The bushel is a unit of capacity measurement equivalent to 4 pecks, 8 gallons or 3.637 dekalitres. It is also used as a measure of weight for apples, equivalent to about 40 lbs. Henry VIII ordered that a bushel should hold eight gallons of wheat in 1520. A bushel of barley was 47 lbs, of oats 38 lbs and of wheat 60 lbs.
The British imperial bushel introduced in 1826 has a capacity of 2218.192 cubic inches, and holds 80 lbsavoirdupois of distilled water at the temperature of 62° Fahrenheit with the barometer at 30 inches. Previous to this the Winchester bushel had been the standard measure. Its capacity was 2150.42 cubic inches. Research Bushel
Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, called also Benet College, was founded about 1352 by the united guilds of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin, two fraternities of townspeople which used to meet for prayers at St BenedictChurch and St Mary's respectively. The endowments of the college were considerably increased by Archbishop Parker, who also bequeathed to it his valuable collection of manuscripts.
Corpus Christi College, Oxford is a college founded by Richard Fox, bishop of Winchester, under the license from Henry VIII in 1516. The foundation consisted of twenty fellows and twenty scholars. Research Corpus Christi College
Embalming is the process of filling and surrounding with aromatic and antiseptic substances any bodies, particularly corpses, in order to preserve them from corruption. The ancient Egyptians employed the art on a great scale, and other peoples, for example the Assyrians and Persians, followed them, but by no means equalled them in it. The ancient Peruvians appear to have injected and washed the corpses with the fluid that flows from imperfectly burned wood, which would of course contain pyroligneous acid, creosote, and other antiseptics. Pliny alludes to the use of a similar fluid by the Egyptians for embalming. In later times bodies have been preserved, a long time by embalming, especially when they have remained at a low and uniformtemperature, and have been protected from the air. The body of Edward I was buried in WestminsterAbbey in 1307, and in 1770 was found entire. Canute died in 1036; his body was found very fresh in 1776 in WinchesterCathedral. The bodies of William the Conqueror and of Matilda his wife were found entire at Caen in the 16th century. Of the various later artificial means of preserving bodies, impregnation with corrosive sublimate appears to be one of the most effective, next to immersion in spirits. An injection of sulphate of zinc into the bloodvessels is said to be very effective. Research Embalming
Fagging is a custom which formerly prevailed generally at most of the English schools, and was still practised at Eton, Winchester, Harrow, Rugby, and one or two other places at the start of the 20th century. It consists in making the junior boys act as servants or 'fags' in the performance of multifarious menial offices for the elder boys, such as carrying messages, preparing breakfast, etc, for their master, in return for which the elder boy accepts a certain responsibility for keeping order, and becomes the recognized adviser and protector of his 'fags.' Research Fagging
Marquis or marques is the second order in the peerage of England, ranking below a duke and above an earl. The title was originally applied to certain officers appointed to defend the marches or borders of Wales. The first marques proper was Robert de Vere, Earl of Oxford, who was created Marques of Dublin by Richard II in 1386. In 1397 Richard made John Beaufort, earl of Somerset, Marques of Dorset. The oldest existing marquisate is that of Winchester, dating from Edward VI in 1551. The eldest son of a marquis is generally by courtesy an earl, and the younger sons and the daughters are styled lords and ladies. His wife is a marchioness. Marquis is often the courtesy title of the eldest son of a duke during his father's lifetime. Research Marquis
The Order of the Garter (originally known as the Order of St George) is a British dignitary awarded for chivalry. The origin of the order, though sometimes assigned to Richard I, is generally attributed to Edward III, the legend being that the Countess of Salisbury having dropped her garter while dancing, the king restored it, after putting it round his own leg, with the words, which became the motto of the order, 'Honi soit quimal y pense' - Shame be to him who thinks evil of it. The date of the foundation or restoration by Edward III of the order, as given by Froissart, is 1344, while other authorities, founding on the statutes of the order, assign it to 1350.
The statutes of the order have been repeatedly revised, more particularly in the reigns of Henry V, Henry VIII, Edward VI, and George III in 1805. Ladies are said to have been admitted up until the reign of Edward IV. Until the reign of Edward VI the common title of the order was the Order of St George, and it still bears this title, as well as that of the Garter. The original number of knights was twenty-six, including the sovereign, who was its permanent head; and this number is still retained, except that by a statute passed in 1786 princes of the blood are admitted as supernumerary members.
The peculiar emblem of the order, the garter, a dark-blue ribbon edged with gold, bearing the motto and with a gold buckle and pendant, is worn on the left leg below the knee. The mantle is of blue velvet, lined with white taffeta, the surcoat and hood of crimsonvelvet, the hat of black velvet, with plume of white ostrich feathers, having in the centre a tuft of black heron's feathers. The collar of gold consists of knots alternating with garters inclosing roses, with the badge of the order, called the George pendent from it. This consists of a figure of St George on horseback fighting the dragon. The lesser George is worn on a broad blue ribbon over the left shoulder. The star, formerly only a cross, is of silver, and consists of eight points, with the cross of St George in the centre, encircled by the garter. A star is worn by the knights on the left side when not in the dress of the order.
Parliament is the supreme legislature of Great Britain. Parliament originated under the Norman kings as the Great Council of royal tenants-in- chief, to which in the 13th century, representatives of the shires were sometimes summoned. De Montfort's parliament of 1265 set a precedent by including representatives of the boroughs as well as the shires, which was followed by Edward I from 1275 onwards. Under Edward III the burgesses and knights of the shires began to meet separately from the barons, thus forming the House of Commons. By the 15th century parliament had acquired the right to legislate, vote and appropriate supplies, examine public accounts, and impeach royal ministers. The powers of parliament were much diminished under the Yorkists and Tudors, but under Elizabeth I a new spirit of independence appeared. The revolutions of 1640 and 1688 established parliamentary control over the executive and the judiciary and finally abolished all royal claim to tax or legislate without parliamentary consent. During these struggles
the two great parties emerged, and after 1688 it became customary for the king to choose his ministers from the party dominant in the Commons.
The English parliament was united with the Scottish in 1707, and with the Irish during' the period 1801 to 1922. The franchise was extended to the middle classes in 1832, to the urban working classes in 1867, to agricultural labourers in 1884, and to women in 1918 and 1928. Payment of members was introduced in 1911. The duration of parliaments was fixed at three years in 1694, at seven in 1716, and at five in 1911, but any parliament may extend its own life, as happened during both world wars. Constituencies are kept under continuous review by the parliamentary Boundary Commissions.
There are 630 members of parliament. The House of Lords comprises the temporal peers, i.e. all hereditary peers of England (created to 1707), all hereditary peers of Great Britain (created between 1707 and 1800), and all hereditary peers of the U.K. created from 1801 onward; all hereditary Scottish peers under the Peerage Act of 1963); all peeresses In their own right (under the same act); all life peers (both the Law Lords and those created under the Life Peerages Act of 1958); and the spiritual peers - the 2 archbishops and twenty four of the bishops (London, Durham and Winchester by right, and the rest by date). Since the parliament Act of 1911 the powers of the Lords have been restricted, in that they may delay a bill passed by the Commons for a limited period but not reject it. Under the parliament Bill of 1968 introduced by Harold Wilson a two-tier system of voting and non-voting peers would have been established, salaried, voting members being those 150 life peers able to attend regularly, supplemented by about 80 newly-created life peers chosen chiefly from existing hereditary peers: the government would have been entitled to a 10% majority. The measure gave way to an industrial relations bill. The Lords are presided over by the LordChancellor, and the Commons by the Speaker. A public bill is given a preliminary first reading and discussed in detail at the second reading; it is then referred to a standing committee, after which it is considered by a committee of the whole House. After the third reading it is sent to the Lords, whose procedure is similar. If it passes both houses, it receives the royal assent and so becomes law. Research Parliament
When the Romans conquered Britain in 43 AD, they set about imposing their civilisation in the way they knew best - by providing it with towns and joining them up by roads. Every town laid out by the Romans was arranged on a chess board or grid iron plan of intersecting streets, and was usually protected by a massive square stone wall with a gate in the middle of each side. Most of these towns came into existence as fortified places; the Roman word 'castrum' or 'chester' means 'a military encampment'. Almost all the towns whose names end in this way, such as Winchester, Chichester, Dorchester and Manchester, as well as those whose name endings have been modified, such as Lancaster, Worcester and Gloucester, began their existence as Roman fortified places. The core of the city was the Forum, a group of buildings which comprised the town hall, the court of justice, a shopping centre and spacious meeting place for the people of the town and its surrounding countryside. Roman ideas in town planning were fundamental to the later development of the English town. Research Roman Towns
A trencher is a flat slab of wood upon which bread, meat or other food is cut. Originally trenchers were square, but afterwards round trenchers were introduced. Except for use as a bread board they fell into disuse when earthenware became generally available. In the 1920's the students at Winchester College still ate from square trenchers. Research Trencher
Abbreviations
Research Bushel
