Courtly love was a code of behaviour that defined the relationship between aristocratic lovers in Western Europe during the Middle Ages. Influenced by contemporary chivalric ideals and feudalism, courtly love required adherence to certain rules elaborated in the songs of the troubadours between the 11th and the 13th centuries and stemming originally from the Ars Amatoria of the Roman poet Ovid. According to these conventions, a nobleman, usually a knight, in love with a married woman of equally high birth - or, often, higher rank - had to prove his devotion by heroic deeds and by amorous writings presented anonymously to his beloved. Once the lovers had pledged themselves to each other and consummated their passion, complete secrecy had to be maintained. Because most noble marriages in the Middle Ages were little more than business contracts, courtly love was a form of sanctioned adultery, sanctioned because it threatened neither the contract nor the religious sacrament of marriage. In fact, faithlessness of the lovers toward
each other was considered more sinful than the adultery of this extramarital relationship. Research Courtly Love
Diocletian (C Valerius Diocletianus, surnamed Jovius) was a Dalmatian Emperor of Rome. A man of mean birth, he was proclaimed Emperor of Rome by the army in 284 AD. He defeated Carinus in Mossia in 286, conquered the Allemanni, and was generally beloved for the goodness of his disposition, but was compelled by the dangers threatening Rome to share the government with M. Aurelius Valerius Maximian. In 292 Galerius and Constantius Chlorus were also raised to a share in the empire, which was thus divided into four parts, of which Diocletian administered Thrace, Egypt, Syria, and Asia. As the result of his reconstitution of the empire there followed a period of brilliant successes in which the barbarians were driven back from all the frontiers, and Roman power restored from Britain to Egypt. In 305, in conjunction with Maximian, he resigned the imperial dignity at Nicomedia, and retired to Salona in Dalmatia, where he cultivated his garden in tranquillity until his death in 313. In the latter part of his reign he was induced to sanction a persecution of the Christians. Research Diocletian
The dissolution of the monasteries in England was carried out by Henry VIII between 1535 and 1539. This was an attack on Church property for three reasons. First, the monks were the main supporters of the Papal authority in England, and they were members of orders which were spread over Europe. It had proved possible to separate the English bishops and clergy from allegiance to the Pope; this was not possible with the monastic orders, which were international, not insular, institutions. The second reason was the wealth of the monasteries, which was the result of the pious bequest of many centuries. The cry against monastic wealth had been raised many times previously in English history, particularly by John Wycliffe and others from the time of Edward III and Richard II. The courtiers of Henry VIII and the rising middle class were greedy for land, and Henry VIII saw that by ministering to their greed he could make his new nobility and their new property a firm support of his Reformation. The third reason for ending the monasteries was
the reason given to Parliament: that the monks had outlived their day of usefulness and were abandoned to idleness and vice. There were over 600 religious houses in England, and no doubt there was some truth in this charge. Zealous churchmen had long known that all was not well with these ancient institutions. In Henry VII's reign the Oxford Reformers had rebuked monkish follies, and CardinalMorton had noted the 'incurable uselessness' of many of the smaller houses where the monks were idle and ignorant. CardinalWolsey had obtained a Papal Bull to visit the monasteries, and had begun to suppress some, intending to use their revenues for the benefit of education and the New Learning and to found new bishoprics. One of them, St. Frideswide's Priory at Oxford, he converted into Cardinal College (later Christ Church).
In 1535 Henry VIII made Thomas Cromwell his Vicar-General, 'with power to visit any monastery in England'. The character of Cromwell was sufficient guarantee that the visitation would not be conducted fairly. He knew what was expected of him; he was to be 'The Hammer of the Monks'. His agents hurried through England, visited some of the monasteries, and drew up an evil report. This report unfortunately no longer exists. Our only information is derived from Cromwell's note-books and from the letters of his agents, from which we may gather something of their methods. For example, Dr. Layton, vicar of Harrow-on-the-Hill, dashed through southern England from Gloucestershire to Rent between August and October 1535. He condemned monasteries wholesale, on insufficient evidence, although at the same time he did not scruple to accept bribes from some, or to help himself to plate and jewels from others.
However, Parliament was satisfied, and the country squires, anxious for the 'goods of the Church', shouted ' Down with them!' The Act dissolving 276 of the lesser monasteries of England in 1536 was the last important Act of the Reformation Parliament. In dissolving the smaller monasteries first, Henry VIII had cautiously tested his power. But his violent measures had by 1536 caused grave discontent, especially in the west and north, and in Parliament itself. His wholesale destruction of the smaller monasteries was followed by two popular uprisings. The first occurred in Lincolnshire, where the rebels were crushed by a military force under the Duke of Suffolk. The second rising, in Yorkshire in 1536, known as the Pilgrimage of Grace, was much more serious. The following year the famous shrine of Becket at Canterbury was attacked. Thomas Becket was declared in April 1538 'a false saint and a traitor to the Supreme Head of the Church'; his bones were burnt; his shrine pillaged and its offerings confiscated.
Then Henry VIII was ready to turn his attention to the greater monasteries, although Parliament had saved them earlier because of their good conduct. Cromwell and his agents in 1539 began a persecution of the abbots: many were induced to surrender their abbeys to the king; others could only be reduced by methods of terror. The Abbots of Reading and Colchester were tried for treason; the Abbot of Glastonbury for felony. All three were executed. The odious methods of Cromwell are well shown in some notes left in his own handwriting: 'To see that the evidence be well sorted and the indictments well drawn against the said abbots. The Abbot of Reading to be sent down to be tried and executed at Reading with his accomplices. The Abbot of Glaston to be tried at Glaston, and also executed there with his accomplices.' The last Abbot of Glastonbury, a pious, venerable man beloved in the countryside, was executed with two of his brethren on GlastonburyTor, after a mock trial in November 1539. These ferocities had the desired effect: many less brave spirits gave in, and soon there were no monasteries left. The dissolution of 616 religious houses was the greatest revolution in the ownership of land in England since the Norman Conquest. The monastic income has been variously estimated at between one-fifth and one-third of the total rental of England.
This newly acquired wealth the king might have used in developing public works, such as education. Some of it was spent in re-building the Navy; but the king's own greed and the greed of courtiers swallowed most of the spoil. A thousand newly enriched families became the nobility on which Henry in future relied for support. The 'Abbey' where the descendants or successors of these Tudor families now live is a name to be found in many an English village. But sad indeed was the fate of the original buildings. Some, like the great church at Tewkesbury, have been preserved in the form of parish churches; others have been partly preserved to form cathedrals. But the greater number were ruthlessly destroyed by their new possessors, their roofs despoiled for the valuable lead, their walls made quarries for new buildings, their treasures scattered, and their ruins left desolate. Whatever defence may be made for the suppression of the monastic orders, no excuse can be offered for this orgy of destruction, which deprived England of some of her noblest monuments.
It is probable that at least 15000 persons were cast adrift. These people went to swell the already large number of the unemployed, for whom Tudor statesmanship could find no better relief than the savage punishments inflicted on thieves and vagabonds. Some of the monks were given benefices or pensioned by the Government, but the pensions were not always paid; the occupants of the lesser houses fared worse than those of the greater. The hospitality which the monks had always given to the poor was now removed. There was nothing to take its place, and many monks and nuns joined the ranks of those who had formerly subsisted on their charity. Many gaps were left in national life, for the abbeys, said Aske 'were one of the beauties of this realm to all men and strangers passing through the same; all gentlemen much succoured in their needs with money, and in nunneries their daughters brought up in virtue. And such abbeys as were near the danger of seabanks were great maintainers of sea-walls and dykes, builders of bridges and highways, and such other things for the commonwealth.' Research Dissolution of the Monasteries
Eugene de Beauharnais was Duke of Leuchtenberg, Prince of Eichstadt,and Viceroy of Italy during the reign of Napoleon. He was born in 1781 and died in 1824. He was the son of Alexandre Beauharnais and Josephine, afterwards wife of Napoleon and Empress of France. After his father's death he joined Hoche in La Vendee, and subsequently studied for a time in Paris. He accompanied Napoleon to Egypt in 1798; rose rapidly in the army; was appointed viceroy of Italy in 1805; and married a daughter of the King of Bavaria in 1806. He administered the government of Italy with great prudence and moderation, and was much beloved by his subjects. In the Russian campaign he commanded the third corps d'armee, and greatly distinguished himself. To him and to NeyFrance was mainly indebted for the preservation of the remains of her army during the retreat from Moscow. After the battle of Ltitzen of May the 2nd, 1813, where, by surrounding the right wing of the enemy, he decided the fate of the day, he went to Italy, which he defended against the Austrians until the deposition of Napoleon. After the fall of Napoleon he concluded an armistice, by which he delivered Lombardy and all Upper Italy to the Austrians. He then went immediately to Paris, and thence to his father-in-law at Munich, where he afterwards resided. Research Eugene de Beauharnais
Gerrit Achterberg was a Dutch poet. He was born in 1905 at Larigbroek and died in 1962. He had already published two collections of poetry whose major theme had been his desire to be united with a beloved in death, when in 1937 he shot and killed his landlady and shot at her young daughter, who survived the incident. He then spent six years in a psychiatric hospital. His poetry opposes a close observance of traditional form to an extreme, and deliberately psychotic, violence of content. His most famous poem is De ballade van de gasfitter written in 1953, a series of fourteen strict sonnets about a confused gas worker whose job is to fill holes. Research Gerrit Achterberg
Gerrit Achterberg was a Dutch poet. He was born in 1905 at Larigbroek and died in 1962. He had already published two collections of poetry whose major theme had been his desire to be united with a beloved in death, when in 1937 he shot and killed his landlady and shot at her young daughter, who survived the incident. He then spent six years in a psychiatric hospital. His poetry opposes a close observance of traditional form to an extreme, and deliberately psychotic, violence of content. His most famous poem is De ballade van de gasfitter written in 1953, a series of fourteen strict sonnets about a confused gas worker whose job is to fill holes. Research Gerrit Achterberg
Jose Gaspar Rodriguez Francia was Dictator of Paraguay. He was born about 1758 and died in 1840. He was for some time a theological professor, and afterwards gained distinction as an advocate at Asuncion. In 1811, when Paraguay gained independence from Spain, he became secretary of the junta appointed by congress. In 1814 he was appointed dictator for three years, and in 1817 he was continued in authority for life. He did much to consolidate the new republic; but his rule was arbitrary in the extreme. In spite of his cruelty and rigour he was generally beloved by his subjects. Research Jose Francia
Gary Cooper was an American actor. He was born Frank James Cooper in 1901 at Helena, Montana and died in 1961. The son of a Montana state supreme court justice, he received his elementary schooling in England, later attending Wesleyan College, an agricultural school, in Montana and Grinnell College in Iowa. After graduation, he worked briefly as a guide at Yellowstone National Park and began submitting political cartoons to his hometownnewspaper, the Helena Independent. In 1924, Cooper set out for California, hoping to become a cartoonist for a Los Angeles newspaper. Instead he found himself a door-to-door salesman for a photographer and space salesman for theatre curtain advertising. In 1925 he was introduced by friends to Hollywoodcasting directors and began playing cowboy extras in Westerns. During 1925 and early 1926 he appeared briefly in many films, including The Thundering Herd, Wild HorseMesa, The Vanishing American, The Eagle, and The Enchanted Hill. He also played heavies in several two-reelers.
His big break came in 1926, when he was cast as a last-minute replacement for the second lead in Goldwyn's 'The Winning of Barbara Worth', starring Ronald Colman and Vilma Banky. The film was a big box-office hit and it started Cooper on his way to becoming one of Hollywood's all-time great stars. Tall, handsome, and laconic, with a shy smile and a hesitant delivery, he had an immediate appeal to both male and female audiences and steadily moved to the top. In the eyes of millions the world over he came to personify the strong, silent American, a man of action and few words. At first taken lightly by the critics, he received more press coverage for his romantic escapades (with Clara Bow, Lupe Velez, Evelyn Brent, etc.) than for his acting in films. But he soon settled down, married socialite Veronica Balfe, who had briefly appeared in films as Sandra Shaw, and gradually developed a natural aptitude for screen acting. By the mid-30s he was generally accepted as a capable performer.
His physique and nonchalant manner had been effective from the start in romantic and adventure films. Now his slightly awkward mannerisms and delayed reactions also proved to be perfect assets for screen comedy, under the guidance of such directors as Lubitsch and Capra. But above all, he remained most closely identified with his roles as a man of the American West. The diversity of his roles was reflected in two of his Oscar nominations: the 1946 'Mr Deeds Goes to Town', and the 1942 'The Pride of the Yankees'. He won his first Academy Award, as well as the New York Film Critics Award, for the 1941 'Sergeant York'. Cooper received another Oscar in 1952 for High Noon, perhaps his most memorable film, and received a Special Academy Award in the 1960 ceremony, held in April of 1961, for his many memorable screen performances and the international recognition he, as an individual, has gained for the motion picture industry. His close friend, James Stewart, accepted this last award in Cooper's behalf with tears in his eyes. He had just learned, along with a few other Cooper intimates, that the belovedstar was suffering from incurable cancer. On May the 13th, 1961, about one month later, Gary Cooper died at 60. Research Gary Cooper
Lennard Pearce was an English actor. He was born in 1915 at London and died in 1984 of a heartattack. He was beloved of British audiences as 'grandad' in the long running televisioncomedy series 'Only Fools and Horses', and upon the death of the actor the show killed off the character and paid a moving tribute to the actor, through their tributes to the lost character of their 'grandad'. Research Lennard Pearce
In Greek mythology, Io was the daughter of Inachus. She was beloved of Zeus. Zeus changed her into a white heifer to protect her from the jealousy of Hera. Research Io
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Abbreviations
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