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1831

1831

1831 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar).

Events

- February-March - Revolts in Modena, Parma and the Papal States are put down by Austrian troops
- February 14 - Ras Marye of Yejju marches into Tigray and defeats and kills the warlord Sabagadis in the Battle of Debre Abbay.
- February 20 - Battle of Grochow. Polish rebel forces divide a Russian army.
- March 1 - Democrat Samuel Smith becomes President Pro Tempore of the United States Senate until December 4
- March 9 – French Foreign Legion founded
- March 19 - City Bank of New York is the site of the first bank robbery in United States history ($245,000 taken).
- April 7 - Pedro I of Brazil abdicates as emperor of Brazil in favor of his son Pedro II of Brazil.
- April 21 - New York University is founded in New York City, New York.
- May 26 - Battle of Ostroleka. The Poles fight another indecisive battle.
- June 1 - James Clark Ross discovers the position of the North Magnetic Pole on the Boothia Peninsula.
- July 21 - Inauguration of Léopold I of Belgium, first king of the Belgians
- August 2 - Dutch invasion of Belgium. It is repelled by a French army
- August 21 - Outbreak of Nat Turner's slave rebellion in Southampton County, Virginia. Approximately 55 whites stabbed, shot and clubbed to death.
- September 6-8 - Battle of Warsaw - The Russians take the Polish capital and crush resistance.
- September 22 - UK House of Commons passes the Reform Bill - it is later defeated in the House of Lords
- October 26 – Cholera epidemic begins in Sunderland, England
- October 30 - In Southampton County, Virginia, escaped slave Nat Turner is captured and arrested for leading the bloodiest slave revolt in United States history.
- October 31 - Rioters burn down 100 houses in Bristol, UK - intervention by 14th Dragoons leads to death of hundreds
- November 11 - In Jerusalem, Virginia, Nat Turner is hanged after inciting a violent slave uprising.
- December 27 - Charles Darwin embarks on his historic journey aboard the HMS Beagle.
- The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper is first published.
- Cholera in Hamburg

Births

- January 7 - Heinrich von Stephan, German postal union organizer (d. 1897)
- January 26 - Mary Mapes Dodged, writer (d. 1907)
- March 3 - George Pullman, American inventor and industrialist (d. 1897)
- March 6 - Friedrich von Bodelschwingh, theologian (d. 1910)
- March 12 - Clement Studebaker, American automobile pioneer (d. 1901)
- March 20 - Solomon L. Spink, U.S. Congressman from Illinois (d. 1881)
- June 1 - John Bell Hood, American Confederate general (d. 1879)
- June 13 - James Clark Maxwell, Scottish physicist (d. 1879)
- June 28 - Joseph Joachim, Austrian violinist (d. 1907)
- July 22 - Emperor Komei of Japan (d. 1867)
- 12 August - Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, Russian-born author and theosophist (d. 1891)
- September 18 - Siegfried Marcus, German-Austrian automobile pioneer (d. 1898)
- October 6 - Richard Dedekind, German mathematician (d. 1916)
- October 18 - Emperor Frederick III of Germany (d. 1888)
- October 31 - Romualdo Pacheco, Governor of California (d. 1899)

Deaths

- January 21 - Achim von Arnim, German poet (b. 1781)
- February 14 - Vincente Guerrero, Mexican revolutionary leader (b. 1782)
- February 17 - Friedrich Wilhelm, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (b. 1785)
- February 25 - Friedrich Maximilian Klinger, German writer (b. 1752)
- April 20 - John Abernethy (surgeon) (b. 1764)
- April 27 - Charles Felix of Savoy, King of Sardinia (b. 1765)
- June 27 - Sophie Germain, French mathematician (b. 1776)
- July 4 - James Monroe, 5th President of the United States (b. 1758)
- July 16 - Louis Alexandre Andrault Graf Langeron, Russian general (b. 1763)
- August 24 - August von Gneisenau, Prussian field marshal (b. 1760)
- November 11 - Nat Turner, American slave rebel (b. 1800)
- November 14 - Georg Hegel, German philosopher (b. 1770)
- November 16 - Carl von Clausewitz, German military strategist (b. 1780)
- Sabagadis - Ethiopian warlord Category:1831 ko:1831년 ms:1831 ja:1831年 simple:1831

Common year starting on Saturday

This is the calendar for any common year starting on Saturday (dominical letter B) e.g. 2005. (A common year is a year with 365 days -- in other words, not a leap year.)

Millennium	Century	Year
2nd Millennium:	19th century:	1803	1814	1825	1831	1842	1853	1859	1870	1881	1887	1898
2nd Millennium:	20th century:	1910	1921	1927	1938	1949	1955	1966	1977	1983	1994
3rd Millennium:	21st century:	2005	2011	2022	2033	2039	2050	2061	2067	2078	2089	2095
3rd Millennium:	22nd century:	2101	2107	2118	2129	2135	2146	2157	2163	2174	2185	2191

Other years

Category:Saturday Category:Weeks ko:토요일로 시작하는 평년 th:ปีปกติสุรทินที่วันแรกเป็นวันเสาร์

March

---- March is the third month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days. March begins (astrologically, non-sidereal) with the sun in the sign of Pisces and ends in the sign of Aries. Astronomically speaking, the sun begins in the constellation of Aquarius and ends in the constellation of Pisces. In ancient Rome, March was called Martius, so named after the Roman god of war and was considered a lucky time to begin a war. March was originally the first month of the Roman calendar because the winter months of January and February were unsuited for warfare, the essence of any Italic state. Julius Caesar's calendar reform in 45 BCE began the year on January 1. The tradition of starting the year in March continued in some countries for a long time. January 1 was only instituted as New Year's Day in France in 1564. Great Britain and her colonies continued to use March 25 until 1752, the same year they finally adopted the Gregorian calendar. In ancient Hellenic civilization, March was called Anthesterion. In old Japanese calendar, the month is called Yayoi (弥生). In Finnish, the month is called maaliskuu, of obscure origin. Historical names for March include the Saxon term Lenctmonat, named for the equinox and eventual lengthening of days and the eventual namesake of Lent. The Saxons also called March Rhed-monat (for their goddess Rhedam); ancient Britons called it hyld-monath (meaning loud or stormy). Britons

Events in March

- The equinox named the vernal or spring equinox in the northern hemisphere and the autumnal equinox in the southern hemisphere occurs on dates varying from 19 March to 21 March (in UTC).

External links

- [http://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/seizoenen.html Astronomy Answers article on the seasons] Category:Months ko:3월 ms:Mac ja:3月 simple:March th:มีนาคม

Modena

Modena (Mòdna in Modenese dialect) is a city and a province on the south side of the Po valley, in Emilia-Romagna, Italy. An ancient town, it is the seat of an archbishop, but is now mostly known as "the capital of engines", since the factories of most famous Italian car makers like De Tomaso, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Pagani, and Maserati are located there. The University of Modena, founded in 1683 by Francis II d'Este, has traditional strengths in medicine and law. Italian officers are trained at the Italian Military Academy, located in Modena, and partly housed in the Baroque ducal palace, begun by Francis I in 1635 from the designs of Avanzini, and finished by Francis Ferdinand V. The Biblioteca Estense houses historical volumes and 3000 manuscripts. Modena is the birthplace of the operatic tenor Luciano Pavarotti, and is also well known in culinary circles for its production of balsamic vinegar. Modena has a strong sporting culture, linked mainly to motor racing and association football (soccer). The town's football club, Modena F.C., plays in Serie B, the Italian second division. Volleyball played an important role in Modena's sport history, with lots of national and European championships won. The province of Modena has 47 communes, including Campogalliano, Nonantola, Soliera, Bastiglia, Castelnuovo Rangone, Formigine, San Cesario sul Panaro, Carpi, Castelfranco nell'Emilia, Fiorano Modenese, Finale Emilia, Formigine, Maranello, Mirandola, Sassuolo, Vignola, and Pavullo nel Frignano.

History

Ancient times

The territory around Modena (Roman Mutina, Etruscan Muoina) was inhabited by the Villanovans in the Iron Age, and later by Ligurian tribes, Etruscans, and the Gaulish Boii (the settlment itself being Etruscan). Although the exact date of its foundation is unknown, it is known that it was already in existence in the 3rd century BC, for in 218 BC, during Hannibal's invasion of Italy, the Boii revolted and laid siege to the city. Livy described it as a fortified citadel where Roman magistrates took shelter. The outcome of the siege is not known, but the city was most likely abandoned after Hannibal's arrival. Mutina was refounded as a Roman colony in 183 BC, to be used as a military base by Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, causing the Ligurians to sack it in AD 177. Nonetheless, it was rebuilt, and quickly became the most important centre in Cispadane Gaul, both because of its strategic importance and because it was on an important crossroads between Via Aemilia and the road going to Verona. In the 1st century BC Mutina was besieged twice. First, by Pompey in 78 BC, where it was defended by Marcus Junius Brutus (a populist leader, not to be confused with one of Caesar's assassins). The city eventually surrendered out of hunger, and Brutus fled, only to be slain at Rhegium Lepidi. The city was once again besieged, this time by Mark Antony, in 44 BC, and defended by Decimus Junius Brutus. Octavian came to the rescue of Brutus, and with the help of the Senate, drove Antony away. Cicero defined it Mutina splendidissima ("most beautiful Mutina") in his Philippics (44 BC). Until the 3rd century AD it kept its position as the most important city in the newly formed Aemilia, but the fall of the Empire brought Mutina down with it, as it was used as a military base both against the barbarians and in the civil wars. It is said that Mutina was never sacked by Attila, for a dense fog hid it (a miracle said to be provided by Saint Geminianus, bishop and patron of Modena), but it was eventually buried by a great flood in the 7th century and abandoned. 7th century

Middle Ages

Its exiles founded a new city a few miles to the northwest, still represented by the village of Cittanova. About the end of the 9th century, Modena was restored and refortified by its bishop, Ludovicus. The Duomo (cathedral) of Modena is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (illustration, right). Begun under the direction of the Countess Matilda of Tuscany with its first stone laid June 6, 1099 and its crypt ready for the city's patron, Saint Geminianus, and consecrated only six years later, the Duomo of Modena was finished in 1184. The building of a great cathedral in this flood-prone ravaged former center of Arianism was an act of urban renewal in itself, and an expression of the flood of piety that motivated the contemporary First Crusade. Unusually, the master builder's name, Lanfranco, was celebrated in his own day: the city's chronicler expressed the popular confidence in the master-mason from Como, Lanfranco: by God's mercy the man was found (inventus est vir). The sculptor Wiligelmus who directed the mason's yard was praised in the plaque that commemorated the founding. The program of the sculpture is not lost in a welter of detail: the wild dangerous universe of the exterior is mediated by the Biblical figures of the portals leading to the Christian world of the interior. In Wiligelmus' sculpure at Modena, the human body takes on a renewed physicality it had lost in the schematic symbolic figures of previous centuries. At the east end, triple apses express the articulation into nave and wide aisles (illustration, right) in bold and clear masses. Modena's Duomo inspired campaigns of cathedral and abbey building in emulation through the valley of the Po. The Gothic campanile (1224-1319) is called La Ghirlandina from the bronze garland surrounding the weathercock. When it began to build its cathedral in 1099, the city was part of the possessions of the Countess Matilda of Tuscany; but by the time the edifice was consecrated by Pope Lucius III in 1184, it was a free commune. In the wars between Emperor Frederick II and Pope Gregory IX Modena sided with the emperor. Other churches in Modena, the church of San Giovanni Decollato ("the Baptist Beheaded") contains a polychrome terracotta Pieta by Guido Mazzoni (1450-1518). The Baroque Este Pantheon (the church of S. Agostino, containing works of sculpture in honor of the house of Este) is by Bibbiena.

The Este in the duchy of Modena

Bibbiena The Este family were identified as lords of Modena from 1288 (Obizzo d'Este). After the death of Obizzo's successor (Azzo VIII, in 1308) the commune reasserted itself, but by 1336 the Este family was permanently in power: for Borso d'Este Modena was made a duchy. Enlarged and fortified by Ercole II, it was made the primary ducal residence when Ferrara, the main Este seat, fell to the Pope (1598). Francesco I d'Este (1629-1658) built the citadel and began the palace, which was largely embellished by Francesco II. In the 18th century Rinaldo d'Este (died in 1737) was twice driven from his city by French invasions, and Francesco III d'Este (1698-1780) built many many of Modena's public buildings, but the Este pictures were sold and wound up, many of them, in Dresden. Ercole III (1727-1803) died in exile at Treviso, having refused Napoleonic offers of compensation when Modena was made part of the Napoleonic Cispadane Republic. His only daughter, Maria Beatrice d'Este, married Ferdinand of Austria, son of Maria Theresa, and in 1814 their eldest son, Francis IV, Duke of Modena, received back the estates of the Este. Quickly, in 1816, he dismantled the fortifications that might well have been used against him and began Modena's unhappy years under Austrian rule, reactionary and despotic, using the Austrian army to put down a rebellion in 1830. His equally reactionary son Francis V, Duke of Modena, was temporarily expelled from Modena in the European Revolution of 1848, but was restored by Austrian troops. Ten years later, on August 20, 1859, the representatives of Modena declared their territory part of the Kingdom of Italy, a decision that was confirmed by the plebiscite of 1860.

External links

- [http://www.colombinieditore.it/pdf2/ModenaPatUmGB.pdf Introduction to Modena cathedral, illustrated]
- [http://www.traces-cl.com/archive/mar99/themiddl.html Description of the cathedral]
- [http://www.italianvisits.com/eromagna/modena/ ItalianVisits.com]
- Category:Towns in Emilia-Romagna Category:Former countries in Europe Category:World Heritage Sites in Italy ja:モデナ

Parma

Parma is a medieval city in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna, with splendid architecture and a fine countryside around it. Parma is divided in two parts by the little stream with the same name. The Italian poet Attilio Bertolucci wrote: "As a capital city, it had to have a river. As a little capital, it received a stream, which is often dry".

History

The city was most probably founded and named by the Etruscans, for a parma (circular shield) was a Latin borrowing, as were many Roman terms for particular arms, and Parmeal, Parmni and Parmnial are names that appear in Etruscan inscriptions. Diodorus Siculus (XXII, 2,2; XXVIII, 2,1) reported that the Romans had changed their rectangular shields for round ones, imitating the Etruscans. Whether the Etruscan encampment was so named because it was round, like a shield, or whether its situation was a shield against the Gauls to the north, is more a matter of choice. The Roman colony was founded in 183 BC, together with Modena. 2000 families were settled. Parma had a certain importance as a road hub over the Via Aemilia and the Via Claudia. It had a forum, in what is today the central Garibaldi Square. In 44 CE the city was destroyed, and August rebuilt it. During the Roman Empire it gained the title of Julia for its loyalty to the Royal House. Roman Empire The city was subsequently sacked by Attila, and later given by the Barbarian king Odoacer to his fellows. During the Gothic War, however, Totila destroyed it. It was then part of the Byzantine Exarchate of Ravenna (changing name to Chrysopolis, "Golden City", probably due to the presence of the army's treasure) and, from 569, of the Lombard Kingdom of Italy. Parma became an important stage of the Via Francigena, the main Middle Ages road connecting Rome to Northern Europe: several castles, hospitals and inn were founded in the following centuries to host the increasing number of pilgrims. Under the Franks reign Parma became a committee's capital (774). Like most northern Italian cities, was nominally a part of the Holy Roman Empire created by Charlemagne, but locally ruled by its bishops, first being Guidobus. In the subsequent struggles between Papacy and Empire, Parma was usually member of the Imperial party. Two of his bishops became antipopes: Càdalo, founder of the Cathedral, as Honorius II); and Guibert, as Clement III). An almost independent commune was created around 1140. After the peace of Konstanz (1183), quarrels with the neighbouring communes of Reggio Emilia, Piacenza and Cremona became harsher: the aim was the control over the vital trading line over the Po river. The struggle between Guelphs and Ghibelline were a feature of Parma too. After a long stance alongside the Emperors, the Papist families of the city gained control in 1248: the city was besieged by the Emperor Frederick II, who was however crushed in the battle that ensued. Parma fell under the control of Milan in 1341. After a short-lived period of indpendence under the Terzi family (1404-1409), Sforza imposed their rule (1440-1449) through their associated families of Pallavicino, Rossi, Sanvitale and Da Correggio. These created a kind of new feudalism, building towers and castles throughout the city and the land. These fiefs evolved into truly independent states: the Landi governed the higher Taro's valley from 1257 to 1682. The Pallavicino' seignory extended over the eastern part of the today's province, with the capital in Busseto. Parma's territories was an exception for Northern Italy, as its feudal subdivision continued often until recent years. For example, Solignano was a Pallavicino's family possession until 1805, and San Secondo belonged to the Rossi well into the 19th century. 19th century Between the 14th and the 15th centuries Parma was at the centre of the Italian Wars. The Battle of Fornovo was fought in its territory. The French mantained the city in 1500-1521, with a short Papal parenthesis in 1512-1515. After the foreigners were expelled Parma belonged to the Papal States untile 1545. In that year the Farnese pope, Paul III, detached Parma and Piacenza from the Papal States and gave them as a duchy for his illegitimate son, Pier Luigi Farnese, whose descendents ruled in Parma until 1731, when Antonio Farnese (1679-1731), last male of the Farnese line, died. The state was consolidated by Ottavio II Farnese (1547-1586). He also renovated the city's structures to create a true capital for his little but rich reign. In 1594 a Constituion was emanated, the University enhanced and the Nobles' College founded. The war to reduce the barons' power continued for several years: in 1612 Barbara Sanseverino was executed in the central square of Parma, together with six other nobles charged of plotting against the duke. At the end of the 17th century, after the defeat of Pallavicini (1588) and Landi (1682) the Farnese duke could finally hold with firm hand all Parmense territories. The castle of the Sanseverino in Colorno was turned into a luxurious summer palace by Ferdinando Bibiena. In 1731] the combined Duchy of Parma and Piacenza was given to the House of Bourbon in a diplomatic shuffle of the European dynastic politics that were played out in Italy. Under the new rulers, however, it faced a certain decadence. In 1734 all the outstanding art collections of the duke's palaces of Parma, Clorno and Sala Baganza were moved to Naples. Parma was under French influence after the Peace of Aachen (1748). Parma became a modern state with the energic action of prime minister Guillaume du Tillot. He created the bases for a modern industry and fought strenuously against the church's privileges. The city lived a period of particular splendour: the Palatine Library, the Archaelogical Museum, the Picture Gallery and the Botanical Garden were founded, together with the Royal Printing Works directed by Giambattista Bodoni. During the Napoleonic Wars (1802-1814), Parma was part of the Taro Department. The Risorgimento's upheavals had no fortile ground in the tranquil duchy. In 1847, after Maria Luigia's death, it passed again to the Bourbon, the last of them was stabbed in the city and left it to his Widow, Luisa Maria of Berry. On September 15, 1859 the dynasty was declared deposed, and Parma entered in the newly formed provinces of Emilia under Carlo Farini. With the plebiscite of 1860 the former duchy became part of the unified Kingdom of Italy. The loss of the capital role provoked an ecenomical and social crisis in Parma. It strarted to recover its role of industrial prominence after the connection with Piacenza and Bologna of 1859, and with Fornovo and Suzzara in 1883. Trade unions were strong in the city, in which a famous General Strike was declared from May 1 to June 6, 1908. The struggle with Fascism lived its most dramatic moment in the August 1922, when the regime officer Italo Balbo attempted to enter in the popular quarter of Oltretorrente. The citizens organized into the Arditi del Popolo ("People's assaulters") and pushed back the squadristi. This episode is considered the first example of Resistance in Italy. During World War II, Parma was a strong centre of partisan presence. It suffered large destructions for bombardments until it was liberated on April 25, 1945.

Main sights

- The Romanesque Cathedral houses works by Correggio and Benedetto Antelami.
- The Baptistry (begun in 1996 by Antelami), one of the most important Medieval monuments in Europe.
- The church of Saint John the Evangelist was built between 1498 and 1510 behind the Cathedral's apse. It has Baroque facade and belfry, with a Latin cross plant and three naves. The dome was frescoed by Correggio in 1520-1521. Chapels have frescoes by Parmigianino. Also the cloisters and the ancient Benedictine grocery are noteworthy. The library has books from the 15th and 16th centuries.
- The Monastery of Saint Paul has frescoes by Correggio and Araldi.
- The Museum House of Arturo Toscanini, where the famous musician was born.
- The Old Hospital (1201)
- The Palazzo della Pilotta (1583). It houses the Academy of Fine Arts with artists of the School of Parma (Painting), the Palatine Library, the National Gallery, the Archaeological Museum, the Bodoni Museum and the Farnese Theatre.
- The Farnese Theatre was constructed in 1618-1619 by G.B. Aleotti, totally in wood. It was commissioned by Ranuccio I Farnese for the visit of Cosimo I de' Medici.
- The Teatro Regio ("Royal Theatre"), built in 1821-1829 by Nicola Bettoli. It has a Neo-Classical facade and a porch with double window order.
- The Auditorium Niccolò Paganini, designed by Renzo Piano.
- The Ducal Park (1561), built by Vignola for Ottaviano Farnese. It was turned into a Franch-style garden in 1749.

Food

Parma is famous for its food: its cheese "Parmigiano Reggiano" (along with Reggio Emilia) and for its Parma ham. In year 2004 Parma has been appointed seat of the [http://www.efsa.eu.int/index_en.html European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)].

Sport

Parma F.C. is a football club renowned in Italy and Europe for its successes including three national cups, an European's Cups Winner's Cup and a UEFA Cup. The stade Ennio Tardini can host up to 28,000 spectators. Also volleyball, rugby and baseball have large popularity in the city and have scored relevant successes.

Miscellaneous

Parma hosts the [http://www.comune.parma.it/tourvirtuale/virtual-teatroregio2.html Teatro Regio], a famous opera theatre. Stendhal set much of his masterpiece (The Charterhouse of Parma) in the city, even though there was no "Charterhouse" in real life. The Serie A football club Parma F.C. play in the city's Ennio Tardini stadium. Parma is also home to two rugby union teams, Overmach Rugby Parma and SKG Gran Rugby.

Famous people from Parma

- Francesco Mazzola, called 'Il Parmigianino', 16th century painter
- Sisto Badalocchio, painter
- Giambattista Bodoni, typographer
- Charles Ponzi, swindler and namesake of the Ponzi scheme
- Ferdinando Paer, composer
- Giuseppe Verdi, opera composer
- Arturo Toscanini, conductor
- Alessandro Araldi, painter (1460-1528)
- Michelangelo Anselmi, painter born in Tuscany (1492-1554)
- Giovanni Maria Francesco Rondani, painter (1490-1550)
- Girolamo Mazzola Bedoli, painter(1500-1569)
- Antonio da Correggio (Antonio Allegri), painter born in Correggio (c. 1489-c. 1533)

External links

- [http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=44.798769,10.323372&spn=0.086441,0.158838&t=k&hl=en Parma's view from satellite (Google Earth)]
- [http://www.comune.parma.it/tourvirtuale/index.html 360° photos of City of Parma]
- [http://parma.arounder.com/fullscreen.html for broadband: Interactive high quality fullscreen QTVR panoramas] Category:Towns in Emilia-Romagna Category:History of Italy ja:パルマ

Papal States

The Papal States (Gli Stati della Chiesa or Stati Pontificii, "States of the Church") was one of the major historical states of Italy before the boot-shaped peninsula was unified under the Piedmontese crown of Savoy (later a republic). The Papal States comprised those territories over which the Pope was the ruler in a civil as well as a spiritual sense before 1870. This governing power is commonly called the temporal power of the Pope, as opposed to his (unique and more essential) ecclestiastical primacy. The plural is usually preferred, for the singular Papal State (equally correct since it was not a mere personal union) is rather used for the modern remnant, the miniature state Vatican City which is an enclave within Italy's national capital Rome, just large enough to allow the Holy See the full diplomatic and practical benefits of sovereignty.

Origins

The Roman Catholic Church spent its first three centuries as an outlawed organization and was thus unable to hold or transfer property. After the ban was lifted by the Emperor Constantine I, the church's private property grew quickly through the donations of the pious and the wealthy; the Lateran Palace was the first significant donation, a gift of Constantine himself. Other donations soon followed, mainly in mainland Italy but also in the provinces. However, the Church held all of these lands as a private landowner, not as a sovereign entity. When in the fifth century the Italian peninsula passed under the control of first Odoacer and then the Ostrogoths, the church organization in Italy, and the bishop of Rome as its head, submitted to their sovereign authority while beginning to assert spiritual supremacy. The seeds of the Papal States as a sovereign political entity were planted in the sixth century. The Eastern Roman (or Byzantine) government in Constantinople launched a reconquest of Italy that took decades and devastated the country's political and economic structures; just as those wars wound down, the Lombards entered the peninsula from the north and conquered much of the countryside. By the seventh century, Byzantine authority was largely limited to a diagonal band running roughly from Ravenna, where the Emperor's representative, or Exarch, was located, to Rome. With Byzantine power weighted at the northeast end of this territory, the Bishop of Rome, as the largest landowner and most prestigious figure in Italy, began by default to take on much of the ruling authority that Byzantines were unable to project to the area around the city of Rome. While the Bishops of Rome–now beginning to be referred to as the Popes–remained de jure Byzantine subjects, in practice the Duchy of Rome, an area roughly equivalent modern-day Latium, became an independent state ruled by the Church. The Church's relative independence, combined with popular support for the Papacy in Italy, enabled various Popes to defy the will of the Byzantine emperor; Pope Gregory II even excommunicated emperor Leo III. Nevertheless the Pope and the Exarch still worked together to control the rising power of the Lombards in Italy. As Byzantine power weakened, though, the Papacy took an ever larger role in defending Rome from the Lombards, usually through diplomacy, threats, and bribery. In practice, the Papacy's efforts served to focus Lombard aggrandizement on the Exarch and Ravenna. A climacteric moment in the founding of the Papal States was the agreement over boundaries embodied in the Lombard king Liutprand's "Donation of Sutri" (728) to Pope Gregory II [http://www.romeartlover.it/Civita3.html],

The Donation of Pippin and the Holy Roman Empire

When the Exarchate finally fell to the Lombards in 751, the Duchy of Rome was completely cut off from the Byzantine Empire, of which it was theoretically still a part. Pope Stephen III acted to neutralize the Lombard threat by courting the de facto Frankish ruler, Pippin the Younger. Stephen gave church sanction to Pippin's desire to depose the Merovingian figurehead Childeric III and take the throne himself; he also granted Pippin the title Patrician of the Romans. In return, Pippin led a Frankish army into Italy in 754 and 756. Pippin conquered much of northern Italy and made a gift (called the Donation of Pippin) of the properties formerly constituting the Exarchate of Ravenna to the Pope. In 781, Charlemagne codified the regions over which the Pope would be temporal sovereign: the Duchy of Rome was key, but the territory was expanded to include Ravenna, the Pentapolis, parts of the Duchy of Benevento, Tuscany, Corsica, Lombardy, along with a number of Italian cities. The cooperation between the Papacy and the Carolingian dynasty climaxed in 800, when Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne "Emperor of the Romans" ('Augustus Romanorum'). However, the precise nature of the relationship between the Popes and Emperors–and between the Papal States and the Empire–was not clear. Was the Pope a sovereign ruler of a separate realm in central Italy? Or were the Papal States just a part of the Frankish Empire over which the Popes had administrative control? Events in the ninth century postponed the conflict: the Frankish Empire collapsed as it was subdivided among Charlemagne's grandchildren, and the papacy's prestige declined into the condition later dubbed the pornocracy. In practice, the Popes were unable to exercise effective sovereignty over the extensive and mountainous territories of the Papal States, and the region preserved its old Lombard system of government, with many small counties and marquisates, each centered upon a fortified rocca. Over several campaigns in the mid-tenth century, the German ruler Otto I conquered northern Italy; Pope John XII crowned him emperor (the first so crowned in more than forty years), and the two of them ratified the Diploma Ottonianum, which guaranteed the independence of the Papal States. However, over the next two centuries, Popes and Emperors squabbled over a variety of issues, and the German rulers routinely treated the Papal States as part of their realms on those occasions when they projected power into Italy. A major motivation for the Gregorian Reform was to free the administration of the Papal States from imperial interference, and after the extirpation of the Hohenstaufen dynasty, the German emperors rarely interfered in Italian affairs. By 1300, the Papal States, along with the rest of the Italian principalities, were effectively independent.

The Renaissance

During the Renaissance, the papal territory expanded greatly, notably under Pope Alexander VI and Pope Julius II. The Pope became one of Italy's most important secular rulers as well as the head of the Church, signing treaties with other sovereigns and fighting wars. In practice, though, most of the Papal States was still only nominally controlled by the Pope, and much of the territory was ruled by minor princes. Control was always contested; indeed it took until the 16th century for the Pope to have any genuine control over all his territories. From 1305 to 1378, the Popes lived in Avignon, in what is now France, and were under the influence of the French kings. During this Avignon Papacy, however, the Papal States in Italy remained formally under Papal control. During this period the city of Avignon itself was added to the Papal States; it remained a Papal possession even after the Popes returned to Rome, only passing back to France during the French Revolution. At its greatest extent in the 18th century, the Papal States included most of Central Italy–Latium, Umbria, Marche, and the Legations of Ravenna, Ferrara, and Bologna extending north into the Romagna. It also included the small enclaves of Benevento and Pontecorvo in southern Italy, and the larger Comtat Venaissin around Avignon in southern France.

The era of the French Revolution and Napoleon

The French Revolution proved as disastrous for the temporal territories of the Papacy as it was for the Catholic Church in general. In 1791 the Comtat Venaissin and Avignon were annexed by France. Later, with the French invasion of Italy in 1796, the Legations were seized and became part of the Cisalpine Republic. Two years later, the Papal States as a whole were invaded by French forces, who declared a Roman Republic. Pope Pius VI died in exile in France in 1799. The Papal States were restored in June of 1800, and Pope Pius VII returned, but the French again invaded in 1808, and this time the remainder of the States of the Church were annexed to France, forming the départements of Tibre and Trasimène. With the fall of the Napoleonic system in 1814, the Papal States were restored. From 1814 until the death of Pope Gregory XVI in 1846, the Popes followed a harshly reactionary policy in the Papal States. For instance, the city of Rome maintained the last Jewish ghetto in Western Europe. There were hopes that this would change when Pope Pius IX was elected to succeed Gregory and began to introduce liberal reforms.

Italian nationalism and the end of the Papal States

Italian nationalism had been stoked during the Napoleonic period but dashed by the settlement of the Congress of Vienna, which left Italy divided and largely under Austrian domination. In 1848, nationalist and liberal revolutions began to break out across Europe; in 1849, a Roman Republic was declared and the pope fled the city. Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, recently elected president of the newly declared French Second Republic, saw an opportunity to assuage conservative Catholic opinion in France, and in cooperation with Austria sent troops to restore Papal rule in Rome. After some hard fighting (in which Giuseppe Garibaldi distinguished himself on the Italian side), Pius was returned to Rome, and, repenting of his previous liberal tendencies, pursued a harsh, conservative policy even more repressive than that of his predecessors. In the years that followed, Italian nationalists–both those who wished to unify the country under the Kingdom of Sardinia and its ruling House of Savoy and those who favored a republican solution–saw the Papal States as the chief obstacle to Italian unity. Louis Napoleon, who had now seized control of France as Emperor Napoleon III, tried to play a double game, simultaneously forming an alliance with Sardinia and playing on his famous uncle's nationalist credentials on the one hand and maintaining French troops in Rome to protect the Pope's rights on the other. After the Austro-Sardinian War, much of northern Italy was unified under the House of Savoy's government; in the aftermath, Garibaldi led a revolution that overthrow the Bourbon monarchy in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Afraid that Garibaldi would set up a republican government in the south, the Sardinians petitioned Napoleon for permission to send troops through the Papal States to gain control of the Two Sicilies, which was granted on the condition that Rome was left undisturbed. In 1860, with much of the region already in rebellion against Papal rule, Sardinia conquered the eastern two-thirds of the Papal States and cemented its hold on the south. Bologna, Ferrara, Umbria, the Marches, Benevento, and Pontecorvo were all formally annexed by November of the same year, and a unified Kingdom of Italy was declared. The Papal States were reduced to Latium, the immediate neighborhood of Rome. Many Italians still believed that Rome ought by right to be the capital of the new state. The opportunity to eliminate the last vestige of the Papal States came at the beginning of September 1870, when, in the aftermath of France's disastrous defeat at the Battle of Sedan, the French garrison in Rome was withdrawn to defend France against the Prussians. On September 10, Italy declared war on the Papal States, and on September 20, Italian forces reached Rome. Though everyone involved knew that the Pope's tiny army was incapable of defending the city, Pius ordered it to put up at least a token resistance to emphasize that Italy was acquiring Rome by force and not consent. After a cannonade of three hours, the Italians entered Rome and the Papal States ceased to exist. This event, described in Italian history books as a liberation, was taken very bitterly by the Pope. The Italian government had offered to allow the Pope to retain control of the Leonine City on the west bank of the Tiber, but Pius rejected the overture. Early the following year, the capital of Italy was moved from Florence to Rome. The Pope, whose previous residence, the Quirinal Palace, had become the royal palace of the Kings of Italy, withdrew in protest into the Vatican, where he lived as a self-proclaimed "prisoner", refusing to leave or to set foot in St. Peter's Square, and ordering Catholics on pain of excommunication not to participate in elections in the new Italian state. However the new Italian control of Rome did not wither, nor did the Catholic world come to the Pope's aid, as Pius IX expected. In the 1920s, the papacy abandoned its demand for a return of the Papal States and signed the Lateran Treaty (or Concordat with Rome) of 1929, which created the State of the Vatican City, forming the secular territory of the Holy See. Vatican City can be seen as the modern descendent of the Papal States.

Institutions

- As the plural name Papal States indicates, the various regional components, usually former independent states, retained their identity under papal rule. The papal 'state' was represented in each(?) province by a governor, either styled papal legate, as in the former principality of Benevento, or papal delegate, as in the former duchy of Pontecorvo ?or otherwise
- The police force, known as sbirri ('cop' in modern Italian), was stationed in private houses (normally a practice of military occupation) and enforced order quite rigourously
- For the defence of the states an international Catholic volunteer corps, called zouaves after a kind of French colonial native Algerian infantry, and imitating their uniform type, was created.

Marye of Yejju

Marye of Yejju (died 14 February 1831) was a Ras of Begemder and Regent of the Emperor of Ethiopia. He was the brother of his predecessor Ras Yimam. Marye had his capital in Debre Tabor, from 1828 to 1831, when he at last undertook a military campaign against Ras Sabagadis of Agame, who had succeeded Wolda Selassie as the dominant warlord of Tigray. Supported by Wube Haile Maryam of Semien and Goshu of Gojjam, Marye led his army across the Takazze River and defeated Sebagadis at the Battle of Debre Abbay (14 February 1831). However, Ras Marye was killed in the battle, and Sebagadis surrendered to Wube. Wube handed the defeated warlord to Ras Marye's Oromo troops, who killed their defeated foe, and ravaged Tigray in revenge for their leader's death. Category:Warlords of the Zemene Mesafint

Sabagadis

Sebagadis (died 1831) was Ras of Tigray, a province in northern Ethiopia. He was born to an aristocratic household, and was a member of the Saho people who live in present-day Eritrea. Sebagadis was the son of Shum Waldu of Agame, and his family's governing legacy was a long one, ending only with Mengistu's invasion in 1974, and the subsequent reign of the "Red Terror". Sebagadis gained some notoriety in the 1800s for rebelling a number of times against his overlord, Ras Wolde Selassie. But just before the death of Wolde Selassie it seems that he made it up with his master and became one of his loyal lieutenants. Following Wolde Selassie's death in 1816, he had become the most powerful warlord in Tigray, making his base in Adigrat.¹ Ras Sebagadis believed that firearms were vital to neutralize the power of the Oromo cavalry, which was at the time the most powerful weapon in Ethiopia, so he devoted much time and effort both collecting them, and seeking European help in buying them; this included seeking British help -- or at least permission -- to capture the port of Massawa. As a result, by the 1820s he was seen both in Europe -- and in Ethiopia -- as the champion of Christianity. Three of his letters have survived. One to the Patriarch of Alexandria Peter complains of the behavior of Abuna Qerellos, sarcasticly asking, "Was it because you hated Ethiopia that you sent him? Did you not know his conduct before, [and] so you sent him?" Another one is addressed to King George IV of Great Britain, asking for "one hundred cavalrymen, a carpenter, [and] a church builder who will build the way [you do] in your country".²Image:WritingsSaba2.jpg Example: Sabagadis' letters Sabagadis kept in continuous communication with all of the most important Christian lords in Ethiopia. Building upon his reputation, the Ras formed a colation with the warlords of Gojjam, Lasta and Semien against Ras Marye of Yejju. Ras Marye was a Oromo, a Muslim, and a percieved threat to the northen citizen's way of life. Marye defeated Dejazmach Goshu in Gojjam, and marched the bulk of his army to Lasta, and then quickly turned to Semien and attacked Wube. Sabagadis was watching the battle on the border of Lasta, and did not come to the aid of Wube. Wube prefered to submit to Marye rather then have to face him alone. Marye decided to put an end to the Tigrean threat. At the head of Galla contingents from Wollo, Yejju, Begamder and Amhara, and now (forcably) supported by the armies of Wube and Goshu, Marye advanced beyond the Tekezé River into Tigre. ³ The armies of Ras Sebagadis and Ras Marye met on the 14 February, 1831 and the Battle of Debre Abbay began. Although the Tigreans had by far the greater number of firearms, the matchlockmen were poorly employed and the Oromo cavalry won the field after a most bloody fight. Ras Marye was killed in the battle, and Sebagadis would surrender only to Ras Wube. Wube dutifully handed him over to Marye's followers who executed him. ⁴ Nearly a year after his death, although he was a Tigrean, people all over the Amhara countries were still lamenting Sebagadis:

Alas! Sabagadis, the friend of all,
Has Fallen at Daga Shaha, by the hand of Aubeshat!
Alas! Sabagadis, the pillar of the poor,
Has Fallen at Daga Shaha, weltering in his blood!
The people of this country, will they find it a good thing
To eat ears of corn which have grown in the blood?
Who will remember (St) Michael of November (to give alms)?
Mariam, with five thousand Gallas, had killed him
(him, ie, who remembered to give alms)
For the half of a loaf, for a cup of wine,
The friend of the Christians has fallen at Daga Shaha.⁵

Sabagadis' bones were carried to a monestary in northern Ethiopia called "Gunde Gunde". Where he is buried at his request with his "face towards the sea"; because of his love for Eritrea, and his belief that all were truly Ethiopian. Image:ChurchatGunde.jpg Monestary at Gunde Gunde. Sebagadis was survived by two sons: Ras Sebhat, who continued to rule in Adigrat into the 1860s; and Wolde Mikael.⁶

Notes

# Richard R.K. Pankhurst, History of Ethiopian Towns (Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner Verlag, 1982), p. 210. # All three are translated with faccimiles of the original text in Sven Rubenson (editor), Correspondence and Treaties (1800-1854) (Evanston: Northwestern University Press, 1987), pp. 24-9. # Paul B. Henze, Layers of Time: A History of Ethiopia (New York: Palgrave, 2000), p. 123. # Mordechai Abir, The Era of the Princes: the Challenge of Islam and the Re-unification of the Christian empire, 1769-1855 (London: Longmans, 1968), p. 35. # Abir, p. 36 # Pankhurst, pp. 212f. Category:Warlords of the Zemene Mesafint

February 20

February 20 is the 51st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 314 days remaining, 315 in leap years.

Events

- 1472 - Orkney and Shetland are annexed to the crown of Scotland.
- 1547 - Edward VI of England is crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey.
- 1724 - The premiere of Giulio Cesare, an Italian opera by George Frideric Handel, takes place in London.
- 1725 - The first reported case of white men scalping Native Americans takes place in New Hampshire colony.
- 1792 - The Postal Service Act, establishing the United States Post Office Department, is signed by President George Washington.
- 1810 - Andreas Hofer, Tyrolean patriot and leader of rebellion against Napoleon's forces, was executed.
- 1816 - Gioachino Rossini's The Barber of Seville debuts at Teatro Argentina, with a fiasco.
- 1835 - Concepción, Chile is destroyed by an earthquake
- 1864 - Battle of Olustee
- 1872 - In New York City the Metropolitan Museum of Art opens.
- 1873 - The University of California opens its first medical school in San Francisco, California.
- 1901 - The legislature of Hawaii Territory convenes for the first time.
- 1913 - King O'Malley drives in the first survey peg to mark commencement of work on the construction of Canberra.
- 1921 - The film The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, starring Rudolph Valentino, premieres.
- 1931 - California gets the go-ahead by the U.S. Congress to build the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.
- 1942 - Lieutenant Edward O'Hare becomes America's first World War II flying ace.
- 1943 - American movie studio executives agree to allow the Office of War Information to censor movies.
- 1943 - The Paricutín volcano begins to form in Paricutín, México.
- 1944 - World War II: "Big Week" begins with American bomber raids on Nazi aircraft manufacturing centers.
- 1944 - World War II: The United States takes Eniwetok Island.
- 1952 - Emmett L. Ashford becomes the first African-American umpire in organized baseball by being authorized to be a substitute umpire in the Southwestern International League.
- 1952 - The film The African Queen opens at the Capitol Theatre in New York City.
- 1959 - The Avro Arrow programme to design and manufacture supersonic jet fighters in Canada is cancelled by the Diefenbaker government amid much political debate.
- 1962 - Mercury program: While aboard Friendship 7, John Glenn orbits the earth three times in 4 hours, 55 minutes, becoming the first American to orbit the earth.
- 1965 - Ranger 8 crashes into the moon after a successful mission of photographing possible landing sites for the Apollo program astronauts.
- 1974 - Science fiction writer Philip K. Dick claims he began experiencing intense gnostic visions on this date.
- 1976 - The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization disbands.
- 1987 - Unabomber: In Salt Lake City, in the USA, a bomb explodes in a computer store.
- 1992 - Ross Perot announces his intention to run in the 1992 U.S. presidential election on CNN's Larry King Live.
- 1992 - The FA Premier League is formed and takes over as the professional league in England from season 1992–93.
- 1998 - The afternoon newspaperNashville Banner publishes its final edition.
- 2001 - FBI agent Robert Hanssen is arrested and charged with spying for Russia for 15 years.
- 2002 - In Reqa Al-Gharbiya, Egypt, a fire on a train injures over 65 and kills at least 370.
- 2003 - In Rhode Island, in the USA, The Station nightclub fire kills about 100 and injures over 200.
- 2005 - Spain becomes the first country to vote in a referendum on ratification of the proposed Constitution of the European Union, passing it by a substantial margin, but on a low turnout.
- 2005 - Jeff Gordon wins his third Daytona 500.

Births

- 1631 - Thomas Osborne, 1st Duke of Leeds, English statesman (d. 1712)
- 1745 - Henry James Pye, English poet (d. 1813)
- 1751 - Johann Heinrich Voß, German poet (d. 1826)
- 1753 - Louis Alexandre Berthier, French marshal (d. 1815)
- 1757 - John 'Mad Jack' Fuller, English philanthropist (d. 1834)
- 1819 - Alfred Escher, Swiss politician, railroad entrepreneur (d. 1882)
- 1839 - Benjamin Waugh, American minister and founder of the NSPCC (d. 1908)
- 1844 - Ludwig Boltzmann, Austrian physicist (d. 1906)
- 1844 - Joshua Slocum, Canadian seaman and adventurer (d. 1909)
- 1848 - Edward Henry Harriman, American railroad executive (d. 1909)
- 1887 - Vincent Massey, Governor-General of Canada (d. 1967)
- 1888 - Georges Bernanos, French writer (d. 1948)
- 1893 - Russel Crouse, American playwright (d. 1966)
- 1901 - Muhammad Naguib, President of Egypt (d. 1984)
- 1902 - Ansel Adams, American photographer (d. 1984)
- 1904 - Alexei Kosygin, Premier of the Soviet Union (d. 1980)
- 1912 - Pierre Boulle, French author (d. 1994)
- 1914 - John Daly, South African-born broadcaster (d. 2001)
- 1923 - Forbes Burnham, President of Guyana (d. 1985)
- 1924 - Gloria Vanderbilt, American clothing designer and entrepreneur
- 1925 - Robert Altman, American film director
- 1925 - Heinz Kluncker, German labor union leader
- <

1831

Events

Births

Deaths

Common year starting on Saturday

Other years

March

Events in March

See also

External links

Modena

History

Ancient times

Middle Ages

The Este in the duchy of Modena

See also

External links

Parma

History

Main sights

Food

Sport

Miscellaneous

Famous people from Parma

External links

Papal States

Origins

The Donation of Pippin and the Holy Roman Empire

The Renaissance

The era of the French Revolution and Napoleon

Italian nationalism and the end of the Papal States

Institutions

See also

Marye of Yejju

Sabagadis

Notes

February 20

Events

Births