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Pope Adrian IV

Pope Adrian IV

Adrian IV or Hadrian IV, né Nicholas Breakspear (ca. 11001 September, 1159) was pope from 1154 to 1159. Adrian IV is the only Englishman who has occupied the papal chair. It is generally believed that he was born at Abbots Langley in Hertfordshire and to have received his early education at the Abbey School, St. Albans (now St Albans School). His father was Robert, a priest of the diocese of Bath, who became a monk at St. Albans. Nicholas himself, however, was refused admission to the monastery, being told by the abbot to 'wait to go on with his schooling so that he might be considered more suitable' (Abbey chronicles). In the event he did not wait and went instead to Paris and finally became a monk of the cloister of St. Rufus near Arles. He rose to be prior and in 1137 was unanimously elected abbot. His reforming zeal as abbot led to the lodging of complaints against him at Rome; but these merely attracted to him the favourable attention of Pope Eugenius III, who created him cardinal bishop of Albano. From 1152 to 1154 Nicholas was in Scandinavia as papal legate, organizing the affairs of the new Norwegian archbishopric of Trondheim, and making arrangements which resulted in the recognition of Gamla Uppsala (later moved to Uppsala) as seat of the Swedish metropolitan in 1164. As a compensation for territory thus withdrawn, the Danish archbishop of Lund was made legate and perpetual vicar and given the title of primate of Denmark and Sweden. On his return Nicholas was received with great honour by Pope Anastasius IV, and on the death of the latter was elected pope on 4 December, 1154. He at once endeavoured to bring down Arnold of Brescia, the leader of anti-papal sentiment in Rome. Disorder within the city led to the the murder of a cardinal, causing Adrian shortly before Palm Sunday 1155 to take the previously-unheard-of step of putting Rome under the interdict. The Senate thereupon exiled Arnold. The pope, with the co-operation of Frederick I Barbarossa, was instrumental in procuring his execution. Adrian crowned the emperor at Saint Peter's on 18 June, 1155, a ceremony which so incensed the Romans that the pope had to leave the city, not returning until November 1156. At the diet of Besançon in October 1157, the legates presented to Barbarossa a letter from Adrian which alluded to the beneficia or "benefits" conferred upon the emperor, and the German chancellor translated this beneficia in the feudal sense of the presentation of property from a lord to a vassal (benefice). Barbarossa was infuriated by the suggestion that he was dependent on the pope, and in the storm which ensued the legates were glad to escape with their lives, and the incident at length closed with a letter from the pope, declaring that by beneficium he meant merely bonum factum or "a good deed," the coronation. The breach subsequently became wider, and Adrian was about to excommunicate the emperor when he died at Anagni on 1 September, 1159. Adrian 4 Adrian 4 Adrian 4 Adrian 4 Adrian 4 Adrian 4 Adrian 4 ko:교황 히드리아노 4세

1100

:For alternate uses, see 1100 (number).

Events


- William II of England dies in a hunting accident - Henry I becomes King of England
- King Henry I proclaims the Charter of Liberties, one of the first examples of a constitution.
- Baldwin I becomes King of Jerusalem.
- Baldwin of Bourcq becomes Count of Edessa.
- Dagobert of Pisa becomes Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem.
- Bohemund I of Antioch is captured by the Danishmends, leaving Tancred as regent of the Principality of Antioch.
- The cities of Kalmar, Kungälv, and Varberg, Sweden are chartered.
- In Iceland, Althing decides that the laws should be transferred to a written form
- Approximate date of the invention of checkers.
- Approximate date of the rise of the Ancient Pueblo Peoples culture.

Births


- May 23 - Emperor Qinzong of China (d. 1161)
- Mary and Eliza Chulkhurst, English conjoined twins (died 1134)
- Gilbert de Clare, 1st Earl of Pembroke (died 1148)

Deaths


- January 8 - Antipope Clement III
- February 23 - Emperor Zhezong of China (b. 1077)
- July 18 - Godfrey of Bouillon, King of Jerusalem
- August 2 - William II of England
- September 16 - Bernold of Constance, German chronicler
- October 13 - Count Guy I of Ponthieu.
- December 22 - Duke Bretislav II of Bohemia Category:1100 ko:1100년 simple:1100

1 September

September 1 is the 244th day of the year (245th in leap years). There are 121 days remaining.

Events


- 5509 BC - The world was created, according to the Byzantine Empire.
- 462 - possible start of first Byzantine indiction cycle
- 1532 - Lady Anne Boleyn is created Marchioness of Pembroke by her fiancée, King Henry VIII of England
- 1644 - Battle of Tippermuir, Montrose defeats Elcho's Covenanters, reviving Royalist cause
- 1715 - King Louis XIV of France dies after a reign of 72 years — the longest of any major European monarch.
- 1752 - The Liberty Bell arrives in Philadelphia.
- 1772 - Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa founded in San Luis Obispo, California.
- 1804 - Juno, one of the largest main belt asteroids, was discovered by German astronomer Karl Ludwig Harding.
- 1807 - Former US Vice President Aaron Burr is acquitted of treason.
- 1836 - Narcissa Whitman, one of the first white women to settle west of the Rocky Mountains, arrives at Walla Walla, Washington.
- 1862 - American Civil War: Battle of Chantilly - Confederate forces attack retreating Union troops in Chantilly, Virginia.
- 1864 - American Civil War: Confederate General John Bell Hood evacuates Atlanta, Georgia after a four-month siege by General Sherman.
- 1873 - Cetshwayo ascends to the throne as king of the Zulu nation following the death of his father Mpande.
- 1875 - A murder conviction effectively forces the violent Irish anti-owner coal miners, the "Molly Maguires", to disband.
- 1894 - Great Hinckley Fire: A forest fire in Hinckley, Minnesota, kills more than 400 people.
- 1897 - The Boston subway opens, becoming the first underground metro in North America.
- 1905 - Alberta and Saskatchewan join the Canadian confederation.
- 1906 - the International Federation of Intellectual Property Attorneys (FICPI) is established.
- 1914 - St. Petersburg, Russia changes its name to Petrograd.
- 1914 - The last Passenger Pigeon, a female named Martha, dies in captivity in the Cincinnati Zoo.
- 1923 - The Great Kantō earthquake devastates Tokyo and Yokohama, killing about 100,000 people.
- 1928 - Ahmet Zogu declares Albania to be a monarchy and proclaims himself king.
- 1939 - World War II: Nazi Germany attacks Poland, beginning the war. (See Polish September Campaign.)
- 1939 - George C. Marshall becomes Chief of Staff of the United States Army.
- 1939 - The Wound Badge for Wehrmacht and SS soldiers is instituted.
- 1951 - The United States, Australia and New Zealand sign a mutual defense pact, called the ANZUS Treaty.
- 1954 - Paul "Bear" Bryant opens his infamous 10-day football mini-camp in Junction, Texas: The Junction Boys.
- 1960 - Disgruntled railroad workers effectively halt operations of the Pennsylvania Railroad, marking the first shutdown in the history of the company.
- 1962 - Channel Television launches to 54,000 households in the Channel Islands.
- 1969 - A coup in Libya brings Col. Moammar Qaddafi to power, ousting King Idris I.
- 1970 - The last episode of the television sitcom I Dream of Jeannie airs on NBC. The show premiered on September 18, 1965.
- 1972 - In Reykjavík, Iceland, American Bobby Fischer beats Russian Boris Spassky and becomes the world chess champion.
- 1975 - The last original episode of the American television series Gunsmoke airs on CBS after a record 20-year run.
- 1979 - The American Pioneer 11 becomes the first spacecraft to visit Saturn when it passes the planet at a distance of 21,000 km.
- 1980 - Chun Doo-hwan becomes president of South Korea after the resignation of Choi Kyu-ha.
- 1983 - Cold War: Korean Air Flight KAL-007 is shot down by a Soviet Union jet fighter when the commercial aircraft enters Soviet airspace. All 269 on board are killed.
- 1990 - The Communist Labour Party of Turkey/Leninist is founded, following a split from the Communist Labour Party of Turkey.
- 1985 - A joint American-French expedition locates the wreck of the RMS Titanic.
- 1991 - Uzbekistan declares independence from the Soviet Union
- 1999 - A LAPA Boeing 737-200 crashes during takeoff from Jorge Newbury Airport in Buenos Aires, killing 74, including 10 on the ground.
- 2001 - Almost every single commercial television station in Vancouver, British Columbia switches network affiliations after a round of ownership changes in 2000 - the largest change in North America.
- 2004 - The Beslan school hostage crisis begins when armed terrorists take hundreds of schoolchildren and adults hostage in the Russian town of Beslan in North Ossetia.

Births


- 1453 - Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba, Spanish general and statesman (d. 1515)
- 1566 - Edward Alleyn, English actor (d. 1626)
- 1588 - Henry II, Prince of Condé, French nobleman (d. 1646)
- 1651 - Nataliya Kyrillovna Naryshkina, Tsaritsa of Russia (d. 1694)
- 1653 - Johann Pachelbel, German composer (d. 1706)
- 1711 - William Boyce, English composer (d. 1779)
- 1711 - William IV, Prince of Orange (d. 1759)
- 1726 - François-André Danican Philidor, French chess player (d. 1795)
- 1734 - Joseph Wright of Derby, English painter (d. 1797)
- 1848 - Auguste-Henri Forel, Swiss entomologist (d. 1931)
- 1854 - Engelbert Humperdinck, German composer (d. 1921)
- 1855 - Innokenty Annensky, Russian poet (d. 1909)
- 1875 - Edgar Rice Burroughs, American writer (d. 1950)
- 1877 - Francis William Aston, English chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1945)
- 1887 - Blaise Cendrars, Swiss writer (d. 1961)
- 1888 - Andrija Štampar, Croatian physician and World Health Organization diplomat (d. 1958)
- 1889 - Richard Arlen, American actor (d. 1976)
- 1899 - Andrei Platonov, Russian writer (d. 1951)
- 1905 - Elvera Sanchez, Puerto Rican dancer (d. 2000)
- 1906 - Joaquín Balaguer, President of the Dominican Republic (d. 2002)
- 1906 - Franz Biebl, German composer (d. 2001)
- 1907 - Walter Reuther, American labor union leader (d. 1970)
- 1913 - Christian Nyby, American director and film editor (d. 1993)
- 1920 - Richard Farnsworth, American actor (d. 2000)
- 1921 - Willem Frederik Hermans, Dutch writer (d. 1995)
- 1922 - Yvonne De Carlo, Canadian actress
- 1922 - Vittorio Gassman, Italian actor (d. 2000)
- 1923 - Rocky Marciano, American boxer (d. 1969)
- 1925 - Art Pepper, musician (d. 1982)
- 1929 - Anne Ramsey, American actress (d. 1988)
- 1933 - Ann W. Richards, American politician
- 1933 - Conway Twitty, American country music singer (d. 1993)
- 1935 - Seiji Ozawa, Japanese conductor
- 1939 - Lily Tomlin, American actress, comedienne
- 1944 - Leonard Slatkin, American conductor
- 1946 - Barry Gibb, Manx-Australian singer
- 1947 - Al Green, American politician
- 1947 - Stephen King, American author
- 1949 - P.A. Sangma, Indian politician
- 1950 - Phillip Fulmer, American football coach
- 1951 - Nicu Ceauşescu, Romanian politician
- 1952 - Phil Hendrie, American radio personality
- 1955 - Billy Blanks, American martial artist
- 1955 - Bruce Foxton, English bassist (The Jam)
- 1957 - Gloria Estefan, Cuban singer
- 1962 - Ruud Gullit, Dutch footballer
- 1966 - Tim Hardaway, American basketball player
- 1970 - Vanna, Croatian singer
- 1977 - Aaron Schobel, American football player
- 1981 - Clinton Portis, American football player
- 1983 - Jose Antonio Reyes, Spanish footballer
- 1985 - Ciara-Camile Roque Velasco, American singer

Deaths


- 921 - Richard, Duke of Burgundy
- 1067 - Baldwin V of Flanders
- 1159 - Pope Adrian IV
- 1256 - Kujo Yoritsune, Japanese shogun (b. 1218)
- 1414 - William de Ros, 7th Baron de Ros, Lord Treasurer of England (b. 1369)
- 1557 - Jacques Cartier, French explorer (b. 1491)
- 1574 - Guru Amar Das, third Sikh Guru (b. 1479)
- 1581 - Guru Ram Das, fourth Sikh Guru (b. 1534)
- 1600 - Tadeáš Hájek, Czech physician and astronomer (b. 1525)
- 1615 - Étienne Pasquier, French lawyer and man of letters (b. 1529)
- 1648 - Marin Mersenne, French mathematician (b. 1588)
- 1685 - Leoline Jenkins, Welsh lawyer and diplomat (b. 1625)
- 1687 - Henry More, English philosopher (b. 1614)
- 1715 - François Girardon, French sculptor (b. 1628)
- 1715 - King Louis XIV of France (b. 1638)
- 1943 - Charles Atangana, Cameroonian chief
- 1957 - Dennis Brain, English French horn player (b. 1921)
- 1967 - Siegfried Sassoon, English poet and author (b. 1886)
- 1969 - Drew Pearson, American newspaper columnist (b. 1897)
- 1970 - Francois Mauriac, French writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1885)
- 1977 - Ethel Waters, American singer and actress (b. 1896)
- 1981 - Albert Speer, Nazi official (b. 1905)
- 1981 - Haskell Curry, American mathematician (b. 1900)
- 1983 - Henry M. Jackson, U.S. Senator from Washington (b. 1912)
- 1988 - Luis Alvarez, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1911)
- 1989 - A. Bartlett Giamatti, baseball commissioner (b. 1938)
- 1999 - W. Richard Stevens, Author of Unix Network Programming and several books and IETF RFC documents (b. 1951)
- 2003 - Sir Terry Frost, British artist (b. 1915)
- 2004 - Ahmed Kuftaro, Grand Mufti of Syria (b. 1915)
- 2005 - R.L. Burnside, American musician (b. 1926)

Holidays and observances


- In the Eastern Orthodox Church, the new liturgical year begins on September 1. Also see September 1 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics).
- Church of England - Saint Giles
- Cameroon - Jour d'Union Nationale Camerounaise
- Libya - Revolution Day (1969)
- Russia - Knowledge Day
- Singapore - Teacher's Day
- Slovakia - Constitution Day
- Uzbekistan - Independence Day (from USSR, 1991)
- Start of the season when oysters are fit to eat (when month names contain an "R"). Which is also the season to have a common cold.
- Start of the partridge-shooting season ("St.Partridge").
- Start of new school year in many countries.

Fiction


- In the Harry Potter books September 1, the day on which the Hogwarts Express departs from Platform 9¾, always falls on a Sunday; this means that the first day of lessons is always a Monday.

External links


- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/1 BBC: On This Day] ---- August 31 - September 2 - August 1 - October 1 - more historical anniversaries ko:9월 1일 ja:9月1日 simple:September 1 th:1 กันยายน

Pope

:This entry is about the Catholic Pontiff. For other uses of the word, see Pope (disambiguation). The pope is the Patriarch of the West and Bishop of Rome, and leader of the Catholic Church. The office of the pope is called the Papacy; his ecclesiastical jurisdiction is called the Holy See (Sancta Sedes). Early bishops of Rome were designated vicar (representative) of Peter; for later popes the more authoritative vicar of Christ was substituted; this designation was first used by the Roman Synod of AD 495 to refer to Pope Gelasius I, an originator of papal supremacy among the patriarchs. The first Patriarch of Rome to bear the title of "Pope" was Pope Boniface III in 607, the first Bishop of Rome to assume the title of "universal Bishop" by decree of Emperor Phocas. Previous Patriarchs of Rome are called "Popes" by courtesy. In addition to his service in this spiritual role, the pope is also head of state of the independent sovereign State of the Vatican City, a city-state and nation entirely enclaved by the city of Rome. Prior to 1870, the pope's temporal authority extended over a large area of central Italy, the territory of the Papal States that was formally known as the "Patrimony of St Peter". Although the document on which the territorial powers of the Pontificate was based — the so-called Donation of Constantine — was proved a forgery in the 15th century, the papacy retained sovereign authority over the Papal States until the Italian Unification of 1870; a final political settlement with the Italian government was not reached until the Lateran Treaties of 1929. The current pope is Benedict XVI (born Joseph Ratzinger), who was elected at the age of 78 on 19 April 2005. He succeeds the late John Paul II, who was elected at the age of 58 in 1978. Pope Benedict XVI is the second non-Italian to be elected to the pontificate since Adrian VI, who was pope briefly in 1522-23John Paul II was the first — and is the first German to take the seat since the eleventh century (unless Adrian VI, who lived in Holland but came from German ancestors before Holland was separated from Germany, is counted as German rather than Dutch).

Office and nature

In canon law, the Catholic Pope is referred to as the Roman Pontiff (Pontifex Romanus). He is styled "Your Holiness" (Sanctitas Vestra) and is frequently referred to as the Holy Father. The title "Pope" is an informal one meaning "papa"; the formal title of the pope is "Bishop of Rome, Vicar of Jesus Christ, Successor of the Prince of the Apostles, Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church, Patriarch of the West, Primate of Italy, Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Roman Province, Sovereign of the State of the Vatican City, Servant of the Servants of God". This full title is rarely used. The pope's signature is usually in the format "NN. PP. x" (e.g., Pope Paul VI signed his name as "Paulus PP. VI"), the "PP." standing for Papa ("Pope") (or, according to unofficial sources, Pater Patrum, "Father of Fathers"), and his name is frequently accompanied in inscriptions by the abbreviation "Pont. Max." or "P.M." (abbreviation of the ancient title Pontifex Maximus, literally "Greatest Bridge-maker", but usually translated "Supreme Pontiff"). The signature of Papal bulls is customarily NN. Episcopus Ecclesia Catholicae ("NN. Bishop of the Catholic Church"), while the heading is NN. Episcopus Servus Servorum Dei ("NN. Bishop and Servant of the Servants of God"), the latter title dating to the time of Pope Gregory I the Great. Other titles used in some official capacity include Summus Pontifex ("Highest Pontiff"), Sanctissimus Pater and Beatissimus Pater ("Most Holy Father" and "Most Blessed Father"), Sanctissimus Dominus Noster ("Our Most Holy Lord"), and, in the Medieval period, Dominus Apostolicus ("Apostolic Lord"). This title, however, was not abandoned altogether: the pope is still refered to as "Dominum Apostolicum" in the Latin version of the Litany of the Saints, a solemn Catholic prayer, and in some translations of it. Medieval period]] The pope's official seat is the Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano, and his official residence is the Palace of the Vatican. He also possesses a summer palace at Castel Gandolfo (situated on the site of the ancient city-state Alba Longa). Historically the official residence of the pope was the Lateran Palace, donated by the Roman Emperor Constantinus I. The former Papal summer palace, the Quirinal Palace, has subsequently been the official residence of the Kings of Italy and President of the Italian Republic. It is the pope's ecclesiastical jurisdiction (the Holy See) and not his secular jurisdiction (Vatican City) which conducts international relations; for hundreds of years, the pope's court (the Roman Curia) has functioned as the government of the Catholic Church. The name "Holy See" (also "Apostolic See") is in ecclesiastical terminology the ordinary jurisdiction of the Bishop of Rome (including the Roman Curia); the pope's various honours, powers, and privileges within the Catholic Church and the international community derive from his Episcopate of Rome in lineal succession from the Apostle St. Peter (see Apostolic Succession). Consequently Rome has traditionally occupied a central position in the Catholic Church, although this is not necessarily so. The pope derives his Pontificate from being Bishop of Rome but is not required to live there; according to the Latin formula ubi Papa, ibi Curia, wherever the pope resides is the central government of the Church, provided that the pope is Bishop of Rome. As such, between 1309 and 1378 the popes lived in Avignon (the Avignon Papacy), a period often called the Babylonian Captivity in allusion to the Biblical exile of Israel. Catholic tradition maintains that the institution of the Pontificate can be found in the Bible, and cites certain key passages in support of this contention. Chief among these passages is Matthew 16: 18 – 19, wherein Jesus Christ says to St. Peter: :"Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." Other important passages include Luke 22: 31 – 32, John 1: 42, and John 21: 15 – 17.

Regalia and insignia

John 21: 15 – 17 Main article: Papal regalia and insignia.
- The "triregnum" also called the "tiara" or "triple crown"; recent popes have not, however, worn the triregnum though it remains the symbol of the papacy and has not been abolished. In liturgical ceremonies popes wear an episcopal mitre (an erect cloth hat).
- Staff topped by a crucifix, a custom established before the 13th century.
- The pallium (a circular band of fabric about two inches wide, worn over the chasuble about the neck, breast and shoulders and having two twelve-inch-long pendants hanging down in front and behind, ornamented with six small, black crosses distributed about the breast, back, shoulders, and pendants).
- The "Keys to the Kingdom of Heaven", the image of two keys, one gold and one silver. The silver key symbolises the power to bind and loose on Earth, and the gold key the power to bind and loose in Heaven.
- The Fisherman's Ring, a gold ring decorated with a depiction of St. Peter in a boat casting his net, with the name of the reigning pope around it.
- The umbracullum (better known in the Italian form ombrellino) is a canopy or umbrella (consisting of alternating red and gold stripes).
- One of the most familiar (and now discontinued) trappings of the Papacy was the sedia gestatoria, a mobile throne carried by twelve footmen (palafrenieri) in red uniforms, accompanied by two attendants bearing flabella (fans made of white ostrich-feathers). The use of the sedia gestatoria and of the flabella was discontinued by Pope John Paul II, with the former being replaced by the so-called Popemobile. In heraldry, each pope has his own Papal Coat of Arms. Though unique for each pope, the arms are always surmounted by the aforementioned two keys in saltire (i.e., crossed over one another so as to form an X) behind the escutcheon (one key silver and one key gold, tied with a red cord), and above them a silver triregnum with three gold crowns and red infulae, or the red strips of fabric hanging from the back over the shoulders when worn ("two keys in saltire or and argent, interlacing in the rings or, beneath a tiara argent, crowned or"). The flag most frequently associated with the pope is the yellow and white flag of Vatican City, with the arms of the Holy See ("Gules, two keys in saltire or and argent, interlacing in the rings or, beneath a tiara argent, crowned or") on the right hand side in the white half of the flag. This flag was first adopted in 1808, whereas the previous flag had been red and gold, the traditional colours of the Pontificate.

Status and authority

1808, 2005.]] The status and authority of the pope in the Catholic Church was dogmatically defined by the First Vatican Council in its Dogmatic Constitution of the Church of Christ (July 18, 1870). The first chapter of this document is entitled "On the institution of the apostolic primacy in blessed Peter", and states that (s.1) "according to the Gospel evidence, a primacy of jurisdiction over the whole church of God was immediately and directly promised to the blessed apostle Peter and conferred on him by Christ the Lord" and that (s.6) "if anyone says that blessed Peter the apostle was not appointed by Christ the Lord as prince of all the apostles and visible head of the whole church militant; or that it was a primacy of honour only and not one of true and proper jurisdiction that he directly and immediately received from our Lord Jesus Christ Himself: let him be anathema." The Dogmatic Constitution's second chapter, "On the permanence of the primacy of blessed Peter in the Roman pontiffs", states that (s.1) "that which our Lord Jesus Christ [...] established in the blessed apostle Peter [...] must of necessity remain forever, by Christ's authority, in the church which, founded as it is upon a rock, will stand firm until the end of time," that (s.3) "whoever succeeds to the chair of Peter obtains by the institution of Christ Himself, the primacy of Peter over the whole church", and that (s.5) "if anyone says that it is not by the institution of Christ the Lord Himself (that is to say, by divine law) that blessed Peter should have perpetual successors in the primacy over the whole church; or that the Roman pontiff is not the successor of blessed Peter in this primacy: let him be anathema." The Dogmatic Constitution's third chapter, "On the power and character of the primacy of the Roman pontiff," states that (s.1) "the definition of the ecumenical council of Florence, which must be believed by all faithful Christians, namely that the apostolic see and the Roman pontiff hold a world-wide primacy, and that the Roman pontiff is the successor of blessed Peter, the prince of the apostles, true vicar of Christ, head of the whole church and father and teacher of all Christian people," that (s.2) "by divine ordinance, the Roman church possesses a pre-eminence of ordinary power over every other church, and that the jurisdictional power of the Roman pontiff is both episcopal and immediate" and that "clergy and faithful, of whatever rite and dignity, both singly and collectively, are bound to submit to this power by the duty of hierarchical subordination and true obedience, and this not only in matters concerning faith and morals, but also in those which regard the discipline and government of the church throughout the world." The powers of the pope are defined by the Dogmatic Constitution (ch.3, s.8) such that "he is the supreme judge of the faithful, and that in all cases which fall under ecclesiastical jurisdiction recourse may be had to his judgement" and that "the sentence of the apostolic see (than which there is no higher authority) is not subject to revision by anyone, nor may anyone lawfully pass judgement thereupon" (can. 331 defines the power of the pope as "supreme, full, immediate and universal ordinary power in the Church, and he can always freely exercise this power"). It also dogmatically defined (ch.4, s.9) the doctrine of Papal infallibility, sc. such that :when the Roman Pontiff speaks ex cathedra, that is, when in the exercise of his office as shepherd and teacher of all Christians, in virtue of his supreme apostolic authority, he defines a doctrine concerning faith or morals to be held by the whole church, he possesses, by the divine assistance promised to him in blessed Peter, that infallibility which the divine Redeemer willed His church to enjoy in defining doctrine concerning faith or morals. Therefore, such definitions of the Roman pontiff are of themselves, and not by the consent of the church, irreformable. The Roman Catholic Church teaches that "it is absolutely necessary for the salvation of every creature to be united to the Roman Pontiff" (Pope Boniface VIII). This teaching is often summarized by the phrase "extra Ecclesiam nulla salus" (outside the Church exists no salvation), which has been reaffirmed by many popes throughout the centuries. Blessed John XXIII said: "Into this fold of Jesus Christ no man may enter unless he be led by the Sovereign Pontiff, and only if they be united to him can men be saved." Pope Paul VI also said: "Those outside the Church do not possess the Holy Spirit. The Catholic Church alone is the Body of Christ... and if separated from the Body of Christ he is not one of His members, nor is he fed by His Spirit." However, this dogma has been misinterpreted by both Catholics and non-Catholics alike. Many popes stressed that those who are invincibly ignorant of the Catholic religion can still obtain salvation. Pope Pius IX stated in his encyclical Quanto conficiamur moeror (1868): "We all know that those who are afflicted with invincible ignorance with regard to our holy religion, if they carefully keep the precepts of the natural law that have been written by God in the hearts of all men, if they are prepared to obey God, and if they lead a virtuous and dutiful life, can attain eternal life by the power of divine light and grace." Pope John Paul II wrote in his encyclical Redemptoris Missio: "But it is clear that today, as in the past, many people do not have an opportunity to come to know or accept the Gospel revelation or to enter the Church.... For such people, salvation in Christ is accessible by virtue of a grace which, while having a mysterious relationship to the Church, does not make them formally a part of the Church but enlightens them in a way which is accommodated to their spiritual and material situation. This grace comes from Christ; it is the result of his sacrifice and is communicated by the Holy Spirit. It enables each person to attain salvation through his or her free cooperation." The pope has many powers which he exercises. He can appoint bishops to dioceses, erect and suppress dioceses, appoint prefects to the Roman dicasteries, approve or veto their acts, modify the Liturgy and issue liturgical laws, revise the Code of Canon Law, canonize and beatify individuals, approve and suppress religious orders, impose canonical sanctions, act as a judge and hear cases, issue encyclicals, and issue infallible statements on matters pertaining to faith and morals which, according to the Church, must be believed by all Catholics. Most of these functions are performed by and through the various dicasteries of the Roman Curia, with the pope simply approving their actions prior to becoming official. While approval is generally granted, it is at the pope's discretion. See Donation of Constantine for discussion of the broader authority the papacy has argued the Catholic Church possesses in affairs of state.

Political role

Though the progressive Christianisation of the Roman Empire in the fourth century did not confer upon bishops civil authority within the state, the gradual withdrawal of imperial authority during the 5th century left the pope the senior Imperial civilian official in Rome, as bishops were increasingly directing civil affairs in other cities of the Western Empire. This status as a secular and civil leader was vividly displayed by Pope Leo I's confrontation with Attila in 452 and was substantially increased in 754, when the Frankish ruler Pippin the Younger donated to the pope a strip of territory which formed the core of the so-called Papal States (properly the Patrimony of St. Peter). In 800, Pope Leo III crowned the Frankish ruler Charlemagne as Roman Emperor, a major step toward establishing what later became known as the Holy Roman Empire; from that date it became the pope's prerogative to crown the Emperor or any monarch with affiliations with the church until the crowning of Napoleon. As has been hitherto mentioned, the pope's sovereignty over the Papal States ended in 1870 with their annexation by Italy. In addition to the pope's position as a territorial ruler and foremost prince bishop of Christianity (especially prominent with the Renaissance popes like Pope Alexander VI, an ambitious if spectacularly corrupt politico, and Pope Julius II, a formidable general and statesman) and as the spiritual head of the Holy Roman Empire (especially prominent during periods of contention with the Emperors, such as during the Pontificates of Pope Gregory VII and Pope Alexander III), the pope also possessed a degree of political and temporal authority in his capacity as Supreme Pontiff. Some of the most striking examples of Papal political authority are the Bull Laudabiliter in 1155 (authorising Henry II of England to invade Ireland), the Bull Inter Caeteras in 1493 (leading to the Treaty of Tordesillas in 1494, which divided the world into areas of Spanish and Portuguese rule) the Bull Regnans in Excelsis in 1570 (excommunicating Elizabeth I of England and purporting to release all her subjects from their allegiance to her), the Bull Inter Gravissimas in 1582 (establishing the Gregorian Calendar).

Death, abdication, and election

Death

The current regulations regarding a papal interregnum — i.e., a sede vacante ("vacant seat") — were promulgated by John Paul II in his 1996 document Universi Dominici Gregis. During the "Reading Festival", the Sacred College of Cardinals, composed of the pope's principal advisors and assistants, is collectively responsible for the government of the Church and of the Vatican itself, under the direction of the Cardinal Chamberlain; however, canon law specifically forbids the Cardinals from introducing any innovation in the government of the Church during the vacancy of the Holy See. Any decision that needs the assent of the pope has to wait until a new pope has been elected and takes office. It has long been claimed that a pope's death is officially determined by the Cardinal Chamberlain by gently tapping the late pope's head thrice with a silver hammer and calling his birth name three times, though this is disputed and has never been confirmed by the Vatican; there is general agreement that even if this procedure ever actually occurred, it was likely not employed upon the death of John Paul II. A doctor may or may not have already determined that the pope had passed away prior to this point. The Cardinal Chamberlain then retrieves the Fisherman's Ring. Usually the ring is on the pope's right hand. But in the case of Paul VI, he had stopped wearing the ring during the last years of his reign. In other cases the ring might have been removed for medical reasons. The Chamberlain cuts the ring in two in the presence of the Cardinals. The deceased pope's seals are defaced, to keep them from ever being used again, and his personal apartment is sealed. The body then lies in state for a number of days before being interred in the crypt of a leading church or cathedral; the popes of the 20th century were all interred in St. Peter's Basilica. A nine-day period of mourning (novem dialis) follows after the interment of the late pope.

Abdication

The Code of Canon Law [http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P16.HTM 332 §2] states, If it happens that the Roman Pontiff resigns his office, it is required for validity that the resignation is made freely and properly manifested but not that it is accepted by anyone. It was widely reported in June and July 2002 that Pope John Paul II firmly refuted the speculation of his resignation using Canon 332, in a letter to the Milan daily newspaper Corriere della Sera. Nevertheless, 332 §2 gave rise to speculation that either:
- Pope John Paul II would have resigned as his health failed, or
- a properly manifested legal instrument had already been drawn up that put into effect his resignation in the event of his incapacity to perform his duties. Pope John Paul II did not resign. He died on 2 April 2005 after suffering from many diseases and was buried on 8 April 2005. [http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&q=Pope+Dead&btnG=Search+News Articles on the death of John Paul II] After his death it was reported that in his last will and testament he had considered abdicating in 2000 as he neared his 80th birthday. However the language of that passage of the will is not clear and others have interpreted it differently.

Election

The pope was originally chosen by those senior clergymen resident in and near Rome. In 1059, the electorate was restricted to the Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church, and the individual votes of all Cardinal Electors were made equal in 1179. Pope Urban VI, elected 1378, was the last pope who was not already a cardinal at the time of his election. Canon law requires that if a layman or non-bishop is elected, he receives episcopal consecration from the Dean of the College of Cardinals before assuming the Pontificate. Under present canon law, the pope is elected by the cardinal electors, comprising those cardinals who are under the age of 80. The Second Council of Lyons was convened on May 7, 1274, to regulate the election of the pope. This Council decreed that the cardinal electors must meet within ten days of the pope's death, and that they must remain in seclusion until a pope has been elected; this was prompted by the three-year Sede Vacante following the death of Pope Clement IV in 1268. By the mid-Sixteenth century, the electoral process had more or less evolved into its present form, allowing for alteration in the time between the death of the pope and the meeting of the cardinal electors. Traditionally the vote was conducted by acclamation, by selection (by committee), or by plenary vote. Acclamation was the simplest procedure, consisting entirely of a voice vote, and was last used in 1621. Pope John Paul II abolished vote by acclamation and by selection by committee, and henceforth all popes will be elected by full vote of the Sacred College of Cardinals by ballot. The election of the pope almost always takes place in the Sistine Chapel, in a meeting called a "conclave" (so called because the cardinal electors are theoretically locked in, cum clavi, until they elect a new pope). Three cardinals are chosen by lot to collect the votes of absent cardinal electors (by reason of illness), three are chosen by lot to count the votes, and three are chosen by lot to review the count of the votes. The ballots are distributed and each cardinal elector writes the name of his choice on it and pledges aloud that he is voting for "one whom under God I think ought to be elected" before folding and depositing his vote on a plate atop a large chalice placed on the altar. The plate is then used to drop the ballot into the chalice, making it difficult for any elector to insert multiple ballots. Before being read, the number of ballots are counted while still folded; if the total number of ballots does not match the number of electors, the ballots are burned unopened and a new vote is held. Assuming the number of ballots matches the number of electors, each ballot is then read aloud by the presiding Cardinal, who pierces the ballot with a needle and thread, stringing all the ballots together and tying the ends of the thread to ensure accuracy and honesty. Balloting continues until a pope is elected by a two-thirds majority (since the promulgation of Universi Dominici Gregis the rules allow for a simple majority after a deadlock of twelve days). conclave following his coronation, a tradition which has now been discontinued.]] One of the most famous aspects of the papal election process is the means by which the results of a ballot are announced to the world. Once the ballots are counted and bound together, they are burned in a special oven erected in the Sistine Chapel, with the smoke escaping through a small chimney visible from St Peter's Square. The ballots from an unsuccessful vote are burned along with a chemical compound in order to produce black smoke, or fumata nera. (Traditionally wet straw was used to help create the black smoke, but a number of "false alarms" in past conclaves have brought about this concession to modern chemistry.) When a vote is successful, the ballots are burned alone, sending white smoke (fumata bianca) through the chimney and announcing to the world the election of a new pope. At the end of the conclave that elected Pope Benedict XVI, church bells were also rung to signal that a new pope had been chosen. The Dean of the College of Cardinals then asks the successfully elected Cardinal two solemn questions. First he asks, "Do you freely accept your election?" If he replies with the word "Accepto," his reign as pope begins at that instant, not at the coronation ceremony several days afterward. The Dean then asks, "By what name shall you be called?" The new pope then announces the regnal name he has chosen for himself. The new pope is led through the "Door of Tears" to a dressing room in which three sets of white Papal vestments ("immantatio") await: small, medium, and large. Donning the appropriate vestments and re-emerging into the Sistine Chapel, the new pope is given the "Fisherman's Ring" by the Cardinal Camerlengo, whom he either reconfirms or reappoints. The pope then assumes a place of honor as the rest of the Cardinals wait in turn to offer their first "obedience" ("adoratio"), and to receive his blessing. The senior Cardinal Deacon then announces from a balcony over St. Peter's Square the following proclamation: Annuntio vobis gaudium magnum! Habemus Papam! ("I announce to you a great joy! We have a pope!"). He then announces the new pope's Christian name along with the new name he has adopted as his regnal name. Until 1978, the pope's election was followed in a few days by a procession in great pomp and circumstance from the Sistine Chapel to St. Peter's Basilica, with the newly-elected pope borne in the sedia gestatoria. There the pope was crowned with the triregnum and he gave his first blessing as pope, the famous Urbi et Orbi ("to the City [Rome] and to the World"). Another famed part of the coronation was the lighting of a torch which would flare brightly and promptly extinguish, with the admonition Sic transit gloria mundi ("Thus fades worldly glory"). Traditionally, the new pope takes the Papal oath (the so-called "Oath against modernism") at his coronation, but Popes John Paul I, John Paul II, and Benedict XVI have all refused to do so. The Latin term sede vacante ("vacant seat") refers to a papal interregnum, the period between the death of the pope and the election of his successor. From this term is derived the name Sedevacantist, which designates a category of dissident, schismatic Catholics who maintain that there is no canonically and legitimately elected pope, and that there is therefore a Sede Vacante; one of the most common reasons for holding this belief is the idea that the reforms of the Second Vatican Council and especially the replacement of the Tridentine Mass with the Novus Ordo Missae are heretical, and that, per the dogma of Papal infallibility (see above), it is impossible for a valid pope to have done these things.

Objections to the Papacy

The pope's position as Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church is dogmatic and therefore not open to debate or dispute within the Catholic Church; the First Vatican Council anathematised all who dispute the pope's primacy of honour and of jurisdiction (it is lawful to discuss the precise nature of that primacy, provided that such discussion does not violate the terms of the Council's Dogmatic Constitution). However, the pope's authority is not undisputed outside the Catholic Church; these objections differ from denomination to denomination, but can roughly be outlined as (1.) objections to the extent of the primacy of the pope; and (2.) objections to the institution of the Papacy itself. anathema Some non-Catholic Christian communities, such as the Assyrian Church of the East, the Oriental Orthodox Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Anglican Communion, accept the doctrine of Apostolic Succession, and therefore accept (to varying extents) the papal claims to primacy of honour. However, these churches generally deny that the pope is the successor to St. Peter in any unique sense not true of any other bishop, or that St. Peter was ever bishop of Rome at all. The primacy is therefore regarded as a consequence of the pope's position as bishop of the original capital city of the Roman Empire, a definition explicitly spelled out in the 28th canon of the Council of Chalcedon. In any event, these churches see no foundation at all to papal claims of universal jurisdiction. Because none of them recognise the First Vatican Council as ecumenical, they regard its definitions concerning jurisdiction and infallibility (and anathematisation of those who do not accept them) as invalid. Other non-Catholic Christian denominations do not accept the doctrine of Apostolic Succession, or do not understand it in hierarchical terms, and therefore do not accept the claim that the pope is heir either to Petrine primacy of honour or to Petrine primacy of jurisdiction or they reject both claims of honor or jurisdiction as unscriptural. The Papacy's complex relationship with the Roman and Byzantine Empires, and other secular states, and the Papacy's territorial claims in Italy, are another focal point of these objections; as is the monarchical character of the office of pope. In Western Christianity, these objections — and the vehement rhetoric they have at times been cast in — both contributed to, and are products of, the Protestant Reformation. These denominations vary from simply not accepting the pope's authority as legitimate and valid, to believing that the pope is the Antichrist or one of the beasts spoken of in the Book of Revelation. These denominations tend to be more heterogeneous amongst themselves than the aforementioned hierarchical churches, and their views regarding the Papacy and its institutional legitimacy (or lack thereof) vary considerably. Some objectors to the papacy use empirical arguments, pointing to the corrupt characters of some of the holders of that office. For instance, some argue that claimed successors to St. Peter, like Alexander VI and Callixtus III from the Borgia family, were so corrupt as to be unfit to wield power to bind and loose on Earth or in Heaven. An omniscient and omnibenevolent God, some argue, would not have given those people the powers claimed for them by the Catholic Church. Defenders of the papacy argue that the Bible shows God as willingly giving privileges even to corrupt men (citing examples like some of the kings of Israel, the apostle Judas Iscariot, and even St. Peter after he denied Jesus). They also argue that not even the worst of the corrupt popes used the office to try to rip the doctrine of the Church from its apostolic roots, and that this is evidence that the office is divinely protected. Some objectors to the papacy occasionally refer to the Catholic Church and its members by the pejorative term papist to point up what they believe to be an inappropriate focus of attention on the office and an improper attribution of certain divine favors ex officio.

Other Popes

An antipope is a person who claims the Pontificate without being canonically and properly elected to it. The existence of an antipope is usually due either to doctrinal controversy within the Church, or to confusion as to who is the legitimate pope at the time (see Papal Schism). "The Black Pope" is a derogatory name given to the Superior General of the Society of Jesus due to the Jesuits' practice of wearing black cassocks (compared to the pope's always wearing white robes), and to the order's specific allegiance to the Roman pontiff. The heads of the Coptic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church of Alexandria are also called "popes" for historical reasons, the former being called "Coptic Pope" or "Pope of Alexandria" and the latter called "Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa"; the parallel construction "Pope of Rome" is frequently used in the Eastern churches. In Islam, the former office of Caliph held similar meaning, as the leader of all Muslims, subordinate only to the prophet Muhammad.

See also


- Chronological list of popes
- Pope Benedict XVI
- List of 10 longest-reigning Popes
- List of 10 shortest-reigning Popes
- List of ages of popes
- Vestment
- Immaculate Conception
- Assumption
- Ecumenical Council
- College of Bishops
- Pontifical University
- Caesaropapism
- History of the Papacy
- Investiture Controversy
- African popes
- List of French popes
- Myths and legends surrounding the Papacy
- Pope Joan
- Prophecy of the popes
- Regnal name
- Papal Slippers
- Papal Coronation
- Papal Inauguration
- List of sexually active popes

External links


- [http://www.vatican.va/ The Holy See]
- [http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/_INDEX.HTM Code of Canon Law] – Vatican site
- [http://www.dailycatholic.org/history/20ecume3.htm The Dogmatic Constitution on the Church of Christ], Fourth Session of the First Vatican Council
- [http://web.globalserve.net/~bumblebee/ecclesia/patriarchs.htm Eastern Church Defends Petrine Primacy and the Papacy]
- [http://thepopeblog.blogspot.com/ The Pope Blog] – Unofficial weblog about the pope
- [http://popetribute.com/ Pope Tribute] – A tribute to the pope, present and past
- [http://www.papst-benedikt.be Pope Benedict XVI and other Popes] (germ.)
- [http://www.geocities.com/hashanayobel/papalinfo.htm Papal information] News about ongoing Papal Events
- [http://www.punditguy.com/2005/04/german_pope.html Pope Election News Roundup]
- [http://www.angelfire.com/tv2/benedictxvi/ Cardinal Jorge Arturo Medina Estevez announcing Habemus Papam (We have a Pope!)] (Windows Media Player Video).
- [http://www.americancatholic.org/news/BenedictXVI/ American Catholic - Pope Benedict XVI Starts His Papacy]
- [http://www.guardian.co.uk/pope/story/0,12272,1452750,00.html Swiss Watchers - article about the Papal Guards in THE GUARDIAN]
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Category:Ecclesiastical titles als:Papst ko:교황 ms:Paus (Katholik) ja:ローマ教皇 simple:Pope th:พระสันตะปาปา

1154

Events


- King Stephen of England dies at Dover, and is succeeded by his adopted son Henry Plantagenet who becomes King Henry II of England, aged 21.
- Sweden's King Eric introduces Christianity to Finland (see History of Finland).
- December 14 - Nicholas Breakspear, the only English pope, is elected as Pope Adrian IV, succeding Pope Anastasius IV.
- A chateau is built at Chinon by Theobald I, count of Blois.
- William I becomes king of Sicily.
- Nur ad-Din gains control of Damascus, uniting Syria under one ruler.
- Birmingham, England, and the Birmingham Bull Ring are founded.
- Bosnia becomes an autonomous duchy.
- Belgrade is rebuilt by Byzantine emperor Manuel I Comnenus.
- Tallinn, the capital of Estonia was firstly marked on the world map by Al Idrisi

Births


- November 11 - King Sancho I of Portugal (died 1212)
- Benoît de Sainte-Maure, French poet and troubadour (died 1173)
- Queen Constance of Sicily, wife of Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor (died 1198)
- Minamoto no Yoshinaka, Japanese shogun
- Sune Sik Sverkersson Prince of Sweden
- Vsevolod the Big Nest, Grand Prince of Vladimir (died 1212)

Deaths


- February 26 - King Roger II of Sicily (born 1093)
- August 16 - King Ramiro II of Aragon
- October 25 - King Stephen of England (born 1096)
- November 18 - Adélaide de Maurienne, queen of Louis VI of France (b. 1092)
- December 3 - Pope Anastasius IV
- Iziaslav II of Kiev, Prince of Vladimir and Volyn
- Vyacheslav of Kiev, Prince of Smolensk Category:1154 ko:1154년

England

:For an explanation of often-confusing terms like England, (Great) Britain and United Kingdom see British Isles (terminology). England is a nation and the largest and most populous constituent country of the United Kingdom accounting for more than 83% of the total UK population. It occupies most of the southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain and shares land borders with fellow home nations Scotland, to the north, and Wales, to the west. Elsewhere, it is bordered by the sea. England is named after the Angles, one of a number of Germanic tribes believed to have originated in Angeln in Northern Germany, who settled in England in the 5th and 6th centuries. It has not had a distinct political identity since 1707, when Great Britain was established as a unified political entity; however, it has a legal identity separate from those of Scotland and Northern Ireland, as part of the entity "England and Wales;". England's largest city, London, is also the capital of the United Kingdom.

History

Main article: History of England England has been inhabited for at least 500,000 years, although the repeated Ice Ages made much of Britain uninhabitable for extended periods until as recently as 20,000 years ago. Stone Age hunter-gatherers eventually gave way to farmers and permanent settlements, with a spectacular and sophisticated megalithic civilisation arising in western England some 4,000 years ago. It was replaced around 1,500 years later by Celtic tribes migrating from Western and continental Europe, mainly from France. These tribes were known collectively as "Britons", a name bestowed by Phoenician traders — an indication of how, even at this early date, the island was part of a Europe-wide trading network. The Britons were significant players in continental politics and supported their allies in Gaul militarily during the Gallic Wars with the Roman Republic. This prompted the Romans to invade and subdue the island, first with Julius Caesar's raid in 55 BC, and then the Emperor Claudius' conquest in the following century. The whole southern part of the island — roughly corresponding to modern day England and Wales — became a prosperous part of the Roman Empire. It was finally abandoned early in the 5th century when a weakening Empire pulled back its legions to defend borders on the Continent. Unaided by the Roman army, Roman Britannia could not long resist the Germanic tribes who arrived in the 5th and 6th centuries, enveloping the majority of modern day England in a new culture and language and pushing Romano-British rule back into modern-day Wales and western extremities of England, notably Cornwall and Cumbria. Others emigrated across the channel to modern-day Brittany, thus giving it its name and language (Breton). But many of the Romano-British remained in and were assimilated into the newly "English" areas. The invaders fell into three main groups: the Jutes, the Saxons, and the Angles. As they became more civilised, recognisable states formed and began to merge with one another. (The most well-known state of affairs being the Anglo-Saxon heptarchy.) From time to time throughout this period, one Anglo-Saxon king, recognised as the "Bretwalda" by other rulers, had effective control of all or most of the English; so it is impossible to identify the precise moment when the Kingdom of England was unified. In some sense, real unity came as a response to the Danish Viking incursions which occupied the eastern half of "England" in the 8th century. Egbert, King of Wessex (d. 839) is often regarded as the first king of all the English, although the title "King of England" was first adopted, two generations later, by Alfred the Great (ruled 871899). The principal legacy left behind in those territories from which the language of the Britons were displaced is that of toponyms. Many of the place-names in England and to a lesser extent Scotland are derived from celtic British names, including London, Dumbarton, York, Dorchester, Dover and Colchester. Several place-name elements are thought to be wholly or partly Brythonic in origin, particularly bre-, bal-, and -dun for hills, carr for a high rocky place, coomb for a small deep valley. Until recently it has been believed that those areas settled by the Anglo-Saxons were uninhabited at the time or the Britons had fled before them. However, genetic studies show that the British were not pushed out to the Celtic fringes – many tribes remained in what was to become England (see C. Capelli et al. A Y chromosome census of the British Isles. Current Biology 13, 979–984, (2003)). Capelli's findings strengthen the research of Steven Bassett of the University of Birmingham; his work during the 1990s suggests that much of the West Midlands was only very lightly colonised with Anglian and Saxon settlements.
This royal throne of kings, this sceptred isle,
This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars,
This other Eden, demi-paradise,
This fortress built by Nature for herself
Against infection and the hand of war,
This happy breed of men, this little world,
This precious stone set in the silver sea,
Which serves it in the office of a wall
Or as a moat defensive to a house,
Against the envy of less happier lands,—
This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England.
The English are great lovers of themselves, and of everything belonging to them; they think that there are no other men than themselves, and no other world but England; and whenever they see a handsome foreigner, they say that 'he looks like an Englishman', and that 'it is a great pity that he should not be an Englishmen'.
Venetian ambassador to England
Early 16th century
Charlotte Augusta Sneyd
Italian Relations of England (p. 20)
Richard II] Richard II] In 1066, William the Conqueror and the Normans conquered the existing Kingdom of England and instituted an Anglo-Norman administration and nobility who, retaining proto-French as their language for the next three hundred years, ruled as custodians over English commoners. Although the language and racial distinctions faded rapidly during the middle ages, the class system born in the Norman/Saxon divide persisted longer — arguably with traces lasting to the modern day. While Old English continued to be spoken by common folk, Norman feudal lords significantly influenced the language with French words and customs being adopted over the succeeding centuries evolving to a Romance-Germanic hybrid of Middle English widely spoken in Chaucer's time. England came repeatedly into conflict with Wales and Scotland, at the time an independent principality and an independent kingdom respectively, as its rulers sought to expand Norman power across the entire island of Britain. The conquest of Wales was achieved in the 13th century, when it was annexed to England and gradually came to be a part of that kingdom for most legal purposes, although in the modern era it is more usually thought of as a separate nation (fielding, for example, its own athletic teams). Norman power in Scotland waxed and waned over the years, with the Scots managing to maintain a varying degree of independence despite repeated wars with the English. Although it was on the whole only a moderately successful power in military terms, England became one of the wealthiest states in medieval Europe, due chiefly to its dominance in the lucrative wool market. The failure of English territorial ambitions in continental Europe prompted the kingdom's rulers to look further afield, creating the foundations of the mercantile and colonial network that was to become the British Empire. The turmoil of the Reformation embroiled England in religious wars with Europe's Catholic powers, notably Spain, but the kingdom preserved its independence as much through luck as through the skill of charismatic rulers such as Elizabeth I. Elizabeth's successor, James I was already king of Scotland (as James VI); and this personal union of the two crowns into the crown of Great Brittaine was followed a century later by the Act of Union 1707, which formally unified England, Scotland and Wales into the Kingdom of Great Britain. This later became the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1801 to 1927) and then the modern state of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (1927 to present) For post-unification history, see history of the United Kingdom.

Politics

Main article: Politics of the United Kingdom, Government of England Since the promulgation of the 1284 Statute of Rhuddlan and the Laws in Wales Acts 1535-1542, Wales has shared a legal identity with England as the joint entity of England and Wales. The Act of Union with the Kingdom of Scotland in 1707 created the Kingdom of Great Britain, subsuming England, Wales and Scotland into a single political entity. Scotland, along with Northern Ireland, retain separate legal systems. The duchy of Cornwall also retains some unique rights. All of Great Britain has been ruled by the government of the United Kingdom since that date, although in 1999 the first elections to the newly created Scottish Parliament and National Assembly for Wales left England as the only part of the Union with no devolved assembly or parliament. As all legislation for England is passed by Parliament at Westminster there are some complaints about the ability of non-English Members of Parliament to influence purely English affairs. This apparent anomaly has been highlighted by both English and non-English politicians, often those opposed to devolution, and has become popularly known as the West Lothian question. Administratively, England is something of an anomaly within the UK. Unlike the other three nations, it has no local parliament or government and its administrative affairs are dealt with by a combination of the UK government, the UK parliament and a number of England-specific quangos, such as English Heritage. There are calls from some for a devolved English Parliament and from others for the dissolution of the UK and an independent England. The current Labour government favoured the establishment of regional administration, claiming that England was too large to be governed as a sub-state entity. A referendum on this issue in North East England on 4 November 2004 decisively rejected the proposal. Some criticised the English regional proposals for not decentralising enough, saying that they amounted not to devolution, but to little more than local government reorganisation, with no real power being removed from central government. The English regions would not even have had the limited powers of the Welsh Assembly, much less the tax-varying and legislative powers of the Scottish Parliament. Rather, power was simply re-allocated within the region, with little new resource allocation and no real prospects of Assemblies being able to change the pattern of regional aid. Responsibility for regional transport was added to the proposals late in the process. This was perhaps crucial in the North East, where resentment at the Barnett Formula, which delivers greater regional aid to adjacent Scotland, was a significant impetus for the North East devolution campaign. There has also been a campaign for a Cornish assembly along Welsh lines by groups such as Mebyon Kernow, which recently collected 50,000 signatures in support. Some eurosceptics believe that the establishment of English regions as administrative entities is designed to undermine the concept of English nationhood and more easily fit England into a European federal model. Conventionally the national capital of England is London, although technically it would be more exact to call London the capital of "England and Wales" given England's lack of a distinctive political identity separate from the Principality. Winchester served as the country's first national capital until some time in the late 11th century after the Norman Conquest. The City of London became England's commercial capital, while the City of Westminster (where the Royal court was located) became the political capital. These roles have, broadly speaking, been maintained to the present day.

Subdivisions

Main article: Subdivisions of England Historically, the highest level of local government in England was the county. These divisions had emerged from a range of units of old, pre-unification England, whether they were Kingdoms, such as Essex and Sussex; Duchies, such as Yorkshire, Cornwall and Lancashire or simply tracts of land given to some noble, as is the case with Berkshire. Until 1867, they were subdivided into smaller divisions called hundreds. These counties all still exist in, or near to, their original form as the traditional counties. In many places, however, they have been heavily modified or abolished outright as administrative counties. This came about due to a number of factors. The fact that the counties were so small meant, and still means, that there was no regional government able to coordinate an overarching plan for the area. This was especially true in the metropolitan areas surrounding the cities, as the county lines were usually drawn up before the industrial revolution and the mass urbanisation of England. The solution was the creation of large metropolitan counties centred on cities. These were later broken up, with several other counties, into unitary authorities, unifying the county and district/borough levels of government. London is a special case, and is the one region which currently has a representative authority as well as a directly elected mayor. The 32 London boroughs and the Corporation of London remain the local form of government in the city. Other than Greater London, the official regions are:
- North East England
- North West England
- Yorkshire and the Humber
- West Midlands
- East Midlands
- East of England
- South West England
- South East England Outside London the regions have very little power and are not accountable to elected representatives; regional authority is placed in the hands of unelected assemblies. If, as now seems unlikely, regions opt to replace these bodies with elected assemblies, local government in England will remain as variable and, some might say, as confusing as ever

Geography

Main articles: Geography of the United Kingdom, Geography of England Geography of England England comprises the central and southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain, plus offshore islands of which the largest is the Isle of Wight. It is bordered to the north by Scotland and to the west by Wales. It is closer to continental Europe than any other part of Britain, divided from France only by a 38 km (24 statute mile or 21 nautical mile) sea gap. Most of England consists of rolling hills, but it is more mountainous in the north with a chain of low mountains, the Pennines, dividing east and west. The dividing line between terrain types is usually indicated by the Tees-Exe line. There is also an area of flat, low-lying marshland in the east, much of which has been drained for agricultural use. The list of England's largest cities is much debated because in British English the normal meaning of city is "a continuously built-up urban area"; these are hard to define and various other definitions are preferred by some people to boost the ranking of their own city. London is by far the largest English city. Manchester and Birmingham vie for second place. A number of other cities, mainly in the north of England, are of substantial size and influence. These include: Liverpool, Leeds, Newcastle, Nottingham, Bristol and Sheffield Using the standard U.S. city limits definition of a city the top six are: Birmingham, Leeds, Sheffield, Bradford, Liverpool and Manchester. Note that London is not on this list (Greater London is a region and the City of London is tiny), and that one of the two candidates for the status of England's "second city", Manchester, is down in sixth. In