Apocrypha (from the Greek, 'things concealed or spurious') is a term applied in the earliest churches to various sacred or professedly inspired writings, sometimes given to those whose authors were unknown, sometimes to those with a hidden meaning, and sometimes to those considered objectionable. The term is specially applied to the fourteen undermentioned books which were written during the two centuries preceding the birth of Christ. They were written, not in Hebrew, but in Greek, and the Jews never allowed them a place in their sacredcanon. They were incorporated into the Septuagint, and thence passed to the Vulgate. The Greek Church excluded them from the canon in 360 at the Council of Laodicea. The LatinChurch treated them with more favour, but it was not until 1546 that they were formally admitted into the canon of the Church of Rome by a decree of the Council of Trent. The Anglican Church says they may be read for example of life and instruction of manners, but that the church does not apply them to establish any doctrine. All other Protestant churches in Britain and America ignore them. The following fourteen books form the Apocrypha of the English Bible: - The first and second Books of Esdras, Tobit, Judith, the rest of the Book of Esther, the Wisdom of Solomon, the Wisdom of Jesus the son of Sirach, or Ecclesiasticus, Baruch the Prophet, the Song of the Three Children, Susanna and the Elders, Bel and the Dragon, the Prayer of Manasses, and the first and second Books of Maccabees.
Besides the Apocryphal books of the Old Testament there are many other books composed in the earlier ages of Christianity, and published under the names of Christ and his apostles, or of such immediate followers as from their character or means of intimate knowledge might give an apparent plausibility for such forgeries. These writings comprise: 1st, the Apocryphal Gospels, which treat of the history of Joseph and the Virgin before the birth of Christ, of the infancy of Jesus, and of the acts of Pilate; 2d, the Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles; and 3d, the Apocryphal Apocalypses, none of which have obtained canonical recognition by any of the churches. Research Apocrypha
Brunswick was a distinguished German family founded by Albert Azo II., Marquis of Reggio and Modena, a descendant, by the female line, of Charlemagne. In 1047 he married Cunigunda, heiress of the Counts of Altorf, thus uniting the two houses of Este and Guelph. From his son, Guelph, who was created Duke of Bavaria in 1071, and married Judith of Flanders, a descendant of Alfred of England, descended Henry the Proud, who succeeded in 1125, and by marriage acquired Brunswick and Saxony. Otho, the great-grandson of Henry by a younger branch of his family, was the first who bore the title of Duke of Brunswick (1235). By the two sons of Ernest of Zeil, who became duke in 1532, the family was divided into the two branches of Brunswick -Wolfenbluttel (II.) and Brunswick-Hanover, from the latter of which comes the present royal family of Britain. The former was the German family in possession of the duchy of Brunswick until the death of the last duke in 1884. George Louis, son of ErnestAugustus and Sophia, granddaughter of James I of England, succeeded his father as Elector of Hanover in 1698, and was called to the throne of Great Britain in 1714 as George I. Research Brunswick
Donatello (Donato Di Nicolo Di Betto Bardi) was an Italian sculptor. He was born in 1386 at Florence and died in 1466. His first great works in marble were statues of St Peter and St Mark, in the church of St Michael in hia native town, in an outside niche of which is also his famous statue of St George. Along with his friend Brunelleschi he made a journey to Rome to study its art treasures. On his return he executed for his patrons, Cosmo and Lorenzo de'Medici, a marblemonument to their father and mother, which is of high merit. Statues of St John, of Judith, David, and St Cecilia are amongst his leading works.
Donatello was an Italian opera composer. He was born in 1797 and died in 1848. Research Donatello
William Black was a Scottish novelist. He was born in 1841 at Glasgow and died in 1898. He first studied art, but eventually became connected with the Glasgow press. In 1864 he went to London, and in the following year joined the staff of the Morning Star, for which he was special correspondent during the Franco-Austrian war of 1866. His first novel, Love or Marriage, 1867, was only moderately successful, but his In Silk Attire, Kilmeny, the Monarch of Mincing Lane, and especially A Daughter of Heth (1871), gained him an increasingly wide circle of readers. For a few years he was assistant-editor of the Daily News. Other works: The Strange Adventures of a Phaeton (1872), A Princess of Thule (1873), The Maid of Killeena, etc. (1874), Three Feathers (1875), Madcap Violet (1876), Green Pastures and Piccadilly (1877), Macleod of Dare (1878), White Wings (1880), Sunrise (1881), The Beautiful Wretch (1882), Shandon Bells (1883), Judith Shakespeare (1884), White Heather (1885), The Strange Adventures of a House-boat (1888), In Far Lochaber (1889), The New Prince Fortunatus (1890), etc. Research William Black
William Etty was an English painter. He was born in 1787 at York and died in 1849. He studied at the Royal Academy. He worked for a long time without much recognition, but at length in 1820 he won public notice by his Coral Finders. In 1828 he was elected an academician. Among his works, which were greatly admired, are a series of three pictures produced between 1827 and 1831 illustrating the .Deliverance of Bethulia by Judith, Benaiah one of David's mighty men, Woman interceding for the Vanquished. All these are very large pictures, and are now in the National Gallery of Scotland. Others of note are The Judgment of Paris, The Rape of Proserpine, Youth at the Prow and Pleasure at the Helm. In colouring and the representation of the nude or partially nude figure, particularly females, he displays high ability. Research William Etty
Jean Giraudoux was a French poet, novelist and playwright. He was born in 1882 at Bellac and died in 1944. By profession he was a diplomat and he held many government posts. His literary career began as a writer of short stories and novels, including 'Siegfried et le Limousin' in 1922, 'Combat avec l'ange' in 1934, and 'Choix des elues' in 1939. He started writing plays in his forties; his first one, 'Siegfried' in 1928, was a dramatization of his novel 'Siegfried et le Limousin'. Others include ' Judith' in 1931, 'Intermezzo' in 1933, and 'Ondine' in 1939. He had a long and successful association with the actor and director Louis Jouvet, whose company first staged almost all his plays. Research Jean Giraudoux
Judith Anderson was an Australian actress. She was born in 1898 and died in 1992. Dame
Judith Anderson (she was knighted in 1960) was for nearly seventy years one of the foremost Shakespearian actresses of the stage, playing everything from Lady MacBeth to Portia to Hamlet. In films, she repeatedly played the role of Cruella DeVil. She made her first film appearance as an incongrously sexy temptress in 1933's 'Blood Money'; seven years later, she essayed her most famous screen role, the obsessed housekeeper Mrs. Danvers in Rebecca produced in 1940. Research Judith Anderson
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