:: wikimiki.org ::

July 9

July 9

July 9 is the 190th day of the year (191st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 175 days remaining.

Events

- 455 - Roman military commander Avitus is proclaimed emperor of the Western Roman Empire.
- 1357 5:31 AM - Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor assisted laying the foundation stone of Charles Bridge in Prague
- 1540 - Henry VIII of England annulled his marriage to his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves.
- 1541 - Estevão da Gama departs Massawa, leaving behind 400 matchlockmen and 150 slaves under his brother Christovão da Gama, with orders to assist the Emperor of Ethiopia defeat Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi who has invaded his Empire.
- 1749 - Naval settlement of Halifax, Nova Scotia founded as British answer to Louisbourg.
- 1755 - French and Indian War: Braddock Expedition - British troops and colonial militiamen are ambushed and suffer a devastating defeat by French and Native American forces.
- 1789 - In Versailles, the National Assembly reconstitutes itself as the National Constituent Assembly and begins preparations for a French constitution.
- 1790 - Russo-Swedish War: Second Battle of Svensksund - In the Baltic Sea, the Swedish Navy captures one third of the Russian fleet.
- 1793 - Act Against Slavery passed in Upper Canada and importation of slaves into Lower Canada is prohibited.
- 1815 - Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, Prince de Benevente becomes Prime Minister of France
- 1816 - Argentina declares independence from Spain
- 1846 - By an Act of Congress, the Washington, DC area south of the Potomac River (39 mi² or about 100 km²) is returned to Virginia.
- 1850 - President Zachary Taylor dies and Millard Fillmore becomes the 13th President of the United States.
- 1896 - William Jennings Bryan delivers his Cross of gold speech.
- 1900 - Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom gives royal assent to an act creating the Commonwealth of Australia thus uniting separate colonies on the continent under one federal government.
- 1918 - Great train wreck of 1918: In Nashville, Tennessee, an inbound local train collides with an outbound express killing 101 and injuring 171 people, making it the deadliest rail accident in United States history.
- 1922 - Johnny Weissmuller swims the 100 meters freestyle in 58.6 seconds breaking a world swimming record and the 'minute barrier'.
- 1942 - Holocaust: Anne Frank's family goes into hiding in an attic above her father's office in an Amsterdam warehouse.
- 1943 - World War II: Operation Husky - Allied forces perform an amphibious invasion of Sicily.
- 1944 - World War II: Battle of Normandy - British and Canadian forces capture Caen, France.
- 1944 - World War II: Battle of Saipan - Americans take Saipan
- 1945 - A forest fire breaks out in the Tillamook Burn, the third fire in that area since 1933.
- 1955 - The Russell-Einstein Manifesto was released by Bertrand Russell in London.
- 1968 - Official opening of Hayward Gallery on London's South Bank.
- 1975 - The National Assembly of Senegal passes a law that will pave way for a (albeit highly restricted) multi-party system.
- 1979 - A car bomb destroys a Renault owned by famed "Nazi hunters" Serge and Beate Klarsfeld at their home in France. A note purportedly from ODESSA claims responsibility.
- 1981 - Senegalese political parties Party of Independence and Work (PIT) and Democratic League - Movement for the Labour Party (LD-MPT) legally recognized.
- 1982 - A Boeing 727 carrying Pan Am Flight 759 crashes in Kenner, Louisiana killing all 146 people on board and eight others on the ground.
- 1989 - Two bombs explode in Mecca, killing one pilgrim and wounding 16 others.
- 1991 - International Human Rights Federation cites human rights violations committed by police and military personnel during Oka crisis in Quebec, Canada.
- 1991 - South Africa is reintroduced into the Olympic movement after 30 years of exclusion.
- 1992 - Democratic presidential nominee Bill Clinton announces that Al Gore will be his running mate.
- 1995 - Musical group The Grateful Dead perform the last concert of their 30-year career at Soldier Field, Chicago, Illinois
- 1997 - Mike Tyson's boxing license is suspended for at least a year and he is fined $3 million for biting Evander Holyfield's ear in a televised match.
- 1999 - Days of student protests begins after Iranian police and hardliners attack a student dormitory of University of Tehran
- 2002 - The African Union was established in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The first chairman was Thabo Mbeki, President of South Africa.
- 2004 - After José Manuel Durão Barroso's appointment to the European Commission, Portuguese President Jorge Sampaio announces that he will invite the second-in-line leader of PSD, Pedro Santana Lopes to form government.

Births

1249 to 1899

- 1249 - Emperor Kameyama of Japan (d. 1305)
- 1577 - Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr, English Jamestown colonist (d. 1618)
- 1578 - Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1637)
- 1654 - Emperor Reigen of Japan (d. 1732)
- 1686 - Philip Livingston, American politician (d. 1749)
- 1689 - Alexis Piron, French writer (d. 1773)
- 1721 - Johann Nikolaus Götz, German poet (d. 1781)
- 1753 - William Waldegrave, 1st Baron Radstock, Governor of Newfoundland (d. 1825)
- 1764 - Ann Radcliffe, English writer (d. 1823)
- 1775 - Matthew Lewis, English novelist (d. 1818)
- 1808 - Alexander William Doniphan, American lawyer and soldier (d. 1887)
- 1848 - Robert I, Duke of Parma, last ruling Duke of Parma (d. 1907)
- 1908 - Friedrich Gustav Jakob Henle, German physician (d. 1885)
- 1819 - Elias Howe, American inventor (d. 1867)
- 1836 - Henry Campbell-Bannerman, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1908)
- 1858 - Franz Boas, German anthropologist (d. 1942)
- 1879 - Ottorino Respighi, Italian composer (d. 1936)
- 1879 - Carlos Chagas, Brazilian physician (d. 1934)
- 1893 - George Geary, English cricketer (d. 1981)
- 1894 - Pyotr Leonidovich Kapitsa, Russian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1984)

1900 to 1999

- 1901 - Dame Barbara Cartland, English novelist (d. 2000)
- 1908 - Paul Brown, American football coach (d. 1991)
- 1911 - Mervyn Peake, British writer and illustrator (d. 1968)
- 1916 - Sir Dean Goffin, New Zealand composer (d. 1984)
- 1916 - Sir Edward Heath, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 2005)
- 1926 - Ben Roy Mottelson, American-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1927 - Ed Ames, American singer and actor
- 1927 - Susan Cabot, American actress (d. 1986)
- 1929 - King Hassan II of Morocco, (d. 1999)
- 1929 - Jesse McReynolds, American singer and mandolinist
- 1932 - Donald Rumsfeld, United States Secretary of Defense
- 1935 - Wim Duisenberg, Dutch economist and politician (d. 2005)
- 1936 - June Jordan, American writer and teacher (d. 2002)
- 1937 - David Hockney, English artist
- 1938 - Brian Dennehy, American actor
- 1942 - Richard Roundtree, American actor
- 1942 - Edy Williams, American actress
- 1943 - John Casper, astronaut
- 1945 - Dean R. Koontz, American author
- 1946 - Bon Scott, Australian singer (AC/DC) (d. 1980)
- 1947 - O. J. Simpson, American football player and actor
- 1950 - Viktor Yanukovych, Prime Minister of Ukraine
- 1952 - John Tesh, American composer
- 1955 - Fred Norris, American radio personality
- 1955 - Jimmy Smits, Puerto Rican actor
- 1956 - Marc Almond, British singer
- 1956 - Tom Hanks, American actor
- 1957 - Kelly McGillis, American actress
- 1964 - Courtney Love, American musician
- 1965 - Frank Bello, American musician (Anthrax)
- 1965 - David O'Hara Scottish/Irish actor
- 1965 - Marc Mero, American professional wrestler
- 1971 - Marc Andreessen, American software developer
- 1973 - Kelly Holcomb, American football player
- 1974 - Nikola Sarcevic, Swedish bassist and singer (Millencolin)
- 1975 - Jack White, American musician (The White Stripes)
- 1976 - Shelton Benjamin, American professional wrestler
- 1976 - Fred Savage, American actor
- 1976 - Jochem Uytdehaage, Dutch speed skater
- 1978 - Linda Park, Korean-born actress
- 1983 - Henry Jaderlund, American actor
- 1984 - Andrew J Coyle, British professional wrestler

Deaths

- 518 - Anastasius I, Byzantine Emperor
- 1228 - Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury
- 1386 - Duke Leopold III of Austria (killed in battle) (b. 1351)
- 1553 - Maurice, Elector of Saxony (b. 1521)
- 1654 - Ferdinand IV of Germany (b. 1633)
- 1737 - Gian Gastone de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (b. 1671)
- 1742 - John Oldmixon, English historian (b. 1673)
- 1746 - King Philip V of Spain (b. 1683)
- 1747 - Giovanni Bononcini, Italian composer (b. 1670)
- 1766 - Jonathan Mayhew, American minister and patriot (b. 1720)
- 1795 - Henry Seymour Conway, British general and statesman (b. 1721)
- 1797 - Edmund Burke, British philosopher and statesman (b. 1729)
- 1850 - Báb, Persian founder of the Bábi Faith (b. 1819)
- 1850 - Zachary Taylor, 12th President of the United States (b. 1784)
- 1856 - Amedeo Avogadro, Italian chemist (b. 1776)
- 1856 - James Strang, Mormon splinter group leader (assassinated) (b. 1813)
- 1880 - Paul Pierre Broca, French physician and anatomist (b. 1824)
- 1932 - King C. Gillette, American inventor (b. 1885)
- 1937 - Oliver Law, first African-American commander of U.S. troops, (killed in battle) (b. 1899)
- 1938 - Benjamin Cardozo, American jurist (b. 1870)
- 1949 - Fritz Bennicke Hart, English-born Australian composer (b. 1874)
- 1951 - Harry Heilmann, baseball player (b. 1894)
- 1974 - Earl Warren, Governor of California and Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court (b. 1891)
- 1979 - Cornelia Otis Skinner, American actress and author (b. 1899)
- 1985 - Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg (b. 1896)
- 1985 - Jimmy Kinnon, Scottish founder of Narcotics Anonymous (b. 1911)
- 1992 - Eric Sevareid, American reporter (b. 1912)
- 1996 - Melvin Belli, American attorney (b. 1907)
- 2002 - Laurence Janifer, American writer (b. 1933)
- 2002 - Rod Steiger, American actor (b. 1925)
- 2003 - Winston Graham, English novelist (b. 1908)
- 2004 - Chuck Cadman, Canadian politician (b. 1948)
- 2004 - Paula Danziger, American author (b. 1944)
- 2004 - Paul Klebnikov, American journalist (b. 1963)
- 2004 - Isabel Sanford, American actress (b. 1917)
- 2005 - Yevgenij Grishin, Russian speed skater (b. 1931)

Holidays and observances

- Roman festival - Caprotinia, or feasts of Juno Caprotina.
- Argentina - Independence Day
- Palau - Constitution Day
- Bahá'í Faith - Holy Day: Martyrdom of the Báb
- Roman Catholic Church - Feast of Our Lady of Peace

External links

- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/9 BBC: On This Day] ---- July 8 - July 10 - June 9 - August 9 -- listing of all days ko:7월 9일 ms:9 Julai ja:7月9日 simple:July 9 th:9 กรกฎาคม

July 9

July 9 is the 190th day of the year (191st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 175 days remaining.

Events

Births

1249 to 1899

1900 to 1999

Deaths

Holidays and observances

External links

455

Events

- 17 March - Petronius Maximus becomes Emperor in the western Roman Empire (see deaths below).
- June 2 - Gaiseric leads the Vandals into Rome and plunders the city for two weeks.
- July 9 - Roman military commander Avitus is at Tolosa proclaimed Emperor in the western Roman Empire.
- The Ostrogoths conquer Pannonia and Dalmatia.
- Earliest recorded date at Chichen Itza.
- Skandagupta succeeds Kumaragupta as ruler of the Gupta Empire
- Hengist and Horsa battle Wurtgern at Aylesford. Horsa is killed. (According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle)

Births

Deaths

- March 16 - Valentinian III, west Roman emperor, (murdered by former soldiers of Aëtius)
- May 31 - Petronius Maximus, west Roman emperor (murdered by a Roman mob)
- Kumaragupta, emperor of the Gupta Empire
- King Biyu of Baekje, king of the Baekje Kingdom of Korea
- Niall Noigiallach, High King of Ireland Category:455 ko:455년

Avitus

Marcus Maecilius Flavius Eparchius Avitus (c. 395 - 456), Western Roman Emperor (455 - 456). Made Magister militum (or Master of Soldiers) by the emperor Petronius Maximus, Avitus was sent on a diplomatic mission to his old student, Theodoric II king of the Visigoths, and was at Theodoric's court in Toulouse when Gaiseric invaded Rome, bringing Petronius Maximus's rule to a sudden end. Theodoric seized the opportunity and urged Avitus to assume the imperial throne, and with the acclamation of a gathering of Gallo-Roman senators, allowed himself to be persuaded. On July 9, 455, he was proclaimed emperor by the soldiers, and reached Rome that September. The Italian populace never fully accepted his rule, so when his campaign against the Vandals failed in 456, and they pressed their blockade against Rome, his position became tenuous. Famine in Rome forced him to disband his Gothic bodyguard. But they needed to be paid, and he did not improve his standing with the Roman citizenry when he melted down a number of bronze statues to pay their outstanding wages. Ricimer and Majorian exploited this discontent by starting a general revolt. Avitus fled to safety in Arles. A plea for help to Theodoric went unanswered, as the Gothic king was away in Spain campaigning against the Suevians. Avitus raised the best force he could and returned to Italy. He was defeated near Placentia, modern day Piacenza, and captured. His life was spared, and was allowed to become bishop of Placentia on October 17 or 18, 456; however, he still feared for his life and attempted to escape to safety in Gaul. He died on the way, by some accounts murdered. His grandson was the poet Avitus of Vienne.

External links

Category:390s births Category:456 deaths Category:Roman emperors Category:Late Antiquity

Western Roman Empire

The Western Roman Empire is the name given to the western half of the Roman Empire after its division by Diocletian in 286. It would exist intermittently in several periods between the 3rd Century and the 5th Century, after Diocletian's Tetrarchy and the reunifications associated with Constantine the Great and his later successors, and is generally held to have ended with the abdication of Romulus Augustus on September 4, 476, under pressure of the Germanic chieftain Odoacer. Its counterpart, the Eastern Roman Empire, or Byzantine Empire, survived for another millennium. Although linguistically united by the Latin language, and later under Roman Catholicism, the Western Roman Empire was in reality comprised of numerous different cultures that had been incompletely assimilated by the Romans, in contrast to the Eastern Roman Empire, which was Greek-speaking and had been culturally united since Alexander the Great's conquests in the 4th century BC. The Roman Empire thus truly split along cultural, religious, and linguistic lines, as the Hellenistic East held together around the Greek culture and Eastern Orthodox Church, and the cultural unity of the West was terminally strained by the influx of barbarians, who had been allowed to settle there in order to replenish the manpower of legions along the frontier, but who may also have had the unintended effect of causing even more discord in the West. Divergence in the Western and Eastern Empires continued, and in 410, Rome was sacked for the first time in over 800 years — the Western Empire soon ceased to be Roman and became ruled by the invading tribes. The transformation was complete by 526, and despite brief periods of reconquest by the Eastern Roman Empire, the Western Empire would never rise again.

Imperial Boundaries, 1st century

legion.]] During the reign of Caesar Augustus, and into the late 1st century, the final boundaries of the Empire would be developed. Iberia and Britain in the west, the Danube and Mesopotamia in the east. During this period a huge amount of economic development would take place throughout the Empire. In the West, lands formerly controlled by barbarian tribes were being Romanized, their industries modernized, and a huge amount of infrastructure development was taking place. In the East, redevelopment of the large urban centres was taking place, centres decimated first by continuous warfare as the hellenistic world crumbled, and then by Roman occupation. During the stable 200 years from the first to early 3rd century, an atmosphere was finally available for the actual Romanization of the empire. However, this economic development came at a cost. As the periphery grew, the core began to rot.

Crisis of the 3rd Century

Rome and the Italian peninsula began to experience an economic slowdown as industries and money began to move outward. Starting on March 18/19, 235 with the assassination of Roman Emperor Alexander Severus, the Roman Empire fell into a fifty years of civil wars known as the Crisis of the Third Century. In 259, Emperor Valerian was captured by Emperor Shapur I of Persia, a ruler of the Sassanid dynasty. His succeeding son, Gallienus was off fighting in the East. His own son and the Praetorian Prefect Aurelius Heraclianus were residing in Colonia Agrippina. The governor of the German provinces, Marcus Cassianius Latinius Postumus, took it upon himself to assault Colonia Agrippina, kill the heir and the prefect, and create an independent state now known as the Gallic Empire. Its capital was at Augusta Treverorum, and in time it expanded to control not just the German provinces, but also all of Gaul, Hispania, and Britannia. It had its own senate, and a partial list of consuls still survive. It maintained Roman religion, language, and culture, and was more concerned with fighting the Germanic tribes than other Romans. However, in the reign of Claudius Gothicus (268 to 270), large expanses of the Gallic Empire were returned to Roman rule. At roughly the same time, the eastern provinces were rebelling as the Palmyrene Empire", ruled over by Queen Zenobia. In 272, Emperor Aurelian managed to finally subdue Palmyra and return its territory to the Empire. With the East secure, he turned his attention west, and in the next year, the Gallic Empire fell. Due to a secret deal between Aurelian and the Gallic emperor Tetricus I and his son Tetricus II, the Gallic army was massacred while the two were allowed to live. This saved face for the two, and in exchange Aurelian went so far as to give them important positions in Italy.

The Tetrarchies and the Constantine Dynasty

Tetricus II After the restoration of Gaul, the west's external borders were largely quiet for the remainder of the Crisis of the Third Century, although between the death of Aurelius in 275 and the accession of Diocletian ten years later, at least eight Emperors or would-be Emperors were killed, many by their own troops. It was under Diocletian that the eventual permanent division of the Empire would start. In 286, through his creation of the Tetrarchy, he gave control over the western portion of the Empire to Maximian as Augustus, and named Constantius Chlorus as his subordinate (Caesar). This system divided up the Empire into four parts, and moved the capital from Rome to four smaller cities as a way to avoid the civil unrest that marked the 3rd century. In the west the capitals were Maximian's Milan and Constantius' Trier. On May 1, 305, the two Augusti stepped down and were replaced by their respective Caesars.

Economic stagnation in the West

By the end of the Crisis of the Third Century the economic stagnation of Italia could easily be seen in the provincial born Emperors such as Trajan and Hadrian. (Actually, these two emperors ruled at the beginning of the Second Century). Economic problems only grew for Italy as time continued, and it eventually spread into much of the rest of the west, especially Gaul, whose industries, particularly the pottery industry, began to suffer tremendously as the 4th century wore on. Another key problem that was almost certainly related to the economic slowdowns in Gaul and Italy was the cost on manpower of maintaining the frontier. Illyricum, a province technically part of the East but more or less in between Rome and Constantinople also suffered heavily in this regard as barbarian invasions increased in the Late Empire in strength and frequency.

Constantine the Great

The system of the Tetrarchy quickly ran aground as the Western Empire's Constantius died unexpectedly in 306, and his son Constantine the Great was proclaimed Emperor by the army in Britain. A crisis followed as several attempted to claim rule in the west. In 308, the Augustus of the East, Galerius arranged a conference at Carnuntum which revived the Tetrarchy by dividing the power between Constantine and a newcomer named Licinius. Constantine was more interested in reconsolidating the Empire. Through a series of battles between the East and West, Licinius and Constantine had rejoined the Empire by 314, but they now competed for sole control of the reunified state. Constantine finally emerged victorious in 324 after the surrender and assassination of Licinius following the battles of Adrianople and Chrysopolis.

Reunification, Eastern focus, and re-division

Once again the Roman Empire was ruled by a single ruler, but with the death of Constantine in 337, civil war erupted among his three sons, dividing the Empire into three parts. The West was reunified in 340, and the final reunification of the entire Empire occurred in 353, under Constantius II. Notably, Constantius II focused most of his power in the East, and he is often regarded as the first Emperor of the Byzantine Empire. Under his rule, the city of Byzantium, only recently refounded as Constantinople, was truly developed as a capital. In 361 Constantius II took ill and died, and Constantius Chlorus' grandson Julian, who had served as Constantius II's Caesar, took power briefly. Julian was killed carrying on Constantius II's war against Persia in 363, and was replaced by an officer named Jovian who ruled only until 364. These deaths marked the end of the reunified Empire.

Permanent division

Following the death of Jovian the empire fell into a new set of crisis similar to the Crisis of the Third Century. In 364, another officer named Valentinian I took power. He immediately divided the empire once again, giving the eastern half to his brother Valens. Stability was not achieved for long in either half of the empire as conflicts with barbarians intensified, especially with the Huns and Goths. Another serious problem in the west was a growing backlash by emperors against paganism. In 379, Valentine I's son and successor Gratian had refused to wear the mantle of pontifex maximus and in 382 had rescinded the rights of pagan priests, as well as removing the pagan altar from the Curia. In 388 a powerful and popular general named Magnus Maximus seized power in the west, and forced Gratian's son Valentinian II to flee to the east and the aid of the Eastern Emperor Theodosius I who quickly restored Valentinian II to power, but also converted him to Christianity and caused a ban on paganism to be implemented in the west in 391. In 392, the Frankish and pagan magister militum Arbogast assassinated Valentinian II, and a senator named Eugenius was declared emperor until he was defeated in 394 by Theodosius I, who, having ruled both east and west for a year died in 395. This marked the beginning of the end for the West, as with Theodosius's death went the East's assistance for the West. A short period of stability under the puppet emperor Honorius controlled by Flavius Stilicho ended at Stilicho's death in 408, and many argue with him went the Western Roman Empire. It was during this period that the two empires truly diverged, as the east began a slow recovery and consolidation, the west began to collapse entirely.

Fall of Rome

With the death of Stilicho in 408 the weak emperor Honorius was left in charge, and although he ruled until his death in 423, his reign was filled with usurpations and barbarian invasions, particularly by the Vandals and Visigoths. In 410, Rome was sacked for the first time since the Gallic invasions of the 4th Century BC, and in effect as the military order of the western empire unraveled it ceased to be Roman and became barbarian. The instability caused by usurpers throughout the Western Empire helped the barbarians in their conquests, and as the 5th century wore on the barbarians became usurpers themselves. In 475, Orestes, a former secretary of Attila the Hun drove the emperor Julius Nepos out of Ravenna and proclaimed his son Romulus Augustus to be Emperor. Although some pockets of Roman civilization continued, (in northwest Gaul and Britannia, under Syagrius and Ambrosius Aurelianus, respectively) the rule of Rome over the west was effectively ended. In 476 after Orestes refused to grant the Heruli led by Odoacer federated status. Odoacer sacked Rome and sent the imperial insignia to Constantinople, installing himself as King over Italy. The last hope for a reunited Empire came in 493 when Odoacer was replaced by the Ostrogoth Theodoric the Great. Theodoric had been recruited by the Eastern Emperor Zeno to retake the western portion of the empire, Rome most importantly. Technically he was to be subordinant as a viceroy to the Emperor of the East, Theodoric was in fact an equal. It was in this period while Rome was under direct barbarian control for the first time starting 476 that the collapse started to become final in the West. Barbarian tribes flooded into the western provinces and began to take control, and without an organized Roman Army to stop them they had free reign. Following Theodoric's death in 526, the west no longer resembled the east, as both had transformed. The west was now fully controlled by barbarians, while the east retreated from former borders and hellenized. While the East would make some further attempts to recapture the west, it would never more be the Roman Empire.

Economic factors

While the West was experiencing an overall economic decline throughout the late empire, the East was maintaining economic stability and growth, especially as Emperors like Constantine the Great and Constantius II began pouring vast sums of money into economic development of eastern cities. The slow economic decline of the west, especially following the Crisis of the Third Century in the end helped to aid in the eventual collapse of this area of the empire. Without sufficient economic resources (there had never been enough), the state could not maintain an expensive professional army and resorted to hiring unreliable mercenaries. As the central power weakended, the State lost control of its borders, immigration and access to its administration. To the last Roman Emperors tried to keep 'barbarians' away from the Mediterranean Sea, but once the Vandals conquered North Africa in the decade 430-440 the imperial authorities had to much to cover with too few resources. Decisive intevention from the East could have reversed the situation. Once the west did collapse, the economic stability collapsed along with the Roman institutions. Most barbarian lords required the Roman subjects in the provinces they conquered to give a third of their land as tribute when they conquered an area, and this could turn into much more, as different lords conquered that same land and demanded similar tribute. Tens of square kilometres of carefully developed land was abandoned due to lack of economic viability. Because most of the economy of Antiquity was based upon agriculture, this was a severe blow. This occurred because during the height of western development, many plots of land were developed that required a large investment in time and money simply to maintain production, and these were abandoned in favour of more easy to farm land. Unfortunately, this meant attempts to reconquer the west by the east were very difficult, as not only was the land occupied by barbarian tribes, the huge decline in the economy made these new reconquests impossible to maintain.

Byzantine reconquest

Several times throughout the middle ages, the eastern Byzantine Empire managed to reconquer large areas of the west which had been occupied by barbarian tribes. The first such case was the campaigns of the Byzantine generals Belisarius and Narses on behalf of the Emperor Justinian I from 535 to 554. Regaining much of the then Vandal occupied former Roman territory in North Africa, particularly the territory centred around the city of Carthage, the campaign eventually moved into Italy itself, eventually reconquering the entirety of the peninsula, with some minor territory being taken as far west as the southern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It appeared at the time that perhaps the Roman state as it existed could be saved. Throughout the empire's history, there had been times when great losses of territory were later reversed, however, the barbarian influence had caused far too much damage to these former Roman provinces, both economically and culturally. Not only were they extremely costly to maintain, the invasion and propagation of the barbarian tribes throughout these territories meant that much of the Roman cultural influence that had held the empire together had been destroyed, or at the very least severely damaged. This eventually resulted in the east abandoning these territories for the most part. Although eastern emperors would occasionally attempt to reconquer the west, none would be as successful as Justinian. The division between the empires would only grow as the influence of the Pope on the former territories of the west grew, resulting in growing rivalry between the east and west. While the east held on to isolated pockets of territory throughout the middle-ages, after Justinian, the emperors focused on acquiring and defending territory closer to Constantinople. The east no longer had the ability to project power like it had in the early days of that empire's history, spelling the end of any hope for reunification.

The continued tradition of Empire

Although the west fell, the barbarians lords who took over felt compelled to uphold many Roman traditions. This can be seen in the Holy Roman Empire of the Middle Ages. However, the most important remnant of the Western Empire is the Roman Catholic Church. The Church slowly began to replace Roman institutions in the west, even helping to negotiate the safety of Rome during the late 5th Century. As the barbarians invaded, many converted, and by the middle of the medieval period (ca. 9th and 10th centuries) the entirety of the former Western half of the Empire had been completely converted to Christianity and leadership by the Pope. Ironically, Rome's final conquering of the Germans and Slavs came after her fall as an Empire through the Christian missionaries spreading ever further north, until paganism was stamped out throughout Europe.

List of western Roman emperors

Gallic Emperors (259 to 273):
- Postumus: 259 to 268
- Laelianus: 268 Usurper
- Marius: 268
- Victorinus: 268 to 271
- Domitianus: 271 Usurper
- Tetricus I: 271 to 273
- Tetricus II: 271 to 273 Son and co-emperor of Tetricus I Tetrarchy (293 to 313): Augusti are shown with their Caesares, regents, etc., further indented
- Maximian: 293 to 305
- Constantius Chlorus: 293 to 305
- Constantius Chlorus: 305 to 306
- Flavius Valerius Severus: 305 to 306
- Flavius Valerius Severus: 306 to 307
- Constantine I: 306 to 313
- Maxentius/Maximian: 307 to 308
- Licinius: 308 to 313
- Maxentius: 308 to 312 Usurper
- Domitius Alexander: 308 to 309 African usurper Constantinian Dynasty (313 to 363):
- Constantine I: 313 to 337 Sole emperor 324 to 337
- Constantine II: 337 to 340 Emperor of Gaul, Britannia, and Hispania
- Constans I: 337 to 350 Initially emperor of Italy and Africa; emperor of the west 340 to 350
- Magnentius: 350 to 353 Usurper
- Constantius II: 353 to 361 Sole emperor
- Julian: 355 to 361
- Julian: 361 to 363 Non-Dynastic (363 to 364):
- Jovian: 363 to 364 Valentinian Dynasty (364 to 392):
- Valentinian I: 364 to 375
- Gratian: 367 to 375
- Gratian: 375 to 383
- Valentinian II: 375 to 383
- Magnus Maximus: 383 to 388 Usurper
- Valentinian II: 383 to 392 Non-Dynastic (392 to 394):
- Eugenius: 392 to 394 Theodosian Dynasty (394 to 455):
- Theodosius I: 394 to 395 Sole emperor
- Honorius: 395 to 423
- Flavius Stilicho: 395 to 408 Power behind the throne
- Constantius III: 421
- Constantine III: 407 to 411 Usurpur
- Priscus Attalus: 409 to 410/414 to 415 Usurper
- Jovinus: 411 to 412 Usurper
- Valentinian III: 423 to 455
- Galla Placidia: 423 to 433 Regent
- Aëtius: 433 to 454 Regent
- Joannes: 423 to 425 Usurper Non-Dynastic (455 to 480):
- Petronius Maximus: 455
- Avitus: 455 to 456
- Ricimer: 456 to 472 Power behind the throne
- Majorian: 457 to 461
- Libius Severus: 461 to 465
- Anthemius: 465 to 472
- Olybrius: 472
- Glycerius: 473 to 474
- Julius Nepos: 474 to 480 In exile 475 to 480
- Romulus Augustus: 475 to 476
- Flavius Orestes: 475 to 476 Power behind the throne Orestes was killed by revolting barbarian mercenaries. Their leader Odoacer assumed control of Italy as a de jure representative of Julius Nepos and Eastern Roman Emperor Zeno.

External links

- [http://www.roman-emperors.org/impindex.htm De Imperatoribus Romanis] Category:Roman Empire Category:Former countries in Europe Category:Ancient Rome

1357

Events

- July 9 - Charles Bridge in Prague was founded

Births

- April 11 - King John I of Portugal (died 1433)
- Art mac Art MacMurrough-Kavanagh, King of Leinster (died 1417)
- Je Tsongkhapa, founder of the Geluk school of Tibetan Buddhism (died 1419)

Deaths

- May 28 - King Afonso IV of Portugal (born 1291)
- July 13 - Bartolus de Saxoferrato, Italian jurist (born 1313)
- Jani Beg, Khan of the Golden Horde
- Kazerouni, Masoud, Persian physician
- Spytek z Melsztyna, Polish nobleman Category:1357 ko:1357년

Charles Bridge

Charles Bridge (Czech: Karlův most ) is a famous historical bridge crossing the Vltava river in Prague, Czech Republic. Its construction started in 1357 under the auspices of King Charles IV, and finished on the beggining of 15th century. As the only means of crossing the river in Prague, Charles Bridge used to be the most important connection between the Old Town, Prague Castle and adjacent areas till 1841. Also this 'solid-land' connection made Prague important as a trade route between east and west Europe. The bridge was originally called the Stone Bridge (Kamenný most) or the Prague Bridge (Pražský most) but has been the "Charles Bridge" since 1870. The bridge is 516 meters long and nearly 10 m wide, resting on 16 arches shielded by ice guards. It is protected by three bridge towers, two of them on the Lesser Quarter side and the third one on the Old Town side. The Old Town bridge tower is often considered to be one of the most astonishing civil gothic-style buildings in the world. The bridge is decorated by a continuous alley of 30 statues and statuaries, most of them baroque-style, erected around 1700.

History

Building the bridge

The need for building a new bridge emerged after the old romanesque Judith Bridge (Juditin most, built around 1170 and named after king Vladislav I's wife Judith) was torn down by a flood in 1342. By a rare coincidence, we know the precise moment of laying the foundation stone of Charles Bridge, personally assisted by Charles IV: July 9, 1357, 5:31 AM. The palindromic number 135797531, carved out on the Old Town bridge tower, was chosen by the royal astrologists and numerologists as the best time for starting the bridge construction. The building was supervised by Peter Parler and lead by a "magister pontis", Jan Ottl. Peter Parler The bridge was built from Bohemian sandstone. There is a legend saying that eggs were used to enrich the mortar used to bind the stone blocks to make it harder. Although the saying cannot be verified, modern laboratory tests have indeed proved anorganic and organic ingredients to the mortar. The construction of Charles Bridge took place till the beginning of 15th century. To sustain the bridge, tolls were taken, first by the religious order of the Knights of the Cross, that had their mother-house nearby, then by the Old Town municipality (until 1815).

Until the 20th century

Throughout the history, Charles Bridge suffered several havocs and witnessed many historic events. A flood in 1432 damaged three pillars. In 1496 the third arch (counting from the Old Town side) broke down after one of the pillars lowered, being undermined by the water (repairs finished in 1503). A year after the Battle of White Mountain, when the 27 leaders of the anti-Habsburg revolt were executed on 21 June, 1621, the Old Town bridge tower served as a deterrent display of the cut-off heads of the victims to stop Czechs from further resistance. During the end of the Thirty Years' War in 1648, the Swedes occupied the west bank of Vltava and as they tried to advance into the Old Town, the heaviest fights spread out right on the bridge. During the fighting, they severely damaged one side of the Old Town bridge tower (the side facing the river) and the remnants of almost all gothic decorations had to be removed from it afterward. During the late 17th and early 18th centuries the bridge gained its typical appearance when an alley of baroque statues was installed on the pillars (see below). During a great flood in 1784, five pillars were severely damaged and although the arches didn't break down, the traffic on the bridge had to be greatly restricted for some time. 1784 Going into the 19th century, the original stairway to the Kampa island was replaced by a new one in 1844. The next year (1845), another great flood threatened the bridge, but the bridge escaped major damage. In 1848, during the revolution days, the bridge escaped unharmed from the cannonade, but some of the statues were damaged. In 1866, the pseudo-gothic gas (later changed to electric) lights were erected on the balustrade. In 1870s, the first regular public transport (omnibus) line went over the bridge (officially called "Charles Bridge" after 1870), later replaced by a horse-tram. The bridge towers underwent a thorough reconstruction between 1874 and 1883. On 2-5 September, 1890, another disastrous flood struck Prague and severely damaged the Charles Bridge. Thousands of rafts, logs and other floating material that escaped from places upstream gradually formed a huge barrier leaning against the bridge. Three arches were torn down from the great pressure and two pillars collapsed from being undermined by the water, while others were partly damaged. With the fifth pillar, two statues - St. Ignatius of Loyola and St. Xavier, both by Ferdinand Brokoff - also fell into the river (the former statue was replaced by a statuary of Cyril and Methodius by Karel Dvořák, the latter was replaced by a replica of the original). Repair works lasted for two years (the bridge was reopened on 19 November, 1892) and cost 665,000 crowns.

Modern history

In the beginning of the 20th century, Charles Bridge saw a steep rise of heavy traffic. 15 May 1905 was the last day of the horse-line on the bridge, as it was replaced with an electric tram till 1908 and buses afterward. At the end of World War II, a barricade was built in the Old Town bridge tower gateway. A capital repair of the bridge took place between 1965 and 1978, based on a collaboration among various scientific and cultural institutes. The stability of the pillars was reassured, all broken stone blocks were replaced, the asphalt top was removed and all traffic has been excluded from the Charles Bridge since then, making it accessible by pedestrians only. The repair cost 50 million crowns. During the 1990s, some voices appeared, criticizing the previous reconstruction of the bridge and proposing a new one. As of the beginning of the new millennium, most of the experts appeared to agree that the previous reconstruction had not been flawless but disputed the need for further interference with the bridge. However, after the disastrous floods of 2002 (which itself caused only minor harm to the bridge), it was decided to repair and stabilize two pillars (number 8 and 9) on the Malá Strana side of the Bridge. These are the only river pillars that have not been repaired after the 1890-floods. The floods intensified the voices of the supporters of an overall bridge reconstruction and, as of 2005, the current repair of the pillars is considered as the first phase of the reconstruction, which will concentrate especially on building a new hydroisolation system protecting the bridge. The whole reconstruction will be done gradually without needing to close the bridge and is scheduled to finish in 2007.

Statues on the bridge

2007 The alley of 30 mostly baroque statues and statuaries situated on the balustrade forms a unique connection of artistic styles with the underlying gothic bridge. Most sculptures were erected between 1683 and 1714. They depict various saints and patron saints venerated at that time. The most prominent Bohemian sculptors of the time took part on decorating the bridge, such as: Matthias Braun, Jan Brokoff and his sons Michael Joseph and Ferdinand Maxmilian. Among the most notable sculptures, one can find the statuaries of St. Luthgard, St. Crucifix or St. John of Nepomuk. Well known is also the statue of knight Bruncvík, although it does not belong to the main alley. Starting from 1965, all of the statues have been systematically replaced by replicas and the originals have been exhibited in the lapidarium of the National Museum. See also: List of statues on Charles Bridge for descriptions of the particular sculptures.

More images

- A winter time view of Charles Bridge, part of the Lesser Quarter and Prague Castle.
- A night view of the bridge.

External links

- [http://webcam.magicware.cz/aktual.asp A webcam of the Charles Bridge]
- [http://www.earth.cz/Bohemia/Pages/Charles%20Bridge.html an earth.cz info]
- More photos: [http://www.experienceprague.com/karluv_most.htm] [http://www.jimtardio.com/prague-charles-bridge.html]
- [http://www.vhce.info Virtual Heart of Central Europe] on-line presentation of four European cities. Category:Buildings and structures in Prague Category:Bridges in the Czech Republic Category:Bridges completed in the 1400s Category:tourism in Prague ja:カレル橋

Prague

Prague (Czech: Praha, see also other names) is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated on the Vltava river in central Bohemia, it is home to approximately 1.2 million people. (It can be derived from jobs statistics, however, that an additional 300,000 work there without having registered as residents.) Prague is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Nicknames for Prague have included "city of a hundred spires", "the golden city", "the Left Bank of the Nineties", the "mother of cities", and "the heart of Europe". Since 1992, the historic center of Prague has been included in the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites.

History

The area on which Prague was founded was settled in ancient times since the Paleolithic Age. Around 200 BC the Celts had a settlement in the south, called Závist, but later they were expelled by Germans. The Slavs conquered the site from the 4th century AD onwards, though for a period were subdued by the Mongolian Avars. According to a Legend, Prague was founded by the Princess Libuše and her husband, Přemysl, founder of the dynasty with the same name. Being true or not this legend, Prague's first nucleum was founded in the latter part of the 9th century as a castle on a hill commanding the right bank of the Vltava: this is known as Vyšehrad ("old castle") to differentiate from an other castle which was later erected on the opposite bank, the future Hradčany. Soon the city became the seat of the kings of Bohemia, some of whom also reigned as emperors of the Holy Roman Empire in later times. It was an important seat for trading where merchants coming from all Europe settled, including many Jews, as recalled by the Jewish merchant and traveler Ibrahim ibn Ya'qub in 965. The city became a bishopric in 973. King Wladislas II had a first bridge on the Vltava built in