title: German Confederation

text: In a heavily agrarian society, land ownership played a central role. Germany's nobles, especially those in the East called "", dominated not only the localities, but also the Prussian court, and especially the Prussian army. Increasingly after 1815, a centralized Prussian government based in Berlin took over the powers of the nobles, which in terms of control over the peasantry had been almost absolute. They retained control of the judicial system on their estates until 1848, as well as control of hunting and game laws. They paid no land tax until 1861 and kept their police authority until 1872, and controlled church affairs into the early 20th century. To help the nobility avoid indebtedness, Berlin set up a credit institution to provide capital loans in 1809, and extended the loan network to peasants in 1849. When the German Empire was established in 1871, the nobility controlled the army and the Navy, the bureaucracy, and the royal court; they generally set governmental policies.


title: German Confederation

text: Peasants continued to center their lives in the village, where they were members of a corporate body and helped manage community resources and monitor community life. In the East, they were serfs who were bound prominently to parcels of land. In most of Germany, farming was handled by tenant farmers who paid rents and obligatory services to the landlord, who was typically a nobleman. Peasant leaders supervised the fields and ditches and grazing rights, maintained public order and morals, and supported a village court which handled minor offenses. Inside the family, the patriarch made all the decisions and tried to arrange advantageous marriages for his children. Much of the villages' communal life centered around church services and holy days. In Prussia, the peasants drew lots to choose conscripts required by the army. The noblemen handled external relationships and politics for the villages under their control, and were not typically involved in daily activities or decisions.


title: German Confederation

text: After 1815, the urban population grew rapidly, due primarily to the influx of young people from the rural areas. Berlin grew from 172,000 people in 1800 to 826,000 in 1870; Hamburg grew from 130,000 to 290,000; Munich from 40,000 to 269,000; (now ) from 60,000 to 208,000; Dresden from 60,000 to 177,000; (now Kaliningrad) from 55,000 to 112,000. Offsetting this growth, there was extensive emigration, especially to the United States. Emigration totaled 480,000 in the 1840s, 1,200,000 in the 1850s, and 780,000 in the 1860s.


title: German Confederation

text: Despite its name and intention, the German Confederation was not entirely populated by Germans; many people of other ethnic groups lived within its borders:


title: German Confederation

text: Further efforts to improve the confederation began in 1834 with the establishment of a customs union, the . In 1834, the Prussian regime sought to stimulate wider trade advantages and industrialism by decree—a logical continuation of the program of and less than two decades earlier. Historians have seen three Prussian goals: as a political tool to eliminate Austrian influence in Germany; as a way to improve the economies; and to strengthen Germany against potential French aggression while reducing the economic independence of smaller states.


title: German Confederation

text: Inadvertently, these reforms sparked the unification movement and augmented a middle class demanding further political rights, but at the time backwardness and Prussia's fears of its stronger neighbors were greater concerns. The customs union opened up a common market, ended tariffs between states, and standardized weights, measures, and currencies within member states (excluding Austria), forming the basis of a proto-national economy.


title: German Confederation

text: By 1842 the included most German states. Within the next twenty years, the output of German furnaces increased fourfold. Coal production grew rapidly as well. In turn, German industry (especially the works established by the family) introduced the steel gun, cast-steel axle, and a breech-loading rifle, exemplifying Germany's successful application of technology to weaponry. Germany's security was greatly enhanced, leaving the Prussian state and the landowning aristocracy secure from outside threat. German manufacturers also produced heavily for the civilian sector. No longer would Britain supply half of Germany's needs for manufactured goods, as it did beforehand. However, by developing a strong industrial base, the Prussian state strengthened the middle class and thus the nationalist movement. Economic integration, especially increased national consciousness among the German states, made political unity a far likelier scenario. Germany finally began exhibiting all the features of a proto-nation.


title: German Confederation

text: The crucial factor enabling Prussia's conservative regime to survive the era was a rough coalition between leading sectors of the landed upper class and the emerging commercial and manufacturing interests. Even if the commercial and industrial element is weak, it must be strong enough (or soon become strong enough) to become worthy of co-optation, and the French Revolution terrified enough perceptive elements of Prussia's "s" for the state to be sufficiently accommodating.


title: German Confederation

text: While relative stability was maintained until 1848, with enough bourgeois elements still content to exchange the "right to rule for the right to make money", the landed upper class found its economic base sinking. While the brought economic progress and helped to keep the bourgeoisie at bay for a while, it increased the ranks of the middle class swiftly—the very social base for the nationalism and liberalism that the Prussian state sought to stem.


title: German Confederation

text: The was a move toward economic integration, modern industrial capitalism, and the victory of centralism over localism, quickly bringing to an end the era of guilds in the small German princely states. This led to the 1844 revolt of the Silesian Weavers, who saw their livelihood destroyed by the flood of new manufactures.


title: German Confederation

text: The also weakened Austrian domination of the Confederation as economic unity increased the desire for political unity and nationalism.


title: German Confederation

text: News of the 1848 Revolution in Paris quickly reached discontented bourgeois liberals, republicans and more radical working-men. The first revolutionary uprisings in Germany began in the state of in March 1848. Within a few days, there were revolutionary uprisings in other states including Austria, and finally in Prussia. On 15 March 1848, the subjects of of Prussia vented their long-repressed political aspirations in violent rioting in Berlin, while barricades were erected in the streets of Paris. King of France fled to Great Britain. gave in to the popular fury, and promised a constitution, a parliament, and support for German unification, safeguarding his own rule and regime.


title: German Confederation

text: On 18 May, the Frankfurt Parliament (Frankfurt Assembly) opened its first session, with delegates from various German states. It was immediately divided between those favoring a (small German) or (greater German) solution. The former favored offering the imperial crown to Prussia. The latter favored the Habsburg crown in Vienna, which would integrate Austria proper and Bohemia (but not Hungary) into the new Germany.


title: German Confederation

text: In May to August, the Assembly installed a provisional German Central Government, while conservatives swiftly moved against the reformers. As in Austria and Russia, this middle-class assertion increased authoritarian and reactionary sentiments among the landed upper class, whose economic position was declining. They turned to political levers to preserve their rule. As the Prussian army proved loyal, and the peasants were uninterested, regained his confidence. The Assembly belatedly issued its Declaration of the Rights of the German People; a constitution was drawn up (excluding Austria, which openly rejected the Assembly), and the leadership of the was offered to , who refused to "pick up a crown from the gutter". As the monarchist forces marched their armies to crush rebellions in cities and towns throughout Austria and Germany the Frankfurt Assembly was forced to flee, first to Stuttgart and then to Württemberg, where, reduced to so few deputies that it could no longer form a quorum, its final meeting was forcibly dispersed on 18 June 1849 by the Württemberg army. With the complete triumph of monarchist reaction rampaging across all of Europe, thousands of German middle class liberals and "red" Forty-eighters were forced to flee into exile (primarily to the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia).


title: German Confederation

text: In 1849, proposed his own constitution. His document concentrated real power in the hands of the King and the upper classes, and called for a confederation of North German states—the Erfurt Union. Austria and Russia, fearing a strong, Prussian-dominated Germany, responded by pressuring Saxony and Hanover to withdraw, and forced Prussia to abandon the scheme in a treaty dubbed the "humiliation of".


title: German Confederation

text: A new generation of statesmen responded to popular demands for national unity for their own ends, continuing Prussia's tradition of autocracy and reform from above. Germany found an able leader to accomplish the seemingly paradoxical task of conservative modernization. In 1851, Bismarck was appointed by King Wilhelm I of Prussia (the future Kaiser Wilhelm I) to circumvent the liberals in the Landtag of Prussia, who resisted Wilhelm's autocratic militarism. Bismarck told the Diet, "The great questions of the day are not decided by speeches and majority votes ... but by blood and iron" – that is, by warfare and industrial might. Prussia already had a great army; it was now augmented by rapid growth of economic power.


title: German Confederation

text: Gradually, Bismarck subdued the more restive elements of the middle class with a combination of threats and reforms, reacting to the revolutionary sentiments expressed in 1848 by providing them with the economic opportunities for which the urban middle sectors had been fighting.


title: German Confederation

text: The German Confederation ended as a result of the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 between the Austrian Empire and its allies on one side and the Kingdom of Prussia and its allies on the other. The Confederation had 33 members immediately before its dissolution. In the Prague peace treaty, on 23 August 1866, Austria had to accept that the Confederation was dissolved. The following day, the remaining member states confirmed the dissolution. The treaty allowed Prussia to create a new (a new kind of federation) in the North of Germany. The South German states were allowed to create a South German Confederation but this did not come into existence.


title: German Confederation

text: Prussia created the North German Confederation in 1867, a federal state combining all German states north of the river Main and also the Hohenzollern territories in Swabia. Besides Austria, the South German states Bavaria, , , and Hesse- remained separate from the rest of Germany. However, due to the successful prosecution of the Franco-Prussian War, the four southern states joined the North German Confederation by treaties in November 1870.


title: German Confederation

text: As the Franco-Prussian War drew to a close, King Ludwig II of Bavaria was persuaded to ask King Wilhelm to assume the crown of the new German Empire. On 1 January 1871, the Empire was declared by the presiding princes and generals in the Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles, near Paris. The Diet of the North German Confederation moved to rename the North German Confederation as the German Empire and gave the title of German Emperor to the King of Prussia. The new constitution of the state, the Constitution of the German Confederation, effectively transformed the Diet of the Confederation into the German Parliament ("Reichstag").


title: German Confederation

text: The modern German nation state known as the Federal Republic is the continuation of the North German Confederation of 1867. This North German Confederation, a federal state, was a totally new creation: the law of the German Confederation ended, and new law came into existence. The German Confederation was, according to historian Kotulla, an association of states "(Staatenbund)" with some elements of a federal state "(Bundesstaat)", and the North German Confederation was a federal state with some elements of an association of states.


title: German Confederation

text: Still, the discussions and ideas of the period 1815-66 had a huge influence on the constitution of the North German Confederation. Most notably may be the Federal Council, the organ representing the member states. It is a certain copy of the 1815 Federal Convention of the German Confederation. The successor of that Federal Council of 1867 is the modern Bundesrat of the Federal Republic.


title: German Confederation

text: The German Confederation does not play a very prominent role in German historiography and national culture. It is mainly seen negatively as an instrument to oppress the liberal, democratic and national movements of the period. On the contrary, the March revolution (1849/49) with its events and institutions attract much more attention and partially devotion. The most important memorial sites are the Paulskirche in Frankfurt, which is now a cultural hall of national importance, and the Rastatt castle with the "Erinnerungsstätte für die Freiheitsbewegungen in der deutschen Geschichte" (a museum and memorial site for the freedom movements in the German history, not only the March revolution).


title: German Confederation

text: The remnants of the federal fortifications are certain tourists attractions at least regionally or for people interested in military history.


title: German Confederation

text: The current countries whose territory were partly or entirely located inside the boundaries of the German Confederation 1815–1866 are:


title: German Confederation

text: Denmark proper has never been a member state, but its king was at the same time the duke of the member states Holstein and Lauenburg. The Duchy of Schleswig (which nowadays partially belongs to Denmark) was never a part of the Confederation although it was mentioned in the 1849 Frankfurt Constitution and governed briefly by a government installed by the German Central Government. However, Holstein, Lauenburg and Schleswig were combined under an Austrian-Prussian condominium in 1864–1866.


title: Danny Boyle

text: Daniel Francis Boyle (born 20 October 1956) is an English director and producer. He is known for his work on films including "Shallow Grave", "Trainspotting" and its sequel "T2 Trainspotting", "The Beach", "28 Days Later", "Sunshine", "Slumdog Millionaire", "127 Hours", "Steve Jobs "and "Yesterday".


title: Danny Boyle

text: Boyle's debut film "Shallow Grave" won the BAFTA Award for Best British Film. The British Film Institute ranked "Trainspotting" the 10th greatest British film of the 20th century. Boyle's 2008 film "Slumdog Millionaire", the most successful British film of the decade, was nominated for ten Academy Awards and won eight, including the Academy Award for Best Director. He also won the Golden Globe and BAFTA Award for Best Director. Boyle was presented with the Extraordinary Contribution to Filmmaking Award at the 2008 Austin Film Festival, where he also introduced that year's AFF Audience Award Winner "Slumdog Millionaire".


title: Danny Boyle

text: In 2012, Boyle was the artistic director for "Isles of Wonder", the opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics. He was subsequently offered a knighthood as part of the New Year Honours but declined due to his republican beliefs. In 2014, it was announced that Boyle would become a patron of HOME in Manchester.


title: Danny Boyle

text: Danny Boyle was born on 20 October 1956, in Radcliffe, Lancashire, England, about 6 miles north of Manchester's city centre, to Irish parents Frank and Annie Boyle, both from County Galway. He has a twin sister, Marie, and a younger sister, Bernadette, both of whom are teachers. Although he now describes himself as a "spiritual atheist," he was brought up in a working-class Catholic family. Boyle was an altar boy for eight years and his mother had the priesthood in mind for him, but at the age of 14 he was persuaded by a priest not to transfer to a seminary.


title: Danny Boyle

text: Boyle attended Thornleigh Salesian College, a Catholic boys' direct grant grammar school in Bolton, and studied English and Drama at the University College of North Wales (now Bangor University), where he directed several productions for the student drama society.


title: Danny Boyle

text: Upon graduating from university he began his career at the Joint Stock Theatre Company before moving onto the Royal Court Theatre in 1982 where he directed "The Genius" by Howard Brenton and "Saved" by Edward Bond. He also directed five productions for the Royal Shakespeare Company.


title: Danny Boyle

text: In 1987, Boyle started working in television as a producer for BBC Northern Ireland where he produced, amongst other TV films, Alan Clarke's controversial "Elephant" before becoming a director on shows such as "Arise And Go Now", "Not Even God Is Wise Enough", "For The Greater Good", "Scout," and two episodes of "Inspector Morse".


title: Danny Boyle

text: Boyle was responsible for the BBC Two series "Mr. Wroe's Virgins" in 1993. In between "The Beach" and "28 Days Later" Boyle directed two TV films for the BBC in 2001–"Vacuuming Completely Nude in Paradise" and "Strumpet".


title: Danny Boyle

text: On 14 November 2010, he directed a one-night play at the Old Vic Theatre titled "The Children's Monologues" starring Sir Ben Kingsley, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Hiddleston, Gemma Arterton, and Eddie Redmayne. In 2011 he directed "Frankenstein" for the National Theatre. This production was broadcast to cinemas as a part of National Theatre Live on 17 March 2011. He has also appeared on "Top Gear" and set the fastest wet lap at that time. In 2014, both Boyle and Christian Colson signed to a first look deal with FX Productions.


title: Danny Boyle

text: In September 2022, Boyle was announced to be directing a dance adaptation of "The Matrix", titled "Free Your Mind", and it is set to debut in October 2023 in Manchester, U.K.


title: Danny Boyle

text: Boyle was artistic director for the 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony in London. Entitled "Isles of Wonder", it charted aspects of British culture including the Industrial Revolution and contributions to literature, music, film, and technology.


title: Danny Boyle

text: Reception to the ceremony was generally positive both nationally in the United Kingdom and internationally. In December 2012 it was widely reported that Boyle turned down a knighthood in the New Year Honours list. He told BBC Radio 4 "I'm very proud to be an equal citizen and I think that's what the opening ceremony was actually about."


title: Danny Boyle

text: On 11 January 2021, it was announced that Boyle would be adapting the Steve Jones' autobiography "Lonely Boy" into a six-part TV series entitled "Pistol" that charts the rise and fall of the Sex Pistols. The series aired on FX and Disney+ on 30 May 2022, and stars Emma Appleton, Louis Partridge and Maisie Williams, amongst others. The show was filmed in London.


title: Danny Boyle

text: It had eviscerated my brain, completely. I was an impressionable twenty-one-year-old guy from the sticks. My brain had not been fed and watered with great culture, you know, as art is meant to do. It had been sandblasted by the power of cinema. And that's why cinema, despite everything we try to do, it remains a young man's medium, really, in terms of audience.


title: Danny Boyle

text: The first film Boyle directed was "Shallow Grave". The film was the most commercially successful British film of 1995, won the BAFTA Award for Best British Film, and led to the production of "Trainspotting." Working with writer John Hodge and producer Andrew Macdonald, "Shallow Grave" earned Boyle the Best Newcomer Award from the 1996 London Film Critics Circle. Critics credited these films with revitalising British cinema in the early '90s. The BFI ranked "Trainspotting" the 10th greatest British film of the 20th century.


title: Danny Boyle

text: Boyle declined an offer to direct the fourth film of the "Alien" franchise to make "A Life Less Ordinary."


title: Danny Boyle

text: Boyle's next project was an adaptation of the cult novel "The Beach" by Alex Garland. Filmed in Thailand with Leonardo DiCaprio, casting of the film led to a feud with Ewan McGregor. He then collaborated with Garland on the post-apocalyptic horror film "28 Days Later".


title: Danny Boyle

text: He also directed a short film "Alien Love Triangle" (starring Kenneth Branagh), which was intended to be one of three shorts within a feature film. However the project was cancelled after the two other shorts were made into feature films: "Mimic" starring Mira Sorvino and "Impostor" starring Gary Sinise. In 2004 Boyle directed "Millions", scripted by Frank Cottrell Boyce. His next collaboration with Alex Garland was the 2007 science-fiction film "Sunshine", featuring "28 Days Later" star Cillian Murphy.


title: Danny Boyle

text: In 2008 he directed "Slumdog Millionaire", the story of an impoverished child (Dev Patel) on the streets of Mumbai, India, who competes on the local version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?", for which Boyle won Academy and BAFTA Awards for Best Director. The most successful British film of the decade, the film won eight Academy Awards and seven BAFTA Awards. Boyle commented, "To be a film-maker...you have to lead. You have to be psychotic in your desire to do something. People always like the easy route. You have to push very hard to get something unusual, something different." Andrew Macdonald, producer of "Trainspotting", said "Boyle takes a subject that you've often seen portrayed realistically, in a politically correct way, whether it's junkies or slum orphans, and he has managed to make it realistic but also incredibly uplifting and joyful." The success led a deal with Fox Searchlight.


title: Danny Boyle

text: Despite the commercial success of "Slumdog Millionaire", Boyle also faced great criticism for his portrayal of India through a Western, idealized lens. Some critics saw the film as “poverty porn,” though Boyle argued he showed India’s “lust for life” and “resilience.”


title: Danny Boyle

text: In 2010, Boyle directed the film "127 Hours", starring James Franco and featuring Amber Tamblyn and Kate Mara. It was based on Aron Ralston's autobiography "Between a Rock and a Hard Place", which detailed his struggle of being trapped under a boulder while canyoneering alone in Bluejohn Canyon, southeastern Utah. The film was released on 5 November 2010 to critical acclaim and got six nominations at the 83rd Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay for Boyle and Best Actor for Franco.


title: Danny Boyle

text: Boyle's next film was "Trance", starring James McAvoy and Rosario Dawson. It has been reported another instalment of the "28 Days Later" franchise is in the development stages. Boyle has stated previously that in theory the third instalment of the series would be titled "28 Months Later", but alluded to a film taking place somewhere else in the world he created in "28 Days Later" and "28 Weeks Later". He was also stated to be producing the upcoming film "Paani".


title: Danny Boyle

text: Boyle told an interviewer about the eclectic range of his films, "There's a theme running through all of them—and I just realised this. They're all about someone facing impossible odds and overcoming them." With a strong interest in music, Boyle has mentioned in interviews that he has considered a musical film with original compositions. Boyle has also expressed interest in an animated film.


title: Danny Boyle

text: Boyle's eponymous biopic of Apple Inc. founder Steve Jobs closed the 59th BFI London Film Festival. It was the third time Boyle has had that honour, after "Slumdog Millionaire" in 2008 and "127 Hours" two years later. The BFI's London Film Festival Director, Clare Stewart, said Boyle had created an exhilarating and audacious film about a complex, charismatic pioneer. He then directed the sequel to "Trainspotting", "T2 Trainspotting".


title: Danny Boyle

text: In a BBC interview, Boyle stated that he didn't write his own films but they did reflect his personality. "I am not a big auteur fan and like to work with writers, but ultimately a film is a director's vision, because he gets all its elements together towards that vision."


title: Danny Boyle

text: In March 2018, Boyle confirmed he would be directing the then-untitled twenty-fifth James Bond film (later known as "No Time to Die") but dropped out that August due to a dispute over the film's script.


title: Danny Boyle

text: He and writer Richard Curtis collaborated on "Yesterday", starring Himesh Patel, Kate McKinnon, Lily James, and Ed Sheeran, released on 28 June 2019.


title: Danny Boyle

text: While at university, Boyle dated actress Frances Barber. He was in a relationship with casting director Gail Stevens from 1983 to 2003, with whom he has three children: Gabriel, Grace, and Caitlin.


title: Danny Boyle

text: Boyle is the patron of North West-based young people's substance misuse charity, Early Break, which was founded and based in his home town of Radcliffe. He is also a trustee of the UK-based African arts charity Dramatic Need.


title: Danny Boyle

text: In February 2017, Boyle announced a bid to launch a £30 million film and media school in Manchester, stating: "This is just what Manchester needs and I am delighted to be part of the International Screen School Manchester."


title: Danny Boyle

text: In 2010, "The Tablet" named Boyle one of Britain's most influential Roman Catholics. The BBC referred to Boyle as a "titan of the British film industry – renowned for his spunky grit – typified by his 1996 film "Trainspotting"." In 2012, Boyle was among the British cultural icons selected by artist Sir Peter Blake to appear in a new version of his most famous artwork – the Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" album cover – to celebrate the British cultural figures of his lifetime.


title: International Court of Justice

text: The International Court of Justice (ICJ; ; ), sometimes known as the World Court, is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN). It settles disputes between states in accordance with international law and gives advisory opinions on international legal issues. The ICJ is the only international court that adjudicates general disputes between countries, with its rulings and opinions serving as primary sources of international law.


title: International Court of Justice

text: The ICJ is the successor of the Permanent Court of International Justice (PCIJ), which was established in 1920 by the League of Nations. After the Second World War, both the league and the PCIJ were replaced by the United Nations and ICJ, respectively. The Statute of the ICJ, which sets forth its purpose and structure, draws heavily from that of its predecessor, whose decisions remain valid. All member states of the UN are party to the ICJ Statute and may initiate contentious cases; however, advisory proceedings may only be submitted by certain UN organs and agencies.


title: International Court of Justice

text: The ICJ consists of a panel of 15 judges elected by the UN General Assembly and Security Council for nine-year terms. No more than one judge of each nationality may be represented on court at the same time, and judges collectively must reflect the principal civilizations and legal systems of the world. Seated in the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands, the ICJ is the only principal UN organ not located in New York City. Its official working languages are English and French.


title: International Court of Justice

text: Since the entry of its first case on 22 May 1947, the ICJ has entertained 184 cases through September 2022.


title: International Court of Justice

text: The first permanent institution established for the purpose of settling international disputes was the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA), which was created by the Hague Peace Conference of 1899. Initiated by the Russian Czar Nicholas II, the conference involved all the world's major powers, as well as several smaller states, and resulted in the first multilateral treaties concerned with the conduct of warfare. Among these was the "Convention for the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes", which set forth the institutional and procedural framework for arbitral proceedings, which would take place in The Hague, Netherlands. Although the proceedings would be supported by a permanent bureau—whose functions would be equivalent to that of a secretariat or court registry—the arbitrators would be appointed by the disputing states from a larger pool provided by each member of the convention. The PCA was established in 1900 and began proceedings in 1902.


title: International Court of Justice

text: A second Hague Peace Conference in 1907, which involved most of the world's sovereign states, revised the convention and enhanced the rules governing arbitral proceedings before the PCA. During this conference, the United States, Great Britain and Germany submitted a joint proposal for a permanent court whose judges would serve full-time. As the delegates could not agree as to how the judges would be selected, the matter was temporarily shelved pending an agreement to be adopted at a later convention.


title: International Court of Justice

text: The Hague Peace Conferences, and the ideas that emerged therefrom, influenced the creation of the Central American Court of Justice, which was established in 1908 as one of the earliest regional judicial bodies. Various plans and proposals were made between 1911 and 1919 for the establishment of an international judicial tribunal, which would not be realized in the formation of a new international system following the First World War.


title: International Court of Justice

text: The unprecedented bloodshed of the First World War led to the creation of the League of Nations, established by the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 as the first worldwide intergovernmental organization aimed at maintaining peace and collective security. Article 14 League's Covenant called for the establishment of a Permanent Court of International Justice (PCIJ), which would be responsible for adjudicating any international dispute submitted to it by the contesting parties, as well as to provide an advisory opinion upon any dispute or question referred to it by the League of Nations.


title: International Court of Justice

text: In December 1920, following several drafts and debates, the Assembly of the league unanimously adopted the Statute of the PCIJ, which was signed and ratified the following year by a majority of members. Among other things, the new Statute resolved the contentious issues of selecting judges by providing that the judges be elected by both the council and the Assembly of the league concurrently but independently. The makeup of the PCIJ would reflect the "main forms of civilization and the principal legal systems of the world". The PCIJ would be permanently placed at the Peace Palace in The Hague, alongside Permanent Court of Arbitration.


title: International Court of Justice

text: Unlike the ICJ, the PCIJ was not part of the league, nor were members of the league automatically a party to its Statute. The United States, which played a key role in both the second Hague Peace Conference and the Paris Peace Conference, was notably not a member of the league. However, several of its nationals served as judges of the court.


title: International Court of Justice

text: From its first session in 1922 until 1940, the PCIJ dealt with 29 interstate disputes and issued 27 advisory opinions. The court's widespread acceptance was reflected by the fact that several hundred international treaties and agreements conferred jurisdiction upon it over specified categories of disputes. In addition to helping resolve several serious international disputes, the PCIJ helped clarify several ambiguities in international law that contributed to its development.


title: International Court of Justice

text: The United States played a major role in setting up the World Court but never joined. Presidents Wilson, Harding, Coolidge, Hoover, and Roosevelt all supported membership, but it was impossible to get a two-thirds majority in the Senate for a treaty.


title: International Court of Justice

text: Following a peak of activity in 1933, the PCIJ began to decline in its activities due to the growing international tension and isolationism that characterized the era. The Second World War effectively put an end to the court, which held its last public session in December 1939 and issued its last orders in February 1940. In 1942 the United States and United Kingdom jointly declared support for establishing or re-establishing an international court after the war, and in 1943, the U.K. chaired a panel of jurists from around the world, the "Inter-Allied Committee", to discuss the matter. Its 1944 report recommended that:


title: International Court of Justice

text: Several months later, a conference of the major Allied Powers—China, the USSR, the U.K., and the U.S.—issued a joint declaration recognizing the necessity "of establishing at the earliest practicable date a general international organization, based on the principle of the sovereign equality of all peace-loving States, and open to membership by all such States, large and small, for the maintenance of international peace and security".


title: International Court of Justice

text: The following Allied conference at Dumbarton Oaks, in the United States, published a proposal in October 1944 that called for the establishment of an intergovernmental organization that would include an international court. A meeting was subsequently convened in Washington, D.C., in April 1945, involving 44 jurists from around the world to draft a statute for the proposed court. The draft statute was substantially similar to that of the PCIJ, and it was questioned whether a new court should even be created. During the San Francisco Conference, which took place from 25 April to 26 June 1945 and involved 50 countries, it was decided that an entirely new court should be established as a principal organ of the new United Nations. The statute of this court would form an integral part of the United Nations Charter, which, to maintain continuity, expressly held that the Statute of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) was based upon that of the PCIJ.


title: International Court of Justice

text: Consequently, the PCIJ convened for the last time in October 1945 and resolved to transfer its archives to its successor, which would take its place at the Peace Palace. The judges of the PCIJ all resigned on 31 January 1946, with the election of the first members of the ICJ taking place the following February at the First Session of the United Nations General Assembly and Security Council. In April 1946, the PCIJ was formally dissolved, and the ICJ, in its first meeting, was elected President José Gustavo Guerrero of El Salvador, who had served as the last president of the PCIJ. The court also appointed members of its Registry, mainly drawn from that of the PCIJ, and held an inaugural public sitting later that month.


title: International Court of Justice

text: The first case was submitted in May 1947 by the United Kingdom against Albania concerning incidents in the Corfu Channel.


title: International Court of Justice

text: Established in 1945 by the UN Charter, the court began work in 1946 as the successor to the Permanent Court of International Justice. The Statute of the International Court of Justice, similar to that of its predecessor, is the main constitutional document constituting and regulating the court.


title: International Court of Justice

text: The court's workload covers a wide range of judicial activity. After the court ruled that the United States's covert war against Nicaragua was in violation of international law ("Nicaragua v. United States"), the United States withdrew from compulsory jurisdiction in 1986 to accept the court's jurisdiction only on a discretionary basis. Chapter XIV of the United Nations Charter authorizes the UN Security Council to enforce Court rulings. However, such enforcement is subject to the veto power of the five permanent members of the council, which the United States used in the "Nicaragua" case.


title: International Court of Justice

text: The ICJ is composed of fifteen judges elected to nine-year terms by the UN General Assembly and the UN Security Council from a list of people nominated by the national groups in the Permanent Court of Arbitration. The election process is set out in Articles 4–19 of the ICJ Statute. Elections are staggered, with five judges elected every three years to ensure continuity within the court. Should a judge die in office, the practice has generally been to elect a judge in a special election to complete the term. Judges of the International Court of Justice are entitled to the style of His/Her Excellency.


title: International Court of Justice

text: No two judges may be nationals of the same country. According to Article 9, the membership of the court is supposed to represent the "main forms of civilization and of the principal legal systems of the world". That has meant common law, civil law and socialist law (now post-communist law).


title: International Court of Justice

text: There is an informal understanding that the seats will be distributed by geographic regions so that there are five seats for Western countries, three for African states (including one judge of francophone civil law, one of Anglophone common law and one Arab), two for Eastern European states, three for Asian states and two for Latin American and Caribbean states. For most of the court's history, the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (France, USSR, China, the United Kingdom, and the United States) have always had a judge serving, thereby occupying three of the Western seats, one of the Asian seats and one of the Eastern European seats. Exceptions have been China not having a judge on the court from 1967 to 1985, during which time it did not put forward a candidate, and British judge Sir Christopher Greenwood being withdrawn as a candidate for election for a second nine-year term on the bench in 2017, leaving no judges from the United Kingdom on the court. Greenwood had been supported by the UN Security Council but failed to get a majority in the UN General Assembly. Indian judge Dalveer Bhandari took the seat instead.


title: International Court of Justice

text: Article 6 of the Statute provides that all judges should be "elected regardless of their nationality among persons of high moral character" who are either qualified for the highest judicial office in their home states or known as lawyers with sufficient competence in international law. Judicial independence is dealt with specifically in Articles 16–18. Judges of the ICJ are not able to hold any other post or act as counsel. In practice, members of the court have their own interpretation of these rules and allow them to be involved in outside arbitration and hold professional posts as long as there is no conflict of interest. A judge can be dismissed only by a unanimous vote of the other members of the court. Despite these provisions, the independence of ICJ judges has been questioned. For example, during the "Nicaragua" case, the United States issued a communiqué suggesting that it could not present sensitive material to the court because of the presence of judges from the Soviet bloc.


title: International Court of Justice

text: Judges may deliver joint judgments or give their own separate opinions. Decisions and advisory opinions are by majority, and, in the event of an equal division, the president's vote becomes decisive, which occurred in the "Legality of the Use by a State of Nuclear Weapons in Armed Conflict" (Opinion requested by WHO), [1996] ICJ Reports 66. Judges may also deliver separate dissenting opinions.


title: International Court of Justice

text: Article 31 of the statute sets out a procedure whereby "ad hoc" judges sit on contentious cases before the court. The system allows any party to a contentious case (if it otherwise does not have one of that party's nationals sitting on the court) to select one additional person to sit as a judge on that case only. It is thus possible that as many as seventeen judges may sit on one case.


title: International Court of Justice

text: The system may seem strange when compared with domestic court processes, but its purpose is to encourage states to submit cases. For example, if a state knows that it will have a judicial officer who can participate in deliberation and offer other judges local knowledge and an understanding of the state's perspective, it may be more willing to submit to the jurisdiction of the court. Although this system does not sit well with the judicial nature of the body, it is usually of little practical consequence. "Ad hoc" judges usually (but not always) vote in favour of the state that appointed them and thus cancel each other out.


title: International Court of Justice

text: Generally, the court sits as full bench, but in the last fifteen years, it has on occasion sat as a chamber. Articles 26–29 of the statute allow the court to form smaller chambers, usually 3 or 5 judges, to hear cases. Two types of chambers are contemplated by Article 26: firstly, chambers for special categories of cases, and second, the formation of "ad hoc" chambers to hear particular disputes. In 1993, a special chamber was established, under Article 26(1) of the ICJ statute, to deal specifically with environmental matters (although it has never been used).


title: International Court of Justice

text: "Ad hoc" chambers are more frequently convened. For example, chambers were used to hear the "Gulf of Maine Case" (Canada/US). In that case, the parties made clear they would withdraw the case unless the court appointed judges to the chamber acceptable to the parties. Judgments of chambers may have either less authority than full Court judgments or diminish the proper interpretation of universal international law informed by a variety of cultural and legal perspectives. On the other hand, the use of chambers might encourage greater recourse to the court and thus enhance international dispute resolution.


title: International Court of Justice

text: As stated in Article 93 of the UN Charter, all UN members are automatically parties to the court's statute. Non-UN members may also become parties to the court's statute under the Article 93(2) procedure, which was used by Switzerland in 1948 and Nauru in 1988, prior to either joining the UN. Once a state is a party to the court's statute, it is entitled to participate in cases before the court. However, being a party to the statute does not automatically give the court jurisdiction over disputes involving those parties. The issue of jurisdiction is considered in the three types of ICJ cases: contentious issues, incidental jurisdiction, and advisory opinions.


title: International Court of Justice

text: In contentious cases (adversarial proceedings seeking to settle a dispute), the ICJ produces a binding ruling between states that agree to submit to the ruling of the court. Only states may be parties in contentious cases; individuals, corporations, component parts of a federal state, NGOs, UN organs, and self-determination groups are excluded from direct participation, although the court may receive information from public international organizations. However, this does not preclude non-state interests from being the subject of proceedings; for example, a state may bring a case on behalf of one of its nationals or corporations, such as in matters concerning diplomatic protection.


title: International Court of Justice

text: Jurisdiction is often a crucial question for the court in contentious cases. The key principle is that the ICJ has jurisdiction only on the basis of consent. Under Article 36, there are four foundations for the court's jurisdiction:


title: International Court of Justice

text: Additionally, the court may have jurisdiction on the basis of tacit consent ("forum prorogatum"). In the absence of clear jurisdiction under Article 36, jurisdiction is established if the respondent accepts ICJ jurisdiction explicitly or simply pleads on the merits. This arose in the 1949 Corfu Channel Case (U.K. v. Albania), in which the court held that a letter from Albania stating that it submitted to the jurisdiction of the ICJ was sufficient to grant the court jurisdiction.


title: International Court of Justice

text: Until rendering a final judgment, the court has competence to order interim measures for the protection of the rights of a party to a dispute. One or both parties to a dispute may apply the ICJ for issuing interim measures. In the "Frontier Dispute" Case, both parties to the dispute, Burkina Faso and Mali, submitted an application to the court to indicate interim measures. Incidental jurisdiction of the court derives from the Article 41 of its Statute. Similar to the final judgment, the order for interim measures of the court are binding on state parties to the dispute. The ICJ has competence to indicate interim measures only if the "prima facie" jurisdiction is satisfied.


title: International Court of Justice

text: An advisory opinion is a function of the court open only to specified United Nations bodies and agencies. The UN Charter grants the General Assembly or the Security Council the power to request the court to issue an advisory opinion on any legal question. Organs of the UN other than the General Assembly or the Security Council require the General Assembly's authorization to request an advisory opinion of the ICJ. These organs of the UN only request an advisory opinion regarding the matters that fall within the scope of their activities. On receiving a request, the court decides which states and organizations might provide useful information and gives them an opportunity to present written or oral statements. Advisory opinions were intended as a means by which UN agencies could seek the court's help in deciding complex legal issues that might fall under their respective mandates.


title: International Court of Justice

text: In principle, the court's advisory opinions are only consultative in character but they are influential and widely respected. Certain instruments or regulations can provide in advance that the advisory opinion shall be specifically binding on particular agencies or states, but inherently they are non-binding under the Statute of the court. This non-binding character does not mean that advisory opinions are without legal effect, because the legal reasoning embodied in them reflects the court's authoritative views on important issues of international law. In arriving at them, the court follows essentially the same rules and procedures that govern its binding judgments delivered in contentious cases submitted to it by sovereign states.


title: International Court of Justice

text: An advisory opinion derives its status and authority from the fact that it is the official pronouncement of the principal judicial organ of the United Nations.


title: International Court of Justice

text: Advisory opinions have often been controversial because the questions asked are controversial or the case was pursued as an indirect way of bringing what is really a contentious case before the court. Examples of advisory opinions can be found in the section advisory opinions in the List of International Court of Justice cases article. One such well-known advisory opinion is the "Nuclear Weapons Case".


title: International Court of Justice

text: Article 94 establishes the duty of all UN members to comply with decisions of the court involving them. If parties do not comply, the issue may be taken before the Security Council for enforcement action. There are obvious problems with such a method of enforcement. If the judgment is against one of the five permanent members of the Security Council or its allies, any resolution on enforcement would then be vetoed. That occurred, for example, after the "Nicaragua" case, when Nicaragua brought the issue of the United States' noncompliance with the court's decision before the Security Council. Furthermore, if the Security Council refuses to enforce a judgment against any other state, there is no method of forcing the state to comply. Furthermore, the most effective form to take action for the Security Council, coercive action under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, can be justified only if international peace and security are at stake. The Security Council has never done that so far.


title: International Court of Justice

text: The relationship between the ICJ and the Security Council, and the separation of their powers, was considered by the court in 1992 in the "Pan Am" case. The court had to consider an application from Libya for the order of provisional measures of protection to safeguard its rights, which, it alleged, were being infringed by the threat of economic sanctions by the United Kingdom and United States. The problem was that these sanctions had been authorized by the Security Council, which resulted in a potential conflict between the Chapter VII functions of the Security Council and the judicial function of the court. The court decided, by eleven votes to five, that it could not order the requested provisional measures because the rights claimed by Libya, even if legitimate under the 1971 Montreal Convention, could not be "prima facie" regarded as appropriate since the action was ordered by the Security Council. In accordance with Article 103 of the UN Charter, obligations under the Charter took precedence over other treaty obligations. Nevertheless, the court declared the application admissible in 1998. A decision on the merits has not been given since the parties (United Kingdom, United States, and Libya) settled the case out of court in 2003.


title: International Court of Justice

text: There was a marked reluctance on the part of a majority of the court to become involved in a dispute in such a way as to bring it potentially into conflict with the Council. The court stated in the "Nicaragua" case that there is no necessary inconsistency between action by the Security Council and adjudication by the ICJ. However, when there is room for conflict, the balance appears to be in favour of the Security Council.


title: International Court of Justice

text: Should either party fail "to perform the obligations incumbent upon it under a judgment rendered by the Court", the Security Council may be called upon to "make recommendations or decide upon measures" if the Security Council deems such actions necessary. In practice, the court's powers have been limited by the unwillingness of the losing party to abide by the court's ruling and by the Security Council's unwillingness to impose consequences. However, in theory, "so far as the parties to the case are concerned, a judgment of the Court is binding, final and without appeal", and "by signing the Charter, a State Member of the United Nations undertakes to comply with any decision of the International Court of Justice in a case to which it is a party."


title: International Court of Justice

text: For example, the United States had previously accepted the court's compulsory jurisdiction upon its creation in 1946 but in 1984, after "Nicaragua v. United States", withdrew its acceptance following the court's judgment that called on the US to "cease and to refrain" from the "unlawful use of force" against the government of Nicaragua. The court ruled (with only the American judge dissenting) that the United States was "in breach of its obligation under the Treaty of Friendship with Nicaragua not to use force against Nicaragua" and ordered the United States to pay war reparations.


title: International Court of Justice

text: When deciding cases, the court applies international law as summarized in of the ICJ Statute, which provides that in arriving at its decisions the court shall apply international conventions, international custom and the "general principles of law recognized by civilized nations." It may also refer to academic writing ("the teachings of the most highly qualified publicists of the various nations") and previous judicial decisions to help interpret the law although the court is not formally bound by its previous decisions under the doctrine of "stare decisis". makes clear that the common law notion of precedent or "stare decisis" does not apply to the decisions of the ICJ. The court's decision binds only the parties to that particular controversy. Under 38(1)(d), however, the court may consider its own previous decisions and frequently cites them.


title: International Court of Justice

text: If the parties agree, they may also grant the court the liberty to decide "ex aequo et bono" ("out of equality, and for the good"), granting the ICJ the freedom to make an equitable decision based on what is fair under the circumstances. That provision has not been used in the court's history. So far, the International Court of Justice has dealt with about 130 cases.


title: International Court of Justice

text: The ICJ is vested with the power to make its own rules. Court procedure is set out in the "Rules of Court of the International Court of Justice 1978" (as amended on 29 September 2005).


title: International Court of Justice

text: Cases before the ICJ will follow a standard pattern. The case is lodged by the applicant, which files a written memorial setting out the basis of the court's jurisdiction and the merits of its claim. The respondent may accept the court's jurisdiction and file its own memorial on the merits of the case.


title: International Court of Justice

text: A respondent that does not wish to submit to the jurisdiction of the court may raise preliminary objections. Any such objections must be ruled upon before the court can address the merits of the applicant's claim. Often, a separate public hearing is held on the preliminary objections and the court will render a judgment. Respondents normally file preliminary objections to the jurisdiction of the court and/or the admissibility of the case. Inadmissibility refers to a range of arguments about factors the court should take into account in deciding jurisdiction, such as the fact that the issue is not justiciable or that it is not a "legal dispute".


title: International Court of Justice

text: In addition, objections may be made because all necessary parties are not before the court. If the case necessarily requires the court to rule on the rights and obligations of a state that has not consented to the court's jurisdiction, the court does not proceed to issue a judgment on the merits.


title: International Court of Justice

text: If the court decides it has jurisdiction and the case is admissible, the respondent then is required to file a Memorial addressing the merits of the applicant's claim. Once all written arguments are filed, the court holds a public hearing on the merits.


title: International Court of Justice

text: Once a case has been filed, any party (usually the applicant) may seek an order from the court to protect the "status quo" pending the hearing of the case. Such orders are known as Provisional (or Interim) Measures and are analogous to interlocutory injunctions in United States law. Article 41 of the statute allows the court to make such orders. The court must be satisfied to have "prima facie" jurisdiction to hear the merits of the case before it grants provisional measures.


title: International Court of Justice

text: In cases in which a third state's interests are affected, that state may be permitted to intervene in the case and participate as a full party. Under Article 62, a state "with an interest of a legal nature" may apply; however, it is within the court's discretion whether or not to allow the intervention. Intervention applications are rare, and the first successful application occurred only in 1991.


title: International Court of Justice

text: Once deliberation has taken place, the court issues a majority opinion. Individual judges may issue concurring opinions (if they agree with the outcome reached in the judgment of the court but differ in their reasoning) or dissenting opinions (if they disagree with the majority). No appeal is possible, but any party may ask for the court to clarify if there is a dispute as to the meaning or scope of the court's judgment.


title: International Court of Justice

text: The International Court has been criticized with respect to its rulings, its procedures, and its authority. As with criticisms of the United Nations, many critics and opponents of the court refer to the general authority assigned to the body by member states through its Charter, rather than to specific problems with the composition of judges or their rulings. Major criticisms include the following:


title: 777 Charlie

text: 777 Charlie is a 2022 Indian Kannada-language adventure comedy drama film written and directed by Kiranraj K. and produced by Paramvah Studios. It stars Charlie, a labrador dog in the titular role, and Rakshit Shetty alongside Sangeetha Sringeri, Raj B. Shetty, Danish Sait and Bobby Simha. The film follows the journey and bonding between a lonely factory worker and a stray labrador dog.


title: 777 Charlie

text: "777 Charlie" was announced in September 2017. Principal photography took place from June 2018 to October 2021, with delays due to COVID-19 pandemic. The film was shot in various locations across Karnataka, Goa, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Kashmir. "777 Charlie" had a limited theatrical release on 2 June 2022, and released in cinemas worldwide on 10 June 2022. The film received huge critical acclaim for its cast performances (particularly Rakshit Shetty and Charlie), writing, emotional weight and direction. With theatrical earnings of over globally, "777 Charlie" became the fifth highest-grossing Kannada film at the time of release.


title: 777 Charlie

text: A Labrador puppy escapes from the house of a breeder where many dogs have been caged and tortured. The pup continues its journey and finally reaches the Chinmaya colony, Satara where Dharma resides. Dharma is a loner in a colony, who doesn't socialize with anyone and is feared among the colony people. His life consists of mainly working at the factory, fights, booze, smoke and watching Charlie Chaplin shows on TV. He is an orphan, whose parents and sister died in a car crash caused by a dog and thereby leads a monotonous life. A musical fest at his colony makes the puppy scared and Dharma is enraged as his sleep is disturbed where he destroys the band instruments. The puppy views Dharma as her saviour and secretly follows him.


title: 777 Charlie

text: The Labrador takes shelter in the dustbin outside his house and consumes the leftover idli thrown by Dharma without his knowledge. It tries to gain attention of Dharma, but in vain. One day, the dog follows him and gets into a road accident. Feeling pity for the dog after watching Charlie Chaplin's bond with a dog, Dharma takes it to the hospital where he is advised by Dr. Ashwin Kumar to let the dog stay with him, till an adopter comes forward and advices to take dog license. Though reluctant as the colony members doesn't allow dogs, Dharma agrees and takes care of the dog where the bonding between him and the dog grows to an extent where Dharma becomes a better person and names the dog "Charlie" after Charlie Chaplin and takes care of the dog with a child in the colony named Adrika aka Adi.


title: 777 Charlie

text: One day, Charlie loses consciousness where Dharma learns that Charlie is suffering from cancer (hemangiosarcoma of spleen) and this genetic defect has happened due to the breeder's unwanted breeding techniques and constant torture as Charlie is a female dog. Distraught, Dharma decides to fulfill Charlie's wishes where he learns that Charlie likes to play in snow as whenever snow appears on TV, she gets excited. He leaves with Charlie for Himachal Pradesh. An animal welfare activist Devika thinks that Dharma tortures charlie and decides to follow him to gather proofs to confront him and charge him. En route, Dharma learns about Charlie's breeder from the vet doctor and receives a video of Charlie being tortured where he learns that Charlie's name was actually Keaton. Dharma confirms this by addressing Charlie as Keaton thereby Charlie responding to the name and shown to be in fear. He reaches the breeder's house and thrashes him.


title: 777 Charlie

text: The breeder is later caught by the police. The rest of the dogs get rescued by the animal welfare team. Devika learns about this incident through her team and develops a soft corner for Dharma and tells him she is ready for any help he requires but she has to leave due to scheduled commitments at her job. Through Devika, Dharma meets Karshan Roy, who promises to publish his story in a magazine. Dharma and Charlie leave for Punjab where they meet a dog lover named Vamshi Singh and his dog Blacky, where Dharma and Charlie spent few days with Vamshi. Vamshi provides a dog competition pass to Dharma, but they become contestants where Charlie does a long jump, supported by Dharma winning the hearts of all the audiences and the competition as well. Without money and food, Dharma sells his bike and walks to continue their journey but Charlie's condition worsens.


title: 777 Charlie

text: Dharma takes him to a monastery and learns that Charlie was pregnant with Blacky's child, but the puppies couldn't survive. The duo continue their journey in the bus but the bus is stopped by the army, and they reveal that a landslide occurred. After requests from Dharma, an officer agrees to take Charlie to Kashmir. Dharma and Charlie sneak out and play in snow and return back to the camp. The following day, Charlie goes missing and Dharma leaves in search of Charlie. After a long search, he finds her at a temple waiting for him, who sits in his lap, then thanks him with her gesture and dies in Dharma's arms. Dharma is distraught but finds a puppy inside the temple and realises that Charlie gifted the puppy to him as she knows that Dharma cannot survive without her.


title: 777 Charlie

text: A few months later, Dharma along with Devika, Adrika and the colony people inaugurate an animal rescue and shelter in the memory of Charlie, where Dharma sits next to Charlie's memorial and goes through the article published about the journey of Charlie and Dharma. Charlie's puppy, which is also named Charlie, is shown to be more mischievous than its mother.


title: 777 Charlie

text: In September 2017, Rakshit Shetty announced his next film under the production banner Paramvah Studios titled as "777 Charlie". Kiranraj K, who had assisted Rishab Shetty in "Ricky" and "Kirik Party", was brought on board for the project, which marked his directorial debut. Shetty agreed to produce the film as the script was considered to be "first-of-its-kind" in Kannada cinema. Kiranraj also revealed that some sequences in the film were inspired from his real-life incidents. Before the film's production in June 2018, dog trainer BC Pramod trained three Labrador Retrievers to play the role of Charlie in the film for three weeks, as the bonding between the dog and the lead actor was to be real and convincing.


title: 777 Charlie

text: The makers initially considered Aravinnd Iyer as the lead actor, whom Shetty had recommended after working with him in "Kirik Party". Shetty stated that "The character in the film works in a vehicle manufacturing factory and wears a rugged look, and even the neighbourhood children are scared of him. The role perfectly suited Aravinnd and he came on board". But, as the production delayed, Iyer left the project in February 2018 as his schedule clashed with that of "Bheemasena Nalamaharaja" (2020). Subsequently, Shetty replaced him in the lead role. In May 2018, Pushkara Mallikarjunaiah announced a casting call for the film's female lead, in which Sangeetha Sringeri was selected as the female lead from the audition with over 2,700 entries. Raj B. Shetty joined the cast in July 2018, where he played the role of a veterinary doctor. Danish Sait also joined the shoot in the first schedule. Child artists Sharvari and Praanya P Rao, also appeared a part of the film. In November 2020, it was announced that Tamil actor Bobby Simha would appear in a cameo role, marking his debut in the Kannada film industry.


title: 777 Charlie

text: The film's principal photography began in Mangalore on 8 June 2018, with Shetty joining the shoot after simultaneously working on the production of "Avane Srimannarayana" (2020). Kiranraj chose to shoot the first schedule in Mangalore as the opening sequences since "Charlie (the protagonist), who escapes from one place to another, finds himself in a fish market. As the scene needed an exclusive fish selling zone, which is not available anywhere in the state, which is why we chose Mangalore." The team shot a few sequences at Sakleshpur and then moved to Mysore and Bangalore, where Shetty joined the shooting schedule. In September 2018, it was revealed that portions with young Charlie had been completed, and the team needed to take a break, since Shetty planned to resume shooting for "Avane Srimannarayana". The film has music by Nobin Paul, cinematography by Aravind Kashyap, and editing by Pratheek Shetty.


title: 777 Charlie

text: In March 2018, the team resumed the shooting in Mysore with scenes featuring the protagonist in his old-house as Mysore had old buildings, which suited the script. The team planned a 30-day schedule in the location and Shetty simultaneously worked on the film along with "Avane Srimannarayana" as he planned to release the two films within that year. Later, the team shot a few sequences in the Dandeli forest. Soon after the release of "Avane Srimannarayana", Shetty rejoined the production team in late-January 2020 to shoot major sequences in North India. A montage song showcasing the bond between Charlie and Shetty was filmed in Goa. The makers also filmed a few portions in Goa, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Punjab. "777 Charlie" completed 100 days of filming in March 2020, before the COVID-19 pandemic brought the production to a halt.


title: 777 Charlie

text: Filming resumed in October 2020 after a six-month break with sequences being shot in Bangalore and Kodaikanal. Later, the team went on a location scouting in Himachal Pradesh and Kashmir to shoot more sequences, which began on 20 November 2020. Shetty joined the Kashmir schedule during the first week of December. However, due to the unpleasant weather, the team delayed the production, until filming resumed in January 2021. The film's schedule in Kashmir was completed on 27 January 2021. In June 2021, director Kiranraj stated that the team had filmed for a total of 160 days, with visuals for end credits pending to be shot. After 164 days of filming, including shooting for the patchwork scenes, the makers wrapped up the shoot on 25 October 2021.


title: 777 Charlie

text: The post-production simultaneously began on 29 January 2021, when the team had completed 90% of the film's production. It was reported that Nobin Paul had started working on the film's background score during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in August 2020. Rakshit Shetty began dubbing for the portions during March 2021, and the production team announced that 70% of the dubbing work had been completed. Since the film was to have a pan-India release, director Kiranraj and his team chose more than 200 voice artists to dub for the 50+ characters in five languages. He made sure that "the film never feels like a 'dubbed' film in other languages but instead the authenticity and local flavor is maintained in each version". After the completion of the filming, Kiranraj announced a December 2021 theatrical release.


title: 777 Charlie

text: "777 Charlie" had a limited theatrical release on 2 June 2022 with special preview screenings across 21 Indian cities starting with Delhi and Amritsar, and later moving to Jaipur, Mumbai, Kochi, Chennai, Pune on June 6 and Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Nagpur, Solapur, Thiruvananthapuram, Varanasi, and Coimbatore on 7 June. The film was released worldwide in cinemas on 10 June 2022.


title: 777 Charlie

text: Earlier in May 2021, director Kiranraj announced in an interview that "777 Charlie" will have a theatrical release during the fourth quarter of that year. He said that "considering the budget, scale and the pan-Indian approach, one cannot assure the film being streamed in an over-the-top media service. The making of the film has been very taxing deal on us, sure, but the whole team wishes that the audience gets to see the film on the big screen. We have our hopes pinned on the vaccination drive and the government's approach in controlling the pandemic, thus the audience will be receptive to watching films in the theatres." The film will also be dubbed and released in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, and Malayalam languages.


title: 777 Charlie

text: The team planned to release the film on the last week of December, as the producers had a sentiment with Shetty's last two successful releases Kirik Party and Avane Srimmannarayana had released on the last week of December. In September 2021, the makers announced that "777 Charlie" would be released theatrically on 31 December 2021, coinciding the New Year's Eve. A few weeks before the scheduled release, the producers announced that the premiere would be postponed. Apart from being considered for a dubbed version in Russian, it was reported to be one of the 39 movies considered by China to dub in their language.


title: 777 Charlie

text: In June 2021, Prithviraj Sukumaran who watched few scenes from the preview of this film, had agreed to acquire the rights under the Prithviraj Productions banner for the film's Malayalam-dubbed version. The same month, Karthik Subbaraj's Stone Bench Films acquired the distribution rights for the Tamil-dubbed version.


title: 777 Charlie

text: The film was digitally streamed on Voot Select on 29 July 2022. Prime Video announced that the film was available for rentals, for ₹199, to both prime and non-prime customers in India, from 30 September 2022 in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam.


title: 777 Charlie

text: Grace Cyril of "India Today" rated the film 4 out of 5 stars and wrote "777 Charlie is filled with emotional, fun and aww-worthy moments". Tini Sara Anien of "Deccan Herald" rated the film 4 out of 5 stars and wrote "777 Charlie' is a family film with a difference and let's hope the film inspires a healthy trend in Kannada cinema". A critic for "Sakshi Post" rated the film 4 out of 5 stars and wrote "Rakshit Shetty's 777 Charlie is an emotional rollercoaster ride". Archika Khurana of "The Times of India" rated the film 3.5 out of 5 stars and wrote "


title: 777 Charlie

text: '777 Charlie' is a treat for fans of both Rakshit Shetty and films that convey essential messages, such as pet adoption in this case. There is a lot of heart and soul in the movie, with moments that will leave you with teary eyes at the end". Shubham Kulkarni of "Koimoi" rated the film 3.5 out of 5 stars and wrote "777 Charlie is a film made for you to suspend your disbelief and watch with all your hearts laugh, cry". Latha Srinivasan of "Firstpost" rated the film 3.5 stars out of 5 stars and wrote "Kiranraj K's 777 Charlie makes you feel emotions you haven't felt in a while and honestly it's a good feeling". Soundarya Athimuthu of "The Quint" wrote "Even if you are not a pet lover, "777 Charlie" will turn you into one". A Sharadhaa of "The New Indian Express" rated the film 3.5 out of 5 stars and wrote "777 Charlie is definitely an ode to dog lovers and Kiranraj, Rakshit and Co have crafted it in such a way that even if you are not one, watching this film just might make you revisit that stance". Nandini Ramnath of "Scroll.in" rated wrote "Dharma's road trip with Charlie seemingly has a destination, but the film takes forever to get there". Manoj Kumar R of "The Indian Express" rated the film 3 out of 5 stars and wrote "Amid larger-than-life, violence-prone cinema we have watched this year, this Rakshit Shetty-starrer offers a quieter experience of self-reflection about the absurdity of life".


title: 777 Charlie

text: The box office collections of the movie was reported by various sources with varying degrees of accuracy. While the movie collected ₹1.10 crore from previews on Thursday, the first day collection was around ₹4.9 crores to ₹6.27 crores(net).


title: 777 Charlie

text: The second day collection was reported to be around ₹6.25 crores to ₹7.87 crores (net). Multiple sources reported the third day collection to be around ₹7.5 crores to ₹9.5 crores to ₹10.01 crore(net) taking the first weekend collections to ₹19.75 crores to ₹20 crores to ₹ 23.5 crores to ₹24.15 crores (net) to ₹27 crores. The five day collections were reported to be around ₹32.7 crores to ₹35 crores. It was also reported to have collected over ₹2.1 crores in Kerala in 6 days making it the third highest grossing Kannada film there. While the six day collections stood at ₹35.7 crores, the first week collections were reported to be around ₹38.65 crores to ₹38.9 crores to ₹47.25 crores. The movie was reported to have grossed ₹50.1 crores in 8 eight days of which ₹36 crores was from Karnataka; ₹2 crores from Andhra Pradesh & Telangana; ₹2.25 crores from Kerala; ₹1 crore from Tamil Nadu; ₹2 crores from rest of India and ₹6.85 crores from overseas. By the end of 10 days, the movie had collected around ₹50.75 crores to ₹53.1 crores. While the movie collected ₹1.5 crores within 5 days in Kerala, it went on to surpass the ₹3 crore mark within 12 days there. The gross collections of the movie was reported to be around ₹75 crores in 12 days and ₹90 crores in 17 days. The movie minted over ₹4.05 crores in Kerala within 17 days and went on to collect ₹4.5 crores in 24 days there and was reported to be heading towards ₹5 crore mark in Kerala. The movie was reported to have collected ₹95 crores in 22 days.


title: 777 Charlie

text: On the occasion of 25 day success meet, Rakshit Shetty revealed the total gross revenue of the movie - from all the sources (such as theatre, digital, satellite, music and remake rights) to be ₹150 crores out of which ₹100 crores was reported to be the theatrical collections. At the end of 30 days, it was reported to have collected ₹4 crores each from both Telugu and Tamil versions and ₹5.5 crores from the Malayalam version. The Hindi version was reported to have collected ₹7 crores. While "The Times of India" reported that the film collected ₹100 crores, "Odisha TV" reported the worldwide collection at the end of 60 days to be around ₹105.72 crore. The closing collections were reported to be ₹105 crores.


title: 777 Charlie

text: The demand for Labradors was reported to have increased after the release of the film. However, experts and activists were of the view that pets should not be brought home on the basis of short term plan based on temporary flow of emotions since it would lead to sudden spike in their demand leading to unethical breeding which ironically was spoken against in the movie. A sniffer dog inducted into the Mangalore police department was named "Charlie".


title: Knights Hospitaller

text: The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem (), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headquartered in the Kingdom of Jerusalem until 1291, on the island of Rhodes from 1310 until 1522, in Malta from 1530 until 1798 and at Saint Petersburg from 1799 until 1801. Today several organizations continue the Hospitaller tradition, specifically the mutually recognized orders of St. John, which are the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John, the Bailiwick of Brandenburg of the Chivalric Order of Saint John, the Order of Saint John in the Netherlands, and the Order of Saint John in Sweden.


title: Knights Hospitaller

text: The Hospitallers arose in the early 12th century, during the time of the Cluniac movement (a Benedictine Reform movement). Early in the 11th century, merchants from Amalfi founded a hospital in the Muristan district of Jerusalem, dedicated to John the Baptist, to provide care for sick, poor, or injured pilgrims to the Holy Land. Blessed Gerard became its head in 1080. After the conquest of Jerusalem in 1099 during the First Crusade, a group of Crusaders formed a religious order to support the hospital. Some scholars consider that the Amalfitan order and hospital were different from Gerard's order and its hospital.


title: Knights Hospitaller

text: The organization became a military religious order under its own papal charter, charged with the care and defense of the Holy Land. Following the conquest of the Holy Land by Islamic forces, the knights operated from Rhodes, over which they were sovereign, and later from Malta, where they administered a vassal state under the Spanish viceroy of Sicily. The Hospitallers were one of the smallest groups to briefly colonize parts of the Americas: they acquired four Caribbean islands in the mid-17th century, which they turned over to France in the 1660s.


title: Knights Hospitaller

text: The knights became divided during the Protestant Reformation, when rich commanderies of the order in northern Germany and the Netherlands became Protestant and largely separated from the Roman Catholic main stem, remaining separate to this day, although ecumenical relations between the descendant chivalric orders are amicable. The order was suppressed in England, Denmark, and some other parts of northern Europe, and it was further damaged by Napoleon's capture of Malta in 1798, following which it became dispersed throughout Europe.


title: Knights Hospitaller

text: In 603, Pope Gregory I commissioned the Ravennate Abbot Probus, who was previously Gregory's emissary at the Lombard court, to build a hospital in Jerusalem to treat and care for Christian pilgrims to the Holy Land. In 800, Emperor Charlemagne enlarged Probus' hospital and added a library to it. About 200 years later, in 1009, the Fatimid caliph al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah destroyed the hospital and three thousand other buildings in Jerusalem. In 1023, merchants from Amalfi and Salerno in Italy were given permission by Caliph Ali az-Zahir to rebuild the hospital in Jerusalem. The hospital was served by the Order of Saint Benedict, built on the site of the monastery of Saint John the Baptist, and took in Christian pilgrims traveling to visit the Christian holy sites.


title: Knights Hospitaller

text: The monastic hospitaller order was created following the First Crusade by Blessed Gerard de Martigues whose role as founder was confirmed by the papal bull "Pie postulatio voluntatis" issued by Pope Paschal II in 1113. Gerard acquired territory and revenues for his order throughout the Kingdom of Jerusalem and beyond. Under his successor, Raymond du Puy, the original hospice was expanded to an infirmary near the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. Initially, the group cared for pilgrims in Jerusalem, but the order soon extended to provide pilgrims with an armed escort before eventually becoming a significant military force. Thus the Order of St. John imperceptibly became militaristic without losing its charitable character.


title: Knights Hospitaller

text: Raymond du Puy, who succeeded Gerard as master of the hospital in 1118, organized a militia from the order's members, dividing the order into three ranks: knights, men at arms, and chaplains. Raymond offered the service of his armed troops to Baldwin II of Jerusalem, and the order from this time participated in the


title: Knights Hospitaller

text: crusades as a military order, in particular distinguishing itself in the Siege of Ascalon of 1153. In 1130, Pope Innocent II gave the order its coat of arms, a silver cross in a field of red ("gueulles").


title: Knights Hospitaller

text: The Hospitallers and the Knights Templar became the most formidable military orders in the Holy Land. Frederick Barbarossa, the Holy Roman Emperor, pledged his protection to the Knights of St. John in a charter of privileges granted in 1185.


title: Knights Hospitaller

text: The statutes of Roger de Moulins (1187) deal only with the service of the sick; the first mention of military service is in the statutes of the ninth grand master, Fernando Afonso of Portugal (about 1200). In the latter a marked distinction is made between secular knights, externs to the order, who served only for a time, and the professed knights, attached to the order by a perpetual vow, and who alone enjoyed the same spiritual privileges as the other religious. The order numbered three distinct classes of membership: the military brothers, the brothers infirmarians, and the brothers chaplains, to whom was entrusted the divine service.


title: Knights Hospitaller

text: In 1248 Pope Innocent IV (1243–1254) approved a standard military dress for the Hospitallers to be worn during battle. Instead of a closed cape over their armour (which restricted their movements), they wore a red surcoat with a white cross emblazoned on it.


title: Knights Hospitaller

text: Many of the more substantial Christian fortifications in the Holy Land were built by the Templars and the Hospitallers. At the height of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the Hospitallers held seven great forts and 140 other estates in the area. The two largest of these, their bases of power in the Kingdom and in the Principality of Antioch, were the Krak des Chevaliers and Margat in Syria. The property of the Order was divided into priories, subdivided into bailiwicks, which in turn were divided into commanderies.


title: Knights Hospitaller

text: As early as the late 12th century the order had begun to achieve recognition in the Kingdom of England and Duchy of Normandy. As a result, buildings such as St John's Jerusalem and the Knights Gate, Quenington in England were built on land donated to the order by local nobility. An Irish house was established at Kilmainham, near Dublin, and the Irish Prior was usually a key figure in Irish public life.


title: Knights Hospitaller

text: The Knights also received the "Land of Severin" ("Terra de Zeurino"), along with the nearby mountains, from Béla IV of Hungary, as shown by a charter of grant issued on 2 June 1247. The Banate of Severin was a march, or border province, of the Kingdom of Hungary between the Lower Danube and the Olt River, today part of Romania, and back then bordered across the Danube by a powerful Bulgarian Empire. The Hospitaller hold on the Banate was only brief.


title: Knights Hospitaller

text: After the fall of the Kingdom of Jerusalem in 1291 (the city of Jerusalem had fallen in 1187), the Knights were confined to the County of Tripoli and, when Acre was captured in 1291, the order sought refuge in the Kingdom of Cyprus. Finding themselves becoming enmeshed in Cypriot politics, their Master, Guillaume de Villaret, created a plan of acquiring their own temporal domain, selecting Rhodes to be their new home, part of the Byzantine empire. His successor, Foulques de Villaret, executed the plan, and on 15 August 1310, after more than four years of campaigning, the city of Rhodes surrendered to the knights. They also gained control of a number of neighboring islands and the Anatolian port of Halicarnassus and the island of Kastellorizo.


title: Knights Hospitaller

text: Pope Clement V dissolved the Hospitallers' rival order, the Knights Templar, in 1312 with a series of papal bulls, including the "Ad providam" bull that turned over much of their property to the Hospitallers.


title: Knights Hospitaller

text: The holdings were organised into eight "Tongues" or "Langues", one each in Crown of Aragon, Auvergne, Crown of Castile, Kingdom of England, France, Holy Roman Empire, Italy and Provence. Each was administered by a Prior or, if there was more than one priory in the langue, by a Grand Prior.


title: Knights Hospitaller

text: At Rhodes, and later Malta, the resident knights of each langue were headed by a bailiff. The English Grand Prior at the time was Philip De Thame, who acquired the estates allocated to the English langue from 1330 to 1358. In 1334, the Knights of Rhodes defeated Andronicus and his Turkish auxiliaries. In the 14th century, there were several other battles in which they fought.


title: Knights Hospitaller

text: In 1374, the Knights took over the defence of Smyrna, conquered by a crusade in 1344. They held it until it was besieged and taken by Timur in 1402.


title: Knights Hospitaller

text: On Rhodes the Hospitallers, by then also referred to as the Knights of Rhodes, were forced to become a more militarized force, fighting especially with the Barbary pirates, also known as Ottoman corsairs. They withstood two invasions in the 15th century, one by the Sultan of Egypt in 1444 and another by the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror in 1480 who, after capturing Constantinople and defeating the Byzantine Empire in 1453, made the Knights a priority target.


title: Knights Hospitaller

text: In 1402 they created a stronghold on the peninsula of Halicarnassus (presently Bodrum). They used pieces of the partially destroyed Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, to strengthen their rampart, the Petronium.


title: Knights Hospitaller

text: In 1522, an entirely new sort of force arrived: 400 ships under the command of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent delivered 100,000 men to the island (200,000 in other sources). Against this force the Knights, under Grand Master Philippe Villiers de L'Isle-Adam, had about 7,000 men-at-arms and their fortifications. The siege lasted six months, at the end of which the surviving defeated Hospitallers were allowed to withdraw to Sicily. Despite the defeat, both Christians and Muslims seem to have regarded the conduct of Phillipe Villiers de L'Isle-Adam as extremely valiant, and the Grand Master was proclaimed a Defender of the Faith by Pope Adrian VI.


title: Knights Hospitaller

text: In 1530, after seven years of moving from place to place in Europe, Pope Clement VII – himself a Knight – reached an agreement with Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, also King of Spain and Sicily, to provide the knights permanent quarters on Malta, Gozo and the North African port of Tripoli in perpetual fiefdom in exchange for an annual fee of a single Maltese falcon (the Tribute of the Maltese Falcon), which they were to send on All Souls' Day to the King's representative, the Viceroy of Sicily. In 1548, Charles V raised Heitersheim, the headquarters of the Hospitallers in Germany, into the Principality of Heitersheim, making the Grand Prior of Germany a prince of the Holy Roman Empire with a seat and vote in the "Reichstag".


title: Knights Hospitaller

text: The Order may have played a direct part in supporting the Malta native Iacob Heraclid who, in 1561, established a temporary foothold in Moldavia "(see Battle of Verbia"). The Hospitallers also continued their maritime actions against the Muslims and especially the Barbary pirates. Although they had only a few ships they quickly drew the ire of the Ottomans, who were unhappy to see the order resettled. In 1565 Suleiman sent an invasion force of about 40,000 men to besiege the 700 knights and 8,000 soldiers and expel them from Malta and gain a new base from which to possibly launch another assault on Europe. This is known as the Great Siege of Malta.


title: Knights Hospitaller

text: At first the battle went as badly for the Hospitallers as Rhodes had: most of the cities were destroyed and about half the knights killed. On 18 August the position of the besieged was becoming desperate: dwindling daily in numbers, they were becoming too feeble to hold the long line of fortifications. But when his council suggested the abandonment of Birgu and Senglea and withdrawal to Fort St. Angelo, Grand Master Jean Parisot de Valette refused.


title: Knights Hospitaller

text: The Viceroy of Sicily had not sent help; possibly the Viceroy's orders from Philip II of Spain were so obscurely worded as to put on his own shoulders the burden of the decision whether to help the Order at the expense of his own defences. A wrong decision could mean defeat and exposing Sicily and Naples to the Ottomans. He had left his own son with La Valette, so he could hardly be indifferent to the fate of the fortress. Whatever may have been the cause of his delay, the Viceroy hesitated until the battle had almost been decided by the unaided efforts of the knights, before being forced to move by the indignation of his own officers.


title: Knights Hospitaller

text: On 23 August came yet another grand assault, the last serious effort, as it proved, of the besiegers. It was thrown back with the greatest difficulty, even the wounded taking part in the defence. The plight of the Turkish forces was now desperate. With the exception of Fort Saint Elmo, the fortifications were still intact. Working night and day the garrison had repaired the breaches, and the capture of Malta seemed more and more impossible. Many of the Ottoman troops in crowded quarters had fallen ill over the terrible summer months. Ammunition and food were beginning to run short, and the Ottoman troops were becoming increasingly dispirited by the failure of their attacks and their losses. The death on 23 June of skilled commander Dragut, a corsair and admiral of the Ottoman fleet, was a serious blow. The Turkish commanders, Piali Pasha and Mustafa Pasha, were careless. They had a huge fleet which they used with effect on only one occasion. They neglected their communications with the African coast and made no attempt to watch and intercept Sicilian reinforcements.


title: Knights Hospitaller

text: On 1 September they made their last effort, but the morale of the Ottoman troops had deteriorated seriously and the attack was feeble, to the great encouragement of the besieged, who now began to see hopes of deliverance. The perplexed and indecisive Ottomans heard of the arrival of Sicilian reinforcements in Mellieħa Bay. Unaware that the force was very small, they broke off the siege and left on 8 September. The Great Siege of Malta may have been the last action in history in which a force of knights won a decisive victory against a numerically superior force that made use of firearms.


title: Knights Hospitaller

text: When the Ottomans departed, the Hospitallers had but 600 men able to bear arms. The most reliable estimate puts the number of the Ottoman army at its height at some 40,000 men, of whom 15,000 eventually returned to Constantinople. The siege is portrayed vividly in the frescoes of Matteo Pérez in the Hall of St. Michael and St. George, also known as the Throne Room, in the Grandmaster's Palace in Valletta; four of the original modellos, painted in oils by Perez d'Aleccio between 1576 and 1581, can be found in the Cube Room of the Queen's House at Greenwich, London. After the siege a new city had to be built: the present capital city of Malta, named Valletta in memory of the Grand Master who had withstood the siege.


title: Knights Hospitaller

text: In 1607, the Grand Master of the Hospitallers was granted the status of "Reichsfürst" (Prince of the Holy Roman Empire), even though the Order's territory was always south of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1630, he was awarded ecclesiastic equality with cardinals, and the unique hybrid style "His Most Eminent Highness", reflecting both qualities qualifying him as a true Prince of the Church.


title: Knights Hospitaller

text: Following the knights' relocation to Malta, they had found themselves devoid of their initial reason for existence: assisting and joining the crusades in the Holy Land was now impossible, for reasons of military and financial strength along with geographical position. With dwindling revenues from European sponsors no longer willing to support a costly and meaningless organization, the knights turned to policing the Mediterranean from the increased threat of piracy, most notably from the threat of the Ottoman-endorsed Barbary pirates operating from the North African coastline. Boosted towards the end of the 16th century by an air of invincibility following the successful defence of their island in 1565 and compounded by the Christian victory over the Ottoman fleet in the Battle of Lepanto in 1571, the knights set about protecting Christian merchant shipping to and from the Levant and freeing the captured Christian slaves who formed the basis of the Barbary corsairs' piratical trading and navies. This became known as the "corso".


title: Knights Hospitaller

text: Yet the Order soon struggled on a now reduced income. By policing the Mediterranean they augmented the assumed responsibility of the traditional protectors of the Mediterranean, the naval city states of Venice and Genoa. Further compounding their financial woes; over the course of this period the exchange rate of the local currencies against the 'scudo' that were established in the late 16th century gradually became outdated, meaning the knights were gradually receiving less at merchant factories. Economically hindered by the barren island they now inhabited, many knights went beyond their call of duty by raiding Muslim ships. More and more ships were plundered, from whose profits many knights lived idly and luxuriously, taking local women to be their wives and enrolling in the navies of France and Spain in search of adventure, experience, and yet more money.


title: Knights Hospitaller

text: The Knights' changing attitudes were coupled with the effects of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation and the lack of stability from the Roman Catholic Church. All this affected the knights strongly as the 16th and 17th centuries saw a gradual decline in the religious attitudes of many of the Christian peoples of Europe (and, concomitantly, the importance of a religious army), and thus in the Knights' regular tributes from European nations. That the knights, a chiefly Roman Catholic military order, pursued the readmittance of England as one of its member states – the Order there had been suppressed under King Henry VIII of England during the dissolution of the monasteries – upon the succession of the Protestant queen Elizabeth I of England aptly demonstrates the new religious tolerance within the Order. For a time, the Order even possessed a German "langue" which was part Protestant or Evangelical and part Roman Catholic.


title: Knights Hospitaller

text: The moral decline that the knights underwent over the course of this period is best highlighted by the decision of many knights to serve in foreign navies and become "the mercenary sea-dogs of the 14th to 17th centuries", with the French Navy proving the most popular destination. This decision went against the knights' cardinal reason for existence, in that by serving a European power directly they faced the very real possibility that they would be fighting against another Roman Catholic force, as in the few Franco-Spanish naval skirmishes that occurred in this period. The biggest paradox is the fact that for many years the Kingdom of France remained on amicable terms with the Ottoman Empire, the Knights' greatest and bitterest foe and purported sole purpose for existence. Paris signed many trade agreements with the Ottomans and agreed to an informal (and ultimately ineffective) cease-fire between the two states during this period. That the Knights associated themselves with the allies of their sworn enemies shows their moral ambivalence and the new commercial-minded nature of the Mediterranean in the 17th century. Serving in a foreign navy, in particular that of the French, gave the Knights the chance to serve the Church and for many, their King, to increase their chances of promotion in either their adopted navy or in Malta, to receive far better pay, to stave off their boredom with frequent cruises, to embark on the highly preferable short cruises of the French Navy over the long caravans favoured by the Maltese, and if the Knight desired, to indulge in some of the pleasures of a traditional debauched seaport. In return, the French gained and quickly assembled an experienced navy to stave off the threat of the Spanish and their Habsburg masters. The shift in attitudes of the Knights over this period is ably outlined by Paul Lacroix who states:


title: Knights Hospitaller

text: With the knights' exploits growing in fame and wealth, the European states became more complacent about the Order, and more unwilling to grant money to an institution that was perceived to be earning a healthy sum on the high seas. Thus a vicious cycle occurred, increasing the raids and reducing the grants received from the nation-states of Christendom to such an extent that the balance of payments on the island had become dependent on conquest. The European powers lost interest in the knights as they focused their intentions largely on one another during the Thirty Years' War. In February 1641 a letter was sent from an unknown dignitary in the Maltese capital of Valletta to the knights' most trustworthy ally and benefactor, Louis XIV of France, stating the Order's troubles:


title: Knights Hospitaller

text: Maltese authorities did not mention the fact that they were making a substantial profit policing the seas and seizing infidel ships and cargoes. The authorities on Malta immediately recognised the importance of corsairing to their economy and set about encouraging it, as despite their vows of poverty, the Knights were granted the ability to keep a portion of the "spoglio", which was the prize money and cargo gained from a captured ship, along with the ability to fit out their own galleys with their new wealth.