title: Catalonia

text: In Catalonia, there is a high social and political consensus on the language policies favoring Catalan, also among Spanish speakers and speakers of other languages. However, some of these policies have been criticised for trying to promote Catalan by imposing fines on businesses. For example, following the passage of the law on Catalan cinema in March 2010, which established that half of the movies shown in Catalan cinemas had to be in Catalan, a general strike of 75% of the cinemas took place. The Catalan government gave in and dropped the clause that forced 50% of the movies to be dubbed or subtitled in Catalan before the law came to effect. On the other hand, organisations such as Plataforma per la Llengua reported different violations of the linguistic rights of the Catalan speakers in Catalonia and the other Catalan-speaking territories in Spain, most of them caused by the institutions of the Spanish government in these territories.


title: Catalonia

text: The Catalan language policy has been challenged by some political parties in the Catalan Parliament. Citizens, currently the main opposition party, has been one of the most consistent critics of the Catalan language policy within Catalonia. The Catalan branch of the People's Party has a more ambiguous position on the issue: on one hand, it demands a bilingual Catalan–Spanish education and a more balanced language policy that would defend Catalan without favoring it over Spanish, whereas on the other hand, a few local PP politicians have supported in their municipalities measures privileging Catalan over Spanish and it has defended some aspects of the official language policies, sometimes against the positions of its colleagues from other parts of Spain.


title: Catalonia

text: Catalonia has given to the world many important figures in the area of the art. Catalan painters internationally known are, among others, Salvador Dalí, Joan Miró and Antoni Tàpies. Closely linked with the Catalan pictorial atmosphere, Pablo Picasso lived in Barcelona during his youth, training them as an artist and creating the movement of cubism. Other important artists are Claudi Lorenzale for the medieval Romanticism that marked the artistic Renaixença, Marià Fortuny for the Romanticism and Catalan Orientalism of the nineteenth century, Ramon Casas or Santiago Rusiñol, main representatives of the pictorial current of Catalan modernism from the end of the nineteenth century to the beginning of the twentieth century, Josep Maria Sert for early 20th-century Noucentisme, or Josep Maria Subirachs for expressionist or abstract sculpture and painting of the late twentieth century.


title: Catalonia

text: The most important painting museums of Catalonia are the Teatre-Museu Dalí in Figueres, the National Art Museum of Catalonia (MNAC), Picasso Museum, Fundació Antoni Tàpies, Joan Miró Foundation, the Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art (MACBA), the Centre of Contemporary Culture of Barcelona (CCCB) and the CaixaForum.


title: Catalonia

text: In the field of architecture were developed and adapted to Catalonia different artistic styles prevalent in Europe, leaving footprints in many churches, monasteries and cathedrals, of Romanesque (the best examples of which are located in the northern half of the territory) and Gothic styles. The Gothic developed in Barcelona and its area of influence is known as Catalan Gothic, with some particular characteristics. The church of Santa Maria del Mar is an example of this kind of style. During the Middle Ages, many fortified castles were built by feudal nobles to mark their powers.


title: Catalonia

text: There are some examples of Renaissance (such as the Palau de la Generalitat), Baroque and Neoclassical architectures. In the late nineteenth century Modernism (Art Nouveau) appeared as the national art. The world-renowned Catalan architects of this style are Antoni Gaudí, Lluís Domènech i Montaner and Josep Puig i Cadafalch. Thanks to the urban expansion of Barcelona during the last decades of the century and the first ones of the next, many buildings of the Eixample are modernists. In the field of architectural rationalism, which turned especially relevant in Catalonia during the Republican era (1931–1939) highlighting Josep Lluís Sert and Josep Torres i Clavé, members of the GATCPAC and, in contemporany architecture, Ricardo Bofill and Enric Miralles.


title: Catalonia

text: The oldest surviving literary use of the Catalan language is considered to be the religious text known as Homilies d'Organyà, written either in late 11th or early 12th century.


title: Catalonia

text: There are two historical moments of splendor of Catalan literature. The first begins with the historiographic chronicles of the 13th century (chronicles written between the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries narrating the deeds of the monarchs and leading figures of the Crown of Aragon) and the subsequent Golden Age of the 14th and 15th centuries. After that period, between the 16th and 19th centuries the Romantic historiography defined this era as the , considered as the "decadent" period in Catalan literature because of a general falling into disuse of the vernacular language in cultural contexts and lack of patronage among the nobility.


title: Catalonia

text: The second moment of splendor began in the 19th century with the cultural and political (Renaissance) represented by writers and poets such as Jacint Verdaguer, Víctor Català (pseudonym of Caterina Albert i Paradís), Narcís Oller, Joan Maragall and Àngel Guimerà. During the 20th century, avant-garde movements developed, initiated by the Generation of '14 (called Noucentisme in Catalonia), represented by Eugeni d'Ors, Joan Salvat-Papasseit, Josep Carner, Carles Riba, J.V. Foix and others. During the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera, the Civil War (Generation of '36) and the Francoist period, Catalan literature was maintained despite the repression against the Catalan language, being often produced in exile.


title: Catalonia

text: The most outstanding authors of this period are Salvador Espriu, Josep Pla, Josep Maria de Sagarra (the latter three being considered as the main responsible of the renewal of Catalan prose), Mercè Rodoreda, Joan Oliver Sallarès or "Pere Quart", Pere Calders, Gabriel Ferrater, Manuel de Pedrolo, Agustí Bartra or Miquel Martí i Pol. In addition, several foreign writers who fought in the framework of the International Brigades then recount their experiences of fighting in their works, historical or fictional, with for example "Homage to Catalonia" of the British George Orwell in 1938 or in 1962 and "The Georgics" in 1981 by Frenchman Claude Simon.


title: Catalonia

text: After the transition to democracy (1975–1978) and the restoration of the Generalitat (1977), literary life and the editorial market have returned to normality and literary production in Catalan is being bolstered with a number of language policies intended to protect Catalan culture. Besides the aforementioned authors, other relevant 20th-century writers of the Francoist and democracy periods include Joan Brossa, Agustí Bartra, Manuel de Pedrolo, Pere Calders or Quim Monzó.


title: Catalonia

text: Ana María Matute, Jaime Gil de Biedma, Manuel Vázquez Montalbán and Juan Goytisolo are among the most prominent Catalan writers in the Spanish language since the democratic restoration in Spain.


title: Catalonia

text: Castells are one of the main manifestations of Catalan popular culture. The activity consists in constructing human towers by competing (teams). This practice originated in Valls, on the region of the Camp de Tarragona, during the 18th century, and later it was extended along the next two centuries to the rest of the territory. The tradition of els Castells i els Castellers was declared Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2010.


title: Catalonia

text: In main celebrations, other elements of the Catalan popular culture are also usually present: parades with (giants), bigheads, stick-dancers and musicians, and the , where devils and monsters dance and spray showers of sparks using firecrackers. Another traditional celebration in Catalonia is , declared a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by the UNESCO on 25 November 2005.


title: Catalonia

text: Christmas in Catalonia lasts two days, plus Christmas Eve. On the 25th, Christmas is celebrated, followed by a similar feast on the 26, called Sant Esteve (Saint Steve's Day). This allows families to visit and dine with different sectors of the extended family, or get together with friends on the second day.


title: Catalonia

text: One of the most deeply-rooted and curious Christmas traditions is the popular figure of the , consisting of an (often hollow) log with a face painted on it and often two little front legs appended, usually wearing a Catalan hat and scarf. Note that the word has nothing to do with the Spanish word "tío", meaning uncle. "Tió" means log in Catalan. The log is sometimes "found in the woods" (in an event staged for children) and then adopted and taken home, where it is fed and cared for during a month or so. On Christmas Day or on Christmas Eve, a game is played where children march around the house singing a song requesting the log to poop, then they tap the log gently with a stick, as if a magic wand, to make it poop, and lo and behold, as if through magic, it poops candy, and sometimes other small gifts. Usually the larger or main gifts are brought by the Three Kings on 6 January, and the tió only brings small things.


title: Catalonia

text: Another custom is to make a (nativity scene) in the home or in shop windows, the latter sometimes competing in originality or shear size and detail. Churches often host exhibits of numerous dioramas by nativity scene makers, or a single nativity scene they put out, and town halls generally put out a nativity scene in the central square. In Barcelona, every year, the main nativity scene is designed by different artists, and often ends up being an interesting, post-modern or conceptual and strange creation. In the home, the nativity scene often consists of strips of cork bark to represent cliffs or mountains in the background, moss as grass in the foreground, some wood chips or other as dirt, and aluminum foil for rivers and lakes. The traditional figurines often included are the three wise men on camels or horses, which are moved every day or so to go closer to the manger, a star with a long tail in the background to lead people to the spot, the annunciation with shepherds having a meal and an angel appearing (hanging from something), a washer lady washing clothes in the pond, sheep, ducks, people carrying packages on their backs, a donkey driver with a load of twigs, and atrezzo such as a starry sky, miniature towns placed in the distance, either Oriental-styled or local-looking, a bridge over the river, trees, etc.


title: Catalonia

text: One of the most astonishing and sui-generis figurines traditionally placed in the nativity scene, to the great glee of children, is the , a person depicted in the act of defecating. This figurine is hidden in some corner of the nativity scene and the game is to detect it. Of course, churches forgo this figurine, and the main nativity scene of Barcelona, for instance, likewise does not feature it. The caganer is so popular it has, together with the tió, long been a major part of the Christmas markets, where they come in the guise of your favorite politicians or other famous people, as well as the traditional figures of a Catalan farmer. People often buy a figurine of a caganer in the guise of a famous person they are actually fond of, contrary to what one would imagine, though sometimes people buy a caganer in the guise of someone they dislike, although this means they have to look at them in the home.


title: Catalonia

text: Another (extended) Christmas tradition is the celebration of the Epiphany on 6 January, which is called "Reis", meaning Three Kings Day. This is every important in Catalonia and the Catalan-speaking areas, and families go to watch major parades on the eve of the Epiphany, where they can greet the kings and watch them pass by in pomp and circumstance, on floats and preceded and followed by pages, musicians, dancers, etc. They often give the kings letters with their gift requests, which are collected by the pages. On the next day, the children find the gifts the three kings brought for them.


title: Catalonia

text: In addition to traditional local Catalan culture, traditions from other parts of Spain can be found as a result of migration from other regions, for instance the celebration of the Andalusian in Catalonia.


title: Catalonia

text: On 28 July 2010, second only after the Canary Islands, Catalonia became another Spanish territory to forbid bullfighting. The ban, which went into effect on 1 January 2012, had originated in a popular petition supported by over 180,000 signatures.


title: Catalonia

text: The sardana is considered to be the most characteristic Catalan folk dance, interpreted to the rhythm of tamborí, tible and tenora (from the oboe family), trumpet, trombó (trombone), fiscorn (family of bugles) and contrabaix with three strings played by a cobla, and are danced in a circle dance. Other tunes and dances of the traditional music are the contrapàs (obsolete today), ball de bastons (the "dance of sticks"), the moixiganga, the goigs (popular songs), the galops or the jota in the southern part. The havaneres are characteristic in some marine localities of the Costa Brava, especially during the summer months when these songs are sung outdoors accompanied by a of burned rum.


title: Catalonia

text: Art music was first developed, up to the nineteenth century and, as in much of Europe, in a liturgical setting, particularly marked by the Escolania de Montserrat. The main Western musical trends have marked these productions, medieval monodies or polyphonies, with the work of Abbot Oliba in the eleventh century or the compilation Llibre Vermell de Montserrat ("Red Book of Montserrat") from the fourteenth century. Through the Renaissance there were authors such as Pere Albert Vila, Joan Brudieu or the two Mateu Fletxa ("The Old" and "The Young"). Baroque had composers like Joan Cererols. The Romantic music was represented by composers such as Fernando Sor, Josep Anselm Clavé (father of choir movement in Catalonia and responsible of the music folk reviving) or Felip Pedrell.


title: Catalonia

text: Modernisme also expressed in musical terms from the end of the 19th century onwards, mixing folkloric and post-romantic influences, through the works of Isaac Albéniz and Enric Granados. The avant-garde spirit initiated by the modernists is prolonged throughout the twentieth century, thanks to the activities of the Orfeó Català, a choral society founded in 1891, with its monumental concert hall, the Palau de la Música Catalana in Catalan, built by Lluís Domènech i Montaner from 1905 to 1908, the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra created in 1944 and composers, conductors and musicians engaged against the Francoism like Robert Gerhard, Eduard Toldrà and Pau Casals.


title: Catalonia

text: Performances of opera, mostly imported from Italy, began in the 18th century, but some native operas were written as well, including the ones by Domènec Terradellas, Carles Baguer, Ramon Carles, Isaac Albéniz and Enric Granados. The Barcelona main opera house, Gran Teatre del Liceu (opened in 1847), remains one of the most important in Spain, hosting one of the most prestigious music schools in Barcelona, the Conservatori Superior de Música del Liceu. Several lyrical artists trained by this institution gained international renown during the 20th century, such as Victoria de los Ángeles, Montserrat Caballé, Giacomo Aragall and Josep Carreras.


title: Catalonia

text: Cellist Pau Casals is admired as an outstanding player. Other popular musical styles were born in the second half of the 20th century such as Nova Cançó from the 1960s with Lluís Llach and the group Els Setze Jutges, the Catalan rumba in the 1960s with Peret, Catalan Rock from the late 1970s with La Banda Trapera del Río and Decibelios for Punk Rock, Sau, Els Pets, Sopa de Cabra or Lax'n'Busto for pop rock or Sangtraït for hard rock, electropop since the 1990s with OBK and indie pop from the 1990s.


title: Catalonia

text: Catalonia is the autonomous community, along with Madrid, that has the most media (TV, magazines, newspapers etc.). In Catalonia there is a wide variety of local and comarcal media. With the restoration of democracy, many newspapers and magazines, until then in the hands of the Franco government, were recovered in order to convert them into free and democratic media, while local radios and televisions were implemented.


title: Catalonia

text: Televisió de Catalunya, which broadcasts entirely in the Catalan language, is the main Catalan public TV. It has five channels: TV3, El 33, Super3, 3/24, Esport3 and TV3CAT. In 2018, TV3 became the first television channel to be the most viewed one for nine consecutive years in Catalonia. State televisions that broadcast in Catalonia in Spanish language include Televisión Española (with few emissions in Catalan), Antena 3, Cuatro, Telecinco, and La Sexta. Other smaller Catalan television channels include; 8TV (owned by Grup Godó), Barça TV and the local televisions, the greatest exponent of which is , the TV channel of Barcelona, which also broadcasts in Catalan.


title: Catalonia

text: The two main Catalan newspapers of general information are "El Periódico de Catalunya" and "La Vanguardia", both with editions in Catalan and Spanish. Catalan only published newspapers include "Ara" and "El Punt Avui" (from the fusion of "El Punt" and "Avui" in 2011), as well as most part of the local press. The Spanish newspapers, such as "El País", "El Mundo" or "La Razón", can be also acquired.


title: Catalonia

text: Catalonia has a long tradition of use of radio, the first regular radio broadcast in the country was from Ràdio Barcelona in 1924. Today, the public Catalunya Ràdio (owned by Catalan Media Corporation) and the private RAC 1 (belonging to Grup Godó) are the two main radios of Catalonia, both in Catalan.


title: Catalonia

text: Regarding the cinema, after the democratic transition, three styles have dominated since then. First, auteur cinema, in the continuity of the Barcelona School, emphasizes experimentation and form, while focusing on developing social and political themes. Worn first by Josep Maria Forn or Bigas Luna, then by Marc Recha, Jaime Rosales and Albert Serra, this genre has achieved some international recognition. Then, the documentary became another genre particularly representative of contemporary Catalan cinema, boosted by Joaquim Jordà i Català and José Luis Guerín. Later, horror films and thrillers have also emerged as a specialty of the Catalan film industry, thanks in particular to the vitality of the Sitges Film Festival, created in 1968. Several directors have gained worldwide renown thanks to this genre, starting with Jaume Balagueró and his series "REC" (co-directed with Valencian Paco Plaza), Juan Antonio Bayona and "El Orfanato" or Jaume Collet-Serra with "Orphan", "Unknown" and "Non-Stop".


title: Catalonia

text: The Museum of Cinema - Tomàs Mallol Collection (Museu del Cinema – Col.lecció Tomàs Mallol in Catalan) of Girona is home of important permanent exhibitions of cinema and pre-cinema objects. Other important institutions for the promotion of cinema are the Gaudí Awards (Premis Gaudí in Catalan, which replaced from 2009 Barcelona Film Awards themselves created in 2002), serving as equivalent for Catalonia to the Spanish Goya or French César.


title: Catalonia

text: is a form of ancestral Catalan wisdom or sensibleness. It involves well-pondered perception of situations, level-headedness, awareness, integrity, and right action. Many Catalans consider seny something unique to their culture, is based on a set of ancestral local customs stemming from the scale of values and social norms of their society.


title: Catalonia

text: Sport has had a distinct importance in Catalan life and culture since the beginning of the 20th century; consequently, the region has a well-developed sports infrastructure. The main sports are football, basketball, handball, rink hockey, tennis and motorsport.


title: Catalonia

text: Despite the fact that the most popular sports are represented outside by the Spanish national teams, Catalonia can officially play as itself in some others, like korfball, futsal or rugby league. Most of Catalan Sports Federations have a long tradition and some of them participated in the foundation of international sports federations, as the Catalan Federation of Rugby, that was one of the founder members of the Fédération Internationale de Rugby Amateur (FIRA) in 1934. The majority of Catalan sport federations are part of the Sports Federation Union of Catalonia (Catalan: ), founded in 1933.


title: Catalonia

text: The Catalan Football Federation also periodically fields a national team against international opposition, organizing friendly matches. In the recent years they have played with Bulgaria, Argentina, Brazil, Basque Country, Colombia, Nigeria, Cape Verde and Tunisia. The biggest football clubs are FC Barcelona (also known as Barça), who have won five European Cups (UEFA Champions League), and RCD Espanyol, who have twice been runner-up of the UEFA Cup. Both play in La Liga.


title: Catalonia

text: The Catalan waterpolo is one of the main powers of the Iberian Peninsula. The Catalans won triumphs in waterpolo competitions at European and world level by club (the Barcelona was champion of Europe in 1981/82 and the Catalonia in 1994/95) and national team (one gold and one silver in Olympic Games and World Championships). It also has many international synchronized swimming champions.


title: Catalonia

text: Motorsport has a long tradition in Catalonia, which involving many people, with some world champions and several competitions organized since the beginning of the 20th century. The Circuit de Catalunya, built in 1991, is one of the main motorsport venues, holding the Catalan motorcycle Grand Prix, the Spanish F1 Grand Prix, a DTM race, and several other races.


title: Catalonia

text: Catalonia hosted many relevant international sport events, such as the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, and also the 1955 Mediterranean Games, the 2013 World Aquatics Championships or the 2018 Mediterranean Games. It held annually the fourth-oldest still-existing cycling stage race in the world, the Volta a Catalunya (Tour of Catalonia).


title: Catalonia

text: Catalan gastronomy has a long culinary tradition. Various local food recipes have been described in documents dating from the fifteenth century. As with all the cuisines of the Mediterranean, Catatonian dishes make abundant use of fish, seafood, olive oil, bread and vegetables. Regional specialties include the (bread with tomato), which consists of bread (sometimes toasted), and tomato seasoned with olive oil and salt. Often the dish is accompanied with any number of sausages (cured botifarres, fuet, iberic ham, etc.), ham or cheeses. Others dishes include the , , (fish stew), and a dessert, Catalan cream.


title: Catalonia

text: Catalan vineyards also have several wines, such as: Priorat, Montsant, Penedès and Empordà. There is also a sparkling wine, the cava.


title: Catalonia

text: Catalonia is internationally recognized for its fine dining. Three of the World's 50 Best Restaurants are in Catalonia, and four restaurants have three Michelin stars, including restaurants like El Bulli or El Celler de Can Roca, both of which regularly dominate international rankings of restaurants. The region has been awarded the European Region of Gastronomy title for the year 2016.


title: Paddy Considine

text: Patrick George Considine (born 5 September 1973) is an English actor, director, and screenwriter. He frequently collaborates with filmmaker/director Shane Meadows. He has received two British Academy Film Awards, three Evening Standard British Film Awards, British Independent Film Awards and a Silver Lion for Best Short Film at the 2007 Venice Film Festival.


title: Paddy Considine

text: His first major onscreen appearance was in his first collaboration with Meadows in "A Room for Romeo Brass" (1999) in which he played the small-town disturbed character Morell. His first lead role as love-struck misfit Alfie in Paweł Pawlikowski’s "Last Resort" (2000) won him the Best Actor award at the Thessaloniki Film Festival. Through the early 2000’s he had leading performances in both "In America" (2003) and "My Summer of Love" (2004), and supporting parts in "Doctor Sleep" (2002) and "24 Hour Party People" (2002). His role as Richard in Meadows' revenge film "Dead Man's Shoes" (2004), a film he cowrote, won him the 2005 Empire Award for Best British Actor and a nomination for the British Independent Film Award for Best Actor.


title: Paddy Considine

text: On television, Considine has had lead roles in several productions including; "Pu-239" (2006), "My Zinc Bed" (2008), "Red Riding" (2009) and the BBC series "Informer" (2018), starring in the title role as Detective Inspector Jack Whicher in "The Suspicions of Mr Whicher" series of television films. As well as smaller recurring roles in series 3 of the BBC gangster series "Peaky Blinders" (2016), and the HBO miniseries "The Outsider" (2020). Considine starred alongside Jude Law in the Sky Atlantic miniseries "The Third Day" (2020). In 2022, he starred in the HBO "Game of Thrones" prequel series "House of the Dragon".


title: Paddy Considine

text: Considine made his filmmaking debut with the short film "Dog Altogether" (2007) he wrote and directed and for which he won a BAFTA Award for Best Short Film, a British Independent Film Award, a Silver Lion at the 2007 Venice Film Festival, and the Seattle International Film Festival Short Film Jury Award (Narrative Special Jury Prize) and its 2011 feature film adaptation "Tyrannosaur" which won a second for BAFTA Award for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer and a British Independent Film Award at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and acting awards for both its lead actors Olivia Colman and Peter Mullan, he followed this up by directing and starring in his second feature "Journeyman" to critical acclaim. He has also appeared in several music videos, including Coldplay's "God Put a Smile upon Your Face" and the Arctic Monkeys' "Leave Before the Lights Come On".


title: Paddy Considine

text: Despite portraying Banquo in the onscreen adaptation of Shakespeare's "Macbeth" (2015), Considine has only had a very brief career on stage. He received Olivier Awards and Tony Award nominations as Best Actor in 2018 and 2019 for his performances in "The Ferryman" at the Royal Court Theatre, at the Gielgud Theatre, and at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre on Broadway.


title: Paddy Considine

text: Considine was born in Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, where he still resides. He grew up with his brother and four sisters in a council estate in Winshill, a village of Burton. His father, Martin Joseph Considine, was Irish. Considine attended, among other schools, Abbot Beyne Senior School and Burton College. In 1990, Considine enrolled to do a National Diploma in Performing Arts at Burton College, where he first met Shane Meadows.


title: Paddy Considine

text: In 1994, Considine moved away to study photography at the University of Brighton. While there he studied under the social documentarian Paul Reas, who described one project, portraits of Considine's parents in their house in Winshill, as "fucking brilliant". At one point, Considine was threatened with expulsion, but graduated with a first-class B.A.


title: Paddy Considine

text: After graduating from university, Meadows cast Considine in several short films, as well as his second film, "A Room for Romeo Brass" (1999). Considine, in his screen debut, played the disturbed character Morell. Considine's performance in the film led to Paweł Pawlikowski casting him in his first starring role in "Last Resort" (2000). Considine played the love-struck misfit Alfie, for which he won the Best Actor award at the Thessaloniki Film Festival. Considine increased his profile during the early to mid-2000s with supporting and starring roles in cult films such as "24 Hour Party People" and "In America".


title: Paddy Considine

text: In 2004, Considine starred in what was then the most significant role of his career, as Richard in Meadows' revenge film "Dead Man's Shoes" (2004), a film he cowrote and for which he won the Best British Actor Award at the 2005 Empire Awards. In the same year, he starred in "My Summer of Love", his second film with director Pawel Pawlikowski. Both films were recognised on the award circuit, where Considine earned five nominations and two wins. The following year, Considine played Frank Thorogood (the suspected murderer of Rolling Stones co-founder Brian Jones) in "Stoned" (2005). It was around this time that Considine earned his reputation as a popular portrayer of cinema villains, antiheroes, and darker characters. 2005 also saw the release of Considine's second Hollywood film, "Cinderella Man".


title: Paddy Considine

text: Considine appeared in the Spanish thriller "Bosque de Sombras" (2006). It was during the filming of this that Considine penned what later became his debut short, "Dog Altogether". Considine claims that it was his co-star Gary Oldman who gave him the confidence to make the film, which led to him thanking Oldman during his BAFTA acceptance speech. In 2006, he starred in "Pu-239" as Timofey Berezin, a worker at a Russian nuclear facility who gets exposed to a lethal dose of radiation. In 2007, Considine landed roles in two popular big-budget films; the third film in the "Bourne Trilogy" film series, "The Bourne Ultimatum", in which he played newspaper reporter Simon Ross, and "Hot Fuzz", in which he had his first comedic role as DS Andy Wainwright. In 2008, Considine starred in "My Zinc Bed" a TV film for BBC / HBO. In 2009, he starred as Peter Hunter in the Channel 4 miniseries "Red Riding: 1980", based on the novels by David Peace, and another collaboration with Meadows, "Le Donk & Scor-zay-zee", a film which was unscripted, adlibbed, and filmed in five days at a cost of £48,000, and which premiered at the Edinburgh International Film Festival.


title: Paddy Considine

text: In 2011, Considine starred in a film adaptation of Joe Dunthorne's book "Submarine", which Richard Ayoade wrote and directed. Also in 2011, Considine appeared as Porter Nash in the adaptation of the Ken Bruen novel "Blitz", as well as starring as Jack Whicher in "The Suspicions of Mr Whicher", written by Helen Edmundson and Neil McKay. In the same year, Considine was briefly reunited with one of his "A Room for Romeo Brass" co-stars, BAFTA-winning actress Vicky McClure. The two shared the screen in a television advert to promote "Films for Life Season". The ad was shot over two days in Spain.


title: Paddy Considine

text: He has appeared in several music videos, most notably "God Put A Smile Upon Your Face" (2002) by Coldplay and Moloko's "Familiar Feeling" (2003), as well as the Arctic Monkeys track "Leave Before the Lights Come On" (2006), for which he wrote the video.


title: Paddy Considine

text: Considine starred in "The World's End", as one of the "Five Musketeers" reattempting an "epic" pub crawl. Considine previously worked with the cast and crew on "Hot Fuzz" (2007). The film was released in the United Kingdom on 19 July 2013, and the United States on 23 August 2013. In August 2015, Considine confirmed that he was writing the screenplay for the film "Journeyman", in which he will also star. It is an adaptation of non-fiction novel "The Years of the Locust" by Jon Hotten, the true story of a sociopathic boxing promoter, Fat Rick Parker, and his doomed relationship with his naive fighter, Tim Anderson. Considine is also writing a film from a ghost story called "The Leaning", with plans to direct both films. He will continue to work with Shane Meadows on "King of the Gypsies", a biopic of bare-knuckle fighter Bartley Gorman, whom Considine met and became friends with whilst working as a photographer. In 2015, Considine was cast along Glenn Close, Gemma Arterton in the UK zombie film in "The Girl with All the Gifts", based on the 2014 novel "The Girl with All the Gifts" by M. R. Carey.


title: Paddy Considine

text: In April 2017, Considine made his professional stage debut in "The Ferryman" at the Royal Court Theatre, ahead of a transfer to the Gielgud Theatre in the West End.


title: Paddy Considine

text: The production transferred to the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre on Broadway, beginning previews on 2 October 2018. The play, which went on to win four Tony Awards, closed on 7 July 2019. For his performance as Quinn Carney Considine gained nominations for best actor at both the Olivier Awards and The Tony Awards. In 2020, he portrayed Mr Martin in the HBO Mini-Series "The Third Day" alongside Jude Law.


title: Paddy Considine

text: In August 2022, Considine began appearing as King Viserys Targaryen in the "Game of Thrones" series prequel "House of the Dragon".


title: Paddy Considine

text: In 2007, Paddy Considine wrote and directed the short film "Dog Altogether", starring Peter Mullan, partially based on Considine's father. "Dog Altogether" won the 2007 BAFTA award for Best Short Film, as well as a Silver Lion for Best Short Film at the 2007 Venice Film Festival, a Best British Short at the 2007 British Independent Film Awards (BIFA), and the Seattle International Film Festival Short Film Jury Award (Narrative Special Jury Prize), as well as a World Cinema Directing Award for his feature directorial debut "Tyrannosaur" at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival.


title: Paddy Considine

text: After a short stint during college in a virtual comedy thrash group called 'Grunt', Considine and Shane Meadows formed the band She Talks To Angels (inspired by the Black Crowes song of the same name) with friends Richard Eaton, Simon Hudson, and Nick Hemming (later of The Leisure Society), with Meadows as vocalist and Considine as drummer. Considine left the band, the remaining members re-formed, calling themselves Oslo. Appearing on Jools Holland's show, whilst Considine had moved on to study photography at the University of Brighton, where he formed a new group, a Britpop band called Pedestrians. His rock band called Riding the Low, released an EP "They Will Rob You of Your Gifts" (2009), and an album "What Happened to the Get To Know Ya?" (2013).


title: Paddy Considine

text: Considine and Riding the Low got their big music break in 2014 after Tim Burgess of the Charlatans invited them to perform at his curated Tim Peaks Diner event at Festival No 6 in Portmeirion, Wales. Considine had contacted Burgess after reading his book "Telling Stories", to discuss meditation. "The conversation developed and Tim generously offered to let us play at Portmeirion, It led to the band supporting the Charlatans at the O2 Academy in Leicester this year. I didn't get stage fright. We were ready. We did our history off-camera. We have evolved. We have got better. At first, it was raw – all we had was arrogance. We had a long way to go and we learnt our craft at all these pub gigs. We didn't expect a leg-up just because an actor is in the band." said Considine


title: Paddy Considine

text: 2016 saw the band release their second full-length album "Are Here to Help the Neighbourhood", recorded in Rockfield Studios and produced by Bassist Chris Slusarenko of Boston Spaceships and Guided By Voices. Considine penned the words while the band wrote the music.


title: Paddy Considine

text: Considine remains private in his personal life and once said if he ever became a celebrity, he would "disappear and go and make shoes like Daniel Day-Lewis" (a reference to Day-Lewis' sabbatical working as a shoemaker in Italy). In 2002, Considine married Shelley Insley, with whom he has been in a relationship since he was 18. They have three children. Considine still lives in his home town of Burton upon Trent with his family.


title: Paddy Considine

text: In April 2011, then in his 30s, Considine revealed that he had been diagnosed with Asperger syndrome. Although initially reassured by the diagnosis, he continued to struggle in social situations until clinician Andrew Barton-Breck surmised he may have Irlen Syndrome. He was subsequently diagnosed by Helen Irlen herself in 2013 with Irlen syndrome, a condition in which the brain cannot adequately process visual stimuli. His condition has improved significantly since he began wearing purple Irlen filters, either as specially made contact lenses when on-set or as traditional tinted glasses.


title: The King (2019 film)

text: The King is a 2019 epic war film directed by David Michôd, based on several plays from William Shakespeare's Henriad. The screenplay was written by Michôd and Joel Edgerton, who both produced the film with Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, and Liz Watts. "The King" includes an ensemble cast led by Timothée Chalamet as the Prince of Wales and later King Henry V of England, alongside Edgerton, Sean Harris, Tom Glynn-Carney, Lily-Rose Depp, Thomasin McKenzie, Robert Pattinson, and Ben Mendelsohn.


title: The King (2019 film)

text: The film focuses on the rise of Henry V as king after his father dies as he also must navigate palace politics, the war his father left behind, and the emotional strings of his past life. "The King" premiered at the 76th Venice International Film Festival on 2 September 2019, and was released digitally via Netflix on 11 October 2019. The film received generally favorable reviews from film critics but was criticized by historians for its inaccuracy to both the original plays and historical reality.


title: The King (2019 film)

text: Henry, Prince of Wales, "Hal", is the emotionally distant eldest son of King Henry IV of England. Hal is uninterested in succeeding his father and spends his days drinking, whoring, and jesting with his companion John Falstaff in Eastcheap. His father summons Hal and informs him that Hal's younger brother, Thomas, will inherit the throne. Thomas is sent to subdue Hotspur's rebellion but is upstaged by the arrival of Hal, who challenges Hotspur to single combat. Although Hal kills Hotspur, ending the battle without further conflict, Thomas complains that Hal has stolen his glory. Shortly thereafter, Thomas is killed in battle after taking his campaign to Wales.


title: The King (2019 film)

text: Henry IV dies in his bed with Hal present, and Hal is crowned King Henry V. Hal opts for peace and conciliation with his father's many adversaries, despite his actions being seen as weakness. At his coronation feast, the Dauphin of France sends Hal a ball as an insulting coronation gift. However, Hal chooses to frame this as a positive reflection of his boyhood. His sister Philippa, now the Queen of Denmark, cautions that nobles in any royal court have their own interests in mind and will never fully reveal their true intentions.


title: The King (2019 film)

text: Hal interrogates a captured assassin who claims to have been sent by King Charles VI of France to assassinate Hal. The English nobles Cambridge and Grey are approached by French agents hoping to induce them to the French cause. Their trust in the new young king wavers, and they then approach Hal's Chief Justice, William Gascoigne, with their concerns. Gascoigne advises Hal that a show of strength is necessary to unite England, so Hal declares war on France and has Cambridge and Grey beheaded. He approaches Falstaff and appoints him as his chief military strategist, saying that Falstaff is the only man he truly trusts.


title: The King (2019 film)

text: The English army sets sail for France. After completing the Siege of Harfleur, they continue on the campaign but are taunted by the Dauphin. The English advance parties stumble upon a vast French army gathering to face them. Dorset advises Hal to retreat, but Falstaff proposes a false advance to lure the French to rush forward into the muddy battlefield, where they will be weighed down by their heavy armour and horses. They will then be attacked by the English longbowmen and surrounded by a large, lightly armoured flanking force hidden in the nearby woods.


title: The King (2019 film)

text: Falstaff insists on leading the dangerous false advance, as it was his plan, prompting Hal to challenge the Dauphin to single combat to decide the battle and minimize bloodshed; however, the Dauphin refuses. The Battle of Agincourt commences. Falstaff's plan works – the bulk of the French army charges to engage Falstaff's force and is soon mired in the mud. Hal leads the flanking attack, and the outnumbered but far more mobile English army overpowers the immobilized French, though Falstaff is killed. The Dauphin, still fresh and in heavy armour, reinvokes Hal's challenge but repeatedly slips and falls in the mud until Hal permits his soldiers to kill him. Hal orders all French prisoners executed for fear that they might regroup, an order that Falstaff had refused to carry out following the Siege of Harfleur.


title: The King (2019 film)

text: Hal reaches King Charles VI, who offers his surrender, makes him his heir, and offers him the hand of his daughter Catherine of Valois. Hal returns to England with his new wife for the celebrations. In private, she challenges his reasons for invading France and denies the supposed French actions against Hal, suggesting the assassin was a plot from within his own court. Suspicious, Hal confronts Gascoigne, who confesses that he had staged the insult and acts of aggression and declares that true peace comes only through victory. In cold fury, Hal stabs Gascoigne in the head, killing him, and returns to Catherine, asking that she promise to always speak the truth to him, as clearly as possible.


title: The King (2019 film)

text: In 2013, it was revealed that Joel Edgerton and David Michôd had collaborated on writing an adaptation of Shakespeare's "Henriad" plays, "Henry IV, Parts 1 & 2" and "Henry V", for Warner Bros. Pictures. In September 2015, it was announced that Michôd would direct the project, with Warner Bros. producing and distributing the film, and Lava Bear producing.


title: The King (2019 film)

text: In February 2018, Timothée Chalamet joined the cast, with Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, and Jeremy Kleiner producing, alongside Liz Watts, under their Plan B Entertainment banner. Ultimately, Netflix distributed the film instead of Warner Bros. In March 2018, Edgerton joined the cast of the film. In May 2018, Robert Pattinson, Ben Mendelsohn, Sean Harris, Lily-Rose Depp, Tom Glynn-Carney, and Thomasin McKenzie joined the cast; Dean-Charles Chapman joined in June.


title: The King (2019 film)

text: Principal photography began on 1 June 2018 and wrapped on 24 August. Filming took place throughout England and at Szilvásvárad, Hungary. Many scenes were filmed on location at Berkeley Castle in Gloucestershire, England. Lincoln Cathedral was used in place of Westminster Abbey for the coronation scenes.


title: The King (2019 film)

text: The film's original score was composed by Nicholas Britell, who thought of approaching the film's music from the 21st century, instead of the medieval 15th century approach, saying "because of the timelessness of these issues, if felt like something that we could explore with the sound of different time periods, just to make you look at the early 1400’s in a way that it felt like you hadn’t seen it before". He felt that the "1400s looks like it was a foreign planet". He experimented the film's music using bass clarinets run with tape filters, and sounds of metal while composing. It was Britell's most "dark and sombre" music reflecting the zone of the film. Lakeshore Records released the album consisting of 15 tracks from Britell's score, on 1 November 2019 in digital and CD formats, while the vinyl edition was released three years later on 8 July 2022.


title: The King (2019 film)

text: The film had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival on 2 September 2019. It screened at the BFI London Film Festival on 3 October 2019, and received a limited release on 11 October 2019 before being released on Netflix, for digital streaming, on 1 November 2019.


title: The King (2019 film)

text: The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of . The website's critical consensus reads: "While "The King" is sometimes less than the sum of its impressive parts, strong source material and gripping performances make this a period drama worth hailing." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 62 out of 100, based on 38 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".


title: The King (2019 film)

text: The film was criticized for being widely inaccurate to both reality and the Shakespearean play. Being loosely based on several works by Shakespeare, the film contains many of the same ahistorical dramatizations and biases as its source material, including the introduction of some wholly-fictional characters and episodes as well as mischaracterizations of historical persons, not the least of which being Henry himself. Portrayed as a perpetually-inebriated sullen ne'er-do-well, Henry of Monmouth was in real life so engaged and experienced in battle that he almost died from an arrow to the face, which was subtly referenced by the facial scar he wears in the film. Like the 16th-century plays, the film was met with criticism by historians, with Christophe Gilliot, the director of the French museum "Azincourt 1415", suggesting it has "Francophobe tendencies".


title: The King (2019 film)

text: The following is a non-exhaustive list of the most important historical inaccuracies present in the film that do not correspond to reality according to Gilliot:


title: The King (2019 film)

text: "Chimes at Midnight", an adaptation of the Henriad into a single narrative by Orson Welles from 1965, and Henry V, fourth episode of the Shakespeare-based TV series The Hollow Crown from 2012, covering roughly the same material.


title: Doom Patrol (TV series)

text: Doom Patrol is an American superhero television series developed by Jeremy Carver. Based on the DC Comics superhero team of the same name, the series features Jane (Diane Guerrero), Rita Farr (April Bowlby), Vic Stone (Joivan Wade), Larry Trainor (Matt Bomer / Matthew Zuk), Cliff Steele (Brendan Fraser / Riley Shanahan), and Chief (Timothy Dalton) as the members of the eponymous Doom Patrol. Although Bowlby, Bomer, and Fraser reprise their roles from the series "Titans", the two shows are set in separate continuities.


title: Doom Patrol (TV series)

text: The series premiered on February 15, 2019, exclusively for the DC Universe streaming service. The second season aired on both DC Universe and HBO Max, with the two streaming services releasing episodes simultaneously on June 25, 2020. A third season, released exclusively on HBO Max, premiered on September 23, 2021. In October 2021, the series was renewed for a fourth season which premiered on December 8, 2022.


title: Doom Patrol (TV series)

text: "Doom Patrol" follows the unlikely heroes of the eponymous team who all received their powers through tragic circumstances and are generally shunned by society. Most members of the team were treated by the Chief, a medical doctor who gave them residence in his mansion to help protect them from the outside world. Their name derives from an earlier Doom Patrol team that was formed by the Chief.


title: Doom Patrol (TV series)

text: The first members of the Doom Patrol to be introduced in the series are Jane, the dominant identity of a traumatized woman with dissociative identity disorder; Rita Farr, who struggles to prevent her body from turning to a gelatinous state; Larry Trainor, who has an entity of negative energy living inside of him; and Cliff Steele, whose brain was placed in a robot body following a car crash. The team is later joined by cybernetically enhanced superhero Vic Stone.


title: Doom Patrol (TV series)

text: In the first season, the Chief is captured by the malevolent Mr. Nobody, sending the Doom Patrol on a journey to rescue him. Along the way, they discover secrets about themselves and the Chief, who they eventually learn is responsible for the tragic events that gave them their powers.


title: Doom Patrol (TV series)

text: The second season sees the Doom Patrol joined by Dorothy Spinner, the Chief's daughter who possesses the ability to bring her imaginary friends to life. While the members of the Doom Patrol face their own personal dilemmas and contend with the truth about the Chief, Dorothy inadvertently endangers the world when her powers threaten to unleash an ancient entity known as the Candlemaker.


title: Doom Patrol (TV series)

text: In the third season, Dorothy's battle with the Candlemaker reaches its climax and the Doom Patrol suffers a tragic loss when the Chief finally dies of old age. Although, the Doom Patrol's ally Willoughby Kipling salvages Chief's head, stating that his time isn't over yet. In the aftermath, the team go their separate ways as they struggle with their identities when the arrival of Madame Rouge in a time machine sets them on a new path.


title: Doom Patrol (TV series)

text: In the fourth season, the Doom Patrol begin doing more heroic activities while dealing with the coming of Immortus.


title: Doom Patrol (TV series)

text: The final six episodes were written by Tamara Becher-Wilkinson & Bob Barth, Eric Dietel, Aliza Berger & Talia Berger, Akaylah Ellison & Tom Farrell, Chris Dingess, Shoshana Sachi & Ezra Claytan Daniels respectively.


title: Doom Patrol (TV series)

text: "Doom Patrol" was announced on May 14, 2018, as an intended spin-off of "Titans" for video on demand service DC Universe after co-creator and executive producer Geoff Johns revealed that "Titans"<nowiki>'</nowiki> fourth episode would feature and be titled after the Doom Patrol on February 10, 2018. Despite the initial order and sharing characters and actors, however, "Doom Patrol" occupies a separate continuity from "Titans".


title: Doom Patrol (TV series)

text: Fifteen episodes were developed for the first season, which premiered on February 15, 2019, and concluded on May 24, 2019. Jeremy Carver wrote the pilot, and served as an executive producer alongside Johns, Greg Berlanti, and Sarah Schechter. Production companies involved with the series include Berlanti Productions and Warner Bros. Television. The series is influenced by writer Grant Morrison's run of the comic.


title: Doom Patrol (TV series)

text: On July 20, 2019, it was announced at San Diego Comic-Con that "Doom Patrol" had been renewed for a second season, which premiered on both DC Universe and WarnerMedia's video on demand service HBO Max on June 25, 2020. The season was originally intended to have 10 episodes, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, production was shut down before the 10th episode could be completed and the season instead comprised nine episodes. In September 2020, the series was renewed for a third season exclusively on HBO Max. In October 2021, HBO Max renewed the series for a fourth season.


title: Doom Patrol (TV series)

text: In July 2018, it was announced that April Bowlby, Brendan Fraser, and Matt Bomer would star in "Doom Patrol" as Rita Farr, the voice of Cliff Steele, and the voice of Larry Trainor, respectively, after being cast as the characters for guest appearances in "Titans". Diane Guerrero was also announced to be joining Bowlby, Fraser, and Bomer as Jane. In August 2018, Joivan Wade was cast as Victor "Vic" Stone / Cyborg, Alan Tudyk was cast as Eric Morden / Mr. Nobody, and Riley Shanahan was cast to physically portray the cyborg version of Cliff. The next month, Timothy Dalton was cast as Niles Caulder / Chief and Matthew Zuk was cast in October 2018 to physically portray the bandage-covered Larry. In March 2019, Mark Sheppard was announced as Willoughby Kipling.


title: Doom Patrol (TV series)

text: In January 2020, Roger Floyd was cast as Red Jack, a malevolent entity, in the series' second season. Other second-season castings that February included Abigail Shapiro as the Chief's superpowered daughter, Dorothy Spinner, and Karen Obilom as Roni Evers, a military veteran with a mysterious past who Vic meets while attending a PTSD support group. Samantha Marie Ware was cast as one of Jane's identities in March 2020, later revealed to be the former primary identity Miranda. On March 10, 2021, Michelle Gomez was cast as Madame Rouge, a new series regular for the third season. In April 2021, Sebastian Croft and Ty Tennant were cast as the Dead Boy Detectives. Later that month Micah Joe Parker, Wynn Everett, Miles Mussenden, Anita Kalathara and Gina Hiraizumi were cast as members of the Sisterhood of Dada, while Madalyn Horcher was cast as a guest in connection with Sebastian Croft and Ty Tennant. On September 23, 2022, Madeline Zima was cast as Casey Brinke for the fourth season. On October 17, 2022, Sendhil Ramamurthy joined the cast as Mr. 104 in a recurring capacity for the fourth season.


title: Doom Patrol (TV series)

text: Principal photography for the first season began on August 30, 2018, in Olde Town Conyers, Georgia. Filming continued in Georgia throughout September 2018, in Lawrenceville and at Briarcliff Mansion. Principal photography for the first season finished on April 10, 2019.


title: Doom Patrol (TV series)

text: The first season of "Doom Patrol" premiered on DC Universe on February 15, 2019, with episodes releasing until May 24, 2019. The first season consists of 15 episodes. A second season premiered on both DC Universe and HBO Max on June 25, 2020. The third season premiered on September 23, 2021, exclusively on HBO Max. The fourth season premiered on December 8, 2022, with the first two episodes of the season available immediately and the rest debuting on a weekly basis on HBO Max.


title: Doom Patrol (TV series)

text: In the United Kingdom, the first season was released exclusively on StarzPlay on January 2, 2020. The second season premiered July 16, 2021. The third season premiered November 14, 2021.


title: Doom Patrol (TV series)

text: On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the first season holds a 96% approval rating based on 53 reviews, with an average rating of 8/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "DC Universe finds breakout material in this iteration of "Doom Patrol" thanks to a fully committed cast and the writing's faith in weirdness." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the series a score of 70 out of 100 based on reviews from 18 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".


title: Doom Patrol (TV series)

text: Jesse Schedeen of IGN rated the series premiere 9.0 out of 10, stating that ""Doom Patrol" is the best reason yet to sign up for DC's streaming service. ["Doom Patrol"] offers a wicked sense of humor with heart, wit and tragedy to spare. The cast works incredibly well to form an entertaining dysfunctional family."


title: Doom Patrol (TV series)

text: The second season holds a 97% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 29 reviews with an average rating of 8.3/10. Its critical consensus reads, "As entertaining as the first, but with more emotional depth, "Doom Patrol"s second season explores darker corners without sacrificing any of its wonderful weirdness."


title: Doom Patrol (TV series)

text: The third season has a 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 10 reviews with an average rating of 7.9/10. Its critics consensus states, "By adding strange new spices and a heaping tablespoon of unconventional plotting, "Doom Patrol" remains an endearing bazaar of absurd delights."


title: Doom Patrol (TV series)

text: The fourth season has received a 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 8 reviews with an average rating of 7.7/10.


title: Doom Patrol (TV series)

text: Rita Farr, Larry Trainor, and Cliff Steele from the "Doom Patrol" continuity were intended to appear in the original season 1 finale of "Titans". The appearances were removed after the original season finale was pulled.


title: Doom Patrol (TV series)

text: The "Doom Patrol" incarnations of Jane, Rita Farr, Vic Stone, Larry Trainor, and Cliff Steele make cameo appearances in the Arrowverse crossover event "Crisis on Infinite Earths", which depicts the series as taking place on the world of Earth-21. Diane Guerrero, April Bowlby, Joivan Wade, Matthew Zuk, and Riley Shanahan appear in their respective roles from "Doom Patrol" through archival footage.


title: Nick Fuentes

text: Nicholas Joseph Fuentes (born August 18, 1998) is an American white supremacist political commentator and live streamer. A former YouTuber, his channel was permanently suspended in February 2020 for violating YouTube's hate speech policy. He holds antisemitic views and denies the Holocaust. Fuentes identifies as a member of the incel movement, as a supporter of authoritarian government, and as a Catholic integralist and Christian nationalist.


title: Nick Fuentes

text: Collaborating with Patrick Casey, a former leader of the neo-Nazi organization Identity Evropa in 2019, Fuentes' followers, known as Groypers, began to heckle Turning Point's Culture War Tour, including a speaking event for Donald Trump Jr. In 2020, seeking to establish a white supremacist conference to rival CPAC, Fuentes began holding the annual America First Political Action Conference (AFPAC). Fuentes attended the 2017 white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, and he later was an attendee and speaker at events preceding the 2021 United States Capitol attack. He has encouraged the use of jokes and irony among white nationalist groups, stating that it "is so important for giving a lot of cover and plausible deniability for our views".


title: Nick Fuentes

text: In late November 2022, Fuentes, along with Ye, met with former President Donald Trump during a dinner. The meeting received significant comment from domestic and international political figures. "The New York Times" has commented that, for American Jews, "the debate since the dinner has brought into focus what may be the most discomfiting moment in U.S. history in a half-century or more."


title: Nick Fuentes

text: Fuentes lived in La Grange Park, Illinois, and attended Lyons Township High School, where he was president of the student council. He studied introductory international relations and politics during his freshman year at Boston University. He dropped out in 2017 after completing his freshman year, claiming he received threats for attending the white supremacist Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. He said he would transfer to Auburn University in fall 2017, saying Auburn "has better weather and better people", but ultimately did not confirm his enrollment or continue his education.


title: Nick Fuentes

text: Fuentes identifies as an incel (or "involuntary celibate"), although some of his supporters have criticized him for being a "voluntary celibate" after he admitted that he kissed a girl while he was in high school. He has attempted to defend himself as an incel by claiming that "having sex with women is gay" and that "the only really straight heterosexual position is to be an asexual incel."


title: Nick Fuentes

text: Fuentes began commentating on politics through a local radio and TV station hosted by his high school, where he espoused mainstream conservative views. He hosts the episodic live stream "America First with Nicholas J. Fuentes", which he began in 2017 during his freshman year at Boston University. "America First" is characterized by Fuentes' frequent use of jokes and irony to appeal to Generation Z while providing plausible deniability for his often extreme views.


title: Nick Fuentes

text: On his show in April 2017, Fuentes asserted that Muslim speech was not covered by the First Amendment and went on to say, "Who runs the media? Globalists. Time to kill the globalists" and "I want people that run CNN to be arrested and deported or hanged because this is deliberate." The publisher of the show at the time, Right Side Broadcasting Network, issued an apology, calling the comments "unacceptable" and "inappropriate". Following these and other comments, as well as publicity over his attendance of the Unite the Right rally, he left RSBN in August 2017. In February 2022, Fuentes claimed that he was fired by RSBN CEO Joe Seales.


title: Nick Fuentes

text: He co-hosted the "Nationalist Review" podcast with another white nationalist, James Allsup, until January 2018. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, "the two had a public falling out with each host accusing the other of laziness, impropriety and a variety of petty slights." In April 2018, Fuentes spoke at the American Renaissance conference.


title: Nick Fuentes

text: Fuentes has repeatedly criticized Turning Point USA (TPUSA) and its founder Charlie Kirk, accusing them of betraying Donald Trump by advocating in favor of mass legal immigration, support in foreign aid for the State of Israel and LGBT issues. Throughout October and November 2019, his supporters were present at many of Kirk's public speaking events, which featured guest speakers including Donald Trump Jr., Lara Trump, and Kimberly Guilfoyle. These campaigns frequently involved asking questions that prompt viewers to look up far-right and antisemitic conspiracy theories and hoaxes online. Fuentes has characterized the campaign as a grassroots effort to expose TPUSA as ideologically inconsistent with the ideology espoused by Donald Trump and other conservative populists. As a result of this campaign, some right-wing mainstream politicians and pundits disavowed Fuentes, characterizing his beliefs as extreme and out-of-touch with mainstream conservatism.


title: Nick Fuentes

text: In December 2019, Fuentes harassed conservative political commentator Ben Shapiro, who was with his family at the time, outside a TPUSA event in West Palm Beach, Florida. Fuentes had confronted Shapiro to ask why he had given a speech at Stanford University bashing Fuentes. The encounter was filmed and led to criticism of Fuentes.


title: Nick Fuentes

text: Fuentes has received support from conservative commentator Michelle Malkin, who agreed to speak at his first annual America First Political Action Conference (AFPAC) in February 2020, and again at his second conference in February 2021. In November 2019, Malkin was fired by the Young America's Foundation after 17 years of employment over her support for Fuentes.


title: Nick Fuentes

text: Fuentes hosted his second annual AFPAC event in February 2021, speaking alongside Malkin, former Iowa Representative Steve King, and current Arizona Representative Paul Gosar. Later that month, he was barred from the Hyatt Regency Orlando, where he attempted to "start a commotion" on the CPAC floor.


title: Nick Fuentes

text: Fuentes was again removed from CPAC in July 2021 after harassing a journalist. At an event held across the street he said that now that he is banned from Twitter, "I have nothing to lose. This is going to be the most racist, sexist, antisemitic, Holocaust-denying speech in all of Dallas this weekend."


title: Nick Fuentes

text: Fuentes hosted his third annual AFPAC event in February 2022. Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene attended the conference, while Idaho Lt. Governor Janice McGeachin and Congressman Paul Gosar prerecorded videos that were played at the event. This was criticized, including by other Republicans such as Mitt Romney. Greene later said that she did not know who the organizers of the conference were.


title: Nick Fuentes

text: Fuentes was among the far-right individuals and groups who participated in the rallies that led up to the 2021 United States Capitol attack. At a pro-Trump protest in Washington, D.C., in December 2020, Fuentes led a crowd to chant "Destroy the GOP", and encouraged them to sit-out the United States Senate special runoff election in Georgia. In February 2021, a video of his speech was played during the second impeachment trial of President Donald Trump by House delegate Stacey Plaskett.


title: Nick Fuentes

text: Fuentes was among a group of far-right activists and groups who received large donations in bitcoin from a French donor on December 8. Fuentes received 13.5 bitcoin (approximately $681,750 at the time), which was by far the largest share. The donor also posted an apparent suicide note, according to Blockchain analysis group "Chainalysis", although the donor's status has not been confirmed. The FBI began an investigation as to whether any of this money went toward the financing of illegal acts, such as the storming of the U.S. Capitol.


title: Nick Fuentes

text: On January 4, 2021, two days before the storming of the U.S. Capitol, Fuentes discussed killing state legislators who were unwilling to overturn the results of the 2020 election, saying: "What can you and I do to a state legislator—besides kill them? We should not do that. I'm not advising that, but I mean, what else can you do, right?"


title: Nick Fuentes

text: On January 6, 2021, prior to the attack, Fuentes spoke to a crowd of supporters at Freedom Plaza, stating, "It is us and our ancestors that created everything good that you see in this country. All these people that have taken over our country—we do not need them. ... It is the American people, and our leader, Donald Trump, against everybody else in this country and this world... Our Founding Fathers would get in the streets, and they would take this country back by force if necessary. And that is what we must be prepared to do."


title: Nick Fuentes

text: On January 19, 2022, the United States House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack issued a subpoena to Fuentes.


title: Nick Fuentes

text: In late November 2022, Fuentes and Kanye West (who had recently announced his own candidacy for the 2024 presidential election) visited Trump at Mar-a-Lago. West said that Trump was "really impressed with Nick Fuentes". Trump released a statement that after contacting him earlier in the week to arrange the visit, West "unexpectedly showed up with three of his friends, whom I knew nothing about", with whom Trump dined, and that "the dinner was quick and uneventful". The meeting received significant attention and comment from domestic and international political figures.


title: Nick Fuentes

text: Fuentes later announced that he had joined West's presidential campaign. According to "The New York Times", for American Jews, "the debate since the dinner has brought into focus what may be the most discomfiting moment in U.S. history in a half-century or more".


title: Nick Fuentes

text: Fuentes has stated that his goal is to turn the Republican Party into "a truly reactionary party." Fuentes strongly opposes immigration, which he believes is a demographic threat to the United States. Fuentes also opposes feminism and conservatism, claiming that "Christian Republican voters get screwed over" because "the GOP is run by Jews, atheists, and homosexuals."


title: Nick Fuentes

text: Fuentes has spoken positively of "a tidal wave of white identity" following his attendance of the 2017 Charlottesville Unite the Right rally and sees America's "white demographic core" as central to the country's identity. Despite promoting white supremacist beliefs, such as the white genocide conspiracy theory, Fuentes has claimed that he is not a white supremacist, calling the term an "anti-white slur". Fuentes wants the United States to be a White, Christian country and has specified that it is not a "Judeo-Christian" country.


title: Nick Fuentes

text: Fuentes also holds antisemitic views and denies the Holocaust. In January 2019, Fuentes aired a monologue in which he implied he questions the death toll of 6 million Jews in the Holocaust. Fuentes later disputed that he had ever denied the Holocaust, calling his monologue a "lampoon". NPR cites this as an example of Fuentes' use of irony to avoid consequences for his words, citing a 2020 video where Fuentes said, "Irony is so important for giving a lot of cover and plausible deniability for our views" specifically regarding Holocaust denial.


title: Nick Fuentes

text: During the AFPAC speech in which he praised Hitler, Fuentes said that the media had been comparing Vladimir Putin to Hitler "as if that wasn't a good thing". Fuentes also asked the audience "Can we get a round of applause for Russia?", which was followed by roaring applause and chants of "Putin! Putin!"


title: Nick Fuentes

text: On March 10, Fuentes praised "czar Putin" for the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, which he claimed was to "Liberate Ukraine from the Great Satan and from the evil empire in the world, which is the United States."


title: Nick Fuentes

text: Fuentes self-identifies as a Catholic integralist and Christian nationalist. He has stated "You're either a Catholic or you're with the Jews", and has voiced support for a Catholic media, Catholic Hollywood, and Catholic government. Fuentes supports a Christian theocracy instead of what he calls a "Jewish-occupied government".


title: Nick Fuentes

text: In March 2022, Fuentes stated that he is a reactionary who supports autocracy and called himself "a 12th century man", adding "Catholic autocracy? Pretty strong. Pretty strong record. Catholic monarchy? Catholic monarchy, and just war, and crusades, and inquisitions? Pretty good stuff." Fuentes also decried democracy, saying "You know what democracy has given us? Obesity. Low rates of literacy. It's given us divorce, abortion, gay marriage, liberalism, pornography. That's what democracy has given us. Ghettos and crime and political correctness. Diversity. Yeah, the track record of democracy? Not so good."


title: Nick Fuentes

text: Fuentes has frequently spread conspiracy theories and misinformation surrounding the FDA-approved COVID-19 vaccines.


title: Nick Fuentes

text: In December 2020, Fuentes reportedly had an altercation on a flight over mask mandates. In April 2021, "Salon" reported that "Nicholas Fuentes and his 'groyper army' have joined forces with the coronavirus anti-vaccine community". That year, he embarked on an anti-vaccine speaking tour, where he promoted hoaxes about COVID-19 vaccines.


title: Nick Fuentes

text: He has spoken out against the "LGBT agenda", and has described transgender people and same-sex marriage as "deviancy".


title: Nick Fuentes

text: Following the "Dobbs v. Jackson" decision that overturned "Roe v. Wade" in June 2022, Fuentes praised the Supreme Court of the United States for overturning that decision. He said that "Jews stood in the way" of doing so, and that the "Dobbs" decision meant that "banning gay marriage is back on the menu, banning sodomy is back on the menu, banning contraceptives is back on the menu, and basically we're having something like Taliban rule in America, in a good way."


title: Nick Fuentes

text: In a documentary for the BBC, broadcast in 2022, Fuentes told the interviewer, Louis Theroux, that he believes it would be better if women did not have the right to vote.


title: Nick Fuentes

text: Fuentes has praised the conservative religious aspect of Taliban governance. After the Afghan government fell to the Taliban while American forces were withdrawing in August 2021, Fuentes posted on the Telegram messaging service, "The Taliban is a conservative, religious force, the US is godless and liberal. The defeat of the US government in Afghanistan is unequivocally a positive development."


title: Nick Fuentes

text: Fuentes' show, "America First", has attracted a cult following, which Fuentes refers to as the "Groypers" or the "Groyper Army". Fuentes cites the candidacy and presidency of Donald Trump as an inspiration for "America First". In February 2022, social media platform Truth Social verified Fuentes' account.


title: Nick Fuentes

text: Fuentes has been deplatformed from various social media websites, payment processors, and other services. In January 2020, Fuentes' YouTube channel was demonetized and one of his videos was removed by YouTube as a violation of their hate speech policies. Fuentes had previously been banned from Twitch and from Reddit. On February 14, 2020, his YouTube channel was terminated for violating policies on hate speech. In January 2020, "Time" reported that Fuentes was the most-viewed live-streamer on the DLive platform. DLive was criticized for allowing Fuentes to use their platform.


title: Nick Fuentes

text: Following the January 6 United States Capitol attack, his DLive channel was subsequently suspended permanently for "inciting violent and illegal activities". According to "ABC News" in March 2021, Fuentes had been suspended from "almost all" social media platforms. Fuentes claimed that his bank account had been frozen, that he had been placed on a federal no-fly list, and that he had been banned from Airbnb, Facebook and Instagram. Fuentes described these actions as "overt political persecution".


title: Nick Fuentes

text: Twitter was among the last mainstream social media sites to ban Fuentes, permanently suspending his verified account in July 2021. He has also been banned from financial and e-commerce services, including PayPal, Venmo, Patreon, Shopify, Stripe, Streamlabs, and Coinbase.


title: Nick Fuentes

text: Following the deplatforming from major providers such as Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and DLive, Fuentes collaborated with Alex Jones to launch his own live-streaming platform Cozy.tv in October 2021. Since then, Fuentes has amassed a following of 106,000 followers across alternative social media sites Truth Social, Rumble, Cozy.tv and Telegram. Fuentes is styled by Vice journalist Tess Owens as "the kingpin of the ultranationalist youth movement".


title: Nick Fuentes

text: In December 2021, social media platform Gettr permanently suspended Fuentes. The site received backlash from Fuentes' fanbase, as well as from Arizona State Senator Wendy Rogers, who wrote, "What is the point of a free-speech alternative to Twitter... that doesn't even honor free speech?". Gettr subsequently banned all use of the word "groyper" on the platform.


title: Sierra Leone

text: Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra Leone has a tropical climate, with diverse environments ranging from savanna to rainforests. The country has a population of 7,092,113 as of the 2015 census. The capital and largest city is Freetown. The country is divided into five administrative regions, which are subdivided into 16 districts.


title: Sierra Leone

text: Sierra Leone is a constitutional republic with a unicameral parliament and a directly elected president serving a five-year term with a maximum of two terms. The current president is Julius Maada Bio. Sierra Leone is a secular nation with the constitution providing for the separation of state and religion and freedom of conscience (which includes freedom of thoughts and religion). Muslims make up about three-quarters of the population, though with an influential Christian minority. Religious tolerance in the West African nation is very high and is generally considered a norm and part of Sierra Leone's cultural identity.


title: Sierra Leone

text: The geographic area has been inhabited for millennia, but Sierra Leone, as the country and its borders are known today, was founded by the British Crown in two phases: first, the coastal Sierra Leone Colony in 1808 (for returning Africans after the abolition of slavery); second, the inland Protectorate in 1896 (as the Crown needed to establish more dominion inland following the outcome of the Berlin Conference of 1884-1885). Hence, the country formally became known as the Sierra Leone Colony and Protectorate or simply British Sierra Leone.


title: Sierra Leone

text: Sierra Leone gained independence from the United Kingdom on 27 April 1961, and became a Commonwealth realm on the same day; the country's name changed to the Dominion of Sierra Leone. Sir Milton Margai became Sierra Leone's first prime minister.


title: Sierra Leone

text: During the few decades following independence, Sierra Leone witnessed an increase in political activities, transformations, turmoil, humanitarian and socio-economic crises. The country had its first general elections as an independent nation on 27 May 1961. Margai's Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP) won a plurality of parliamentary seats and he was re-elected Prime Minister. A new constitution was adopted in 1971, paving the way for Sierra Leone becoming a republic, and Siaka Stevens, leader of the All People's Congress (APC), becoming the first executive president of the Republic of Sierra Leone. Stevens held on to this position for 14 years (until 1985) under a one-party system of government facilitated by the controversial 1978 Constitution. However, Stevens' hand-picked successor Joseph Saidu Momoh promised to return the country to a multi-party system; a new constitution was adopted in 1991 that provided the means for a multi-party democracy. A brutal civil war broke out the same year, which went on for 11 years with devastating effects on almost everything that defined Sierra Leone as a nation. In just a year after the war broke out (in 1992), President Momoh was ousted in a coup led by Sierra Leone Army captain Valentine Strasser. Strasser was later "ousted" by his army colleague and second-in-command Julius Maada Bio, for failing to commit to a quick transfer to civilian rule. Bio would then return the country back to a democratic republic in 1996 through a general election.


title: Sierra Leone

text: In early 1996, despite the country going through a brutal civil war, the emergence of the prospect of a transformation back to a multi-party democracy brought fresh hopes and great expectations among a majority of Sierra Leoneans, as the national debate "Peace before Elections vs Elections before Peace" became a hot topic. Eventually, "Elections before Peace" won the debate. Ahmad Tejan Kabbah won the 1996 presidential election and became the first multi-party democratically elected president of Sierra Leone. Since then, there has been a smooth succession to the presidency all via elections. A brief coup in 1997 led by Sierra Leone Army major Johnny Paul Koroma ousted Kabbah, who went into exile in Guinea. He was reinstated after nine months through military intervention by ECOMOG. Kabbah's presidency marked the dawn of a new Sierra Leone, which included the end of the civil war in 2002, a focus on fostering national unity and reconciliation, trust in government, peace and stability, the improvement in relations with many countries, and the refounding of the Sierra Leone Armed Forces with special assistance and training led by the Government of the United Kingdom.


title: Sierra Leone

text: About 18 ethnic groups inhabit Sierra Leone; the two largest and most influential ones are the Temne and Mende peoples. About 2% of the country's population are Creole people, descendants of freed African-American and Afro-Caribbean slaves. English is the official language used in schools and government administration. Krio is the most widely spoken language across Sierra Leone, spoken by 97% of the country's population. Sierra Leone is rich in natural resources, especially diamond, gold, bauxite and aluminium. The country is a member of the United Nations, African Union, Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Mano River Union, Commonwealth of Nations, IMF, World Bank, WTO, African Development Bank, and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. Sierra Leone is home to Sub-Saharan Africa's first Western-style university: Fourah Bay College (established in 1827).


title: Sierra Leone

text: The country takes its name from the Lion Mountains near Freetown. Originally named (Portuguese for 'lioness mountains') by Portuguese explorer Pedro de Sintra in 1462, the modern name is derived from the Italian spelling, which was introduced by Venetian explorer Alvise Cadamosto and subsequently copied by other European mapmakers.


title: Sierra Leone

text: Archaeological finds show that Sierra Leone has been inhabited continuously for at least 2,500 years; populated successively by societies who migrated from other parts of Africa. The use of iron was adopted by the ninth century, and by 1000 AD, agriculture was being practised along the coast. Over time, the climate changed considerably, altering boundaries between different ecological zones, affecting migration and conquest.


title: Sierra Leone

text: Sierra Leone's dense tropical rainforest and swampy environment were considered impenetrable; it was also host to the tsetse fly, which carried a disease fatal to horses and the zebu cattle used by the Mande-speaking people. This environment protected its people from conquest by the Mandinka and other African empires, and limited the influence of the Mali Empire. Islam was introduced by Susu traders, merchants and migrants from the north and east, becoming widely adopted in the 18th century.


title: Sierra Leone

text: European contacts within Sierra Leone were among the first in West Africa during the 15th century. In 1462, Portuguese explorer Pedro de Sintra mapped the hills surrounding what is now Freetown Harbour, naming the shaped formation "Serra da Leoa" or "Serra Leoa" (Portuguese for Lioness Mountains). The Spanish rendering of this geographic formation is "Sierra Leona", which later was adapted, misspelled and became the country's current name. Though according to Professor C. Magbaily Fyle, this might have been a misinterpretation from historians. According to Professor Fyle, there has been evidence of travellers calling the region "Serra Lyoa" long before 1462 (before the first arrival of Sintra to the region). This would imply that the identity of the person who named Sierra Leone is unknown.


title: Sierra Leone

text: Soon after Sintra's expedition, Portuguese traders started arriving at the harbour. By 1495 they had built a fortified trading post on the coast. The Dutch and French also started arriving and set up trade near the coast. Different European nations started using Sierra Leone as a trading point for slaves brought to the coast by African traders from interior areas undergoing wars and conflicts over territory. In 1562, the English initiated the Triangular Trade when admiral Sir John Hawkins of the Royal Navy transported 300 enslaved Africans – acquired "by the sword and partly by other means" – to the Spanish colony of Santo Domingo on Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea area of the West Indies islands, where he sold them. Sir Francis Drake reached Sierra Leone on 22 July 1580 as the last stop of his voyage along the west coast of Africa. Bunce Island, an island on the Sierra Leone River, was used as a base for European slavers as a place for slave ships to dock before sailing via the Middle Passage to the Americas. Until the passage of the Slave Trade Act 1807, the island was operated by the London-based firm Grant, Oswald & Company, who occupied it in 1748.


title: Sierra Leone

text: In the late 18th century, many African Americans claimed the protection of the British Crown. There were thousands of these Black Loyalists, people of African descent who joined the British military forces during the American Revolutionary War. Many of these Loyalists had been slaves who had escaped to join the British, lured by promises of freedom (emancipation). The official documentation known as the "Book of Negroes" lists thousands of freed slaves whom the British evacuated from the nascent United States and resettled in colonies elsewhere in British North America (north to Canada, or south to the West Indies).


title: Sierra Leone

text: Pro-slavery advocates accused the Black Poor of being responsible for a large proportion of crime in 18th century London. While the broader community included some women, the Black Poor seems to have exclusively consisted of men, some of whom developed relationships with local women and often married them. Slave owner Edward Long criticized marriage between black men and white women. However, on the voyage between Plymouth, England and Sierra Leone, seventy European girlfriends and wives accompanied the Black Poor settlers.


title: Sierra Leone

text: Many in London thought that moving them to Sierra Leone would lift them out of poverty. The Sierra Leone Resettlement Scheme was proposed by entomologist Henry Smeathman and drew interest from humanitarians like Granville Sharp, who saw it as a means of showing the pro-slavery lobby that black people could contribute towards the running of the new colony of Sierra Leone. Government officials soon became involved in the scheme as well, although their interest was spurred by the possibility of resettling a large group of poor citizens elsewhere. William Pitt the Younger, prime minister and leader of the Tory party, had an active interest in the Scheme because he saw it as a means to repatriate the Black Poor to Africa, since "it was necessary they should be sent somewhere, and be no longer suffered to infest the streets of London".


title: Sierra Leone

text: In January 1787, the "Atlantic" and the "Belisarius" set sail for Sierra Leone, but bad weather forced them to divert to Plymouth, during which time about 50 passengers died. Another 24 were discharged, and another 23 ran away. Eventually, with some more recruitment, 411 passengers sailed to Sierra Leone in April 1787. On the voyage between Plymouth and Sierra Leone, 96 passengers died.


title: Sierra Leone

text: In 1787 the British Crown founded a settlement in Sierra Leone in what was called the "Province of Freedom". About 400 black and 60 white colonists reached Sierra Leone on 15 May 1787. After they established Granville Town, most of the first group of colonists died, owing to disease and warfare with the indigenous African peoples (Temne), who resisted their encroachment. When the ships left them in September, their numbers had been reduced to "276 persons, namely 212 black men, 30 black women, 5 white men and 29 white women".


title: Sierra Leone

text: The settlers that remained forcibly captured land from a local African chieftain, but he retaliated, attacking the settlement, which was reduced to a mere 64 settlers comprising 39 black men, 19 black women, and six white women. Black settlers were captured by unscrupulous traders and sold as slaves, and the remaining colonists were forced to arm themselves for their own protection. The 64 remaining colonists established a second Granville Town.


title: Sierra Leone

text: Following the American Revolution, more than 3,000 Black Loyalists had also been settled in Nova Scotia, where they were finally granted land. They founded Birchtown, but faced harsh northern winters and racial discrimination from nearby Shelburne. Thomas Peters pressed British authorities for relief and more aid; together with British abolitionist John Clarkson, the Sierra Leone Company was established to relocate Black Loyalists who wanted to take their chances in West Africa. In 1792 nearly 1,200 persons from Nova Scotia crossed the Atlantic to build the second (and only permanent) Colony of Sierra Leone and the settlement of Freetown on 11 March 1792. In Sierra Leone they were called the Nova Scotian Settlers, the "Nova Scotians", or the "Settlers". Clarkson initially banned the survivors of Granville Town from joining the new settlement, blaming them for the demise of Granville Town. The Settlers built Freetown in the styles they knew from their lives in the American South; they also continued American fashion and American manners. In addition, many continued to practise Methodism in Freetown.


title: Sierra Leone

text: In the 1790s, the Settlers, including adult women, voted for the first time in elections. In 1792, in a move that foreshadowed the women's suffrage movements in Britain, the heads of all households, of which a third were women, were given the right to vote. Black settlers in Sierra Leone enjoyed much more autonomy than their white equivalent in European countries. Black migrants elected different levels of political representatives, 'tithingmen', who represented each dozen settlers and 'hundreders' who represented larger amounts. This sort of representation was not available in Nova Scotia. The initial process of society-building in Freetown was a harsh struggle. The Crown did not supply enough basic supplies and provisions and the Settlers were continually threatened by illegal slave trading and the risk of re-enslavement.


title: Sierra Leone

text: The Sierra Leone Company, controlled by London investors, refused to allow the settlers to take freehold of the land. In 1799 some of the settlers revolted. The Crown subdued the revolt by bringing in forces of more than 500 Jamaican Maroons, whom they transported from Cudjoe's Town (Trelawny Town) via Nova Scotia in 1800. Led by Colonel Montague James, the Maroons helped the colonial forces to put down the revolt, and in the process the Jamaican Maroons in Sierra Leone secured the best houses and farms.


title: Sierra Leone

text: On 1 January 1808, Thomas Ludlam, the Governor of the Sierra Leone Company and a leading abolitionist, surrendered the company's charter. This ended its 16 years of running the Colony. The British Crown reorganised the Sierra Leone Company as the African Institution; it was directed to improve the local economy. Its members represented both British who hoped to inspire local entrepreneurs and those with interest in the Macauley & Babington Company, which held the (British) monopoly on Sierra Leone trade.


title: Sierra Leone

text: At about the same time (following the abolition of the slave trade in 1807), Royal Navy crews delivered thousands of formerly enslaved Africans to Freetown, after liberating them from illegal slave ships. These Liberated Africans or "recaptives" were sold for $20 a head as apprentices to the white settlers, Nova Scotian Settlers, and the Jamaican Maroons. Many Liberated Africans were treated poorly and even abused because some of the original settlers considered them their property. Cut off from their various homelands and traditions, the Liberated Africans were forced to assimilate to the Western styles of Settlers and Maroons. For example, some of the Liberated Africans were forced to change their name to a more Western sounding one. Though some people happily embraced these changes because they considered it as being part of the community, some were not happy with these changes and wanted to keep their own identity. Many Liberated Africans were so unhappy that they risked the possibility of being sold back into slavery by leaving Sierra Leone and going back to their original villages. The Liberated Africans eventually modified their customs to adopt those of the Nova Scotians, Maroons and Europeans, yet kept some of their ethnic traditions. As the Liberated Africans became successful traders and spread Christianity throughout West Africa, they intermarried with the Nova Scotians and Maroons, and the two groups eventually became a fusion of African and Western societies.


title: Sierra Leone

text: These Liberated Africans were from many areas of Africa, but principally the west coast. During the 19th century, freed African Americans, some Americo Liberian "refugees", and particularly Afro-Caribbeans, mainly Jamaican Maroons, also immigrated and settled in Freetown. Together these peoples formed the Krio ethnicity and an English-based creole language, (Krio), which is the lingua franca and de facto national language used among many of the ethnicities in the country.


title: Sierra Leone

text: The settlement of Sierra Leone in the 1800s was unique in that the population was composed of displaced Africans who were brought to the colony after the British abolition of the slave trade in 1807. Upon arrival in Sierra Leone, each "recaptive" was given a registration number, and information on their physical qualities would be entered into the Register of Liberated Africans. Oftentimes the documentation would be overwhelmingly subjective and would result in inaccurate entries, making them difficult to track. In addition, differences between the Register of Liberated Africans of 1808 and the List of Captured Negroes of 1812 (which emulated the 1808 document) revealed some disparities in the entries of the recaptives, specifically in the names; many recaptives decided to change their given names to more anglicised versions which contributed to the difficulty in tracking them after they arrived in Sierra Leone.


title: Sierra Leone

text: In the early 19th century, Freetown served as the residence of the British colonial governor of the region, who also administered the Gold Coast (now Ghana) and the Gambia settlements. Sierra Leone developed as the educational centre of British West Africa. The British established Fourah Bay College in 1827, which rapidly became a magnet for English-speaking Africans on the West Coast. For more than a century, it was the only European-style university in western Sub-Saharan Africa. Samuel Ajayi Crowther was the first student to be enrolled at Fourah Bay. Fourah Bay College soon became a magnet for Sierra Leone Creoles and other Africans seeking higher education in British West Africa. These included Nigerians, Ghanaians, Ivorians and many more, especially in the fields of theology and education. Freetown was known as the "Athens of Africa" due to the large number of excellent schools in Freetown and surrounding areas.


title: Sierra Leone

text: The British interacted mostly with the Krios in Freetown, who did most of the trading with the indigenous peoples of the interior. Educated Krios held numerous positions in the colonial government, giving them status and well-paying positions. Following the Berlin Conference of 1884–1885, the British decided that they needed to establish more dominion over the inland areas, to satisfy what was described by the European powers as "effective occupation" of territories. In 1896 it annexed these areas, declaring them the Sierra Leone Protectorate. With this change, the British began to expand their administration in the region, recruiting British citizens to posts and pushing Krios out of positions in government and even the desirable residential areas in Freetown.


title: Sierra Leone

text: During the British annexation in Sierra Leone, several chiefs in the northern and southern parts of the country were resisting the "hut tax" imposed by the colonial administrators but they used diplomacy to achieve their goal. In the north, from 1820 to 1906, there was a Limba chief named Almamy Suluku who ruled his territory for many years, fighting to protect his territory, while at the same time using diplomacy to trick the protectorate administrators while sending fighters to assist Bai Bureh, a prominent Temne chief in Kasseh who was fighting against the imposition of the "hut tax" by the colonial administrators. The war was later known as the Hut Tax War.


title: Sierra Leone

text: Another prominent figure in Sierra Leone history is Bai Sherbro (). Bai Sherbro was a chief and warrior on Bonthe Island, in the southwestern part of the country. He, like Bai Bureh, resisted the British. Sherbro also sent fighters to assist Bai Bureh in the fight against the British. Sherbro was influential and powerful and the British greatly feared him. Bai Sherbro was captured and with Bai Bureh, exiled to the Gold Coast (modern Ghana).


title: Sierra Leone

text: Nyagua (), also known as the "Tracking King", was a fierce king who captured many districts and many people came to join him for protection. Nyagua also resisted the British. Realizing that he lacked sufficient strength, he resorted to diplomacy. At the same time, he sent warriors to assist Bai Bureh in fighting against the British. The British later captured Nyagua, and he was also exiled to the Gold Coast. Madam Yoko () was a brilliant woman of culture and ambition. She employed her capacity for friendly communications to persuade the British to give her control of the Kpaa Mende chiefdom. She used diplomacy to communicate with many local chiefs who did not trust her friendship with the British. Because Madam Yoko supported the British, some sub-chiefs rebelled, causing Yoko to take refuge in the police barracks. For her loyalty, she was awarded a silver medal by Queen Victoria. Until 1906, Madam Yoko ruled as a paramount chief in the new British Protectorate. It appears that she committed suicide at the age of fifty-five, perhaps due to the loss of support from her own people.


title: Sierra Leone

text: The British annexation of the Protectorate interfered with the sovereignty of indigenous chiefs. They designated chiefs as units of local government, rather than dealing with them individually as had been the previous practice. They did not maintain relationships even with longstanding allies, such as Bai Bureh, who was later unfairly portrayed as a prime instigator of the Hut Tax War.


title: Sierra Leone

text: Colonel Frederic Cardew, military governor of the Protectorate, in 1898 established a new tax on dwellings and demanded that the chiefs use their people to maintain roads. The taxes were often higher than the value of the dwellings, and 24 chiefs signed a petition to Cardew, stating how destructive this was; their people could not afford to take time off from their subsistence agriculture. They resisted payment of taxes, tensions over the new colonial requirements and the administration's suspicions towards the chiefs, led to the Hut Tax war of 1898, also called the Temne-Mende War. The British fired first; the northern front of mainly Temne people was led by Bai Bureh. The southern front, consisting mostly of Mende people, entered the conflict somewhat later, for other reasons.