Bremer, Jan. "THE AMAZONS IN THE IMAGINATION OF THE GREEKS". In: Acta Antiqua 40, 1-4 (2000): 51–59. Accessed Jul 17, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1556/aant.40.2000.1-4.6 + Toler, Pamela D. Women warriors: An unexpected history (Beacon Press, 2019). + von Rothmer, Dietrich, Amazons in Greek Art (Oxford University Press, 1957) + Vovoura, Despoina. “Women Warriors(?) And the Amazon Myth: The Evidence of Female Burials with Weapons in the Black Sea Area”. In: The Greeks and Romans in the Black Sea and the Importance of the Pontic Region for the Graeco-Roman World (7th Century BC-5th Century AD): 20 Years On (1997-2017): Proceedings of the Sixth International Congress on Black Sea Antiquities (Constanţa – 18–22 September 2017). Edited by Gocha R. Tsetskhladze, Alexandru Avram, and James Hargrave. Archaeopress, 2021. pp. 118–28. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv1pdrqhw.22. + Wilde, Lyn Webster. On the trail of the women warriors: The Amazons in myth and history ( Macmillan, 2000). + +Other languages + Bergmann, F. G. Les Amazones dans l'histoire et dans la fable (1853) + Klugmann, A. Die Amazonen in der attischen Literatur und Kunst (1875) + Krause, H. L. Die Amazonensage (1893) + Lacour, F. Les Amazones (1901) + Mordtmann, Andreas David. Die Amazonen (Hanover, 1862) + Pauly-Wissowa, Realencyclopädie der Classischen Altertumswissenschaft + Roscher, W. H., Ausführliches Lexikon der griechischen und römischen Mythologie + Santos, Theobaldo Miranda. Lendas e mitos do Brasil (Companhia Editora Nacional, 1979) + Stricker, W. Die Amazonen in Sage und Geschichte (1868) + +External links + + + Wounded Amazon + Herodotus via Gutenberg + Straight Dope: Amazons + Amazon women in the Mongolian steppe + Amazon mtDNA found in Mongolia + The Warburg Institute Iconographic Database (images of Amazons) + + +Legendary tribes in Greco-Roman historiography +Mythology of Heracles +Children of Ares +Scythia +Single-gender worlds +Women of the Trojan war +Women warriors +Etymology of California +Deeds of Ares +Alfonso V may refer to: + Alfonso V of León (999–1028) + Alfonso V of Aragon (1416–1458), The Magnanimous + Afonso V of Portugal (1432–1481), The African +Ambergris ( or , , ), ambergrease, or grey amber is a solid, waxy, flammable substance of a dull grey or blackish colour produced in the digestive system of sperm whales. Freshly produced ambergris has a marine, fecal odor. It acquires a sweet, earthy scent as it ages, commonly likened to the fragrance of isopropyl alcohol without the vaporous chemical astringency. + +Ambergris has been highly valued by perfume makers as a fixative that allows the scent to last much longer, although it has been mostly replaced by synthetic ambroxide. Dogs are attracted to the smell of ambergris and are sometimes used by ambergris searchers. + +Etymology +The English word amber derives from the Arabic word (ultimately from Middle Persian ambar, also ambergris), via Middle Latin ambar and Middle French ambre. The word "amber," in its sense of "ambergris," was adopted in Middle English in the 14th century. + +The word "ambergris" comes from the Old French "ambre gris" or "grey amber". The addition of "grey" came about when, in the Romance languages, the sense of the word "amber" was extended to Baltic amber (fossil resin), as white or yellow amber (ambre jaune), from as early as the late 13th century. This fossilized resin became the dominant (and now exclusive) sense of "amber", leaving "ambergris" as the word for the whale secretion. + +The archaic alternate spelling "ambergrease" arose as an eggcorn from the phonetic pronunciation of "ambergris," encouraged by the substance's waxy texture. + +Formation +Ambergris is formed from a secretion of the bile duct in the intestines of the sperm whale, and can be found floating on the sea or washed up on coastlines. It is sometimes found in the abdomens of dead sperm whales. Because the beaks of giant squids have been discovered within lumps of ambergris, scientists have theorized that the substance is produced by the whale's gastrointestinal tract to ease the passage of hard, sharp objects that it may have eaten. + +Ambergris is passed like fecal matter. It is speculated that an ambergris mass too large to be passed through the intestines is expelled via the mouth, but this remains under debate. Another theory states that an ambergris mass is formed when the colon of a whale is enlarged by a blockage from intestinal worms and cephalopod parts resulting in the death of the whale and the mass being excreted into the sea. Ambergris takes years to form. Christopher Kemp, the author of Floating Gold: A Natural (and Unnatural) History of Ambergris, says that it is only produced by sperm whales, and only by an estimated one percent of them. Ambergris is rare; once expelled by a whale, it often floats for years before making landfall. The slim chances of finding ambergris and the legal ambiguity involved led perfume makers away from ambergris, and led chemists on a quest to find viable alternatives. + +Ambergris is found primarily in the Atlantic Ocean and on the coasts of South Africa; Brazil; Madagascar; the East Indies; The Maldives; China; Japan; India; Australia; New Zealand; and the Molucca Islands. Most commercially collected ambergris comes from The Bahamas in the Atlantic, particularly New Providence. In 2021, fishermen found a 127 kg (280-pound) piece of ambergris off the coast of Yemen, valued at US$1.5 million. Fossilised ambergris from 1.75 million years ago has also been found. + +Physical properties +Ambergris is found in lumps of various shapes and sizes, usually weighing from to or more. When initially expelled by or removed from the whale, the fatty precursor of ambergris is pale white in color (sometimes streaked with black), soft, with a strong fecal smell. Following months to years of photodegradation and oxidation in the ocean, this precursor gradually hardens, developing a dark grey or black color, a crusty and waxy texture, and a peculiar odor that is at once sweet, earthy, marine, and animalic. Its scent has been generally described as a vastly richer and smoother version of isopropanol without its stinging harshness. In this developed condition, ambergris has a specific gravity ranging from 0.780 to 0.926 (meaning it floats in water). It melts at about to a fatty, yellow resinous liquid; and at it is volatilised into a white vapor. It is soluble in ether, and in volatile and fixed oils. + +Chemical properties +Ambergris is relatively nonreactive to acid. White crystals of a terpenoid known as ambrein, discovered by Ružička and Fernand Lardon in 1946, can be separated from ambergris by heating raw ambergris in alcohol, then allowing the resulting solution to cool. Breakdown of the relatively scentless ambrein through oxidation produces ambroxide and ambrinol, the main odor components of ambergris. + +Ambroxide is now produced synthetically and used extensively in the perfume industry. + +Applications +Ambergris has been mostly known for its use in creating perfume and fragrance much like musk. Perfumes can still be found with ambergris. +Ambergris has historically been used in food and drink. A serving of eggs and ambergris was reportedly King Charles II of England's favorite dish. A recipe for Rum Shrub liqueur from the mid 19th century called for a thread of ambergris to be added to rum, almonds, cloves, cassia, and the peel of oranges in making a cocktail from The English and Australian Cookery Book. It has been used as a flavoring agent in Turkish coffee and in hot chocolate in 18th century Europe. The substance is considered an aphrodisiac in some cultures. + +Ancient Egyptians burned ambergris as incense, while in modern Egypt ambergris is used for scenting cigarettes. The ancient Chinese called the substance "dragon's spittle fragrance". During the Black Death in Europe, people believed that carrying a ball of ambergris could help prevent them from contracting plague. This was because the fragrance covered the smell of the air which was believed to be a cause of plague. + +During the Middle Ages, Europeans used ambergris as a medication for headaches, colds, epilepsy, and other ailments. + +Legality + +From the 18th to the mid-19th century, the whaling industry prospered. By some reports, nearly 50,000 whales, including sperm whales, were killed each year. Throughout the 1800s, "millions of whales were killed for their oil, whalebone, and ambergris" to fuel profits, and they soon became endangered as a species as a result. Due to studies showing that the whale populations were being threatened, the International Whaling Commission instituted a moratorium on commercial whaling in 1982. Although ambergris is not harvested from whales, many countries also ban the trade of ambergris as part of the more general ban on the hunting and exploitation of whales. + +Urine, faeces, and ambergris (that has been naturally excreted by a sperm whale) are waste products not considered parts or derivatives of a CITES species and are therefore not covered by the provisions of the convention. + +Illegal + Australia – Under federal law, the export and import of ambergris for commercial purposes is banned by the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. The various states and territories have additional laws regarding ambergris. + United States – The possession and trade of ambergris is prohibited by the Endangered Species Act of 1973. + India – Sale or possession is illegal under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972. + +Legal + United Kingdom + France + Switzerland + Maldives + +References + +Further reading + montalvoeascinciasdonossotempo.blogspot, accessed 21 August 2015 + +External links + + Natural History Magazine Article (from 1933): Floating Gold – The Romance of Ambergris + Ambergris – A Pathfinder and Annotated Bibliography + On the chemistry and ethics of Ambergris + Pathologist finds €500,000 ‘floating gold’ in dead whale in Canary Islands + +Perfume ingredients +Whale products +Animal glandular products +Natural products +Traditional medicine +Ambiorix (Gaulish "king of the surroundings", or "king-protector") ( 54–53 BC) was, together with Cativolcus, prince of the Eburones, leader of a Belgic tribe of north-eastern Gaul (Gallia Belgica), where modern Belgium is located. In the nineteenth century Ambiorix became a Belgian national hero because of his resistance against Julius Caesar, as written in Caesar's Commentarii de Bello Gallico. + +Name +It is generally accepted that Ambiorix is a Gaulish personal name formed with the prefix ambio- attached to rix ('king'), but the meaning of the first element is debated. Some scholars translate Ambiorix as the 'king of the surroundings' or 'king of the enclosure', by interpreting ambio- as a thematized form of ambi- ('around, on both sides') meaning 'surroundings' or else 'enclosure' (cf. Old Irish imbe 'enclosure'). Alternatively, Fredrik Otto Lindeman renders Ambiorix as the 'protector-king', by deriving ambio- from the Proto-Indo-European compound ('protector'; cf. Old Indic adhi-pá- 'protector, ruler, master, king'). + +Biography + +Early history +In 57 BC Julius Caesar conquered parts of Gaul and also Belgica (Belgium, modern-day Northern France, Luxembourg, part of present-day Netherlands below the Rhine River; and the north-western portion of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany). There were several tribes in the country who fought against each other frequently. The Eburones were ruled by Ambiorix and Catuvolcus. In 54 BC Caesar's troops urgently needed more food, and so the local tribes were forced to give up part of their harvest, which had not been good that year. Understandably the starving Eburones were reluctant to do so and Caesar ordered that camps be built near the Eburones' villages. Each centurion was ordered to make sure the food supplies were delivered to the Roman soldiers. This created resentment among the Eburones. + +Although Julius Caesar had freed him from paying tribute to the Atuatuci, Ambiorix joined Catuvolcus in the winter of 54 BC in an uprising against the Roman forces under Quintus Titurius Sabinus and Lucius Aurunculeius Cotta. + +Resisting the Romans + +Because a drought had disrupted his grain supply, Caesar was forced to winter his legions among the rebellious Belgic tribes. Roman troops led by Sabinus and Cotta were wintering among the Eburones when they were attacked by them, led by Ambiorix and Cativolcus. Ambiorix deceived the Romans, telling them the attack was made without his consent, and further advised them to flee as a large Germanic force was preparing to cross the Rhine. Trusting Ambiorix, Sabinus and Cotta's troops left the next morning. A short distance from their camp, the Roman troops were ambushed by the Eburones and massacred. + +Elsewhere, another Roman force under Quintus Tullius Cicero, younger brother of the orator Marcus, were wintering amongst the Nervii. Leading a coalition of rebellious Belgic tribes, Ambiorix surrounded Cicero's camp. After a long while, a Roman messenger was finally able to slip through the Belgic lines and get word of the uprising to Caesar. Mobilizing his legions, Caesar immediately marched to Cicero's aid. As they approached the besieged Roman camp, the Belgae moved to engage Caesar's troops. Vastly outnumbered, Caesar ordered his troops to appear confused and frightened, and they successfully lured the Belgae to attack them on ground favourable to the Romans. Caesar's forces launched a fierce counterattack, and soon put the Belgae to flight. Later, Caesar's troops entered Cicero's camp to find most of the men wounded. + +Meanwhile, Indutiomarus, a leader of the Treveri, began to harass Labienus's camp daily, eventually provoking Labienus to send out his cavalry with specific orders to kill Indutiomarus. They did so, and routed the remnants of Indutiomarus's army. Caesar personally remained in Gaul for the remainder of winter due to the renewed Gallic threat. + +Caesar's revenge +When the Roman senate heard what had happened, Caesar swore to destroy all the Belgic tribes. Ambiorix had killed fifteen cohorts. A Belgic attack on Cicero, then stationed with a legion in the territory of the Nervii, failed due to the timely appearance of Caesar. The Roman campaigns against the Belgae took a few years, but eventually the tribes were slaughtered or driven out and their fields burned. The Eburones disappeared from history after this genocidal event. According to the writer Florus, Ambiorix and his men succeeded in escaping across the Rhine. They do not appear in Roman records after this point. + +Legacy +Caesar wrote about Ambiorix in his commentary about his battles against the Gauls, De Bello Gallico. In this text he also famously wrote: "Of these [three regions], the Belgae are the bravest." ("... Horum omnium fortissimi sunt Belgae ..."). + +Ambiorix remained a relatively obscure figure until the nineteenth century. The independence of Belgium in 1830 spurred a search for national heroes. In Caesar's De Bello Gallico, Ambiorix and his deeds were rediscovered. In 1841, the Belgian poet Joannes Nolet de Brauwere Van Steeland wrote a lyrical epic about Ambiorix. Furthermore, on September 5, 1866, a statue of Ambiorix was erected on the main market square in Tongeren, Belgium, referred to by Caesar as Atuatuca, i.e. Atuatuca Tungrorum. + +Today, Ambiorix is one of the most famous characters in Belgian history. Many companies, bars and friteries have named themselves after him, and in many Belgian comics such as Suske en Wiske and Jommeke he plays a guest role. There was also a short-lived comic called Ambionix, which featured a scientist teleporting a Belgic chief, loosely based on Ambiorix, to modern-day Belgium. + +In the French comic Asterix, in the album Asterix in Belgium, Asterix, Obelix, Dogmatix and Vitalstatistix go to Belgium because they are angry with Caesar about his remark that the Belgians are the bravest of all the Gauls. + +In popular culture + Ambiorix leads the Gallic civilization in the New Frontier season pass of the 4X video game Civilization VI. + +References + +Bibliography + +Primary sources + Caesar, De Bello Gallico v. 26–51, vi. 29–43, viii. 24; Dio Cassius xl. 7-11; Florus iii. 10. + +External links + Ambiorix + +1st-century BC monarchs in Europe +Belgae +Celtic warriors +1st-century BC Gaulish tribal chiefs +Early Germanic warriors +Barbarian people of the Gallic Wars +August Wilhelm Ambros (17 November 181628 June 1876) was an Austrian composer and music historian of Czech descent. + +Life +He was born in Mýto, Rokycany District, Bohemia. His father was a cultured man, and his mother was the sister of Raphael Georg Kiesewetter (1773–1850), the musical archaeologist and collector. Ambros studied at the University of Prague and was well-educated in music and the arts, which were his abiding passion. He was, however, destined for the law and an official career in the Austrian civil service, and from 1839 he occupied various important posts under the ministry of justice, music being an avocation. + +From 1850 onwards, he became well known as a critic and essay-writer, and in 1860 he began working on his magnum opus, his History of Music, which was published at intervals from 1862 in five volumes, the last two (1878, 1882) being edited and completed by Otto Kade and Wilhelm Langhans. + +Ambros was a professor of the history of music at Prague from 1869 to 1871. Also in Prague, he sat on the board of governors in the Prague Royal Conservatory. By 1872, he was living in Vienna and was employed by the Department of Justice as an officer and by Prince Rudolf's family as his tutor. Through his work in Vienna, he was given a leave of absence for half the year in order to let him travel the world to collect musical information to include in his History of Music book. He was an excellent pianist, and the author of numerous compositions reminiscent of Felix Mendelssohn. + +Ambros died at Vienna, Austria at the age of 59. + +Notes + +1816 births +1876 deaths +People from Mýto +19th-century Austrian musicians +19th-century Austrian male musicians +19th-century classical composers +19th-century Czech musicians +Austrian classical composers +Austrian male classical composers +Austrian people of German Bohemian descent +Charles University alumni +Czech male classical composers +German Bohemian people +Czech Romantic composers +Josquin scholars +19th-century musicologists +The Amazon River (, ; , ) in South America is the largest river by discharge volume of water in the world, and the disputed longest river system in the world in comparison to the Nile. + +The headwaters of the Apurímac River on Nevado Mismi had been considered for nearly a century the Amazon basin's most distant source until a 2014 study found it to be the headwaters of the Mantaro River on the Cordillera Rumi Cruz in Peru. The Mantaro and Apurímac rivers join, and with other tributaries form the Ucayali River, which in turn meets the Marañón River upstream of Iquitos, Peru, forming what countries other than Brazil consider to be the main stem of the Amazon. Brazilians call this section the Solimões River above its confluence with the Rio Negro forming what Brazilians call the Amazon at the Meeting of Waters () at Manaus, the largest city on the river. + +The Amazon River has an average discharge of about —approximately per year, greater than the next seven largest independent rivers combined. Two of the top ten rivers by discharge are tributaries of the Amazon river. The Amazon represents 20% of the global riverine discharge into oceans. The Amazon basin is the largest drainage basin in the world, with an area of approximately . The portion of the river's drainage basin in Brazil alone is larger than any other river's basin. The Amazon enters Brazil with only one-fifth of the flow it finally discharges into the Atlantic Ocean, yet already has a greater flow at this point than the discharge of any other river. + +Etymology +The Amazon was initially known by Europeans as the Marañón, and the Peruvian part of the river is still known by that name today. It later became known as Rio Amazonas in Spanish and Portuguese. + +The name Rio Amazonas was reportedly given after native warriors attacked a 16th-century expedition by Francisco de Orellana. The warriors were led by women, reminding de Orellana of the Amazon warriors, a tribe of women warriors related to Iranian Scythians and Sarmatians mentioned in Greek mythology. +The word Amazon itself may be derived from the Iranian compound *ha-maz-an- "(one) fighting together" or ethnonym *ha-mazan- "warriors", a word attested indirectly through a derivation, a denominal verb in Hesychius of Alexandria's gloss (": 'to make war' in Persian"), where it appears together with the Indo-Iranian root *kar- "make" (from which Sanskrit karma is also derived). + +Other scholars claim that the name is derived from the Tupi word amassona, meaning "boat destroyer". + +History + +Geological history +Recent geological studies suggest that for millions of years the Amazon River used to flow in the opposite direction - from east to west. Eventually the Andes Mountains formed, blocking its flow to the Pacific Ocean, and causing it to switch directions to its current mouth in the Atlantic Ocean. + +Pre-Columbian era + +During what many archaeologists called the formative stage, Amazonian societies were deeply involved in the emergence of South America's highland agrarian systems. The trade with Andean civilizations in the terrains of the headwaters in the Andes formed an essential contribution to the social and religious development of higher-altitude civilizations like the Muisca and Incas. Early human settlements were typically based on low-lying hills or mounds. + +Shell mounds were the earliest evidence of habitation; they represent piles of human refuse (waste) and are mainly dated between 7500 BC and 4000 BC. They are associated with ceramic age cultures; no preceramic shell mounds have been documented so far by archaeologists. Artificial earth platforms for entire villages are the second type of mounds. They are best represented by the Marajoara culture. Figurative mounds are the most recent types of occupation. + +There is ample evidence that the areas surrounding the Amazon River were home to complex and large-scale indigenous societies, mainly chiefdoms who developed towns and cities. Archaeologists estimate that by the time the Spanish conquistador De Orellana traveled across the Amazon in 1541, more than 3 million indigenous people lived around the Amazon. These pre-Columbian settlements created highly developed civilizations. For instance, pre-Columbian indigenous people on the island of Marajó may have developed social stratification and supported a population of 100,000 people. To achieve this level of development, the indigenous inhabitants of the Amazon rainforest altered the forest's ecology by selective cultivation and the use of fire. Scientists argue that by burning areas of the forest repeatedly, the indigenous people caused the soil to become richer in nutrients. This created dark soil areas known as terra preta de índio ("Indian dark earth"). Because of the terra preta, indigenous communities were able to make land fertile and thus sustainable for the large-scale agriculture needed to support their large populations and complex social structures. Further research has hypothesized that this practice began around 11,000 years ago. Some say that its effects on forest ecology and regional climate explain the otherwise inexplicable band of lower rainfall through the Amazon basin. + +Many indigenous tribes engaged in constant warfare. According to James S. Olson, "The Munduruku expansion (in the 18th century) dislocated and displaced the Kawahíb, breaking the tribe down into much smaller groups ... [Munduruku] first came to the attention of Europeans in 1770 when they began a series of widespread attacks on Brazilian settlements along the Amazon River." + +Arrival of Europeans + +In March 1500, Spanish conquistador Vicente Yáñez Pinzón was the first documented European to sail up the Amazon River. Pinzón called the stream Río Santa María del Mar Dulce, later shortened to Mar Dulce, literally, sweet sea, because of its freshwater pushing out into the ocean. Another Spanish explorer, Francisco de Orellana, was the first European to travel from the origins of the upstream river basins, situated in the Andes, to the mouth of the river. In this journey, Orellana baptized some of the affluents of the Amazonas like Rio Negro, Napo and Jurua. +The name Amazonas is thought to be taken from the native warriors that attacked this expedition, mostly women, that reminded De Orellana of the mythical female Amazon warriors from the ancient Hellenic culture in Greece (see also Origin of the name). + +Exploration + +Gonzalo Pizarro set off in 1541 to explore east of Quito into the South American interior in search of El Dorado, the "city of gold" and La Canela, the "valley of cinnamon". He was accompanied by his second-in-command Francisco de Orellana. After , the Coca River joined the Napo River (at a point now known as Puerto Francisco de Orellana); the party stopped for a few weeks to build a boat just upriver from this confluence. They continued downriver through an uninhabited area, where they could not find food. Orellana offered and was ordered to follow the Napo River, then known as Río de la Canela ("Cinnamon River"), and return with food for the party. Based on intelligence received from a captive native chief named Delicola, they expected to find food within a few days downriver by ascending another river to the north. + +De Orellana took about 57 men, the boat, and some canoes and left Pizarro's troops on 26 December 1541. However, De Orellana missed the confluence (probably with the Aguarico) where he was searching supplies for his men. By the time he and his men reached another village, many of them were sick from hunger and eating "noxious plants", and near death. Seven men died in that village. His men threatened to mutiny if the expedition turned back to attempt to rejoin Pizarro, the party being over 100 leagues downstream at this point. He accepted to change the purpose of the expedition to discover new lands in the name of the king of Spain, and the men built a larger boat in which to navigate downstream. After a journey of down the Napo River, they reached a further major confluence, at a point near modern Iquitos, and then followed the upper Amazon, now known as the Solimões, for a further to its confluence with the Rio Negro (near modern Manaus), which they reached on 3 June 1542. + +Regarding the initial mission of finding cinnamon, Pizarro reported to the king that they had found cinnamon trees, but that they could not be profitably harvested. True cinnamon (Cinnamomum Verum) is not native to South America. Other related cinnamon-containing plants (of the family Lauraceae) are fairly common in that part of the Amazon and Pizarro probably saw some of these. The expedition reached the mouth of the Amazon on 24 August 1542, demonstrating the practical navigability of the Great River. + +In 1560, another Spanish conquistador, Lope de Aguirre, may have made the second descent of the Amazon. Historians are uncertain whether the river he descended was the Amazon or the Orinoco River, which runs more or less parallel to the Amazon further north. + +Portuguese explorer Pedro Teixeira was the first European to travel up the entire river. He arrived in Quito in 1637, and returned via the same route. + +From 1648 to 1652, Portuguese Brazilian bandeirante António Raposo Tavares led an expedition from São Paulo overland to the mouth of the Amazon, investigating many of its tributaries, including the Rio Negro, and covering a distance of over . + +In what is currently in Brazil, Ecuador, Bolivia, Colombia, Peru, and Venezuela, several colonial and religious settlements were established along the banks of primary rivers and tributaries for trade, slaving, and evangelization among the indigenous peoples of the vast rainforest, such as the Urarina. In the late 1600s, Czech Jesuit Father Samuel Fritz, an apostle of the Omagus established some forty mission villages. Fritz proposed that the Marañón River must be the source of the Amazon, noting on his 1707 map that the Marañón "has its source on the southern shore of a lake that is called Lauricocha, near Huánuco." Fritz reasoned that the Marañón is the largest river branch one encounters when journeying upstream, and lies farther to the west than any other tributary of the Amazon. For most of the 18th–19th centuries and into the 20th century, the Marañón was generally considered the source of the Amazon. + +Scientific exploration + +Early scientific, zoological, and botanical exploration of the Amazon River and basin took place from the 18th century through the first half of the 19th century. + Charles Marie de La Condamine explored the river in 1743. + Alexander von Humboldt, 1799–1804 + Johann Baptist von Spix and Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius, 1817–1820 + Georg von Langsdorff, 1826–1828 + Henry Walter Bates and Alfred Russel Wallace, 1848–1859 + Richard Spruce, 1849–1864 + +Post-colonial exploitation and settlement + +The Cabanagem revolt (1835–1840) was directed against the white ruling class. It is estimated that from 30% to 40% of the population of Grão-Pará, estimated at 100,000 people, died. + +The population of the Brazilian portion of the Amazon basin in 1850 was perhaps 300,000, of whom about 175,000 were Europeans and 25,000 were slaves. The Brazilian Amazon's principal commercial city, Pará (now Belém), had from 10,000 to 12,000 inhabitants, including slaves. The town of Manáos, now Manaus, at the mouth of the Rio Negro, had a population between 1,000 and 1,500. All the remaining villages, as far up as Tabatinga, on the Brazilian frontier of Peru, were relatively small. + +On 6 September 1850, Emperor Pedro II of Brazil sanctioned a law authorizing steam navigation on the Amazon and gave the Viscount of Mauá (Irineu Evangelista de Sousa) the task of putting it into effect. He organised the "Companhia de Navegação e Comércio do Amazonas" in Rio de Janeiro in 1852; in the following year it commenced operations with four small steamers, the Monarca ('Monarch'), the Cametá, the Marajó and the Rio Negro. + +At first, navigation was principally confined to the main river; and even in 1857 a modification of the government contract only obliged the company to a monthly service between Pará and Manaus, with steamers of 200 tons cargo capacity, a second line to make six round voyages a year between Manaus and Tabatinga, and a third, two trips a month between Pará and Cametá. This was the first step in opening up the vast interior. + +The success of the venture called attention to the opportunities for economic exploitation of the Amazon, and a second company soon opened commerce on the Madeira, Purús, and Negro; a third established a line between Pará and Manaus, and a fourth found it profitable to navigate some of the smaller streams. In that same period, the Amazonas Company was increasing its fleet. Meanwhile, private individuals were building and running small steam craft of their own on the main river as well as on many of its tributaries. + +On 31 July 1867, the government of Brazil, constantly pressed by the maritime powers and by the countries encircling the upper Amazon basin, especially Peru, decreed the opening of the Amazon to all countries, but they limited this to certain defined points: Tabatinga – on the Amazon; Cametá – on the Tocantins; Santarém – on the Tapajós; Borba – on the Madeira, and Manaus – on the Rio Negro. The Brazilian decree took effect on 7 September 1867. + +Thanks in part to the mercantile development associated with steamboat navigation coupled with the internationally driven demand for natural rubber, the Peruvian city of Iquitos became a thriving, cosmopolitan center of commerce. Foreign companies settled in Iquitos, from where they controlled the extraction of rubber. In 1851 Iquitos had a population of 200, and by 1900 its population reached 20,000. In the 1860s, approximately 3,000 tons of rubber were being exported annually, and by 1911 annual exports had grown to 44,000 tons, representing 9.3% of Peru's exports. During the rubber boom it is estimated that diseases brought by immigrants, such as typhus and malaria, killed 40,000 native Amazonians. + +The first direct foreign trade with Manaus commenced around 1874. Local trade along the river was carried on by the English successors to the Amazonas Company—the Amazon Steam Navigation Company—as well as numerous small steamboats, belonging to companies and firms engaged in the rubber trade, navigating the Negro, Madeira, Purús, and many other tributaries, such as the Marañón, to ports as distant as Nauta, Peru. + +By the turn of the 20th century, the exports of the Amazon basin were India-rubber, cacao beans, Brazil nuts and a few other products of minor importance, such as pelts and exotic forest produce (resins, barks, woven hammocks, prized bird feathers, live animals) and extracted goods, such as lumber and gold. + +20th-century development + +Since colonial times, the Portuguese portion of the Amazon basin has remained a land largely undeveloped by agriculture and occupied by indigenous people who survived the arrival of European diseases. + +Four centuries after the European discovery of the Amazon river, the total cultivated area in its basin was probably less than , excluding the limited and crudely cultivated areas among the mountains at its extreme headwaters. This situation changed dramatically during the 20th century. + +Wary of foreign exploitation of the nation's resources, Brazilian governments in the 1940s set out to develop the interior, away from the seaboard where foreigners owned large tracts of land. The original architect of this expansion was president Getúlio Vargas, with the demand for rubber from the Allied forces in World War II providing funding for the drive. + +In the 1960s, economic exploitation of the Amazon basin was seen as a way to fuel the "economic miracle" occurring at the time. This resulted in the development of "Operation Amazon", an economic development project that brought large-scale agriculture and ranching to Amazonia. This was done through a combination of credit and fiscal incentives. + +However, in the 1970s the government took a new approach with the National Integration Program (PIN). A large-scale colonization program saw families from northeastern Brazil relocated to the "land without people" in the Amazon Basin. This was done in conjunction with infrastructure projects mainly the Trans-Amazonian Highway (Transamazônica). + +The Trans-Amazonian Highway's three pioneering highways were completed within ten years but never fulfilled their promise. Large portions of the Trans-Amazonian and its accessory roads, such as BR-317 (Manaus-Porto Velho), are derelict and impassable in the rainy season. Small towns and villages are scattered across the forest, and because its vegetation is so dense, some remote areas are still unexplored. + +Many settlements grew along the road from Brasília to Belém with the highway and National Integration Program, however, the program failed as the settlers were unequipped to live in the delicate rainforest ecosystem. This, although the government believed it could sustain millions, instead could sustain very few. + +With a population of 1.9 million people in 2014, Manaus is the largest city on the Amazon. Manaus alone makes up approximately 50% of the population of the largest Brazilian state of Amazonas. The racial makeup of the city is 64% pardo (mulatto and mestizo) and 32% white. + +Although the Amazon river remains undammed, around 412 dams are in operation in the Amazon's tributary rivers. From these 412 dams, 151 are constructed over six of the main tributary rivers that drain into the Amazon. Since only 4% of the Amazon's hydropower potential has been developed in countries like Brazil, more damming projects are underway and hundreds more are planned. After witnessing the negative effects of environmental degradation, sedimentation, navigation and flood control caused by the Three Gorges Dam in the Yangtze River, scientists are worried that constructing more dams in the Amazon will harm its biodiversity in the same way by "blocking fish-spawning runs, reducing the flows of vital oil nutrients and clearing forests". Damming the Amazon River could potentially bring about the "end of free flowing rivers" and contribute to an "ecosystem collapse" that will cause major social and environmental problems. + +Course + +Origins + +The most distant source of the Amazon was thought to be in the Apurímac river drainage for nearly a century. Such studies continued to be published even recently, such as in 1996, 2001, 2007, and 2008, where various authors identified the snowcapped Nevado Mismi peak, located roughly west of Lake Titicaca and southeast of Lima, as the most distant source of the river. From that point, Quebrada Carhuasanta emerges from Nevado Mismi, joins Quebrada Apacheta and soon forms Río Lloqueta which becomes Río Hornillos and eventually joins the Río Apurímac. + +A 2014 study by Americans James Contos and Nicolas Tripcevich in Area, a peer-reviewed journal of the Royal Geographical Society, however, identifies the most distant source of the Amazon as actually being in the Río Mantaro drainage. A variety of methods were used to compare the lengths of the Mantaro river vs. the Apurímac river from their most distant source points to their confluence, showing the longer length of the Mantaro. Then distances from Lago Junín to several potential source points in the uppermost Mantaro river were measured, which enabled them to determine that the Cordillera Rumi Cruz was the most distant source of water in the Mantaro basin (and therefore in the entire Amazon basin). The most accurate measurement method was direct GPS measurement obtained by kayak descent of each of the rivers from their source points to their confluence (performed by Contos). Obtaining these measurements was difficult given the class IV–V nature of each of these rivers, especially in their lower "Abyss" sections. Ultimately, they determined that the most distant point in the Mantaro drainage is nearly 80 km farther upstream compared to Mt. Mismi in the Apurímac drainage, and thus the maximal length of the Amazon river is about 80 km longer than previously thought. Contos continued downstream to the ocean and finished the first complete descent of the Amazon river from its newly identified source (finishing November 2012), a journey repeated by two groups after the news spread. + +After about , the Apurímac then joins Río Mantaro to form the Ene, which joins the Perene to form the Tambo, which joins the Urubamba River to form the Ucayali. After the confluence of Apurímac and Ucayali, the river leaves Andean terrain and is surrounded by floodplain. From this point to the confluence of the Ucayali and the Marañón, some , the forested banks are just above the water and are inundated long before the river attains its maximum flood stage. The low river banks are interrupted by only a few hills, and the river enters the enormous Amazon rainforest. + +The Upper Amazon or Solimões + +Although the Ucayali–Marañón confluence is the point at which most geographers place the beginning of the Amazon River proper, in Brazil the river is known at this point as the Solimões das Águas. The river systems and flood plains in Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, and Venezuela, whose waters drain into the Solimões and its tributaries, are called the "Upper Amazon". + +The Amazon proper runs mostly through Brazil and Peru, and is part of the border between Colombia and Perú. It has a series of major tributaries in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, some of which flow into the Marañón and Ucayali, and others directly into the Amazon proper. These include rivers Putumayo, Caquetá, Vaupés, Guainía, Morona, Pastaza, Nucuray, Urituyacu, Chambira, Tigre, Nanay, Napo, and Huallaga. + +At some points, the river divides into anabranches, or multiple channels, often very long, with inland and lateral channels, all connected by a complicated system of natural canals, cutting the low, flat igapó lands, which are never more than above low river, into many islands. + +From the town of Canaria at the great bend of the Amazon to the Negro, vast areas of land are submerged at high water, above which only the upper part of the trees of the sombre forests appear. Near the mouth of the Rio Negro to Serpa, nearly opposite the river Madeira, the banks of the Amazon are low, until approaching Manaus, they rise to become rolling hills. + +The Lower Amazon + +The Lower Amazon begins where the darkly colored waters of the Rio Negro meets the sandy-colored Rio Solimões (the upper Amazon), and for over these waters run side by side without mixing. At Óbidos, a bluff above the river is backed by low hills. The lower Amazon seems to have once been a gulf of the Atlantic Ocean, the waters of which washed the cliffs near Óbidos. + +Only about 10% of the Amazon's water enters downstream of Óbidos, very little of which is from the northern slope of the valley. The drainage area of the Amazon basin above Óbidos city is about , and, below, only about (around 20%), exclusive of the of the Tocantins basin. The Tocantins River enters the southern portion of the Amazon delta. + +In the lower reaches of the river, the north bank consists of a series of steep, table-topped hills extending for about from opposite the mouth of the Xingu as far as Monte Alegre. These hills are cut down to a kind of terrace which lies between them and the river. + +On the south bank, above the Xingu, a line of low bluffs bordering the floodplain extends nearly to Santarém in a series of gentle curves before they bend to the southwest, and, abutting upon the lower Tapajós, merge into the bluffs which form the terrace margin of the Tapajós river valley. + +Mouth + +Belém is the major city and port at the mouth of the river at the Atlantic Ocean. The definition of where exactly the mouth of the Amazon is located, and how wide it is, is a matter of dispute, because of the area's peculiar geography. The Pará and the Amazon are connected by a series of river channels called furos near the town of Breves; between them lies Marajó, the world's largest combined river/sea island. + +If the Pará river and the Marajó island ocean frontage are included, the Amazon estuary is some wide. In this case, the width of the mouth of the river is usually measured from Cabo Norte, the cape located straight east of Pracuúba in the Brazilian state of Amapá, to Ponta da Tijoca near the town of Curuçá, in the state of Pará. + +A more conservative measurement excluding the Pará river estuary, from the mouth of the Araguari River to Ponta do Navio on the northern coast of Marajó, would still give the mouth of the Amazon a width of over . If only the river's main channel is considered, between the islands of Curuá (state of Amapá) and Jurupari (state of Pará), the width falls to about . + +The plume generated by the river's discharge covers up to 1.3 million km2 and is responsible for muddy bottoms influencing a wide area of the tropical north Atlantic in terms of salinity, pH, light penetration, and sedimentation. + +Lack of bridges +There are no bridges across the entire width of the river. This is not because the river would be too wide to bridge; for most of its length, engineers could build a bridge across the river easily. For most of its course, the river flows through the Amazon Rainforest, where there are very few roads and cities. Most of the time, the crossing can be done by a ferry. The Manaus Iranduba Bridge linking the cities of Manaus and Iranduba spans the Rio Negro, the second-largest tributary of the Amazon, just before their confluence. + +Dispute regarding length + +While debate as to whether the Amazon or the Nile is the world's longest river has gone on for many years, the historic consensus of geographic authorities has been to regard the Amazon as the second longest river in the world, with the Nile being the longest. However, the Amazon has been reported as being anywhere between and long. It is often said to be "at least" long. The Nile is reported to be anywhere from . Often it is said to be "about" long. There are several factors that can affect these measurements, such as the position of the geographical source and the mouth, the scale of measurement, and the length measuring techniques (for details see also List of rivers by length). + +In July 2008, the Brazilian Institute for Space Research (INPE) published a news article on their webpage, claiming that the Amazon River was longer than the Nile. The Amazon's length was calculated as , taking the Apacheta Creek as its source. Using the same techniques, the length of the Nile was calculated as , which is longer than previous estimates but still shorter than the Amazon. The results were reached by measuring the Amazon downstream to the beginning of the tidal estuary of Canal do Sul and then, after a sharp turn back, following tidal canals surrounding the isle of Marajó and finally including the marine waters of the Río Pará bay in its entire length. According to an earlier article on the webpage of the National Geographic, the Amazon's length was calculated as by a Brazilian scientist. In June 2007, Guido Gelli, director of science at the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), told London's Telegraph Newspaper that it could be considered that the Amazon was the longest river in the world. However, according to the above sources, none of the two results was published, and questions were raised about the researchers' methodology. In 2009, a peer-reviewed article, was published, concluding that the Nile is longer than the Amazon by stating a length of for the Nile and for the Amazon, measured by using a combination of satellite image analysis and field investigations to the source regions. +According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, the final length of the Amazon remains open to interpretation and continued debate. + +Watershed + +The Amazon basin, the largest in the world, covers about 40% of South America, an area of approximately . It drains from west to east, from Iquitos in Peru, across Brazil to the Atlantic. It gathers its waters from 5 degrees north latitude to 20 degrees south latitude. Its most remote sources are found on the inter-Andean plateau, just a short distance from the Pacific Ocean. + +The Amazon River and its tributaries are characterised by extensive forested areas that become flooded every rainy season. Every year, the river rises more than , flooding the surrounding forests, known as várzea ("flooded forests"). The Amazon's flooded forests are the most extensive example of this habitat type in the world. In an average dry season, of land are water-covered, while in the wet season, the flooded area of the Amazon basin rises to . + +The quantity of water released by the Amazon to the Atlantic Ocean is enormous: up to in the rainy season, with an average of from 1973 to 1990. The Amazon is responsible for about 20% of the Earth's fresh water entering the ocean. The river pushes a vast plume of fresh water into the ocean. The plume is about long and between wide. The fresh water, being lighter, flows on top of the seawater, diluting the salinity and altering the colour of the ocean surface over an area up to in extent. For centuries ships have reported fresh water near the Amazon's mouth yet well out of sight of land in what otherwise seemed to be the open ocean. + +The Atlantic has sufficient wave and tidal energy to carry most of the Amazon's sediments out to sea, thus the Amazon does not form a true delta. The great deltas of the world are all in relatively protected bodies of water, while the Amazon empties directly into the turbulent Atlantic. + +There is a natural water union between the Amazon and the Orinoco basins, the so-called Casiquiare canal. The Casiquiare is a river distributary of the upper Orinoco, which flows southward into the Rio Negro, which in turn flows into the Amazon. The Casiquiare is the largest river on earth that links two major river systems, a so-called bifurcation. + +Discharge + +Average discharge at the estuary; Period from 2003 to 2015: + +Average discharge at Óbidos gauge station; Period from 1969 to 2018: + +Average discharge (Q - 173,000 m3/s) and sediment load (S - 754 x 106 ton/year) at Óbidos gauge station (period from 1996 to 2007) + +Average, minimum and maximum discharge at Itacoatiara and Santarém (Lower Amazon). Period from 1998/01/01 to 2022/12/31 (Source: The Flood Observatory): + +Flooding + +Not all of the Amazon's tributaries flood at the same time of the year. Many branches begin flooding in November and might continue to rise until June. The rise of the Rio Negro starts in February or March and begins to recede in June. The Madeira River rises and falls two months earlier than most of the rest of the Amazon river. + +The depth of the Amazon between Manacapuru and Óbidos has been calculated as between . At Manacapuru, the Amazon's water level is only about above mean sea level. More than half of the water in the Amazon downstream of Manacapuru is below sea level. In its lowermost section, the Amazon's depth averages , in some places as much as . + +The main river is navigable for large ocean steamers to Manaus, upriver from the mouth. Smaller ocean vessels below 9000 tons and with less than draft can reach as far as Iquitos, Peru, from the sea. Smaller riverboats can reach higher, as far as Achual Point. Beyond that, small boats frequently ascend to the Pongo de Manseriche, just above Achual Point in Peru. + +Annual flooding occurs in late northern latitude winter at high tide when the incoming waters of the Atlantic are funnelled into the Amazon delta. The resulting undular tidal bore is called the pororoca, with a leading wave that can be up to high and travel up to inland. + +Geology +The Amazon River originated as a transcontinental river in the Miocene epoch between 11.8 million and 11.3 million years ago and took its present shape approximately 2.4 million years ago in the Early Pleistocene. + +The proto-Amazon during the Cretaceous flowed west, as part of a proto-Amazon-Congo river system, from the interior of present-day Africa when the continents were connected, forming western Gondwana. 80 million years ago, the two continents split. Fifteen million years ago, the main tectonic uplift phase of the Andean chain started. This tectonic movement is caused by the subduction of the Nazca Plate underneath the South American Plate. The rise of the Andes and the linkage of the Brazilian and Guyana bedrock shields, blocked the river and caused the Amazon Basin to become a vast inland sea. Gradually, this inland sea became a massive swampy, freshwater lake and the marine inhabitants adapted to life in freshwater. + +Eleven to ten million years ago, waters worked through the sandstone from the west and the Amazon began to flow eastward, leading to the emergence of the Amazon rainforest. During glacial periods, sea levels dropped and the great Amazon lake rapidly drained and became a river, which would eventually become the disputed world's longest, draining the most extensive area of rainforest on the planet. + +Paralleling the Amazon River is a large aquifer, dubbed the Hamza River, the discovery of which was made public in August 2011. + +Protected areas + +Flora and fauna + +Flora + +Fauna + +More than one-third of all known species in the world live in the Amazon rainforest. It is the richest tropical forest in the world in terms of biodiversity. In addition to thousands of species of fish, the river supports crabs, algae, and turtles. + +Mammals + +Along with the Orinoco, the Amazon is one of the main habitats of the boto, also known as the Amazon river dolphin (Inia geoffrensis). It is the largest species of river dolphin, and it can grow to lengths of up to . The colour of its skin changes with age; young animals are gray, but become pink and then white as they mature. The dolphins use echolocation to navigate and hunt in the river's tricky depths. The boto is the subject of a legend in Brazil about a dolphin that turns into a man and seduces maidens by the riverside. + +The tucuxi (Sotalia fluviatilis), also a dolphin species, is found both in the rivers of the Amazon basin and in the coastal waters of South America. The Amazonian manatee (Trichechus inunguis), also known as "seacow", is found in the northern Amazon River basin and its tributaries. It is a mammal and a herbivore. Its population is limited to freshwater habitats, and, unlike other manatees, it does not venture into saltwater. It is classified as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. + +The Amazon and its tributaries are the main habitat of the giant otter (Pteronura brasiliensis). Sometimes known as the "river wolf," it is one of South America's top carnivores. Because of habitat destruction and hunting, its population has dramatically decreased. It is now listed on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), which effectively bans international trade. + +Reptiles + +The Anaconda is found in shallow waters in the Amazon basin. One of the world's largest species of snake, the anaconda spends most of its time in the water with just its nostrils above the surface. Species of caimans, that are related to alligators and other crocodilians, also inhabit the Amazon as do varieties of turtles. + +Birds + +Fish + +The Amazonian fish fauna is the centre of diversity for neotropical fishes, some of which are popular aquarium specimens like the neon tetra and the freshwater angelfish. More than 5,600 species were known , and approximately fifty new species are discovered each year. The arapaima, known in Brazil as the pirarucu, is a South American tropical freshwater fish, one of the largest freshwater fish in the world, with a length of up to . Another Amazonian freshwater fish is the arowana (or aruanã in Portuguese), such as the silver arowana (Osteoglossum bicirrhosum), which is a predator and very similar to the arapaima, but only reaches a length of . Also present in large numbers is the notorious piranha, an omnivorous fish that congregates in large schools and may attack livestock. There are approximately 30 to 60 species of piranha. The candirú, native to the Amazon River, is a species of parasitic fresh water catfish in the family Trichomycteridae, just one of more than 1200 species of catfish in the Amazon basin. Other catfish 'walk' overland on their ventral fins, while the kumakuma (Brachyplatystoma filamentosum), aka piraiba or "goliath catfish", can reach in length and in weight. + +The electric eel (Electrophorus electricus) and more than 100 species of electric fishes (Gymnotiformes) inhabit the Amazon basin. River stingrays (Potamotrygonidae) are also known. The bull shark (Carcharhinus leucas) has been reported up the Amazon River at Iquitos in Peru. + +Butterflies + +Microbiota +Freshwater microbes are generally not very well known, even less so for a pristine ecosystem like the Amazon. Recently, metagenomics has provided answers to what kind of microbes inhabit the river. The most important microbes in the Amazon River are Actinomycetota, Alphaproteobacteria, Betaproteobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria and Thermoproteota. + +Major tributaries + +The Amazon has over 1,100 tributaries, twelve of which are over long. Some of the more notable ones are: + + Branco + Casiquiare canal + Caquetá + Huallaga + Putumayo (or Içá River) + Javary (or Yavarí) + Juruá + Madeira + Marañón + Morona + Nanay + Napo + Negro + Pastaza + Purús + Tambo + Tapajós + Tigre + Tocantins + Trombetas + Ucayali + Xingu + Yapura + +List of major tributaries +The main river and tributaries are (sorted in order from the confluence of Ucayali and Marañón rivers to the mouth): + +List by length + () – Amazon, South America + – Madeira, Bolivia/Brazil + – Purús, Peru/Brazil + – Japurá or Caquetá, Colombia/Brazil + – Tocantins, Brazil + – Araguaia, Brazil (tributary of Tocantins) + – Juruá, Peru/Brazil + – Rio Negro, Brazil/Venezuela/Colombia + – Tapajós, Brazil + – Xingu, Brazil + – Ucayali River, Peru + – Guaporé, Brazil/Bolivia (tributary of Madeira) + – Içá (Putumayo), Ecuador/Colombia/Peru + – Marañón, Peru + – Teles Pires, Brazil (tributary of Tapajós) + – Iriri, Brazil (tributary of Xingu) + – Juruena, Brazil (tributary of Tapajós) + – Madre de Dios, Peru/Bolivia (tributary of Madeira) + – Huallaga, Peru (tributary of Marañón) + +List by inflow to the Amazon + +See also + + Amazon natural region, in Colombia + Peruvian Amazonia in Peru + Nile + +Notes + +References + +Bibliography + + Garfield, Seth. In search of the Amazon: Brazil, the United States and the nature of a region (Duke University Press, 2013) online + Hecht, Susanna, et al. "The Amazon in motion: Changing politics, development strategies, peoples, landscapes, and livelihoods." Amazon Assessment Report 2021, Part II (2021): ch 14 pp 1-65. online, with long bibliography + Nugent, Stephen L. The rise and fall of the Amazon rubber industry: an historical anthropology (Routledge, 2017) online. + Schulze, Frederik, and Georg Fischer. "Brazilian history as global history." Bulletin of Latin American Research 38.4 (2019): 408–422. online + +External links + + Information on the Amazon from Extreme Science + A photographic journey up the Amazon River from its mouth to its source + Amazon Alive: Light & Shadow documentary film about the Amazon river + Amazon River Ecosystem + Research on the influence of the Amazon River on the Atlantic Ocean at the University of Southern California + + + +Amazon basin +Amazon rainforest +Upper Amazon +Rivers of South America +International rivers of South America +Rivers of Colombia +Rivers of Peru +Colombia–Peru border +Rivers of Amapá +Rivers of Amazonas (Brazilian state) +Rivers of Loreto Region +Rivers of Pará +Beverley, Alfred of (d. c. 1154 x c. 1157), chronicler, and sacrist of the collegiate church of St John the Evangelist and St John of Beverley wrote a history of Britain and England in nine chapters (c. 1148- c.1151) from its supposed foundation by the Trojan Brutus, down to the death of Henry I in 1135. Alfred's chief sources, in addition to Bede's Historia Ecclesiastica de Gentis Anglorum , are Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, Henry of Huntingdon's Historia Anglorum, The Chronicle of John of Worcester, and the Historia Regum, attributed to Symeon of Durham.e + +Biography + +Aluredus (Alfred) the sacrist, witnessed charters over the period c.1135 to c. 1154 in favour of Beverley and the nearby religious houses of Bridlington, Warter and Watton and Rufford Abbey.[1]  Alfred’s attestation of a gift of land in Averham, in the East Riding, to the Cistercian Rufford Abbey (Nottinghamshire) is of particular interest. Preserved in the fifteenth-century Rufford cartulary, the attestation not only shows Alfred’s association with a Cistercian abbey located over sixty miles from Beverley, but also names Ernaldo filio Alueredi as a witness, [2] giving grounds to believe that Ernaldus was the son of Alfred the sacrist. We learn from the charter, therefore, that Alfred in common with many secular clerks of the time, was a family man. Beyond the charter evidence, what more is known of Alfred comes from what he himself tells us in his history and also from later hagiographical and historical sources.  In the descriptive survey of Britain prefacing the history, Alfred speaks of himself as contemporary with the removal of the Flemings from the north of England by King Henry I to south Wales (c.1110).[3]  In later hagiographical sources Alfred is described as ‘an old man, wise in the laws of the church’.[4]  As by c.1157 a certain Robert attests as sacrist of Beverley with the minster chapter in a charter of Warter Priory [5] and we can therefore infer that Alfred was probably dead before that date, it would appear likely that Alfred was born in the final decades of the eleventh century. + +Alfred is also remembered in the late fourteenth century Beverley cartulary as ‘a man of venerable life and an ardent student of the scriptures’ (London, BL, Add. 61901, fol. 60v) and from York Minster, in hanging tablets carrying historical notices about the foundation of the church of York (wooden tryptichs), which also date from the late fourteenth century, excerpts from the history of ‘Alfridus Beverlacens thesaurarius’ are attached on the left hand tryptich.[6] + +Writings + +Alfred’s History narrates the history of Britain from its supposed foundation by the Trojan Brutus down to the death of Henry I in 1135. Compiled over the years c.1148– c.1151 (previously held to be 1143) and at a time of crisis and schism in the church of York, the work was sparked by the appearance in c.1136 of Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia Regum Britanniae History of the Kings of Britain (HRB) and by the reaction at the time to that work. What appears to have been Alfred’s original intention, to make excerpts of those parts of the work which did not ‘exceed the bounds of credibility’, developed into a more ambitious attempt to integrate Geoffrey’s history into an existing understanding of Britain’s early history, based largely on the accounts of classical authorities such as Orosius, Eutropius and Suetonius, and on Bede’s Historia Ecclesiastica (HE). To assimilate the HRB within existing historical understanding required its content to be significantly adapted and its two-thousand-year continuous narrative is divided into five distinct historical periods, designated the quinque status (five states or eras), and these occupy the first five chapters of the work. + +Chapters six to nine of the History narrate the foundation of the heptarchic English kingdoms, the emergence of West Saxon hegemony and the creation of the kingdom of England, the Danish wars and the coming of the Normans. Alfred compiles his account from three main sources: from Lincoln, the Historia Anglorum (HA) of Henry of Huntingdon; from Worcester, the Genealogies and Accounts of the Saxon kingdoms contained in the preliminary section of the Chronicle of John of Worcester, and from Durham, the Historia Regum (HR) attributed to Symeon of Durham. + +Other writings? The Liberties of Beverley + +The Beverley Cartulary (BL, Add. 61901, fol. 60 v- 69 r) contains a tract entitled The Liberties of Beverley which names Master Alfred, the sacrist, as collector and the translator from  English into  Latin of the ancient liberties and privileges of the church of St John of Beverley, as granted by King Æthelstan (d. 939).[7] The cartulary is an expensively produced volume commissioned by the chapter of Beverley in defence of its rights and privileges at a time of conflict between it and Archbishop Alexander Neville (c.1332–1392). + +While the Liberties tract contains nothing from a time later than Alfred, and therefore his authorship is possible, the History offers little to support the view that its author, and that of the Liberties, are one and the same. The History contains a miracle story of St John of Beverley where Beverley’s status as a sanctuary-centre under the protection of the saint is described [8] – a central claim of the Liberties tract- but neither King Æthelstan, nor the other principal benefactors of Beverley described in the tract: Archbishop Wulfstan I of York (d.956), Archbishop Ealdred of York (d.1069) and King Edward the Confessor (d.1066), are linked in any way to Beverley in the History. Equally, royal privileges granted by King William I to Beverley which are reported in the History, are not found in the Liberties tract.[9]  What the Liberties text attests, however, is the preservation of Alfred’s memory in later medieval Beverley. The Liberties text occupies a central place in the cartulary and is elaborately presented, making clear its significance to the compilers. In a matter of importance to the chapter of Beverley, it is Alfred’s name which is attached to the text. He is recalled as both a scholar – able to translate ancient privileges from English into Latin – and as a historian, the collector and redactor of oral traditions. + +Historical value + +The long neglect in historical scholarship of Alfred’s History (until recently available only in its poor early eighteenth century edition) may be explained by the work’s reputation for unoriginality. The editor of the Monumenta Historica Britannica (1848), Henry Petrie, described the work as not containing ‘a single fact that may not be found in Bede, Florence of Worcester, Henry of Huntingdon, Geoffrey of Monmouth and Symeon of Durham’.[10] More recent commentators have variously described the work as a ‘worthless compilation’, [11] its author ‘a dullard’, [12] and uninformative.[13] + +While the work is certainly derivative - some ninety percent is compiled from the works of others[14] – it is neither unoriginal nor uninformative. The repackaging of Geoffrey of Monmouth’s pseudo-history is innovative and created a periodization of the rule of the British kings which was later taken over by Ranulf Higden in his influential universal chronicle, Polychronicon (c.1320s – 1360s). From John Trevisa’s English translation of Higden’s work (1387)[15] it passed to William Caxton’s printed Descripcion of Brytayne (1480) and from thence into Tudor historiography.[16] Chapter six of the work sees borrowings which are skilfully woven together to provide an independent account. Several sources: Geoffrey of Monmouth, Bede, Henry of Huntingdon, John of Worcester and Symeon of Durham are quarried to narrate two important turning points in the island’s history:  the ‘passage of dominion’ from the British to the Anglo-Saxon kings on the island, and the transition from a heptarchy of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms to the monarchy of England under the West Saxon kings. + +Borrowings from Henry of Huntingdon’s HA, The Chronicle of John of Worcester and the Durham HR contain information of interest to the historical student. Further evidence for the collaborative and exchange culture in English historical writing in the first half of the twelfth century is provided. The sharing of texts and mutual borrowing that existed between centres of Benedictine historical writing at the time has long been recognised - described recently by some scholars as akin to ‘historical workshops’ [17] and Alfred’s use of texts from Worcester, Durham and Lincoln at various stages of their elaboration and transmission is evidence for continuity in this collaborative culture in English historical writing c.1150. + +The handling of Geoffrey of Monmouth’s pseudo-history in the History provides important evidence for its very earliest reception. The author is openly critical of Geoffrey’s account on occasion.[18] Despite the promise to include only matter which did not exceed the ‘bounds of credibility’, through the omission of important Galfridian material and by the frequent collation of Geoffrey’s version of events with that of standard historical authority (Orosius, Eutropius, Bede), it is clear that doubts about the veracity of all he was reporting were harboured. It is of interest that, after William of Newburgh’s more forensic and vigorous attack on the HRB in his Historia Rerum Anglicarum (c.1195), this early questioning reception appears to have all but vanished in Insular historical writing. + +Use of Henry of Huntingdon’s Historia Anglorum (HA) provides additional evidence for that work’s important influence in twelfth century English historical writing. The HA appears to have served Alfred as a model, used to help plan his own compilation. This is evident in the textual borrowings, thematic structure, language, and absorption of Henry’s historical ideas which Alfred served to recycle. Alfred’s introductory description of Britain, which later was extensively quarried by Ranulf Higden in the opening book of his Polychronicon, - the mappa mundi (map of the world) - was for its greater part taken from the descriptive survey with which Henry opens the HA. + +Borrowings from the Chronicle of John of Worcester play an important part in the making of the compilation. The drawn genealogical trees and dynastic accounts of the heptarchic Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, located in the preliminary section of the Worcester Chronicle, help shape Alfred’s understanding of the Anglo-Saxon past. Chapter eight of the History, which narrates the ‘monarchy of England’, begins with the rule of King Æthelstan. More decisively than with any other chronicler of the time, Alfred presents the kingdom of England as beginning with the rule of King Æthelstan, a view which can be directly linked to Alfred’s Worcester source. That Alfred had access in Beverley c.1150 to an independently circulating copy of the genealogical tables and accounts, extends our knowledge of the reach of Worcester historical writing at the time. + +Use of the Durham HR in the History is also important. Roughly thirty percent of theHistory derives from the HR and as this material is taken from a version of the HR which predates its sole surviving manuscript witness – contained in Corpus Christi College Cambridge, MS 139 – which may have reached its present form by c.1180,[19] rare evidence for the textual development of the HR during the twelfth century is provided. Use of the Durham HR also casts light on the interests and outlook of a secular historical writer of the time. Much of the HR’s important ecclesiastical matter is omitted but story-telling episodes of a more worldly nature are rarely passed over. We are reminded in Alfred’s reception of the HR, that the interests and mindset of members the secular church of Beverley were very different to the community of monks in the Cathedral priory of Durham. + +Sources + +The History of Alfred of Beverley, ed. J. P. T. Slevin, trans. L. Lockyer, Boydell Medieval Texts (Woodbridge, 2023) Abb. HAB + +Aluredi Beverlacensis Annales, sive Historia de Gestis Regum Britanniae Libris IX, ed. Thomas Hearne (Oxford, 1716) + +Beverley Minster Fasti, ed. R.T.W McDermid, Yorkshire Archaeological Record Series, vol. cxlix (Huddersfield, 1990), pp. 17, 18, 113. Abb. BMF + +Descriptive Catalogue of Material Relating to the History of Britain and Ireland, ed. T. D. Hardy, Rolls Series, ii (1865), pp. 169-74 + +Early Yorkshire Charters, vols i-iii, ed. W. Farrer (Edinburgh, 1914-16); vols iv-xii, ed. C. T. Clay. + +Yorkshire Archaeological Record Series, extra series, (1935-65). + +English Episcopal Acta v. York 1070-1154, ed. Janet Burton (British Academy/Oxford, 1988). + +Monumenta Historica Britannica, ed. H. Petrie (London, 1848), p. 28 Abb. MHB + +Rufford Charters, ed. C. J. Holdsworth, Thoroton Society Record Series, 4 vols. 29, 30, 32, 34 (Nottingham, 1972-81). + +Sanctuarium Dunelmense et Sanctuarium Beverlacense, ed. J. Raine Snr, Surtees Society, i (1837), pp. 97-108 + +The Historians of the Church of York and its Archbishops, ed. J. Raine 3 vols. Rolls Series 71 (London 1879-94), Abb HCY + +A Handlist of the Latin Writers of Great Britain and Ireland before 1540, R. Sharpe, p.54 + +Antonia Gransden, Historical Writing in England c. 550 to c. 1307 (London, 1974), pp. 186, 195, 212 + +AntonIa Gransden, ‘Prologues in the Historiography of Twelfth-Century England’, in  Gransden, Legends, Traditions and History in Medieval England (London, 1992), pp. 125-51 at pp. 133-4, 142. + +Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Beverley, Alfred of, Sidney Lee (1917), revised by J. C. Crick (September, 2004) + +John P. T. Slevin, ‘Observations on the twelfth-century Historia of Alfred of Beverley’ Haskins Society Journal, 27 (2015), pp. 101-128. + +__, ‘The Historical Writing of Alfred of Beverley’ (unpublished Ph.D dissertation, University of Exeter, 2013). Available in Open Research Exeter. + +J. S. P. Tatlock, The Legendary History of Britain. Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia Regum Britanniae and its early Vernacular Versions (Berkley, 1950), pp. 210-11 + +John Taylor, Medieval Historical Writing in Yorkshire, Borthwick Institute of Historical Research, St Anthony’s Hall Publications 19 (York, 1961), p. 8 + +R. William Leckie, Jr., The Passage of Dominion. Geoffrey of Monmouth and the Periodization of Insular History in the Twelfth Century (Toronto, 1981), pp.45-6, 86-92, 96 + +N. Wright, ‘Twelfth- century receptions of a text: Anglo-Norman Historians and Hegesippus’, Anglo-Norman Studies 31 (2009),177-95. + +Archives + +Oxford, Boldl. MS Rawlinson B 200 + +Aberystwyth, NLW, MS Peniarth 384 + +London, BL MS Cotton Cleopatra A I + +Paris, BnF MS Latin 4126 +[1] HAB, p. xx. + +[2] Ibid. Charter 5. + +[3] HAB, p. 9. + +[4] HCY, vol. i. p. 304. Alfred appears in a miracle story collection, appended to a Life of St John by Folcard, monk of St Bertin’s in Flanders (c.1070’s) entitled Alia Miracula, Auctore ut Plurimum Teste Oculato. + +[5] BMF p. 113. + +[6] HAB, p. xxvii. The hanging tablets are presently housed in the York Minster library. + +[7] Raine, Sanctuarium Dunelmense et Sanctuarium Beverlacense, pp.97-108. + +[8] HAB, ix. pp.138-9. + +[9] HAB, ix. p.139, n. 17 + +[10] MHB, p. 28 + +[11] Charles Gross, A Bibliography of English History to 1485, ed. E. B. Graves (Oxford, 1975), p. 405 + +[12] Tatlock, Legendary History, pp. 210-11. + +[13] John Taylor, Medieval Historical Writing in Yorkshire, Borthwick Institute of Historical Research, St Anthony’s Hall Publications 19 (York, 1961), p. 8 + +[14] HAB p. lxxiv. + +[15] HAB p. lviii. + +[16] HAB pp. lviii-lx. + +[17] David Rollason, ‘Symeon of Durham’s Historia de Regibus Anglorum et Dacorum as a product of Historical Workshops’ in The Long Twelfth Century View of the Anglo-Saxon Past, ed. Martin Brett and David Woodman (Farnham, 2015), pp.95-111 at p. 102 + +[18] HAB, ii. p. 25; v. pp. 73-4. + +[19] Rollason, ‘Symeon of Durham’s Historia de Regibus Anglorum et Dacorum as a product of Historical Workshops’, p. 102 + +Biography +Alfred of Beverley, was a priest of Beverley, and is described in the preface to his book as "treasurer of the church of Beverley" and "Master Alfred, sacrist of the church of Beverley". + +Alfred of Beverley speaks of himself as contemporary with the removal of the Flemings from the north of England to Ross in Herefordshire in 1112, and writes that he compiled his chronicle "when the church was silent, owing to the number of persons excommunicated under the decree of the council of London", an apparent reference to the council held at Mid-Lent, 1143. His attention, by his own account, was first drawn to history by the publication (before 1139) of Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, and he looked forward to following up the chronicle which bears his name, and which largely depends on Geoffrey's work, with a collection of excerpts from the credible portions of the Historia Regum Britanniae, but no trace of such a work is extant. + +Alfred of Beverley's chronicle is entitled Aluredi Beverlacensis Annales sive Historia de gestis Regum Britanniæ libris ix. ad annum 1129. It is largely devoted to the fabulous history of Britain, and is mainly borrowed from Bede, Henry of Huntingdon, and Symeon of Durham, when Geoffrey of Monmouth is not laid under contribution. Alfred quotes occasionally from Suetonius, Orosius, and Nennius, and names many Roman authors whom he had consulted in vain for references to Britain. The chronicle is of no real use to the historical student, since it adds no new fact to the information to be found in well-known earlier authorities. + +According to Sidney Lee (1885) the best manuscript of Alfred's Annales was among the Hengwrt MSS. belonging to W. W. E. Wynne, Esq., of Peniarth, Merionethshire, and had not been printed. Hearne printed the ‘Annales’ in 1716 from an inferior Bodleian MS. (Rawl. B. 200). + +Works + +Notes + +References + +12th-century English historians +Middle English literature +12th-century writers in Latin +People from Beverley + + +Events + +Pre-1600 +1500 – Portuguese navigator Pedro Álvares Cabral lands in Brazil. +1519 – Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés establishes a settlement at Veracruz, Mexico. +1529 – Treaty of Zaragoza divides the eastern hemisphere between Spain and Portugal along a line 297.5 leagues () east of the Moluccas. + +1601–1900 +1809 – The second day of the Battle of Eckmühl: The Austrian army is defeated by the First French Empire army led by Napoleon and driven over the Danube in Regensburg. +1836 – Texas Revolution: A day after the Battle of San Jacinto, forces under Texas General Sam Houston identify Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna among the captives of the battle when some of his fellow soldiers mistakenly give away his identity. +1864 – The U.S. Congress passes the Coinage Act of 1864 that permitted the inscription In God We Trust be placed on all coins minted as United States currency. +1876 – The first National League baseball game is played at the Jefferson Street Grounds in Philadelphia. +1889 – At noon, thousands rush to claim land in the Land Rush of 1889. Within hours the cities of Oklahoma City and Guthrie are formed with populations of at least 10,000. +1898 – Spanish–American War: President William McKinley calls for 125,000 volunteers to join the National Guard and fight in Cuba, while Congress more than doubles regular Army forces to 65,000. + +1901–present +1906 – The 1906 Intercalated Games open in Athens. +1915 – World War I: The use of poison gas in World War I escalates when chlorine gas is released as a chemical weapon in the Second Battle of Ypres. +1930 – The United Kingdom, Japan and the United States sign the London Naval Treaty regulating submarine warfare and limiting shipbuilding. +1944 – The 1st Air Commando Group using Sikorsky R-4 helicopters stage the first use of helicopters in combat with combat search and rescue operations in the China Burma India Theater. + 1944 – World War II: Operation Persecution is initiated: Allied forces land in the Hollandia (currently known as Jayapura) area of New Guinea. + 1944 – World War II: In Greenland, the Allied Sledge Patrol attack the German Bassgeiger weather station. +1945 – World War II: Prisoners at the Jasenovac concentration camp revolt. Five hundred twenty are killed and around eighty escape. + 1945 – World War II: Sachsenhausen concentration camp is liberated by soldiers of the Red Army and Polish First Army. +1948 – Arab–Israeli War: The port city of Haifa is captured by Jewish forces. +1951 – Korean War: The Chinese People's Volunteer Army begin assaulting positions defended by the Royal Australian Regiment and the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry at the Battle of Kapyong. +1954 – Red Scare: Witnesses begin testifying and live television coverage of the Army–McCarthy hearings begins. +1969 – British yachtsman Sir Robin Knox-Johnston wins the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race and completes the first solo non-stop circumnavigation of the world. + 1969 – The formation of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) is announced at a mass rally in Calcutta. +1970 – The first Earth Day is celebrated. +1974 – Pan Am Flight 812 crashes on approach to Ngurah Rai International Airport in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia, killing all 107 people on board. +1977 – Optical fiber is first used to carry live telephone traffic. +1992 – A series of gas explosions rip through the streets in Guadalajara, Mexico, killing 206. +1993 – Eighteen-year-old Stephen Lawrence is murdered in a racially motivated attack while waiting for a bus in Well Hall, Eltham. +2005 – Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi apologizes for Japan's war record. +2016 – The Paris Agreement is signed, an agreement to help fight global warming. +2020 – Four police officers are killed after being struck by a truck on the Eastern Freeway in Melbourne while speaking to a speeding driver, marking the largest loss of police lives in Victoria Police history. + +Births + +Pre-1600 +1412 – Reinhard III, Count of Hanau (1451–1452) (d. 1452) +1444 – Elizabeth of York, Duchess of Suffolk (d. 1503) +1451 – Isabella I of Castile (d. 1504) +1518 – Antoine of Navarre (d. 1562) +1592 – Wilhelm Schickard, German astronomer and mathematician (d. 1635) + +1601–1900 +1610 – Pope Alexander VIII (d. 1691) +1658 – Giuseppe Torelli, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1709) +1690 – John Carteret, 2nd Earl Granville, English politician, Lord President of the Council (d. 1763) +1707 – Henry Fielding, English novelist and playwright (d. 1754) +1711 – Paul II Anton, Prince Esterházy, Austrian soldier (d. 1762) +1724 – Immanuel Kant, German anthropologist, philosopher, and academic (d. 1804) +1732 – John Johnson, English architect and surveyor (d. 1814) +1744 – James Sullivan, American lawyer and politician, 7th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1808) +1766 – Germaine de Staël, French author and political philosopher (d. 1817) +1812 – Solomon Caesar Malan, Swiss-English orientalist (d. 1894) +1816 – Charles-Denis Bourbaki, French general (d. 1897) +1830 – Emily Davies, British suffragist and educator, co-founder and an early Mistress of Girton College, Cambridge University +1832 – Julius Sterling Morton, American journalist and politician, 3rd United States Secretary of Agriculture (d. 1902) +1844 – Lewis Powell, American soldier, attempted assassin of William H. Seward (d. 1865) +1852 – William IV, Grand Duke of Luxembourg (d. 1912) +1854 – Henri La Fontaine, Belgian lawyer and author, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1943) +1858 – Ethel Smyth, English composer (d. 1944) + 1858 – Fritz Mayer van den Bergh, Belgian art collector and art historian (d. 1901) +1870 – Vladimir Lenin, Russian revolutionary and founder of Soviet Russia (d. 1924) +1872 – Princess Margaret of Prussia (d. 1954) +1873 – Ellen Glasgow, American author (d. 1945) +1874 – Wu Peifu, Chinese warlord, politician, and marshal of the Beiyang Army (d. 1939) +1876 – Róbert Bárány, Austrian-Swedish otologist and physician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1936) + 1876 – Georg Lurich, Estonian wrestler and strongman (d. 1920) +1879 – Bernhard Gregory, Estonian-German chess player (d. 1939) +1884 – Otto Rank, Austrian-American psychologist and academic (d. 1939) +1886 – Izidor Cankar, Slovenian historian, author, and diplomat (d. 1958) +1887 – Harald Bohr, Danish mathematician and footballer (d. 1951) +1889 – Richard Glücks, German SS officer (d. 1945) +1891 – Laura Gilpin, American photographer (d. 1979) + 1891 – Vittorio Jano, Italian engineer (d. 1965) + 1891 – Harold Jeffreys, English mathematician, geophysicist, and astronomer (d. 1989) + 1891 – Nicola Sacco, Italian-American anarchist (d. 1927) +1892 – Vernon Johns, African-American minister and activist (d. 1965) +1899 – Vladimir Nabokov, Russian-born novelist and critic (d. 1977) +1900 – Nellie Beer, British politician, Lord Mayor of Manchester (d. 1988) + +1901–present +1904 – J. Robert Oppenheimer, American physicist and academic (d. 1967) +1905 – Robert Choquette, American-Canadian author, poet, and diplomat (d. 1991) +1906 – Eric Fenby, English composer and educator (d. 1997) + 1906 – Prince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Västerbotten (d. 1947) +1909 – Rita Levi-Montalcini, Italian neurologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2012) + 1909 – Indro Montanelli, Italian journalist and historian (d. 2001) + 1909 – Spyros Markezinis, Greek politician, Prime Minister of Greece (d. 2000) +1910 – Norman Steenrod, American mathematician and academic (d. 1971) +1912 – Kathleen Ferrier, English operatic singer (d. 1953) + 1912 – Kaneto Shindo, Japanese director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2012) +1914 – Baldev Raj Chopra, Indian director and producer (d. 2008) + 1914 – Jan de Hartog, Dutch-American author and playwright (d. 2002) + 1914 – José Quiñones Gonzales, Peruvian soldier and pilot (d. 1941) + 1914 – Michael Wittmann, German SS officer (d. 1944) +1916 – Hanfried Lenz, German mathematician and academic (d. 2013) + 1916 – Yehudi Menuhin, American-Swiss violinist and conductor (d. 1999) +1917 – Yvette Chauviré, French ballerina (d. 2016) + 1917 – Sidney Nolan, Australian painter (d. 1992) +1918 – William Jay Smith, American poet and academic (d. 2015) + 1918 – Mickey Vernon, American baseball player and coach (d. 2008) +1919 – Donald J. Cram, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2001) + 1919 – Carl Lindner, Jr., American businessman and philanthropist (d. 2011) +1922 – Richard Diebenkorn, American soldier and painter (d. 1993) + 1922 – Charles Mingus, American bassist, composer, and bandleader (d. 1979) + 1922 – Wolf V. Vishniac, American microbiologist and academic (d. 1973) +1923 – Peter Kane Dufault, American soldier, pilot, and poet (d. 2013) + 1923 – Bettie Page, American model and actress (d. 2008) + 1923 – Aaron Spelling, American actor, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2006) +1924 – Nam Duck-woo, South Korean politician, 12th Prime Minister of South Korea (d. 2013) +1926 – Charlotte Rae, American actress and singer (d. 2018) + 1926 – James Stirling, Scottish architect, designed the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart and Seeley Historical Library (d. 1992) +1927 – Laurel Aitken, Cuban-Jamaican singer (d. 2005) +1928 – Estelle Harris, American actress and comedian (d. 2022) +1929 – Michael Atiyah, English-Lebanese mathematician and academic (d. 2019) + 1929 – Robert Wade-Gery, English diplomat, British High Commissioner to India (d. 2015) +1930 – Enno Penno, Estonian politician, Prime Minister of Estonia in exile (d. 2016) +1931 – John Buchanan, Canadian lawyer and politician, 20th Premier of Nova Scotia (d. 2019) + 1931 – Ronald Hynd, English dancer and choreographer +1933 – Anthony Llewellyn, Welsh-American chemist and astronaut (d. 2013) +1935 – Christopher Ball, English linguist and academic + 1935 – Paul Chambers, African-American bassist and composer (d. 1969) + 1935 – Bhama Srinivasan, Indian-American mathematician and academic +1936 – Glen Campbell, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (d. 2017) + 1936 – Pierre Hétu, Canadian pianist and conductor (d. 1998) +1937 – Jack Nicholson, American actor and producer + 1937 – Jack Nitzsche, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and conductor (d. 2000) +1938 – Alan Bond, English-Australian businessman (d. 2015) + 1938 – Gani Fawehinmi, Nigerian lawyer and activist (d. 2009) + 1938 – Issey Miyake, Japanese fashion designer (d. 2022) + 1938 – Adam Raphael, English journalist and author +1939 – Mel Carter, American singer and actor + 1939 – John Foley, English general and politician, Lieutenant Governor of Guernsey + 1939 – Ray Guy, Canadian journalist and author (d. 2013) + 1939 – Jason Miller, American actor and playwright (d. 2001) + 1939 – Theodor Waigel, German lawyer and politician, German Federal Minister of Finance +1941 – Greville Howard, Baron Howard of Rising, English politician +1942 – Giorgio Agamben, Italian philosopher and academic + 1942 – Mary Prior, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Bristol +1943 – Keith Crisco, American businessman and politician (d. 2014) + 1943 – Janet Evanovich, American author + 1943 – Louise Glück, American poet (d. 2023) + 1943 – John Maples, Baron Maples, English lawyer and politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Defence (d. 2012) + 1943 – Scott W. Williams, American mathematician and professor +1944 – Steve Fossett, American businessman, pilot, and sailor (d. 2007) + 1944 – Doug Jarrett, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2014) + 1944 – Joshua Rifkin, American conductor and musicologist +1945 – Gopalkrishna Gandhi, Indian civil servant and politician, 22nd Governor of West Bengal + 1945 – Demetrio Stratos, Greek-Egyptian singer-songwriter (d. 1979) +1946 – Steven L. Bennett, American captain and pilot, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1972) + 1946 – Paul Davies, English physicist and author + 1946 – Louise Harel, Canadian lawyer and politician + 1946 – Archy Kirkwood, Baron Kirkwood of Kirkhope, Scottish lawyer and politician + 1946 – Nicholas Stern, Baron Stern of Brentford, English economist and academic + 1946 – John Waters, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter +1948 – John Pritchard, English bishop +1949 – Spencer Haywood, American basketball player +1950 – Peter Frampton, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer + 1950 – Jancis Robinson, English journalist and critic +1951 – Aivars Kalējs, Latvian organist, composer, and pianist + 1951 – Ana María Shua, Argentinian author and poet +1957 – Donald Tusk, Polish journalist and politician, 14th Prime Minister of Poland +1959 – Terry Francona, American baseball player and manager + 1959 – Ryan Stiles, American-Canadian actor and comedian +1960 – Mart Laar, Estonian historian and politician, 9th Prime Minister of Estonia +1961 – Jeff Hostetler, American football player + 1961 – Alo Mattiisen, Estonian composer (d. 1996) +1962 – Jeff Minter, British video game designer and programmer + 1962 – Danièle Sauvageau, Canadian ice hockey player and coach +1963 – Rosalind Gill, English sociologist and academic + 1963 – Sean Lock, English comedian and actor (d. 2021) +1966 – Mickey Morandini, American baseball player and manager + 1966 – Jeffrey Dean Morgan, American actor +1967 – David J. C. MacKay, English physicist, engineer, and academic (d. 2016) + 1967 – Sherri Shepherd, American actress, comedian, and television personality +1970 – Regine Velasquez, Filipino singer and actress +1976 – Dan Cloutier, Canadian ice hockey player and coach +1978 – Paul Malakwen Kosgei, Kenyan runner and coach +1979 – Zoltán Gera, Hungarian international footballer and manager + 1979 – Daniel Johns, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist +1980 – Quincy Timberlake, Kenyan-Australian activist, engineer, and politician +1982 – Kaká, Brazilian footballer +1983 – Sam W. Heads, English-American entomologist and palaeontologist + 1983 – Shkëlzen Shala, Albanian entrepreneur and veganism activist +1986 – Amber Heard, American actress + 1986 – Marshawn Lynch, American football player +1987 – David Luiz, Brazilian footballer +1988 – Dee Strange-Gordon, American baseball player +1990 – Machine Gun Kelly, American rapper, singer, songwriter, actor + 1990 – Kevin Kiermaier, American baseball player +1991 – Danni Wyatt, English cricketer + +Deaths + +Pre-1600 + 296 – Pope Caius + 536 – Pope Agapetus I + 591 – Peter III of Raqqa + 613 – Saint Theodore of Sykeon + 835 – Kūkai, Japanese Buddhist monk, founder of Esoteric (Shingon) Buddhism (b. 774) + 846 – Wuzong, Chinese emperor (b. 814) +1208 – Philip of Poitou, Prince-Bishop of Durham +1322 – Francis of Fabriano, Italian writer (b. 1251) +1355 – Eleanor of Woodstock, countess regent of Guelders, eldest daughter of King Edward II of England (b. 1318) +1585 – Henry of Saxe-Lauenburg, Prince-Archbishop of Bremen, Prince-Bishop of Osnabrück and Paderborn (b. 1550) + +1601–1900 +1616 – Miguel de Cervantes, Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright (b. 1547) +1672 – Georg Stiernhielm, Swedish linguist and poet (b. 1598) +1699 – Hans Erasmus Aßmann, German poet (b. 1646) +1758 – Antoine de Jussieu, French botanist and physician (b. 1686) +1778 – James Hargreaves, British inventor (b. 1720) +1806 – Pierre-Charles Villeneuve, French admiral (b. 1763) +1821 – Gregory V of Constantinople, Greek patriarch and saint (b. 1746) +1833 – Richard Trevithick, English engineer and explorer (b. 1771) +1850 – Friedrich Robert Faehlmann, Estonian philologist and physician (b. 1798) +1854 – Nicolás Bravo, Mexican general and politician, 11th President of Mexico (b. 1786) +1871 – Martín Carrera, Mexican general and president (1855) (b. 1806) +1877 – James P. Kirkwood, Scottish-American engineer (b. 1807) +1892 – Édouard Lalo, French violinist and composer (b. 1823) +1893 – Chaim Aronson, Lithuanian businessman and author (b. 1825) +1894 – Kostas Krystallis, Greek author and poet (b. 1868) +1896 – Thomas Meik, English engineer, founded Halcrow Group (b. 1812) + +1901–present +1908 – Henry Campbell-Bannerman, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1836) +1925 – André Caplet, French composer and conductor (b. 1878) +1929 – Henry Lerolle, French painter and art collector (b. 1848) +1932 – Ferenc Oslay, Hungarian-Slovene historian and author (b. 1883) +1933 – Henry Royce, English engineer and businessman, co-founded Rolls-Royce Limited (b. 1863) +1945 – Wilhelm Cauer, German mathematician and academic (b. 1900) + 1945 – Käthe Kollwitz, German painter and sculptor (b. 1867) +1950 – Charles Hamilton Houston, American lawyer and academic (b. 1895) +1951 – Horace Donisthorpe, English myrmecologist and coleopterist (b. 1870) +1978 – Will Geer, American actor (b. 1902) +1980 – Jane Froman, American actress and singer (b. 1907) + 1980 – Fritz Strassmann, German chemist and physicist (b. 1902) +1983 – Earl Hines, American pianist and bandleader (b. 1903) +1984 – Ansel Adams, American photographer and environmentalist (b. 1902) +1985 – Paul Hugh Emmett, American chemist and academic (b. 1900) + 1985 – Jacques Ferron, Canadian physician and author (b. 1921) +1986 – Mircea Eliade, Romanian historian and author (b. 1907) +1987 – Erika Nõva, Estonian architect (b. 1905) +1988 – Grigori Kuzmin, Russian-Estonian astronomer and academic (b. 1917) + 1988 – Irene Rich, American actress (b. 1891) +1989 – Emilio G. Segrè, Italian-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1905) +1990 – Albert Salmi, American actor (b. 1928) +1994 – Richard Nixon, 37th President of the United States (b. 1913) +1995 – Jane Kenyon, American poet and author (b. 1947) +1996 – Erma Bombeck, American journalist and author (b. 1927) + 1996 – Jug McSpaden, American golfer and architect (b. 1908) +1999 – Munir Ahmad Khan, Pakistani nuclear engineer (b. 1926) +2003 – Felice Bryant, American songwriter (b. 1925) +2005 – Erika Fuchs, German translator (b. 1906) + 2005 – Philip Morrison, American physicist and academic (b. 1915) + 2005 – Eduardo Paolozzi, Scottish sculptor and artist (b. 1924) +2006 – Henriette Avram, American computer scientist and academic (b. 1919) + 2006 – Alida Valli, Italian actress (b. 1921) +2007 – Juanita Millender-McDonald, American educator and politician (b. 1938) +2009 – Jack Cardiff, British cinematographer, director and photographer (b. 1914) +2010 – Richard Barrett, American lawyer and activist (b. 1943) +2012 – George Rathmann, American chemist, biologist, and businessman (b. 1927) +2013 – Richie Havens, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1941) + 2013 – Lalgudi Jayaraman, Indian violinist and composer (b. 1930) + 2013 – Robert Suderburg, American pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1936) +2014 – Oswaldo Vigas, Venezuelan painter (b. 1926) +2015 – Dick Balharry, Scottish environmentalist and photographer (b. 1937) +2017 – Donna Leanne Williams, Australian writer, artist, and activist (b. 1963) +2020 – Shirley Knight, American actress (b. 1936) +2021 – Adrian Garrett, American professional baseball player (b. 1943) +2022 – Guy Lafleur, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1951) +2023 – Len Goodman, English ballroom dancer and television personality (b. 1944) + +Holidays and observances + Christian feast day: +Acepsimas of Hnaita and companions (Catholic Church) +Arwald +Epipodius and Alexander +Hudson Stuck (Episcopal Church) +John Muir (Episcopal Church) +Opportuna of Montreuil +Pope Caius +Pope Soter +St Senorina +April 22 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) +Fighter Aviation Day (Brazil) +Discovery Day (Brazil) +Earth Day (International observance) and its related observance: International Mother Earth Day +Holocaust Remembrance Day (Serbia) +From 2018 onwards, a national day of commemoration for the murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence (United Kingdom) + +References + +External links + + BBC: On This Day + + Historical Events on April 22 + +Days of the year +April + + +Events + +Pre-1600 +1056 – After a sudden illness a few days previously, Byzantine Empress Theodora dies childless, thus ending the Macedonian dynasty. +1057 – Abdication of Byzantine Emperor Michael VI Bringas after just one year. +1218 – Al-Kamil becomes sultan of the Ayyubid dynasty. +1314 – King Haakon V of Norway moves the capital from Bergen to Oslo. +1420 – The 8.8–9.4 Caldera earthquake shakes Chile's Atacama Region causing tsunami in Chile, Hawaii, and Japan. +1422 – King Henry V of England dies of dysentery while in France. His son, Henry VI becomes King of England at the age of nine months. +1535 – Pope Paul III excommunicates English King Henry VIII from the church. He drew up a papal bull of excommunication which began Eius qui immobilis. + +1601–1900 +1776 – William Livingston, the first Governor of New Jersey, begins serving his first term. +1795 – War of the First Coalition: The British capture Trincomalee (present-day Sri Lanka) from the Dutch in order to keep it out of French hands. +1798 – Irish Rebellion: Irish rebels, with French assistance, establish the short-lived Republic of Connacht. +1813 – Peninsular War: Spanish troops repel a French attack in the Battle of San Marcial. +1864 – During the American Civil War, Union forces led by General William T. Sherman launch an assault on Atlanta. +1876 – Ottoman Sultan Murad V is deposed and succeeded by his brother Abdul Hamid II. +1886 – The 7.0 Charleston earthquake affects southeastern South Carolina with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme). Sixty people killed with damage estimated at $5–6 million. +1888 – Mary Ann Nichols is murdered. She is the first of Jack the Ripper's confirmed victims. +1895 – German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin patents his navigable balloon. + +1901–present +1907 – Russia and the United Kingdom sign the Anglo-Russian Convention, by which the UK recognizes Russian preeminence in northern Persia, while Russia recognizes British preeminence in southeastern Persia and Afghanistan. Both powers pledge not to interfere in Tibet. +1918 – World War I: Start of the Battle of Mont Saint-Quentin, a successful assault by the Australian Corps during the Hundred Days Offensive. +1920 – Polish–Soviet War: A decisive Polish victory in the Battle of Komarów. +1933 – The Integral Nationalist Group wins the 1933 Andorran parliamentary election, the first election in Andorra held with universal male suffrage. +1935 – In an attempt to stay out of the growing tensions concerning Germany and Japan, the United States passes the first of its Neutrality Acts. +1936 – Radio Prague, now the official international broadcasting station of the Czech Republic, goes on the air. +1939 – Nazi Germany mounts a false flag attack on the Gleiwitz radio station, creating an excuse to attack Poland the following day, thus starting World War II in Europe. +1940 – Pennsylvania Central Airlines Trip 19 crashes near Lovettsville, Virginia. The CAB investigation of the accident is the first investigation to be conducted under the Bureau of Air Commerce act of 1938. +1941 – World War II: Serbian paramilitary forces defeat Germans in the Battle of Loznica. +1943 – , the first U.S. Navy ship to be named after a black person, is commissioned. +1949 – The retreat of the Democratic Army of Greece into Albania after its defeat on Gramos mountain marks the end of the Greek Civil War. +1950 – TWA Flight 903 crashes near Itay El Barud, Egypt, killing all 55 aboard. +1957 – The Federation of Malaya (now Malaysia) gains its independence from the United Kingdom. +1959 – A parcel bomb sent by Ngô Đình Nhu, younger brother and chief adviser of South Vietnamese President Ngô Đình Diệm, fails to kill King Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia. +1962 – Trinidad and Tobago becomes independent. +1963 – Crown Colony of North Borneo (now Sabah) achieves self governance. +1972 – Aeroflot Flight 558 crashes in the Abzelilovsky District in Bashkortostan, Russia (then the Soviet Union), killing all 102 people aboard. +1986 – Aeroméxico Flight 498 collides with a Piper PA-28 Cherokee over Cerritos, California, killing 67 in the air and 15 on the ground. + 1986 – The Soviet passenger liner sinks in the Black Sea after colliding with the bulk carrier Pyotr Vasev, killing 423. +1987 – Thai Airways Flight 365 crashes into the ocean near Ko Phuket, Thailand, killing all 83 aboard. +1988 – Delta Air Lines Flight 1141 crashes during takeoff from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, killing 14. + 1988 – CAAC Flight 301 overshoots the runway at Kai Tak Airport and crashes into Kowloon Bay, killing seven people. +1991 – Kyrgyzstan declares its independence from the Soviet Union. +1993 – Russia completes removing its troops from Lithuania. +1994 – Russia completes removing its troops from Estonia. +1996 – Saddam Hussein's troops seized Irbil after the Kurdish Masoud Barzani appealed for help to defeat his Kurdish rival PUK. +1997 – Diana, Princess of Wales, her partner Dodi Fayed and driver Henri Paul die in a car crash in Paris. +1999 – The first of a series of bombings in Moscow kills one person and wounds 40 others. + 1999 – A LAPA Boeing 737-200 crashes during takeoff from Jorge Newbury Airport in Buenos Aires, killing 65, including two on the ground. +2002 – Typhoon Rusa, the most powerful typhoon to hit South Korea in 43 years, made landfall, killing at least 236 people. +2005 – The 2005 Al-Aaimmah bridge stampede in Baghdad kills 953 people. +2006 – Edvard Munch's famous painting, The Scream, stolen on August 22, 2004, is recovered in a raid by Norwegian police. +2016 – Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff is impeached and removed from office. +2019 – A sightseeing helicopter crashes in the mountains of Skoddevarre, Alta, Norway, killing all 6 occupants. + +Births + +Pre-1600 +12 – Caligula, Roman emperor (d. 41) + 161 – Commodus, Roman emperor (d. 192) +1018 – Jeongjong II, Korean ruler (d. 1046) +1168 – Zhang Zong, Chinese emperor (d. 1208) +1542 – Isabella de' Medici, Italian princess (d. 1576) +1569 – Jahangir, Mughal emperor (d. 1627) + +1601–1900 +1652 – Ferdinando Carlo Gonzaga, Italian nobleman (d. 1708) +1663 – Guillaume Amontons, French physicist and instrument maker (d. 1705) +1721 – George Hervey, 2nd Earl of Bristol, English soldier and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (d. 1775) +1741 – Jean-Paul-Égide Martini, French composer and educator (d. 1816) +1748 – Jean-Étienne Despréaux, French ballet dancer, choreographer, composer, and playwright (d. 1820) +1767 – Henry Joy McCracken, Irish businessman and activist, founded the Society of United Irishmen (d. 1798) +1775 – Agnes Bulmer, English poet and author (d. 1836) +1797 – Ramón Castilla, Peruvian military leader and politician, President of Peru (d. 1867) + 1797 – Stephen Geary, English architect, inventor and entrepreneur (d. 1854) +1802 – Husein Gradaščević, Ottoman general (d. 1834) +1811 – Théophile Gautier, French poet and critic (d. 1872) +1821 – Hermann von Helmholtz, German physician and physicist (d. 1894) +1823 – Galusha A. Grow, American lawyer and politician, 28th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (d. 1907) +1834 – Amilcare Ponchielli, Italian composer and educator (d. 1886) +1842 – Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin, American journalist, publisher, and activist (d. 1924) +1843 – Georg von Hertling, German academic and politician, 7th Chancellor of the German Empire (d. 1919) +1870 – Maria Montessori, Italian physician and educator (d. 1952) +1871 – James E. Ferguson, American banker and politician, 26th Governor of Texas (d. 1944) +1875 – Rosa Lemberg, Namibian-born Finnish American teacher, singer and choral conductor (d. 1959) +1878 – Frank Jarvis, American sprinter and lawyer (d. 1933) +1879 – Alma Mahler, Austrian-American composer and author (d. 1964) + 1879 – Taishō, emperor of Japan (d. 1926) +1880 – Wilhelmina, queen of the Netherlands (d. 1962) +1884 – George Sarton, Belgian-American historian of science (d. 1956) +1885 – DuBose Heyward, American author and playwright (d. 1940) +1890 – August Alle, Estonian poet and author (d. 1952) + 1890 – Nätti-Jussi, Finnish lumberjack and forest laborer (d. 1964) +1893 – Lily Laskine, French harp player (d. 1988) +1894 – Albert Facey, Australian soldier and author (d. 1982) +1896 – Brian Edmund Baker, English Air Marshal (d. 1979) + 1896 – Félix-Antoine Savard, Canadian priest and author (d. 1982) +1897 – Fredric March, American actor (d. 1975) +1900 – Gino Lucetti, Italian anarchist, attempted assassin of Benito Mussolini (d. 1943) + +1901–present +1902 – Géza Révész, Hungarian general and politician, Hungarian Minister of Defence (d. 1977) +1903 – Arthur Godfrey, American radio and television host (d. 1983) + 1903 – Vladimir Jankélévitch, French musicologist and philosopher (d. 1985) +1905 – Robert Bacher, American physicist and academic (d. 2004) + 1905 – Sanford Meisner, American actor and educator (d. 1997) +1907 – Valter Biiber, Estonian footballer (d. 1977) + 1907 – Augustus F. Hawkins, American lawyer and politician (d. 2007) + 1907 – Ramon Magsaysay, Filipino captain, engineer, and politician, 7th President of the Philippines (d. 1957) + 1907 – William Shawn, American journalist (d. 1992) + 1907 – Altiero Spinelli, Italian theorist and politician (d. 1986) +1908 – William Saroyan, American novelist, playwright, and short story writer (d. 1981) +1909 – Ferenc Fejtő, Hungarian-French journalist and political scientist (d. 2008) +1911 – Edward Brongersma, Dutch journalist and politician (d. 1998) + 1911 – Arsenio Rodríguez, Cuban-American tres player, composer, and bandleader (d. 1970) +1913 – Helen Levitt, American photographer and cinematographer (d. 2009) + 1913 – Bernard Lovell, English physicist and astronomer (d. 2012) +1914 – Richard Basehart, American actor (d. 1984) +1915 – Pete Newell, American basketball player and coach (d. 2008) +1916 – Danny Litwhiler, American baseball player and coach (d. 2011) + 1916 – Daniel Schorr, American journalist and author (d. 2010) + 1916 – John S. Wold, American geologist and politician (d. 2017) +1918 – Alan Jay Lerner, American songwriter and composer (d. 1986) +1919 – Amrita Pritam, Indian poet and author (d. 2005) +1921 – Otis G. Pike, American judge and politician (d. 2014) + 1921 – Raymond Williams, Welsh author and academic (d. 1988) +1924 – John Davidson, American physician and politician (d. 2012) + 1924 – Buddy Hackett, American actor and singer (d. 2003) + 1924 – Herbert Wise, Austrian-English director and producer (d. 2015) +1925 – Moran Campbell, English-Canadian physician and academic, invented the venturi mask (d. 2004) + 1925 – Maurice Pialat, French actor and director (d. 2003) +1928 – James Coburn, American actor (d. 2002) + 1928 – Jaime Sin, Filipino cardinal (d. 2005) +1930 – Big Tiny Little, American pianist (d. 2010) +1931 – Jean Béliveau, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2014) + 1931 – Noble Willingham, American actor (d. 2004) +1932 – Allan Fotheringham, Canadian journalist (d. 2020) + 1932 – Roy Castle, English dancer, singer, comedian, actor, television presenter and musician (d. 1994) +1935 – Eldridge Cleaver, American activist and author (d. 1998) + 1935 – Bryan Organ, English painter + 1935 – Frank Robinson, American baseball player and manager (d. 2019) +1936 – Vladimir Orlov, Russian journalist and author (d. 2014) +1937 – Warren Berlinger, American actor (d. 2020) + 1937 – Bobby Parker, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2013) +1938 – Martin Bell, English journalist and politician +1939 – Jerry Allison, American drummer and songwriter (d. 2022) +1940 – Robbie Basho, American guitarist, pianist, and composer (d. 1986) + 1940 – Wilton Felder, American saxophonist and bass player (d. 2015) + 1940 – Larry Hankin, American actor, director, and producer + 1940 – Roger Newman, English-American actor and screenwriter (d. 2010) + 1940 – Jack Thompson, Australian actor +1941 – William DeWitt, Jr., American businessman + 1941 – Emmanuel Nunes, Portuguese-French composer and educator (d. 2012) +1942 – Isao Aoki, Japanese golfer +1943 – Leonid Ivashov, Russian general +1944 – Roger Dean, English illustrator and publisher + 1944 – Liz Forgan, English journalist + 1944 – Christine King, English historian and academic + 1944 – Clive Lloyd, Guyanese cricketer +1945 – Van Morrison, Northern Irish singer-songwriter + 1945 – Itzhak Perlman, Israeli-American violinist and conductor + 1945 – Bob Welch, American singer and guitarist (d. 2012) +1946 – Ann Coffey, Scottish social worker and politician + 1946 – Jerome Corsi, American conspiracy theorist and author + 1946 – Tom Coughlin, American football player and coach +1947 – Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, Italian businessman + 1947 – Yumiko Ōshima, Japanese author and illustrator + 1947 – Somchai Wongsawat, Thai lawyer and politician, 26th Prime Minister of Thailand +1948 – Harald Ertl, Austrian race car driver and journalist (d. 1982) + 1948 – Lowell Ganz, American screenwriter and producer + 1948 – Ken McMullen, English director, producer, and screenwriter + 1948 – Holger Osieck, German footballer and manager + 1948 – Rudolf Schenker, German guitarist and songwriter +1949 – Richard Gere, American actor and producer + 1949 – Stephen McKinley Henderson, American actor + 1949 – Hugh David Politzer, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate + 1949 – Rick Roberts, American country-rock singer-songwriter and guitarist +1951 – Grant Batty, New Zealand rugby player +1952 – Kim Kashkashian, American viola player and educator + 1952 – Herbert Reul, German politician +1953 – Marcia Clark, American attorney and author + 1953 – Miguel Ángel Guerra, Argentinian race car driver + 1953 – György Károly, Hungarian poet and author (d. 2018) + 1953 – Pavel Vinogradov, Russian astronaut and engineer +1954 – Julie Brown, American actress and screenwriter +1955 – Aleksander Krupa, Polish-American actor + 1955 – Julie Maxton, Scottish lawyer and academic + 1955 – Edwin Moses, American hurdler + 1955 – Anthony Thistlethwaite, English saxophonist and bass player + 1955 – Gary Webb, American journalist and author (d. 2004) +1956 – Mária Balážová, Slovak painter and illustrator + 1956 – Kent Nilsson, Swedish ice hockey player + 1956 – Masashi Tashiro, Japanese singer, actor, and director + 1956 – Tsai Ing-wen, Taiwanese politician and the President of the Republic of China +1957 – Colm O'Rourke, Irish footballer and sportscaster + 1957 – Gina Schock, American drummer + 1957 – Glenn Tilbrook, English singer-songwriter and guitarist +1958 – Serge Blanco, Venezuelan-French rugby player and businessman + 1958 – Stephen Cottrell, English bishop +1959 – Ralph Krueger, Canadian ice hockey player and coach + 1959 – Jessica Upshaw, American lawyer and politician (d. 2013) +1960 – Vali Ionescu, Romanian long jumper + 1960 – Chris Whitley, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2005) + 1960 – Hassan Nasrallah, Lebanese politician, 3rd Secretary-General of Hezbollah +1961 – Kieran Crowley, New Zealand rugby player + 1961 – Magnus Ilmjärv, Estonian historian and author +1962 – Dee Bradley Baker, American voice actor +1963 – Reb Beach, American guitarist + 1963 – Rituparno Ghosh, Indian actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2013) + 1963 – Sonny Silooy, Dutch footballer and manager +1964 – Raymond P. 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Willow Wilson, American journalist and author +1983 – Deniz Aydoğdu, German-Turkish footballer + 1983 – Milan Biševac, Serbian footballer + 1983 – Larry Fitzgerald, American football player +1984 – Matti Breschel, Danish cyclist + 1984 – Ryan Kesler, American ice hockey player + 1984 – Ted Ligety, American skier + 1984 – Charl Schwartzel, South African golfer +1985 – Rolando, Portuguese footballer + 1985 – Andrew Foster, Australian footballer + 1985 – Mabel Matiz, Turkish singer + 1985 – Mohammed bin Salman, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia +1986 – Ryan Kelley, American actor + 1986 – Blake Wheeler, American ice hockey player +1987 – Xavi Annunziata, Spanish footballer + 1987 – Petros Kravaritis, Greek footballer + 1987 – Ondřej Pavelec, Czech ice hockey player +1988 – Matt Adams, American baseball player + 1988 – Trent Hodkinson, Australian rugby league player + 1988 – David Ospina, Colombian footballer + 1988 – Ember Moon, American wrestler +1989 – Dezmon Briscoe, American football player +1990 – Tadeja Majerič, Slovenian tennis player +1991 – António Félix da Costa, Portuguese race car driver + 1991 – Cédric Soares, Portuguese footballer +1992 – Holly Earl, British actress + 1992 – Tyler Randell, Australian rugby league player +1993 – Pablo Marí, Spanish football player + 1993 – Ilnur Alshin, Russian football player + 1993 – Anna Karnaukh, Russian water polo player +1994 – Alex Harris, Scottish footballer + 1994 – Can Aktav, Turkish football player +1996 – Jalen Brunson, American basketball player +1998 – Jaylen Barron, American actress +2000 – Sauce Gardner, American football player +2001 – Amanda Anisimova, American tennis player +2004 – Jang Won-young, South Korean singer and model + +Deaths + +Pre-1600 + 318 – Liu Cong, emperor of the Xiongnu state + 577 – John Scholasticus, Byzantine patriarch and saint + 651 – Aidan of Lindisfarne, Irish bishop and saint + 731 – Ōtomo no Tabito, Japanese poet (b. 665) + 894 – Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Ta'i, Muslim governor +1054 – Kunigunde of Altdorf, Frankish noblewoman (b. c. 1020) +1056 – Theodora, Empress of the Eastern Roman Empire (b. 981) +1115 – Turgot of Durham (b.c. 1050) +1158 – Sancho III of Castile (b. 1134) +1234 – Emperor Go-Horikawa of Japan (b. 1212) +1287 – Konrad von Würzburg, German poet +1324 – Henry II of Jerusalem (b. 1271) +1372 – Ralph de Stafford, 1st Earl of Stafford, English soldier (b. 1301) +1422 – Henry V of England (b. 1386) +1450 – Isabella of Navarre, Countess of Armagnac (b. 1395) +1502 – Thomas Wode, Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas +1528 – Matthias Grünewald, German artist (b. 1470) + +1601–1900 +1645 – Francesco Bracciolini, Italian poet (b. 1566) +1654 – Ole Worm, Danish physician and historian (b. 1588) +1688 – John Bunyan, English preacher, theologian, and author (b. 1628) +1730 – Gottfried Finger, Czech-German viol player and composer (b. 1660) +1741 – Johann Gottlieb Heineccius, German academic and jurist (b. 1681) +1772 – William Borlase, English geologist and historian (b. 1695) +1795 – François-André Danican Philidor, French-English chess player and composer (b. 1726) +1799 – Nicolas-Henri Jardin, French architect and academic, designed the Bernstorff Palace and Marienlyst Castle (b. 1720) +1811 – Louis Antoine de Bougainville, French admiral and explorer (b. 1729) +1814 – Arthur Phillip, English admiral and politician, 1st Governor of New South Wales (b. 1738) +1817 – Sir John Duckworth, 1st Baronet, English admiral and politician, 39th Commodore Governor of Newfoundland (b. 1747) +1818 – Robert Calder, Scottish admiral (b. 1745) +1858 – Chief Oshkosh, Menominee chief (b. 1795) +1867 – Charles Baudelaire, French poet and critic (b. 1821) +1864 – Ferdinand Lassalle, Prussian-German jurist and philosopher (b. 1825) +1869 – Mary Ward, Irish astronomer and entomologist (b. 1827) +1884 – Robert Torrens, Irish-Australian politician, 3rd Premier of South Australia (b. 1814) + +1901–present +1908 – Leslie Green, English architect (b. 1875) +1910 – Emīls Dārziņš, Latvian composer, conductor, and music critic (b. 1875) +1912 – Jean, duc Decazes, French sailor (b. 1864) +1920 – Wilhelm Wundt, German physician, psychologist, and philosopher (b. 1832) +1924 – Todor Aleksandrov, Bulgarian soldier (b. 1881) +1927 – Andranik, Armenian general (b. 1865) +1937 – Ruth Baldwin, British socialite (b. 1905) +1940 – Georges Gauthier, Canadian archbishop (b. 1871) + 1940 – DeLancey W. Gill, American painter (b. 1859) +1941 – Thomas Bavin, New Zealand-Australian politician, 24th Premier of New South Wales (b. 1874) + 1941 – Marina Tsvetaeva, Russian poet and author (b. 1892) +1945 – Stefan Banach, Polish mathematician (b. 1892) +1948 – Andrei Zhdanov, Russian civil servant and politician (b. 1896) +1951 – Paul Demel, Czech actor (b. 1903) +1952 – Henri Bourassa, Canadian publisher and politician (b. 1868) +1954 – Elsa Barker, American author and poet (b. 1869) +1963 – Georges Braque, French painter and sculptor (b. 1882) +1965 – E. E. Smith, American engineer and author (b. 1890) +1967 – Ilya Ehrenburg, Russian journalist and author (b. 1891) +1968 – John Hartle, English motorcycle racer (b. 1933) +1969 – Rocky Marciano, American boxer (b. 1923) +1973 – John Ford, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1894) +1974 – William Pershing Benedict, American soldier and pilot (b. 1918) + 1974 – Norman Kirk, New Zealand engineer and politician, 29th Prime Minister of New Zealand (b. 1923) +1978 – John Wrathall, Rhodesian accountant and politician, 2nd President of Rhodesia (b. 1913) +1979 – Sally Rand, American actress and dancer (b. 1904) + 1979 – Tiger Smith, English cricketer and coach (b. 1886) +1984 – Audrey Wagner, American baseball player, obstetrician, and gynecologist (b. 1927) +1985 – Frank Macfarlane Burnet, Australian virologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1899) +1986 – Elizabeth Coatsworth, American author and poet (b. 1893) + 1986 – Urho Kekkonen, Finnish journalist, lawyer, and politician, 8th President of Finland (b. 1900) + 1986 – Henry Moore, English sculptor and illustrator (b. 1898) +1990 – Nathaniel Clifton, American basketball player and coach (b. 1922) +1991 – Cliff Lumsdon, Canadian swimmer and coach (b. 1931) +1997 – Diana, Princess of Wales (b. 1961) + 1997 – Dodi Fayed, Egyptian film producer (b. 1955) +2000 – Lucille Fletcher, American screenwriter (b. 1912) + 2000 – Dolores Moore, American baseball player and educator (b. 1932) +2002 – Lionel Hampton, American pianist, composer, and bandleader (b. 1908) + 2002 – Farhad Mehrad, Persian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and pianist (b. 1944) + 2002 – George Porter, English chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1920) +2005 – Joseph Rotblat, Polish-English physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1908) +2006 – Mohamed Abdelwahab, Egyptian footballer (b. 1983) + 2006 – Tom Delaney, English race car driver and businessman (b. 1911) +2007 – Gay Brewer, American golfer (b. 1932) + 2007 – Jean Jacques Paradis, Canadian general (b. 1928) + 2007 – Sulev Vahtre, Estonian historian and academic (b. 1926) +2008 – Ken Campbell, English actor and screenwriter (b. 1941) + 2008 – Ike Pappas, American journalist (b. 1933) + 2008 – Victor Yates, New Zealand rugby player (b. 1939) +2010 – Laurent Fignon, French cyclist (b. 1960) +2011 – Wade Belak, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1976) +2012 – Max Bygraves, English actor (b. 1922) + 2012 – Joe Lewis, American martial artist and actor (b. 1944) + 2012 – Carlo Maria Martini, Italian cardinal (b. 1927) + 2012 – Kashiram Rana, Indian lawyer and politician (b. 1938) + 2012 – John C. Shabaz, American judge and politician (b. 1931) + 2012 – Sergey Sokolov, Russian commander and politician, 6th Minister of Defence for The Soviet Union (b. 1911) +2013 – Alan Carrington, English chemist and academic (b. 1934) + 2013 – David Frost, English journalist and game show host (b. 1939) + 2013 – Jimmy Greenhalgh, English footballer and manager (b. 1923) + 2013 – Jan Camiel Willems, Belgian mathematician and theorist (b. 1939) +2014 – Bapu, Indian director and screenwriter (b. 1933) + 2014 – Ștefan Andrei, Romanian politician, 87th Romanian Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1931) + 2014 – Stan Goldberg, American illustrator (b. 1932) + 2014 – Carol Vadnais, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1945) +2015 – Edward Douglas-Scott-Montagu, 3rd Baron Montagu of Beaulieu, English politician, founded the National Motor Museum (b. 1926) + 2015 – Tom Scott, American football player (b. 1930) +2018 – Carole Shelley, British-American actress (b. 1939) + 2018 – Jennifer Ramírez Rivero, Venezuelan model and businesswoman (b. 1978) +2019 – Anthoine Hubert, French race car driver (b. 1996) + 2019 – Alec Holowka, Canadian game developer (b. 1983) +2020 – Pranab Mukherjee, Former President of India (b. 1935) + 2020 – Tom Seaver, American baseball player (b. 1944) +2021 – Mahal, Filipino comedian and actress (b. 1974) + 2021 – Francesco Morini, Italian footballer (b. 1944) + 2021 – Michael Constantine, Greek-American actor (b. 1927) + 2021 – Geronimo, British alpaca (b. 2013) + +Holidays and observances + Baloch-Pakhtun Unity Day (Balochs and Pashtuns, International observance) + Christian feast day: + Aidan of Lindisfarne + Aristides of Athens + Cuthburh + Dominguito del Val + Joseph of Arimathea + Nicodemus + Paulinus of Trier + Raymond Nonnatus + Wala of Corbie + Waltheof, Earl of Northumbria + August 31 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) + Day of Solidarity and Freedom (Poland) + Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Kyrgyzstan from the Soviet Union in 1991. + Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Malaya from the United Kingdom in 1957. + Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Trinidad and Tobago from the United Kingdom in 1962. + Romanian Language Day (Romania, Moldova) + North Borneo Self-government Day (Sabah, Borneo) + +References + +External links + + + + + +Days of the year +August +Autpert Ambrose (Ambroise) () (ca. 730 – 784) was a Frankish Benedictine monk. An abbot of San Vincenzo al Volturno in South Italy in the time of Desiderius, king of the Lombards, Autpert wrote a considerable number of works on the Bible and religious subjects generally. Among these are commentaries on the Apocalypse, on the Psalms, and on the Song of Songs; a life of the founders of the monastery of San Vincenzo (); and a Conflictus vitiorum et virtutum (Combat between the Virtues and the Vices). Jean Mabillon calls him "sanctissimus" because of his great virtue and the Bollandists gave him the title "saint". His cultus has been approved. + +Biography +Autpert Ambrose was born in Gaul, probably Provence, at the beginning of the eighth century. He moved to Italy and entered the Benedictine monastery of San Vincenzo al Volturno, near Benevento, in Southern Italy, where he received his intellectual and spiritual formation and was ordained a priest sometime before 761. He became abbot on 4 October 777. In 774 Charlemagne had defeated the Lombards, but had not subjugated the Duchy of Benevento: Autpert's election aggravated the disputes between French and Lombard monks, and on 28 December 778 he was forced to leave the monastery to the Lombard Poto and flee to Spoleto. Summoned to Rome by Charlemagne to resolve the conflict, he died on the way, perhaps murdered, in 784. Information about his life is available primarily from the fragmentary Chronicon Vulturnense written by a monk named John, and from brief autobiographical references in some of his own writings. The same chronicle places him in the court of Charlemagne. This is apparently an error due to the confusion of Autpert with a certain Aspertus or Asbertus, who was chancellor of Prince Arnolfus from 888 to 892. + +In 2009, Pope Benedict XVI gave a homily about him in Saint Peter's square. In this homily, Autpert's death date is given as 784 (older scholarship had given a date between 778 and 779). + +Works +Autpert’s most famous work is his lengthy Expositio in Apocalypsin which is dependent upon a variety of patristic authors whom Autpert explicitly acknowledges, including Jerome, Victorinus, Ticonius, Augustine of Hippo, Primasius of Hadrumetum, and Gregory the Great. In fact, this commentary is one of the sources for a partial reconstruction of the lost Apocalypse commentary of the Donatist Ticonius. It is prefaced by a letter to Pope Stephen III in which Autpert defends himself from his detractors. His Vita sanctorum patrum Paldonis, Tatonis et Tasonis is an account of the three founders of the monastery at Volturno who through their pious lives offer an example of the imitation of Christ. His Libellus de conflictu vitiorum atque virtutum emphasizes monastic themes such as fear of God, obedience, and fidelity. Other works include Oratio contra septem vitia, Sermo de cupiditate, Sermo in purificatione sanctae Mariae, Homilia de transfiguratione Domini, and Sermo de adsumptione sanctae Mariae. Several additional sermons, known to have existed, have not survived. His extant sermons are marked by a strong mystical imprint. His commentaries on Leviticus, the Song of Songs, and the Psalms, mentioned in the Chronicon Vulturnese, are also not extant. Whether or not Autpert is the author of the hymn Ave maris stella is debated. The reason for this possible attribution is that Mary plays a significant theological role in both his sermons and Apocalypse commentary. She is not only a figure of the Church but also its most excellent member. As mother of Christ, she is also mother of the elect. + +Expositio in Apocalypsin +Autpert's masterpiece is considered his Expositio in Apocalypsin, a lenghty commentary on the Book of Revelation. Autpert refers to various early Christian writers in order to give his commentary authority. In addition, he uses the writers to correct heresy where he believed it to exist. Although he is very careful not to depart from the tradition of the Church or from orthodox teaching, his work is no mere string of patristic quotations. Throughout his Apocalypse commentary Christ is mystically identified with the Church, so much so that the Church actually begins with the birth of Christ. In addition, there is only one Church in heaven and on earth, not two. To those knowing the truth there is manifest one and the same Church, neither divided nor separated, which reigns with Christ in heaven, encompassing those members who have completed their struggle, and which reigns with Christ on earth, encompassing those members who continue in battle. The first resurrection (cf. Rev. 20:5b–6a), which implies a second, refers to the reign of Christ for a thousand years and the reign of the just with him. The second resurrection refers not to the resurrection of the flesh from dust but rather to the life of the soul rising from the abandonment of sin. The second death (cf. Rev. 20:6b) is eternal damnation. Gog and Magog (cf. Rev. 20:8) refer to the nations all over the earth which are agents of the devil persecuting the Church. The book of life (cf. Rev. 20:12) is the Old and New Testament, whose contemplation brings the elect to the light of day and the love of neighbour. The city of God continuously grows in number through the washing and regeneration of the Holy Spirit, and at the end of the present age the Last Judgment of God will come through his son Jesus Christ. + +References + +Bibliography + + Paul the Deacon, Historia Langobardorum, VI, 40, in Monumenta Germaniae Historica in usum scholarum, Hannoverae 1878, p. 231. + +External links + + Works of Ambrosius Autpertus at the National Library of Portugal + + + +730s births +784 deaths +Frankish Benedictines +Year of birth uncertain +8th-century Frankish writers +8th-century writers in Latin +Roman Catholic writers +Abū Bakr ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbī Quḥāfa (; 27 October 573 – 23 August 634) was the senior companion and was, through his daughter Aisha, a father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, as well as the first Caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate. He is known with the honorific title al-Siddiq by Sunni Muslims. + +Abu Bakr was born in 573 CE to Abu Quhafa and Umm Khayr. He belonged to the tribe of Banu Taym. In the Age of Ignorance, he was a monotheist and condemned idol-worshipping. As a wealthy trader, Abu Bakr used to free slaves. Following his conversion to Islam in 610, Abu Bakr served as a close aide to Muhammad, who bestowed on him the title "al-Siddiq" ('the Truthful/Righteous'). The former took part in almost all battles under the Islamic prophet. He extensively contributed his wealth in support of Muhammad's work and among Muhammad's closest companions. He also accompanied Muhammad on his migration to Medina. By the invitations of Abu Bakr, many prominent Sahabis became Muslims. He remained the closest advisor to Muhammad, being present at almost all his military conflicts. In the absence of Muhammad, Abu Bakr led the prayers and expeditions. + +Following Muhammad's death in 632, Abu Bakr succeeded the leadership of the Muslim community as the first Rashidun Caliph. His election was opposed by a large number of rebellious tribal leaders, who had apostatized from Islam. During his reign, he overcame a number of uprisings, collectively known as the Ridda Wars, as a result of which he was able to consolidate and expand the rule of the Muslim state over the entire Arabian Peninsula. He also commanded the initial incursions into the neighbouring Sassanian and Byzantine empires, which in the years following his death, would eventually result in the Muslim conquests of Persia and the Levant. Apart from politics, Abu Bakr is also credited for the compilation of the Quran, of which he had a personal caliphal codex. Abu Bakr nominated his principal adviser Umar () as his successor before dying in August 634. Along with Muhammad, Abu Bakr is buried in the Green Dome at the Al-Masjid an-Nabawi in Medina, the second holiest site in Islam. He died of illness after a reign of 2 years, 2 months and 14 days, the only Rashidun caliph to die of natural causes. + +Though the period of his caliphate was short, it included successful invasions of the two most powerful empires of the time, a remarkable achievement in its own right. He set in motion a historical trajectory that in a few decades would lead to one of the largest empires in history. His victory over the local rebel Arab forces is a significant part of Islamic history. Abu Bakr is widely honored among Muslims. + +Lineage and titles + +Abu Bakr's full name was Abdullah ibn Abi Quhafa ibn Amir ibn Amr ibn Ka'b ibn Sa'd ibn Taym ibn Murrah ibn Ka'b ibn Lu'ayy ibn Ghalib ibn Fihr. + +His lineage meets the lineage of Muhammad at the sixth generation up with Murrah ibn Ka'b. He is mentioned in the Qur'an twice. + +Abdullah + +In Arabic, the name Abd Allah means "servant of Allah". This is his birth name. + +Abu Bakr +This nickname (kunya) was given to him as a child when he grew up among a bedouin tribe and developed a fondness for camels. He played with the camel calves and goats, earning this nickname "Abu Bakr," meaning "father of the young camel." A "bakr" in Arabic is a young but already fully grown camel. + +Ateeq + +One of his early titles, preceding his conversion to Islam, was Ateeq, meaning "saved one". In a weak narration in Tirmidhi, the prophet Muhammad later restated this title when he said that Abu Bakr is the "Ateeq of Allah from the fire" meaning "saved" or "secure" and the association with Allah showing how close to and protected he is by Allah. + +al-Siddiq + +He was called Al-Siddiq (the truthful) by Muhammad after he believed him in the event of Isra and Mi'raj when other people didn't, and Ali confirmed that title several times. He was also reportedly referred to in the Quran as the "second of the two in the cave" in reference to the event of hijra, where with Muhammad he hid in the cave in Jabal Thawr from the Meccan party that was sent after them. + +al-Sahib + +He was honorably called "al-sahib" (the companion) in the Qur'an describing his role as a companion of the prophet Muhammad when hiding from the Quraysh in the Jabal Thawr cave during the Hijra to Medina: + +Al-Atqā +In a hadith narrated by ibn Abbas of the exegesis of chapter 92 of the Qur'an by imam al-Suyuti we find the word "al-atqā" (), meaning "the most pious," "the most righteous," or "the most God-fearing," is referring to Abu Bakr as an example for the believers. + +Al-Awwāh +"Al-Awwāh" () means someone who supplicates abundantly to God, someone who is merciful, and the gentle-hearted. Ibrahim al-Nakha'i said that Abu Bakr has also been called al-awwāh for his merciful character. + +Early life +Abu Bakr was born in Mecca sometime in 573 CE, to a rich family in the Banu Taym tribe of the Quraysh tribal confederacy. His father's name was Uthman and given the kunya Abu Quhafa, and his mother was Salma bint Sakhar who was given the laqab of Umm ul-Khair. + +He spent his early childhood like other Arab children of the time, among the Bedouins who called themselves Ahl-i-Ba'eer- the people of the camel, and developed a particular fondness for camels. In his early years he played with the camel calves and goats, and his love for camels earned him the nickname (kunya) "Abu Bakr", the father of the camel's calf. + +Like other children of the rich Meccan merchant families, Abu Bakr was literate and developed a fondness for poetry. He used to attend the annual fair at Ukaz, and participate in poetical symposia. He had a very good memory and had a good knowledge of the genealogy of the Arab tribes, their stories and their politics. + +A story is preserved that once when he was a child, his father took him to the Kaaba, and asked him to pray before the idols. His father went away to attend to some other business, and Abu Bakr was left alone. Addressing an idol, Abu Bakr said "O my God, I am in need of beautiful clothes; bestow them on me". The idol remained indifferent. Then he addressed another idol, saying, "O God, give me some delicious food. See that I am so hungry". The idol remained cold. That exhausted the patience of young Abu Bakr. He lifted a stone, and, addressing an idol, said, "Here I am aiming a stone; if you are a god protect yourself". Abu Bakr hurled the stone at the idol and left the Kaaba. Regardless, it recorded that prior to converting to Islam, Abu Bakr practiced as a hanif and never worshipped idols. + +Acceptance of Islam + +On his return from a business trip in Yemen, friends informed him that in his absence, Muhammad had declared himself a messenger of God. The historian Al-Tabari, in his Tarikh al-Tabari, quotes from Muhammad ibn Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas, who said: + +Some Sunni and all the Shi'a believe that the second person to publicly accept Muhammed as the messenger of God was Ali ibn Abi Talib, the first being Muhammad's wife Khadija. Ibn Kathir, in his Al Bidaya Wal Nihayah, disregards this. He stated that the first woman to embrace Islam was Khadijah. Zayd ibn Harithah was the first freed slave to embrace Islam. Ali ibn Abi Talib was the first child to embrace Islam, for he has not even reached the age of puberty at that time, while Abu Bakr was the first free man to embrace Islam. + +Subsequent life in Mecca +His wife Qutaylah bint Abd-al-Uzza did not accept Islam and he divorced her. His other wife, Um Ruman, became a Muslim. All his children accepted Islam except Abd al-Rahman, from whom Abu Bakr disassociated himself. His conversion also brought many people to Islam. He persuaded his intimate friends to convert, and presented Islam to other friends in such a way that many of them also accepted the faith. Those who converted to Islam at the insistence of Abu Bakr were: + Uthman Ibn Affan (who would become the 3rd Caliph) + Al-Zubayr (who played a part in the Muslim conquest of Egypt) + Talha ibn Ubayd-Allah, his cousin and an important companion of the prophet. + 'Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Awf (who would remain an important part of the Rashidun Caliphate) + Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas (who played a leading role in the Islamic conquest of Persia) + Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah (who was a commander in chief of the Rashidun army in Levant) + Abu Salama, he was a foster brother of prophet Muhammad. + Khalid ibn Sa'id, (who acted as a general under the Rashidun army in Syria) + +Abu Bakr's acceptance proved to be a milestone in Muhammad's mission. Slavery was common in Mecca, and many slaves accepted Islam. When an ordinary free man accepted Islam, despite opposition, he would enjoy the protection of his tribe. For slaves, however, there was no such protection and they commonly experienced persecution. Abu Bakr felt compassion for slaves, so he purchased eight (four men and four women) and then freed them, paying 40,000 dinar for their freedom. + +The men were: + Bilal ibn Rabah + Abu Fukayha + Ammar ibn Yasir + Abu Fuhayra +The women were: + Lubaynah + Al-Nahdiah + Umm Ubays + Harithah bint al-Muammil + +Most of the slaves liberated by Abu Bakr were either women or old and frail men. When the father of Abu Bakr asked him why he didn't liberate strong and young slaves, who could be a source of strength for him, Abu Bakr replied that he was freeing the slaves for the sake of God, and not for his own sake. + +Persecution by the Quraysh, 613 + +For three years after the birth of Islam, Muslims kept their faith private. In 613, according to Islamic tradition, Muhammad was commanded by God to call people to Islam openly. The first public address inviting people to offer allegiance to Muhammad was delivered by Abu Bakr. In a fit of fury, the young men of the Quraysh tribe rushed at Abu Bakr and beat him until he lost consciousness. Following this incident, Abu Bakr's mother converted to Islam. Abu Bakr was persecuted many times by the Quraysh. Though Abu Bakr's beliefs would have been defended by his own clan, it would not be so for the entire Quraysh tribe. + +Last years in Mecca +In 617, the Quraysh enforced a boycott against the Banu Hashim. Muhammad along with his supporters from Banu Hashim, were cut off in a pass away from Mecca. All social relations with the Banu Hashim were cut off and their state was that of imprisonment. Before it many Muslims migrated to Abyssinia (now Ethiopia). Abu Bakr, feeling distressed, set out for Yemen and then to Abyssinia from there. He met a friend of his named Ad-Dughna (chief of the Qarah tribe) outside Mecca, who invited Abu Bakr to seek his protection against the Quraysh. Abu Bakr went back to Mecca, it was a relief for him, but soon due to the pressure of Quraysh, Ad-Dughna was forced to renounce his protection. Once again the Quraysh were free to persecute Abu Bakr. + +In 620, Muhammad's uncle and protector, Abu Talib ibn Abd al-Muttalib, and Muhammad's wife Khadija died. Abu Bakr's daughter Aisha was betrothed to Muhammad; however, it was decided that the actual marriage ceremony would be held later. In 620 Abu Bakr was the first person to testify to Muhammad's Isra and Mi'raj (Night Journey). + +Migration to Medina + +In 622, on the invitation of the Muslims of Medina, Muhammad ordered Muslims to migrate to Medina. The migration began in batches. Ali was the last to remain in Mecca, entrusted with responsibility for settling any loans the Muslims had taken out, and famously slept in the bed of Muhammad when the Quraysh, led by Ikrima, attempted to murder Muhammad as he slept. Meanwhile, Abu Bakr accompanied Muhammad to Medina. Due to the danger posed by the Quraysh, they did not take the road, but moved in the opposite direction, taking refuge in a cave in Jabal Thawr, some five miles south of Mecca. Abd Allah ibn Abi Bakr, the son of Abu Bakr, would listen to the plans and discussions of the Quraysh, and at night he would carry the news to the fugitives in the cave. Asma bint Abi Bakr, the daughter of Abu Bakr, brought them meals every day. Aamir, a servant of Abu Bakr, would bring a flock of goats to the mouth of the cave every night, where they were milked. The Quraysh sent search parties in all directions. One party came close to the entrance to the cave, but was unable to see them. Due to this, Quranic verse was revealed. Aisha, Abu Saʽid al-Khudri and Abd Allah ibn Abbas in interpreting this verse said that Abu Bakr was the companion who stayed with Muhammad in the cave. + +After staying at the cave for three days and three nights, Abu Bakr and Muhammad proceed to Medina, staying for some time at Quba, a suburb of Medina. + +Life in Medina +In Medina, Muhammad decided to construct a mosque. A piece of land was chosen and the price of the land was paid for by Abu Bakr. The Muslims, including Abu Bakr, constructed a mosque named Al-Masjid al-Nabawi at the site. Abu Bakr was paired with Khaarijah bin Zaid Ansari (who was from Medina) as a brother in faith. Abu Bakr's relationship with Khaarijah was most cordial, which was further strengthened when Abu Bakr married Habiba, a daughter of Khaarijah. Khaarijah bin Zaid Ansari lived at Sunh, a suburb of Medina, and Abu Bakr also settled there. After Abu Bakr's family arrived in Medina, he bought another house near Muhammad's. + +While the climate of Mecca was dry, the climate of Medina was damp and because of this, most of the migrants fell sick on arrival. Abu Bakr contracted a fever for several days, during which time he was attended to by Khaarijah and his family. In Mecca, Abu Bakr was a wholesale trader in cloth and he started the same business in Medina. He opened his new store at Sunh, and from there cloth was supplied to the market at Medina. Soon his business flourished. Early in 623, Abu Bakr's daughter Aisha, who was already married to Muhammad, was sent on to Muhammad's house after a simple marriage ceremony, further strengthening relations between Abu Bakr and Muhammad. + +Military campaigns under Muhammad + +Battle of Badr + +In 624, Abu Bakr was involved in the first battle between the Muslims and the Quraysh of Mecca, known as the Battle of Badr, but did not fight, instead acting as one of the guards of Muhammad's tent. In relation to this, Ali later asked his associates as to who they thought was the bravest among men. Everyone stated that Ali was the bravest of all men. Ali then replied: + +In Sunni accounts, during one such attack, two discs from Abu Bakr's shield penetrated into Muhammad's cheeks. Abu Bakr went forward with the intention of extracting these discs but Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah requested he leave the matter to him, losing his two incisors during the process. In these stories subsequently Abu Bakr, along with other companions, led Muhammad to a place of safety. + +Battle of Uhud + +In 625, he participated in the Battle of Uhud, in which the majority of the Muslims were routed and he himself was wounded. Before the battle had begun, his son Abd al-Rahman, at that time still non-Muslim and fighting on the side of the Quraysh, came forward and threw down a challenge for a duel. Abu Bakr accepted the challenge but was stopped by Muhammad. Later, Abd al-Rahman approached his father and said to him "You were exposed to me as a target, but I turned away from you and did not kill you." To this Abu Bakr replied "However, if you had been exposed to me as a target I would not have turned away from you." +In the second phase of the battle, Khalid ibn al-Walid's cavalry attacked the Muslims from behind, changing a Muslim victory to defeat. Many fled from the battlefield, including Abu Bakr. However, according to his own account, he was "the first to return". + +Battle of the Trench + +In 627 he participated in the Battle of the Trench and also in the Invasion of Banu Qurayza. In the Battle of the Trench, Muhammad divided the ditch into a number of sectors and a contingent was posted to guard each sector. One of these contingents was under the command of Abu Bakr. The enemy made frequent assaults in an attempt to cross the ditch, all of which were repulsed. To commemorate this event a mosque, later known as 'Masjid-i-Siddiq', was constructed at the site where Abu Bakr had repulsed the charges of the enemy. + +Battle of Khaybar + +Abu Bakr took part in the Battle of Khaybar. Khaybar had eight fortresses, the strongest and most well-guarded of which was called Al-Qamus. Muhammad sent Abu Bakr with a group of warriors to attempt to take it, but they were unable to do so. Muhammad also sent Umar with a group of warriors, but Umar could not conquer Al-Qamus either. Some other Muslims also attempted to capture the fort, but they were unsuccessful as well. Finally, Muhammad sent Ali, who defeated the enemy leader, Marhab. + +Military campaigns during final years of Muhammad + +In 629 Muhammad sent 'Amr ibn al-'As to Zaat-ul-Sallasal, followed by Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah in response to a call for reinforcements. Abu Bakr and Umar commanded an army under al-Jarrah, and they attacked and defeated the enemy. + +In 630, when the Muslims conquered Mecca, Abu Bakr was part of the army. Before the conquest of Mecca his father Abu Quhafa converted to Islam. + +Battles of Hunayn and Ta'if + +In 630, the Muslim army was ambushed by archers from the local tribes as it passed through the valley of Hunayn, some eleven miles northeast of Mecca. Taken unaware, the advance guard of the Muslim army fled in panic. There was considerable confusion, and the camels, horses and men ran into one another in an attempt to seek cover. Muhammad, however, stood firm. Only nine companions remained around him, including Abu Bakr. Under Muhammad's instruction, his uncle Abbas shouted at the top of his voice, "O Muslims, come to the Prophet of Allah". The call was heard by the Muslim soldiers and they gathered beside Muhammad. When the Muslims had gathered in sufficient number, Muhammad ordered a charge against the enemy. In the hand-to-hand fight that followed the tribes were routed and they fled to Autas. + +Muhammad posted a contingent to guard the Hunayn pass and led the main army to Autas. In the confrontation at Autas the tribes could not withstand the Muslim onslaught. Believing continued resistance useless, the tribes broke camp and retired to Ta'if. + +Abu Bakr was commissioned by Muhammad to lead the attack against Ta'if. The tribes shut themselves in the fort and refused to come out in the open. The Muslims employed catapults, but without tangible result. The Muslims attempted to use a testudo formation, in which a group of soldiers shielded by a cover of cowhide advanced to set fire to the gate. However, the enemy threw red hot scraps of iron on the testudo, rendering it ineffective. + +The siege dragged on for two weeks, and still there was no sign of weakness in the fort. Muhammad held a council of war. Abu Bakr advised that the siege might be raised and that God make arrangements for the fall of the fort. The advice was accepted, and in February 630, the siege of Ta'if was raised and the Muslim army returned to Mecca. A few days later Malik bin Auf, the commander, came to Mecca and became a Muslim. + +Abu Bakr as Amir-ul-Hajj +In 631 AD, Muhammad sent from Medina a delegation of three hundred Muslims to perform the Hajj according to the new Islamic way and appointed Abu Bakr as the leader of the delegation. The day after Abu Bakr and his party had left for the Hajj, Muhammad received a new revelation: Surah Tawbah, the ninth chapter of the Quran. It is related that when this revelation came, someone suggested to Muhammad that he should send news of it to Abu Bakr. Muhammad said that only a man of his house could proclaim the revelation. + +Muhammad summoned Ali, and asked him to proclaim a portion of Surah Tawbah to the people on the day of sacrifice when they assembled at Mina. Ali went forth on Muhammad's slit-eared camel, and overtook Abu Bakr. When Ali joined the party, Abu Bakr wanted to know whether he had come to give orders or to convey them. Ali said that he had not come to replace Abu Bakr as Amir-ul-Hajj, and that his only mission was to convey a special message to the people on behalf of Muhammad. + +At Mecca, Abu Bakr presided at the Hajj ceremony, and Ali read the proclamation on behalf of Muhammad. The main points of the proclamation were: + +Henceforward the non-Muslims were not to be allowed to visit the Kaaba or perform the pilgrimage. +No one should circumambulate the Kaaba naked. +Polytheism was not to be tolerated. Where the Muslims had any agreement with the polytheists such agreements would be honoured for the stipulated periods. Where there were no agreements a grace period of four months was provided and thereafter no quarter was to be given to the polytheists. + +From the day this proclamation was made a new era dawned, and Islam alone was to be supreme in Arabia. + +Expedition of Abu Bakr As-Siddiq + +Abu Bakr led one military expedition, the Expedition of Abu Bakr As-Siddiq, which took place in Najd, in July 628 (third month 7AH in the Islamic calendar). Abu Bakr led a large company in Nejd on the order of Muhammad. Many were killed and taken prisoner. The Sunni Hadith collection Sunan Abu Dawud mentions the event. + +Expedition of Usama bin Zayd + +In 632, during the final weeks of his life, Muhammad ordered an expedition into Syria to avenge the defeat of the Muslims in the Battle of Mu'tah some years previously. Leading the campaign was Usama ibn Zayd, whose father, Muhammad's erstwhile adopted son Zayd ibn Harithah, had been killed in the earlier conflict. No more than twenty years old, inexperienced and untested, Usama's appointment was controversial, becoming especially problematic when veterans such as Abu Bakr, Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah and Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas were placed under his command. Nevertheless, the expedition was dispatched, though soon after setting off, news was received of Muhammad's death, forcing the army to return to Medina. The campaign was not reengaged until after Abu Bakr's ascension to the caliphate, at which point he chose to reaffirm Usama's command, which ultimately led to its success. + +Death of Muhammad +There are a number of traditions regarding Muhammad's final days which have been used to reinforce the idea of the great friendship and trust which is said to have existed between him and Abu Bakr. In one such episode, as Muhammad was nearing death, he found himself unable to lead prayers as he usually would. He instructed Abu Bakr to take his place, ignoring concerns from Aisha that her father was too emotionally delicate for the role. Abu Bakr subsequently took up the position, and when Muhammad entered the prayer hall one morning during Fajr prayers, Abu Bakr attempted to step back to let him to take up his normal place and lead. Muhammad, however, allowed him to continue. In a related incident, around this time, Muhammad ascended the pulpit and addressed the congregation, saying, "God has given his servant the choice between this world and that which is with God and he has chosen the latter." Abu Bakr, understanding this to mean that Muhammad did not have long to live, responded "Nay, we and our children will be your ransom." Muhammad consoled his friend and ordered that all the doors leading to the mosque be closed aside from that which led from Abu Bakr's house, "for I know no one who is a better friend to me than he." + +Upon Muhammad's death, the Muslim community was unprepared for the loss of its leader and many experienced a profound shock. Umar was particularly affected, instead declaring that Muhammad had gone to consult with God and would soon return, threatening anyone who would say that Muhammad was dead. Abu Bakr, having returned to Medina, calmed Umar by showing him Muhammad's body, convincing him of his death. He then addressed those who had gathered at the mosque, saying, "If anyone worships Muhammad, Muhammad is dead. If anyone worships God, God is alive, immortal", thus putting an end to any idolising impulse in the population. He then concluded with verses from the Quran: "(O Muhammad) Verily you will die, and they also will die." (), "Muhammad is no more than an Apostle; and indeed many Apostles have passed away, before him, If he dies Or is killed, will you then Turn back on your heels? And he who turns back On his heels, not the least Harm will he do to Allah And Allah will give reward to those Who are grateful." () + +Saqifa + +In the immediate aftermath of the death of Muhammad, a gathering of the Ansar (natives of Medina) took place in the Saqifah (courtyard) of the Banu Sa'ida clan. The general belief at the time was that the purpose of the meeting was for the Ansar to decide on a new leader of the Muslim community among themselves, with the intentional exclusion of the Muhajirun (migrants from Mecca), though this has later become the subject of debate. + +Nevertheless, Abu Bakr and Umar, upon learning of the meeting, became concerned of a potential coup and hastened to the gathering. Upon arriving, Abu Bakr addressed the assembled men with a warning that an attempt to elect a leader outside of Muhammad's own tribe, the Quraysh, would likely result in dissension, as only they can command the necessary respect among the community. He then took Umar and Abu Ubaidah, by the hand and offered them to the Ansar as potential choices. Habab ibn Mundhir, a veteran from the battle of Badr, countered with his own suggestion that the Quraysh and the Ansar choose a leader each from among themselves, who would then rule jointly. The group grew heated upon hearing this proposal and began to argue amongst themselves. The orientalist William Muir gives the following observation of the situation: + +Umar hastily took Abu Bakr's hand and swore his own allegiance to the latter, an example followed by the gathered men. The meeting broke up when a violent scuffle erupted between Umar and the chief of the Banu Sa'ida, Sa'd ibn Ubadah. This may indicate that the choice of Abu Bakr may not have been unanimous, with emotions running high as a result of the disagreement. + +Abu Bakr was near-universally accepted as head of the Muslim community (under the title of Caliph) as a result of Saqifah, though he did face contention because of the rushed nature of the event. Several companions, most prominent among them being Ali ibn Abi Talib, initially refused to acknowledge his authority. Among Shi'ites, it is also argued that Ali had previously been appointed as Muhammad's heir, with the election being seen as in contravention to the latter's wishes. Abu Bakr later sent Umar to confront Ali, resulting in an altercation which may have involved violence. However, after six months the group made peace with Abu Bakr and Ali offered him his allegiance. + +Reign +After assuming the office of Caliph, Abu Bakr's first address was as follows: + +Abu Bakr's reign lasted for 27 months, during which he crushed the rebellion of the Arab tribes throughout the Arabian Peninsula in the successful Ridda Wars. In the last months of his rule, he sent Khalid ibn al-Walid on conquests against the Sassanid Empire in Mesopotamia and against the Byzantine Empire in Syria. This would set in motion a historical trajectory (continued later on by Umar and Uthman ibn Affan) that in just a few short decades would lead to one of the largest empires in history. He had little time to pay attention to the administration of state, though state affairs remained stable during his Caliphate. On the advice of Umar and Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah, he agreed to draw a salary from the state treasury and discontinue his cloth trade. + +Ridda wars + +Troubles emerged soon after Abu Bakr's succession, with several Arab tribes launching revolts, threatening the unity and stability of the new community and state. These insurgencies and the caliphate's responses to them are collectively referred to as the Ridda wars ("Wars of Apostasy"). + +The opposition movements came in two forms. One type challenged the political power of the nascent caliphate as well as the religious authority of Islam with the acclamation of rival ideologies, headed by political leaders who claimed the mantle of prophethood in the manner that Muhammad had done. These rebellions include: +that of the Banu Asad ibn Khuzaymah headed by Tulayha ibn Khuwaylid +that of the Banu Hanifa headed by Musaylimah +those from among the Banu Taghlib and the Bani Tamim headed by Sajah +that of the Al-Ansi headed by Al-Aswad Al-Ansi +These leaders are all denounced in Islamic histories as "false prophets". + +The second form of opposition movement was more strictly political in character. Some of the revolts of this type took the form of tax rebellions in Najd among tribes such as the Banu Fazara and Banu Tamim. Other dissenters, while initially allied to the Muslims, used Muhammad's death as an opportunity to attempt to restrict the growth of the new Islamic state. They include some of the Rabīʿa in Bahrayn, the Azd in Oman, as well as among the Kindah and Khawlan in Yemen. + +Abu Bakr, likely understanding that maintaining firm control over the disparate tribes of Arabia was crucial to ensuring the survival of the state, suppressed the insurrections with military force. He dispatched Khalid ibn Walid and a body of troops to subdue the uprisings in Najd as well as that of Musaylimah, who posed the most serious threat. Concurrent to this, Shurahbil ibn Hasana and Al-Ala'a Al-Hadrami were sent to Bahrayn, while Ikrimah ibn Abi Jahl, Hudhayfah al-Bariqi and Arfaja al-Bariqi were instructed to conquer Oman. Finally, Al-Muhajir ibn Abi Umayya and Khalid ibn Asid were sent to Yemen to aid the local governor in re-establishing control. Abu Bakr also made use of diplomatic means in addition to military measures. Like Muhammad before him, he used marriage alliances and financial incentives to bind former enemies to the caliphate. For instance, a member of the Banu Hanifa who had sided with the Muslims was rewarded with the granting of a land estate. Similarly, a Kindah rebel named Al-Ash'ath ibn Qays, after repenting and re-joining Islam, was later given land in Medina as well as the hand of Abu Bakr's sister Umm Farwa in marriage. + +At their heart, the Ridda movements were challenges to the political and religious supremacy of the Islamic state. Through his success in suppressing the insurrections, Abu Bakr had in effect continued the political consolidation which had begun under Muhammad's leadership with relatively little interruption. By wars' end, he had established an Islamic hegemony over the entirety of the Arabian Peninsula. + +Expeditions into Persia and Syria +With Arabia having united under a single centralised state with a formidable military, the region could now be viewed as a potential threat to the neighbouring Byzantine and Sasanian empires. It may be that Abu Bakr, reasoning that it was inevitable that one of these powers would launch a pre-emptive strike against the youthful caliphate, decided that it was better to deliver the first blow himself. Regardless of the caliph's motivations, in 633, small forces were dispatched into Iraq and Palestine, capturing several towns. Though the Byzantines and Sassanians were certain to retaliate, Abu Bakr had reason to be confident; the two empires were militarily exhausted after centuries of war against each other, making it likely that any forces sent to Arabia would be diminished and weakened. + +A more pressing advantage though was the effectiveness of the Muslim fighters as well as their zeal, the latter of which was partially based on their certainty of the righteousness of their cause. Additionally, the general belief among the Muslims was that the community must be defended at all costs. Historian Theodor Nöldeke gives the somewhat controversial opinion that this religious fervour was intentionally used to maintain the enthusiasm and momentum of the ummah: + +Though Abu Bakr had started these initial conflicts which eventually resulted in the Islamic conquests of Persia and the Levant, he did not live to see those regions conquered by Islam, instead leaving the task to his successors. + +Preservation of the Quran + +Abu Bakr was instrumental in preserving the Quran in written form. It is said that after the hard-won victory over Musaylimah in the Battle of Yamama in 632, Umar saw that some five hundred of the Muslims who had memorised the Quran had been killed. Fearing that it may become lost or corrupted, Umar requested that Abu Bakr authorise the compilation and preservation of the scriptures in written format. The caliph was initially hesitant, being quoted as saying, "how can we do that which the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless and keep him, did not himself do?" He eventually relented, however, and appointed Zayd ibn Thabit, who had previously served as one of the scribes of Muhammad, for the task of gathering the scattered verses. The fragments were recovered from every quarter, including from the ribs of palm branches, scraps of leather, stone tablets and "from the hearts of men". The collected work was transcribed onto sheets and verified through comparison with Quran memorisers. The finished codex, termed the Mus'haf, was presented to Abu Bakr, who prior to his death, bequeathed it to his successor Umar. Upon Umar's own death, the Mus'haf was left to his daughter Hafsa, who had been one of the wives of Muhammad. It was this volume, borrowed from Hafsa, which formed the basis of Uthman's legendary prototype, which became the definitive text of the Quran. All later editions are derived from this original. + +Death + +On 23 August 634, Abu Bakr fell sick and did not recover. He developed a high fever and was confined to bed. His illness was prolonged, and when his condition worsened, he felt that his end was near. Realising this, he sent for Ali and requested him to perform his ghusl since Ali had also done it for Muhammad. + +Abu Bakr felt that he should nominate his successor so that the issue should not be a cause of dissension among the Muslims after his death, though there was already controversy over Ali not having been appointed. He appointed Umar for this role after discussing the matter with some companions. Some of them favoured the nomination and others disliked it, due to the tough nature of Umar. + +Abu Bakr thus dictated his last testament to Uthman ibn Affan as follows: + +Umar led the funeral prayer for him and he was buried beside the grave of Muhammad. + +Appearance +The historian Al-Tabari, in regards to Abu Bakr's appearance, records the following interaction between Aisha and her paternal nephew, Abd Allah ibn Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Bakr: + +When she was in her howdah and saw a man from among the Arabs passing by, she said, "I have not seen a man more like Abu Bakr than this one." We said to her, "Describe Abu Bakr." She said, "A slight, white man, thin-bearded and bowed. His waist wrapper would not hold but would fall down around his loins. He had a lean face, sunken eyes, a bulging forehead, and trembling knuckles." + +Referencing another source, Al-Tabari further describes him as being "white mixed with yellowness, of good build, slight, +bowed, thin, tall like a male palm tree, hook-nosed, lean-faced, sunken-eyed, thin-shanked, and strong-thighed. He used to dye himself with henna and black dye." + +Legacy +Though the period of his caliphate covers only two years, two months and fifteen days, it included successful invasions of the two most powerful empires of the time: the Sassanid Empire and Byzantine Empire. + +Abu Bakr had the distinction of being the first Caliph in the history of Islam and also the first Caliph to nominate a successor. He was the only Caliph in the history of Islam who refunded to the state treasury at the time of his death the entire amount of the allowance that he had drawn during the period of his caliphate. He has the distinction of purchasing the land for Al-Masjid al-Nabawi. + +Sunni view +Sunni Muslims view Abu Bakr as one of the best men of all the human beings after the prophets. They also consider Abu Bakr as one of the Ten Promised Paradise (al-‘Ashara al-Mubashshara) whom Muhammad had testified were destined for Paradise. He is regarded as the "Successor of Allah's Messenger" (Khalifa Rasulullah), and first of the Rightly Guided Caliphs—i.e. Rashidun—and as the rightful successor to Muhammad. Abu Bakr had always been the closest friend and confidant of Muhammad throughout his life, being beside Muhammad at every major event. It was Abu Bakr's wisdom that Muhammad always honored. Abu Bakr is regarded among the best of Muhammad's followers; as Umar ibn al-Khattab stated, "If the faith of Abu Bakr was weighed against the faith of the people of the earth, the faith of Abu Bakr would outweigh the others." + +Shia view + +Shia Muslims believe that Ali ibn Abi Talib was supposed to assume the leadership, and that he had been publicly and unambiguously appointed by Muhammad as his successor at Ghadir Khumm. It is also believed that Abu Bakr and Umar conspired to take over power in the Muslim nation after Muhammad's death, in a coup d'état against Ali. + +Most Twelver Shia (as the main branch of Shia Islam, with 85% of all Shias) have a negative view of Abu Bakr because, after Muhammad's death, Abu Bakr refused to grant Muhammad's daughter, Fatimah, the lands of the village of Fadak which she claimed her father had given to her as a gift before his death. He refused to accept the testimony of her witnesses, so she claimed the land would still belong to her as inheritance from her deceased father. However, Abu Bakr replied by saying that Muhammad had told him that the prophets of God do not leave as inheritance any worldly possessions and on this basis he refused to give her the lands of Fadak. However, as Sayed Ali Asgher Razwy notes in his book A Restatement of the History of Islam & Muslims, Muhammad inherited a maid servant, five camels, and ten sheep. Shia Muslims believe that prophets can receive inheritance, and can pass on inheritance to others as well. In addition, Shias claim that Muhammad had given Fadak to Fatimah during his lifetime, and Fadak was therefore a gift to Fatimah, not inheritance. This view has also been supported by the Abbasid ruler Al-Ma'mun. + +Twelvers also accuse Abu Bakr of participating in the burning of the house of Ali and Fatima. The Twelver Shia believe that Abu Bakr sent Khalid ibn Walid to crush those who were in favour of Ali's caliphate (see Ridda wars). The Twelver Shia strongly refute the idea that Abu Bakr or Umar were instrumental in the collection or preservation of the Quran, claiming that they should have accepted the copy of the book in the possession of Ali. + +However, Sunnis argue that Ali and Abu Bakr were not enemies and that Ali named his sons Abi Bakr in honor of Abu Bakr. After the death of Abu Bakr, Ali raised Abu Bakr's son Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr. The Twelver Shia view Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr as one of the greatest companions of Ali. When Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr was killed by the Umayyads, Aisha, the third wife of Muhammad, raised and taught her nephew Qasim ibn Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr. Qasim ibn Muhammad ibn Abu Bakr's mother was from Ali's family and Qasim's daughter Farwah bint al-Qasim was married to Muhammad al-Baqir and was the mother of Ja'far al-Sadiq. Therefore, Qasim ibn Muhammad ibn Abu Bakr was the grandson of Abu Bakr and the grandfather of Ja'far al-Sadiq. + +Zaydi Shias, the largest group amongst the Shia before the Safavid dynasty and currently the second-largest group (although its population is only about 5% of all Shia Muslims), believe that on the last hour of Zayd ibn Ali (the uncle of Ja'far al-Sadiq), he was betrayed by the people in Kufa who said to him: "May God have mercy on you! What do you have to say on the matter of Abu Bakr and Umar ibn al-Khattab?" Zayd ibn Ali said, "I have not heard anyone in my family renouncing them both nor saying anything but good about them...when they were entrusted with government they behaved justly with the people and acted according to the Quran and the Sunnah". + +See also + + Laqit bin Malik Al-Azdi, rebel during Abu Bakr's Caliphate + List of Sahabah + Sunni view of the Sahaba + Muadh ibn Jabal + Sermon of Fadak + +Notes + +References + +Bibliography + + + Walker, Adam, Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, in Muhammad in History, Thought, and Culture: An Encyclopedia of the Prophet of God (2 vols.), Edited by C. Fitzpatrick and A. Walker, Santa Barbara, ABC-CLIO, 2014. + +Further reading + +Online + Abū Bakr Muslim caliph, in Encyclopædia Britannica Online, by The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica, Yamini Chauhan, Aakanksha Gaur, Gloria Lotha, Noah Tesch and Amy Tikkanen + +External links + + +573 births +634 deaths +Arab Muslims +People from Mecca +Rashidun caliphs + +7th-century caliphs +Sahabah who participated in the battle of Uhud +Sahabah who participated in the battle of Badr +People of the Muslim conquest of the Levant +Arab slave owners +Sahabah hadith narrators +Burials at Al-Masjid an-Nabawi +Ambrogio Traversari, also referred to as Ambrose of Camaldoli (138620 October 1439), was an Italian monk and theologian who was a prime supporter of the papal cause in the 15th century. He is honored as a saint by the Camaldolese Order. + +Biography +Traversari was born near Forlì, in the village of Portico di Romagna in 1386. At the age of 14 he entered the Camaldolese Order in the Monastery of St. Mary of the Angels in Florence, and soon acquired a reputation as a leading theologian and Hellenist. In his study of Greek literature his master was Emmanuel Chrysoloras. Traversari worked primarily as a scholar until he became prior general of the Order in 1431. + +Traversari emerged as a leading advocate of papal primacy. This attitude he showed clearly when he attended the Council of Basel as legate of Pope Eugene IV and defended the primacy of the pope, calling upon the council not to "rend asunder Christ's seamless robe". He was next sent by Eugene to the Emperor Sigismund to ask his aid in the pope's efforts to end this council, which for five years had been encroaching on papal prerogatives. Eugene transferred the council from Basel to Ferrara on 18 September 1437. + +So strong was Traversari's hostility to some of the delegates that he described Basel as a western Babylon. He likewise supported the pope at Ferrara and Florence, and worked hard in the attempt to reconcile the Eastern and Western Churches. But in this council, and later, in that of Florence, Traversari, by his efforts and charity toward some indigent Greek bishops, greatly helped to bring about a union of the two Churches, the decree for which, 6 July 1439, he was called on to prepare a draft. + +Ambrose Traversari died soon after. His feastday is celebrated by the Camaldolese Order on 20 November. + +Character +According to the author of his biography in the eleventh edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica: "Ambrose is interesting as typical of the new humanism which was growing up within the church. Thus while among his own colleagues he seemed merely a hypocritical and arrogant priest, in his relations with his brother humanists, such as Cosimo de' Medici, he appeared as the student of classical antiquities and especially of Greek theological authors". + +Works +His works include a treatise on the Holy Eucharist, one on the Procession of the Holy Spirit, many lives of saints, as well as a history of his term as prior general of the Camaldolese. He also translated from Greek into Latin a life of John Chrysostom (Venice, 1533); the Spiritual Wisdom of John Moschus; The Ladder of Divine Ascent of John Climacus (Venice, 1531), P.G., LXXXVIII. Between 1424 and 1433 he worked on the translation of the Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers by Diogenes Laërtius, which came to be widely circulated in manuscript form. He also translated four books against the errors of the Greeks, by Manuel Kalekas, Patriarch of Constantinople, a Dominican friar (Ingolstadt, 1608), P.G., CLII, col. 13-661, a work known only through Ambrose's translation. + +He also translated many homilies of John Chrysostom; the writings of Dionysius Areopagita (1436); Basil of Caesarea's treatise on virginity; thirty-nine discourses of Ephrem the Syrian, and many other works of the Fathers and writers of the Greek Church. Dom Mabillon's Letters and Orations of St. Ambrose of Camaldoli was published in Florence in 1759. + +Selected works: +Hodoeporicon, diary of a journey visiting the monasteries of Italy +Epistolarium, correspondence +translations of +Palladius, Life of Chrysostom +Ephraem Syrus, Nineteen Sermons of Ephraem Syrus +Basil of Caesarea, On Virginity +Diogenes Laërtius, Vitae philosophorum (Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers) +Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite (1436) + +A number of his manuscripts remain in the library of Saint Mark in Venice. + +See also +Traversari +The Baptism of Christ (Piero della Francesca) + +References + +Attribution + +Further reading + +External links + + Letters – a few letters in the original Latin and a portrait of him from a manuscript he copied. + + Contains short biography + +1386 births +1439 deaths +People from Portico e San Benedetto +14th-century Christian saints +15th-century Christian saints +15th-century Italian Roman Catholic theologians +Camaldolese saints +Medieval Italian saints +Italian Benedictines +Benedictine saints +Benedictine scholars +Benedictine theologians +15th-century Italian Roman Catholic priests +Greek–Latin translators +15th-century Italian writers +Italian Renaissance humanists +Ambrosians are members of one of the religious brotherhoods which at various times since the 14th century have sprung up in and around Milan, Italy. In the 16th century, a sect of Anabaptist Ambrosians was founded. + +Orders + +Only the oldest of the Catholic Ambrosians, the Fratres S. Ambrosii ad Nemus, had anything more than a very local significance. This order is known from a bull of Pope Gregory XI addressed to the monks of the church of St Ambrose outside Milan. + +Saint Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, certainly did not found religious orders, though he took an interest in the monastic life and watched over its beginnings in his diocese, providing for the needs of a monastery outside the walls of Milan, as Saint Augustine recounts in his Confessions. Ambrose also made successful efforts to improve the moral life of women in the Milan of his time by promoting the permanent institution of Virgins, as also of widows. His exhortations and other interventions have survived in various writings: De virginibus, De viduis, De virginitate, De institutione virginis, De exhortatione virginitatis, and De lapsu virginis consecratae. Ambrose was the only Father of the Church to leave behind so many writings on the subject and his attentions naturally enough led to the formation of communities which later became formal monasteries of women. + +It is against this background that two religious orders or congregations—one of men and one of women, when founded in the Milan area during the 13th and 15th centuries—took Saint Ambrose as their patron and hence adopted his name. + +Order of St Ambrose +The first of these groups was formed in a wood outside Milan by three noble Milanese, Alexander Grivelli, Antonio Petrasancta, and Albert Besuzzi, who were joined by others, including some priests. In 1375 Pope Gregory XI gave them the Rule of St Augustine, with set of constitutions. As a canonically recognized order they took the name "Fratres Sancti Ambrosii ad Nemus" and adopted a habit consisting of a brown tunic, scapular, and hood. The brethren elected a superior with the title of prior who was then instituted by the Archbishop of Milan. The priests of the congregation undertook preaching and other tasks of the ministry but were not allowed to accept charge parishes. In the liturgy they followed the Ambrosian Rite. Various monasteries were founded on these lines, but without any formal bond between them. In 1441 Pope Eugene IV merged them into one congregation called "Congregatio Sancti Ambrosii ad Nemus", made the original house the main seat, and laid down a system of government whereby a general chapter met every three years, elected the priors who stayed in office till the next chapter. There was a rector, or superior general, who was assisted by two "visitors". + +Saint Charles Borromeo, Archbishop of Milan, successfully reformed their discipline, grown lax, in 1579. In 1589 Pope Sixtus V united to the Congregation of St Ambrose the monasteries of a group known as the "Brothers of the Apostles of the Poor Life" (or "Apostolini" or "Brothers of St. Barnabas"), whose houses were in the province of Genoa and in the March of Ancona. This was an order that had been founded by Giovanni Scarpa at the end of the 15th century. The union was confirmed by Pope Paul V in 1606, at which time the congregation added the name of St. Barnabas to its title, adopted new constitutions, divided its houses into four provinces, two of them, St Clement's and St Pancras's, being in Rome. Published works have survived from the pen of Ascanio Tasca and Michele Mulozzani, each of whom was superior-general, and of Zaccaria Visconti, Francesco-Maria Guazzi and Paolo Fabulotti. Although various Ambrosians were given the title of Blessed in recognition of their holiness: Antonio Gonzaga of Mantua, Filippo of Fermo, and Gerardo of Monza, the order was eventually dissolved by Pope Innocent X in 1650. + +Nuns +The Nuns of St Ambrose (Ambrosian Sisters) wore a habit of the same colour as the Brothers of St Ambrose, conformed to their constitutions, and followed the Ambrosian Rite, but were independent in government. Pope Sixtus IV gave the nuns canonical status in 1474. Their one monastery was on the top of Monte Varese, near Lago Maggiore, on the spot where their foundress, the Blessed Catarina Morigia (or Catherine of Palanza), had first led a solitary life. Other early nuns were the Blessed Juliana of Puriselli, Benedetta Bimia, and Lucia Alciata. The nuns were esteemed by St Charles Borromeo. + +Another group of cloistered "Nuns of St Ambrose", also called the Annunciatae (Italian: Annunziate) of Lombardy or "Sisters of St Marcellina", were founded in 1408 by three young women of Pavia, Dorothea Morosini, Eleonora Contarini, and Veronica Duodi. Their houses, scattered throughout Lombardy and Venetia, were united into a congregation by St Pius V, under the Rule of St Augustine with a mother-house, residence of the prioress general, at Pavia. One of the nuns in this group was Saint Catharine Fieschi Adorno, who died on September 14, 1510. + +Oblates of St. Ambrose and of St. Charles + +In some sense also "Ambrosians" are the members of a diocesan religious society founded by St Charles Borromeo, Archbishop of Milan. All priests or destined to become priests, they took a simple vow of obedience to their bishop. The model for this was a society that already existed at Brescia, under the name of "Priests of Peace". In August 1578 the new society was inaugurated, being entrusted with the church of the Holy Sepulchre and given the name of "Oblates of St. Ambrose." They later received the approbation of Gregory XIII. St Charles died in 1584. These Oblates were dispersed by Napoleon I in 1810, while another group called the Oblates of Our Lady of Rho escaped this fate. In 1848 they were reorganized and given the name of "Oblates of St. Charles" and reassigned the house of the Holy Sepulchre. In the course of the 19th century similar groups were founded in a number of countries, including the "Oblates of St Charles", established in London by Cardinal Nicholas Wiseman. + +See also +St. Ambrose University + +References + +Anabaptism +Baptism +Premillennialism +Ambrosiaster or Pseudo-Ambrose is the name given to the unknown author of a commentary on the epistles of Saint Paul, written some time between 366 and 384AD. The name "Ambrosiaster" in Latin means "would-be Ambrose". Various conjectures have been made as to Ambrosiaster's true identity, and several other works have been attributed to the same author, with varying degrees of certainty. + +Biography +Pseudo-Ambrose was the name given by Erasmus to refer to the author of a volume containing the first complete Latin commentary on the Pauline epistles. Alexander Souter has established that the same author wrote the Quaestiones Veteris et Novi Testament, which had long been attributed to Saint Augustine. Other works ascribed to the same author, less definitely, are the Lex Dei sive Mosaicarum et Romanorum legum collatio, De bello judaico, and the fragmentary Contra Arianos sometimes ascribed to the pseudo-Hilary and the sermo 246 of pseudo-Augustine. They mention Simon Magus. + +Internal evidence from the documents has been taken to suggest that the author was active in Rome during the period of Pope Damasus, and, almost certainly, a member of the clergy. + +Commentary on Paul +The Commentary on Thirteen Pauline Letters is considered valuable as evidence of the state of the Latin text of Paul's epistles before the appearance of the Vulgate of Jerome, and as an example of Pauline interpretation prior to Augustine of Hippo. It was traditionally ascribed to Ambrose, but in 1527, Erasmus threw doubt on the accuracy of this ascription, and the anonymous author came to be known as "Ambrosiaster". It was once thought that Erasmus coined this name; however, René Hoven, in 1969, showed that this was incorrect, and that credit should actually be given to the Maurists. Later scholars have followed Hoven in this assessment, although it has also been suggested that the name originated with Franciscus Lucas Brugensis. + +Attempts to identify Ambrosiaster with known authors has continued, but with no success. Because Augustine cites Ambrosiaster's commentary on Romans 5:12 under the name of "Hilary", many critics have attempted to identify Ambroasiaster with one of the many writers named "Hilary" active in the period. In 1899, Germain Morin suggested that the writer was Isaac, a converted Jew and writer of a tract on the Trinity and Incarnation, who was exiled to Spain in 378–380 and then relapsed to Judaism. Morin afterwards abandoned this theory of the authorship in favour of Decimus Hilarianus Hilarius, proconsul of Africa in 377. Alternatively, Paolo Angelo Ballerini attempted to sustain the traditional attribution of the work to Ambrose, in his complete edition of that Father's work. This is extremely problematic, though, since it would require Ambrose to have written the book before he became a bishop, and then added to it in later years, incorporating later remarks of Hilary of Poitiers on Romans. No identifications, therefore, have acquired lasting popularity with scholars, and Ambrosiaster's identity remains a mystery. + +Other works +Several other works which now survive only as fragments have been attributed to this same author. These include a commentary on Matthew 24, and discussions on the parable of the leaven, the denial of Peter, and Jesus's arrest. In 1905, Alexander Souter established that Ambrosiaster was also the author of the Quaestiones Veteris et Novi Testamenti, a lengthy collection of exegetical and polemical tractates which manuscripts have traditionally ascribed to Augustine. + +Influence +Many scholars argue that Ambrosiaster's works were essentially Pelagian, although this is disputed. Pelagius cited him extensively. For example, Alfred Smith argued that Pelagius' "view of Predestination he seems to have taken from Ambrosiaster. His doctrine with regard to Original Sin appears to have come from the same source". However, Augustine also made use of Ambrosiaster's commentaries. + +Notes + +Bibliography + + + + Bussières, Marie-Pierre. Ambrosiaster. Contre les Païens. Sur le destin. Texte, traduction et commentaire. Paris, Éditions du Cerfs (Sources chrétiennes 512), 2007. + + + + + + + + Moreschini, Claudio, and Enrico Norelli. 2005 "Ambrosiaster," in Early Christian Greek and Latin Literature: A Literary History. Peabody, Mass: Hendrickson Publishers. vol. 2, p. 296-98. + Mundle, Wilhelm. 1919. Die Exegese der paulinischen Briefe im Kommentar des Ambrosiaster. + + Queis, Dietrich Traugott von, and Augustine. 1972. Ambrosiaster: Quaestiones Veteris et Novi Testamenti. Quaestio 115: De fato. Basel. + Souter, Alexander. 1905. A study of Ambrosiaster. Cambridge [Eng.]: The University Press. + Souter, Alexander. 1927. The earliest Latin commentaries on the Epistles of St. Paul; a study. Oxford: Clarendon Press. + +External links + + The Latin text of Ambrosiaster's Pauline commentary is included (though attributed to Ambrose) in Migne's Patrologia Latina, vol. 17, pp. 48–536. This can be found on Google Books or at Documenta Catholica Omnia. + The Latin text of Quaestiones Veteris et Novi Testamenti is included in Patrologia Latina, vol. 35, available at Documenta Catholica Omnia. + +4th-century Christian texts +4th-century Christian clergy +4th-century Romans +4th-century Christian theologians +4th-century writers in Latin +Ambrosius Aurelianus (; Anglicised as Ambrose Aurelian and called Aurelius Ambrosius in the Historia Regum Britanniae and elsewhere) was a war leader of the Romano-British who won an important battle against the Anglo-Saxons in the 5th century, according to Gildas. He also appeared independently in the legends of the Britons, beginning with the 9th-century Historia Brittonum. Eventually, he was transformed by Geoffrey of Monmouth into the uncle of King Arthur, the brother of Arthur's father Uther Pendragon, as a ruler who precedes and predeceases them both. He also appears as a young prophet who meets the tyrant Vortigern; in this guise, he was later transformed into the wizard Merlin. + +According to Gildas +Ambrosius Aurelianus is one of the few people whom Gildas identifies by name in his sermon De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae, and the only one named from the 5th century. De Excidio is considered the oldest extant British document about the so-called Arthurian period of Sub-Roman Britain. Following the destructive assault of the Saxons, the survivors gather together under the leadership of Ambrosius, who is described as: + +Some basic information on Ambrosius can be deduced from the brief passage: Ambrosius was possibly of high birth and very likely a Christian (Gildas says that he won his battles "with God's help"). Ambrosius's parents were slain by the Saxons and he was among the few survivors of their initial invasion. + +According to Gildas, Ambrosius organised the survivors into an armed force and achieved the first military victory over the Saxon invaders. However, this victory was not decisive: "Sometimes the Saxons and sometimes the citizens [meaning the Romano-British inhabitants] were victorious." Due to Gildas's description of him, Ambrosius is one of the figures called the Last of the Romans. + +Scholarship questions +Two points in Gildas's description have attracted much scholarly commentary. The first is what Gildas meant by saying Ambrosius' family "had worn the purple". Roman emperors and male Patricians wore clothes with a purple band to denote their class so the reference to purple may be to an aristocratic heritage. Roman military tribunes (tribuni militum), senior officers in Roman legions, wore a similar purple band so the reference may be to a family background of military leadership. The tradition was old, as the togas and pallia of already ancient senators and tribunes were trimmed with the purple band. In the church, "the purple" is a euphemism for blood and therefore "wearing the purple" may be a reference to martyrdom or a bishop's robe. In addition, in the later Roman Empire both Roman consuls and governors of consular rank also wore clothes with a purple fringe. The Notitia Dignitatum, a Roman catalogue of official posts, lists four or five provincial governors in Roman Britain and two of them were of consular rank. One was the governor of Maxima Caesariensis and the other that of Valentia. The parent who wore the purple may well have been one of these governors, whose names were not recorded. + +It has been suggested by historian Alex Woolf that Ambrosius may have been related to the 5th-century Romano-British usurpers Marcus or Gratian – Woolf expresses a preference based on nomenclature for Marcus. Frank D. Reno, an Arthurian scholar, has instead argued that the name "Aurelianus" indicates the descent of Ambrosius from the Illyrian Roman emperor Aurelian (reigned 270–275). Aurelian's military campaigns included the conquest of the Gallic Empire. N. J. Higham suggests that Ambrosius may have been distantly related to imperial families of the late Roman Empire, such as the Theodosian dynasty. Branches of this particular dynasty were known to be active in western Roman provinces like Hispania. + +Mike Ashley instead focuses on the name "Ambrosius" and its possible connection to Saint Ambrosius, a fourth-century Bishop of Milan, who also served as consular governor in areas of Roman Italy. The father of the Bishop is sometimes claimed to be a fourth century Praetorian prefect of Gaul named Aurelius Ambrosius, whose areas included Britain, though some modern scholars doubt that Saint Ambrosius was related to this man (instead identifying his father with an official named Uranius mentioned in an extract from the Theodosian Code). Ashley suggests that Ambrosius Aurelianus was related to the two Aurelii Ambrosii. Tim Venning points out that the name "Aurelianus" could be the result of a Roman adoption. When a boy was adopted into a new gens (clan), he received the family names of his new family but was often additionally called by a cognomen indicating his descent from his original family. The additional cognomen often had the form "-anus". When Gaius Octavius from gens Octavia was adopted by his uncle Gaius Julius Caesar, he was often distinguished from his adoptive father by the addition "Octavianus". In this case, Ambrosius may have been a member of gens Aurelia who was adopted by another gens/family. + +The second question is the meaning of the word avita: Gildas could have meant "ancestors", or intended it to mean more specifically "grandfather" – thus indicating Ambrosius lived about a generation before the Battle of Badon. Lack of information prevents sure answers to these questions. + +Gildas's motives +N. J. Higham wrote a book on Gildas and the literary tropes that he used. He has suggested that Gildas may have had considerable motive for drawing attention to Ambrosius. He was not attempting to write a historical biography of the man, according to Higham, but setting him as an example to his contemporaries. It was essential to the philosophy of Gildas that Briton leaders who achieved victory over the barbarians were only able to do so because of divine aid. And only those who had superior Christian virtues were deserving of this aid. Ambrosius Aurelianus was apparently known for at least one such victory over the barbarians. To fit him into his worldview, Gildas was almost required to feature the former warrior as a man of exceptional virtues and obedience to God. He was made to fit Gildas's version of a model leader. + +Higham also suggests that the Roman lineage of Ambrosius was highlighted for a reason. Gildas was apparently intentionally connecting him with the legitimate authority and military virtues of the Romans. He was also contrasting him with the subsequent Briton rulers whose reigns lacked in such legitimacy. + +Identifying historical figures +Gildas is a primary source for the Battle of Badon, yet he never mentions the names of the combatants. Therefore, we cannot know if Ambrosius Aurelianus or his successors took part in the battle. The names of the Saxon leaders in the battle are also not recorded. + +The identities of Ambrosius's descendants are unknown, since Gildas never identifies them by name. It is safe to assume that they were Gildas's contemporaries and known to the author. Higham suggests that they were prominent figures of the time. Their lineage and identities were probably sufficiently familiar to his intended audience that they did not have to be named. The work portrays Ambrosius's descendants as inferior to their ancestor as part of his criticism on rulers of his time, according to Higham. Those criticised were likely aware that the vitriol was intended for them, but probably would not challenge a work offering such a glowing report of their illustrious ancestor. + +Mike Ashley suggests that the descendants of Ambrosius could include other people named by Gildas. He favours the inclusion in this category of one Aurelius Caninus ("Aurelius the dog-like"), whom Gildas accuses of parricide, fornication, adultery, and warmongering. His name "Aurelius" suggests Romano-British descent. The insulting nickname "Caninus" was probably invented by Gildas himself, who similarly insults other contemporary rulers. Due to the name used by Gildas, there are theories that this ruler was actually named Conan/Cynan/Kenan. Some identify him with Cynan Garwyn, a 6th-century King of Powys, though it is uncertain if he was a contemporary of Gildas or lived one or two generations following him. Another theory is that this ruler did not reign in Britain but in Brittany. Caninus, in this view, might be Conomor ("Great Dog"). Conomor is considered a likelier contemporary of Gildas. Conomor was likely from Domnonée, an area of Brittany controlled by British immigrants from Dumnonia. He might be remembered in British legend as Mark of Cornwall. + +Gildas primarily features the Saxons as barbarian raiders; their invasions involved a slow and difficult process of military conquest. By AD 500, possibly the time described by Gildas, Anglo-Saxons controlled the Isle of Wight, Kent, Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, and coastal areas of Northumberland and Yorkshire. The rest of the former Roman Britain was still under the control of the local Britons or remnants of the Roman provincial administration. Gildas also mentions depopulation of cities and this probably reflects historical facts. Londinium, once a major city, was completely abandoned during the 5th century. + +According to Bede +Bede follows Gildas's account of Ambrosius in his Ecclesiastical History of the English People, but in his Chronica Majora he dates Ambrosius's victory to the reign of the Emperor Zeno (474–491). + +Bede's treatment of the 5th century history of Great Britain is not particularly valuable as a source. Until about the year 418, Bede could choose between several historical sources and often followed the writings of Orosius. Following the end of Orosius's history, Bede apparently lacked other available sources and relied extensively on Gildas. Entries from this period tend to be close paraphrases of Gildas's account with mostly stylistic changes. Bede's account of Ambrosius Aurelianus has been translated as following: + +Bede does not mention the descendants of Ambrosius Aurelianus, nor their supposed degeneracy. + +According to Nennius +The Historia Brittonum, attributed to Nennius, preserves several snippets of lore about Ambrosius. Despite the traditional attribution, the authorship of the work and the period of its writing are open questions for modern historians. There are several extant manuscript versions of the work, varying in details. The most important ones have been dated to between the 9th and the 11th century. Some modern scholars think it unlikely that the work was composed by a single writer or compiler, suggesting that it may have taken centuries to reach its final form, though this theory is not conclusive. + +In Chapter 31, we are told that Vortigern ruled in fear of Ambrosius. This is the first mention of Ambrosius in the work. According to Frank D. Reno, this would indicate that Ambrosius's influence was formidable, since Vortigern considered him more of a threat than northern invaders and attempts to restore Roman rule in Britain. The chapter relates events following the end of Roman rule in Britain and preceding Vortigern's alliance with the Saxons. + +The most significant appearance of Ambrosius is the story about Ambrosius, Vortigern, and the two dragons beneath Dinas Emrys, "Fortress of Ambrosius" in Chapters 40–42. In this account, Ambrosius is still an adolescent but has supernatural powers. He intimidates Vortigern and the royal magicians. When it is revealed that Ambrosius is the son of a Roman consul, Vortigern is convinced to cede to the younger man the castle of Dinas Emrys and all the kingdoms in the western part of Britain. Vortigern then retreats to the north, in an area called Gwynessi. This story was later retold with more detail by Geoffrey of Monmouth in his fictionalised Historia Regum Britanniae, conflating the personage of Ambrosius with the Welsh tradition of Myrddin the visionary, known for oracular utterances that foretold the coming victories of the native Celtic inhabitants of Britain over the Saxons and the Normans. Geoffrey also introduces him into the Historia under the name Aurelius Ambrosius as one of three sons of Constantine III, along with Constans and Uther Pendragon. + +In Chapter 48, Ambrosius Aurelianus is described as "king among all the kings of the British nation". The chapter records that Pascent, the son of Vortigern, was granted rule over the regions of Buellt and Gwrtheyrnion by Ambrosius. Finally, in Chapter 66, various events are dated from a Battle of Guoloph (often identified with Wallop, ESE of Amesbury near Salisbury), which is said to have been between Ambrosius and Vitolinus. The author dates this battle as taking place 12 years from the reign of Vortigern. + +It is not clear how these various traditions about Ambrosius relate to each other, or whether they come from the same tradition; it is very possible that these references are to different men with the same name. Frank D. Reno points out that the works call all these men "Ambrosius"/"Emrys". The cognomen "Aurelianus" is never used. The Historia Brittonum dates the battle of Guoloph to "the twelfth year of Vortigern", by which the year 437 seems to be meant. This is perhaps a generation before the battle that Gildas may imply was commanded by Ambrosius Aurelianus. + +The text never identifies who Ambrosius's father is, just gives his title as a Roman consul. When an adolescent Ambrosius speaks of his father, there is no suggestion that this father is deceased. The boy is not identified as an orphan. The exact age of Ambrosius is not given in his one encounter with Vortigern. Frank D. Reno suggests that he might be as young as 13 years old, barely a teenager. + +It is impossible to know to what degree Ambrosius actually wielded political power, and over what area. Ambrosius and Vortigern are shown as being in conflict in the Historia Brittonum, and some historians have suspected that this preserves a historical core of the existence of two parties in opposition to one another, one headed by Ambrosius and the other by Vortigern. J. N. L. Myres built upon this suspicion and speculated that belief in Pelagianism reflected an actively provincial outlook in Britain and that Vortigern represented the Pelagian party, while Ambrosius led the Catholic one. Subsequent historians accepted Myres's speculation as fact, creating a narrative of events in 5th century Britain with various degrees of elaborate detail. Yet a simpler alternative interpretation of the conflict between these two figures is that the Historia Brittonum is preserving traditions hostile to the purported descendants of Vortigern, who at this time were a ruling house in Powys. This interpretation is supported by the negative character of all of the stories retold about Vortigern in the Historia Brittonum, which include his alleged practice of incest. + +The identity of Ambrosius's last mentioned enemy, Vitalinus, is somewhat obscure. Various manuscripts of the Historia and translations also render his name as "Guitolin," "Guitolini," and "Guitholini." He is mentioned in chapter 49 as one of four sons of Gloiu and co-founder of the city of Gloucester. No other background information is given. There are theories that Gloiu is also the father of Vortigern, but the genealogy is obscure and no supporting primary text can be found. There have been further attempts to identify Vitalinus with a pro-Vortigern or anti-Roman faction in Britain, opposed to the rise of the Romano-British Ambrosius. However, this is rendered problematic since Vitalinus seems to also have a Romano-British name. The traditional view of pro-Roman and pro-Briton factions active in this period might oversimplify a more complex situation. + +According to William of Malmesbury + +Ambrosius appears briefly in the Gesta Regum Anglorum ("Deeds of the Kings of the English") by William of Malmesbury. Despite its name, the work attempted to reconstruct British history in general by drawing together the varying accounts of Gildas, Bede, Nennius, and various chroniclers. The work features Ambrosius as the apparent employer of Arthur. The relevant passage has been translated as follows: + +William swiftly shifts attention from Ambrosius to Arthur, and proceeds to narrate Arthur's supposed victory in the Battle of Badon. The narrative is probably the first to connect Ambrosius and Arthur. William had to reconcile the accounts of Gildas and Bede who implied that Ambrosius was connected to the battle, and that of Nennius which clearly stated that it was Arthur who was connected to the battle. He solved the apparent discrepancy by connecting both of them to it. Ambrosius as the king of the Britons and Arthur as his most prominent general and true victor of the battle. + +According to Geoffrey of Monmouth + +Ambrosius Aurelianus appears in later pseudo-chronicle tradition beginning with Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae with the slightly garbled name Aurelius Ambrosius, now presented as son of a King Constantine. King Constantine's eldest son Constans is murdered at Vortigern's instigation, and the two remaining sons (Ambrosius and Uther, still very young) are quickly hustled into exile in Brittany. (This does not fit with Gildas' account, in which Ambrosius' family perished in the turmoil of the Saxon uprisings.) Later, the two brothers return from exile with a large army when Vortigern's power has faded. They destroy Vortigern and become friends with Merlin. They go on to defeat the Saxon leader Hengist in two battles at Maisbeli (probably Ballifield, near Sheffield) and Cunengeburg. Hengist is executed and Ambrosius becomes king of Britain. However, he is poisoned by his enemies, and Uther succeeds him. The text identifies the poisoner as Eopa. + +Judgements vary wildly of the value of Geoffrey as both a historian and a literary storyteller. He has been praised for giving us detailed information about an otherwise obscure period and possibly preserving information from lost sources, and condemned for an excessive use of artistic licence and possibly inventing stories wholecloth. + According to Frank D. Reno, whenever Geoffrey uses extant sources, the details in the text tend to be accurate. Assuming that he was also using sources lost to us, it may be difficult to decide which details are truthful. Reno suggests that "individual judgements" have to be made about various elements of his narrative. + +Geoffrey changed the word "Aurelianus" to "Aurelius", which is the name of a Roman gens. Geoffrey retains the story of Emrys and the dragons from Nennius, but identifies the figure with Merlin. Merlin is Geoffrey's version of a historical figure known as Myrddin Wyllt. Myrddin is only mentioned once in the Annales Cambriae, at an entry dated to 573. The name of Merlin is given in Latin as Ambrosius Merlinus. "Merlinus" may have been intended as the agnomen of a Roman or Romano-British individual like Ambrosius. + +Elements of Ambrosius Aurelianus, the traditional warrior king, are used by Geoffrey for other characters. Ambrosius' supposed supernatural powers are passed to Merlin. Geoffrey's Aurelius Ambrosius rises to the throne but dies early, passing the throne to a previously unknown brother called Uther Pendragon. The role of warrior king is shared by Uther and his son Arthur. + +Geoffrey also uses the character Gloiu, father of Vitalinus/Vitolinus, derived from Nennius. He names this character as a son of Claudius and appointed by his father as Duke of the Welsh. His predecessor as Duke is called Arvirargus. Assuming that Claudius and Arvirargus are supposed to be contemporaries, then this Claudius is the Roman emperor Claudius I (reigned 41–54). It seems unlikely that Claudius would have living grandsons in the 5th century, four centuries following his death. Reno suggests that Claudius II (reigned 268–270) would be a more likely "Claudius" to have living descendants in the 5th century. + +Geoffrey for the first time gives a genealogy of Ambrosius. He is supposedly a paternal nephew of Aldroenus, King of Brittany, son of Constantine and an unnamed Briton noblewoman, adoptive grandson (on his mother's side) of Guthelinus/Vitalinus, Bishop of London, younger brother of Constans and older brother of Uther Pendragon. Ambrosius and Uther are supposedly raised by their adoptive maternal grandfather Guthelinus/Vitalinus. It is not explicitly covered in Geoffrey's narrative, but this genealogy makes Constantine and his children descendants of Conan Meriadoc, legendary founder of the line of Kings of Brittany. Conan is also featured in the Historia Regum Britanniae, where he is appointed king by Roman emperor Magnus Maximus (reigned 383–388). + +Constantine's reign is placed by Geoffrey as following the Groans of the Britons mentioned by Gildas. Constantine is reported killed by a Pict and his reign is followed by a brief succession crisis. Candidates for the throne included all three sons of Constantine, but there were problems for their eventual rise to the throne. Constans was a monk, and Ambrosius and Uther were underage and still in their cradle. The crisis is resolved when Vortigern places Constans on the throne, and then serves as his chief adviser and power behind the throne. When Constans is killed by the Picts serving as bodyguards of Vortigern, Vortigern feigns anguish and has the killers executed. Ambrosius is still underage and Vortigern rises to the throne. + +The chronology offered by Geoffrey for the early life of Ambrosius contradicts Gildas and Nennius, and is also internally inconsistent. The Groans of the Britons involves an appeal by the Britons to Roman consul "Agitius". This person has been identified with Flavius Aetius (d. 454), magister militum ("master of soldiers") of the Western Roman Empire and consul of the year 446. The Groans are generally dated to the 440s and 450s, preceding the death of Aetius. If Geoffrey's Constantine rose to the throne immediately following the Groans, this would place his reign in this period. Geoffrey gives a 10-year reign for Constantine and his marriage lasts just as long. However the eldest son Constans is clearly older than 10 years by the time his father dies. He is already an adult candidate of the throne and has had time to follow a monastic career. Even assuming there is a time gap between the death of Constantine and the adulthood of Constans, his younger brothers +have not aged at all in the narrative. +Geoffrey's narrative has an underage Ambrosius, if not a literal infant, in the 460s. Accounts deriving from Gildas and Nennius place Ambrosius in the prime of his life in the same decade. Most telling is that Geoffrey has Vortigern rising to the throne in the 460s. Nennius places the rise of Vortigern in the year 425, and Vortigern is entirely absent in chronologies of the 460s. Suggesting that he was deceased by that time. + +Geoffrey's narrative includes as a major character Hengist, as leader of the Saxons. He is featured as the father of Queen Rowena and father-in-law of Vortigern. Other Saxon characters in the narrative tend to receive less attention by the writer, but their names tend to correspond to Anglo-Saxons known from other sources. Henginst's supposed son Octa is apparently Octa of Kent, a 6th-century ruler variously connected to Hengist as a son or descendant. The other son, Ebissa, is more difficult to identify. He might correspond to kinsmen of Hengist variously identified as "Ossa", "Oisc", and "Aesc". A minor Saxon character called "Cherdic" is probably Cerdic of Wessex, though elsewhere Geoffrey calls the same king "Cheldric". He actually may appear under three different names in the narrative, since Geoffrey elsewhere calls the interpreter of Hengist "Ceretic", a variant of the same name. + +Geoffrey, in the last chapters featuring Vortigern, has the king served by magicians. This detail derives from Nennius, though Nennius was talking about Vortigern's "wise men". They may not have been magic users but advisers. Vortigern's encounter with Emrys/Merlin takes place in this part of the narrative. Merlin warns Vortigern that Ambrosius and Uther have already sailed for Britain and are soon to arrive, apparently to claim his throne. Ambrosius soon arrives at the head of the army and is crowned king. He besieges Vortigern at the castle of "Genoreu", which is identified with Nennius' Cair Guorthigirn ("Fort Vortigern") and the hillfort at Little Doward. Ambrosius burns the castle down and Vortigern dies with it. + +Having killed Vortigern, Ambrosius next turns his attention to Hengist. Despite the fact that no earlier military actions of Ambrosius are recorded, the Saxons have already heard of his bravery and battle prowess. They immediately retreat beyond the Humber. Hengist soon amasses a massive army to face Ambrosius. His army counts 200,000 men and Ambrosius' only 10,000 men. He marches south and the first battle between the two armies takes place in Maisbeli, where Ambrosius emerges the victor. It is unclear what location Geoffrey had in mind. Maisbeli translates to "the field of Beli", and could be related to the Beli Mawr of Welsh legend and/or the Celtic god Belenus. Alternatively it could be a field where the Beltane festival was celebrated. Geoffrey could derive the name from a similar-sounding toponym. For example, Meicen of the Hen Ogledd ("Old North"), traditionally identified with Hatfield. + +Following his defeat, Hengist retreats towards Cunungeburg. Geoffrey probably had in mind Conisbrough, not far from Hatfield. Ambrosius leads his army against the new position of the Saxons. The second battle is more evenly fought, and Hengist has a chance to achieve victory. However, Ambrosius receives reinforcements from Brittany and the tide of the battle turns in favour of the Britons. Hengist himself is captured by his old enemy Eldol, Consul of Gloucester and decapitated. Soon after the battle, the surviving Saxon leaders Octa and Eosa submit themselves to Ambrosius' rule. He pardons them and grants them an area near Scotland. The area is not named, but Geoffrey could be basing this on Bernicia, a real Anglo-Saxon kingdom covering areas in the modern borders of Scotland and England. + +Geoffrey closely connects the deaths of Vortigern and Hengist, which are elsewhere poorly recorded. Vortigern historically died in the 450s, and various dates for the death of Hengist have been proposed, between the 450s and the 480s. Octa of Kent, the supposed son and heir of Hengist, was still alive in the 6th century and seems to belong to a later historical era than his father. The ruling family of the Kingdom of Kent were called the Oiscingas, a term identifying them as descendants of Oisc of Kent, not of Hengist. In effect, none of them was likely a literal son of Hengist and their relation to Hengist may have been a later invention. Geoffrey did not invent the connection, but his sources here were likely legendary in nature. + +Following his victories and the end of the wars, Ambrosius organises the burial of killed nobles at Kaercaradduc. Geoffrey identifies this otherwise unknown location with Caer-Caradog (Salisbury). Ambrosius wants a permanent memorial for the slain and assigns the task to Merlin. The result is the so-called Giants' Ring. Its location in the vicinity of Salisbury has led to its identification with Stonehenge, though Geoffrey never uses that term. Stonehenge is closer to Amesbury than Salisbury. The ring formation of the monument could equally apply to Avebury, the largest stone circle in Europe. + +In other texts + +In Welsh legend and texts, Ambrosius appears as Emrys Wledig (Emperor Ambrose). The term "Wledig" is a title used by senior royal and military commanders who have achieved notable success. The term is mostly used for famous figures such as Cunedda, though a few obscure figures have been given the title. For example, the Roman emperor Magnus Maximus is known as "Macsen Wledig" when he appears in Welsh folklore. + +In Robert de Boron's Merlin he is called simply Pendragon and his younger brother is named Uter, which he changes to Uterpendragon after the death of the elder sibling. This is probably a confusion that entered oral tradition from Wace's Roman de Brut. Wace usually only refers to li roi ("the king") without naming him, and someone has taken an early mention of Uther's epithet Pendragon as the name of his brother. + +Richard Carew's Survey of Cornwall (1602) drew on an earlier French writer, Nicholas Gille, who mentions Moigne, brother of Aurelius and Uther, who was duke of Cornwall, and "gouerner of the Realme" under Emperor Honorius. + +Possible identification with other figures + +Riothamus +Léon Fleuriot has suggested Ambrosius is identical to Riothamus, a Brythonic leader who fought a major battle against the Goths in France around the year 470. Fleuriot argues that Ambrosius led the Britons in the battle, in which he was defeated and forced to retreat to Burgundy. Fleuriot proposed that he then returned to Britain to continue the war against the Saxons. + +Place-name evidence +It has been suggested that the place-name Amesbury in Wiltshire might preserve the name of Ambrosius, and that perhaps Amesbury was the seat of his power base in the later fifth century. Scholars such as Shimon Applebaum have found a number of place names through the Midland dialect regions of Britain that incorporate the ambre- element; examples include Ombersley in Worcestershire, Ambrosden in Oxfordshire, Amberley in Herefordshire, Amberley in Gloucestershire, and Amberley in West Sussex. These scholars have claimed that this element represents an Old English word amor, the name of a woodland bird. However, Amesbury in Wiltshire is in a different dialect region and does not easily fit into the pattern of the Midland dialect place names. + +Modern fictional treatments +The novel Coalescent by Stephen Baxter depicts Aurelianus as a general to Artorius, Briton and basis for the legend of King Arthur. In Baxter's novel, Aurelianus is a minor character who interacts with the book's main Roman-era protagonist, Regina, founder of a (literally) underground matriarchal society. In the text, he is credited with winning the battle of Mount Badon. +In Marion Zimmer Bradley's The Mists of Avalon, Aurelianus is depicted as the ageing High King of Britain, a "too-ambitious" son of a Western Roman Emperor. His sister's son is Uther Pendragon, but Uther is described as not having any Roman blood. Aurelianus is unable to gather the leadership of the native Celts, who refuse to follow any but their own race. +In Alfred Duggan's Conscience of the King, a historical novel about Cerdic, founder of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex, Ambrosius Aurelianus is a Romano-British general who rose independently to military power, forming alliances with various British kings and setting out to drive the invading Saxons from Britain. Cerdic, who is of both Germanic and British descent and raised as a Roman citizen, served in his army as a young man. In the novel Ambrosius is a separate character from Arthur, or Artorius, who appears much later as a foe of Cerdic. +In Stephen R. Lawhead's Pendragon Cycle, Aurelianus (most often referred to as "Aurelius") figures prominently, along with his brother Uther, in the second book of the series, Merlin. He is poisoned soon after becoming High King of Britain, and Uther succeeds him. Lawhead alters the standard Arthurian story somewhat, in that he has Aurelius marry Igraine and become the true father of King Arthur (Uther does marry his brother's widow, though). +In Valerio Massimo Manfredi's The Last Legion, Aurelianus (here called "Aurelianus Ambrosius Ventidius") is a major character and is shown as one of the last loyal Romans, going to enormous lengths for his boy emperor Romulus Augustus, whose power has been wrested by the barbarian Odoacer. In this story, Romulus Augustus marries Igraine, and King Arthur is their son, and the sword of Julius Caesar becomes the legendary Excalibur in Britain. In the 2007 film version of the novel, he is played by Colin Firth and his name becomes "Aurelianus Caius Antonius". In both he is called "Aurelius" for short. +Mary Stewart's The Crystal Cave follows Geoffrey of Monmouth in calling him Aurelius Ambrosius and portrays him as the father of Merlin, the elder brother of Uther (hence uncle of Arthur), an initiate of Mithras, and generally admired by everyone except the Saxons. Much of the book is set at his court in Brittany or during the campaign to retake his throne from Vortigern. Later books in the series show that Merlin's attitude toward Arthur is influenced by his belief that Arthur is a reincarnation of Ambrosius, who is seen through Merlin's eyes as a model of good kingship. +In Rosemary Sutcliff's The Lantern Bearers Prince Ambrosius Aurelianus of Arfon fights the Saxons by training his British army with Roman techniques and making effective use of cavalry. By the end of the novel, the elite cavalry wing is led by his nephew, a dashing young warrior prince named Artos, whom Sutcliff postulates to be the real Arthur. In the sequel Sword at Sunset, Artos eventually succeeds an ailing Ambrosius as High King after he deliberately gets himself killed while hunting. +In Parke Godwin's Firelord, Ambrosius is the elderly tribune of the diminished, dispirited and politically fractured Legio VI Victrix garrisoning Hadrian's Wall. Near his death, he names Artorius Pendragon (Arthur) as his successor, encourages him to convert the legion to alae (heavy cavalry) and allows the legionnaires to renounce their loyalty to Rome and take personal oaths of fealty to Artorius in order to help unify Brittania politically and to create a military force with the ability to quickly redeploy to meet differing threats. +In Jack Whyte's Camulod Chronicles, Ambrosius Aurelianus is the half-brother of Caius Merlyn Britannicus (Merlin) and helps him lead the people of Camulod (Camelot). +In Henry Treece's The Great Captains, Ambrosius is the aged and blind Count of Britain who is deposed by the Celt Artos the Bear after the latter takes his sword of command Caliburn and plunges it into a tree stump, daring him to pull it out. +In Stargate SG-1, Ambrosius and Arthur are one and the same. Merlin was an Ancient, fleeing from Atlantis and later Ascends, then comes back in order to build the Sangraal, or Holy Grail, to defeat the Ori. Daniel Jackson also comments that it would mean that Ambrosius was 74 at the Battle of Mount Badon. +Ambrosius (voiced by Owen Teale) is a major character in the 2020 Audible Original drama Albion: The Legend of Arthur, in which he is depicted as the uncle of Arthur and having a son named Cunan. + +References + +Sources + + + + + + + + +5th-century births +5th-century monarchs in Europe +5th-century Romans +Arthurian characters +Legendary British kings +Date of death unknown +Historical figures as candidates of King Arthur +Last of the Romans +Merlin +Mythological kings +Sub-Roman Britons +Sub-Roman monarchs +Welsh mythology +Ammon (Ammonite: 𐤏𐤌𐤍 ʻAmān; ; ) was an ancient Semitic-speaking kingdom occupying the east of the Jordan River, between the torrent valleys of Arnon and Jabbok, in present-day Jordan. The chief city of the country was Rabbah or Rabbat Ammon, site of the modern city of Amman, Jordan's capital. Milcom and Molech are named in the Hebrew Bible as the gods of Ammon. The people of this kingdom are called Children of Ammon or Ammonites. + +History + +The Ammonites occupied the northern Central Trans-Jordanian Plateau from the latter part of the second millennium BC to at least the second century AD. + +Ammon maintained its independence from the Neo-Assyrian Empire (10th to 7th centuries BC) by paying tribute to the Assyrian kings at a time when that Empire raided or conquered nearby kingdoms. The Kurkh Monolith lists the Ammonite king Baasha ben Ruhubi's army as fighting alongside Ahab of Israel and Syrian allies against Shalmaneser III at the Battle of Qarqar in 853 BC, possibly as vassals of Hadadezer, the Aramaean king of Damascus. In 734 BC the Ammonite king Sanipu was a vassal of Tiglath-Pileser III of Assyria, and Sanipu's successor Pudu-ilu held the same position under Sennacherib () and Esarhaddon (). An Assyrian tribute-list exists from this period, showing that Ammon paid one-fifth as much tribute as Judah did. + +Somewhat later, the Ammonite king Amminadab I () was among the tributaries who suffered in the course of the great Arabian campaign of Assurbanipal. Other kings attested to in contemporary sources are Barachel (attested to in several contemporary seals) and Hissalel; Hissalel reigned about 620 BC, and is mentioned in an inscription on a bronze bottle found at Tel Siran in present-day Amman, along with his son, King Amminadab II, who reigned around 600 BC. + +Archaeology and history indicate that Ammon flourished during the period of the Neo-Babylonian Empire (626 to 539 BC). This contradicts the view, dominant for decades, that Transjordan was either destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar II, or suffered a rapid decline following Judah's destruction by that king. Newer evidence suggests that Ammon enjoyed continuity from the Neo-Babylonian to the Persian period of 550 to 330 BC. + +In accounts in the First Book of Maccabees, the Ammonites and their neighboring tribes are noted for having resisted the revival of Jewish power under Judas Maccabaeus in the period 167 to 160 BC. The dynast Hyrcanus founded Qasr Al Abd, and was a descendant of the Seleucid Tobiad dynasty of Tobiah, whom Nehemiah mentions in the 5th century BC as an Ammonite (ii. 19) from the east-Jordanian district. + +By the Roman conquest of the Levant by Pompey in 63 BCE, Ammon lost its distinct identity through assimilation. + +However, the last notice of the Ammonites occurs in Justin Martyr's Dialogue with Trypho (§ 119), in the second century CE; Justin affirms that they were still a numerous people. + +Biblical account +The first mention of the Ammonites in the Hebrew Bible is in . It is stated there that they descended from Ben-Ammi, a son of Lot with his younger daughter who plotted with her sister to intoxicate Lot and, in his inebriated state, have intercourse with him to become pregnant. Ben-Ammi literally means "son of my people". After the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Lot's daughters' plot resulted in them conceiving and giving birth to Ammon and his half-brother, Moab. This narrative has traditionally been considered literal fact, but is now generally interpreted as recording a gross popular irony by which the Israelites expressed their loathing of the morality of the Moabites and Ammonites. It has been doubted, however, whether the Israelites would have directed such irony to Lot himself, particularly because incest was not explicitly forbidden or stigmatized until the Book of Leviticus, i.e. centuries after the time of Abraham and Lot. + +The Ammonites settled to the east of the Jordan, invading the Rephaim lands east of Jordan, between the Jabbok and Arnon, dispossessing them and dwelling in their place. Their territory originally comprising all from the Jordan to the wilderness, and from the River Jabbok south to the River Arnon. It was accounted a land of giants; and that giants formerly dwelt in it, whom the Ammonites called Zamzummim. + +Shortly before the Israelite Exodus, the Amorites west of Jordan, under King Sihon, invaded and occupied a large portion of the territory of Moab and Ammon. The Ammonites were driven from the rich lands near the Jordan and retreated to the mountains and valleys to the east. The invasion of the Amorites created a wedge and separated the two kingdoms of Ammon and Moab. + +Throughout the Bible, the Ammonites and the Israelites are portrayed as mutual antagonists. During the Exodus, the Israelites were prohibited by the Ammonites from passing through their lands. The Ammonites soon allied themselves with Eglon of Moab in attacking Israel. + +The Ammonites maintained their claim to part of Transjordan, after it was occupied by the Israelites who obtained it from Sihon. During the days of Jephthah, the Ammonites occupied the lands east of the River Jordan and started to invade Israelite lands west of the river. Jephthah became the leader in resisting these incursions. + +The constant harassment of the Israelite communities east of the Jordan by the Ammonites was the impetus behind the unification of the tribes under Saul. King Nahash of Ammon (990 BC) lay siege to Jabesh-Gilead. Nahash appears abruptly as the attacker of Jabesh-Gilead, which lay outside the territory he laid claim to. Having subjected the occupants to a siege, the population sought terms for surrender, and were told by Nahash that they had a choice of death (by the sword) or having their right eyes gouged out. The population obtained seven days' grace from Nahash, during which they would be allowed to seek help from the Israelites, after which they would have to submit to the terms of surrender. The occupants sought help from the people of Israel, sending messengers throughout the whole territory, and Saul, a herdsman at this time, responded by raising an army which decisively defeated Nahash and his cohorts at Bezek. + +The strangely cruel terms given by Nahash for surrender were explained by Josephus as being the usual practice of Nahash. A more complete explanation came to light with the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls: although not present in either the Septuagint or masoretic text, an introductory passage, preceding this narrative, was found in a copy of the Books of Samuel among the scrolls found in cave 4: + +This eventually led to an alliance with Saul. Under his command, the Israelites relieved the siege and defeated the Ammonite king, eventually resulting in the formation of the Israelite kingdom. + +During the reign of King David, the Ammonites humiliated David's messengers, and hired the Aramean armies to attack Israel. This eventually ended in a war and a year-long siege of Rabbah, the capital of Ammon. The war ended with all the Ammonite cities being conquered and plundered, and the inhabitants being killed or put to forced labor at David's command. + +According to both and , Naamah was an Ammonite. She was the only wife of King Solomon to be mentioned by name in the Tanakh as having borne a child. She was the mother of Solomon's successor, Rehoboam. + +When the Arameans of Damascus city-state deprived the Kingdom of Israel of their possessions east of the Jordan, the Ammonites became allies of Ben-hadad, and a contingent of 1,000 of them served as allies of Syria in the great battle of the Arameans and Assyrians at Qarqar in 854 BC in the reign of Shalmaneser III. + +The Ammonites, Moabites and Meunim formed a coalition against Jehoshaphat of Judah. The coalition later was thrown to confusion, with the armies slaughtering one another. They were subdued and paid tribute to Jotham. + +After submitting to Tiglath-Pileser III they were generally tributary to the Neo-Assyrian Empire, but had joined in the general uprising that took place under Sennacherib; but they submitted and they became tributary in the reign of Esar-haddon. Their hostility to Judah is shown in their joining the Chaldeans to destroy it. Their cruelty is denounced by the prophet Amos and their destruction (with their return in the future) by Jeremiah; Ezekiel; and Zephaniah. Their murder of Gedaliah was a dastardly act. They may have regained their old territory when Tiglath-pileser carried off the Israelites east of the Jordan into captivity. + +Tobiah the Ammonite united with Sanballat to oppose Nehemiah, and their opposition to the Jews did not cease with the establishment of the latter in Judea. + +The Ammonites presented a serious problem to the Pharisees because many marriages between Israelite men and Ammonite (and Moabite) women had taken place in the days of Nehemiah. The men had married women of the various nations without conversion, which made the children not Jewish. They also joined the Syrians in their wars with the Maccabees and were defeated by Judas. The "sons of Ammon" would be subject to Israel during the time of the Messiah's rulership according to the prophet Isaiah (). The book of Zephaniah states that "Moab will assuredly be like Sodom, and the sons of Ammon like Gomorrah—Ground overgrown with weeds and full of salt mines, and a permanent desolation." (). + +Rabbinic literature +The Ammonites, still numerous in the south of Palestine in the second century CE according to Justin Martyr, presented a serious problem to the Pharisaic scribes because many marriages with Ammonite and Moabite wives had taken place in the days of Nehemiah (). Still later, it is not improbable that when Judas Maccabeus had inflicted a crushing defeat upon the Ammonites, Jewish warriors took Ammonite women as wives, and their sons, sword in hand, claimed recognition as Jews notwithstanding the law () that "an Ammonite or a Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord." Such a condition or a similar incident is reflected in the story told in the Talmud that in the days of King Saul, the legitimacy of David's claim to royalty was disputed on account of his descent from Ruth, the Moabite; whereupon Ithra, the Israelite, girt with his sword, strode like an Ishmaelite into the schoolhouse of Jesse, declaring upon the authority of Samuel, the prophet, and his bet din (court of justice), that the law excluding the Ammonite and Moabite from the Jewish congregation referred only to the men—who alone had sinned in not meeting Israel with bread and water—and not to the women. The story reflects actual conditions in pre-Talmudic times, conditions that led to the fixed rule stated in the Mishnah: "Ammonite and Moabite men are excluded from the Jewish community for all time; their women are admissible." + +That Rehoboam, the son of King Solomon, was born of an Ammonite woman also made it difficult to maintain the messianic claims of the house of David; but it was adduced as an illustration of divine Providence which selected the "two doves," Ruth, the Moabite, and Naamah, the Ammonitess, for honorable distinction. Ruth's kindness as noted in the Book of Ruth by Boaz is seen in the Jewish Tradition as in rare contradistinction to the peoples of Moab (where Ruth comes from) and Amon in general, who were noted by the Torah for their distinct lack of kindness. Deut. 23:5: "Because they [the peoples of Amon and Moab] did not greet you with bread and water on the way when you left Egypt, and because he [the people of Moab] hired Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor in Aram Naharaim against you, to curse you." Rashi notes regarding Israel's travels on the way: "when you were in [a state of] extreme exhaustion." + +Jehoash was one of the four men who pretended to be gods. He was persuaded thereto particularly by the princes, who said to him. "Wert thou not a god thou couldst not come out alive from the Holy of Holies" (Ex R. viii. 3). He was assassinated by two of his servants, one of whom was the son of an Ammonite woman and the other the offspring of a Moabite (); for God said: "Let the descendants of the two ungrateful families chastise the ungrateful Joash" (Yalk., Ex. 262). Moab and Ammon were the two offspring of Lot's incest with his two daughters as described in . + +Baalis, king of the Ammonites, envious of the Jewish colony's prosperity, or jealous of the might of the Babylonian king, instigated Ishmael, son of Nathaniel, "of the royal seed," to make an end of the Judean rule in Palestine, Ishmael, being an unscrupulous character, permitted himself to become the tool of the Ammonite king in order to realize his own ambition to become the ruler of the deserted land. Information of this conspiracy reached Gedaliah through Johanan, son of Kareah, and Johanan undertook to slay Ishmael before he had had time to carry out his evil design; but the governor disbelieved the report, and forbade Johanan to lay hands upon the conspirator. Ishmael and his ten companions were royally entertained at Gedaliah's table. In the midst of the festivities Ishmael slew the unsuspecting Gedaliah, the Chaldean garrison stationed in Mizpah, and all the Jews that were with him, casting their bodies into the pit of Asa (Josephus, "Ant." x. 9, § 4). The Rabbis condemn the overconfidence of Gedaliah, holding him responsible for the death of his followers (Niddah 61a; comp. Jer. xli. 9). Ishmael captured many of the inhabitants of Mizpah, as well as "the daughters of the king" entrusted to Gedaliah's care by the Babylonian general, and fled to Ammon. Johanan and his followers, however, on receiving the sad tidings, immediately pursued the murderers, overtaking them at the lake of Gibeon. The captives were rescued, but Ishmael and eight of his men escaped to the land of Ammon. The plan of Baalis thus succeeded, for the Jewish refugees, fearing lest the Babylonian king should hold them responsible for the murder, never returned to their native land. In spite of the exhortations of Jeremiah they fled to Egypt, joined by the remnant of the Jews that had survived, together with Jeremiah and Baruch (Jer. xliii. 6). The rule of Gedaliah lasted, according to tradition, only two months, although Grätz argues that it continued more than four years. + +Language + +The few Ammonite names that have been preserved also include Nahash and Hanun, both from the Bible. The Ammonites' language is believed to be in the Canaanite family, closely related to Hebrew and Moabite. Ammonite may have incorporated certain Aramaic influences, including the use of ‘bd, instead of commoner Biblical Hebrew ‘śh, for "work". The only other notable difference with Biblical Hebrew is the sporadic retention of feminine singular -t (e.g., šħt "cistern", but lyh "high (fem.)".) + +Inscriptions +Inscriptions found in the Ammonite language include an inscription on a bronze bottle dating to c. 600 BC and the Amman Citadel Inscription. + +Religion +Sources for what little is known of Ammonite religion are mostly the Hebrew Bible and material evidence. In general it appears to have been rather typical for Levantine religions, with Milkom, El and the moon god being the most prominent deities. + +Economy +The economy, for the most part, was based on agriculture and herding. Most people lived in small villages surrounded by farms and pastures. Like its sister-kingdom of Moab, Ammon was the source of numerous natural resources, including sandstone and limestone. It had a productive agricultural sector and occupied a vital place along the King's Highway, the ancient trade route connecting Egypt with Mesopotamia, Syria, and Asia Minor. As with the Edomites and Moabites, trade along this route gave them considerable revenue. Circa 950 BC Ammon showed rising prosperity, due to agriculture and trade, and built a series of fortresses. Its capital was located in what is now the Citadel of Amman. + +See also + List of rulers of Ammon + Abel-cheramim + Ammon as a name used in the Book of Mormon + Ammon (Book of Mormon explorer) + Ammon (Book of Mormon missionary) + +References + +Bibliography + +External links + + Hertz J.H. (1936) The Pentateuch and Haftoras. "Deuteronomy." Oxford University Press, London. + Ammon on Bruce Gordon's Regnal Chronologies (also at ) + + +Ancient history of Jordan +Ancient Israel and Judah +Semitic-speaking peoples +Vayeira +States and territories established in the 10th century BC +States and territories disestablished in the 4th century BC +Former monarchies of Asia +Ammonius Hermiae (; ; – between 517 and 526) was a Greek philosopher from Alexandria in the eastern Roman empire during Late Antiquity. A Neoplatonist, he was the son of the philosophers Hermias and Aedesia, the brother of Heliodorus of Alexandria and the grandson of Syrianus. Ammonius was a pupil of Proclus in Roman Athens, and taught at Alexandria for most of his life, having obtained a public chair in the 470s. + +According to Olympiodorus of Thebes's Commentaries on Plato's Gorgias and Phaedo texts, Ammonius gave lectures on the works of Plato, Aristotle, and Porphyry of Tyre, and wrote commentaries on Aristotelian works and three lost commentaries on Platonic texts. He is also the author of a text on the astrolabe published in the Catalogus Codicum Astrologorum Graecorum, and lectured on astronomy and geometry. Ammonius taught numerous Neoplatonists, including Damascius, Olympiodorus of Thebes, John Philoponus, Simplicius of Cilicia, and Asclepius of Tralles. Also among his pupils were the physician Gessius of Petra and the ecclesiastical historian Zacharias Rhetor, who became the bishop of Mytilene. + +As part of the persecution of pagans in the late Roman Empire, the Alexandrian school was investigated by the Roman imperial authorities; Ammonius made a compromise with the Patriarch of Alexandria, Peter III, voluntarily limiting his teaching in return for keeping his own position. This alienated a number of his colleagues and pupils, including Damascius, who nonetheless called him "the greatest commentator who ever lived" in his own Life of Isidore of Alexandria. + +Life +Ammonius' father Hermias died when he was a child, and his mother Aedesia raised him and his brother Heliodorus in Alexandria. When they reached adulthood, Aedesia accompanied her sons to Athens where they studied under Proclus. Eventually, they returned to Alexandria where Ammonius, as head of the Neoplatonist school in the city, lectured on Plato and Aristotle for the rest of his life. According to Damascius, during the persecution of the pagans at Alexandria in the late 480s, Ammonius made concessions to the Christian authorities so that he could continue his lectures. Damascius, who scolds Ammonius for the agreement that he made, does not say what the concessions were, but it may have involved limitations on the doctrines he could teach or promote. He was still teaching in 515; Olympiodorus heard him lecture on Plato's Gorgias in that year. He was also an accomplished astronomer; he lectured on Ptolemy and is known to have written a treatise on the astrolabe. + +Writings + +Of his reputedly numerous writings, only his commentary on Aristotle's De Interpretatione survives intact. A commentary on Porphyry's Isagoge may also be his, but it is somewhat corrupt and contains later interpolations. + +In De Interpretatione, Ammonius contends that divine foreknowledge makes void the contingent. Like Boethius in his second Commentary and in The Consolation of Philosophy, this argument maintains the effectiveness of prayer. Ammonius cites Iamblichus, who said "knowledge is intermediate between the knower and the known, since it is the activity of the knower concerning the known." + +In addition, there are some notes of Ammonius' lectures written by various students which also survive: + +On Aristotle's Categories (anonymous writer) +On Aristotle's Prior Analytics I (anonymous writer) +On Aristotle's Metaphysics 1–7 (written by Asclepius) +On Nicomachus' Introduction to Arithmetic (written by Asclepius) +On Aristotle's Prior Analytics (written by John Philoponus) +On Aristotle's Posterior Analytics (written by John Philoponus) +On Aristotle's On Generation and Corruption (written by John Philoponus) +On Aristotle's On the Soul (written by John Philoponus) + +There is Greek-language work called Life of Aristotle, which is usually ascribed to Ammonius, but "is more probable that it is the work of Joannes Philoponus, the pupil of Ammonius, to whom it is ascribed in some MSS." + +English translations +Ammonius: On Aristotle Categories, translated by S. M. Cohen and G. B. Matthews. London and Ithaca 1992. +Ammonius: On Aristotle's On Interpretation 1–8, translated by D. Blank. London and Ithaca 1996. +Ammonius: On Aristotle's On Interpretation 9, with Boethius: On Aristotle's On Interpretation 9, translated by D. Blank (Ammonius) and N. Kretzmann (Boethius). London and Ithaca 1998 +John Philoponus: On Aristotle On Coming-to-be and Perishing 1.1–5, translated by C. J. F. Williams. London and Ithaca 1999 +John Philoponus: On Aristotle On Coming-to-be and Perishing 1.6–2.4, translated by C. J. F. Williams. London and Ithaca 1999. +John Philoponus: On Aristotle On the Soul 2.1–6, translated by W. Charlton. London and Ithaca 2005 +John Philoponus: On Aristotle On the Soul 2.7–12, translated by W. Charlton. London and Ithaca 2005 +John Philoponus: On Aristotle On the Soul 3.1–8, translated by W. Charlton. London and Ithaca 2000 +John Philoponus: On Aristotle On the Intellect (de Anima 3.4–8), translated by W. Charlton. London and Ithaca 1991. + +Notes + +References + Andron, Cosmin. "Ammonios of Alexandria",The Routledge Encyclopedia of Ancient Natural Scientists, eds. Georgia Irby-Massie and Paul T. Keyser, New York: Routledge, 2008. + Jones, A., Martindale, J., Morris, J. The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992, pages 71–72. + Karamanolis, George E. Plato and Aristotle in agreement? : Platonists on Aristotle from Antiochus to Porphyry, New York : Oxford University Press, 2006. + + Seel, Gerhard (ed.), Ammonius and the Seabattle. Texts, Commentary, and Essays, in collaboration with Jean-Pierre Schneider and Daniel Schulthess ; Ammonius on Aristotle: De interpretatione 9 (and 7, 1–17) Greek text established by A. Busse, philosophical commentary by Gerhard Seel; essays by Mario Mignucci and Gerhard Seel, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2001. + Sorabji, Richard. The Philosophy of the Commentators, 200–600 AD. A Sourcebook, Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2005. + Verrycken, Koenraad. The Metaphysics of Ammonius son of Hermias, in Richard Sorabji (ed.), Aristotle Transformed. The Ancient Commentators and their Influence, Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1990, p. 199-231. + +External links + +Commentaria in Aristotelem Graeca, Vol. 4 parts 2–6, Akademie der Wissenschaften, Berlin, Edita consilio et auctoritate Academiae litterarum regiae borussicae (1882). + +5th-century Greek philosophers +6th-century Greek philosophers +Commentators on Aristotle +Commentators on Plato +Roman-era students in Athens +Neoplatonists in Alexandria +440s births +520s deaths +5th-century Byzantine writers +6th-century Byzantine writers +5th-century astronomers +6th-century astronomers +5th-century Byzantine scientists +6th-century Byzantine scientists +5th-century mathematicians +6th-century mathematicians +Byzantine astronomers +People from Alexandria +Philosophers in ancient Alexandria +Ammonius Saccas (; ; 175 AD242 AD) was a Hellenistic Platonist self-taught philosopher from Alexandria, generally regarded as the precursor of Neoplatonism and/or one of its founders. He is mainly known as the teacher of Plotinus, whom he taught from 232 to 242. He was undoubtedly the most significant influence on Plotinus in his development of Neoplatonism, although little is known about his own philosophical views. Later Christian writers stated that Ammonius was a Christian, but it is now generally assumed that there was a different Ammonius of Alexandria who wrote biblical texts. + +Life +The origins and meaning of Ammonius' cognomen, "Sakkas," are disputed. Many scholars have interpreted it as indicating he was a porter in his youth, a view supported in antiquity by Byzantine bishop Theodoret. Others have asserted that this is a misreading of "Sakkas" for "sakkophoros" (porter). Some others have connected the cognomen with the "Śākyas," an ancient ruling clan of India, claiming that Ammonius Saccas was of Indian origin. This view has both been subsequently contested and supported by more recent scholarship. Some scholars supporting Ammonius' Indian origin have also contended that this ancestry is consistent with the passion of his foremost student Plotinus for India, and helps to explain the philosophical similarities between Vedanta and neoplatonism, which many scholars attribute to Indian influence. On the other hand, scholars contesting his Indian origins, point out that Ammonius was from the Brucheion quarter of Alexandria, which was the royal quarter of the city inhabited mostly by Greeks, and that the name "Ammonius" was common to many Greeks, with a number of scholars and historians supporting a Greek origin for Ammonius. Though his name is theophoric to the deity Amun, indicating possible Egyptian origin. + +Most details of Ammonius' life come from the fragments left from Porphyry's writings. The most famous pupil of Ammonius Saccas was Plotinus who studied under Ammonius for eleven years. According to Porphyry, in 232, at the age of 28, Plotinus went to Alexandria to study philosophy: +In his twenty-eighth year he [Plotinus] felt the impulse to study philosophy and was recommended to the teachers in Alexandria who then had the highest reputation; but he came away from their lectures so depressed and full of sadness that he told his trouble to one of his friends. The friend, understanding the desire of his heart, sent him to Ammonius, whom he had not so far tried. He went and heard him, and said to his friend, "This is the man I was looking for." From that day he stayed continually with Ammonius and acquired so complete a training in philosophy that he became eager to make acquaintance with the Persian philosophical discipline and that prevailing among the Indians. + +According to Porphyry, the parents of Ammonius were Christians, but upon learning Greek philosophy, Ammonius rejected his parents' religion for paganism. This conversion is contested by the Christian writers Jerome and Eusebius, who state that Ammonius remained a Christian throughout his lifetime: + +[Porphyry] plainly utters a falsehood (for what will not an opposer of Christians do?) when he says that ... Ammonius fell from a life of piety into heathen customs. ... Ammonius held the divine philosophy unshaken and unadulterated to the end of his life. His works yet extant show this, as he is celebrated among many for the writings which he has left. + +However, we are told by Longinus that Ammonius wrote nothing, and if Ammonius was the principal influence on Plotinus, then it is unlikely that Ammonius would have been a Christian. One way to explain much of the confusion concerning Ammonius is to assume that there were two people called Ammonius: Ammonius Saccas who taught Plotinus, and an Ammonius the Christian who wrote biblical texts. Another explanation might be that there was only one Ammonius but that Origen, who found the Neo-Platonist views of his teacher essential to his own beliefs about the essential nature of Christianity, chose to suppress Ammonius' choice of Paganism over Christianity. The insistence of Eusebius, Origen's pupil, and Jerome, all of whom were recognized Fathers of the Christian Church, that Ammonius Saccas had not rejected his Christian roots would be easier for Christians to accept than the assertion of Prophyry, who was a Pagan, that Ammonius had chosen Paganism over Christianity. + +To add to the confusion, it seems that Ammonius had two pupils called Origen: Origen the Christian, and Origen the Pagan. It is quite possible that Ammonius Saccas taught both Origens. And since there were two Origens who were accepted as contemporaries it was easy for later Christians to accept that there were two individuals named Ammonius, one a Christian and one a Pagan. Among Ammonius' other pupils there were Herennius and Cassius Longinus. + +Philosophy +Hierocles, writing in the 5th century, states that Ammonius' fundamental doctrine was that Plato and Aristotle were in full agreement with each other: +He was the first who had a godly zeal for the truth in philosophy and despised the views of the majority, which were a disgrace to philosophy. He apprehended well the views of each of the two philosophers [Plato and Aristotle] and brought them under one and the same nous and transmitted philosophy without conflicts to all of his disciples, and especially to the best of those acquainted with him, Plotinus, Origen, and their successors. + +According to Nemesius, a bishop and neoplatonist c. 400, Ammonius held that the soul was immaterial. + +Little is known about Ammonius's role in the development of neoplatonism. Porphyry seems to suggest that Ammonius was instrumental in helping Plotinus think about philosophy in new ways: +But he [Plotinus] did not just speak straight out of these books but took a distinctive personal line in his consideration, and brought the mind of Ammonius' to bear on the investigation in hand. + +Two of Ammonius's students – Origen the Pagan, and Longinus – seem to have held philosophical positions which were closer to middle Platonism than neoplatonism, which perhaps suggests that Ammonius's doctrines were also closer to those of middle Platonism than the neoplatonism developed by Plotinus (see the Enneads), but Plotinus does not seem to have thought that he was departing in any significant way from that of his master. +Like Porphyry (The Life of Plotinus, 3, 24–29), also Nemesius refers of Ammonius Saccas as the teacher or the master of Plotinus (Nemesius, Nature of Man, 2.103). + +See also +Theodidaktos + Ancient Greece–Ancient India relations + +Notes + +References +Armstrong, A., (1967), The Cambridge History of Later Greek and Early Medieval Philosophy, Cambridge University Press, pp. 196–200. +Karamanolis, G., (2006), Plato and Aristotle in Agreement?: Platonists on Aristotle from Antiochus to Porphyry, Oxford University Press, pp. 191–215. +Reale, G., (1990), A History of Ancient Philosophy IV: The Schools of the Imperial Age, SUNY Press, pp. 297–303. + +External links +Porphyry, Against the Christians (2004). Fragments. +The Reaction to the Bible in Paganism +Origen of Alexandria – Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy + +175 births +242 deaths +2nd-century Egyptian people +2nd-century Greek philosophers +2nd-century Romans +3rd-century Egyptian people +3rd-century Greek philosophers +3rd-century Romans +Ancient Greek metaphysicians +Ancient Greek philosophers of mind +Middle Platonists +Philosophers in ancient Alexandria +Roman-era Alexandrians +Egyptian philosophers +The Book of Amos is the third of the Twelve Minor Prophets in the Old Testament (Tanakh) and the second in the Greek Septuagint tradition. Amos, an older contemporary of Hosea and Isaiah, was active c. 750 BC during the reign of Jeroboam II (788–747 BC) of Samaria (aka. Northern Israel), making Amos the first prophetic book of the Bible to be written. Amos lived in the kingdom of Judah but preached in the northern kingdom of Israel. His major themes of social justice, God's omnipotence, and divine judgment became staples of prophecy. + +Structure + +According to Michael D. Coogan, the structure of Amos is as follows: +Oracles against the nations (1:3–2:6) +Oracle concerning prophecy (3:3–8) +Addresses to groups in Israel +Women of Samaria (4:1–3) +Rich people in Samaria (6:1–7) +Rich people in Jerusalem (8:4–8) +Five visions of God's judgment on Israel, interrupted by a confrontation between Amos and his listeners at Bethel (7:10–17): +Locusts (7:1–3) +Fire (7:4–6) +A plumb line (7:7–9) +A basket of fruit (8:1–3) +God besides the altar (9:1–8a) +Epilogue (9:8b–15) + +Summary +The book opens with a historical note about the prophet, then a short oracle announcing Yahweh's judgment (repeated in the Book of Joel). The prophet denounces the crimes committed by the gentile (non-Jewish) nations, and tells Israel that even they have sinned and are guilty of the same crimes, and reports five symbolic visions prophesying the destruction of Israel. Included in this, with no apparent order, are an oracle on the nature of prophecy, snippets of hymns, oracles of woe, a third-person prose narrative concerning the prophet, and an oracle promising restoration of the House of David, which had not yet fallen in the lifetime of Amos. + +Composition +Amos prophesied during the reign of Jeroboam II of Israel, and of Uzziah of Judah, which places him in the first half of the 8th century BC. According to the book's superscription (Amos 1:1) he was from Tekoa, a town in Judah south of Jerusalem, but his prophetic mission was in the northern kingdom. He is called a "shepherd" and a "dresser of sycamore trees", but the book's literary qualities suggest a man of education rather than a poor farmer. + +Scholars have long recognized that Amos utilized an ancient hymn within his prophecy, verses of which are found at 4:13, 5:8–9, 8:8, and 9:5–6. This hymn is best understood as praising Yahweh for his judgment, demonstrated in his destructive power, rather than praise for creation. Scholarship has also identified 'Sumerian City Lament' (SCL) motifs within Amos and particularly the hymn, offering the possibility that Amos used SCL as a literary template for his prophecy of Jerusalem's destruction. The Amos hymn has also been discussed in terms of a 'covenant curse' which was used to warn Israel of the consequences of breaking the covenant, and in particular a 'Flood covenant-curse' motif, first identified by D.R. Hillers. Recent scholarship has shown Amos's hymn is an ancient narrative text, has identified a new verse at 7.4; and has compared the hymn to the Genesis Flood account and Job 9:5–10. + +Themes +The central idea of the book of Amos is that God puts his people on the same level as the surrounding nations – God expects the same purity of them all. As it is with all nations that rise up against the kingdom of God, even Israel and Judah will not be exempt from the judgment of God because of their idolatry and unjust ways. The nation that represents Yahweh must be made pure of anything or anyone that profanes the name of God; his name must be exalted. + +Amos is the first prophet to use the term "the Day of the Lord." This phrase becomes important within future prophetic and apocalyptic literature. For the people of Israel "The Day of the Lord" is the day when God will fight against his and their enemies, and it will be a day of victory for Israel. However, Amos and other prophets include Israel as an enemy of God, as Israel is guilty of injustice toward the innocent, poor, and young women. To Amos "The Day of the Lord" will be a day of doom. + +Other major ideas proposed in the book of Amos include: justice and concern for the disadvantaged, and that Yahweh is God of all nations (not just Israel), and is likewise the judge of all nations, and is also a God of moral righteousness. Also that Yahweh created all people, and the idea that Israel's covenant with God did not exempt them from accountability for sin; as well as that God elected and liberated Israel so that he would be known throughout the world. And that if God destroys the unjust, a remnant will remain, and that God is free to judge whether to redeem Israel. + +References + +Bibliography + +External links + +Online translations of Book of Amos: + +Jewish translations: +Amos (Judaica Press) translation [with Rashi's commentary] at Chabad.org +Christian translations: +Online Bible at GospelHall.org (English Standard Version) +Amos at Wikisource (Authorised King James Version) + Nicholas Whyte on Amos + New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia, Amos + Forward Movement, Amos an Introduction + (American Standard Version, Young's Literal Translation) + + +8th-century BC books +Twelve Minor Prophets +Amphipolis (; ) is a municipality in the Serres regional unit, Macedonia, Greece. The seat of the municipality is Rodolivos. It was an important ancient Greek polis (city), and later a Roman city, whose large remains can still be seen. + +Amphipolis was originally a colony of ancient Athenians and was the site of the battle between the Spartans and Athenians in 422 BC. It was later the place where Alexander the Great prepared for campaigns leading to his invasion of Asia in 335 BC. Alexander's three finest admirals, Nearchus, Androsthenes and Laomedon, resided in Amphipolis. After Alexander's death, his wife Roxana and their son Alexander IV were imprisoned and murdered in 311 BC. + +Excavations in and around the city have revealed important buildings, ancient walls and tombs. The finds are displayed at the archaeological museum of Amphipolis. At the nearby vast Kasta burial mound, an ancient Macedonian tomb has recently been revealed. The Lion of Amphipolis monument nearby is a popular destination for visitors. + +It was located within the region of Edonis. + +History + +Origins + +Throughout the 5th century BC, Athens sought to consolidate its control over Thrace, which was strategically important because of its raw materials (the gold and silver of the Pangaion hills and the dense forests that provided timber for naval construction), and the sea routes vital for Athens' supply of grain from Scythia. +A first unsuccessful attempt at colonisation was in 497 BC by the Milesian Tyrant Histiaeus. After the defeat of the Persians at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC, the Athenian general Kimon managed to occupy Eion a few km south on the coast in 476 BC, and turned it into a military base and commercial port. The Athenians founded a first colony at Ennea-Hodoi (‘Nine Ways’) in 465 BC, but the first ten thousand colonists were massacred by the Thracians. A second attempt took place in 437 BC on the same site under general Hagnon which was successful. The city and its first impressive and elaborately built walls of 7.5 km length date from this time. The new Athenian colony became quickly of considerable size and wealth. + +The new settlement took the name of Amphipolis (literally, "around the city"), a name which is the subject of much debate about its etymology. Thucydides claims the name comes from the fact that the Strymon River flows "around the city" on two sides; however a note in the Suda (also given in the lexicon of Photius) offers a different explanation apparently given by Marsyas, son of Periander: that a large proportion of the population lived "around the city". However, a more probable explanation is the one given by Julius Pollux: that the name indicates the vicinity of an isthmus. + +Amphipolis quickly became the main power base of the Athenians in Thrace and, consequently, a target of choice for their Spartan adversaries. In 424 BC during the Peloponnesian War the Spartan general Brasidas captured Amphipolis. + +Two years later in 422 BC, a new Athenian force under the general Kleon failed once more during the Battle of Amphipolis at which both Kleon and Brasidas lost their lives. Brasidas survived long enough to hear of the defeat of the Athenians and was buried at Amphipolis with impressive pomp. From then on he was regarded as the founder of the city and honoured with yearly games and sacrifices. + +The Athenian population remained very much in the minority in the city and hence Amphipolis remained an independent city and an ally of the Athenians, rather than a colony or member of the Athens-led Delian League. It entered a new phase of prosperity as a cosmopolitan centre. + +Macedonian rule + +The city itself kept its independence until the reign of king Philip II () despite several Athenian attacks, notably because of the government of Callistratus of Aphidnae. In 357 BC, Philip succeeded where the Athenians had failed and conquered the city, thereby removing the obstacle which Amphipolis presented to Macedonian control over Thrace. According to the historian Theopompus, this conquest came to be the object of a secret accord between Athens and Philip II, who would return the city in exchange for the fortified town of Pydna, but the Macedonian king betrayed the accord, refusing to cede Amphipolis and laying siege to Pydna as well. + +The city was not immediately incorporated into the Macedonian kingdom, and for some time preserved its institutions and a certain degree of autonomy. The border of Macedonia was not moved further east; however, Philip sent a number of Macedonian governors to Amphipolis, and in many respects the city was effectively "Macedonianized". Nomenclature, the calendar and the currency (the gold stater, created by Philip to capitalise on the gold reserves of the Pangaion hills, replaced the Amphipolitan drachma) were all replaced by Macedonian equivalents. In the reign of Alexander the Great, Amphipolis was an important naval base, and the birthplace of three of the most famous Macedonian admirals: Nearchus, Androsthenes and Laomedon, whose burial place is most likely marked by the famous lion of Amphipolis. + +The importance of the city in this period is shown by Alexander the Great's decision that it was one of the six cities at which large luxurious temples costing 1,500 talents were built. Alexander prepared for campaigns here against Thrace in 335 BC and his army and fleet assembled near the port before the invasion of Asia. The port was also used as naval base during his campaigns in Asia. After Alexander's death, his wife Roxana and their young son Alexander IV were exiled by Cassander and later murdered here. + +Throughout Macedonian sovereignty Amphipolis was a strong fortress of great strategic and economic importance, as shown by inscriptions. Amphipolis became one of the main stops on the Macedonian royal road (as testified by a border stone found between Philippi and Amphipolis giving the distance to the latter), and later on the Via Egnatia, the principal Roman road which crossed the southern Balkans. Apart from the ramparts of the lower town, the gymnasium and a set of well-preserved frescoes from a wealthy villa are the only artifacts from this period that remain visible. Though little is known of the layout of the town, modern knowledge of its institutions is in considerably better shape thanks to a rich epigraphic documentation, including a military ordinance of Philip V and an ephebarchic law from the gymnasium. + +Conquest by the Romans + +After the final victory of Rome over Macedonia in the Battle of Pydna in 168 BC, Amphipolis became the capital of one of the four mini-republics, or merides, which were created by the Romans out of the kingdom of the Antigonids which succeeded Alexander's empire in Macedon. These merides were gradually incorporated into the Roman client state, and later province, of Thracia. According to the Acts of the Apostles, the apostles Paul and Silas passed through Amphipolis in the early AD 50s, on their journey between Philippi and Thessalonica; where hence they proselytized to the Greeks, including Epicurean and Stoic philosophers. + +In the 1st c. BC the city was badly damaged in the Thracian revolt against Roman rule. + +Revival in Late Antiquity + +During the period of Late Antiquity, Amphipolis benefited from the increasing economic prosperity of Macedonia, as is evidenced by the large number of Christian churches that were built. Significantly however, these churches were built within a restricted area of the town, sheltered by the walls of the acropolis. This has been taken as evidence that the large fortified perimeter of the ancient town was no longer defendable, and that the population of the city had considerably diminished. + +Nevertheless, the number, size and quality of the churches constructed between the 5th and 6th centuries are impressive. Four basilicas adorned with rich mosaic floors and elaborate architectural sculptures (such as the ram-headed column capitals – see picture) have been excavated, as well as a church with a hexagonal central plan which evokes that of the basilica of St Vitalis in Ravenna. It is difficult to find reasons for such municipal extravagance in such a small town. One possible explanation provided by the historian André Boulanger is that an increasing ‘willingness’ on the part of the wealthy upper classes in the late Roman period to spend money on local gentrification projects (which he terms euergetism, from the Greek verb ; meaning 'I do good') was exploited by the local church to its advantage, which led to a mass gentrification of the urban centre and of the agricultural riches of the city's territory. Amphipolis was also a diocese under the metropolitan see of Thessalonica – the Bishop of Amphipolis is first mentioned in 533. The bishopric is today listed by the Catholic Church as a titular see. + +Final decline of the city + +The Slavic invasions of the late 6th century gradually encroached on the back-country Amphipolitan lifestyle and led to the decline of the town, during which period its inhabitants retreated to the area around the acropolis. The ramparts were maintained to a certain extent, thanks to materials plundered from the monuments of the lower city, and the large unused cisterns of the upper city were occupied by small houses and the workshops of artisans. Around the middle of the 7th century, a further reduction of the inhabited area of the city was followed by an increase in the fortification of the town, with the construction of a new rampart with pentagonal towers cutting through the middle of the remaining monuments. The acropolis, the Roman baths, and especially the episcopal basilica were crossed by this wall. + +The city was probably abandoned in the eighth century, as the last bishop was attested at the Second Council of Nicaea in 787. Its inhabitants probably moved to the neighbouring site of ancient Eion, port of Amphipolis, which had been rebuilt and refortified in the Byzantine period under the name “Chrysopolis”. This small port continued to enjoy some prosperity, before being abandoned during the Ottoman period. The last recorded sign of activity in the region of Amphipolis was the construction of a fortified tower to the north in 1367 by the megas primikerios John and the stratopedarches Alexios to protect the land that they had given to the monastery of Pantokrator on Mount Athos. + +Archaeology + +The site was discovered and described by many travellers and archaeologists during the 19th century, including E. Cousinéry (1831) (engraver), Leon Heuzey (1861), and P. Perdrizet (1894–1899). However, excavations did not truly begin until after the Second World War. The Greek Archaeological Society under D. Lazaridis excavated in 1972 and 1985, uncovering a necropolis, the city wall (see photograph), the basilicas, and the acropolis. Further excavations have since uncovered the river bridge, the gymnasium, Greek and Roman villas and numerous tombs etc. + +Parts of the lion monument and tombs were discovered during World War I by Bulgarian and British troops whilst digging trenches in the area. In 1934, M. Feyel, of the École française d'Athènes (EfA), led an epigraphical mission to the site and uncovered further remains of the lion monument (a reconstruction was given in the Bulletin de Correspondance Hellénique, a publication of the EfA which is available on line). + +The silver ossuary containing the cremated remains of Brasidas and a gold crown (see image) was found in a tomb in pride of place under the Agora. + +The Tomb of Amphipolis + +In 2012 Greek archaeologists unearthed a large tomb within the Kasta Hill, the biggest burial mound in Greece, northeast of Amphipolis. The large size and quality of the tumulus indicates the prominence of the burials made there, and its dating and the connections of the city with Alexander the Great suggest important occupants. The perimeter wall of the tumulus is long, and is made of limestone covered with marble. + +The tomb comprises three chambers separated by walls. There are two sphinxes just outside the entrance to the tomb. Two of the columns supporting the roof in the first section are in the form of Caryatids, in the 4th century BC style. The excavation revealed a pebble mosaic directly behind the Caryatids and in front of the Macedonian marble door leading to the "third" chamber. The mosaic shows the allegory of the abduction of Persephone by Hades, but the persons depicted are Philip and Olympias of Macedon. Hades' chariot is drawn by two white horses and led to the underworld by Hermes. The mosaic verifies the Macedonian character of the tomb. As the head of one of the sphinxes was found inside the tomb behind the broken door, it is clear that there were intruders, probably in antiquity. + +Fragments of bones from 5 individuals were found in the cist tomb, the most complete of which is a 60+ year old woman in the deepest layer. Dr. Katerina Peristeri, the archaeologist heading the excavation of the tomb, dates the tomb to the late 4th century BC, the period after the death of Alexander the Great (323 BC). One theory is that the tomb was built for the mother of Alexander the Great, Olympias. + +Restoration of the tomb is due for completion in 2023 in the course of which building materials of the grave site which were later used by the Romans elsewhere will be rebuilt in their original location. + +The city walls + +The original 7.5 km long walls are generally visible, particularly the northern section which is preserved to a height of 7.5m. 5 preserved gates can be seen and notably the gate in front of the wooden bridge. + +In early Christian times another, inner, wall was built around the acropolis. + +The ancient wooden bridge of Amphipolis + +The ancient bridge that crossed the river Strymon was mentioned by Thucydides, was strategic as it controlled access between Macedonia and the Chalkidike in the west to Thrace in the east, and was important for the economy and trade. It was therefore incorporated into the city walls. + +It was discovered in 1977 and is a unique find for Greek antiquity. The hundreds of wooden piles have been carbon-dated and show the vast life of the bridge with some piles dating from 760 BC, and others used till about 1800 AD. + +The Gymnasium + +This was a major public building for the military and gymnastic training of youth as well as for their artistic and intellectual education. It was built in the 4th c. BC and includes a palaestra, the rectangular court surrounded by colonnades with adjoining rooms for many athletic functions. The covered stoa or xystos for indoor training in inclement weather is a long portico 75m long and 7m wide to allow 6 runners to compete simultaneously. There was also a parallel outdoor track, paradromida, for training in good weather and a system of cisterns for water supply. + +During the Macedonian era it became a major institution. + +The stone stela bearing the rules of the gymnasium was found in the north wing, detailing the duties and powers of the master and the education of the athletes. + +After it was destroyed in the 1st c. BC in the Thracian rebellion against Roman rule, it was rebuilt in Augustus's time in the 1st c. AD along with the rest of the city. + +Amphipolitans +Demetrius of Amphipolis, student of Plato +Zoilus (400–320 BC), grammarian, cynic philosopher +Pamphilus (painter), head of Sicyonian school and teacher of Apelles +Aetion, sculptor +Philippus of Amphipolis, historian +Nearchus, admiral +Erigyius, general +Damasias of Amphipolis 320 BC Stadion Olympics +Hermagoras of Amphipolis (), stoic philosopher, follower of Persaeus +Apollodorus of Amphipolis, appointed joint military governor of Babylon and the other satrapies as far as Cilicia by Alexander the Great +Xena - In the television series Xena Warrior Princess, Amphipolis is the main character's home village. + +Municipality +The municipality Amfipoli was formed at the 2011 local government reform by the merger of the following four former municipalities, that became municipal units: +Amfipoli +Kormista +Proti +Rodolivos + +The municipality has an area of 411.773 km2, the municipal unit 152.088 km2. + +See also +Archaeological Museum of Amphipolis +List of ancient Greek cities + +References + +External links + + Official site about Amphipolis + Demographic Information from Greek Travel Pages + Livius.org: Amphipolis + The tomb of Amphipolis + +Populated places in Serres (regional unit) +Amphipolis (municipality) +437 BC +5th-century BC establishments +8th-century disestablishments in the Byzantine Empire +Ancient Amphipolis +Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Central Macedonia +Archaeological sites in Macedonia (Greece) +Athenian colonies +Former populated places in Greece +Populated places established in the 5th century BC +Populated places disestablished in the 8th century +Populated places in ancient Macedonia +Populated places in ancient Thrace +Roman towns and cities in Greece +Populated places of the Byzantine Empire +In the Book of Exodus, Amram (; ) is the husband of Jochebed and father of Aaron, Moses and Miriam. + +In the Bible + +In addition to being married to Jochebed, Amram is also described in the Bible as having been related to Jochebed prior to the marriage, although the exact relationship is uncertain; some Greek and Latin manuscripts of the Septuagint state that Jochebed was Amram's father's cousin, and others state that Amram was Jochebed's cousin, but the Masoretic Text states that she was his father's sister. He is praised for his faith in the Epistle to the Hebrews. + +Textual scholars attribute the biblical genealogy to the Book of Generations, a hypothetically reconstructed document theorized to originate from a similar religiopolitical group and date to the priestly source. According to critical scholars, the Torah's genealogy for Levi's descendants, is actually an aetiological myth reflecting the fact that there were four different groups among the Levites – the Gershonites, Kohathites, Merarites, and Aaronids; Aaron – the eponymous ancestor of the Aaronids – could not be portrayed as a brother to Gershon, Kohath, and Merari, as the narrative about the birth of Moses (brother of Aaron), which textual scholars attribute to the earlier Elohist source, mentions only that both his parents were Levites (without identifying their names). Critical scholars suspect that the Elohist account offers both matrilineal and patrilineal descent from Levites in order to magnify the religious credentials of Moses. + +In the Quran + +Amram in Arabic is spelled (‘Imrān ). He was the father of Musa and Harun. In the Quran there is a whole chapter named Al-Imran. He is sometimes confused with Maryam’s father, whose name is also Imran, mentioned in at least two verses as the father of Maryam, the mother of Isa. This is reflected by the given name, Mūsā bin ‘Imrān, which means Moses, son of Amram. + +Family tree + +According to the Masoretic Text, Amram's family tree would be: + +According to the Septuagint, Amram's family tree would be as follows: + +According to The Book of Jasher (Midrash), Amram's family tree would be: + + Amram married his aunt, Jochebed, the sister of his father Kehath. + +In rabbinical and apocryphal literature + +In the Apocryphal Testament of Levi, it is stated that Amram was born, as a grandson of Levi, when Levi was 64 years old. The Exodus Rabbah argues that when the Pharaoh instructed midwives to throw male children into the Nile, Amram divorced Jochebed, who was three months pregnant with Moses at the time, arguing that there was no justification for the Israelite men to father children if they were just to be killed; however, the text goes on to state that Miriam, his daughter, chided him for his lack of care for his wife's feelings, persuading him to recant and marry Jochebed again. According to the Talmud, Amram promulgated the laws of marriage and divorce amongst the Jews in Egypt; the Talmud also argues that Amram had extreme longevity, which he used to ensure that doctrines were preserved through several generations. + +Despite the legend of his divorce and remarriage, Amram was also held to have been entirely sinless throughout his life, and was rewarded for this by his corpse remaining without any signs of decay. The other three ancient Israelites who died without sin, being Benjamin, Jesse and Chileab. + +According to the Book of Jubilees, Amram was among the Israelites who took the bones of Jacob's sons (excluding those of Joseph) to Canaan for burial in the cave of Machpelah. Most of the Israelites then returned to Egypt but some remained in Canaan. Those who remained included Amram, who only returned somewhere up to forty years later. + +One of the Dead Sea Scrolls (4Q544, Manuscript B) is written from Amram's point of view, and hence has been dubbed the Visions of Amram. The document is dated to the 2nd century BC and, in the form of a vision, briefly discusses dualism and the Watchers: + +See also + Al Imran, "The Family of Imran", 3rd chapter of the Quran +Joachim, father of Mary, mother of Jesus + +References + +Ancient Egyptian Jews +Levites +Book of Exodus people +People of the Quran +Moses +Family of Aaron +Tribe of Levi +Book of Jubilees +Epistle to the Hebrews +Incest in mythology +Amyntas I () was king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia from at least 512/511 until his death in 498/497 BC. Although there were a number of rulers before him, Amyntas is the first king of Macedonia for which we have any reliable historical information. During Amyntas' reign, Macedonia became a vassal state of the Achaemenid Empire in 510 BC. + +Background + +Amyntas was a member of the Argead dynasty and the son of King Alcetas. According to Herodotus, Amyntas was the sixth king of Macedonia. He had two children with an unnamed spouse: Alexander I and Gygaea. + +Reign + +Relationship with the Persian Empire + +In 513 BC, Persian forces led by Darius I crossed the Bosporus in a successful expedition against the Scythians, securing a frontier on the Danube in the process. Darius then returned to Sardis in Asia Minor and ordered his cousin Megabazus to conquer the rest of Thrace. Megabazus marched westward into the Strymon Basin in 512 or 511 BC, subjugating a number of tribes along the way, including the Paeonions, whom he had deported to Asia. Amyntas may have taken advantage of this power vacuum by crossing the Axios River and seizing their former territory around Amphaxitis. + +In keeping with Persian practice, Megabazus dispatched seven envoys around 510 BC to meet Amyntas, most likely at the palace in Aegae, to demand "earth and water." Although the exact meaning of this request remains unclear, it appears that Amyntas met Megabazus' demands and invited the envoys to a feast. The Persians, according to Herodotus, requested the company of women after dinner, which Amyntas agreed to despite Macedonian customs. The women, identified as "concubines and wedded wives," sat across the table at first, but moved next to the envoys at their insistence. Flushed with wine, they began to fondle the women, but Amyntas remained silent out of fear of Persian power. + +Alexander, enraged by their actions, asked his father to leave and let him handle the situation. Amyntas advised caution, but eventually left, and Alexander sent the women away as well, assuring his guests that they were only washing themselves. In their place, "beardless men" disguised as women and armed with daggers returned to the party and murdered all seven envoys. The Persians began looking for the missing embassy, but Alexander covered it up by marrying his sister Gygaea to the general Bubares and paying him a large bribe. + +Modern historians are generally skeptical of the veracity of this story. It could have been fabricated by Herodotus to illustrate Alexander's cunning personality, or he could have simply repeated what he heard while visiting Macedonia. Furthermore, Amyntas, no matter how weak or foolish, is unlikely to have entrusted such a delicate diplomatic situation to his young son. Gygaea's marriage to Bubares is recognized as historical; Amyntas most likely arranged it himself or Alexander handled it after his father's death. + +Historian Eugene Borza argued that by rejecting the murder of the Persian ambassadors, there is no longer any evidence that Macedonia was a vassal-state during Amyntas' reign. In accordance with this argument, Mardonius, not Megabazus, would actually subjugate the Macedonians in 492 BC. Nicholas Hammond, on the other hand, asserted that Macedonia remained a loyal subject as part of the satrapy of Skudra until the Persian defeat at Platea in 479 BC. + +Amyntas and Athens +Amyntas was the first Macedonian ruler to have diplomatic relations with other states. In particular, he entered into an alliance with Hippias of Athens, and when Hippias was driven out of Athens he offered him the territory of Anthemus on the Thermaic Gulf with the object of taking advantage of the feuds between the Greeks. Hippias refused the offer and also rejected the offer of Iolcus, as Amyntas probably did not control Anthemus at that time, but was merely suggesting a plan of joint occupation to Hippias. + +Family tree +Modern historians disagree on a number of details concerning the genealogy of the Argead dynasty. Robin Lane Fox, for example, refutes Nicholas Hammond's claim that Ptolemy of Aloros was Amyntas II's son, arguing that Ptolemy was neither his son nor an Argead. Consequently, the chart below does not account for every chronological, genealogical, and dynastic complexity. Instead, it represents one common reconstruction of the early Argeads advanced by historians such as Hammond, Elizabeth D. Carney, and + + (1) Amyntas I () + (2) Alexander I () + (3) Perdiccas II () + (4) Archelaus () + (5) Orestes () + Argaeus II () +Pausanias +unnamed daughter Derdas of Elimea +unnamed daughter Amyntas II + (6) Aeropus II () + (8) Pausanias () +unnamed son +Menelaus + (7) Amyntas II () + (11) Ptolemy of Aloros () +Amyntas +Arrhidaeus + (9) Amyntas III () +From whom Philip II and Alexander III is descended. +Philip +Amyntas +Agerrus +Alcetas +Alexander +Agelaus +Arepyros +Stratonice Seuthes I +Gygaea Bubares +Amyntas + +See also +Ancient Macedonians +List of ancient Macedonians + +References + +Notes + +Citations + +6th-century BC births +498 BC deaths +6th-century BC Macedonian monarchs +5th-century BC Macedonian monarchs +Argead kings of Macedonia +Achaemenid Macedon +Vassals of the Achaemenid Empire +Iolcus +Amyntas III () was king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia from 393/2 to 388/7 BC and again from 387/6 to 370 BC. He was a member of the Argead dynasty through his father Arrhidaeus, a son of Amyntas, one of the sons of Alexander I. His most famous son is Philip II, father of Alexander the Great. + +Family +Polygamy was used by Macedonian kings both before and after Amyntas to secure marriage alliances and produce enough heirs to offset losses from intra-dynastic conflict. Consequently, Amyntas took two wives: Eurydice and Gygaea. He first married the former, daughter of the Lyncestian-Illyrian Sirras, by 390 BC and possibly in the aftermath of an Illyrian invasion. Through Eurydice, Amyntas had three sons, all of whom became kings of Macedonia one after the other, and a daughter: Alexander II, Perdiccas III, Philip II, and Eurynoe. + +The Roman historian Justin relates several, possibly apocryphal, stories about Eurydice and Eurynoe. He claims that Eurynoe prevented her mother and her lover (unnamed, but likely Ptolemy of Aloros) from assassinating Amyntas late in his reign by revealing the plan to her father. However, Eurynoe is not referred to by name in any other source and, moreover, is unlikely to have known the details of this supposedly secret plot. According to Justin, Amyntas spared Eurydice because they shared children, but that she would later help murder Alexander and Perdiccas in order to place Ptolemy on the throne. Alexander was in fact killed by friends of Ptolemy at a festival in 368, but the extent to which Eurydice knew of or participated in this plot is opaque. Perdiccas, on the other hand, assassinated Ptolemy in 365 only to be killed in battle by the Illyrians in 359. + +Amyntas most likely married Gygaea soon after marrying Eurydice, because Gygaea's children made no attempt to claim the throne before the 350s, implying that they were younger than Eurydice's children. Additionally, both Diodorus and Justin call Alexander II the eldest son of Amyntas. Through Gygaea, Amyntas had three more sons: Archelaus, Arrhidaeus, and Menelaus. Unlike Eurydice's children, none of Gygaea's sons ascended to the throne and were all killed by their half-brother Philip II. + +Amyntas also adopted the Athenian general Iphicrates around 386 in recognition of his military services and marital ties with the Thracian king, Cotys I. + +Lineage and accession +Amyntas became king at a troubled time for Macedonia and the Argead dynasty. The unexpected death of his great-grandfather King Alexander I in 454 BC triggered a dynastic crisis between his five sons: Perdiccas II, Menelaus, Philip, Alcetas, and Amyntas' grandfather, Amyntas. Perdiccas would eventually emerge victorious, extinguishing the line of Philip. The elder Amyntas evidently retired to his lands at some point in the conflict and no part in the exercise of power. Archelaus, Perdiccas' son, ascended to the throne around 413 and allegedly murdered Alcetas and his son, thus eliminating that family branch as well. However, Archelaus would himself be killed, possibly murdered, in 400 or 399 by his lover Craterus. His death prompted another succession crisis, resulting in five kings ruling in less than seven years, with nearly all ending violently. As Diodorus tells us, the younger Amyntas seized the throne at this point in 393/2 after assassinating the previous king Pausanias. Following his accession, Macedonia experienced no major internal political problems for the entirety of Amyntas' reign. + +King of Macedon +Shortly after he became king in 393 or 392, he was driven out by the Illyrians, but in the following year, with the aid of the Thessalians, he recovered his kingdom. Medius, head of the house of the Aleuadae of Larissa, is believed to have provided aid to Amyntas in recovering his throne. The mutual relationship between the Argeadae and the Aleuadae dates to the time of Archelaus. + +To shore up his country against the threat of the Illyrians, Amyntas established an alliance with the Chalcidian League led by Olynthus. In exchange for this support, Amyntas granted them rights to Macedonian timber, which was sent back to Athens to help fortify their fleet. With money flowing into Olynthus from these exports, their power grew. In response, Amyntas sought additional allies. He established connections with Kotys, chief of the Odrysians. Kotys had already married his daughter to the Athenian general Iphicrates. Prevented from marrying into Kotys' family, Amyntas soon adopted Iphicrates as his son. + +After the King's Peace of 387 BC, Sparta was anxious to re-establish its presence in northern Greece. In 385 BC, Bardylis and his Illyrians attacked Epirus instigated and aided by Dionysius I of Syracuse, in an attempt to restore the Molossian king Alcetas I of Epirus to the throne. When Amyntas sought Spartan aid against the growing threat of Olynthus, the Spartans eagerly responded. That Olynthus was backed by Athens and Thebes, rivals to Sparta for the control of Greece, provided them with an additional incentive to break up this growing power in the north. Amyntas thus concluded a treaty with the Spartans, who assisted him in a war against Olynthus. First Spartan-Macedonian forces suffered two defeats but in 379 they managed to destroy Olynthus. He also entered into a league with Jason of Pherae, and assiduously cultivated the friendship of Athens. In 371 BC at a Panhellenic congress of the Lacedaemonian allies, he voted in support of the Athenians' claim and joined other Greeks in voting to help Athens to recover possession of Amphipolis. + +With Olynthus defeated, Amyntas was now able to conclude a treaty with Athens and keep the timber revenues for himself. Amyntas shipped the timber to the house of the Athenian Timotheus, in Piraeus. + +Amyntas died aged 50, leaving his throne to his eldest son, Alexander II. + +See also + Treaties between Amyntas III and the Chalcidians + Amyntaio + +Citations + +External links + Coins of Amyntas III + Atheno-Macedonian Alliance-Translation of Epigraphy + +370 BC deaths +4th-century BC Macedonian monarchs +Argead kings of Macedonia +Old Macedonian kingdom +Year of birth missing +Anacharsis (; ) was a Scythian prince and philosopher of uncertain historicity who lived in the 6th century BC. + +Life +Anacharsis was the brother of the Scythian king Saulius, and both of them were the sons of the previous Scythian king, Gnurus. + +Few concrete details are known about the life of the historical Anacharsis. He is known to have travelled to Greece, where he possibly became influenced by Greek culture. + +Anacharsis was later killed by his brother Saulius for having sacrificed to the Scythian ancestral Snake-Legged Goddess at her shrine in the country of Hylaea by performing an orgiastic and shamanistic ritual at night during which he wore images on his dress and played drums. + +The ancient Greek author, Herodotus of Halicarnassus, claimed that Anacharsis had been killed because he had renounced Scythian customs and adopted Greek ones, although this claim was likely invented by Herodotus himself. The religious rituals practised by Anacharsis instead corresponded more closely to those of the transvestite Anarya priesthood of the Scythians. + +Legacy +An amphora found in the western at Pontic Olbia where was located the temple of Apollo Iētros () recorded the dedication of "paternal honey" to this god by a Scythian named Anaperrēs (), who may have been the son of Anacharsis. + +The nephew of Anacharsis, Idanthyrsus, who was the son and successor of Saulius, would later become famous among the Greeks in his own right for having resisted the Persian invasion of Scythia in 513 BC. + +In Graeco-Roman philosophy +Later Graeco-Roman tradition transformed Anacharsis into a legendary figure as a kind of "noble savage" who represented "Barbarian wisdom," due to which the ancient Greeks included him as one of the Seven Sages of Greece. Consequently, Anarcharsis became a popular figure in Greek literature, and many legends arose about him, including claims that he had been a friend of Solon. + +The ancient Greek historian, Ephorus of Cyme, later used this image of Anacharsis to create an idealised image of the Scythians. + +Eventually, Anacharsis completely became an ideal "man of nature" or "noble savage" figure in Greek literature, as well as favourite figure of the Cynics, who ascribed to him a 3rd century BC work titled the . + +Due to the transformation of Anacharsis into a favourite character of Greek philosophers, nearly all of the ancient writings concerning him are about Greek literature, which makes the information regarding the historical Anacharsis himself difficult to assess. + +References + +Sources + +External links + +Jean Jacques Barthelemy's The Travels of Anacharsis the Younger in Greece (French) + +6th-century BC Greek philosophers +Ancient Greeks who were murdered +Immigrants to Archaic Athens +Male murder victims +Presocratic philosophers +Scythian people +Seven Sages of Greece +6th-century BC Iranian people +Ancient Iranian philosophers +Anah or Ana (, ʾĀna, ), formerly also known as Anna, is an Iraqi town on the Euphrates river, approximately midway between the Gulf of Alexandretta and the Persian Gulf. Anah lies from west to east on the right bank along a bend of the river just before it turns south towards Hit. + +Name +The town was called (d)Ha-na-at in cuneiform texts from the Old Babylonian period, A-na-at of the land Suhum by the scribes of Tukulti-Ninurta  BC, and An-at by the scribes of Assur-nasir-pal II in 879 BC. The name has been connected with the widely worshipped war goddess Anat. It was known as Anathō () to Isidore Charax and to Ammianus Marcellinus; early Arabic writers described it variously as ʾĀna or (as if plural) ʾĀnāt. + +History + +Middle Bronze +The earliest references to Anah are probably found in letters of the period of Zimri-Lim of Mari. + +Under Hammurapi of Babylon the town was under Babylonian control, being included in the governorate of Sūḫu. Later, the town was under Assyrian rule. + +Iron Age +At the beginning of the 8th century BC, Šamaš-rēša-uṣur and his son Ninurta-kudurrī-uṣur succeeded in creating an independent political entity, and called themselves "governors of Sūḫu and Mari". The land of Sūḫu occupied a quite extensive region on the Middle Euphrates, approximately from the area near Falluja in the southeast to the area of Ḫindanu (modern Tell Jabiriyah, near Al-Qa'im) in the northwest. Important evidence for this period was recovered during English and Iraqi salvage excavation campaigns at Sur Jurʿeh and on the island of ʿAna (Anah) in the early 1980s. + +Xenophon recorded that the army of Cyrus the Younger resupplied during a campaign in 401 BC at "Charmande" near the end of a 90-parasang march between Korsote and Pylae, which likely intends Anah. It was the site where the Roman emperor Julian first met opposition in his AD 363 expedition against the Sassanid Empire. He got possession of the place and relocated its inhabitants. + +Medieval and Ottoman Era + +In 657, during the Muslim conquest of Iraq, Ali's lieutenants Ziyad and Shureih were refused passage across the Euphrates at Anah. Later, in 1058, Anah was the place of exile of the caliph Qaim when al-Basasiri was in power. In the 14th century, Anah was the seat of the catholicos who served as primate over the Persian Christians. Throughout early Islamic rule, it was a prosperous trade town, well known for its date palms and gardens; in the 14th century, Mustafi wrote of the fame of its palm groves. Medieval Arab poets celebrated Anah's wine; + +Between the 14th and 17th centuries, Anah served as a headquarters for a host of regional Arab tribes. Starting around 1535, the town served as the de facto capital of the Abu Rish Bedouin emirs, whom the Ottomans appointed as governors of several s (provinces) as well as çöl beyis or "desert emirs". In 1574, Leonhart Rauwolff found the town divided into two parts, the Turkish "so surrounded by the river that you cannot go into it but by boats" and the larger Arabian section along one of the banks. In 1610, Texeira said Anah lay on both banks of the river, with which Pietro Della Valle agreed. In that year, Della Valle found the Scot George Strachan resident at Anah, working as the physician to the emir and studying Arabic; he also found some "sun worshippers" (actually Alawites) still living there. Della Valle and Texeira called Anah the principal Arab town on the Euphrates, controlling a major route west from Baghdad and territory reaching Palmyra. + +Late Ottoman era +About 1750, the Ottomans installed a rudimentary administration to run Anah and its district. After roughly a century, a more organized local government was put in place, whereby Anah became the center of a kaza belonging to the Baghdad Vilayet. + +At the beginning of the 19th century, G.A. Olivier found only 25 men in service of the local prince, with residents fleeing daily to escape from bedouin attacks against which he offered no protection. He described the city as a single long street of five or six miles along a narrow strip of land between the river and a ridge of rocky hills. W. F. Ainsworth, chronicling the British Euphrates expedition, reported that in 1835 the Arabs inhabited the northwest part of the town, the Christians the center, and the Jews the southeast. The same year, the steamer Tigris went down in a storm just above Anah, near where Julian's force had suffered from a similar storm. + +By the mid-19th century, the houses were separated from one another by fruit gardens, which also filled the riverine islands near the town. The most easterly island contained a ruined castle, while the ruins of ancient Anatho extended a further two miles along the left bank. It marked the boundary between the olive (north) and date (south) growing regions in the area. With the positioning of Turkish troops in the town around 1890, the locals no longer had to pay blackmail () to the bedouins. Through the early 20th century, coarse cotton cloth was the only manufacture. In 1909 Anah had an estimated population of 15,000 and 2,000 houses. Most of the inhabitants were Sunni Muslim Arabs, though a small Jewish community lived on the town's southern edge. + +Kingdom of Iraq +In 1918, the town was captured by British forces and by 1921, became incorporated into the Kingdom of Iraq. It remained an administrative center of a qadaa, part of the larger Ramadi-based liwa of Dulaym. Anah's qadaa also included the subdistricts of Hīt, al-Qa'im and Jubba. The townspeople's long feud with the inhabitants of Rawa was settled diplomatically by 1921. Its territory to the west was dominated by the subtribes of Anizzah, while to the east the Jarba branch of the Shammar held sway. + +Most of Anah's building were located among a dense belt of date palms and was "reckoned as healthy and picturesque", according to historian S. H. Longrigg. The date palms were irrigated by water wheels. There were also more scattered dwelling in the mid-stream islands of the Euphrates near the town center. The women of the town were well known for their beauty and the weaving of cotton and wool textiles. The men, many of whom were compelled to emigrate to lack of living space, were largely engaged as boatmen and transporters of water to Baghdad. The town had relatively high educational standards, with eight schools built there by 1946. + +F. R. Chesney reported about 1800 houses, two mosques, and 16 waterwheels. One minaret is particularly old. Northedge reported the locals commonly attributed it to the 11th century but opined that it was more likely from about a century after that. It rose from one of the islands and belonged to the local mosque. Dr. Muayad Said described it as an octagonal body "enhanced by alcoves, some of which are blind" and noted earlier conservation work undertaken in 1935, 1963 and 1964. When the valley was flooded by the Haditha Dam in 1984/85, the Iraqi State Board of Antiquities cut it into sections and removed it to the new Anah, where it was re-erected to a height of at the end of the 1980s. + +ISIS captured the town in 2014. On September 19, 2017, an offensive to retake the town from ISIS control began. After two days of fighting the town was recaptured by the Iraqi army. + +Climate +Anah has a hot desert climate (Köppen climate classification BWh). Most rain falls in the winter. The average annual temperature in Anah is . About of precipitation falls annually. + +Notes + +References + + + + + +Attribution: + +External links + +Populated places in Al Anbar Governorate +Populated places on the Euphrates River +District capitals of Iraq +First Babylonian Empire +Anat +Ānanda (Pali and Sanskrit: आनन्द; 5th4th century BCE) was the primary attendant of the Buddha and one of his ten principal disciples. Among the Buddha's many disciples, Ānanda stood out for having the best memory. Most of the texts of the early Buddhist Sutta-Piṭaka (; , Sūtra-Piṭaka) are attributed to his recollection of the Buddha's teachings during the First Buddhist Council. For that reason, he is known as the Treasurer of the Dhamma, with Dhamma (, dharma) referring to the Buddha's teaching. In Early Buddhist Texts, Ānanda was the first cousin of the Buddha. Although the early texts do not agree on many parts of Ānanda's early life, they do agree that Ānanda was ordained as a monk and that Puṇṇa Mantānīputta (, Pūrṇa Maitrāyaṇīputra) became his teacher. Twenty years in the Buddha's ministry, Ānanda became the attendant of the Buddha, when the Buddha selected him for this task. Ānanda performed his duties with great devotion and care, and acted as an intermediary between the Buddha and the laypeople, as well as the saṅgha (). He accompanied the Buddha for the rest of his life, acting not only as an assistant, but also a secretary and a mouthpiece. + +Scholars are skeptical about the historicity of many events in Ānanda's life, especially the First Council, and consensus about this has yet to be established. A traditional account can be drawn from early texts, commentaries, and post-canonical chronicles. Ānanda had an important role in establishing the order of bhikkhunīs (), when he requested the Buddha on behalf of the latter's foster-mother Mahāpajāpati Gotamī (, Mahāprajāpatī Gautamī) to allow her to be ordained. Ānanda also accompanied the Buddha in the last year of his life, and therefore was witness to many tenets and principles that the Buddha conveyed before his death, including the well-known principle that the Buddhist community should take his teaching and discipline as their refuge, and that he would not appoint a new leader. The final period of the Buddha's life also shows that Ānanda was very much attached to the Buddha's person, and he saw the Buddha's passing with great sorrow. + +Shortly after the Buddha's death, the First Council was convened, and Ānanda managed to attain enlightenment just before the council started, which was a requirement. He had a historical role during the council as the living memory of the Buddha, reciting many of the Buddha's discourses and checking them for accuracy. During the same council, however, he was chastised by Mahākassapa (, Mahākāśyapa) and the rest of the saṅgha for allowing women to be ordained and failing to understand or respect the Buddha at several crucial moments. Ānanda continued to teach until the end of his life, passing on his spiritual heritage to his pupils Sāṇavāsī (, Śāṇakavāsī) and Majjhantika (, Madhyāntika), among others, who later assumed leading roles in the Second and Third Councils. Ānanda died 20 years after the Buddha, and stūpas (monuments) were erected at the river where he died. + +Ānanda is one of the most loved figures in Buddhism. He was known for his memory, erudition and compassion, and was often praised by the Buddha for these matters. He functioned as a foil to the Buddha, however, in that he still had worldly attachments and was not yet enlightened, as opposed to the Buddha. In the Sanskrit textual traditions, Ānanda is considered the patriarch of the Dhamma who stood in a spiritual lineage, receiving the teaching from Mahākassapa and passing them on to his own pupils. Ānanda has been honored by bhikkhunīs since early medieval times for his merits in establishing the nun's order. In recent times, the composer Richard Wagner and Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore were inspired by stories about Ānanda in their work. + +Name +The word ānanda (आनन्द) means 'bliss, joy' in Pāli and in Sanskrit. Pāli commentaries explain that when Ānanda was born, his relatives were joyous about this. Texts from the Mūlasarvāstivāda tradition, however, state that since Ānanda was born on the day of the Buddha's enlightenment, there was great rejoicing in the cityhence the name. + +Accounts + +Previous lives +According to the texts, in a previous life, Ānanda made an aspiration to become a Buddha's attendant. He made this aspiration in the time of a previous Buddha called Padumuttara, many eons (, Sanskrit: ) before the present age. He met the attendant of Padumuttara Buddha and aspired to be like him in a future life. After having done many good deeds, he made his resolution known to the Padumuttara Buddha, who confirmed that his wish will come true in a future life. After having been born and reborn throughout many lifetimes, and doing many good deeds, he was born as Ānanda in the time of the current Buddha Gotama. + +Early life + +Ānanda was born in the same time period as the Buddha (formerly Prince Siddhattha), which scholars place at 5th4th centuries BCE. Tradition says that Ānanda was the first cousin of the Buddha, his father being the brother of Suddhodana (), the Buddha's father. In the Pāli and Mūlasarvāstivāda textual traditions, his father was Amitodana (), but the Mahāvastu states that his father was Śuklodanaboth are brothers of Suddhodana. The Mahāvastu also mentions that Ānanda's mother's name was Mṛgī (Sanskrit; lit. 'little deer'; Pāli is unknown). The Pāli tradition has it that Ānanda was born on the same day as Prince Siddhatta (), but texts from the Mūlasarvāstivāda and subsequent Mahāyāna traditions state Ānanda was born at the same time the Buddha attained enlightenment (when Prince Siddhattha was 35 years old), and was therefore much younger than the Buddha. The latter tradition is corroborated by several instances in the Early Buddhist Texts, in which Ānanda appears younger than the Buddha, such as the passage in which the Buddha explained to Ānanda how old age was affecting him in body and mind. It is also corroborated by a verse in the Pāli text called Theragāthā, in which Ānanda stated he was a "learner" for 25 years, after which he attended to the Buddha for another 25 years.Following the Pāli, Mahīśasaka and Dharmaguptaka textual traditions, Ānanda became a monk in the second year of the Buddha's ministry, during the Buddha's visit to Kapilavatthu (). He was ordained by the Buddha himself, together with many other princes of the Buddha's clan (, ), in the mango grove called Anupiya, part of Malla territory. According to a text from the Mahāsaṅghika tradition, King Suddhodana wanted the Buddha to have more followers of the khattiya caste (), and less from the brahmin (priest) caste. He therefore ordered that any khattiya who had a brother follow the Buddha as a monk, or had his brother do so. Ānanda used this opportunity, and asked his brother Devadatta to stay at home, so that he could leave for the monkhood. The later timeline from the Mūlasarvāstivāda texts and the Pāli Theragāthā, however, have Ānanda ordain much later, about twenty-five years before the Buddha's deathin other words, twenty years in the Buddha's ministry. Some Sanskrit sources have him ordain even later. The Mūlasarvāstivāda texts on monastic discipline (Pāli and ) relate that soothsayers predicted Ānanda would be the Buddha's attendant. In order to prevent Ānanda from leaving the palace to ordain, his father brought him to Vesālī () during the Buddha's visit to Kapilavatthu, but later the Buddha met and taught Ānanda nonetheless. On a similar note, the Mahāvastu relates, however, that Mṛgī was initially opposed to Ānanda joining the holy life, because his brother Devadatta had already ordained and left the palace. Ānanda responded to his mother's resistance by moving to Videha () and lived there, taking a vow of silence. This led him to gain the epithet Videhamuni (), meaning 'the silent wise one from Videha'. When Ānanda did become ordained, his father had him ordain in Kapilavatthu in the Nigrodhārāma monastery () with much ceremony, Ānanda's preceptor (; Sanskrit: ) being a certain Daśabāla Kāśyapa. + +According to the Pāli tradition, Ānanda's first teachers were Belaṭṭhasīsa and Puṇṇa Mantānīputta. It was Puṇṇa's teaching that led Ānanda to attain the stage of sotāpanna (), an attainment preceding that of enlightenment. Ānanda later expressed his debt to Puṇṇa. Another important figure in the life of Ānanda was Sāriputta (), one of the Buddha's main disciples. Sāriputta often taught Ānanda about the finer points of Buddhist doctrine; they were in the habit of sharing things with one another, and their relationship is described as a good friendship. In some Mūlasarvāstivāda texts, an attendant of Ānanda is also mentioned who helped motivate Ānanda when he was banned from the First Buddhist Council. He was a "Vajjiputta" (), i.e. someone who originated from the Vajji confederacy. According to later texts, an enlightened monk also called Vajjiputta () had an important role in Ānanda's life. He listened to a teaching of Ānanda and realized that Ānanda was not enlightened yet. Vajjiputta encouraged Ānanda to talk less to laypeople and deepen his meditation practice by retreating in the forest, advice that very much affected Ānanda. + +Attending to the Buddha + +In the first twenty years of the Buddha's ministry, the Buddha had several personal attendants. However, after these twenty years, when the Buddha was aged 55, the Buddha announced that he had need for a permanent attendant. The Buddha had been growing older, and his previous attendants had not done their job very well. Initially, several of the Buddha's foremost disciples responded to his request, but the Buddha did not accept them. All the while Ānanda remained quiet. When he was asked why, he said that the Buddha would know best whom to choose, upon which the Buddha responded by choosing Ānanda. Ānanda agreed to take on the position, on the condition that he did not receive any material benefits from the Buddha. Accepting such benefits would open him up to criticism that he chose the position because of ulterior motives. He also requested that the Buddha allow him to accept invitations on his behalf, allow him to ask questions about his doctrine, and repeat any teaching that the Buddha had taught in Ānanda's absence. These requests would help people trust Ānanda and show that the Buddha was sympathetic to his attendant. Furthermore, Ānanda considered these the real advantages of being an attendant, which is why he requested them. + +The Buddha agreed to Ānanda's conditions, and Ānanda became the Buddha's attendant, accompanying the Buddha on most of his wanderings. Ānanda took care of the Buddha's daily practical needs, by doing things such as bringing water and cleaning the Buddha's dwelling place. He is depicted as observant and devoted, even guarding the dwelling place at night. Ānanda takes the part of interlocutor in many of the recorded dialogues. He tended the Buddha for a total of 25 years, a duty which entailed much work. His relationship with the Buddha is depicted as warm and trusting: when the Buddha grew ill, Ānanda had a sympathetic illness; when the Buddha grew older, Ānanda kept taking care of him with devotion. + +Ānanda sometimes literally risked his life for his teacher. At one time, the rebellious monk Devadatta tried to kill the Buddha by having a drunk and wild elephant released in the Buddha's presence. Ānanda stepped in front of the Buddha to protect him. When the Buddha told him to move, he refused, although normally he always obeyed the Buddha. Through a supernatural accomplishment (; ) the Buddha then moved Ānanda aside and subdued the elephant, by touching it and speaking to it with loving-kindness. + +Ānanda often acted as an intermediary and secretary, passing on messages from the Buddha, informing the Buddha of news, invitations, or the needs of lay people, and advising lay people who wanted to provide gifts to the saṅgha. At one time, Mahāpajāpatī, the Buddha's foster-mother, requested to offer robes for personal use for the Buddha. She said that even though she had raised the Buddha in his youth, she never gave anything in person to the young prince; she now wished to do so. The Buddha initially insisted that she give the robe to the community as a whole rather than to be attached to his person. However, Ānanda interceded and mediated, suggesting that the Buddha had better accept the robe. Eventually the Buddha did, but not without pointing out to Ānanda that good deeds like giving should always be done for the sake of the action itself, not for the sake of the person. + +The texts say that the Buddha sometimes asked Ānanda to substitute for him as teacher, and was often praised by the Buddha for his teachings. Ānanda was often given important teaching roles, such as regularly teaching Queen Mallikā, Queen Sāmāvatī, () and other people from the ruling class. Once Ānanda taught a number of King Udena ()'s concubines. They were so impressed by Ānanda's teaching, that they gave him five hundred robes, which Ānanda accepted. Having heard about this, King Udena criticized Ānanda for being greedy; Ānanda responded by explaining how every single robe was carefully used, reused and recycled by the monastic community, prompting the king to offer another five hundred robes. Ānanda also had a role in the Buddha's visit to Vesālī. In this story, the Buddha taught the well-known text Ratana Sutta to Ānanda, which Ānanda then recited in Vesālī, ridding the city from illness, drought and evil spirits in the process. Another well-known passage in which the Buddha taught Ānanda is the passage about spiritual friendship (). In this passage, Ānanda stated that spiritual friendship is half of the holy life; the Buddha corrected Ānanda, stating that such friendship is the entire holy life. In summary, Ānanda worked as an assistant, intermediary and a mouthpiece, helping the Buddha in many ways, and learning his teachings in the process. + +Resisting temptations +Ānanda was attractive in appearance. A Pāli account related that a bhikkhunī (nun) became enamored with Ānanda, and pretended to be ill to have Ānanda visit her. When she realized the error of her ways, she confessed her mistakes to Ānanda. Other accounts relate that a low-caste woman called Prakṛti (also known in China as ) fell in love with Ānanda, and persuaded her mother Mātaṅgī to use a black magic spell to enchant him. This succeeded, and Ānanda was lured into her house, but came to his senses and called upon the help of the Buddha. The Buddha then taught Prakṛti to reflect on the repulsive qualities of the human body, and eventually Prakṛti was ordained as a bhikkhunī, giving up her attachment for Ānanda. In an East Asian version of the story in the Śūraṃgamasūtra, the Buddha sent Mañjuśrī to help Ānanda, who used recitation to counter the magic charm. The Buddha then continued by teaching Ānanda and other listeners about the Buddha nature. + +Establishing the nun's order + +In the role of mediator between the Buddha and the lay communities, Ānanda sometimes made suggestions to the Buddha for amendments in the monastic discipline. Most importantly, the early texts attribute the inclusion of women in the early saṅgha (monastic order) to Ānanda. Fifteen years after the Buddha's enlightenment, his foster mother Mahāpajāpatī came to see him to ask him to be ordained as the first Buddhist bhikkhunī. Initially, the Buddha refused this. Five years later, Mahāpajāpatī came to request the Buddha again, this time with a following of other Sākiya women, including the Buddha's former wife Yasodharā (). They had walked , looked dirty, tired and depressed, and Ānanda felt pity for them. Ānanda therefore confirmed with the Buddha whether women could become enlightened as well. Although the Buddha conceded this, he did not allow the Sākiya women to be ordained yet. Ānanda then discussed with the Buddha how Mahāpajāpatī took care of him during his childhood, after the death of his real mother. Ānanda also mentioned that previous Buddhas had also ordained bhikkhunīs. In the end, the Buddha allowed the Sākiya women to be ordained, being the start of the bhikkhunī order. Ānanda had Mahāpajāpati ordained by her acceptance of a set of rules, set by the Buddha. These came to be known as the garudhamma, and they describe the subordinate relation of the bhikkhunī community to that of the bhikkhus or monks. Scholar of Asian religions Reiko Ohnuma argues that the debt the Buddha had toward his foster-mother Mahāpajāpati may have been the main reason for his concessions with regard to the establishment of a bhikkhunī order. + +Many scholars interpret this account to mean that the Buddha was reluctant in allowing women to be ordained, and that Ānanda successfully persuaded the Buddha to change his mind. For example, Indologist and translator I.B. Horner wrote that "this is the only instance of his [the Buddha] being over-persuaded in argument". However, some scholars interpret the Buddha's initial refusal rather as a test of resolve, following a widespread pattern in the Pāli Canon and in monastic procedure of repeating a request three times before final acceptance. Some also argue that the Buddha was believed by Buddhists to be omniscient, and therefore is unlikely to have been depicted as changing his mind. Other scholars argue that other passages in the texts indicate the Buddha intended all along to establish a bhikkhunī order. Regardless, during the acceptance of women into the monastic order, the Buddha told Ānanda that the Buddha's Dispensation would last shorter because of this. At the time, the Buddhist monastic order consisted of wandering celibate males, without many monastic institutions. Allowing women to join the Buddhist celibate life might have led to dissension, as well as temptation between the sexes. The garudhamma, however, were meant to fix these problems, and prevent the dispensation from being curtailed. + +There are some chronological discrepancies in the traditional account of the setting up of the bhikkhunī order. According to the Pāli and Mahīśasaka textual traditions, the bhikkhunī order was set up five years after the Buddha's enlightenment, but, according to most textual traditions, Ānanda only became attendant twenty years after the Buddha's enlightenment. Furthermore, Mahāpajāpati was the Buddha's foster mother, and must therefore have been considerably older than him. However, after the bhikkhunī order was established, Mahāpajāpati still had many audiences with the Buddha, as reported in Pāli and Chinese Early Buddhist Texts. Because of this and other reasons, it could be inferred that establishment of the bhikkhunī order actually took place early in the Buddha's ministry. If this is the case, Ānanda's role in establishing the order becomes less likely. Some scholars therefore interpret the names in the account, such as Ānanda and Mahāpajāpati, as symbols, representing groups rather than specific individuals. + +According to the texts, Ānanda's role in founding the bhikkhunī order made him popular with the bhikkhunī community. Ānanda often taught bhikkhunīs, often encouraged women to ordain, and when he was criticized by the monk Mahākassapa, several bhikkhunīs tried to defend him. According to Indologist Oskar von Hinüber, Ānanda's pro-bhikkhunī attitude may well be the reason why there was frequent discussion between Ānanda and Mahākassapa, eventually leading Mahākasapa to charge Ānanda with several offenses during the First Buddhist Council. Von Hinüber further argues that the establishment of the bhikkhunī order may have well been initiated by Ānanda the Buddha's death, and the introduction of Mahāpajāpati as the person requesting to do so is merely a literary device to connect the ordination of women with the person of the Buddha, through his foster mother. Von Hinüber concludes this based on several patterns in the early texts, including the apparent distance between the Buddha and the bhikkhunī order, and the frequent discussions and differences of opinion that take place between Ānanda and Mahākassapa. Some scholars have seen merits in von Hinüber's argument with regard to the pro- and anti-factions, but as of 2017, no definitive evidence has been found for the theory of establishment of the bhikkhuni order after the Buddha's death. Buddhist studies scholar Bhikkhu Anālayo has responded to most of von Hinuber's arguments, writing: "Besides requiring too many assumptions, this hypothesis conflicts with nearly 'all the evidence preserved in the texts together'", arguing that it was monastic discipline that created a distance between the Buddha and the bhikkhunīs, and even so, there were many places in the early texts where the Buddha did address bhikkhunīs directly. + +The Buddha's death + +Despite his long association with and close proximity to the Buddha, the texts describe that Ānanda had not become enlightened yet. Because of that, a fellow monk Udāyī () ridiculed Ānanda. However, the Buddha reprimanded Udāyī in response, saying that Ānanda would certainly be enlightened in this life. + +The Pāli Mahā-parinibbāna Sutta related the last year-long trip the Buddha took with Ānanda from Rājagaha () to the small town of Kusināra () before the Buddha died there. Before reaching Kusināra, the Buddha spent the retreat during the monsoon (, ) in Veḷugāma (), getting out of the Vesālī area which suffered from famine. Here, the eighty-year old Buddha expressed his wish to speak to the saṅgha once more. The Buddha had grown seriously ill in Vesālī, much to the concern of some of his disciples. Ānanda understood that the Buddha wished to leave final instructions before his death. The Buddha stated, however, that he had already taught everything needed, without withholding anything secret as a teacher with a "closed fist" would. He also impressed upon Ānanda that he did not think the saṅgha should be reliant too much on a leader, not even himself. He then continued with the well-known statement to take his teaching as a refuge, and oneself as a refuge, without relying on any other refuge, also after he would be gone. Bareau argued that this is one of the most ancient parts of the text, found in slight variation in five early textual traditions: + +The same text contains an account in which the Buddha, at numerous occasions, gave a hint that he could prolong his life to a full eon through a supernatural accomplishment, but this was a power that he would have to be to exercise. Ānanda was distracted, however, and did not take the hint. Later, Ānanda did make the request, but the Buddha replied that it was already too late, as he would die soon. Māra, the Buddhist personification of evil, had visited the Buddha, and the Buddha had decided to die in three months. When Ānanda heard this, he wept. The Buddha consoled him, however, pointing out that Ānanda had been a great attendant, being sensitive to the needs of different people. If he was earnest in his efforts, he would attain enlightenment soon. He then pointed out to Ānanda that all conditioned things are impermanent: all people must die. + +In the final days of the Buddha's life, the Buddha traveled to Kusināra. The Buddha had Ānanda prepare a place for lying down between two sal trees, the same type of tree under which the mother of the Buddha gave birth. The Buddha then had Ānanda invite the Malla clan from Kusināra to pay their final respects. Having returned, Ānanda asked the Buddha what should be done with his body after his death, and he replied that it should be cremated, giving detailed instructions on how this should be done. Since the Buddha prohibited Ānanda from being involved himself, but rather had him instruct the Mallas to perform the rituals, these instructions have by many scholars been interpreted as a prohibition that monastics should not be involved in funerals or worship of stūpas (structures with relics). Buddhist studies scholar Gregory Schopen has pointed out, however, that this prohibition only held for Ānanda, and only with regard to the Buddha's funeral ceremony. It has also been shown that the instructions on the funeral are quite late in origin, in both composition and insertion into the text, and are not found in parallel texts, apart from the Mahāparinibbāna Sutta. Ānanda then continued by asking how devotees should honor the Buddha after his death. The Buddha responded by listing four important places in his life that people could pay their respects to, which later became the four main places of Buddhist pilgrimage. Before the Buddha died, Ānanda recommended the Buddha to move to a more meaningful city instead, but the Buddha pointed out that the town was once a great capital. Ānanda then asked who will be next teacher after the Buddha would be gone, but the Buddha replied that his teaching and discipline would be the teacher instead. This meant that decisions should be made by reaching consensus within the saṅgha, and more generally, that now the time had come for the Buddhist monastics and devotees to take the Buddhist texts as authority, now that the Buddha was dying. + +The Buddha gave several instructions before his death, including a directive that his former charioteer Channa () be shunned by his fellow monks, to humble his pride. In his final moments, the Buddha asked if anyone had any questions they wished to pose to him, as a final chance to allay any doubts. When no-one responded, Ānanda expressed joy that all of the Buddha's disciples present had attained a level beyond doubts about the Buddha's teaching. However, the Buddha pointed out that Ānanda spoke out of faith and not out of meditative insighta final reproach. The Buddha added that, of all the five hundred monks that are surrounding him now, even the "latest" or "most backward" () had attained the initial stage of sotapanna. Meant as an encouragement, the Buddha was referring to Ānanda. During the Buddha's final Nirvana, Anuruddha was able to use his meditative powers to understand which stages the Buddha underwent before attaining final Nirvana. However, Ānanda was unable to do so, indicating his lesser spiritual maturity. After the Buddha's death, Ānanda recited several verses, expressing a sense of urgency (), deeply moved by the events and their bearing: "Terrible was the quaking, men's hair stood on end, / When the all-accomplished Buddha passed away." + +Shortly after the council, Ānanda brought the message with regard to the Buddha's directive to Channa personally. Channa was humbled and changed his ways, attained enlightenment, and the penalty was withdrawn by the saṅgha. Ānanda traveled to Sāvatthī (), where he was met with a sad populace, who he consoled with teachings on impermanence. After that, Ānanda went to the quarters of the Buddha and went through the motions of the routine he formerly performed when the Buddha was still alive, such as preparing water and cleaning the quarters. He then saluted and talked to the quarters as though the Buddha was still there. The Pāli commentaries state that Ānanda did this out of devotion, but also because he was "not yet free from the passions". + +The First Council + +Ban +According to the texts, the First Buddhist Council was held in Rājagaha. In the first vassa after the Buddha had died, the presiding monk Mahākassapa () called upon Ānanda to recite the discourses he had heard, as a representative on this council. There was a rule issued that only enlightened disciples (arahants) were allowed to attend the council, to prevent mental afflictions from clouding the disciples' memories. Ānanda had, however, not attained enlightenment yet, in contrast with the rest of the council, consisting of 499 arahants. Mahākassapa therefore did not allow Ānanda to attend yet. Although he knew that Ānanda's presence in the council was required, he did not want to be biased by allowing an exception to the rule. The Mūlasarvāstivāda tradition adds that Mahākassapa initially allowed Ānanda to join as a sort of servant assisting during the council, but then was forced to remove him when the disciple Anuruddha saw that Ānanda was not yet enlightened. + +Ānanda felt humiliated, but was prompted to focus his efforts to reach enlightenment before the council started. The Mūlasarvāstivāda texts add that he felt motivated when he remembered the Buddha's words that he should be his own refuge, and when he was consoled and advised by Anuruddha and Vajjiputta, the latter being his attendant. On the night before the event, he tried hard to attain enlightenment. After a while, Ānanda took a break and decided to lie down for a rest. He then attained enlightenment right there, right then, halfway between standing and lying down. Thus, Ānanda was known as the disciple who attained awakening "in none of the four traditional poses" (walking, standing, sitting, or lying down). The next morning, to prove his enlightenment, Ānanda performed a supernatural accomplishment by diving into the earth and appearing on his seat at the council (or, according to some sources, by flying through the air). Scholars such as Buddhologist André Bareau and scholar of religion Ellison Banks Findly have been skeptical about many details in this account, including the number of participants on the council, and the account of Ānanda's enlightenment just before the council. Regardless, today, the story of Ānanda's struggle on the evening before the council is still told among Buddhists as a piece of advice in the practice of meditation: neither to give up, nor to interpret the practice too rigidly. + +Recitations +The First Council began when Ānanda was consulted to recite the discourses and to determine which were authentic and which were not. Mahākassapa asked of each discourse that Ānanda listed where, when, and to whom it was given, and at the end of this, the assembly agreed that Ānanda's memories and recitations were correct, after which the discourse collection (, ) was considered finalized and closed. Ānanda therefore played a crucial role in this council, and texts claim he remembered 84,000 teaching topics, among which 82,000 taught by the Buddha and another 2,000 taught by disciples. Many early Buddhist discourses started with the words "Thus have I heard" (, ), which according to most Buddhist traditions, were Ānanda's words, indicating that he, as the person reporting the text (), had first-hand experience and did not add anything to it. Thus, the discourses Ānanda remembered later became the collection of discourses of the Canon, and according to the Haimavāta, Dharmaguptaka and Sarvāstivāda textual traditions (and implicitly, post-canonical Pāli chronicles), the collection of Abhidhamma (Abhidhamma Piṭaka) as well. Scholar of religion Ronald Davidson notes, however, that this is not preceded by any account of Ānanda learning Abhidhamma. According to some later Mahāyāna accounts, Ānanda also assisted in reciting Mahāyāna texts, held in a different place in Rājagaha, but in the same time period. The Pāli commentaries state that after the council, when the tasks for recitation and memorizing the texts were divided, Ānanda and his pupils were given the task to remember the Dīgha Nikāya. + +Charges +During the same council, Ānanda was charged for an offense by members of the saṅgha for having enabled women to join the monastic order. Besides this, he was charged for having forgotten to request the Buddha to specify which offenses of monastic discipline could be disregarded; for having stepped on the Buddha's robe; for having allowed women to honor the Buddha's body after his death, which was not properly dressed, and during which his body was sullied by their tears; and for having failed to ask the Buddha to continue to live on. Ānanda did not acknowledge these as offenses, but he conceded to do a formal confession anyway, "... in faith of the opinion of the venerable elder monks"Ānanda wanted to prevent disruption in the saṅgha. With regard to having women ordained, Ānanda answered that he had done this with great effort, because Mahāpajāpati was the Buddha's foster-mother who had long provided for him. With regard to not requesting the Buddha to continue to live, many textual traditions have Ānanda respond by saying he was distracted by Māra, though one early Chinese text has Ānanda reply he did not request the Buddha to prolong his life, for fear that this would interfere with the next Buddha Maitreya's ministry. + +According to the Pāli tradition, the charges were laid after Ānanda had become enlightened and done all the recitations; but the Mūlasarvāstivāda tradition has it that the charges were laid before Ānanda became enlightened and started the recitations. In this version, when Ānanda heard that he was banned from the council, he objected that he had not done anything that went against the teaching and discipline of the Buddha. Mahākassapa then listed seven charges to counter Ānanda's objection. The charges were similar to the five given in Pāli. Other textual traditions list slightly different charges, amounting to a combined total of eleven charges, some of which are only mentioned in one or two textual traditions. Considering that an enlightened disciple was seen to have overcome all faults, it seems more likely that the charges were laid before Ānanda's attainment than after. + +Indologists von Hinüber and Jean Przyluski argue that the account of Ānanda being charged with offenses during the council indicate tensions between competing early Buddhist schools, i.e. schools that emphasized the discourses (, ) and schools that emphasized monastic discipline. These differences have affected the scriptures of each tradition: e.g. the Pāli and Mahīśāsaka textual traditions portray a Mahākassapa that is more critical of Ānanda than that the Sarvāstivāda tradition depicts him, reflecting a preference for discipline above discourse on the part of the former traditions, and a preference for discourse for the latter. Another example is the recitations during the First Council. The Pāli texts state that Upāli, the person who was responsible for the recitation of the monastic discipline, recited Ānanda does: again, monastic discipline above discourse. Analyzing six recensions of different textual traditions of the Mahāparinibbāna Sutta extensively, Bareau distinguished two layers in the text, an older and a newer one, the former belonging to the compilers that emphasized discourse, the latter to the ones that emphasized discipline; the former emphasizing the figure of Ānanda, the latter Mahākassapa. He further argued that the passage on Māra obstructing the Buddha was inserted in the fourth century BCE, and that Ānanda was blamed for Māra's doing by inserting the passage of Ānanda's forgetfulness in the third century BCE. The passage in which the Buddha was ill and reminded Ānanda to be his own refuge, on the other hand, Bareau regarded as very ancient, pre-dating the passages blaming Māra and Ānanda. In conclusion, Bareau, Przyluski and Horner argued that the offenses Ānanda were charged with were a later interpolation. Findly disagrees, however, because the account in the texts of monastic discipline fits in with the Mahāparinibbāna Sutta and with Ānanda's character as generally depicted in the texts. + +Historicity +Tradition states that the First Council lasted for seven months. Scholars doubt, however, whether the entire canon was really recited during the First Council, because the early texts contain different accounts on important subjects such as meditation. It may be, though, that early versions were recited of what is now known as the Vinaya-piṭaka and Sutta-piṭaka. Nevertheless, many scholars, from the late 19th century onward, have considered the historicity of the First Council improbable. Some scholars, such as orientalists Louis de La Vallée-Poussin and D.P. Minayeff, thought there must have been assemblies after the Buddha's death, but considered only the main characters and some events before or after the First Council historical. Other scholars, such as Bareau and Indologist Hermann Oldenberg, considered it likely that the account of the First Council was written after the Second Council, and based on that of the Second, since there were not any major problems to solve after the Buddha's death, or any other need to organize the First Council. Much material in the accounts, and even more so in the more developed later accounts, deal with Ānanda as the unsullied intermediary who passes on the legitimate teaching of the Buddha. On the other hand, archaeologist Louis Finot, Indologist E. E. Obermiller and to some extent Indologist Nalinaksha Dutt thought the account of the First Council was authentic, because of the correspondences between the Pāli texts and the Sanskrit traditions. Indologist Richard Gombrich, following Bhikkhu Sujato and Bhikkhu Brahmali's arguments, states that "it makes good sense to believe ... that large parts of the Pali Canon do preserve for us the Buddha-vacana, 'the Buddha's words', transmitted to us via his disciple Ānanda and the First Council". + +Role and character + +Ānanda was recognized as one of the most important disciples of the Buddha. In the lists of the disciples given in the Aṅguttara Nikāya and Saṃyutta Nikāya, each of the disciples is declared to be foremost in some quality. Ānanda is mentioned more often than any other disciple: he is named foremost in conduct, in attention to others, in power of memory, in erudition and in resoluteness. Ānanda was the subject of a sermon of praise delivered by the Buddha just before the Buddha's death, as described in the Mahāparinibbāna Sutta: it is a sermon about a man who is kindly, unselfish, popular, and thoughtful toward others. In the texts he is depicted as compassionate in his relations with lay people, a compassion he learnt from the Buddha. The Buddha relays that both monastics and lay people were pleased to see Ānanda, and were pleased to hear him recite and teach the Buddha's teaching. Moreover, Ānanda was known for his organizational skills, assisting the Buddha with secretary-like duties. In many ways, Ānanda did not only serve the personal needs of the Buddha, but also the needs of the still young, growing institute of the saṅgha. + +Moreover, because of his ability to remember the many teachings of the Buddha, he is described as foremost in "having heard much" (, Sanskrit: , ). Ānanda was known for his exceptional memory, which is essential in helping him to remember the Buddha's teachings. He also taught other disciples to memorize Buddhist doctrine. For these reasons, Ānanda became known as the "Treasurer of the Dhamma" (, Sanskrit: ), Dhamma (Sanskrit: ) referring to the doctrine of the Buddha. Being the person who had accompanied the Buddha throughout a great part of his life, Ānanda was in many ways the living memory of the Buddha, without which the saṅgha would be much worse off. Besides his memory skills, Ānanda also stood out in that, as the Buddha's cousin, he dared to ask the Buddha direct questions. For example, after the death of Mahāvira and the depicted subsequent conflicts among the Jain community, Ānanda asked the Buddha how such problems could be prevented after the Buddha's death. However, Findly argues that Ānanda's duty to memorize the Buddha's teachings accurately and without distortion, was "both a gift and a burden". Ānanda was able to remember many discourses verbatim, but this also went hand-in-hand with a habit of not reflecting on those teachings, being afraid that reflection might distort the teachings as he heard them. At multiple occasions, Ānanda was warned by other disciples that he should spend less time on conversing to lay people, and more time on his own practice. Even though Ānanda regularly practiced meditation for long hours, he was less experienced in meditative concentration than other leading disciples. Thus, judgment of Ānanda's character depends on whether one judges his accomplishments as a monk or his accomplishments as an attendant, and person memorizing the discourses. + +From a literary and didactic point of view, Ānanda often functioned as a kind of foil in the texts, being an unenlightened disciple attending to an enlightened Buddha. Because the run-of the-mill person could identify with Ānanda, the Buddha could through Ānanda convey his teachings to the mass easily. Ānanda's character was in many ways a contradiction to that of the Buddha: being unenlightened and someone who made mistakes. At the same time, however, he was completely devoted to service to the Buddha. The Buddha is depicted in the early texts as both a father and a teacher to Ānanda, stern but compassionate. Ānanda was very fond of and attached to the Buddha, willing to give his life for him. He mourned the deaths of both the Buddha and Sāriputta, with whom he enjoyed a close friendship: in both cases Ānanda was very shocked. Ānanda's faith in the Buddha, however, constituted more of a faith in a person, especially the Buddha's person, as opposed to faith in the Buddha's teaching. This is a pattern which comes back in the accounts which lead to the offenses Ānanda was charged with during the First Council. Moreover, Ānanda's weaknesses described in the texts were that he was sometimes slow-witted and lacked mindfulness, which became noticeable because of his role as attendant to the Buddha: this involved minor matters like deportment, but also more important matters, such as ordaining a man with no future as a pupil, or disturbing the Buddha at the wrong time. For example, one time Mahākassapa chastised Ānanda in strong words, criticizing the fact that Ānanda was travelling with a large following of young monks who appeared untrained and who had built up a bad reputation. In another episode described in a Sarvāstivāda text, Ānanda is the only disciple who was willing to teach psychic powers to Devadatta, who later would use these in an attempt to destroy the Buddha. According to a Mahīśāsaka text, however, when Devadatta had turned against the Buddha, Ānanda was not persuaded by him, and voted against him in a formal meeting. Ānanda's late spiritual growth is much discussed in Buddhist texts, and the general conclusion is that Ānanda was slower than other disciples due to his worldly attachments and his attachment to the person of the Buddha, both of which were rooted in his mediating work between the Buddha and the lay communities. + +Passing on the teaching +After the Buddha's death, some sources say Ānanda stayed mostly in the West of India, in the area of Kosambī (), where he taught most of his pupils. Other sources say he stayed in the monastery at Veḷuvana (). Several pupils of Ānanda became well-known in their own right. According to post-canonical Sanskrit sources such as the Divyavadāna and the Aśokavadāna, before the Buddha's death, the Buddha confided to Ānanda that the latter's student Majjhantika () would travel to Udyāna, Kashmir, to bring the teaching of the Buddha there. Mahākassapa made a prediction that later would come true that another of Ānanda's future pupils, Sāṇavāsī (), would make many gifts to the saṅgha at Mathurā, during a feast held from profits of successful business. After this event, Ānanda would successfully persuade Sāṇavāsī to become ordained and be his pupil. Ānanda later persuaded Sāṇavāsī by pointing out that the latter had now made many material gifts, but had not given "the gift of the Dhamma". When asked for explanation, Ānanda replied that Sāṇavāsī would give the gift of Dhamma by becoming ordained as a monk, which was reason enough for Sāṇavāsī to make the decision to get ordained. + +Death and relics + +Though no Early Buddhist Text provides a date for Ānanda's death, according to the Chinese pilgrim monk Faxian (337422 CE), Ānanda went on to live 120 years. Following the later timeline, however, Ānanda may have lived to 7585 years. Buddhist studies scholar L. S. Cousins dated Ānanda's death twenty years after the Buddha's. + +Ānanda was teaching till the end of his life. According to Mūlasarvāstivāda sources, Ānanda heard a young monk recite a verse incorrectly, and advised him. When the monk reported this to his teacher, the latter objected that "Ānanda has grown old and his memory is impaired ..." This prompted Ānanda to attain final Nirvana. He passed on the "custody of the [Buddha's] doctrine" to his pupil Sāṇavāsī and left for the river Ganges. However, according to Pāli sources, when Ānanda was about to die, he decided to spend his final moments in Vesālī instead, and traveled to the river Rohīni. The Mūlasarvāstivāda version expands and says that before reaching the river, he met with a seer called Majjhantika (following the prediction earlier) and five hundred of his followers, who converted to Buddhism. Some sources add that Ānanda passed the Buddha's message on to him. When Ānanda was crossing the river, he was followed by King Ajātasattu (), who wanted to witness his death and was interested in his remains as relics. Ānanda had once promised Ajāsattu that he would let him know when he would die, and accordingly, Ānanda had informed him. On the other side of the river, however, a group of Licchavis from Vesālī awaited him for the same reason. In the Pāli, there were also two parties interested, but the two parties were the Sākiyan and the Koliyan clans instead. Ānanda realized that his death on either side of the river could anger one of the parties involved. Through a supernatural accomplishment, he therefore surged into the air to levitate and meditate in mid-air, making his body go up in fire, with his relics landing on both banks of the river, or in some versions of the account, splitting in four parts. In this way, Ānanda had pleased all the parties involved. In some other versions of the account, including the Mūlasarvāstivāda version, his death took place on a barge in the middle of the river, however, instead of in mid-air. The remains were divided in two, following the wishes of Ānanda. + +Majjhantika later successfully carried out the mission following the Buddha's prediction. The latter's pupil Upagupta was described to be the teacher of King Aśoka (3rd century BCE). Together with four or five other pupils of Ānanda, Sāṇavāsī and Majjhantika formed the majority of the Second Council, with Majjhantika being Ānanda's last pupil. Post-canonical Pāli sources add that Sāṇavāsī had a leading role in the Third Buddhist Council as well. Although little is historically certain, Cousins thought it likely at least one of the leading figures on the Second Council was a pupil of Ānanda, as nearly all the textual traditions mention a connection with Ānanda. + +Ajāsattu is said to have built a stūpa on top of the Ānanda's relics, at the river Rohīni, or according to some sources, the Ganges; the Licchavis had also built a stūpa at their side of the river. The Chinese pilgrim Xuan Zang (60264 CE) later visited stūpas on both sides of the river Rohīni. Faxian also reported having visited stūpas dedicated to Ānanda at the river Rohīni, but also in Mathurā. Moreover, according to the Mūlasarvāstivāda version of the Saṃyukta Āgama, King Aśoka visited and made the most lavish offerings he ever made to a stūpa: He explained to his ministers that he did this because "[t]he body of the Tathāgata is the body of dharma(s), pure in nature. He [Ānanda] was able to retain it/them all; for this reason the offerings [to him] surpass [all others]"body of dharma here referred to the Buddha's teachings as a whole. + +In Early Buddhist Texts, Ānanda had reached final Nirvana and would no longer be reborn. But, in contrast with the early texts, according to the Mahāyāna Lotus Sūtra, Ānanda would be born as a Buddha in the future. He would accomplish this slower than the present Buddha, Gotama Buddha, had accomplished this, because Ānanda aspired to becoming a Buddha by applying "great learning". Because of this long trajectory and great efforts, however, his enlightenment would be extraordinary and with great splendor. + +Legacy + +Ānanda is depicted as an eloquent speaker, who often taught about the self and about meditation. There are numerous Buddhist texts attributed to Ānanda, including the Atthakanāgara Sutta, about meditation methods to attain Nirvana; a version of the Bhaddekaratta Sutta (, ), about living in the present moment; the Sekha Sutta, about the higher training of a disciple of the Buddha; the Subha Suttanta, about the practices the Buddha inspired others to follow. In the Gopaka-Mogallānasutta, a conversation took place between Ānanda, the brahmin Gopaka-Mogallāna and the minister Vassakara, the latter being the highest official of the Magadha region. During this conversation, which occurred shortly after the Buddha's death, Vassakara asked whether it was decided yet who would succeed the Buddha. Ānanda replied that no such successor had been appointed, but that the Buddhist community took the Buddha's teaching and discipline as a refuge instead. Furthermore, the saṅgha did not have the Buddha as a master anymore, but they would honor those monks who were virtuous and trustworthy. Besides these suttas, a section of the Theragāthā is attributed to Ānanda. Even in the texts attributed to the Buddha himself, Ānanda is sometimes depicted giving a name to a particular text, or suggesting a simile to the Buddha to use in his teachings. + +In East Asian Buddhism, Ānanda is considered one of the ten principal disciples. In many Indian Sanskrit and East Asian texts, Ānanda is considered the second patriarch of the lineage which transmitted the teaching of the Buddha, with Mahākassapa being the first and Majjhantika or Saṇavāsī being the third. There is an account dating back from the Sarvāstivāda and Mūlasarvāstivāda textual traditions which states that before Mahākassapa died, he bestowed the Buddha's teaching on Ānanda as a formal passing on of authority, telling Ānanda to pass the teaching on to Ānanda's pupil Saṇavāsī. Later, just before Ānanda died, he did as Mahākassapa had told him to. Buddhist studies scholars Akira Hirakawa and Bibhuti Baruah have expressed skepticism about the teacherstudent relationship between Mahākassapa and Ānanda, arguing that there was discord between the two, as indicated in the early texts. Regardless, it is clear from the texts that a relationship of transmission of teachings is meant, as opposed to an upajjhāyastudent relationship in a lineage of ordination: no source indicates Mahākassapa was Ānanda's upajjhāya. In Mahāyāna iconography, Ānanda is often depicted flanking the Buddha at the right side, together with Mahākassapa at the left. In Theravāda iconography, however, Ānanda is usually not depicted in this manner, and the motif of transmission of the Dhamma through a list of patriarchs is not found in Pāli sources. + +Because Ānanda was instrumental in founding the bhikkhunī community, he has been honored by bhikkhunīs for this throughout Buddhist history. The earliest traces of this can be found in the writings of Faxian and Xuan Zang, who reported that bhikkhunīs made offerings to a stūpa in Ānanda's honor during celebrations and observance days. On a similar note, in 5th6th-century China and 10th-century Japan, Buddhist texts were composed recommending women to uphold the semi-monastic eight precepts in honor and gratitude of Ānanda. In Japan, this was done through the format of a penance ritual called keka (). By the 13th century, in Japan a cult-like interest for Ānanda had developed in a number of convents, in which images and stūpas were used and ceremonies were held in his honor. Presently, opinion among scholars is divided as to whether Ānanda's cult among bhikkhunīs was an expression of their dependence on male monastic tradition, or the opposite, an expression of their legitimacy and independence. + +Pāli Vinaya texts attribute the design of the Buddhist monk's robe to Ānanda. As Buddhism prospered, more laypeople started to donate expensive cloth for robes, which put the monks at risk for theft. To decrease its commercial value, monks therefore cut up the cloth offered, before they sew a robe from it. The Buddha asked Ānanda to think of a model for a Buddhist robe, made from small pieces of cloth. Ānanda designed a standard robe model, based on the rice fields of Magadha, which were divided in sections by banks of earth. Another tradition that is connected to Ānanda is paritta recitation. Theravāda Buddhists explain that the custom of sprinkling water during paritta chanting originates in Ānanda's visit to Vesālī, when he recited the Ratana Sutta and sprinkled water from his alms bowl. A third tradition sometimes attributed to Ānanda is the use of Bodhi trees in Buddhism. It is described in the text Kāliṅgabodhi Jātaka that Ānanda planted a Bodhi tree as a symbol of the Buddha's enlightenment, to give people the chance to pay their respects to the Buddha. This tree and shrine came to be known as the Ānanda Bodhi Tree, said to have grown from a seed from the original Bodhi Tree under which the Buddha is depicted to have attained enlightenment. Many of this type of Bodhi Tree shrines in Southeast Asia were erected following this example. Presently, the Ānanda Bodhi Tree is sometimes identified with a tree at the ruins of Jetavana, Sāvatthi, based on the records of Faxian. + +In art + +Between 1856 and 1858 Richard Wagner wrote a draft for an opera libretto based on the legend about Ānanda and the low-caste girl Prakṛti. He left only a fragmentary prose sketch of a work to be called Die Sieger, but the topic inspired his later opera Parsifal. Furthermore, the draft was used by composer Jonathan Harvey in his 2007 opera Wagner Dream. In Wagner's version of the legend, which he based on orientalist Eugène Burnouf's translations, the magical spell of Prakṛti's mother does not work on Ānanda, and Prakṛti turns to the Buddha to explain her desires for Ānanda. The Buddha replies that a union between Prakṛti and Ānanda is possible, but Prakṛti must agree to the Buddha's conditions. Prakṛti agrees, and it is revealed that the Buddha means something else than she does: he asks Prakṛti to ordain as a bhikkhunī, and live the celibate life as a kind of sister to Ānanda. At first, Prakṛti weeps in dismay, but after the Buddha explains that her current situation is a result of karma from her previous life, she understands and rejoices in the life of a bhikkhunī. Apart from the spiritual themes, Wagner also addresses the faults of the caste system by having the Buddha criticize it. + +Drawing from Schopenhauer's philosophy, Wagner contrasts desire-driven salvation and true spiritual salvation: by seeking deliverance through the person she loves, Prakṛti only affirms her will to live (), which is blocking her from attaining deliverance. By being ordained as a bhikkhunī she strives for her spiritual salvation instead. Thus, the early Buddhist account of Mahāpajāpati's ordination is replaced by that of Prakṛti. According to Wagner, by allowing Prakṛti to become ordained, the Buddha also completes his own aim in life: "[H]e regards his existence in the world, whose aim was to benefit all beings, as completed, since he had become able to offer deliverancewithout mediationalso to woman." + +The same legend of Ānanda and Prakṛti was made into a short prose play by the Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore, called Chandalika. Chandalika deals with the themes of spiritual conflict, caste and social equality, and contains a strong critique of Indian society. Just like in the traditional account, Prakṛti falls in love with Ānanda, after he gives her self-esteem by accepting a gift of water from her. Prakṛti's mother casts a spell to enchant Ānanda. In Tagore's play, however, Prakṛti later regrets what she has done and has the spell revoked. + +Notes + +Citations + +References + +External links + Talk about Ānanda given by Singaporean Buddhist teacher Sylvia Bay, in 2008 + Ānanda: Guardian of the Dhamma by Hellmuth Hecker, accounts from the Pāli Canon, archived from the original on 26 September 2018 + +Foremost disciples of Gautama Buddha +Family of Gautama Buddha +Arhats +Year of birth unknown +Buddhist councils +5th-century BC Buddhist monks +Buddhist patriarchs +Anaxagoras (; , Anaxagóras, "lord of the assembly";  500 –  428 BC) was a Pre-Socratic Greek philosopher. Born in Clazomenae at a time when Asia Minor was under the control of the Persian Empire, Anaxagoras came to Athens. According to Diogenes Laërtius and Plutarch, in later life he was charged with impiety and went into exile in Lampsacus; the charges may have been political, owing to his association with Pericles, if they were not fabricated by later ancient biographers. + +Responding to the claims of Parmenides on the impossibility of change, Anaxagoras introduced the concept of Nous (Cosmic Mind) as an ordering force. He also gave several novel scientific accounts of natural phenomena, including the notion of panspermia, that life exists throughout the universe and could be distributed everywhere. He deduced a correct explanation for eclipses and described the Sun as a fiery mass larger than the Peloponnese, as well as attempting to explain rainbows and meteors. + +Biography +Anaxagoras was born in the town of Clazomenae in the early 5th century BCE, where he may have been born into an aristocratic family. He arrived at Athens, either shortly after the Persian war (in which he may have fought on the Persian side), or at some point when he was a bit older, around 456 BCE. While at Athens, he became close with the Athenian statesman Pericles. According to Diogenes, Laërtius and Plutarch, in later life he was charged with impiety and went into exile in Lampsacus; the charges may have been political, owing to his association with Pericles, if they were not fabricated by later ancient biographers. According to Laërtius, Pericles spoke in defense of Anaxagoras at his trial, . Even so, Anaxagoras was forced to retire from Athens to Lampsacus in Troad (433). He died there around the year 428. Citizens of Lampsacus erected an altar to Mind and Truth in his memory and observed the anniversary of his death for many years. They placed over his grave the following inscription: Here Anaxagoras, who in his quest of truth scaled heaven itself, is laid to rest. + +Philosophy +Responding to the claims of Parmenides on the impossibility of change, Anaxagoras described the world as a mixture of primary imperishable ingredients, where material variation was never caused by an absolute presence of a particular ingredient, but rather by its relative preponderance over the other ingredients; in his words, "each one is... most manifestly those things of which there are the most in it". He introduced the concept of Nous (Cosmic Mind) as an ordering force, which moved and separated the original mixture, which was homogeneous or nearly so. + +Anaxagoras brought philosophy and the spirit of scientific inquiry from Ionia to Athens. According to Anaxagoras, all things have existed in some way from the beginning, but originally they existed in infinitesimally small fragments of themselves, endless in number and inextricably combined throughout the universe. All things existed in this mass but in a confused and indistinguishable form. There was an infinite number of homogeneous parts () as well as heterogeneous ones. + +The work of arrangement, the segregation of like from unlike, and the summation of the whole into totals of the same name, was the work of Mind or Reason (). Mind is no less unlimited than the chaotic mass, but it stood pure and independent, a thing of finer texture, alike in all its manifestations and everywhere the same. This subtle agent, possessed of all knowledge and power, is especially seen ruling all life forms. Its first appearance, and the only manifestation of it which Anaxagoras describes, is Motion. It gave distinctness and reality to the aggregates of like parts. + +Decrease and growth represent a new aggregation () and disruption (). However, the original intermixture of things is never wholly overcome. Each thing contains parts of other things or heterogeneous elements, and is what it is only on account of the preponderance of certain homogeneous parts which constitute its character. Out of this process arise the things we see in this world. + +Astronomy +Plutarch says "Anaxagoras is said to have predicted that if the heavenly bodies should be loosened by some slip or shake, one of them might be torn away, and might plunge and fall to earth." + +His observations of the celestial bodies and the fall of meteorites led him to form new theories of the universal order, and to the prediction of the impact of meteorites. According to Pliny, he was credited with predicting the fall of the meteorite in 467. He was the first to give a correct explanation of eclipses, and was both famous and notorious for his scientific theories, including the claims that the Sun is a mass of red-hot metal, that the Moon is earthy, and that the stars are fiery stones. He thought that the Earth was flat and floated supported by 'strong' air under it, and that disturbances in this air sometimes caused earthquakes. He introduced the notion of panspermia, that life exists throughout the universe and could be distributed everywhere. + +He attempted to give a scientific account of eclipses, meteors, rainbows, and the Sun, which he described as a mass of blazing metal, larger than the Peloponnese; he also said that the Moon had mountains, and he believed that it was inhabited. The heavenly bodies, he asserted, were masses of stone torn from the Earth and ignited by rapid rotation. His theories about eclipses, the Sun, and Moon may well have been based on observations of the eclipse of 463 BCE, which was visible in Greece. + +Mathematics +According to Plutarch in his work On exile, Anaxagoras is the first Greek to attempt the problem of squaring the circle, a problem he worked on while in prison. + +Legacy +Anaxagoras wrote a book of philosophy, but only fragments of the first part of this have survived, through preservation in the work of Simplicius of Cilicia in the 6th century AD. + +Anaxagoras' book was reportedly available for a drachma in the Athenian marketplace. It was certainly known to Sophocles, Euripides, and Aristophanes, based on the contents of their surviving plays, and possibly to Aeschylus as well, based on the testimony of Seneca. However, although Anaxagoras almost certainly lived in Athens during the lifetime of Socrates (born 470 BCE), there is no evidence that they ever met. In the Phaedo, Plato portrays Socrates saying of Anaxagoras as a young man: 'I eagerly acquired his books and read them as quickly as I could'. However, Socrates goes on to describe his later disillusionment with his philosophy. Anaxagoras is also mentioned by Socrates during his trial in Plato's Apology. + +He is also mentioned in Seneca's Natural Questions (Book 4B, originally Book 3: On Clouds, Hail, Snow). It reads: "Why should I too allow myself the same liberty as Anaxagoras allowed himself?" + +The Roman author Valerius Maximus preserves a different tradition; Anaxagoras, coming home from a long voyage, found his property in ruin, and said: "If this had not perished, I would have"—a sentence described by Valerius as being "possessed of sought-after wisdom". + +Dante Alighieri places Anaxagoras in the First Circle of Hell (Limbo) in his Divine Comedy (Inferno, Canto IV, line 137). + +Chapter 5 in Book II of De Docta Ignorantia (1440) by Nicholas of Cusa is dedicated to the truth of the sentence "Each thing is in each thing" which he attributes to Anaxagoras. + +Anaxagoras appears as a character in the second Act of Faust, Part II by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. + +See also + Anaxagoras (crater) on the Moon + +Notes + +Footnotes + +Citations + +References + +Ancient testimony + +In the Diels-Kranz numbering for testimony and fragments of Pre-Socratic philosophy, Anaxagoras is catalogued as number 59. + +The most recent edition of this catalogue is + +Biography +A1. +A3. +A5. +A12. +A13. +A15. +A16. +A17. +A18. + +Writings + +Doctrines + +Fragments + +B1. +B2. +B3. +B4. +B5. +B6. +B7. +B8. +B9. +B10. +B11. +B12. +B13. +B14. +B15. +B16. +B17. +B18. +B21. +B21a. +B21b. + +Translations of the fragments + + + + + + + + Sider, David (ed.), The Fragments of Anaxagoras, with introduction, text, and commentary, Sankt Augustin: Academia Verlag, 2005. + Kirk G. S.; Raven, J. E. and Schofield, M. (1983) The Presocratic Philosophers: a critical history with a selection of texts (2nd ed.) Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, ; originally authored by Kirk and Raven and published in 1957 + +Sources + + Burnet J. (1892). Early Greek Philosophy A. & C. Black, London, , and subsequent editions, 2003 edition published by Kessinger, Whitefish, Montana, + +Further reading + + Bakalis Nikolaos (2005). Handbook of Greek Philosophy: From Thales to the Stoics Analysis and Fragments, Trafford Publishing, Victoria, BC., + Barnes J. (1979). The Presocratic Philosophers, Routledge, London, , and editions of 1982, 1996 and 2006 + + Gershenson, Daniel E. and Greenberg, Daniel A. (1964) Anaxagoras and the birth of physics, Blaisdell Publishing Co., New York, + Graham, Daniel W. (1999). "Empedocles and Anaxagoras: Responses to Parmenides" Chapter 8 of Long, A. A. (1999) The Cambridge Companion to Early Greek Philosophy Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 159–180, + + + + + + + + Taylor, C. C. W. (ed.) (1997). Routledge History of Philosophy: From the Beginning to Plato, Vol. I, pp. 192–225, + Teodorsson, Sven-Tage (1982). Anaxagoras' Theory of Matter. Acta Universitatis Gothoburgensis, Göteborg, Sweden, + Torrijos-Castrillejo, David (2014) Anaxágoras y su recepción en Aristóteles. Romae: EDUSC, + + + Zeller, A. (1881). A History of Greek Philosophy: From the Earliest Period to the Time of Socrates, Vol. II, translated by S. F. Alleyne, pp. 321–394 + +External links + + Anaxagoras entry by Michael Patzia in the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy + + Translation and Commentary from John Burnet's Early Greek Philosophy. + + + +500s BC births +420s BC deaths +5th-century BC Greek philosophers +Ancient Greek mathematicians +Ancient Greek physicists +Ancient Greeks from the Achaemenid Empire +Ancient Greek philosophers of mind +Ancient Greek metaphysicians +Metic philosophers in Classical Athens +Military personnel of the Achaemenid Empire +Natural philosophers +People from Clazomenae +Philosophers of ancient Ionia +Pluralist philosophers +5th-century BC mathematicians +Anaxarchus (; ; c. 380 – c. 320 BC) was a Greek philosopher of the school of Democritus. Together with Pyrrho, he accompanied Alexander the Great into Asia. The reports of his philosophical views suggest that he was a forerunner of the Greek skeptics. + +Life +Anaxarchus was born at Abdera in Thrace. He was the companion and friend of Alexander the Great in his Asiatic campaigns. His relationship with Alexander, however, was ambiguous, owing to contradictory sources. Some paint Anarxchus as a flatterer, among them Plutarch, who tells a story that at Bactra, in 327 BC in a debate with Callisthenes, Anaxarchus advised all to worship Alexander as a god even during his lifetime. In contrast, others paint Anaxarchus as scathingly ironic towards the monarch. According to Diogenes Laertius, in response to Alexander's claim to have been the son of Zeus-Ammon, Anaxarchus pointed to his bleeding wound and remarked, "See the blood of a mortal, not ichor, such as flows from the veins of the immortal gods." + +When Alexander was trying to show that he is divine so that the Greeks and Macedonians would perform proskynesis to him, Anaxarchus said that Alexander could "more justly be considered a god than Dionysus or Heracles" (Arrian, 104) + +Diogenes Laertius says that Anaxarchus earned the enmity of Nicocreon, the tyrant of Cyprus, with an inappropriate joke against tyrants in a banquet in Tyre in 331 BC. Later, when Anaxarchus was forced to land in Cyprus against his will, Nicocreon ordered him to be pounded to death in a mortar. The philosopher endured this torture with fortitude, taunting the king with, "just pound the bag of Anaxarchus, you do not pound Anaxarchus". When Nicocreon threatened to cut out his tongue, Anaxarchus himself cut it out and spat it in his face. + +Philosophy +Very little is known about his philosophical views. It is thought that he represents a link between the atomism of Democritus, and the skepticism of his own apprentice Pyrrho. He also shares ethical traits with the Cynic and Cyrenaic schools. + +Anaxarchus is said to have studied under Diogenes of Smyrna, who in turn studied under Metrodorus of Chios, who used to declare that he knew nothing, not even the fact that he knew nothing. According to Sextus Empiricus, Anaxarchus "compared existing things to a scene-painting and supposed them to resemble the impressions experienced in sleep or madness." It was under the influence of Anaxarchus that Pyrrho is said to have adopted "a most noble philosophy, . . . taking the form of agnosticism and suspension of judgement." Anaxarchus is said to have praised Pyrrho's "indifference and sang-froid." He is said to have possessed "fortitude and contentment in life," which earned him the epithet eudaimonikos ("fortunate"). + +His skepticism seems to have been pragmatical, postulating that against the uncertainty of existence, the only viable stance is to pursue happiness or eudaimonia, for which it is necessary to cultivate indifference or adiaphora. According to him, the effort to differentiate truth from falseness through the senses is both useless and detrimental to happiness. + +He wrote a work named About the Monarchs. In it, he spouses that knowledge is useless without the ability to know when to speak and what to say in every occasion. + +Plutarch reports that he told Alexander the Great that there was an infinite number of worlds, causing the latter to become dejected because he had not yet conquered even one. + +References + +External links + +4th-century BC Greek philosophers +Abderites +Ancient Greek atomist philosophers +Ancient Thracian Greeks +Hellenistic-era philosophers +Philosophers and tutors of Alexander the Great +Ancient Skeptic philosophers +Ancyra is a small genus of planthoppers of the family Eurybrachidae and the only genus in the tribe Ancyrini. Species in this genus occur in southeast Asia. + +Description +Members of the genus are well known for having a pair of prolonged filaments at the tips of the forewings that arise near a pair of small glossy spots; this creates the impression of a pair of antennae, with corresponding "eyes" (a remarkable case of automimicry). The "false head" effect is further reinforced by the bugs' habit of walking backwards when it detects movement nearby, so as to misdirect predators to strike at its rear, rather than at its actual head. + +Taxonomy +The genus Ancyra was first named in 1845 by Scottish zoologist Adam White. It is the only genus of the tribe Ancyrini (subfamily Platybrachinae, family Eurybrachidae). The type species is Ancyra appendiculata, the species name meaning bearing appendages. + +Species +, lists the following seven species in the genus Ancyra: + +Ancyra annamensis – Vietnam +Ancyra appendiculata – Myanmar +Ancyra histrionica – Cambodia, Myanmar +Ancyra luangana +Ancyra nigrifrons – Malaysia +Ancyra vicina – Vietnam +Ancyra xiengana + +References + +Fauna of Southeast Asia +Eurybrachidae +Auchenorrhyncha genera +Anastasius I or Anastasios I may refer to: +Anastasius I Dicorus ( – 518), Roman emperor +Anastasius I of Antioch (d. 599), Patriarch of Antioch +Pope Anastasius I (died 401), pope of Rome +Anastasius II or Anastasios II may refer to: + +Pope Anastasius II (died 498), pope +Anastasius II of Antioch (550–609), patriarch of Antioch +Anastasius II of Jerusalem, patriarch of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem in 705–706 +Anastasios II (died 719), Byzantine emperor +Anaximenes of Lampsacus (; ; 320 BC) was a Greek rhetorician and historian. He was one of the teachers of Alexander the Great and accompanied him on his campaigns. + +Family +His father was named Aristocles (). His nephew (son of his sister), was also named Anaximenes and was a historian. + +Rhetorical works +Anaximenes was a pupil of Diogenes the Cynic and Zoilus and, like his teacher, wrote a work on Homer. As a rhetorician, he was a determined opponent of Isocrates and his school. He is generally regarded as the author of the Rhetoric to Alexander, an Art of Rhetoric included in the traditional corpus of Aristotle's works. Quintilian seems to refer to this work under Anaximenes' name in Institutio Oratoria 3.4.9, as the Italian Renaissance philologist Piero Vettori first recognized. This attribution has, however, been disputed by some scholars. + +The hypothesis to Isocrates' Helen mentions that Anaximenes, too, had written a Helen, "though it is more a defense speech (apologia) than an encomium," and concludes that he was "the man who has written about Helen" to whom Isocrates refers (Isoc. Helen 14). Jebb entertained the possibility that this work survives in the form of the Encomium of Helen ascribed to Gorgias: "It appears not improbable that Anaximenes may have been the real author of the work ascribed to Gorgias." + +According to Pausanias (6.18.6), Anaximenes was "the first who practised the art of speaking extemporaneously." He also worked as a logographer, having written the speech prosecuting Phryne according to Diodorus Periegetes (quoted by Athenaeus XIII.591e). The "ethical" fragments preserved in Stobaeus' Florilegium may represent "some philosophical book." + +According to Suda, no one before Anaximenes had invented improvised speeches. + +Historical works +Anaximenes wrote a history of Greece in twelve books, stretching from the gods' origins to the death of Epaminondas at the Battle of Mantinea (Hellenica, ), and a history of Philip of Macedon (Philippica). He was a favorite of Alexander the Great, whom he accompanied in his Persian campaigns, and wrote a third historical work on Alexander (however, Pausanias 6.18.6 expresses doubt about his authorship of an epic poem on Alexander). He was one of the eight exemplary historiographers included in the Alexandrian canon. + +Didymus reports that the work transmitted as speech 11 of Demosthenes (Against the Letter of Philip) could be found in almost identical form in Book 7 of Anaximenes' Philippica, and many scholars regard the work as a historiographic composition by Anaximenes. The Letter of Philip (speech 12) to which speech 11 seems to respond may also be by Anaximenes, or it may be an authentic letter by Philip, perhaps written with the aid of his advisers. The more ambitious theory of Wilhelm Nitsche, which assigned to Anaximenes a larger part of the Demosthenic corpus (speeches 10-13 and 25, letters 1–4, proems), can be rejected. + +Anaximenes was hostile to Theopompus, whom he sought to discredit with a libelous parody, Trikaranos, published in Theopompus' style and under his name, attacking Athens, Sparta, and Thebes. +Pausanias wrote: "He imitated the style of Theopompus with perfect accuracy, inscribed his name upon the book and sent it round to the cities. Though Anaximenes was the author of the treatise, hatred of Theopompus grew throughout the length of Greece." + +Plutarch criticizes Anaximenes, together with Theopompus and Ephorus, for the "rhetorical effects and grand periods" these historians implausibly gave to men in the midst of urgent battlefield circumstances (Praecepta gerendae reipublicae 803b). + +Saving Lampsacus + +The people of Lampsacus were pro-Persian, or were suspected of doing so and Alexander was furiously angry, and threatened to do them massive harm. They sent Anaximenes to intercede for them. Alexander knew why he had come, and swore by the gods that he would do the opposite of what he would ask, so Anaximenes said, 'Please do this for me, your majesty: enslave the women and children of Lampsacus, burn their temples, and raze the city to the ground.' Alexander had no way round this clever trick, and since he was bound by his oath he reluctantly pardoned the people of Lampsacus. + +Statue at Olympia +The people of Lampsacus dedicated a statue of him at Olympia, Greece. + +Editions and translations + Art of Rhetoric + edited by Immanuel Bekker, Oxford 1837 (online) + Anaximenis ars rhetorica, L. Spengel (ed.), Leipzig, Vergsbureau, 1847. + Rhetores Graeci, L. Spengel (ed.), Lipsiae, sumptibus et typis B. G. Teubneri, 1853, vol. 1 pp. 169-242. + edited by Manfred Fuhrmann, Bibliotheca Teubneriana, Leipzig, 1966, 2nd ed. 2000, + edited by Pierre Chiron, Collection Budé, with French translation, Paris, 2002, + anonymous translation, London, 1686 (online) + translated by E.S. Forster, Oxford, 1924 (online, beginning on p. 231) +Fragments + Karl Müller, appendix to 1846 Didot edition of Arrian, Anabasis et Indica (online) + Felix Jacoby, Die Fragmente der griechischen Historiker, no. 72, with commentary in German + Ludwig Radermacher, Artium Scriptores, Vienna, 1951, pp. 200–202 (rhetorical fragments only, adding Philodemus' Rhetorica, which accounts for three of the nine fragments printed) + +Notes + +References + +Ancient Greek rhetoricians +People from Lampsacus +380 BC births +320 BC deaths +Year of birth uncertain +Year of death uncertain +4th-century BC historians +4th-century BC writers +4th-century BC poets +Historians who accompanied Alexander the Great +Historians from Hellenistic Anatolia +Philosophers and tutors of Alexander the Great +Anastasius (Latinized) or Anastasios () is a masculine given name of Greek origin derived from the Greek word (anastasis) meaning "resurrection". Its female form is Anastasia (). A diminutive form of Anastasios is Tassos (). + +People + +Byzantine emperors + Anastasius I Dicorus, reign 491–518 + Anastasios II (died 719), reign 713–715 + +Popes of Rome + Pope Anastasius I, papacy 399–401 + Pope Anastasius II, papacy 496–498 + Pope Anastasius III, papacy 911–913 + Pope Anastasius IV, papacy 1153–1154 + +Other Christian saints and clergy + Saint Anastasius, martyr under Nero + Saint Anastasius the Fuller (died 304), martyr and patron saint of fullers and weavers + ( 263–11 May 305) + Pope Anastasius of Alexandria, Coptic Orthodox Pope of Alexandria 605–616 + Anastasius of Antioch (disambiguation), multiple people + Anastasius (Graeco-Roman jurist) (fl. 6th century) + Saint Anastasius of Persia (died 628), Persian martyr + Saint Anastasius of Pavia (died 680), bishop of Pavia + Anastasius of Armenia, successor of Nerses III the Builder as Catholicos of Armenia from 661 to 667 + Saint Anastasius Sinaita (fl. 7th century), theologian, Father of the Eastern Orthodox Church, monk, priest, and abbot of the monastery at Mt. Sinai + Anastasius (abbot of Euthymius) (fl. 8th century) + Anastasius Bibliothecarius ( 810–878), librarian of the Church of Rome, scholar and statesman, sometimes identified as an Antipope + Astrik or Saint Anastasius of Pannonhalma, ambassador of Stephen I of Hungary + + Anastasius of Suppentonia (died 570), abbot + Patriarch Anastasius of Constantinople, Patriarch of Constantinople 730–754 +Anastasius, Cardinal-priest of the title of San Clemente, c. 1102–1125 + Anastasius Germonius (1551–1627), Archbishop of Tarantaise and canon lawyer + Anastasius the Melodist (Hymnographer), believed to be a name of three or more melodists, one of whom is believed to have been a contemporary of Rhomanos + Anastasios (born 1929), Greek Orthodox Archbishop of Tirana, Durrës and All Albania + +Politicians and military + Anastasios Balkos (1916–1995), Greek politician + Anastasios Charalambis (1862–1949), Greek officer and interim Prime Minister of Greece + Anastasios Dalipis (1896–1949), Greek Army officer and politician + Anastasios Karatasos (1764–1830), Greek military commander during the Greek War of Independence + Anastasios Londos (1791–1856), Greek politician and senator + Anastasios Nerantzis (1944–2021), Greek politician + Anastasios Papaligouras (born 1948), Greek politician + Anastasios Papoulas (1857–1935), Greek general + Anastasios Peponis (1924–2011), Greek politician + Anastasios Polyzoidis (1802–1873), Greek politician and judicial official + Anastasios Tsamados (1774–1825), Greek admiral of the Greek War of Independence + +Sports + Anastasios Bountouris (born 1955), Greek Olympic medalist in sailing + Anastasios Dimitriadis (born 1997), Greek footballer + Anastasios Lagos (born 1992) Greek footballer + Anastasios Metaxas (1862–1937), Greek architect + Anastasios Orlandos (1887–1979), Greek archeologist and architect + Anastasios Rousakis (born 1985), Greek footballer + Anastasios Schizas (born 1977), Greek water polo player + Anastasios Triantafyllou (born 1987), Greek weightlifter + +Pseudonym + Anton Alexander Graf von Auersperg (1806–1876), Austrian poet who wrote under the pseudonym of Anastasius Grün + +Other + Anastasius, a 19th-century novel by Thomas Hope + +See also + Anastasia + Anastasio +Anastacio (name) + +Given names of Greek language origin +Greek masculine given names +Masculine given names +Anaximenes of Miletus (; ; ) was an Ancient Greek, Pre-Socratic philosopher from Miletus in Anatolia (modern-day Turkey). He was the last of the three philosophers of the Milesian School, after Thales and Anaximander. These three are regarded by historians as the first philosophers of the Western world. Anaximenes is known for his belief that air is the arche, or the basic element of the universe from which all things are created. Little is known of Anaximenes' life and work, as all of his original texts are lost. Historians and philosophers have reconstructed information about Anaximenes by interpreting texts about him by later writers. All three Milesian philosophers were monists who believed in a single foundational source of everything: Anaximenes believed it to be air, while Thales and Anaximander believed it to be water and an undefined infinity, respectively. It is generally accepted that Anaximenes was instructed by Anaximander, and many of their philosophical ideas are similar. While Anaximenes was the preeminent Milesian philosopher in Ancient Greece, he is often given lower importance than the others in the modern day. + +Anaximenes held that air could change into other forms through either rarefaction or condensation. Condensation would make the air denser, turning it into wind, clouds, water, earth, and finally stone. Rarefaction would make the air less dense as it eventually becomes fire. Anaximenes also developed a model of the Earth, describing it as a flat disc floating atop the air while the Sun and stars are also flat and float alongside it. He described the Sun as revolving around the Earth, causing it to be obscured by higher lands during the night. As one of the Milesian philosophers, Anaximenes was one of the earliest figures to develop science. He influenced many of the Pre-Socratic philosophers that succeeded him, such as Heraclitus, Anaxagoras, Diogenes of Apollonia, and Xenophanes. He also provided early examples of concepts such as natural science, physical change, and scientific writing. + +Biography +Anaximenes was born . Surviving information about the life of Anaximenes is limited, and it comes primarily from what was preserved by Ancient Greek philosophers, particularly Aristotle and Theophrastus. According to Theophrastus, Anaximenes was the son of Eurystratus, an associate of the philosopher Anaximander, and lived in Miletus. Anaximenes is recorded as becoming a student of Anaximander. Anaximenes was likely also taught Homeric epics, Greek mythology, and Orphism, which may have influenced his philosophy through their portrayal of the classical elements. It is considered likely that he and the other Milesian philosophers were wealthy, allowing them to dedicate time to philosophy. + +Anaximenes' apparent instructor, Anaximander, was a Milesian philosopher who proposed that apeiron, an undefined and boundless infinity, is the origin of all things. Anaximenes and Anaximander were two of the three Milesian philosophers, along with Thales. These were all philosophers from Miletus who were the first of the Ionian School. As the earliest known figures to have developed theories regarding the material origin of the world without a divine explanation, they are regarded as the first philosophers in the Western world. According to Diogenes Laertius, Anaximenes lived approximately from 585 to 524 BC. Anaximenes is only known to have written one full text, which may have been a response to Anaximander's text On Nature. It was described by Theophrastus as having a "simple and economical Ionic style". Anaximenes died . + +Philosophy + +Air as the arche +What is known about Anaximenes' philosophy is what was preserved by later philosophers, particularly Aristotle and Theophrastus. According to their writings, each philosopher of the Milesian School was a material monist who sought to discover the arche (), or the one, underlying basis of all things. This is generally understood in the context of a substance, though scholars have argued that this may be anachronistic by imposing the Aristotelian notion of substance theory on earlier philosophy. Anaximenes argued that the arche is air. He described several basic elements that he considered to be manifestations of air, sorting them from least dense to most dense: fire, air, wind, clouds, water, earth, and stones. Philosophers have concluded that Anaximenes seems to have based his conclusions on naturally observable phenomena in the water cycle: the processes of rarefaction and condensation. He proposed that each substance is created by condensation to increase the density of air or by rarefaction to decrease it. The rarefaction process described by Anaximenes is often compared to felting. + +Temperature was of particular importance to Anaximenes' philosophy, and he developed an early concept of the connection between temperature and density. He believed that expanded air was thinner and therefore hotter while compressed air was thicker and therefore colder—although modern science has found the opposite to be true. He derived this belief from the fact that one's breath is warm when the mouth is wide while it is cold when the air is compressed through the lips. + +Anaximenes further applied his concept of air as the arche to other questions. He believed in the physis, or natural world, rather than the theo, or divine world. Anaximenes considered air to be divine in a sense, but he did not associate it with deities or personification. He presented air as the first cause that propelled living systems, giving no indication that air itself was caused by anything. Anaximenes also likened the soul to air, describing it as something that is driven by breath and wills humans to act as they do. These beliefs draw a connection between the soul and the physical world, as they suggest that they are made of the same material, air. From this, Anaximenes suggested that everything, whether it be an individual soul or the entire world, operates under the same principles in which things are held together and guided by the air. In Ancient Greek, the words for wind and for soul shared a common origin. + +Anaximenes' philosophy was centered on a theory of change through ongoing cycles, defined by the movement of air. These cycles consisted of opposite forces interacting with and superseding one another. This is most prominently indicated in the weather and the seasons, which alternate between hot and cold, dry and wet, or light and dark. Anaximenes did not believe that any substance could be created or destroyed, only that it could be changed from one form to another. From this belief, he proposed a model in which the qualitative traits of a substance are determined by quantitative factors. + +Cosmology and weather + +Anaximenes believed that the universe was initially made entirely of air and that liquids and solids were then produced from it through condensation. He also used air to explain the nature of the Earth and the surrounding celestial bodies. He believed in a flat Earth that emerged as one of the first things to be condensed from air. This Earth is supported by the pressure of air underneath it to keep it afloat. + +Anaximenes considered celestial objects to be those which had separated from the Earth. The philosophers who recorded Anaximenes' ideas disagree as to how he theorized this happened. He may have described them as evaporating or rarifying into fire. He is said to have compared the movement of the Earth, Sun, and stars to leaves floating in the wind, though he is also described as likening the stars to nails embedded in the sky. Some scholars have suggested that Anaximenes may have believed both models by distinguishing between planets and stars, which would make him the first person to do so. While the Sun is described as being a flame, Anaximenes thought it was not composed of rarefied air like the stars, but rather of Earth. According to Pseudo-Plutarch, Anaximenes thought that its burning comes not from its composition, but rather from its rapid motion. + +Anaximenes rejected the commonplace idea that the Sun went underneath the Earth, instead saying that it rotated around the Earth. Hippolytus likened it to a hat spinning around a person's head. It's unknown whether this analogy was of Hippolytus's own creation or if it was part of Anaximenes' explanation. This model of the sun's movement has been interpreted in various ways by subsequent philosophers. + +Anaximenes also described the causes of other natural phenomena. Like Anaximander, he believed that thunder and lightning occurred when wind emerged after being trapped in a cloud. Earthquakes, he asserted, were the result of alternating drying and wetting of the earth, causing it to undergo a cycle of splitting and swelling. He was the first philosopher to attempt a scientific explanation of rainbows, and the only one to do so until Aristotle. He described them as a reflection of sunlight off of clouds, and he theorized that the various colors were caused by an interaction of light and darkness. + +Milesian context + +Anaximenes' views have been interpreted as reconciling those of his two predecessors, Thales and Anaximander. Air as the arche is a limitless concept, which resembled Anaximander's theory that the arche was the abstract infinite that he called apeiron (, lit. 'unlimited, 'boundless'). At the same time, air as the arche was a defined substance, which resembled the theory of Thales that the arche was water. Anaximenes adopted a similar design of a flat Earth as Thales. Both proposed that the Earth was flat and that it rested on the substance they believed made up all things; Thales described a disc on water, while Anaximenes described a disc on air. His cosmology also did not diverge significantly from the ideas of Anaximander, only changing it so that it reflected his variety of monism. + +Anaximenes's philosophy was founded upon that of Anaximander, but tradition holds that he was also critical of his instructor in some areas. Anaximenes also maintained that there must be an empirical explanation for why substances change from one form to another. + +Anaximenes and Anaximander were similar in that they are not known to have justified why or how changes in physical things take place the way that they do. Anaximander instead invoked metaphors of justice and retribution to describe change, and he made direct appeals to deities and the divine in support of his beliefs. Anaximenes deviated from Anaximander in both of these ideas. + +Legacy and study + +Influence on science and philosophy + +Anaximenes was the last of the Milesian philosophers, as Miletus was destroyed by attacking Persian forces in 494 BC. Little of his life is known relative to the other Milesian philosophers, Thales and Anaximander. These three philosophers together began what eventually became science in the Western world. In ancient Greece, the ideas of Anaximenes were well regarded in philosophy, popularized by various philosophers such as Diogenes of Apollonia, and had a greater presence than the ideas of his predecessors. The other Milesian philosophers have since overshadowed him in the study of philosophy. Anaximenes was the first philosopher to give an explanation for substances changing from one state to another through a physical process. He may also have been the first philosopher to write in descriptive prose rather than verse, developing a prototype of scientific writing. Only fragments of Anaximenes' writings have been preserved directly, and it is unknown how much these fragments have diverged from the original texts as they were recorded by subsequent authors. Further details of Anaximenes' life and philosophical views are obscure, as none of his work has been preserved, and he is only known through fragments and interpretations of him made by later writers and polemicists. The Anaximenes crater on the Moon is named in his honor. + +Early medical practice developed ideas similar to Anaximenes, proposing that air was the basis of health in that it both provides life and carries disease. Anaximenes' conception of air has been likened to the atoms and subatomic particles that make up all substances through their quantitative organization. It has also been compared to the breath of life produced by God in the Old Testament. His understanding of physical properties as quantitative differences that applied at individual and universal scales became foundational ideas in the development of natural science. He was the first philosopher to analogize his philosophy in practical terms, comparing the functions of the world to behaviors that can be observed in common activities. In this manner, he was also the first to liken the function of the individual to that of the world. In this case, likening the breath that defines humans to the air that defines the world. His belief that the same properties governed the world at a human scale and a universal scale was eventually proven by Isaac Newton. + +Subsequent interpretation +Some of Anaximenes' writings are referenced during the Hellenistic period, but no record of those documents currently exists. Philosophers such as Heraclitus, Anaxagoras, and Diogenes of Apollonia were all directly influenced by the work of Anaximenes. Diogenes of Apollonia adapted Anaximenes' ideas to the philosophy of Stoicism. The ideas ridiculed in the Aristophanes play The Clouds originated from the ideas of Anaximander and Anaximenes. Philosophers such as Xenophanes later adopted Anaximenes' model of cosmology. Xenophanes' theory that the arche is earth and water has also been interpreted as a response to Anaximenes. + +Plato referenced the concept of air as the cause of thought in the Phaedo, rejecting it with the argument that one's physical state does not determine their fate. In the Timaeus, Plato favorably mentions Anaximenes' theory of matter and its seven states from stone to fire. Aristotle was critical of the ideas of Anaximenes. In his Metaphysics, Aristotle characterized Anaximenes and his predecessors as monists, those who believe that all things are composed of a single substance. This description came to be widely accepted in philosophy. Practitioners of Aristotelian philosophy further considered Anaximenes to be a founder of naturalism. After Aristotle, Theophrastus continued the doxography of the Milesian philosophers and other Ionians. He described Anaximenes as a natural philosopher. Other ancient philosophers who analyzed the work of Anaximenes include Simplicius, Aetius, Hippolytus, and Plutarch. + +Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel said that Anaximenes was the first philosopher to transfer the ideas of natural philosophy into the philosophy of consciousness. Werner Heisenberg said that the philosophy of Anaximenes caused a setback in scientific understanding, as it moved analysis away from physical properties themselves. Karl Popper suggested that Anaximenes and Anaximander developed a philosophy of rationalist critique, allowing criticism of one's teacher, that was not revived until the Renaissance. + +References + +Citations + +Sources + +Further reading + +External links + + Anaximenes at the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy + Anaximenes of Miletus Life and Work – Fragments and Testimonies by Giannis Stamatellos + +6th-century BC Greek philosophers +Ancient Milesians +Philosophers of ancient Ionia +Presocratic philosophers +Ancus Marcius () was the legendary fourth king of Rome, who traditionally reigned 24 years. Upon the death of the previous king, Tullus Hostilius, the Roman Senate appointed an interrex, who in turn called a session of the assembly of the people who elected the new king. Ancus is said to have ruled by waging war as Romulus did, while also promoting peace and religion as Numa Pompilius did. + +Ancus Marcius was believed by many Romans to have been the namesake of the Marcii, a plebeian family. + +Background +Ancus was the son of Marcius (himself the son of Rome's first pontifex maximus Numa Marcius) and Pompilia (daughter of Numa Pompilius). Ancus Marcius was thus the grandson of Numa and therefore a Sabine. According to Festus, Marcius was surnamed Ancus because of his crooked arm (ancus signifying "bent" in Latin). + +First acts as King +According to Livy, Ancus's first act as king was to order the Pontifex Maximus to copy the text concerning the performance of public ceremonies of religion from the commentaries of Numa Pompilius to be displayed to the public on wooden tablets, so that the rites of religion should no longer be neglected or improperly performed. When Tullus was king, he repealed the Numa-created religious edicts that had been in place before. + +War + +According to Livy, the accession of Ancus emboldened the Latin League, who assumed that the new king would follow the pious pursuit of peace adopted by his grandfather, Numa Pompilius. The Latins accordingly made an incursion on Roman lands, and gave a contemptuous reply to a Roman embassy seeking restitution for the damage. Ancus responded by declaring war on the Latins. Livy says that this event was notable as the first time that the Romans declared war by means of the rites of the fetials. + +Ancus Marcius marched from Rome with a newly levied army and took the Latin town of Politorium (situated near the town of Lanuvium) by storm. Its residents were removed to settle on the Aventine Hill in Rome as new citizens, following the Roman traditions from wars with the Sabines and Albans. When the other Latins subsequently occupied the empty town of Politorium, Ancus took the town again and demolished it. The Latin villages of Tellenae and Ficana were also sacked and demolished. + +The war then focused on the Latin town of Medullia. The town had a strong garrison and was well fortified. Several engagements took place outside the town and the Romans were eventually victorious. Ancus returned to Rome with a large amount of loot. More Latins were brought to Rome as citizens and were settled at the foot of the Aventine near the Palatine Hill, by the temple of Murcia. +Ancus Marcius incorporated the Janiculum into the city, fortifying it with a wall and connecting it with the city by a wooden bridge across the Tiber, the Pons Sublicius. To protect the bridge from enemy attacks, Ancus had the end that was facing the Janiculum fortified. Ancus also took over Fidenea to expand Rome's influence across the Tiber. +On the land side of the city he constructed the Fossa Quiritium, a ditch fortification. He also built Rome's first prison, the Mamertine prison. + +He then extended the Roman territory, founding the port of Ostia, establishing salt-works around the port, and taking the Silva Maesia, an area of coastal forest north of the Tiber, from the Veientes. +He expanded the temple of Jupiter Feretrius to reflect these territorial successes. +According to a reconstruction of the Fasti Triumphales, Ancus Marcius celebrated at least one triumph, over the Sabines and Veientes. + +Death and successor +Ancus Marcius is reported to have died of natural causes after a rule of 24 years. He had two sons, one of which would likely take the throne. A member of Ancus' court, Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, ensured that Ancus' sons would be out of Rome so he could put together an election where he would gain the support of the Roman people. + +Ancus Marcius was succeeded by his friend Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, who was ultimately assassinated by the sons of Ancus Marcius. Later, during the Republic and the Empire, the prominent gens Marcia claimed descent from Ancus Marcius. + +References + +670s BC births +617 BC deaths +7th-century BC Romans +7th-century BC monarchs +Characters in Book VI of the Aeneid +Kings of Rome +Ancus +Year of birth unknown +The Andaman Islands () are an archipelago in the northeastern Indian Ocean about southwest off the coasts of Myanmar's Ayeyarwady Region. Together with the Nicobar Islands to their south, the Andamans serve as a maritime boundary between the Bay of Bengal to the west and the Andaman Sea to the east. Most of the islands are part of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a Union Territory of India, while the Coco Islands and Preparis Island are part of the Yangon Region of Myanmar. + +The Andaman Islands are home to the Andamanese, a group of indigenous people that includes a number of tribes, including the Jarawa and Sentinelese. While some of the islands can be visited with permits, entry to others, including North Sentinel Island, is banned by law. The Sentinelese are generally hostile to visitors and have had little contact with any other people. The government protects their right to privacy. + +History + +Etymology +In the 13th century, the name of Andaman appears in Late Middle Chinese as ʔˠanH dɑ mˠan (晏陀蠻, pronounced yàntuómán in modern Mandarin Chinese) in the book Zhu Fan Zhi by Zhao Rugua. In Chapter 38 of the book, Countries in the Sea, Zhao Rugua specifies that going from Lambri (Sumatra) to Ceylan, an unfavourable wind makes ships drift towards Andaman Islands. +In the 15th century, Andaman was recorded as "Andeman Mountain" (安得蠻山, pronounced āndémán shān in modern Mandarin Chinese) during the voyages of Zheng He in the Mao Kun map of the Wu Bei Zhi. + +Early inhabitants +The earliest archaeological evidence yet documented goes back some 2,200 years; however, indications from genetic, cultural and isolation studies suggest that the islands may have been inhabited as early as the Middle Paleolithic (around 60,000 years ago). The indigenous Andamanese peoples appear to have lived on the islands in substantial isolation from that time until the late 18th century. + +Chola empire +Rajendra Chola II took over the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. He used the Andaman and Nicobar Islands as a strategic naval base to launch an expedition against the Sriwijaya Empire. The Cholas called the island Ma-Nakkavaram ("great open/naked land"), found in the Thanjavur inscription of 1050 CE. European traveller Marco Polo (12th–13th century) also referred to this island as 'Necuverann' and a corrupted form of the Tamil name Nakkavaram would have led to the modern name Nicobar during the British colonial period.{{Cite journal|author=Government of India|year=1908|title=The Andaman and Nicobar Islands: Local Gazetteer|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rrwBAAAAYAAJ|publisher=Superintendent of Government Printing, Calcutta|quote=... In the great Tanjore inscription of 1050 CE, the Andamans are mentioned under a translated name along with the Nicobars, as Nakkavaram or land of the naked people.}} + +British colonial era +In 1789, the Bengal Presidency established a naval base and penal colony on Chatham Island in the southeast bay of Great Andaman. The settlement is now known as Port Blair (after the Bombay Marine lieutenant Archibald Blair who founded it). After two years, the colony was moved to the northeast part of Great Andaman and was named Port Cornwallis after Admiral William Cornwallis. However, there was much disease and death in the penal colony and the government ceased operating it in May 1796. + +In 1824, Port Cornwallis was the rendezvous of the fleet carrying the army to the First Burmese War. In the 1830s and 1840s, shipwrecked crews who landed on the Andamans were often attacked and killed by the natives and the islands had a reputation for cannibalism. The loss of the Runnymede and the Briton in 1844 during the same storm, while transporting goods and passengers between India and Australia, and the continuous attacks launched by the natives, which the survivors fought off, alarmed the British government. In 1855, the government proposed another settlement on the islands, including a convict establishment, but the Indian Rebellion of 1857 forced a delay in its construction. However, because the rebellion led to the British holding a large number of prisoners, it made the new Andaman settlement and prison urgently necessary. Construction began in November 1857 at Port Blair using inmates' labour, avoiding the vicinity of a salt swamp that seemed to have been the source of many of the earlier problems at Port Cornwallis. + +The Battle of Aberdeen was fought on 17 May 1859 between the Great Andamanese tribe and the British. Today, a memorial stands in Andaman water sports complex as a tribute to the people who died in the battle. Fearful of British intentions and with help from an escaped convict from Cellular Jail, the Great Andamanese attacked the British settlement, but they were outnumbered and soon suffered heavy casualties. Later, it was identified that an escaped convict named Dudhnath Tewari had changed sides and informed the British about the tribe's plans. + +In 1867, the merchantman Nineveh was wrecked on the reef of North Sentinel Island. The 86 survivors reached the beach in the ship's boats. On the third day, they were attacked with iron-tipped spears by naked islanders. One person from the ship escaped in a boat and the others were later rescued by a British Royal Navy ship. + +For some time, sickness and mortality were high, but swamp reclamation and extensive forest clearance continued. The Andaman colony became notorious with the murder of the Viceroy Richard Southwell Bourke, 6th Earl of Mayo, on a visit to the settlement (8 February 1872), by a Pathan from Afghanistan, Sher Ali Afridi. In the same year, the two island groups Andaman and Nicobar, were united under a chief commissioner residing at Port Blair. + +From the time of its development in 1858 under the direction of James Pattison Walker, and in response to the mutiny and rebellion of the previous year, the settlement was first and foremost a repository for political prisoners. The Cellular Jail at Port Blair, when completed in 1910, included 698 cells designed for solitary confinement; each cell measured with a single ventilation window above the floor. + +The Indians imprisoned here referred to the island and its prison as Kala Pani ("black water"); a 1996 film set on the island took that term as its title, Kaalapani. The number of prisoners who died in this camp is estimated to be in the thousands. Many more died of harsh treatment and the strenuous living and working conditions in this camp. + +The Viper Chain Gang Jail on Viper Island was reserved for extraordinarily troublesome prisoners and was also the site of hangings. In the 20th century, it became a convenient place to house prominent members of India's independence movement. + +Japanese occupation + +The Andaman and Nicobar Islands were occupied by Japan during World War II. The islands were nominally put under the authority of the Arzi Hukumat-e-Azad Hind (Provisional Government of Free India) headed by Subhas Chandra Bose, who visited the islands during the war, and renamed them as Shaheed (Martyr) & Swaraj (Self-rule). On 30 December 1943, during the Japanese occupation, Bose, who was allied with the Japanese, first raised the flag of Indian independence. General Loganathan, of the Indian National Army, was Governor of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which had been annexed to the Provisional Government. According to Werner Gruhl: "Before leaving the islands, the Japanese rounded up and executed 750 innocents." + +Post-World War II +At the close of World War II, the British government announced its intention to shut down the penal settlement. The government proposed to employ former inmates in an initiative to develop the island's fisheries, timber, and agricultural resources. In exchange, inmates would be granted return passage to the Indian mainland, or the right to settle on the islands. J H Williams, one of the Bombay Burma Company's senior officials, was dispatched to perform a timber survey of the islands using convict labor. He recorded his findings in 'The Spotted Deer' (published in 1957 by Rupert Hart-Davis). + +The penal colony was eventually closed on 15 August 1947 when India gained independence. It has since served as a museum to the independence movement. + +Most of the Andaman Islands became part of the Republic of India in 1950 and was declared as a union territory of the nation in 1956, while the Preparis Island and Coco Islands became part of the Yangon Region of Myanmar in 1948. + +Late 20th Century - 21st century +Outside visits +In April 1998, American photographer John S. Callahan organised the first surfing project in the Andamans, starting from Phuket in Thailand with the assistance of Southeast Asia Liveaboards (SEAL), a UK owned dive charter company. With a crew of international professional surfers, they crossed the Andaman Sea on the yacht Crescent and cleared formalities in Port Blair. The group proceeded to Little Andaman Island, where they spent ten days surfing several spots for the first time, including Jarawa Point near Hut Bay and the long right reef point at the southwest tip of the island, named Kumari Point. The resulting article in Surfer Magazine, "Quest for Fire" by journalist Sam George, put the Andaman Islands on the surfing map for the first time. Footage of the waves of the Andaman Islands also appeared in the film Thicker than Water, shot by documentary filmmaker Jack Johnson. Callahan went on to make several more surfing projects in the Andamans, including a trip to the Nicobar Islands in 1999. + +In November 2018, John Allen Chau, an American missionary, traveled illegally with the help of local fishermen to the North Sentinel Island off the Andaman Islands chain group on several occasions, despite a travel ban to the island. He is reported to have been killed. Despite some relaxation introduced earlier in 2018 to the stringent visit permit system for the islands, North Sentinel Island was still highly protected from outside contact. Special permission to allow researchers and anthropologists to visit could be sought. Chau had no special clearance and knew that his visit was illegal. + +Although a less restrictive system of approval to visit some of the islands now applies, with non-Indian nationals no longer required to obtain pre-approval with a Restricted Area Permit (RAP), foreign visitors must still show their passport at Immigration at Port Blair Airport and Seaport for verification. Citizens of Afghanistan, China and Pakistan, or other foreign nationals whose origin is any of these countries, still required to obtain a RAP to visit Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Similarly, citizens of Myanmar who wish to visit Mayabunder or Diglipur must also apply for a RAP. In these cases, the permits must be pre-approved prior to arrival in Port Blair. + +Natural disasters +On 26 December 2004, the coast of the Andaman Islands was devastated by a tsunami following the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, which is the longest recorded earthquake, lasting for between 500 and 600 seconds. Strong oral traditions in the area warned of the importance of moving inland after a quake and is credited with saving many lives. In the aftermath, more than 2,000 people were confirmed dead and more than 4,000 children were orphaned or had lost one parent. At least 40,000 residents were rendered homeless and were moved to relief camps. On 11 August 2009, a magnitude 7 earthquake struck near the Andaman Islands, causing a tsunami warning to go into effect. On 30 March 2010, a magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck near the Andaman Islands. + +Geography and Geology +The Andaman Archipelago is an oceanic continuation of the Burmese Arakan Yoma range in the north and of the Indonesian Archipelago in the south. It has 325 islands which cover an area of , with the Andaman Sea to the east between the islands and the coast of Burma. North Andaman Island is south of Burma, although a few smaller Burmese islands are closer, including the three Coco Islands. + +The Ten Degree Channel separates the Andamans from the Nicobar Islands to the south. The highest point is located in North Andaman Island (Saddle Peak at ). + +The geology of the Andaman islands consists essentially of Late Jurassic to Early Eocene ophiolites and sedimentary rocks (argillaceous and algal limestones), deformed by numerous deep faults and thrusts with ultramafic igneous intrusions. There are at least 11 mud volcanoes on the islands. There are two volcanic islands, Narcondam Island and Barren Island, which have produced basalt and andesite. Barren Island is the only active volcano in the Indian sub-continent, with the latest eruption reported in December 2022, leading to the potential for geotourism. + +Climate +The climate is typical of tropical islands of similar latitude. It is always warm, but with sea-breezes. Rainfall is irregular, usually dry during the north-east monsoons, and very wet during the south-west monsoons. + +Flora + +The Middle Andamans harbour mostly moist deciduous forests. North Andamans is characterised by the wet evergreen type, with plenty of woody climbers. + +The natural vegetation of the Andamans is tropical forest, with mangroves on the coast. The rainforests are similar in composition to those of the west coast of Burma. Most of the forests are evergreen, but there are areas of deciduous forest on North Andaman, Middle Andaman, Baratang and parts of South Andaman Island. The South Andaman forests have a profuse growth of epiphytic vegetation, mostly ferns and orchids. + +The Andaman forests are largely unspoiled, despite logging and the demands of the fast-growing population driven by immigration from the Indian mainland. There are protected areas on Little Andaman, Narcondam, North Andaman and South Andaman, but these are mainly aimed at preserving the coast and the marine wildlife rather than the rainforests. Threats to wildlife come from introduced species including rats, dogs, cats and the elephants of Interview Island and North Andaman. + +Scientists discovered a new species of green algae species in the Andaman archipelago, naming it Acetabularia jalakanyakae. "Jalakanyakae" is a Sanskrit word that means "mermaid". + +Timber + +Andaman forests contain 200 or more timber producing species of trees, out of which about 30 varieties are considered to be commercial. Major commercial timber species are Gurjan (Dipterocarpus spp.) and Padauk (Pterocarpus dalbergioides). The following ornamental woods are noted for their pronounced grain formation: + Marble wood (Diospyros marmorata) + Padauk (Pterocarpus dalbergioides) + Silver grey (a special formation of wood in white utkarsh) + Chooi (Sageraea elliptica) + Kokko (Albizzia lebbeck) + +Padauk wood is sturdier than teak and is widely used for furniture making. + +There are burr wood and buttress root formations in Andaman Padauk. The largest piece of buttress known from Andaman was a dining table of . The largest piece of burr wood was again a dining table for eight. + +The Rudraksha (Elaeocarps sphaericus) and aromatic Dhoop-resin trees also are found here. + +Fauna + +The Andaman Islands are home to a number of animals, many of them endemic. Andaman & Nicobar islands are home to 10% of all Indian fauna species. The islands by ratio is only 0.25% of country's geographical area, has 11,009 species, according to a publication by the Zoological Survey of India. + +Mammals +The island's endemic mammals include + Andaman spiny shrew (Crocidura hispida) + Andaman shrew (Crocidura andamanensis) + Jenkins's shrew (Crocidura jenkinsi) + Andaman horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus cognatus) + Andaman rat (Rattus stoicus) + +The banded pig (Sus scrofa vittatus), also known as the Andaman wild boar and once thought to be an endemic subspecies, is protected by the Wildlife Protection Act 1972 (Sch I). The spotted deer (Axis axis), the Indian muntjac (Muntiacus muntjak) and the sambar (Rusa unicolor) were all introduced to the Andaman islands, though the sambar did not survive. + +Interview Island (the largest wildlife sanctuary in the territory) in Middle Andaman holds a population of feral elephants, which were brought in for forest work by a timber company and released when the company went bankrupt. This population has been subject to research studies. + +Birds +Endemic or near endemic birds include + Spilornis elgini, a serpent-eagle + Rallina canningi, a crake (endemic; data-deficient per IUCN 2000) + Columba palumboides, a wood-pigeon + Macropygia rufipennis, a cuckoo dove + Centropus andamanensis, a subspecies of brown coucal (endemic) + Otus balli, a scops owl + Ninox affinis, a hawk-owl + Rhyticeros narcondami, the Narcondam hornbill + Dryocopus hodgei, a woodpecker + Dicrurus andamanensis, a drongo + Dendrocitta bayleyii, a treepie + Sturnus erythropygius, the white-headed starling + Collocalia affinis, the plume-toed swiftlet + Aerodramus fuciphagus, the edible-nest swiftlet +The islands' many caves, such as those at Chalis Ek are nesting grounds for the edible-nest swiftlet, whose nests are prized in China for bird's nest soup. + +Reptiles and amphibians +The islands also have a number of endemic reptiles, toads and frogs, such as the Andaman cobra (Naja sagittifera), South Andaman krait (Bungarus andamanensis) and Andaman water monitor (Varanus salvator andamanensis). + +There is a sanctuary from Havelock Island for saltwater crocodiles. Over the past 25 years there have been 24 crocodile attacks with four fatalities, including the death of American tourist Lauren Failla. The government has been criticised for failing to inform tourists of the crocodile sanctuary and danger, while simultaneously promoting tourism. Crocodiles are not only found within the sanctuary, but throughout the island chain in varying densities. They are habitat restricted, so the population is stable but not large. Populations occur throughout available mangrove habitat on all major islands, including a few creeks on Havelock. The species uses the ocean as a means of travel between different rivers and estuaries, thus they are not as commonly observed in open ocean. It is best to avoid swimming near mangrove areas or the mouths of creeks; swimming in the open ocean should be safe, but it is best to have a spotter around. + +Demographics + +, the population of the Andaman was 343,125, having grown from 50,000 in 1960. The bulk of the population originates from immigrants who came to the island since the colonial times, mainly of Bengali, Hindustani, Telugu , Tamil backgrounds. + +A small minority of the population are the Andamanese — the aboriginal inhabitants (adivasi) of the islands. When they first came into sustained contact with outside groups in the 1850s, there were an estimated 7,000 Andamanese, divided into the Great Andamanese, Jarawa, Jangil (or Rutland Jarawa), Onge, and the Sentinelese. The Great Andamanese formed 10 tribes of 5,000 people total. As the numbers of settlers from the mainland increased (at first mostly prisoners and involuntary indentured labourers, later purposely recruited farmers), the Andamanese suffered a population decline due to the introduction of outside infectious diseases, land encroachment from settlers and conflict. + +Figures from the end of the 20th century estimate there remain only approximately 400–450 ethnic Andamanese still on the island, and as few as 50 speakers The Jangil are extinct. Most of the Great Andamanese tribes are extinct, and the survivors, now just 52, speak mostly Hindi. The Onge are reduced to less than 100 people. Only the Jarawa and Sentinelese still maintain a steadfast independence and refuse most attempts at contact; their numbers are uncertain but estimated to be in the low hundreds. + +The indigenous languages are collectively referred to as the Andamanese languages, but they make up at least two independent families, and the dozen or so attested languages are either extinct or endangered. + +Religion +Most of the tribal people in Andaman and Nicobar Islands believe in a religion that can be described as a form of monotheistic Animism. The tribal people of these islands believe that Puluga is the only deity and is responsible for everything happening on Earth. The faith of the Andamanese teaches that Paluga resides on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands' Saddle Peak. People try to avoid any action that might displease Paluga. People belonging to this religion believe in the presence of souls, ghosts, and spirits. They put a lot of emphasis on dreams. They let dreams decide different courses of action in their lives. + +Andamanese Mythology held that human males emerged from split bamboo, whereas women were fashioned from clay. One version found by Alfred Reginald Radcliffe-Brown held that the first man died and went to heaven, a pleasurable world, but this blissful period ended due to breaking a food taboo, specifically eating the forbidden vegetables in the Puluga's garden. Thus catastrophe ensued, and eventually the people grew overpopulated and didn't follow Puluga's laws,. Hence, there was a Great Flood that left four survivors, who lost their fire.Witzel, Michael E.J. (2012). The Origin of The World's Mythologies. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 309-312 + +Other religions practiced in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands are, in order of size, Hinduism, Christianity, Islam, Sikhism, Buddhism, Jainism and Baháʼí Faith. + +Government +Port Blair is the chief community on the islands, and the administrative centre of the Union Territory. The Andaman Islands form a single administrative district within the Union Territory, the Andaman district (the Nicobar Islands were separated and established as the new Nicobar district in 1974). + +Transportation +The only commercial airport is Veer Savarkar International Airport in Port Blair, which has scheduled services to Kolkata, Chennai, New Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam. The airport is under the control of the Indian Navy. Prior to 2016 only daylight operations were allowed; however, since 2016 night flights have also operated. A small airstrip, about long, is located near the eastern shore of North Andaman near Diglipur. + +Due to the length of the routes and the small number of airlines flying to the islands, fares have historically been relatively expensive, although cheaper for locals than visitors. Fares are high during the peak seasons of spring and winter, although fares have decreased over time due to the expansion of the civil aviation industry in India. Private flights are also allowed to land in Port Blair airport with prior permission. + +There is also a ship service from Chennai, Visakhapatnam and Kolkata. The journey requires three days and two nights, and depends on weather. + +Cultural references + +The islands are prominently featured in Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes 1890 mystery The Sign of the Four. The magistrate in Lady Gregory's play Spreading the News had formerly served in the islands. + +M. M. Kaye's 1985 novel Death in the Andamans and Marianne Wiggins' 1989 novel John Dollar are set in the islands. The latter begins with an expedition from Burma to celebrate King George's birthday, but turns into a grim survival story after an earthquake and tsunami. + +Priyadarshan's 1996 film Kaalapani (Malayalam; Sirai Chaalai in Tamil) depicts the Indian freedom struggle and the lives of prisoners in the Cellular Jail in Port Blair.Island's End is a 2011 novel by Padma Venkatraman about the training of an indigenous shaman. A principal character in the novel Six Suspects by Vikas Swarup is from the Andaman Islands. The Last Wave (2014) by Pankaj Sekhsaria is set in the islands. Brodie Moncur, the main protagonist of William Boyd's 2018 novel Love is Blind'', spends time in the Andaman Islands in the early years of the 20th century. The Andaman Islands in the period before, during and just after the Second World War are the setting for Uzma Aslan Khan's 'The Miraculous True History of Nomi Ali'. + +See also + + Andaman and Nicobar Islands + List of endemic birds of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands + List of trees of the Andaman Islands + Lists of islands + +References +Notes + +Sources + + History & Culture. The Andaman Islands with destination quide + +External links + + Official Andaman and Nicobar Tourism Website + + + +Andaman +Archipelagoes of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands +Archipelagoes of India +Archipelagoes of the Indian Ocean +Archipelagoes of Southeast Asia +Maritime Southeast Asia +Volcanoes of India +Pleistocene volcanoes +Pleistocene Asia +Lands inhabited by indigenous peoples +Alexander Anderson ( in Aberdeen – in Paris) was a Scottish mathematician. + +Life +He was born in Aberdeen, possibly in 1582, according to a print which suggests he was aged 35 in 1617. It is unknown where he was educated, but it is likely that he initially studied writing and philosophy (the "belles lettres") in his home city of Aberdeen. + +He then went to the continent, and was a professor of mathematics in Paris by the start of the seventeenth century. There he published or edited, between the years 1612 and 1619, various geometric and algebraic tracts. He described himself as having "more wisdom than riches" in the dedication of Vindiciae Archimedis (1616). + +He was first cousin of David Anderson of Finshaugh, a celebrated mathematician, and David Anderson's daughter was the mother of mathematician James Gregory. + +Work +He was selected by the executors of François Viète to revise and edit Viète's manuscript works. Viète died in 1603, and it is unclear if Anderson knew him, but his eminence was sufficient to attract the attention of the dead man's executors. Anderson corrected and expanded upon Viète's manuscripts, which extended known geometry to the new algebra, which used general symbols to represent quantities. + +Publications +The known works of Anderson amount to six thin quarto volumes, and as the last of them was published in 1619, it is probable that the author died soon after that year, but the precise date is unknown. He wrote other works that have since been lost. From his last work it appears he wrote another piece, "A Treatise on the Mensuration of Solids," and copies of two other works, Ex. Math. and Stereometria Triangulorum Sphæricorum, were in the possession of Sir Alexander Hume until the after the middle of the seventeenth century. + +1612: Supplementum Apollonii Redivivi +1615: Ad Angularum Sectionem Analytica Theoremata F. Vieta +1615: Pro Zetetico Apolloniani +1615: Francisci Vietae Fontenaeensis +1616: Vindiciae Archimedis +1619: Alexandri Andersoni Exercitationum Mathematicarum Decas Prima + +See also + Marin Getaldić + Denis Henrion + Frans van Schooten + +References + +Attribution: + +Further reading + + +1580s births +1620 deaths +People from Aberdeen +Algebraists +British geometers +Scottish mathematicians +17th-century Scottish people +Scottish scholars and academics +Academic staff of the University of Paris +17th-century Scottish scientists +17th-century Scottish mathematicians +Andocides (; , Andokides; c. 440 – c. 390 BC) was a logographer (speech writer) in Ancient Greece. He was one of the ten Attic orators included in the "Alexandrian Canon" compiled by Aristophanes of Byzantium and Aristarchus of Samothrace in the third century BC. + +Life +Andocides was the son of Leogoras, and was born in Athens around 440 BC. He belonged to the ancient Eupatrid family of the Kerykes, who traced their lineage up to Odysseus and the god Hermes. + +During his youth, Andocides seems to have been employed on various occasions as ambassador to Thessaly, Macedonia, Molossia, Thesprotia, Italy, and Sicily. And although he was frequently attacked for his political opinions, he maintained his ground until, in 415, he became involved in the charge brought against Alcibiades for having profaned the mysteries and mutilated the Herms on the eve of the departure of the Athenian expedition against Sicily. It appeared particularly likely that Andocides was an accomplice in the latter of these crimes, which was believed to be a preliminary step towards overthrowing the democratic constitution, since the Herm standing close to his house in the phyle Aegeis was among the very few which had not been injured. + +Andocides was accordingly seized and thrown into prison, but after some time recovered his freedom by a promise that he would become an informer and reveal the names of the real perpetrators of the crime; and on the suggestion of one Charmides or Timaeus, he mentioned four, all of whom were put to death. He is also said to have denounced his own father on the charge of profaning the mysteries, but to have rescued him again in the hour of danger - a charge he strenuously denied. But as Andocides was unable to clear himself from the charge, he was deprived of his rights as a citizen, and left Athens. + +Andocides traveled about in various parts of Greece, and was chiefly engaged in commercial enterprise and in forming connections with powerful people. The means he employed to gain the friendship of powerful men were sometimes of the most disreputable kind; among which a service he rendered to a prince in Cyprus is mentioned in particular. + +In 411, Andocides returned to Athens on the establishment of the oligarchic government of the Four Hundred, hoping that a certain service he had rendered the Athenian ships at Samos would secure him a welcome reception. But no sooner were the oligarchs informed of the return of Andocides, than their leader Peisander had him seized, and accused him of having supported the party opposed to them at Samos. During his trial, Andocides, who perceived the exasperation prevailing against him, leaped to the altar which stood in the court, and there assumed the attitude of a supplicant. This saved his life, but he was imprisoned. Soon afterwards, however, he was set free, or escaped from prison. + +Andocides then went to Cyprus, where for a time he enjoyed the friendship of Evagoras; but, by some circumstance or other, he exasperated his friend, and was consigned to prison. Here again he escaped, and after the restoration of democracy in Athens and the abolition of the Four Hundred, he ventured once more to return to Athens; but as he was still suffering under a sentence of civil disenfranchisement, he endeavored by means of bribes to persuade the prytaneis to allow him to attend the assembly of the people. The latter, however, expelled him from the city. It was on this occasion, in 411, that Andocides delivered the speech still extant "On his return", on which he petitioned for permission to reside at Athens, but in vain. In his third exile, Andocides went to reside in Elis, and during the time of his absence from his native city, his house there was occupied by Cleophon, the leading demagogue. + +Andocides remained in exile until after the overthrow of the tyranny of the Thirty by Thrasybulus, when the general amnesty then proclaimed made him hope that its benefit would be extended to him also. He himself says that he returned to Athens from Cyprus, where he claimed to have great influence and considerable property. Because of the general amnesty, he was allowed to remain at Athens, enjoyed peace for the next three years, and soon recovered an influential position. According to Lysias, it was scarcely ten days after his return that he brought an accusation against Archippus or Aristippus, which, however, he dropped on receiving a sum of money. During this period Andocides became a member of the boule, in which he appears to have possessed a great influence, as well as in the popular assembly. He was gymnasiarch at the Hephaestaea, was sent as architheorus to the Isthmian Games and Olympic Games, and was even entrusted with the office of keeper of the sacred treasury. + +But in 400, Callias, supported by Cephisius, Agyrrhius, Meletus, and Epichares, urged the necessity of preventing Andocides from attending the assembly, as he had never been formally freed from the civil disenfranchisement. Callias also charged him with violating the laws respecting the temple at Eleusis. The orator pleaded his case in the oration still extant "on the Mysteries" (περὶ τῶν μυστηρίων), in which he argued that he had not been involved in the profanation of the mysteries or the mutilation of the herms, that he had not violated the laws of the temple at Eleusis, that anyway he had received his citizenship back as a result of the amnesty, and that Callias was really motivated by a private dispute with Andocides over inheritance. He was acquitted. After this, he again enjoyed peace until 394, when he was sent as ambassador to Sparta regarding the peace to be concluded in consequence of Conon's victory off Cnidus. On his return he was accused of illegal conduct during his embassy. The speech "On the peace with the Lacedaemonians" (περὶ τῆς πρὸς Λακεδαιμονίους εἰρήνης), which is still extant, refers to this affair. It was delivered in 393 (though some scholars place it in 391). Andocides was found guilty, and sent into exile for the fourth time. He never returned afterwards, and seems to have died soon after this blow. + +Andocides appears to have fathered no children, since he is described at the age of 70 as being childless, although the scholiast on Aristophanes mentions Antiphon as a son of Andocides. The large fortune which he had inherited from his father, or acquired in his commercial undertakings, was greatly diminished in the latter years of his life. + +Oratory +As an orator Andocides does not appear to have been held in very high esteem by the ancients, as he is seldom mentioned, though Valerius Theon is said to have written a commentary on his orations. We do not hear of his having been trained in any of the sophistical schools of the time, and he had probably developed his talents in the practical school of the popular assembly. Hence his orations have no mannerism in them, and are really, as Plutarch says, simple and free from all rhetorical pomp and ornament. + +Sometimes, however, his style is diffuse, and becomes tedious and obscure. The best among his orations is that "on the Mysteries"; but, for the history of the time, all are of the highest importance. + +Besides the three orations already mentioned, which are undoubtedly genuine, there is a fourth against Alcibiades (κατὰ Ἀλκιβιάδου), said to have been delivered by Andocides during the ostracism of 415; but it is probably spurious, though it appears to contain genuine historical matter. Some scholars ascribed it to Phaeax, who took part in the ostracism, according to Plutarch. But it is more likely that it is a rhetorical exercise from the early fourth century BC, since formal speeches were not delivered during ostracisms and the accusation or defence of Alcibiades was a standing rhetorical theme. Besides these four orations we possess only a few fragments and some very vague allusions to other orations. + +List of extant speeches +On the Mysteries ( "De Mysteriis"). Andocides' defense against the charge of impiety in the profanation of the Eleusinian Mysteries and the mutilation of the Hermae. +On His Return ( "De Reditu"). Andocides' plea for his return and removal of civil disabilities. +On the Peace with Sparta ( "De Pace"). An argument for peace with Sparta. +Against Alcibiades ( "Contra Alcibiadem"). Generally considered spurious. + +Notes + +Attribution + +External links + +Speeches at the Perseus Project + +Attic orators +5th-century BC Athenians +4th-century BC Athenians +Ancient Greeks accused of sacrilege +Athenians of the Peloponnesian War +440s BC births +390s BC deaths +Andrea Andreani (1540–1623) was an Italian engraver on wood, who was among the first printmakers in Italy to use chiaroscuro, which required multiple colours. + +Andreani was born and generally active in Mantua about 1540 (Brulliot says 1560) and died at Rome in 1623. His engravings are scarce and valuable, and are chiefly copies of Mantegna, Albrecht Dürer, Parmigianino and Titian. The most remarkable of his works are Mercury and Ignorance, the Deluge, Pharaoh's Host Drowned in the Red Sea (after Titian), the Triumph of Caesar (after Mantegna), and Christ retiring from the judgment-seat of Pilate after a relief by Giambologna. He was active 1584–1610 in Florence. + +Andreani's work is held in several museums worldwide, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, the Ackland Art Museum, the Clark Art Institute, the Harvard Art Museums, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Albright–Knox Art Gallery, the National Gallery of Canada, the Davis Museum at Wellesley College, the Cooper Hewitt, the University of Michigan Museum of Art, the Bowdoin College Museum of Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Princeton University Art Museum, and the British Museum. + +References + +Sources +"Andrea Andreani" in the Encyclopædia Britannica, 9th Edition, Vol. II, p. 20. + Getty ULAN entry. + +Further reading + + artnet + +1540 births +1623 deaths +Artists from Mantua +16th-century Italian artists +17th-century Italian artists +Italian engravers +16th-century engravers +17th-century engravers +Andrew II (, , , ; 117721 September 1235), also known as Andrew of Jerusalem, was King of Hungary and Croatia between 1205 and 1235. He ruled the Principality of Halych from 1188 until 1189/1190, and again between 1208/1209 and 1210. He was the younger son of Béla III of Hungary, who entrusted him with the administration of the newly conquered Principality of Halych in 1188. Andrew's rule was unpopular, and the boyars (or noblemen) expelled him. Béla III willed property and money to Andrew, obliging him to lead a crusade to the Holy Land. Instead, Andrew forced his elder brother, King Emeric of Hungary, to cede Croatia and Dalmatia as an appanage to him in 1197. The following year, Andrew occupied Hum. + +Despite the fact that Andrew did not stop conspiring against Emeric, the dying king made Andrew guardian of his son, Ladislaus III, in 1204. After the premature death of Ladislaus, Andrew ascended the throne in 1205. According to historian László Kontler, "[i]t was amidst the socio-political turmoil during [Andrew's] reign that the relations, arrangements, institutional framework and social categories that arose under Stephen I, started to disintegrate in the higher echelons of society" in Hungary. Andrew introduced a new grants policy, the so-called "new institutions", giving away money and royal estates to his partisans despite the loss of royal revenues. He was the first Hungarian monarch to adopt the title of "King of Halych and Lodomeria". He waged at least a dozen wars to seize the two Rus' principalities, but was repelled by the local boyars and neighboring princes. He participated in the Fifth Crusade to the Holy Land in 1217–1218, but the crusade was a failure. + +When the servientes regis, or "royal servants", rose up, Andrew was forced to issue the Golden Bull of 1222, confirming their privileges. This led to the rise of the nobility in the Kingdom of Hungary. His Diploma Andreanum of 1224 listed the liberties of the Transylvanian Saxon community. The employment of Jews and Muslims to administer the royal revenues led him into conflict with the Holy See and the Hungarian prelates. Andrew pledged to respect the privileges of the clergymen and to dismiss his non-Christian officials in 1233, but he never fulfilled the latter promise. + +Andrew's first wife, Gertrude of Merania, was murdered in 1213 because her blatant favoritism towards her German kinsmen and courtiers stirred up discontent among the native lords. The veneration of their daughter, Elizabeth of Hungary, was confirmed by the Holy See during Andrew's lifetime. After Andrew's death, his sons, Béla and Coloman, accused his third wife, Beatrice d'Este, of adultery and never considered her son, Stephen, to be a legitimate son of Andrew. + +Early life + +Childhood and youth ( 1177–1197) + +Andrew was the second son of King Béla III and Béla's first wife, Agnes of Antioch. The year of Andrew's birth is not known, but modern historians agree that he was born around 1177, considering that Margaret, who was born in 1175 or 1176, was his elder sister, which, however, is far from certain. Andrew was first mentioned in connection to his father's invasion of the Principality of Halych in 1188. That year, Béla III invaded Halych upon the request of its former prince, Vladimir II Yaroslavich, who had been expelled by his subjects. Béla forced the new prince, Roman Mstislavich, to flee. After conquering Halych, he granted it to Andrew. Béla also captured Vladimir Yaroslavich and imprisoned him in Hungary. + +After Béla's withdrawal from Halych, Roman Mstislavich returned with the assistance of Rurik Rostislavich, Prince of Belgorod Kievsky. They tried to expel Andrew and his Hungarian retinue, but the Hungarians routed the united forces of Mstislavich and Rostislavich. A group of local boyars offered the throne to Rostislav Ivanovich, a distant cousin of the imprisoned Vladimir Yaroslavich. Béla III sent reinforcements to Halych, enabling Andrew's troops to repel the attacks. Andrew's nominal reign remained unpopular in Halych, because the Hungarian soldiers insulted local women and did not respect Orthodox churches. Consequently, the local boyars allied themselves with their former prince, Vladimir Yaroslavich, who had escaped from captivity and returned to Halych. Duke Casimir II of Poland also supported Vladimir Yaroslavich, and they expelled Andrew and his retinue from the principality in August 1189 or 1190. Andrew returned to Hungary after his defeat. + +He did not receive a separate duchy from his father, who only gave him some fortresses, estates and money. According to historian Attila Zsoldos, these landholdings laid in Slavonia. On his deathbed, Béla III, who had pledged to lead a crusade to the Holy Land, ordered Andrew to fulfill his vow. Andrew's father died on 23 April 1196, and Andrew's older brother, Emeric, succeeded him. + +Duke of Croatia and Dalmatia (1197–1204) + +Andrew used the funds that he inherited from his father to recruit supporters among the Hungarian lords. It is plausible he demanded from his brother to install him as Duke of Slavonia, which became increasingly the title of heir to the throne by the second half of the 12th century. Andrew also formed an alliance with Duke Leopold VI of Austria, and they plotted against Emeric. Their united troops routed the royal army at Mački, Slavonia, in December 1197. Under duress, King Emeric gave Croatia and Dalmatia to Andrew as an appanage, as most historians believe. In contrast, historian György Szabados claims that Emeric never acknowledged Andrew's dominion in Croatia and Dalmatia and that Andrew used the title of duke without his brother's approval. In practice, Andrew administered Croatia and Dalmatia as an independent monarch. He minted coins, granted land and confirmed privileges. In accordance with the agreement, Varaždin and Bodrog counties also belonged to his suzerainty. He cooperated with the Frankopans, Babonići, and other local lords. Some of the prominent barons also supported his aspirations, including their uncle comes Andrew and Macarius Monoszló. The Canons Regular of the Holy Sepulchre settled in the province during his rule. Taking advantage of Miroslav of Hum's death, Andrew invaded Hum and occupied at least the land between the Cetina and Neretva rivers sometime before May 1198. He styled himself, "By the grace of God, Duke of Zadar and of all Dalmatia, Croatia and Hum" in his charters. + +Pope Innocent III urged Andrew to lead a crusade to the Holy Land, but Andrew hatched a new conspiracy against Emeric with the help of John, Abbot of Pannonhalma, Boleslaus, Bishop of Vác, and many other prelates and lords. For instance, incumbent Palatine Mog also betrayed Emeric and swore allegiance to the Duke. The Pope threatened Andrew with excommunication if he failed to fulfill his father's vow, but Andrew did not yield. The conspiracy was uncovered on 10 March 1199, when King Emeric seized letters written by Andrew's partisans to Bishop Boleslaus. That summer, royal troops routed Andrew's army in the valley of Rád near Lake Balaton, and Andrew fled to Austria. During Andrew's exile, Emeric appointed his own partisans to administer Slavonia, Croatia and Dalmatia. A papal legate mediated a reconciliation between Andrew and Emeric, who allowed Andrew to return to Croatia and Dalmatia in 1200. Andrew married Gertrude of Merania sometime between 1200 and 1203; her father, Berthold, Duke of Merania, owned extensive domains in the Holy Roman Empire along the borders of Andrew's duchy, in what is now Slovenia. + +When Emeric's son, Ladislaus, was born around 1200, Andrew's hopes to succeed his brother as king were shattered. Pope Innocent confirmed the child's position as heir to the crown, declaring that Andrew's future sons would only inherit Andrew's duchy. Andrew planned a new rebellion against his brother, but King Emeric captured him without resistance near Varaždin in October 1203. In contrast, historian Attila Zsoldos considers it was the king who turned against his brother's province with an army initially convened for a crusade. + +Andrew was first imprisoned in the fort of Gornji Kneginec, then in Esztergom. Alexander of the Hont-Pázmány clan freed him in early 1204. It is uncertain whether Andrew was freed by his partisans or his release took place with Emeric's consent. Having fallen ill, King Emeric had his son, Ladislaus, crowned king on 26 August. As Pope Innocent already ordered Archbishop Ugrin Csák to perform the coronation in April, it is plausible that the king decided on Andrew's release, therefore, the coronation was not vitally urgent. Andrew reconciled with his dying brother, who entrusted him with "the guardianship of his son and the administration of the entire kingdom until the ward should reach the age of majority", according to the nearly contemporaneous Thomas the Archdeacon. + +Nephew's guardian (1204–1205) + +King Emeric died on 30 November 1204. Andrew governed the kingdom as Ladislaus's regent, but subsequently he counted his regnal years from the time of his brother's death, showing that he already regarded himself as the lawful monarch during Ladislaus III's reign. Pope Innocent told Andrew that he should remain loyal to Ladislaus, also instructing him to fulfill his vow to lead a crusade, to secure the incomes of Emeric's widow and Ladislaus III's mother, Constance of Aragon, and to keep royal property intact. The pope's letters suggest that serious tensions burdened the relationship between Andrew and Constance after Emeric's death. + +Instead, Andrew seized the money that Emeric had deposited for Ladislaus in Pilis Abbey. He also confiscated a significant portion of private wealth from Constance, who deposited it in the Stephanites' convent in Esztergom prior to that, in addition to the denial of her dower. Queen Constance fled from Hungary, taking her son and the Holy Crown to Austria. According to the Annals of Admont, "some bishops and nobles" escorted them, breaking through the blockade that Andrew erected along the Austrian border. Andrew prepared for a war against Leopold VI of Austria, but Ladislaus suddenly died in Vienna on 7 May 1205. Andrew sent Bishop Peter of Győr to Austria, who successfully recovered the Holy Crown. + +Reign + +"New institutions" and campaigns in Halych (1205–1217) + +John, Archbishop of Kalocsa, crowned Andrew king in Székesfehérvár on 29 May 1205. Andrew introduced a new policy for royal grants, which he called "new institutions" in one of his charters. He distributed large portions of the royal domainroyal castles and all estates attached to themas inheritable grants to his supporters, declaring that "the best measure of a royal grant is its being immeasurable." His "new institutions" altered the relations between the monarchs and the Hungarian lords. During the previous two centuries, a lord's status primarily depended on the income he received for his services to the monarch; after the introduction of the "new institutions", their inheritable estates yielded sufficient revenues. This policy also diminished the funds upon which the authority of the ispáns, or heads, of the countieswho were appointed by the monarchshad been based. + +During his reign, Andrew was intensely interested in the internal affairs of his former principality of Halych. He launched his first campaign to recapture Halych in 1205 or 1206. Upon the boyars' request, he intervened against Vsevolod Svyatoslavich, Prince of Chernigov, and his allies on behalf of Daniel Romanovich, the child-prince of Halych, and Lodomeria. Svyatoslavich and his allies were forced to withdraw. Andrew adopted the title of "King of Galicia and Lodomeria", demonstrating his claim to suzerainty in the two principalities. +After Andrew returned to Hungary, Vsevolod Svyatoslavich's distant cousin, Vladimir Igorevich, seized both Halych and Lodomeria, expelling Daniel Romanovich and his mother. They fled to Leszek I of Poland, who suggested that they visit Andrew. However, Vladimir Igorevich "sent many gifts" to both Andrew and Leszek, dissuading "them from attacking him" on behalf of Romanovich, according to the Galician–Volhynian Chronicle. Vladimir Igorevich's rebellious brother, Roman Igorevich, soon came to Hungary, seeking Andrew's assistance. Roman returned to Halych and expelled Vladimir Igorevich with the help of Hungarian auxiliary troops. + +Andrew confirmed the liberties of two Dalmatian townsSplit and Omišand issued a new charter listing the privileges of the archbishops of Split in 1207. Taking advantage of a conflict between Roman Igorevich and his boyars, Andrew sent troops to Halych under the command of Benedict, son of Korlát. Benedict captured Roman Igorevich and occupied the principality in 1208 or 1209. Instead of appointing a new prince, Andrew made Benedict governor of Halych. Benedict "tortured boyars and was addicted to lechery", according to the Galician–Volhynian Chronicle. The boyars offered the throne to Mstislav Mstislavich, Prince of Novgorod, if he could overthrow Benedict. Mstislav Mstislavich invaded Halych, but he could not defeat Benedict. + +Queen Gertrude's two brothers, Ekbert, Bishop of Bamberg, and Henry II, Margrave of Istria, fled to Hungary in 1208 after they were accused of participating in the murder of Philip, King of the Germans. Andrew granted large domains to Bishop Ekbert in the Szepesség region (now Spiš, Slovakia). Gertrude's youngest brother, Berthold, had been Archbishop of Kalocsa since 1206; he was made Ban of Croatia and Dalmatia in 1209. Andrew's generosity towards his wife's German relatives and courtiers discontented the local lords. According to historian Gyula Kristó, the anonymous author of The Deeds of the Hungarians referred to the Germans from the Holy Roman Empire when he sarcastically mentioned that " the Romans graze on the goods of Hungary." In 1209, Zadar, which had been lost to the Venetians, was liberated by one of Andrew's Dalmatian vassals, Domald of Sidraga, but the Venetians recaptured the town a year later. + +Roman Igorevich reconciled with his brother, Vladimir Igorevich, in early 1209 or 1210. Their united forces vanquished Benedict's army, expelling the Hungarians from Halych. Vladimir Igorevich sent one of his sons, Vsevolod Vladimirovich, "bearing gifts to the king in Hungary" to appease Andrew, according to the Galician–Volhynian Chronicle. A group of discontented Hungarian lords offered the crown to Andrew's cousins, the sons of Andrew's uncle, Géza; they lived in "Greek land" (the Byzantine Empire). However, the cousins' envoys were captured in Split in 1210. In the early 1210s, Andrew sent "an army of Saxons, Vlachs, Székelys and Pechenegs" commanded by Joachim, Count of Hermannstadt, (now Sibiu, Romania) to assist Boril of Bulgaria's fight against three rebellious Cuman chieftains. Around the same time, Hungarian troops occupied Belgrade and Barancs (now Braničevo, Serbia), which had been lost to Bulgaria under Emeric. Andrew's army defeated the Cumans at Vidin. Andrew granted the Barcaság (now Țara Bârsei, Romania) to the Teutonic Knights. The Knights were to defend the easternmost regions of the Kingdom of Hungary against the Cumans and encourage their conversion to Catholicism. + +A group of boyars, who were alarmed by the despotic acts of Vladimir Igorevich, asked Andrew to restore Daniel Romanovich as ruler of Halych in 1210 or 1211. Andrew and his alliesLeszek I of Poland and at least five Rus' princessent their armies to Halych and restored Daniel Romanovich. Local boyars expelled Daniel Romanovich's mother in 1212. She persuaded Andrew to personally lead his army to Halych. He captured Volodislav Kormilchich, the most influential boyar, and took him to Hungary. After Andrew withdrew from Halych, the boyars again offered the throne to Mstislav Mstislavich, who expelled Daniel Romanovich and his mother from the principality. Andrew departed for a new campaign against Halych in summer 1213. During his absence, Hungarian lords who were aggrieved at Queen Gertrude's favoritism towards her German entourage captured and murdered her and many of her courtiers in the Pilis Hills on 28 September. When he heard of her murder, Andrew returned to Hungary and ordered the execution of the murderer, Peter, son of Töre. However, Peter's accomplices, including Palatine Bánk Bár-Kalán, did not receive severe punishments. A group of Hungarian lords, whom Andrew called "perverts" in one of his letters, was plotting to dethrone Andrew and crown his eldest son, the eight-year-old Béla, but they failed to dethrone him and could only force Andrew to consent to Béla's coronation in 1214. + +Andrew and Leszek of Poland signed a treaty of alliance, which obliged Andrew's second son, Coloman, to marry Leszek of Poland's daughter, Salomea. Andrew and Leszek jointly invaded Halych in 1214, and Coloman was made prince. He agreed to cede Przemyśl to Leszek of Poland. The following year, Andrew returned to Halych and captured Przemyśl. Leszek of Poland soon reconciled with Mstislav Mstislavich; they jointly invaded Halych and forced Coloman to flee to Hungary. A new officer of state, the treasurer, was responsible for the administration of the royal chamber from around 1214 onwards. However, royal revenues had significantly diminished. Upon the advice of the treasurer, Denis, son of Ampud, Andrew imposed new taxes and farmed out royal income from minting, salt trade and custom duties. The yearly exchange of coins also produced more revenue for the royal chamber. However, these measures provoked discontent in Hungary. + +Andrew signed a new treaty of alliance with Leszek of Poland in the summer of 1216. Leszek and Andrew's son, Coloman, invaded Halych and expelled Mstislav Mstislavich and Daniel Romanovich, after which Coloman was restored. That same year, Andrew met Stephen Nemanjić, Grand Prince of Serbia, in Ravno (now Ćuprija, Serbia). He persuaded Stephen Nemanjić to negotiate with Henry, Latin Emperor of Constantinople, who was the uncle of Andrew's second wife, Yolanda de Courtenay. Stephen Nemanjić was crowned king of Serbia in 1217. Andrew planned to invade Serbia, but Stephen Nemanjić's brother, Sava, dissuaded him, according to both versions of the Life of Sava. + +Andrew's crusade (1217–1218) + +In July 1216, the newly elected Pope Honorius III once again called upon Andrew to fulfill his father's vow to lead a crusade. Andrew, who had postponed the crusade at least three times (in 1201, 1209 and 1213), finally agreed. Steven Runciman, Tibor Almási and other modern historians say that Andrew hoped that his decision would increase his likelihood of being elected as Latin Emperor of Constantinople, because his wife's uncle, Emperor Henry, had died in June. According to a letter written by Pope Honorius in 1217, envoys from the Latin Empire had actually informed Andrew that they planned to elect either him or his father-in-law, Peter of Courtenay, as emperor. Nonetheless, the barons of the Latin Empire elected Peter of Courtenay in the summer of 1216. + +Andrew sold and mortgaged royal estates to finance his campaign, which became part of the Fifth Crusade. He renounced his claim to Zadar in favor of the Republic of Venice so that he could secure shipping for his army. He entrusted Hungary to Archbishop John of Esztergom, and entrusted Croatia and Dalmatia to Pontius de Cruce, the Templar prior of Vrana. In July 1217, Andrew departed from Zagreb, accompanied by Dukes Leopold VI of Austria and Otto I of Merania. His army was so largeat least 10,000 mounted soldiers and uncountable infantrymenthat most of it stayed behind when Andrew and his men embarked in Split two months later. The ships transported them to Acre, where they landed in October. + +The leaders of the crusade included John of Brienne, King of Jerusalem, Leopold of Austria, the Grand Masters of the Hospitallers, the Templars and the Teutonic Knights. They held a war council in Acre, with Andrew leading the meeting. In early November, the Crusaders launched a campaign for the Jordan River, forcing Al-Adil I, Sultan of Egypt, to withdraw without fighting; the crusaders then pillaged Beisan. After the crusaders returned to Acre, Andrew did not participate in any other military actions. Instead, he collected relics, including a water jug allegedly used at the marriage at Cana, the heads of Saint Stephen and Margaret the Virgin, the right hands of the Apostles Thomas and Bartholomew and a part of Aaron's rod. If Thomas the Archdeacon's report of certain "evil and audacious men" in Acre who "treacherously passed him a poisoned drink" is reliable, Andrew's inactivity was because of illness. + +Andrew decided to return home at the very beginning of 1218, even though Raoul of Merencourt, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, threatened him with excommunication. Andrew first visited Tripoli and participated in the marriage of Bohemond IV of Antioch and Melisende of Lusignan on 10 January. From Tripoli, he travelled to Cilicia, where he and Leo I of Armenia betrothed Andrew's youngest son, Andrew, and Leo's daughter, Isabella. Andrew proceeded through the Seldjuk Sultanate of Rum before arriving in Nicaea (now İznik, Turkey). His cousins (the sons of his uncle, Géza) attacked him when he was in Nicaea. He arranged the marriage of his oldest son, Béla, to Maria Laskarina, a daughter of Emperor Theodore I Laskaris. When he arrived in Bulgaria, Andrew was detained until he "gave full surety that his daughter would be united in marriage" to Ivan Asen II of Bulgaria, according to Thomas the Archdeacon. Andrew returned to Hungary in late 1218. Andrew's "crusade had achieved nothing and brought him no honor", according to historian Thomas Van Cleve. Oliver of Paderborn, James of Vitry and other 13th-century authors blamed Andrew for the failure of the crusade. Stephen Donnachie says that "...from examining Honorius’s registers and the diplomatic communications between Andrew and the papal curia, Andrew’s genuine commitment to the crusade should not be doubted nor his extensive preparations for the campaign dismissed, even if he did ultimately bungle his opportunity." + +Golden Bull (1218–1222) + +When he returned to Hungary, Andrew complained to Pope Honorius that his kingdom was "in a miserable and destroyed state, deprived of all of its revenues." A group of barons had even expelled Archbishop John from Hungary. Andrew was in massive debt because of his crusade, which forced him to impose extraordinarily high taxes and debase coinage. In 1218 or 1219, Mstislav Mstislavich invaded Halych and captured Andrew's son, Coloman. Andrew compromised with Mstislavich. Coloman was released, and Andrew's youngest son and namesake was betrothed to Mstislavich's daughter. In 1220, a group of lords persuaded Andrew to make his eldest son, Béla, the duke of Croatia, Dalmatia and Slavonia. + +Andrew employed Jews and Muslims to administer royal revenues, which caused a discord between Andrew and the Holy See starting in the early 1220s. Pope Honorius urged Andrew and Queen Yolanda to prohibit Muslims from employing Christians. Andrew confirmed the privileges of clergymen, including their exemption from taxes and their right to be exclusively judged by church courts, but also prohibited the consecration of udvornici, castle folk and other serfs in early 1222. However, a new conflict emerged between Andrew and the Holy See after he persuaded Béla to separate from his wife, Maria Laskarina. An "immense crowd" approached Andrew around April 1222, demanding "grave and unjust things", according to a letter of Pope Honorius. Actually, the royal servantswho were landowners directly subject to the monarch's power and obliged to fight in the royal armyassembled, forcing Andrew to dismiss Julius Kán and his other officials. Andrew was also forced to issue a royal charter, the Golden Bull of 1222. The charter summarized the liberties of the royal servants, including their exemption from taxes and the jurisdiction of the ispáns. The last clause of the Golden Bull authorized "the bishops as well as the other barons and nobles of the realm, singularly and in common" to resist the monarch if he did not honor the provisions of the charter. The Golden Bull clearly distinguished the royal servants from the king's other subjects, which led to the rise of the Hungarian nobility. The Golden Bull is commonly compared with England's Magna Carta – a similar charter which was sealed a few years earlier in 1215. A significant difference between them is that, in England, the settlement strengthened the position of all the royal subjects but, in Hungary, the aristocracy came to dominate both the crown and the lower orders. + +Conflicts with son and the Church (1222–1234) + +Andrew discharged Palatine Theodore Csanád and restored Julius Kán in the second half of 1222. The following year, Pope Honorius urged Andrew to launch a new crusade. If the report of the Continuatio Claustroneuburgensis is reliable, Andrew took the cross to show that he intended to launch a new crusade, but no other sources mention this event. Andrew planned to arrange a new marriage for his eldest son, Béla, but Pope Honorius mediated a reconciliation between Béla and his wife in the autumn of 1223. This angered Andrew, and Béla fled to Austria. He returned in 1224 after the bishops persuaded Andrew to forgive him. + +In his Diploma Andreanum of 1224, Andrew confirmed the privileges of the "Saxons" who inhabited the region of Hermannstadt in southern Transylvania (now Sibiu, Romania). The following year, he launched a campaign against the Teutonic Knights, who had attempted to eliminate his suzerainty. The Knights were forced to leave Barcaság and the neighboring lands. Andrew's envoys and Leopold VI of Austria signed a treaty on 6 June, which ended the armed conflicts along the Hungarian-Austrian border. As part of the treaty, Leopold VI paid an indemnification for the damages that his troops had caused in Hungary. Andrew made his oldest son, Béla, Duke of Transylvania. Béla's former duchy was given to Andrew's second son, Coloman, in 1226. Duke Béla started expanding his suzerainty over the Cumans, who inhabited the lands east of the Carpathian Mountains. Andrew launched a campaign against Mstislav Mstislavich in 1226 because the latter refused to grant Halych to Andrew's youngest son despite a previous compromise. Andrew besieged and captured Przemyśl, Terebovl, and other fortresses in Halych. However, his troops were routed at Kremenets and Zvenigorod, forcing him to withdraw. Despite his victories, Mstislavich ceded Halych to Andrew's son in early 1227. + +In 1228, Andrew authorized his son, Béla, to revise his previous land grants. Pope Honorius also supported Béla's efforts. Béla confiscated the domains of two noblemen, Simon Kacsics and Bánk Bár-Kalán, who had taken part in the conspiracy to murder Queen Gertrude. In 1229, upon Béla's proposal, Andrew confirmed the privileges of the Cuman chieftains who had subjected themselves to Béla. Robert, Archbishop of Esztergom, made a complaint about Andrew to the Holy See, because Andrew continued to employ Jews and Muslims. Pope Gregory IX authorized the archbishop to perform acts of religious censure to persuade Andrew to dismiss his non-Christian officials. Under duress, Andrew issued a new Golden Bull in 1231, which confirmed that Muslims were banned from employment, and empowered the Archbishop of Esztergom to excommunicate the king if he failed to honor the provisions of the new Golden Bull. In the second half of the year, Andrew invaded Halych and restored his youngest son, Andrew, to the throne. + +Archbishop Robert excommunicated Palatine Denis and put Hungary under an interdict on 25 February 1232, because the employment of Jews and Muslims continued despite the Golden Bull of 1231. Since the archbishop accused the Muslims of persuading Andrew to seize church property, Andrew restored properties to the archbishop, who soon suspended the interdict. Upon Andrew's demand, Pope Gregory sent Cardinal Giacomo di Pecorari as his legate to Hungary and promised that nobody would be excommunicated without the pope's special authorization. Although Andrew departed for Halych to support his youngest son in a fight against Daniel Romanivich, he continued his negotiations with the papal legate. On 20 August 1233, in the forests of Bereg, he vowed that he would not employ Jews and Muslims to administrate royal revenues, and would pay 10,000 marks as compensation for usurped Church revenues. Andrew repeated his oath in Esztergom in September. + +Andrew and Frederick II, Duke of Austria, signed a peace treaty in late 1233. Andrew, who had been widowed, married the 23-year-old Beatrice D'Este on 14 May 1234, even though his sons were sharply opposed to his third marriage. John, Bishop of Bosnia, put Hungary under a new interdict in the first half of 1234, because Andrew had not dismissed his non-Christian officials despite his oath of Bereg. Andrew and Archbishop Robert of Esztergom protested against the bishop's act at the Holy See. + +Last years (1234–1235) + +Danilo Romanovich laid siege to Halych, and Andrew's youngest son died during the siege in the autumn of 1234. However, Andrew stormed Austria in the summer of 1235, forcing Duke Frederick to pay an indemnification for damages that his troops had caused while raiding Hungary. Upon Andrew's demand, Pope Gregory declared on 31 August that Andrew and his sons could only be excommunicated by the authorization of the Holy See. Andrew died on 21 September, and was buried in Egres Abbey. + +Family + +Andrew's first wife, Gertrude of Merania, was born around 1185, according to historian Gyula Kristó. Their first child, Mary, was born in 1203 or 1204. She became the wife of Ivan Asen II of Bulgaria. Andrew's eldest son, Béla, was born in 1206. He later succeeded his father as king. Béla's younger sister, Elisabeth, was born in 1207. She married Louis IV, Landgrave of Thuringia. She died in 1231 and was canonized during Andrew's life. Andrew's second son, Coloman, was born in 1208. His third son, Andrew, was born around 1210. Coloman and Andrew each ruled the Principality of Halych for a short period. + +Two years after his first wife was murdered, Andrew married Yolanda de Courtenay, who was born around 1198. Their only child, Yolanda, was born around 1219 and married James I of Aragon. Andrew's third wife, Beatrice D'Este, was about twenty-three when they married in 1234. She gave birth to a son, Stephen, after Andrew's death. However, Andrew's two older sons, Béla and Coloman, accused her of adultery and considered her child to be a bastard. Her grandson, Andrew, became the last monarch of the House of Árpád. + +Notes + +References + +Sources + +Primary sources + +Anonymus, Notary of King Béla: The Deeds of the Hungarians (Edited, Translated and Annotated by Martyn Rady and László Veszprémy) (2010). In: Rady, Martyn; Veszprémy, László; Bak, János M. (2010); Anonymus and Master Roger; CEU Press; . +Archdeacon Thomas of Split: History of the Bishops of Salona and Split (Latin text by Olga Perić, edited, translated and annotated by Damir Karbić, Mirjana Matijević Sokol and James Ross Sweeney) (2006). CEU Press. . +The Hypatian Codex II: The Galician-Volynian Chronicle (An annotated translation by George A. Perfecky) (1973). Wilhelm Fink Verlag. LCCN 72-79463. + +Secondary sources + + + + + + +1170s births +1235 deaths +Kings of Hungary +Kings of Croatia +13th-century monarchs in Europe +House of Árpád +Christians of the Fifth Crusade +Burials at Oradea Cathedral, Crişana +12th-century Hungarian people +13th-century Hungarian people +Princes of Halych +Hungarian monarchs +An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding is a book by the Scottish empiricist philosopher David Hume, published in English in 1748. It was a revision of an earlier effort, Hume's A Treatise of Human Nature, published anonymously in London in 1739–40. Hume was disappointed with the reception of the Treatise, which "fell dead-born from the press," as he put it, and so tried again to disseminate his more developed ideas to the public by writing a shorter and more polemical work. + +The end product of his labours was the Enquiry. The Enquiry dispensed with much of the material from the Treatise, in favor of clarifying and emphasizing its most important aspects. For example, Hume's views on personal identity do not appear. However, more vital propositions, such as Hume's argument for the role of habit in a theory of knowledge, are retained. + +This book has proven highly influential, both in the years that would immediately follow and today. Immanuel Kant points to it as the book which woke him from his self-described "dogmatic slumber." The Enquiry is widely regarded as a classic in modern philosophical literature. + +Content +The argument of the Enquiry proceeds by a series of incremental steps, separated into chapters which logically succeed one another. After expounding his epistemology, Hume explains how to apply his principles to specific topics. + +1. Of the different species of philosophy + +In the first section of the Enquiry, Hume provides a rough introduction to philosophy as a whole. For Hume, philosophy can be split into two general parts: natural philosophy and the philosophy of human nature (or, as he calls it, "moral philosophy"). The latter investigates both actions and thoughts. He emphasizes in this section, by way of warning, that philosophers with nuanced thoughts will likely be cast aside in favor of those whose conclusions more intuitively match popular opinion. However, he insists, precision helps art and craft of all kinds, including the craft of philosophy. + +2. Of the origin of ideas + +Next, Hume discusses the distinction between impressions and ideas. By "impressions", he means sensations, while by "ideas", he means memories and imaginings. According to Hume, the difference between the two is that ideas are less vivacious than impressions. For example, the idea of the taste of an orange is far inferior to the impression (or sensation) of actually eating one. Writing within the tradition of empiricism, he argues that impressions are the source of all ideas. + +Hume accepts that ideas may be either the product of mere sensation or of the imagination working in conjunction with sensation. According to Hume, the creative faculty makes use of (at least) four mental operations that produce imaginings out of sense-impressions. These operations are compounding (or the addition of one idea onto another, such as a horn on a horse to create a unicorn); transposing (or the substitution of one part of a thing with the part from another, such as with the body of a man upon a horse to make a centaur); augmenting (as with the case of a giant, whose size has been augmented); and diminishing (as with Lilliputians, whose size has been diminished). (Hume 1974:317) In a later chapter, he also mentions the operations of mixing, separating, and dividing. (Hume 1974:340) + +However, Hume admits that there is one objection to his account: the problem of "The Missing Shade of Blue". In this thought-experiment, he asks us to imagine a man who has experienced every shade of blue except for one (see Fig. 1). He predicts that this man will be able to divine the color of this particular shade of blue, despite the fact that he has never experienced it. This seems to pose a serious problem for the empirical account, though Hume brushes it aside as an exceptional case by stating that one may experience a novel idea that itself is derived from combinations of previous impressions. (Hume 1974:319) + +3. Of the association of ideas + +In this chapter, Hume discusses how thoughts tend to come in sequences, as in trains of thought. He explains that there are at least three kinds of associations between ideas: resemblance, contiguity in space-time, and cause-and-effect. He argues that there must be some universal principle that must account for the various sorts of connections that exist between ideas. However, he does not immediately show what this principle might be. (Hume 1974:320-321) + +4. Sceptical doubts concerning the operations of the understanding (in two parts) + +In the first part, Hume discusses how the objects of inquiry are either "relations of ideas" or "matters of fact", which is roughly the distinction between analytic and synthetic propositions. The former, he tells the reader, are proved by demonstration, while the latter are given through experience. (Hume 1974:322) In explaining how matters of fact are entirely a product of experience, he dismisses the notion that they may be arrived at through a priori reasoning. For Hume, every effect only follows its cause arbitrarily—they are entirely distinct from one another. (Hume 1974:324) + +In part two, Hume inquires into how anyone can justifiably believe that experience yields any conclusions about the world: + +"When it is asked, What is the nature of all our reasonings concerning matter of fact? the proper answer seems to be, that they are founded on the relation of cause and effect. When again it is asked, What is the foundation of all our reasonings and conclusions concerning that relation? it may be replied in one word, experience. But if we still carry on our sifting humor, and ask, What is the foundation of all conclusions from experience? this implies a new question, which may be of more difficult solution and explication." (Hume 1974:328) + +He shows how a satisfying argument for the validity of experience can be based neither on demonstration (since "it implies no contradiction that the course of nature may change") nor experience (since that would be a circular argument). (Hume 1974:330-332) Here he is describing what would become known as the problem of induction. + +5. Sceptical solution of these doubts (in two parts) + +According to Hume, we assume that experience tells us something about the world because of habit or custom, which human nature forces us to take seriously. This is also, presumably, the "principle" that organizes the connections between ideas. Indeed, one of the many famous passages of the Enquiry is on the topic of the incorrigibility of human custom. In Section XII, Of the academical or sceptical philosophy, Hume will argue, + +"The great subverter of Pyrrhonism or the excessive principles of skepticism is action, and employment, and the occupations of common life. These principles may flourish and triumph in the schools; where it is, indeed, difficult, if not impossible, to refute them. But as soon as they leave the shade, and by the presence of the real objects, which actuate our passions and sentiments, are put in opposition to the more powerful principles of our nature, they vanish like smoke, and leave the most determined skeptic in the same condition as other mortals." (Hume 1974:425) + +In the second part, he provides an account of beliefs. He explains that the difference between belief and fiction is that the former produces a certain feeling of confidence which the latter doesn't. (Hume 1974:340) + +6. Of probability + +This short chapter begins with the notions of probability and chance. For him, "probability" means a higher chance of occurring, and brings about a higher degree of subjective expectation in the viewer. By "chance", he means all those particular comprehensible events which the viewer considers possible in accord with the viewer's experience. However, further experience takes these equal chances, and forces the imagination to observe that certain chances arise more frequently than others. These gentle forces upon the imagination cause the viewer to have strong beliefs in outcomes. This effect may be understood as another case of custom or habit taking past experience and using it to predict the future. (Hume 1974:346-348) + +7. Of the idea of necessary connection (in two parts) + +By "necessary connection", Hume means the power or force which necessarily ties one idea to another. He rejects the notion that any sensible qualities are necessarily conjoined, since that would mean we could know something prior to experience. Unlike his predecessors, Berkeley and Locke, Hume rejects the idea that volitions or impulses of the will may be inferred to necessarily connect to the actions they produce by way of some sense of the power of the will. He reasons that, 1. if we knew the nature of this power, then the mind-body divide would seem totally unmysterious to us; 2. if we had immediate knowledge of this mysterious power, then we would be able to intuitively explain why it is that we can control some parts of our bodies (e.g., our hands or tongues), and not others (e.g., the liver or heart); 3. we have no immediate knowledge of the powers which allow an impulse of volition to create an action (e.g., of the "muscles, and nerves, and animal spirits" which are the immediate cause of an action). (Hume 1974:353-354) He produces like arguments against the notion that we have knowledge of these powers as they affect the mind alone. (Hume 1974:355-356) He also argues in brief against the idea that causes are mere occasions of the will of some god(s), a view associated with the philosopher Nicolas Malebranche. (Hume 1974:356-359) + +Having dispensed with these alternative explanations, he identifies the source of our knowledge of necessary connections as arising out of observation of constant conjunction of certain impressions across many instances. In this way, people know of necessity through rigorous custom or habit, and not from any immediate knowledge of the powers of the will. (Hume 1974:361) + +8. Of liberty and necessity (in two parts) + +Here Hume tackles the problem of how liberty may be reconciled with metaphysical necessity (otherwise known as a compatibilist formulation of free will). Hume believes that all disputes on the subject have been merely verbal arguments—that is to say, arguments which are based on a lack of prior agreement on definitions. He first shows that it is clear that most events are deterministic, but human actions are more controversial. However, he thinks that these too occur out of necessity since an outside observer can see the same regularity that he would in a purely physical system. To show the compatibility of necessity and liberty, Hume defines liberty as the ability to act on the basis of one's will e.g. the capacity to will one's actions but not to will one's will. He then shows (quite briefly) how determinism and free will are compatible notions, and have no bad consequences on ethics or moral life. + +9. Of the reason of animals + +Hume insists that the conclusions of the Enquiry will be very powerful if they can be shown to apply to animals and not just humans. He believed that animals were able to infer the relation between cause and effect in the same way that humans do: through learned expectations. (Hume 1974:384) He also notes that this "inferential" ability that animals have is not through reason, but custom alone. Hume concludes that there is an innate faculty of instincts which both beasts and humans share, namely, the ability to reason experimentally (through custom). Nevertheless, he admits, humans and animals differ in mental faculties in a number of ways, including: differences in memory and attention, inferential abilities, ability to make deductions in a long chain, ability to grasp ideas more or less clearly, the human capacity to worry about conflating unrelated circumstances, a sagely prudence which arrests generalizations, a capacity for a greater inner library of analogies to reason with, an ability to detach oneself and scrap one's own biases, and an ability to converse through language (and thus gain from the experience of others' testimonies). (Hume 1974:385, footnote 17.) + +10. Of miracles (in two parts) + +The next topic which Hume strives to give treatment is that of the reliability of human testimony, and of the role that testimony plays a part in epistemology. This was not an idle concern for Hume. Depending on its outcome, the entire treatment would give the epistemologist a degree of certitude in the treatment of miracles. + +True to his empirical thesis, Hume tells the reader that, though testimony does have some force, it is never quite as powerful as the direct evidence of the senses. That said, he provides some reasons why we may have a basis for trust in the testimony of persons: because a) human memory can be relatively tenacious; and b) because people are inclined to tell the truth, and ashamed of telling falsities. Needless to say, these reasons are only to be trusted to the extent that they conform to experience. (Hume 1974:389) + +And there are a number of reasons to be skeptical of human testimony, also based on experience. If a) testimonies conflict one another, b) there are a small number of witnesses, c) the speaker has no integrity, d) the speaker is overly hesitant or bold, or e) the speaker is known to have motives for lying, then the epistemologist has reason to be skeptical of the speaker's claims. (Hume 1974:390) + +There is one final criterion that Hume thinks gives us warrant to doubt any given testimony, and that is f) if the propositions being communicated are miraculous. Hume understands a miracle to be any event which contradicts the laws of nature. He argues that the laws of nature have an overwhelming body of evidence behind them, and are so well demonstrated to everyone's experience, that any deviation from those laws necessarily flies in the face of all evidence. (Hume 1974:391-392) + +Moreover, he stresses that talk of the miraculous has no surface validity, for four reasons. First, he explains that in all of history there has never been a miracle which was attested to by a wide body of disinterested experts. Second, he notes that human beings delight in a sense of wonder, and this provides a villain with an opportunity to manipulate others. Third, he thinks that those who hold onto the miraculous have tended towards barbarism. Finally, since testimonies tend to conflict with one another when it comes to the miraculous—that is, one man's religious miracle may be contradicted by another man's miracle—any testimony relating to the fantastic is self-denunciating. (Hume 1974:393-398) + +Still, Hume takes care to warn that historians are generally to be trusted with confidence, so long as their reports on facts are extensive and uniform. However, he seems to suggest that historians are as fallible at interpreting the facts as the rest of humanity. Thus, if every historian were to claim that there was a solar eclipse in the year 1600, then though we might at first naively regard that as in violation of natural laws, we'd come to accept it as a fact. But if every historian were to assert that Queen Elizabeth was observed walking around happy and healthy after her funeral, and then interpreted that to mean that they had risen from the dead, then we'd have reason to appeal to natural laws in order to dispute their interpretation. (Hume 1974:400-402) + +11. Of a particular providence and of a future state + +Hume continues his application of epistemology to theology by an extended discussion on heaven and hell. The brunt of this chapter allegedly narrates the opinions, not of Hume, but of one of Hume's anonymous friends, who again presents them in an imagined speech by the philosopher Epicurus. His friend argues that, though it is possible to trace a cause from an effect, it is not possible to infer unseen effects from a cause thus traced. The friend insists, then, that even though we might postulate that there is a first cause behind all things—God—we can't infer anything about the afterlife, because we don't know anything of the afterlife from experience, and we can't infer it from the existence of God. (Hume 1974:408) + +Hume offers his friend an objection: if we see an unfinished building, then can't we infer that it has been created by humans with certain intentions, and that it will be finished in the future? His friend concurs, but indicates that there is a relevant disanalogy that we can't pretend to know the contents of the mind of God, while we can know the designs of other humans. Hume seems essentially persuaded by his friend's reasoning. (Hume 1974:412-414) + +12. Of the academical or skeptical philosophy (in three parts) + +The first section of the last chapter is well organized as an outline of various skeptical arguments. The treatment includes the arguments of atheism, Cartesian skepticism, "light" skepticism, and rationalist critiques of empiricism. Hume shows that even light skepticism leads to crushing doubts about the world which - while they ultimately are philosophically justifiable - may only be combated through the non-philosophical adherence to custom or habit. He ends the section with his own reservations towards Cartesian and Lockean epistemologies. + +In the second section he returns to the topic of hard skepticism by sharply denouncing it. + +"For here is the chief and most confounding objection to excessive skepticism, that no durable good can ever result from it; while it remains in its full force and vigor. We need only ask such a skeptic, What his meaning is? And what he proposes by all these curious researches? He is immediately at a loss, and knows not what to answer... a Pyrrhonian cannot expect, that his philosophy will have any constant influence on the mind: or if it had, that its influence would be beneficial to society. On the contrary, he must acknowledge, if he will acknowledge anything, that all human life must perish, were his principles universally and steadily to prevail." (Hume 1974:426) + +He concludes the volume by setting out the limits of knowledge once and for all. "When we run over libraries, persuaded of these principles, what havoc must we make? If we take in our hand any volume; of divinity or school metaphysics, for instance; let us ask, Does it contain any abstract reasoning concerning quantity or number? No. Does it contain any experimental reasoning concerning matter of fact and existence? No. Commit it then to the flames: for it can contain nothing but sophistry and illusion." + +Critiques and rejoinders +The criteria Hume lists in his examination of the validity of human testimony are roughly upheld in modern social psychology, under the rubric of the communication-persuasion paradigm. Supporting literature includes: the work of social impact theory, which discusses persuasion in part through the number of persons engaging in influence; as well as studies made on the relative influence of communicator credibility in different kinds of persuasion; and examinations of the trustworthiness of the speaker. + +The "custom" view of learning can in many ways be likened to associationist psychology. This point of view has been subject to severe criticism in the research of the 20th century. Still, testing on the subject has been somewhat divided. Testing on certain animals like cats have concluded that they do not possess any faculty which allow their minds to grasp an insight into cause and effect. However, it has been shown that some animals, like chimpanzees, were able to generate creative plans of action to achieve their goals, and thus would seem to have a causal insight which transcends mere custom. + +References + +External links + + + An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding: Mirrored at eBooks@Adelaide + + + A version of this work, slightly edited for easier reading + An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding The Enquiry hosted at infidels.org + +1748 non-fiction books +Books by David Hume +Epistemology literature +André de Longjumeau (also known as Andrew of Longjumeau in English) was a 13th-century Dominican missionary and diplomat and one of the most active Occidental diplomats in the East in the 13th century. He led two embassies to the Mongols: the first carried letters from Pope Innocent IV and the second bore gifts and letters from Louis IX of France to Güyük Khan. Well acquainted with the Middle-East, he spoke Arabic and "Chaldean" (thought to be either Syriac or Persian). + +Mission for the holy Crown of Thorns + +André's first mission to the East was when he was asked by the French king Louis IX to go to Constantinople to obtain the Crown of Thorns which had been sold to him by the Latin Emperor Baldwin II in 1238, who was anxious to obtain support for his empire. André was accompanied on this mission by a Dominican friar, brother Jacques. + +Papal mission to the Mongols (1245–1247) +André of Longjumeau led one of four missions dispatched to the Mongols by Pope Innocent IV. He left Lyon in the spring of 1245 for the Levant. +He visited Muslim principalities in Syria and representatives of the Nestorian and Jacobite churches in Persia, finally delivering the papal correspondence to a Mongol general near Tabriz. In Tabriz, André de Longjumeau met with a monk from the Far East, named Simeon Rabban Ata, who had been put in charge by the Khan of protecting the Christians in the Middle-East. + +Second mission to the Mongols (1249–1251) + +At the Mongol camp near Kars, André had met a certain David, who in December 1248 appeared at the court of King Louis IX of France in Cyprus. André, who was now with the French King, interpreted David’s words as a real or pretended offer of alliance from the Mongol general Eljigidei, and a proposal of a joint attack upon the Islamic powers of Syria. In reply to this the French sovereign dispatched André as his ambassador to Güyük Khan. Longjumeau went with his brother Jacques (also a Dominican) and several others – John Goderiche, John of Carcassonne, Herbert "Le Sommelier", Gerbert of Sens, Robert (a clerk), a certain William, and an unnamed clerk of Poissy. + +The party set out on 16 February 1249, with letters from King Louis and the papal legate, and lavish presents, including a chapel-tent lined with scarlet cloth and embroidered with sacred pictures. From Cyprus they went to the port of Antioch in Syria, and thence traveled for a year to the Khan's court, going ten leagues (55.56 kilometers) per day. Their route led them through Persia, along the southern and eastern shores of the Caspian Sea, and certainly through Talas, north-east of Tashkent. + +On arrival at the supreme Mongol court – either that on the Imyl river (near Lake Alakol and the present Russo-Chinese frontier in the Altai), or more probably at or near Karakorum itself, south-west of Lake Baikal – André found Güyük Khan dead, poisoned, as the envoy supposed, by Batu Khan's agents. The regent-mother Oghul Qaimish (the "Camus" of William of Rubruck) seems to have received and dismissed him with presents and a dismissive letter for Louis IX. But it is certain that before the friar had left "Tartary", Möngke, Güyük's successor, had been elected. + +André's report to his sovereign, whom he rejoined in 1251 at Caesarea in Palestine, appears to have been a mixture of history and fable; the latter affects his narrative of the Mongols' rise to greatness, and the struggles of their leader Genghis Khan with the mythical Prester John, and in the supposed location of the Mongols' homeland, close to the prison of Gog and Magog. On the other hand, the envoy's account of Mongol customs is fairly accurate, and his statements about Mongol Christianity and its prosperity, though perhaps exaggerated (e.g. as to the 800 chapels on wheels in the nomadic host) are likely factual. + +Mounds of bones marked his road, witnesses of devastations that other historians record in detail. He found Christian prisoners from Germany in the heart of "Tartary" (at Talas) and was compelled to observe the ceremony of passing between two fires, as a bringer of gifts to a dead Khan, gifts which were treated by the Mongols as evidence of submission. This insulting behavior, and the language of the letter with which André reappeared, marked the mission a failure: King Louis, says Joinville, "se repenti fort" ("felt very sorry"). + +Death +The date and location of André's death is unknown. + +We only know of André through references in other writers: see especially William of Rubruck's in Recueil de voyages, iv. (Paris, 1839), pp. 261, 265, 279, 296, 310, 353, 363, 370; Joinville, ed. Francisque Michel (1858, etc.), pp. 142, etc.; Jean Pierre Sarrasin, in same vol., pp. 254–235; William of Nangis in Recueil des historiens des Gaules, xx. 359–367; Rémusat, Mémoires sur les relations politiques des princes chrétiens… avec les… Mongols (1822, etc.), p. 52. + +See also +Giovanni da Pian del Carpine +Lawrence of Portugal +Ascelin of Lombardia +Simon of St Quentin +Exploration of Asia +Franco-Mongol alliance + +Notes + +References + + + + +13th-century explorers +French Dominicans +Roman Catholic missionaries in Mongolia +Diplomats of the Holy See +Holy See–Mongolia relations +French diplomats +France–Mongolia relations +French explorers +Explorers of Asia +13th-century births +13th-century deaths +Ambassadors to the Mongol Empire +French Roman Catholic missionaries +Dominican missionaries +French expatriates in Mongolia +13th-century diplomats +Christians of the Sixth Crusade +Andriscus (, Andrískos; 154/153 BC – 146 BC), also often referenced as Pseudo-Philip, was a Greek pretender who became the last independent king of Macedon in 149 BC as Philip VI (, Philipos), based on his claim of being Philip, a now-obscure son of the last legitimate Macedonian king, Perseus. His reign lasted just one year and was toppled by the Roman Republic during the Fourth Macedonian War. + +Ancient sources generally agree that he was originally a fuller from Adramyttium in Aeolis in western Anatolia. Around 153 BC, his ancestry was supposedly revealed to him, upon which he travelled to the court of his claimed uncle, the Seleucid monarch Demetrius I Soter, to request assistance in claiming his throne. Demetrius refused and had him sent to Rome, where he was judged harmless and exiled to a city in Italy; he managed to escape, and after gathering support, primarily from Thrace, he launched an invasion of Macedon, defeating Rome's clients and establishing his rule as king. The Romans naturally reacted militarily, triggering war; after some initial successes, Andriscus was defeated and captured by the praetor Quintus Caecilius Metellus Macedonicus, who subdued Macedon once again. + +He was imprisoned for two years before being paraded in Metellus' triumph in 146 BC, after which he was executed. In the aftermath of his revolt, the Romans established the Roman province of Macedonia, ending Macedonian independence and establishing a permanent presence in the region. + +Origins and early life +Details of his origins are vague and sometimes conflicting, though it is generally believed that he was a fuller from Adramyttium in Aeolis in western Anatolia. His exact date of birth is unknown, though according to his own story, he was "of maturity" when he made his claims of royalty in 154 BC, and had been raised by a Cretan in Adramyttium. + +By his own claims, he was educated at Adramyttium until adolescence, until the Cretan died, after which he was raised with his foster mother. Upon reaching maturity, his mother (or foster mother, according to his claim) gave him a sealed parchment that was supposedly written by Perseus himself, along with the knowledge of the location of two hidden treasures, at Amphipolis and Thessalonica; he would later use these to advance his claims. Ancient sources are unanimous in calling him an impostor and dismiss the story as false; Niese suggests that there is a possibility of his claims being true, but generally agrees that he was a pretender; his main advantage in his claims was his close resemblance to Perseus. + +Around 154/153 BC, he left Pergamon for Syria, where he declared his claim to be the illegitimate son of Perseus by a concubine. According to his own account, it was due to his mother (or foster mother) urging him to leave Pergamon to avoid the wrath of the pro-Roman Eumenes II. + +Claiming the throne + +In Syria +He first staked his claim in Syria. Livy and Cassius Dio write that he simply went from Pergamon to Syria and directly staked his claim before the Seleucid monarch, Demetrius I Soter. Diodorus Siculus offers a different account. According to him, Andriscus was already a mercenary in Demetrius' army. Due to his resemblance to the former Macedonian king, his comrades started jokingly calling him "son of Perseus"; these jokes soon began becoming serious suspicions, and at one point, Andriscus himself decided to seize the opportunity and claimed that he was indeed the son of Perseus. Niese attempts to reconcile both accounts, suggesting that he might have travelled to Syria and then enlisted as a mercenary before staking his claim. + +He appealed to the king to help him win back his "ancestral" throne, and found great popular support among the Seleucid populace, to the extent that there were riots in the capital, Antioch. Large segments of the Seleucid population were of Macedonian descent, nurturing strong anti-Roman sentiment since the Roman conquest of Macedon in the Third Macedonian War; they were eager to help the claimant. They proceeded to such an extent that there were even calls for deposing the king if he did not help the pretender. Unmoved, or perhaps frightened, Demetrius had Andriscus arrested and sent to Rome. + +In Rome +In Rome, he was brought before the Senate, where Dio writes that he stood "in general contempt" due to what was perceived to be his ordinary nature and transparently false claim. The Romans believed his claim to be fake, because the real Philip had died at Alba Fucens two years after his father Perseus. Considering him harmless, they simply exiled him to an Italian city, but he managed to escape; fleeing Italy, he went to the Greek world, to the city of Miletus. + +Gaining support +In Miletus, he tried to advance his claims further, attracting significant attention and sympathy. When the leaders of Miletus learned about this, they arrested him and sought advice from visiting Roman envoys on what to do with him; the envoys were contemptuous of the pretender and told the Miletans he was safe to release. He continued his travels through Ionia, meeting former acquaintances of Perseus and gaining an audience with Kallipa, a former concubine of Perseus who was now married to Athenaios, brother of the Pergamene king Attalus II Philadelphus. Being a Macedonian by birth, and due to her former connections to the Antigonids, she accepted his claim and agreed to help him, giving him money and slaves, and probably recommending that he travel to Thrace, where he would find a following. + +He was also received favourably in Byzantium. He finally arrived in Thrace, where he met Teres III, who had married the granddaughter of Perseus and was the son of Cotys IV, who had once been an ally of Perseus. Teres and the other Thracian chieftains, especially a certain Barsabas, received him enthusiastically; he held a coronation ceremony at Teres' court, was given a few hundred Thracian troops, and set off on his campaign. + +Conquest of Macedon +His first attempt to invade was unsuccessful, and he initially did not inspire much enthusiasm among the Macedonians; this made the Romans complacent about the pretender. However, he soon managed to encounter a force of Rome's Macedonian client republics, defeating them in Odomantice; he then invaded Macedon proper, defeating Rome's clients on the banks of the Strymon river. Amidst popular acclaim, he crowned himself king at the old Macedonian capital of Pella in 150/149 BC. + +Popular support +Although the Macedonians' initial attitude had been lukewarm, his successes won him popularity and widespread support in Macedon. Anti-Roman sentiment was common in Macedon; the populace was obliging in overthrowing the old regime. Support for Andriscus was not uniform — there was significantly more hesitation among the gentry and upper classes, and somewhat more enthusiasm among the lower classes — but the popular mood was largely in his favour. His claims were bolstered by his correct prediction of the locations of two treasures, which he claimed were specified in the "sealed writing" that had been handed to his caretakers by Perseus, and had later been given to him. Even if there were apprehensions about the veracity of his claim, Niese notes that "one liked to believe what one wished; the re-establishment of Macedonia enabled liberation from the burden of Roman rule. The longer these burdens had been borne, the happier they [the Macedonians] were at the prospect of Macedonia under a king restored from the old lineage." + +However, it has also been suggested that the extent of his support may not have been as widespread as often believed, and that a significant amount of the Macedonian populace remained pro-republican and pro-Roman. The relative lack of reprisals towards Macedon after his defeat, as compared to the destructions of Corinth and Carthage in the same period, has been suggested as evidence for this theory. + +Reign + +Military campaigns + +Andriscus' reign was defined to a significant degree by his military campaigns, due to his being in a constant state of war with Rome. After his conquest of the Kingdom, he enlarged the army and began campaigns to conquer Thessaly, a key part of the realm of the old Antigonids. Initial resistance to him were from ad hoc forces of Roman allies in Greece, a few Roman units and legates in the region and some resistance from the remnants of Rome's client republics in Macedon, some elements of which seem to have survived for some time into his reign. Soon, however, the Romans sent a legion under the praetor Publius Juventius Thalna to defeat the pretender. + +Thalna, however, appears to have underestimated Andriscus' strength, not taking into account the fact that the king's army had grown dramatically since his enthronement. Andriscus attacked and fought him at an unspecified location in Thessaly (Dio gives it as "near the borders of Macedon"); details of the engagement are scarce, but Thalna was killed and his forces almost annihilated. It was the worst defeat Rome would suffer at the hands of the Macedonians; Florus remarks on the irony of how "they that were invincible against real kings, were defeated by this imaginary and pretended king". The victory greatly increased the king's prestige; he obtained an alliance with Carthage, and his domestic popularity was increased dramatically, allowing him to stamp out republican resistance and conquer Thessaly. + +Foreign policy +At first, Andriscus attempted to negotiate his position with Rome, but when it became clear that they would not recognize his throne, he embarked on a strongly anti-Roman policy, He continued to cultivate his relations with his Thracian allies, to whom he owed his throne; they would continue to provide significant forces for him during his reign. + +Foreign interest in relations with him increased dramatically after his victory over Thalna; as mentioned before, Carthage, which was under attack from Rome in the Third Punic War, allied itself to him and promised him money and ships, though these could not be sent before his ultimate defeat. Significant sympathy, possibly cultivated to a degree by him, arose in Greece; however, the Achaean League remained pro-Roman and continued to resist and fight him. King Attalus II Philadelphus of Pergamon remained staunchly pro-Roman; the Pergamenes were terrified of the prospect of a revived and strong Macedonia on their doorstep. + +Domestic policy +Domestically, Andriscus implemented a strongly anti-Roman and anti-Republican policy. Ancient historians interpreted this as his cruelty and tyranny; it has been suggested that these were simply manifestations of his anti-Roman policy and his persecutions of his opponents, including pro-Roman republicans. + +At the same time, it is also possible that he was indeed tyrannical. His persecutions increased significantly after his victory over Thalna, costing him significant popularity; this would have dire consequences for him later. + +Coinage +The extent and nature of Andriscus' coinage is a matter of debate. It has been suggested that many of his coins were overstrikes of previous Antigonid, republican and Roman coinage. He issued a very small amount of silver drachmae, on which he pictured himself as a Hellenistic king, and added Herakles on the reverse. Only three coins of Andriscus are known, two of which are overstruck, one on a drachm of the Thessalian League, the other on a Roman denarius. It is therefore possible that he also used the denarii he seized as booty after his victory against Thalna to mint his own coins. The coins are also of poor quality, due to the short duration of his reign, the need to reuse old dies and the need to quickly produce wartime coinage. + +Some non-royal coinage has also been discovered and dated to the period of his reign, possibly struck by the remnants of the pro-Roman republics. It has also been suggested that the king was more liberal than implied by the sources, and allowed some degree of independent coinage. + +Downfall and death + +Thalna's defeat shook Roman prestige in the East, and made the Senate realize the full significance of the revolt. They organized a full consular army of two legions under praetor Quintus Caecilius Metellus, to defeat Andriscus and check, if not quell, his uprising. Arriving in Greece in 148 BC, Metellus marched along the Thessalian coast in a combined land and sea advance, while the allied Pergamene fleet threatened the coastal district of northern Macedonia. To protect himself against both offensives, Andriscus took up a defensive position with his main army at Pydna, where Metellus engaged him in battle. In the ensuing Battle of Pydna, Andrisus was decisively defeated. His harsh persecutions during his reign now showed their consequences; this single battle was enough to make him lose control of Macedon, as the people submitted to Metellus. He was forced to flee to Thrace, his original base of support, and began organizing a new army; however, Metellus pursued him swiftly and routed his forces before he could prepare them. Andriscus then fled to the Thracian princeling Byzes; however, Metellus managed to persuade the latter into becoming a Roman ally and handing Andriscus over as a prisoner, ending his reign. + +He remained a prisoner over the next two years, while Metellus subdued any remaining Macedonian resistance, organized Macedon as a province and settled the Achaean War of 146 BC. When Metellus returned to Rome in 146 BC, he received the agnomen Macedonicus for his victory and was granted a triumph. Andriscus was brought in chains and paraded in the triumph, and later executed — the last king to reign over Macedon. + +Assessment and legacy +Ancient sources are extremely hostile, not only to the origins and claims, but also of the character of Andriscus — Diodorus calls him "shot through with cruelty, greed and every base quality"; Dio and Livy call him "a man of the lowest kind". They also describe him as cruel and tyrannical; accusations of tyranny probably reflect his harsh persecutions of pro-Roman and pro-republican elements in Macedon. At the same time, it is possible that he was indeed tyrannical, especially after his victory over Thalna, and perpetrated acts of terrorism and repression against his subjects. + +His main legacy was that in the aftermath of his revolt, the Romans understood the strength of anti-Roman feeling that had arisen in Macedon, and realized that the old administration could not be sustained — a thorough reorganization was necessary. Another reason why reorganization was necessary was that Andriscus' persecutions had killed many pro-Roman republicans and thoroughly disrupted the old administrative structure; it would be difficult to re-establish it. Therefore, the Senate made Macedon a Roman province, with Metellus as its first governor. + +References + +Notes + +Citations + +Sources + +Primary sources + +Velleius Paterculus, Roman history, Book I +Florus, Epitome, Book 1; +Livy, Ab Urbe Condita Libri, Periochae 46-50 and 51-55 +Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica, Book 32 +Polybius, The Histories, Book 37 +Cassius Dio, Roman History, Book 21 + +Secondary sources + +Attribution + +2nd-century BC Macedonian monarchs +Ancient Anatolian Greeks +2nd-century BC Greek people +Pretenders of Macedonia (ancient kingdom) +Impostor pretenders +Andronikos III Palaiologos (; 25 March 1297 – 15 June 1341), commonly Latinized as Andronicus III Palaeologus, was the Byzantine emperor from 1328 to 1341. He was the son of Michael IX Palaiologos and Rita of Armenia. He was proclaimed co-emperor in his youth, before 1313, and in April 1321 he rebelled against his grandfather, Andronikos II Palaiologos. He was formally crowned co-emperor in February 1325, before ousting his grandfather outright and becoming sole emperor on 24 May 1328. + +His reign included the last failed attempts to hold back the Ottoman Turks in Bithynia and the defeat at Rusokastro against the Bulgarians, but also the successful recovery of Chios, Lesbos, Phocaea, Thessaly, and Epirus. His early death left a power vacuum that resulted in the disastrous civil war between his widow, Anna of Savoy, and his closest friend and supporter, John VI Kantakouzenos, leading to the establishment of the Serbian Empire and the entry of the Ottoman Empire into the Balkans. + +Life +Andronikos was born in Constantinople on 25 March 1297. His father, Michael IX Palaiologos, began reigning in full imperial style as co-emperor . + +In March 1318, Andronikos married Irene of Brunswick, daughter of Henry I, Duke of Brunswick-Grubenhagen. In she gave birth to a son, who died in infancy. + +In 1320, Andronikos accidentally caused the death of his brother Manuel, after which their father, co-emperor Michael IX Palaiologos, died in his grief. The homicide and the general dissolute behavior of Andronikos III and his coterie, mostly the young scions of the great aristocratic clans of the Empire, resulted in a deep rift in the relations between young Andronikos and his grandfather, still reigning as Emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos. + +Emperor Andronikos II disowned his grandson Andronikos, who fled the capital, rallied his supporters in Thrace, and began to reign as rival emperor in 1321. Andronikos then waged the intermittent Byzantine civil war of 1321–28 against his reigning grandfather, who granted him to reign as co-emperor Andronikos III. + +Empress Irene died on 16/17 August 1324 with no surviving child. Theodora Palaiologina, sister of Andronikos III, married the new tsar Michael Shishman of Bulgaria in 1324. Andronikos III, then a widower, married Anna of Savoy in October 1326. In 1327 she gave birth to Maria (renamed Irene) Palaiologina. + +Andronikos III concluded the Treaty of Chernomen of 1327, an alliance with tsar Michael Shishman of Bulgaria against Stephen Uroš III Dečanski of Serbia. The Byzantine civil war flared again and ultimately led to the deposition in 1328 of Emperor Andronikos II, who retired to a monastery. + +Reign + +Military history +Ottoman Turks besieged Nicaea in Asia Minor, historically the provisional capital of the Byzantine Empire from the Fourth Crusade until the Byzantine recapture of Constantinople. Andronikos III launched a relief attempt, which Ottoman sultan Orhan defeated at the Battle of Pelekanon on 10 or 15 June 1329. + +Also in 1329, Andronikos III sent a naval expedition against Martino Zaccaria, Genoese ruler of the Lordship of Chios (which also included Samos and Cos). The expedition deposed Zaccaria, and regained Byzantine control of the islands. + +An alliance with Bulgaria failed to secure any gains for the Byzantine empire. On 28 July 1330, the Serbians decisively defeated the Bulgarians in the Battle of Velbazhd (modern Kyustendil, Bulgaria) without significant Byzantine participation. The Ottomans continued to advance in 1331, finally taking Nicaea (İznik). Andronikos III wanted Nicomedia and the other few Byzantine forts in Anatolia not to suffer the same fate and sought to pay off the Ottomans with tribute. + +Andronikos III reorganized and attempted to strengthen the weakened Byzantine navy, which comprised only 10 ships by 1332; in emergencies, he still could muster a hundred extra merchant ships. + +Having failed to gain anything against Serbia, Andronikos III attempted to annex Bulgarian Thrace, but the new tsar Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria defeated Byzantine forces at the Battle of Rusokastro on 18 July 1332. Andronikos III secured peace with Bulgaria by territorial concessions and the marriage of his daughter Maria (renamed Irene) to Ivan Alexander's son, the future Michael Asen IV of Bulgaria. + +The Muslim traveler Ibn Battuta visited Constantinople towards the end of 1332 and mentions meeting Andronikos III in his memoirs. Byzantine sources do not attest to the meeting. + +Stephen Gabrielopoulos, ruler over Thessaly, died circa 1333; taking advantage of the secession crisis, Andronikos III extended Byzantine control over the region. + +Syrgiannes Palaiologos, entrusted with the governorship of Thessalonica, deserted to the side of king Stephen Uroš IV Dušan of Serbia and aided their advance in Macedonia. He led the Serbians to take Kastoria, Ohrid, Prilep, Strumica, and possibly Edessa circa 1334 and advanced as far as Thessalonica. Byzantine general Sphrantzes Palaiologos, posing as a deserter, entered the Serbian camp and killed Syrgiannes Palaiologos, ending his advance and bringing the Serbian army into disarray. In August 1334, the king of Serbia made peace with Andronikos III and allowed his forces to retake control of captured parts of Macedonia. + +Andronikos III meanwhile effected the recovery of Phocaea in 1334 from the last Genoese governor, Domenico Cattaneo. However, this victory failed to stem significantly the Ottoman advance in Asia Minor. Byzantine rule gradually vanished from Anatolia as tribute failed to appease Ottoman sultan Orhan, who took Nicomedia in 1337, leaving only Philadelpheia and a handful of ports under Byzantine control. + +Despite these troubles, Andronikos III took advantage of a secession crisis in the Despotate of Epirus in 1337, regaining Byzantine control from Nikephoros II Orsini. Thessaly was also reconquered by Andronikos III during this period. + +In 1341, the Latin lords of the Peloponnese sent a delegation to Constantinople, seeking to swear allegiance to the Byzantine crown. An ailing Andronikos III then received the Latin delegation on one occasion, shortly before succumbing to an illness on 15 June 1341. + +Domestic policy +John Kantakouzenos, megas domestikos of Andronikos III and later emperor, wielded effective administrative authority during the reign, while the Emperor personally enjoyed hunting and waging war. + +Andronikos III also reformed the judiciary through his creation of a panel of four judges, designated "Universal Justices of the Romans". + +Family + +Andronikos III was first married in 1318 with Irene of Brunswick, daughter of Henry I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg; she died in 1324. They had an unnamed son, who died shortly after birth in 1321. + +In 1326, Andronikos III married as his second wife Anna of Savoy, daughter of Amadeus V, Count of Savoy and of his second wife Marie of Brabant, Countess of Savoy. Their marriage produced several children, including: + + Maria (renamed Eirene) Palaiologina, who married Michael Asen IV of Bulgaria + John V Palaiologos (born 18 June 1332) + Michael Palaiologos, despotes (designated successor) + Irene (renamed Maria) Palaiologina, who married Francesco I Gattilusio. + +According to the contemporary Byzantine historian Nicephorus Gregoras (–1360), Andronikos also had an illegitimate daughter, Irene Palaiologina of Trebizond, who married emperor Basil of Trebizond and took over the throne of the Empire of Trebizond from 1340 to 1341. The contemporary traveller Ibn Battuta (1304–1368/69) also records in his Rihla the existence of another daughter, who had been married to Öz Beg Khan of the Golden Horde, converted to Islam, and taken the name Bayalun. Ibn Battuta claims to have accompanied her to Constantinople from her husband's court in late 1332 or 1334. + +Succession and legacy +Andronikos III died at Constantinople, aged 44, on 15 June 1341, possibly due to chronic malaria, and was buried in the Hodegon Monastery after lying in state at the Hagia Sophia. Historians contend that his reign ended with the Byzantine Empire in a still-tenable situation and generally do not implicate deficiencies in his leadership in its later demise. John V Palaiologos succeeded his father as Byzantine emperor, but at only nine years of age, he required a regent. + +The energetic campaigns of emperor Andronikos III simply lacked sufficient strength to defeat the imperial enemies and led to several significant Byzantine reverses at the hands of Bulgarians, Serbians, and Ottomans. Andronikos III nevertheless provided active leadership and cooperated with able administrators. Under him, the empire came closest to regaining a position of power in the Balkans and the Greek peninsula after the Fourth Crusade. The loss of a few imperial territories in Anatolia, however, left the Ottoman Turks poised to expand into Europe. + +Within a few months after the death of Andronikos III, controversy over the right to exercise the regency over the new emperor John V Palaiologos and the position of John Kantakouzenos as all-powerful chief minister and friend of Andronikos led to the outbreak of the destructive Byzantine civil war of 1341–47, which consumed the resources of the empire and left it in an untenable position. The weakened Byzantine Empire failed to prevent the formation of the Serbian Empire and, more ominously, the Ottoman invasion of Europe. + +See also + +List of Byzantine emperors + +Notes + +References + +External links + + + +Palaiologos dynasty +Andronikos Palaiologos +Andronikos Palaiologos +Eastern Orthodox monarchs +Byzantine people of Armenian descent +14th-century Byzantine emperors +Byzantine people of the Byzantine–Ottoman wars +People from Constantinople +Sons of Byzantine emperors +Andronikos II Palaiologos (; 25 March 1259 – 13 February 1332), Latinized as Andronicus II Palaeologus, reigned as Byzantine emperor from 1282 to 1328. His reign marked the beginning of the recently-restored empire's final decline. The Turks conquered most of Byzantium's remaining Anatolian territories, and Andronikos spent the last years of his reign fighting his own grandson in the First Palaiologan Civil War. The war ended in Andronikos' forced abdication in 1328, after which he retired to a monastery for the remainder of his life. + +Life + +Andronikos was born on 25 March 1259, at Nicaea. He was the eldest surviving son of Michael VIII Palaiologos and Theodora Palaiologina, grandniece of John III Doukas Vatatzes. + +Andronikos was acclaimed co-emperor in 1261, after his father Michael VIII recovered Constantinople from the Latin Empire, but he was not crowned until 8 November 1272. During their joint rule, he was compelled to support his father's unpopular Church union with the Papacy. Made sole emperor by Michael's death in 1282, Andronikos immediately repudiated the union, but was unable to resolve the related schism within the Orthodox clergy until 1310. + +Andronikos II was also plagued by economic difficulties. During his reign the value of the Byzantine hyperpyron depreciated precipitously, while the state treasury accumulated less than one seventh the revenue (in nominal coins) that it had previously. Seeking to increase revenue and reduce expenses, Andronikos II raised taxes, reduced tax exemptions, and dismantled the Byzantine fleet (80 ships) in 1285, thereby making the Empire increasingly dependent on the rival republics of Venice and Genoa. + +In 1291, he hired 50–60 Genoese ships, but the Byzantine weakness resulting from the lack of a navy became painfully apparent in the two wars with Venice in 1296–1302, and later again in 1306–10. In 1320, he tried to resurrect the navy by constructing 20 galleys, but failed. + +Andronikos II Palaiologos sought to resolve some of the problems facing the Byzantine Empire through diplomacy. After the death of his first wife, Anne of Hungary, he married Yolanda (renamed Irene) of Montferrat, putting an end to the Montferrat claim to the Kingdom of Thessalonica. + +Andronikos II also attempted to marry off his son and co-emperor Michael IX Palaiologos to the Latin Empress Catherine I of Courtenay, thus seeking to eliminate Western agitation for a restoration of the Latin Empire. Another marriage alliance attempted to resolve the potential conflict with Serbia in Macedonia, as Andronikos II married off his five-year-old daughter Simonis to King Stefan Milutin in 1298. + +In spite of the resolution of problems in Europe, Andronikos II was faced with the collapse of the Byzantine frontier in Asia Minor, despite the successful, but short, governorships of Alexios Philanthropenos and John Tarchaneiotes. The military victories of Philanthropenos and Tarchaneiotes against the Turks were largely dependent on a considerable contingent of Cretan escapees, or exiles from Venetian-occupied Crete, headed by Hortatzis, whom Michael VIII had repatriated to Byzantium through a treaty agreement with the Venetians ratified in 1277. Andronikos II had resettled those Cretans in the region of Meander river, the southeastern Asia Minor frontier of Byzantium with the Turks. + +After the failure of the co-emperor Michael IX to stem the Turkish advance in Asia Minor in 1302 and the disastrous Battle of Bapheus, the Byzantine government hired the Catalan Company of Almogavars (adventurers from Catalonia) led by Roger de Flor to clear Byzantine Asia Minor of the enemy. In spite of some successes, the Catalans were unable to secure lasting gains. Being more ruthless and savage than the enemy they intended to subdue, they quarreled with Michael IX and eventually turned on their Byzantine employers after the murder of Roger de Flor in 1305. Together with a party of willing Turks they devastated Thrace, Macedonia, and Thessaly on their road to Latin occupied southern Greece. There they conquered the Duchy of Athens and Thebes. + +Meanwhile, the Anatolian beyliks continued to penetrate Byzantine territory. Prusa fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1326, and by the end of Andronikos II's reign much of Bithynia was in the hands of Osman I and his son and heir Orhan. Karasids conquered Mysia-region with Paleokastron after 1296, Germiyan conquered Simav in 1328, Saruhan captured Magnesia in 1313, and Aydinids captured Smyrna in 1310. + +The Empire's problems were exploited by Theodore Svetoslav of Bulgaria, who defeated Michael IX and conquered much of northeastern Thrace in . The conflict ended with yet another dynastic marriage, between Michael IX's daughter Theodora and the Bulgarian emperor. The dissolute behavior of Michael IX's son Andronikos III Palaiologos led to a rift in the family, and after Michael IX's death in 1320, Andronikos II disowned his grandson, prompting a civil war that raged, with interruptions, until 1328. The conflict precipitated Bulgarian involvement, and Michael Asen III of Bulgaria attempted to capture Andronikos II under the guise of sending him military support. In 1328 Andronikos III entered Constantinople in triumph and Andronikos II was forced to abdicate. + +Andronikos II died as a monk at Constantinople in 1332, and was buried in the Lips Monastery (now the Fenari Isa Mosque). + +Fiscal policy +The economic destitution which plagued the reign of Andronikos II caused him to undertake drastic measures to cut state spending. These cuts included the native army, which was reduced to a near-token force and largely superseded, first by foreign mercenary companies and then by militias. As shown by the failed campaign of Andronikos's co-emperor Michael IX, these inexperienced militiamen made countering the Turkish advance a difficult and dangerous undertaking. + +For a time the Byzantine navy was completely disbanded, leaving the empire reliant on Genoese and Venetian forces who charged exorbitantly for their service. Many discharged Byzantine sailors and shipbuilders found employment with the Turkomans, who had just reached the western Anatolian coast and sought to build up their own naval forces. The resulting new fleets contributed greatly to the exploding problem of Turkic piracy in the Aegean Sea, ravaging trade routes and coastal lands alike. + +In 1320, as a result of heightened taxation and more rigorous policies of collection, Andronikos II was able to raise a total of 1 million Hyperpyra for the budgetary year of 1321. He intended to use the money to expand his army to some 3000 horsemen, and to recreate the Byzantine Navy by building 20 ships. This plan, militarily ambitious though still insufficient for the needs of the empire, was disrupted by Andronikos II's impending civil war with his grandson Andronikos III. + +For the sake of comparison, it has to be noted that the Hyperpyron from 1320 was worth half as much as the undebased Nomisma from the reign of Basil II. + +Early Church policy + +As Andronikos broke the church union of his father he also removed many of his church appointments, including the pro-unionist Patriarch John XI. The new, anti-unionist Patriarch Joseph I resigned his office and died the following year, and was replaced by a Cypriot who took the name Gregory II. + +Andronikos also faced the Arsenite Schism, a movement which was anti-union but otherwise had little common ground with the emperor. Its name was derived from the former Patriarch Arsenios, who was removed from office after excommunicating Michael VIII for having blinded and imprisoned John IV. The Arsenites held that the captive John was the rightful Byzantine Emperor and that the Patriarchs John XI, Joseph I, and now Gregory II were illegitimate. + +To try and mend this schism, Gregory called for a church synod to which he invited both the Patriarchs of Alexandria and Antioch, asking them to rescind their previous pro-unionist declaration. The Patriarch of Antioch refused, then abdicated from his office and fled to Syria. Gregory also extracted a public avowal from the Empress Theodora, that she would never ask that her deceased husband Michael VIII receive a Christian burial. Though this Synod did much to satisfy the Orthodox Clergy, it failed to do the same with the Arsenites. + +A few years later Gregory II was forced to resign, as some of his writings were deemed to be heretical. His replacement, chosen by Andronikos in order to distract from an ever-worsening political situation, was an Athonite hermit who took the name Athanasius. The new Patriarch was intensely ascetic, and spent much of his time repudiating clergymen for their earthly possessions; eventually he sought to confiscate property from some of the wealthier churches and monasteries. Many clergymen responded with overt hostility, going as far as pelting him with stones as he walked the streets of Constantinople. Athanasius ceased to appear in public without a bodyguard. + +When in the summer of 1293 Andronikos returned from a visit to his swiftly-dwindling Anatolian holdings, he was met by a delegation of leading clergyman who demanded the deposition of Athanasius. Andronikos was unwilling, but the strength of the opposition eventually forced him to comply. Meanwhile, Athanasius personally penned a church bull in which he excommunicated the clergymen who had denounced him, hiding it in a pillar in the northern gallery of Hagia Sophia. It was only found a few years later, causing much uproar. + +Family +On 8 November 1272 Andronikos II married as his first wife Anna of Hungary, daughter of Stephen V of Hungary and Elizabeth the Cuman, with whom he had two sons: + Michael IX Palaiologos (17 April 127712 October 1320). + Constantine Palaiologos, despotes (1335). Constantine was forced to become a monk by his nephew Andronikos III Palaiologos. + +Anna died in 1281, and in 1284 Andronikos married Yolanda (renamed Irene), a daughter of William VII of Montferrat, with whom he had: + John Palaiologos (–1308), despotes. + Bartholomaios Palaiologos (born 1289), died young. + Theodore I, Marquis of Montferrat (1291–1338). + Simonis Palaiologina (1294 – after 1336), who married King Stefan Milutin of Serbia. + Theodora Palaiologina (born 1295), died young. + Demetrios Palaiologos (1297–1343), despotēs. + Isaakios Palaiologos (born 1299), died young. + +Andronikos II also had at least three illegitimate daughters: + Irene, who first married Ghazan, Khan of Persia, and later John II Doukas, ruler of Thessaly. + Maria, who married Toqta, Khan of the Golden Horde. + A daughter known as Despina Khatun, who married Öljaitü, Khan of the Ilkhanate. + +Foundations + Ardenica Monastery + Panagia Olympiotissa Monastery + Zograf monastery + +See also + +List of Byzantine emperors +Rabban Bar Sauma + +Notes + +References + +External links + + +1259 births +1332 deaths +Palaiologos dynasty +13th-century Byzantine emperors +14th-century Byzantine emperors +Monarchs who abdicated +Eastern Orthodox monks +Eastern Orthodox monarchs +Burials at Lips Monastery +Founders of Christian monasteries +Children of Michael VIII Palaiologos +Byzantine people of the Byzantine–Ottoman wars +Sons of Byzantine emperors +Andronikos I Komnenos (;  – 12 September 1185), Latinized as Andronicus I Comnenus, was Byzantine emperor from 1183 to 1185. He was the son of Isaac Komnenos and the grandson of the emperor Alexios I. In later Byzantine historiography, Andronikos I became known under the epithet "Misophaes" ("Hater of Sunlight") in reference to the great number of enemies he had blinded. + +Early years +Andronikos Komnenos was born around 1118. Most of what is known of him is from the writings of the historian Niketas Choniates, certain passages in a work by Eustathios, 'The Capture of Thessaloniki', or inferred by later historians of the Byzantine Empire. He was handsome and eloquent, active, hardy, courageous, a great general and an able politician, but also licentious. His early years were spent alternately in pleasure and in military service. + +In 1141, he was taken captive by the Seljuk Turks and remained in their hands for a year. On being ransomed, he went to Constantinople, where he was held at the court of his first cousin Emperor Manuel I Komnenos, to whom he was a great favourite. Here the charms of his niece, Eudoxia, attracted him and she became his mistress. In 1152, accompanied by Eudoxia, he set out for an important command in Cilicia. After his defeat at the Battle of Mamistra, an attack upon Mopsuestia, he returned but was again appointed to the command of a province. This second post he seems also to have left after a short interval, for he appeared again in Constantinople and narrowly escaped death at the hands of the brothers of Eudoxia. + +Exile +About 1153, a conspiracy against Emperor Manuel in which Andronikos participated was discovered, and he was imprisoned. After repeated unsuccessful attempts, he escaped in 1165. After passing through many dangers, including captivity in Vlach territory, he reached Kiev, where his cousin Yaroslav Osmomysl of Galicia held court. While under the protection of Yaroslav, Andronikos formed an alliance with the Emperor Manuel I, and with a Galician army he joined Manuel in the invasion of Hungary, assisting at the siege of Semlin. The campaign was successful, and Andronikos returned to Constantinople with Manuel I in 1168; a year later, however, Andronikos refused to take the oath of allegiance to Béla of Hungary, whom Manuel desired to become his successor. Andronikos was removed from court but received the province of Cilicia. + +Still under the displeasure of the emperor, Andronikos fled to the court of Prince Raymond of Antioch. While residing here he captivated and seduced the beautiful daughter of the Prince, Philippa, sister of the Empress Maria. The emperor was again angered by this dishonour, sent Constantine Kalamanos to woo Philippa (unsuccessfully), and Andronikos was compelled to flee. He took refuge with King Amalric of Jerusalem, whose favour he gained, and who invested him with the Lordship of Beirut. In Jerusalem he saw Theodora Komnene, the beautiful widow of King Baldwin III and niece of Emperor Manuel. Although Andronikos was at that time fifty-six years old, age had not diminished his charms, and Theodora became the next victim of his artful seduction. To avoid the vengeance of the emperor, she fled with Andronikos to the court of Nur ad-Din, the sultan of Damascus. Feeling unsafe there, they continued their perilous journey through the Caucasus and Anatolia. They were well received by King George III of Georgia, whose sister had probably been the first wife of Andronikos. + +Andronikos was granted estates in Kakhetia, in the east of Georgia. In 1173 or 1174, he accompanied the Georgian army on an expedition to Shirvan up to the Caspian shores, where George recaptured the fortress of Shabaran from the invaders from Darband for his cousin, the Shirvanshah Akhsitan I. Finally, Andronikos and Theodora settled in the ancestral lands of the Komnenoi at Oinaion, on the shores of the Black Sea, between Trebizond and Sinope. While Andronikos was on one of his incursions into Trebizond, his castle was surprised by the governor of that province, and Theodora and her two children were captured and sent to Constantinople. To obtain their release, Andronikos in early 1180 made abject submission to the emperor and, appearing in chains before him, besought pardon. This he obtained, and he was allowed to retire with Theodora into banishment at Oinaion. + +Emperor +In 1180, the Emperor Manuel died and was succeeded by his ten-year-old son Alexios II, who was under the guardianship of his mother, Maria of Antioch. Her Latin origins and culture led to creeping resentment from her Greek subjects. They had felt insulted by the Western tastes of Manuel, watching much of their wealth and opportunity being absorbed by Latin merchants and their trade concessions. The regency of Manuel's Frankish widow saw increasing Latin favor and tensions rising. Andronikos saw this Latin dissatisfaction as an opportunity to seize the crown for himself, leaving his retirement in 1182 and marching to Constantinople with an army that (according to non-Byzantine sources) included Muslim contingents. + +Alexios attempted to negotiate, and sent George Xiphilinos (a future patriarch) to Andronikos' camp, offering a pardon and high office. In the event, Xiphilinos betrayed the prōtosebastos, and Andronikos rejected the offer, insisting instead that the prōtosebastos retire and be held accountable for his administration, and the empress-dowager be confined to a convent. The defection of the commander of the Byzantine navy, megas doux Andronikos Kontostephanos, and the defeat and defection of his cousin general Andronikos Angelos, played a key role in allowing the rebellious forces to enter Constantinople. + +The arrival of Andronikos Komnenos was soon followed by a massacre of the city's Latin inhabitants, who virtually controlled its economy, resulting in the deaths of thousands of Westerners. He was believed to have arranged the poisoning of Alexios II's elder sister Maria the Porphyrogenita and her husband Renier of Montferrat, although Maria herself had encouraged him to intervene; the poisoner was said to be the eunuch Pterygeonites. Soon afterwards Andronikos had the Empress Maria imprisoned and then killed – forcing a signature from the child Emperor Alexios to put his mother to death – by Pterygeonites and the hetaireiarches Constantine Tripsychos. Alexios II was compelled to acknowledge Andronikos as colleague in the empire in front of the crowd on the terrace of the Church of Christ of the Chalkè and was then quickly put to death in turn; the killing was carried out by Tripsychos, Theodore Dadibrenos, and Stephen Hagiochristophorites. + +In 1183, sixty-five-year old Andronikos married twelve-year-old Agnes of France, daughter of King Louis VII of France and his third wife Adèle of Champagne – Agnes had been betrothed to Alexios II. By November 1183, Andronikos had associated his younger legitimate son John Komnenos on the throne. In 1184, a Venetian embassy visited Constantinople, and an agreement was reached that compensation of 1,500 gold pieces would be paid for the losses incurred in 1171. + +The reign of Andronikos was characterized by his harsh measures. He resolved to suppress many abuses but above all things to check feudalism and limit the power of the nobles, who were rivals for his throne. He attempted to reform the decaying political system by forbidding the sale of offices, punishing corrupt officials (often brutally) but above all, he moved to check the power of the feudal landowners. The people, who felt the severity of his laws, at the same time acknowledged their justice and found themselves protected from the rapacity of their superiors, who had grown corrupt under the safety and opulence of Manuel I's rule. Andronikos became increasingly paranoid and violent, however, and the Empire descended into a terror state.. In September 1185, he ordered the execution of all prisoners, exiles, and their families for collusion with the invaders. The aristocrats, in turn, were infuriated against him, and there were several revolts. + +The stories of chaos led to an invasion by William II of the Kingdom of Sicily. William landed in Epirus with a strong force of 200 ships and 80,000 men, including 5,000 knights, and marched as far as Thessalonica, which he took and pillaged ruthlessly (7,000 Greeks died). Andronikos hastily assembled five different armies to stop the Sicilian army from reaching Constantinople, but his forces failed to stand and retreated to the outlying hills. Andronikos also assembled a fleet of 100 ships to stop the Norman fleet from entering the Sea of Marmara. The invaders would be finally driven out in 1186 by his successor, Isaac Angelos. + +Death + +Andronikos seems then to have resolved to exterminate the aristocracy, and his plans were nearly successful. But on 11 September 1185, during his absence from the capital, Stephen Hagiochristophorites, his lieutenant, moved to arrest Isaac Angelos, whose loyalty was suspect. Angelos killed Hagiochristophorites and took refuge in the church of Hagia Sophia. He appealed to the populace, and a tumult arose that spread rapidly over the whole city. + +When Andronikos arrived he found that Isaac had been proclaimed emperor. The deposed emperor attempted to escape in a boat with his wife Agnes and his mistress, but they were captured (though some claim that Andronikos survived and managed to escape to the self-proclaimed kingdom of Cyprus). Angelos handed him over to the city mob and for three days he was exposed to their fury and resentment, remaining for that period tied to a post and beaten. His right hand was cut off, his teeth and hair were pulled out, one of his eyes was gouged out, and, among many other sufferings, boiling water was thrown in his face, punishment probably associated with his handsomeness and life of licentiousness. At last he was led to the Hippodrome of Constantinople and hung by his feet between two pillars. Two Latin soldiers competed as to whose sword would penetrate his body more deeply, and he was, according to the representation of his death, torn apart; his remains were left unburied and were visible for several years afterwards. He died on 12 September 1185. At the news of the Emperor's death, his son and co-emperor, John, was murdered by his own troops in Thrace. Andronikos I was the last of the Komnenoi to rule Constantinople, although his grandsons Alexios and David founded the Empire of Trebizond in 1204. Their branch of the dynasty was known as the "Great Komnenoi" (Megalokomnenoi). + +Family +Andronikos I Komnenos was married twice and had numerous mistresses. By his first wife, whose name is not known, he had three children: + Manuel Komnenos (1145 – after 1185), served as an ambassador under Manuel I, and opposed his father's policies when he seized power. Due to this opposition, as well as adherence to the AIMA prophecy, he was not named successor, but awarded the rank of sebastokrator instead. Nevertheless, he was blinded by the new regime following the downfall of his father, and disappears from the sources thereafter. From his marriage to the Georgian princess Rusudan, he was the father of Alexios I and David Komnenos, the founders of the Empire of Trebizond and of the dynasty of the Grand Komnenoi, the only male-line descendants of the Komnenian house. + John Komnenos (1159–1185), as a child he accompanied his father during his exile, and after his rise to the throne was crowned co-emperor in November 1183. After the overthrow of Andronikos, he was executed in September 1185. + Maria Komnene (born ), married Theodore Synadenos in 1182, but he died shortly after; her second husband was a certain Romanos, whose rapacity and terrorization of the populace during the defence of Dyrrhachium against the Normans in 1185 contributed to the fall of the city. The fate of Maria and her husband after Andronikos' downfall is unknown. + +By his niece and mistress Theodora Komnene, Andronikos I had the following children: + Alexios Komnenos (1170 – ), his early life is obscure, he fled to Georgia after 1185, where he married into the local nobility. The noble family of Andronikashvili claim descent from him, and he may have been the forefather of the provincial rulers of Alastaneli. + Irene Komnene (born 1171), she was married to the sebastokrator Alexios Komnenos, an illegitimate son of Emperor Manuel I Komnenos, in October 1183. Her husband became involved in a conspiracy against Andronikos and was blinded and imprisoned, while Irene entered a monastery. +His second marriage to Anna of France, and his liaisons with his other mistresses, remained childless. + +In popular culture +Andronikos is the main protagonist in Michael Arnold's Against the Fall of Night (Garden City, New York: Doubleday 1975), as well as Ange Vlachos' Their Most Serene Majesties (Vanguard Press, 1964). + +He is mentioned in the Louis L'Amour medieval historical novel, The Walking Drum, with his gruesome death foreseen by the protagonist in a vision. + +He is among the main characters of the historical novel Agnes of France (1980, ) by Greek writer Kostas Kyriazis (b. 1920). The novel describes the events of the reigns of Manuel I, Alexios II and Andronikos I through the eyes of Agnes. The novel ends with the death of Andronikos. + +Andronikos was portrayed in the novel Baudolino by Umberto Eco, with much detail being given to his grisly end. + +See also + + Andrey Bogolyubsky + List of Byzantine emperors + +Notes + +References + + + + + + https://www.britannica.com/biography/Andronicus-I-Comnenus + +Further reading + Gibbon, Edward. The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Chapter 48. + Grünbart, Michael, 'Die Macht des Historiographen – Andronikos (I.) Komnenos und sein Bild', in Zbornik Radova Vizantinoloskog Instituta 48, 2011, pp. 75–85 + Harris, Jonathan, Byzantium and the Crusades, Bloomsbury, 2nd ed., 2014. + Harris, Jonathan, 'Collusion with the infidel as a pretext for military action against Byzantium', in Clash of Cultures: the Languages of Love and Hate, ed. Sarah Lambert and Helen Nicholson, Brepols, 2012, pp. 99–117. + + Mihai Tiuliumeanu, Andronic I Comnenul, Iași, 2000. + + Eustathios of Thessaloniki 'The Capture of Thessaloniki' (Byzantina Australiensia 8), Canberra 1988. +The full text of a lecture by John Melville-Jones on the life of this emperor is located at Vicnet. It is accompanied by an extensive bibliography. +