title: Twink (gay slang)

text: The term also serves to identify a subculture within gay culture for which members of the community may self-identify, but their stable assurance mostly comes from acceptance by other members. The subculture, as examined now, serves as a purely physical marker for attributes any one person may hold and/or acquire, highly dependent on normative society's take on beauty standards as a whole and what the community puts forth and prescribes to.


title: Twink (gay slang)

text: Grindr, a popular dating app for gay men, also utilizes the slang, in reference to "tribes" for users to "identify themselves with a niche group and filter their search to help find their type of guy."


title: Twink (gay slang)

text: Like other "codes", such as the bear code, the "twink code" is a set of symbols using letters, numerals, and other characters commonly found on modern, Western computer keyboards, and used for the describing and rating of twinks. These codes are used in email, Usenet, and Internet forum postings to identify the physical type and preferences of the poster, but have mostly fallen out of usage. The code includes: physical traits, such as "c" for color of hair (from blond to black); "l" for length of hair (from bald/clean-shaven to very long); "h" for degree of hairlessness; "y" for youthful appearance; and "e" for "endowment" (penis size); as well as personality traits, such as "q" for "queeniness"; and sexual preferences, such as "k" for "the kinky factor".


title: Death of Cleopatra

text: The death of Cleopatra VII, the last ruler of Ptolemaic Egypt, occurred on either 10 or 12 August, 30 BC, in Alexandria, when she was 39 years old. According to popular belief, Cleopatra killed herself by allowing an asp (Egyptian cobra) to bite her, but for the Roman-era writers Strabo, Plutarch, and Cassius Dio, Cleopatra poisoned herself using either a toxic ointment or by introducing the poison with a sharp implement such as a hairpin. Modern scholars debate the validity of ancient reports involving snakebites as the cause of death and if she was murdered or not. Some academics hypothesize that her Roman political rival Octavian forced her to kill herself in a manner of her choosing. The location of Cleopatra's tomb is unknown. It was recorded that Octavian allowed for her and her husband, the Roman politician and general Mark Antony, who stabbed himself with a sword, to be buried together properly.


title: Death of Cleopatra

text: Cleopatra's death effectively ended the final war of the Roman Republic between the remaining triumvirs Octavian and Antony, in which Cleopatra aligned herself with Antony, father to three of her children. Antony and Cleopatra fled to Egypt following their loss at the 31 BC Battle of Actium in Roman Greece, after which Octavian invaded Egypt and defeated their forces. Committing suicide allowed her to avoid the humiliation of being paraded as a prisoner in a Roman triumph celebrating the military victories of Octavian, who would become Rome's first emperor in 27 BC and be known as Augustus. Octavian had Cleopatra's son Caesarion (also known as Ptolemy XV), rival heir of Julius Caesar, killed in Egypt but spared her children with Antony and brought them to Rome. Cleopatra's death marked the end of the Hellenistic period and Ptolemaic rule of Egypt, as well as the beginning of Roman Egypt, which became a province of the Roman Empire.


title: Death of Cleopatra

text: The death of Cleopatra has been depicted in various works of art throughout history. These include the visual, literary, and performance arts, ranging from sculptures and paintings to poetry and plays, as well as modern films. Cleopatra featured prominently in the prose and poetry of ancient Latin literature. While surviving ancient Roman depictions of her death in visual arts are rare, Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, and Modern works are numerous. Ancient Greco-Roman sculptures such as the "Esquiline Venus" and "Sleeping Ariadne" served as inspirations for later artworks portraying her death, universally involving the snakebite of an asp. Cleopatra's death has evoked themes of eroticism and sexuality, in works that include paintings, plays, and films, especially from the Victorian era. Modern works depicting Cleopatra's death include Neoclassical sculpture, Orientalist painting, and cinema.


title: Death of Cleopatra

text: Following the First Triumvirate and assassination of Julius Caesar in 44 BC, the Roman statesmen Octavian, Mark Antony, and Aemilius Lepidus were elected as triumvirs to bring Caesar's assassins to justice, forming the Second Triumvirate. With Lepidus marginalized in Africa and eventually placed under house arrest by Octavian, the two remaining triumvirs divided control over the Roman world between the Greek East and Latin West, Antony taking the former and Octavian the latter. Cleopatra VII of Ptolemaic Egypt, a pharaoh of Macedonian Greek descent who ruled from Alexandria, had an extramarital affair with Julius Caesar that produced a son and eventual Ptolemaic co-ruler Caesarion. After Caesar's death she developed a relationship with Antony.


title: Death of Cleopatra

text: With encouragement from Cleopatra, Antony officially divorced Octavian's sister Octavia Minor in 32 BC. It is likely he had already married Cleopatra during the Donations of Alexandria in 34 BC. Antony's divorce from Octavia, Octavian's public revelation of Antony's will outlining Cleopatra's ambitions for Roman territory in the Donations of Alexandria and her continued illegal military support for a Roman citizen currently without an elected office convinced the Roman Senate, now under Octavian's control, to declare war on Cleopatra.


title: Death of Cleopatra

text: Following their defeat in the naval Battle of Actium at the Ambracian Gulf of Greece in 31 BC, Cleopatra and Antony retreated to Egypt to recuperate and prepare for an assault by Octavian, whose forces grew larger with the surrender of many of Antony's officers and soldiers in Greece. After a long period of failed negotiations, Octavian's forces invaded Egypt early in 30 BC. While Octavian captured Pelousion near the eastern borders of Ptolemaic Egypt, his officer Cornelius Gallus marched from Cyrene and captured Paraitonion to the west. Although Antony scored a small victory over Octavian's worn out troops as they approached Alexandria's hippodrome on 1 August, 30 BC, his naval fleet and cavalry defected soon afterward.


title: Death of Cleopatra

text: With Octavian's forces in Alexandria, Cleopatra withdrew to her tomb with her closest attendants and had a message sent to Antony that she had died by suicide. Antony ordered his slave Eros to kill him, but instead, Eros killed himself with his sword. In despair, Antony stabbed himself through the stomach with a sword, inflicting a fatal wound. In Plutarch's telling, Antony was still alive as he was carried into Cleopatra's tomb, telling her in his dying words that he would die honorably and that she could trust a certain Gaius Proculeius on Octavian's side to treat her well. The same Proculeius used a ladder to breach a window of Cleopatra's tomb and detain her inside before she could have a chance to burn herself to death along with her vast treasure. Cleopatra was allowed to embalm Antony's body before she was forcefully escorted to the palace, where she eventually met with Octavian, who had also detained three of her children: Alexander Helios, Cleopatra Selene II, and Ptolemy Philadelphus.


title: Death of Cleopatra

text: As related by Livy, in her meeting with Octavian, Cleopatra told him candidly, "I will not be led in a triumph" (), but Octavian only gave the cryptic answer that her life would be spared. He did not offer her any specific details about his plans for Egypt or her royal family. After a spy informed Cleopatra that Octavian intended to bring her back to Rome to be paraded as a prisoner in his Roman triumph, she avoided this humiliation by taking her own life. Plutarch elaborates how Cleopatra approached her suicide in an almost ritual process that involved bathing and then a fine meal including figs brought to her in a basket.


title: Death of Cleopatra

text: Plutarch writes that Octavian ordered his freedman Epaphroditus to guard her and prevent her from killing herself. Cleopatra deceived him and killed herself. When Octavian received a note from Cleopatra requesting that she be buried next to Antony, he had his messengers rush to her. The servant broke down her door but was too late. Plutarch states that she was found with her handmaiden, Iras, dying at her feet and Charmion adjusting Cleopatra's diadem before she herself fell. It is unclear from primary sources if their suicides took place within the palace or inside Cleopatra's tomb. Cassius Dio claims that Octavian called on trained snake charmers of the Psylli tribe of Ancient Libya to attempt an oral venom extraction and revival of Cleopatra, but their efforts failed. Although Octavian was outraged by these events and "was robbed of the full splendor of his victory" according to Cassius Dio, he had Cleopatra interred next to Antony in their tomb as requested, and also gave Iras and Charmion proper burials.


title: Death of Cleopatra

text: There are no surviving records indicating an exact date of Cleopatra's death. Theodore Cressy Skeat deduced that she died on 12 August, 30 BC, on the basis of contemporary records of fixed events along with cross examination of historical sources. His supposition is supported by Stanley M. Burstein, James Grout, and Aidan Dodson and Dyan Hilton, although the latter are more cautious by qualifying it was "circa" 12 August. An alternative date of 10 August, 30 BC, is supported by scholars such as Duane W. Roller, Joann Fletcher, and Jaynie Anderson.


title: Death of Cleopatra

text: Cleopatra's personal physician Olympos, cited by Plutarch, mentioned neither a cause of death nor an asp bite or Egyptian cobra. Strabo, who provides the earliest known historical account, believed that Cleopatra committed suicide either by asp bite or poisonous ointment. Plutarch mentions the tale of the asp brought to her in a basket of figs, although he offers other alternatives for her cause of death, such as use of a hollow implement (), perhaps a hairpin, which she used to scratch open the skin and introduce the toxin. According to Cassius Dio small puncture wounds were found on Cleopatra's arm, but he echoed the claim by Plutarch that nobody knew the true cause of her death. Dio mentioned the claim of the asp and even suggested use of a needle (), possibly from a hairpin, which would seem to corroborate Plutarch's account. Other contemporary historians such as Florus and Velleius Paterculus supported the asp bite version. Roman physician Galen mentioned the asp story, but he advances a version where Cleopatra bit her own arm and introduced venom brought in a container. Suetonius relayed the story of the asp but expressed doubt about its validity.


title: Death of Cleopatra

text: The cause of Cleopatra's death was rarely mentioned and debated in early modern scholarship. The encyclopedic writer Thomas Browne, in his 1646 "Pseudodoxia Epidemica", explained that it was uncertain how Cleopatra had died and that artistic depictions of small snakes biting her failed to accurately show the large size of the "land asp". In 1717 the anatomist Giovanni Battista Morgagni maintained a brief, recreational literary correspondence with the papal physician Giovanni Maria Lancisi about the queen's cause of death, as referenced in Morgagni's 1761 "De Sedibus" and published as a series of epistles in his 1764 "Opera omnia". Morgagni argued that Cleopatra was likely killed by a snakebite and contested Lancisi's suggestion that consumption of venom was more plausible, noting that no ancient Greco-Roman authors had mentioned her drinking it. Lancisi rebutted by arguing that accounts offered by Roman poets were unreliable since they often exaggerated events. In his literary memoirs published in 1777, the physician Jean Goulin supported Morgagni's argument of the snakebite being the most probable cause of death.


title: Death of Cleopatra

text: Modern scholars have also cast doubt on the story of the venomous snakebite as the cause of death. Roller notes the prominence of snakes in Egyptian mythology while also asserting that no surviving historical account discusses the difficulty of smuggling a large Egyptian cobra into Cleopatra's chambers and then having it behave as intended. Roller also claims the venom is only fatal if injected into a vital area of the body. Egyptologist Wilhelm Spiegelberg (1870–1930) argued that Cleopatra's choice of suicide by asp bite was one that befitted her royal status, the asp representing the "uraeus", sacred serpent of the ancient Egyptian sun god Ra. Robert A. Gurval, Associate Professor of Classics at UCLA, points out that the Athenian "strategos" Demetrios of Phaleron ( – ), confined by Ptolemy II Philadelphus in Egypt, committed suicide by asp bite in a "curiously similar" manner, one that also demonstrated that it was not exclusive to Egyptian royalty. Gurval notes that the bite of an Egyptian cobra contains around 175–300 mg of neurotoxin, lethal to humans with only 15–20 mg, although death would not have been immediate as victims usually stay alive for several hours. François Pieter Retief, retired lecturer and dean of medicine at the University of the Free State, and Louise Cilliers, honorary research fellow at their Department of Greek, Latin and Classical Studies, argue that a large snake would not have fit into a basket of figs and it was more likely that poisoning would have so rapidly killed the three adult women, Cleopatra and her handmaidens Charmion and Iras. Noting the example of Cleopatra's hairpin, Cilliers and Retief also highlight how other ancient figures poisoned themselves in similar ways, including Demosthenes, Hannibal, and Mithridates VI of Pontus.


title: Death of Cleopatra

text: According to Gregory Tsoucalas, lecturer in the history of medicine at the Democritus University of Thrace, and Markos Sgantzos, Associate Professor of Anatomy at the University of Thessaly, evidence suggests that Octavian ordered the poisoning of Cleopatra. In "Murder of Cleopatra", the criminal profiler Pat Brown argues that Cleopatra was murdered and the details of it were covered up by Roman authorities. Claims that she was murdered contradict the majority of primary sources that report her cause of death as suicide. Historian Patricia Southern speculates that Octavian could have possibly allowed Cleopatra to choose the manner of her death instead of executing her. Grout writes that Octavian may have wanted to avoid the sort of sympathy espoused for Cleopatra's younger sister Arsinoe IV when she was paraded in chains but spared during Julius Caesar's triumph. Octavian perhaps permitted Cleopatra to die by her own hand after considering the political issues that could have risen from the murder of a queen whose statue had been erected in the Temple of Venus Genetrix by his adoptive father. An alternative theory emerged in 1888 when Ambroise Viaud Grand Marais suggested Cleopatra had died of carbon monoxide poisoning.


title: Death of Cleopatra

text: During her final days, Cleopatra had Caesarion sent away to Upper Egypt and perhaps planned for him to eventually flee to Nubia, Ethiopia, or India in exile. Caesarion reigned as Ptolemy XV for only eighteen days, when he was captured and executed on Octavian's orders on 29 August, 30 BC. This was done following the advice of the Alexandrian Greek philosopher Arius Didymus, who cautioned that two rival heirs to Julius Caesar could not share the world together.


title: Death of Cleopatra

text: The deaths of Cleopatra and Caesarion marked the end of both the Ptolemaic dynasty's rule of Egypt and the Hellenistic period, which had lasted since the reign of Alexander the Great (r. 336–323 BC). Egypt became a province of the newly established Roman Empire, with Octavian renamed in 27 BC as Augustus, the first Roman emperor, ruling with the facade of a Roman Republic. Roller affirms that Caesarion's alleged reign was "essentially a fiction" invented by chroniclers of Egypt, such as Clement of Alexandria in his "Stromata", to explain the gap between Cleopatra's death and the induction of Egypt as a Roman province directly ruled by Octavian as pharaoh of Egypt. Antony's three children with Cleopatra were spared and sent to Rome; their daughter Cleopatra Selene II eventually married Juba II of Mauretania.


title: Death of Cleopatra

text: The site of the mausoleum of Cleopatra and Mark Antony is uncertain. The Egyptian Antiquities Service believes that it is in or near a temple of Taposiris Magna, southwest of Alexandria. In their excavations of the temple of Osiris at Taposiris Magna, archaeologists Kathleen Martinez and Zahi Hawass have discovered six burial chambers and their artifacts, including forty coins minted by Cleopatra and Antony as well as an alabaster bust depicting Cleopatra. An alabaster mask with a cleft chin discovered at the site bears a resemblance to ancient portraits of Mark Antony. In an from the House of Giuseppe II in Pompeii, a rear wall depicted with a set of double doors positioned very high above the scene of a woman wearing a royal diadem and committing suicide among her attendants suggests the described layout of Cleopatra's tomb in Alexandria.


title: Death of Cleopatra

text: In his triumphant procession at Rome in 29 BC, Octavian paraded Cleopatra's children Alexander Helios and Cleopatra Selene II, but he also presented an effigy to the crowd depicting Cleopatra with an asp clinging to her. This was likely the same painting discovered in emperor Hadrian's Villa in 1818, now lost but described in an archaeological report and in a steel engraving by John Sartain. The poet Propertius, an eyewitness of Octavian's triumph along the Via Sacra, noted that the paraded image of Cleopatra contained multiple snakes biting each of her arms. Citing Plutarch, Giuseppe Pucci indicates that the effigy may have even been a statue. In his "Notes isiaques I" (1989), French Archaeologist observed that an ancient Roman statue of a woman wearing a knot of Isis in the Vatican Museums portrays a snake crawling up her right breast, perhaps a depiction of Cleopatra's suicide while dressed as the Egyptian goddess Isis. Cleopatra's association with Isis continued in Egypt after her death, at least until 373 AD, when the Egyptian scribe Petesenufe compiled a book of Isis and explained how he decorated images of Cleopatra with gold.


title: Death of Cleopatra

text: A mid-1st century BC Roman wall painting from Pompeii most likely was walled off by its owner around 30 BC, perhaps in reaction to Octavian's proscription against images depicting Caesarion, the rival heir of Julius Caesar. Although statues of Mark Antony were torn down, those of Cleopatra were generally spared this program of destruction, including the one erected by Caesar in the Temple of Venus Genetrix in the Forum of Caesar. An most likely depicts the suicide of Cleopatra, accompanied by attendants and even her son Caesarion wearing a royal diadem like his mother, although an asp is absent from the scene, perhaps reflecting the different causes of death provided in Roman historiography. Some posthumous images of Cleopatra meant for common consumption were perhaps less flattering. A Roman terracotta lamp in the British Museum made –80 AD contains a relief depicting a nude woman with the queen's distinct hairstyle. In it she holds a palm branch, rides an Egyptian crocodile and sits on a large phallus in a Nilotic scene.


title: Death of Cleopatra

text: A Roman cameo glass vessel in the British Museum known as the Portland Vase contains a possible depiction of Cleopatra and her imminent death. Dated to the reign of Augustus, it depicts various other figures often identified as Augustus, his sister Octavia Minor, Mark Antony and his alleged ancestor Anton. The seated woman identified as Cleopatra grasps and pulls Antony toward her while a serpent rises from between her legs and the Greek god of love Eros (Cupid) floats above them.


title: Death of Cleopatra

text: The story of the asp was widely accepted among the Augustan-period Latin poets such as Horace and Virgil, in which two snakes were even suggested as biting Cleopatra. Although retaining the negative views of Cleopatra apparent in other pro-Augustan Roman literature, Horace depicted Cleopatra's suicide as a bold act of defiance and liberation. Virgil established the view of Cleopatra as a figure of epic melodrama and romance.


title: Death of Cleopatra

text: The story of Cleopatra's suicide by snakebite was often depicted in Medieval and Renaissance art. The artist known as the Boucicaut Master, in a 1409 AD miniature for an illuminated manuscript of "Des cas de nobles hommes et femmes" by the 14th-century AD poet Giovanni Boccaccio, in a Gothic-style tomb, with a snake near Cleopatra's chest and a bloody sword driven through Antony's chest. Illustrated versions of Boccaccio's written works, including images of Cleopatra and Antony committing suicide, first appeared in France during the Quattrocento (i.e. 15th century AD), authored by Laurent de Premierfait. Woodcut illustrations of Boccaccio's "De Mulieribus Claris" published at Ulm in 1479 and Augsburg in 1541 depict Cleopatra's discovery of Antony's body after his suicide by stabbing.


title: Death of Cleopatra

text: Like much of Medieval literature about Cleopatra, Boccaccio's writings are largely negative and misogynistic. The 14th-century poet Geoffrey Chaucer counters these depictions, offering a positive view of Cleopatra. Chaucer began his hagiography on virtuous pagan women with the life of Cleopatra, depicted in a satirical fashion as a queen engaged in courtly love with her knight Mark Antony. His depiction of her suicide included a pit of serpents rather than the Roman tale of the asps.


title: Death of Cleopatra

text: Free-standing nude depictions of Cleopatra poisoned by an asp became common during the Italian Renaissance. The 16th-century Venetian artist Giovanni Maria Padovano (i.e. Mosca) created two marble reliefs of the suicide of Antony and Cleopatra, as well as several free-standing nude statues of Cleopatra being bitten by the asp that were partly inspired by ancient Roman sculptures such as the "Esquiline Venus". Bartolommeo Bandinelli created a drawing of Cleopatra as a free-standing nude committing suicide that served as the basis for a similar engraving by Agostino Veneziano. Another engraving by Veneziano and a drawing by Raphael depicting Cleopatra's suicide as she slumbered were inspired by the ancient Greco-Roman "Sleeping Ariadne", which at the time was thought to depict Cleopatra. Works of the French Renaissance also depict Cleopatra slumbering while pressing a snake to her breast. Michelangelo created a black-chalk drawing of Cleopatra's suicide by asp bite around 1535. The 17th-century Baroque painter Guido Reni by asp bite, albeit with a snake that is tiny compared to a real Egyptian cobra.


title: Death of Cleopatra

text: The "Sleeping Ariadne", acquired by Pope Julius II in 1512, inspired three poems of Renaissance literature eventually carved into the pilaster frame of the statue. The first of these was published by Baldassare Castiglione, which became widely circulated by 1530 and inspired the other two poems by Bernardino Baldi and Agostino Favoriti. Castiglione's poem depicted Cleopatra as a tragic but honorable ruler in a doomed love affair with Antony, a queen whose death freed her from the ignominy of Roman imprisonment. The "Sleeping Ariadne" was also commonly depicted in paintings, including those by Titian, Artemisia Gentileschi, and Edward Burne-Jones. These works tended to eroticize the moment of Cleopatra's death, while Victorian era artists found the unconscious, recumbent female form as an acceptable outlet for their eroticism.


title: Death of Cleopatra

text: Cleopatra's death features in several works of the performing arts. In the 1607 play "Devil's Charter" by Barnabe Barnes, a snake handler brings two asps to Cleopatra and allows them to bite both her breasts in a racy manner. In William Shakespeare's 1609 play "Antony and Cleopatra" the snake represents both death as well as a lover who Cleopatra desires, yielding to his pinch. Shakespeare relied on Thomas North's 1579 translation of Plutarch for crafting his play, which can be viewed as both a comedy and a tragedy. The play involved use of multiple asps, as well as the character of Charmion who killed herself by asp bite after Cleopatra.


title: Death of Cleopatra

text: In modern literature, Ted Hughes' poem "Cleopatra to the Asp" (1960) creates a monologue of Cleopatra speaking to the asp that is about to kill her. During the Victorian era, plays such as "Cléopâtre" (1890) by Victorien Sardou became popular, although audiences were generally shocked by the emotional intensity of stage actress Sarah Bernhardt's depiction of Cleopatra reacting to Antony's suicide. In opera, Samuel Barber's "Antony and Cleopatra", first performed in 1966 and based on Shakespeare's play, Cleopatra recounts a dream that Antony, now dead before her, would become emperor of Rome. When Dollabella informs her that Caesar intends to march her in his triumph in Rome, she commits suicide with Charmion by asp bite, before being carried off to be buried with Antony.


title: Death of Cleopatra

text: The character of Cleopatra had appeared in forty-three films by the end of the 20th century. Georges Méliès' "Robbing Cleopatra's Tomb" (), an 1899 French silent horror film, was the first to depict the character of Cleopatra. Following the Italo-Turkish War (1911–1912), the 1913 Italian film "Marcantonio e Cleopatra" by Enrico Guazzoni depicted Cleopatra as the embodiment of the cruel Orient, a queen who had defied Rome, while the actions of her lover Antony, after his suicide, are forgiven by Octavian. In cultivating a stage persona for her character in the 1917 US film "Cleopatra", actress Theda Bara was seen in public petting snakes while the Fox Film Corporation posed her in front of Cleopatra's alleged mummified remains in a museum, where she announced that she was the reincarnation of Cleopatra, having received hieroglyphic tributary offerings from a reincarnated servant. Fox Studios also had Bara dress as a leader of the occult and associated her with perverse death and sexuality. The 1963 Hollywood film "Cleopatra" by Joseph L. Mankiewicz contains a dramatic scene where the Egyptian queen, portrayed by Elizabeth Taylor, is engaged in a slap-fight with her lover Mark Antony, portrayed by Richard Burton, inside the tomb where they would be interred.


title: Death of Cleopatra

text: In other modern visual arts, Cleopatra has been depicted in mediums such as paintings and sculptures. In her 1876 sculpture "The Death of Cleopatra", African American artist Edmonia Lewis, despite championing the non-white female form in artworks, chose to depict Cleopatra with Caucasian features, perhaps in keeping with Cleopatra's recorded lineage as a Macedonian Greek. Lewis' Neoclassical sculpture offers a post-mortem view of Cleopatra dressed in Egyptian regalia and sitting on her throne, which is decorated with two sphinx heads that represent the twins she bore with Mark Antony: Alexander Helios and Cleopatra Selene II. An 1880 , now found in Lille, France, was once thought to be a work by Albert Darcq, but restoration and cleaning of the sculpture revealed the signature of Charles Gauthier, to whom the work is now attributed. The 1874 painting "Death of Cleopatra" by Jean-André Rixens depicts a dead Cleopatra with very light skin, accompanied by maidservants with rather dark skin, a combination frequently found in modern artworks portraying the scene of Cleopatra's death. Orientalist paintings by Rixens and others influenced the hybrid Ancient-Egyptian and Middle-Eastern decor found in the J. Gordon Edwards' film "Cleopatra" starring Bara, seen standing on a Persian carpet but with Egyptian wall paintings in the background.


title: Hotel California (Eagles album)

text: Hotel California is the fifth studio album by American rock band Eagles. Released on December 8, 1976, by Asylum Records, "Hotel California" was recorded by Bill Szymczyk at the Criteria and Record Plant studios between March and October 1976. It was the band's first album with guitarist Joe Walsh, who had replaced founding member Bernie Leadon, and the last to feature founding bassist Randy Meisner. The front cover is a photograph of the Beverly Hills Hotel by David Alexander.


title: Hotel California (Eagles album)

text: "Hotel California" topped the US "Billboard" Top LPs & Tapes chart. At the 20th Grammy Awards, the title track won Record of the Year, and "New Kid in Town" won Best Arrangement for Voices. The album was also nominated for Album of the Year but lost to Fleetwood Mac's "Rumours". Three singles were released from the album, with the title track and "New Kid in Town" topping the "Billboard" Hot 100 and "Life in the Fast Lane" reaching No. 11.


title: Hotel California (Eagles album)

text: "Hotel California" is one of the best-selling albums of all time. It has been certified 26× Platinum in the US, and has sold over 32 million copies worldwide, making it the band's best-selling album after "Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975)". It has been ranked as one of the greatest albums of all time. In 2003 and 2012, it was ranked number 37 on "Rolling Stone" list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". A 40th anniversary special edition of "Hotel California" was released in November 2017.


title: Hotel California (Eagles album)

text: The first song written for the album was "Hotel California", which became the theme for the album. Henley said of the themes of the songs in the album:


title: Hotel California (Eagles album)

text: On the title "Hotel California", Henley said that "the word, 'California,' carries with it all kinds of connotations, powerful imagery, mystique, etc., that fires the imaginations of people in all corners of the globe. There's a built-in mythology that comes with that word, an American cultural mythology that has been created by both the film and the music industry." In an interview with the Dutch magazine "ZigZag" shortly before the album's release, Don Henley said:


title: Hotel California (Eagles album)

text: Bernie Leadon, who was the principal country influence in the band, left the band after the release of the previous album "One of These Nights". For "Hotel California", the band made a conscious decision to move away from country rock, and wrote some songs that are more rock & roll, such as "Victim of Love" and "Life in the Fast Lane". Leadon was replaced by Joe Walsh who provided the opening guitar riff of "Life in the Fast Lane" that was then developed into the song. The title for "Life in the Fast Lane" was inspired by a conversation between Frey and his drug dealer during a high speed car ride.


title: Hotel California (Eagles album)

text: The chord progression and basic melody of the title track, "Hotel California", was written by Don Felder. Don Henley wrote most of the lyrics, with contributions from Glenn Frey. Henley noted that the hotel had become a "literal and symbolic focal point of their lives at that time", and it became the theme of the song. Frey wanted the song to be "more cinematic", and to write it "just like it was a movie". Henley sought inspiration for the lyrics by driving out into the desert, as well as from films and theatre. Parts of the lyrics of "Hotel California" as well as the song "Wasted Time" were based on Henley's break up with his then girlfriend Loree Rodkin.


title: Hotel California (Eagles album)

text: Frey, in the "Hotel California" episode of "In the Studio with Redbeard", spoke about the writing of "The Last Resort". Frey said: "It was the first time that Don took it upon himself to write an epic story and we were already starting to worry about the environment… we're constantly screwing up paradise and that was the point of the song and that at some point there is going to be no more new frontiers. I mean we're putting junk, er, garbage into space now."


title: Hotel California (Eagles album)

text: In July 2022 three men, all involved in rare book and memorabilia dealing, were indicted by a Manhattan, New York City, grand jury on felony charges of conspiracy and possession of stolen property; one was further charged with hindering prosecution. Prosecutors alleged that they had forged provenance documents attempting to demonstrate that they were the lawful owners of some of Frey and Henley's original drafts of lyrics for songs on the album, including "Hotel California" and "Life in the Fast Lane" and "New Kid in Town", when they in fact knew those materials, around a hundred handwritten pages on yellow notebook paper estimated to be worth $1 million in total, to have been stolen. Their plot had come to light after, having sold Henley some of the documents for $8,500 in 2012, they returned to Henley offering to sell him some more after listing them at Sotheby's four years later; he then filed a complaint with the New York County district attorney's office. All three protested their innocence through their attorneys.


title: Hotel California (Eagles album)

text: The three were alleged to have acquired the documents from Ed Sanders, a journalist who had been hired to write a biography of the band around the time of "Hotel California". Sanders did not finish the work until after the band had broken up and the project was eventually canceled. He is not charged or named in the indictment, but in a news release announcing it, the D.A.'s office described the papers as " originally stolen in the late 1970s by an author who had been hired to write a biography of the band." The indictment also quotes an "Individual 1" as telling one of the indicted men in an email that he "was staying at Henley's place in Malibu and had total access to his boxes of stuff, and there was a lot, and I compiled a box of files I wanted and his assistant mailed them to me." "The Los Angeles Times" found also that an archived version of the 2016 Sotheby's listing online identified Sanders as the then-owner.


title: Hotel California (Eagles album)

text: The album was recorded between March and October 1976 at Criteria Studios, Miami and Record Plant Studios, Los Angeles, and produced by Bill Szymczyk. Although the band favored Los Angeles, the producer Szymczyk wanted to record in Miami as he had developed a fear of living on a fault line in Los Angeles after experiencing an earthquake, and a compromise was then struck to split the recording at both places. While the band were recording the album, Black Sabbath were recording "Technical Ecstasy" in an adjacent studio at Criteria Studios in Miami. The band was forced to stop recording on numerous occasions because Black Sabbath were too loud and the sound was coming through the wall. The last track of the album, "The Last Resort" had to be re-recorded a number of times due to noise from the next studio.


title: Hotel California (Eagles album)

text: For the title track "Hotel California", after the arrangement and instrumentation had been refined, several takes were recorded. The best parts were then spliced together, in all 33 edits on the two‑inch master, to create the final version. In contrast, "Victim of Love" was recorded in a live session in studio apart from the lead vocal and the harmony on the choruses which were added later. Don Felder initially sang the lead vocals in the many early takes for the song, but the band felt that his efforts were not up to the required standard, and Henley then took over as the lead.


title: Hotel California (Eagles album)

text: According to Henley in a 1982 interview, the Eagles "probably peaked on "Hotel California"." Henley said: "After that, we started growing apart as collaborators and as friends."


title: Hotel California (Eagles album)

text: The front cover artwork is a photograph of The Beverly Hills Hotel shot just before sunset by David Alexander with design and art direction by Kosh. According to Kosh, Henley wanted him to find a place that can portray the Hotel California of the album title, and "portray it with a slightly sinister edge". Three hotels were photographed, and the one with The Beverly Hills Hotel was selected as the cover. The photographer shot the image 60 feet above Sunset Boulevard on top of a cherry picker. As the image was taken from an unfamiliar vantage point in fading light, most people did not initially recognize the hotel. However, when the identity of Beverly Hills Hotel was revealed, the hotel threatened legal action over the use of the image.


title: Hotel California (Eagles album)

text: The rear album cover was shot in the lobby of the Lido Hotel in Hollywood. The gatefold image shows the same lobby but filled with members of the band and their friends. Henley said: "I wanted a collection of people from all walks of life, It’s people on the edge, on the fringes of society." A shadowy figure appears on the balcony above the lobby, which led to speculations over the person's identity.


title: Hotel California (Eagles album)

text: Kosh designed a Hotel California logo as a neon sign which was used on the album cover and in its promotional materials. As it proved difficult to bend real neon tubings into the desired shape of the script, the neon effect of the logo was achieved with airbrush by Bob Hickson. Additional portraits of the band used in the album package and promotional materials were shot by Norman Seeff.


title: Hotel California (Eagles album)

text: The album was released by Asylum Records on December 8, 1976, in vinyl, cassette and 8-track cartridge formats. It was considered for quadraphonic release in early 1977, but this idea was dropped following the demise of the quadraphonic format. On the album's 25th anniversary in 2001, it was released in a Multichannel 5.1 DVD-Audio disc. On August 17, 2011, the album was released on a hybrid SACD in Japan in The Warner Premium Sound series, containing both a stereo and a 5.1 mix.


title: Hotel California (Eagles album)

text: Original vinyl pressings of "Hotel California" (Elektra/Asylum catalog no. 7E-1084) had custom picture labels of a blue Hotel California logo with a yellow background. These also had text engraved in the run-out groove of each side, continuing an in-joke trend the band had started with their third album "On the Border". The text reads: Side one: "Is It 6 O'Clock Yet?"; Side two: "V.O.L. Is Five-Piece Live", indicating that the song "Victim of Love" was recorded in a live session in studio, with no overdubbing. Joe Walsh and Glenn Frey confirm this on the inner booklet of "The Very Best Of". This only referred to the instrumental track, however; the lead vocal and harmony for the chorus were added later. This was in response to those who criticized the Eagles' practice of copious overdubbing of instruments and that they were too clinical and soulless in the studio. They wanted to demonstrate that they could play together without overdubs if they wanted to.


title: Hotel California (Eagles album)

text: A 40th anniversary deluxe edition was released on November 24, 2017. The set includes the original remastered album, and a second CD that features 10 live tracks from the concert at The Forum, recorded in October 1976 two months before the original release of the album. This bonus CD was also issued as a stand-alone vinyl LP in 2021.


title: Hotel California (Eagles album)

text: "Hotel California" was met with generally positive reviews. "Village Voice" critic Robert Christgau felt it was their "most substantial if not their most enjoyable LP", while Charley Walters of "Rolling Stone" felt it showcased "both the best and worst tendencies of Los Angeles-situated rock". Both critics picked up on the album's California themes – Christgau remarking that while it may in places be "pretentious and condescending" and that "Don Henley is incapable of conveying a mental state as complex as self-criticism", the band couldn't have written the songs on side one "without caring about their California theme down deep"; Walters in contrast felt the "lyrics present a convincing and unflattering portrait of the milieu itself", and that Don Henley's vocals express well "the weary disgust of a victim (or observer) of the region's luxurious excess". "Billboard" gave the album high praise: "The casually beautiful, quietly-intense multileveled vocal harmonies and brilliant original songs that meld solid emotional words with lovely melody lines are all back in force, keeping the Eagles at the acme of acoustic electric soft rock." It noted that, even though the album did not try out any new departure other than the "Procol Harum-type" title track, "the album proves that there's a lot more left to explore profitably and artistically in the L.A. countryish-rock style."


title: Hotel California (Eagles album)

text: Retrospective reviews have also been positive. Robert Hilburn of the "Los Angeles Times", writing after the band broke up, called the album "a legitimate rock masterpiece", in which the band "examined their recurring theme about the American Dream with more precision, power and daring than ever in such stark, uncompromising songs as "Hotel California" and "The Last Resort"." William Ruhlmann from AllMusic later said ""Hotel California" unveiled what seemed almost like a whole new band. It was a band that could be bombastic, but also one that made music worthy of the later tag of 'classic rock', music appropriate for the arenas and stadiums the band was playing." Steve Holtje, writing for "CultureCatch" in 2012, felt that even though "an awful lot of the album is snarky whining from co-leaders Don Henley and Glenn Frey, two guys who didn't really seem like they had that much they could legitimately complain about", in the final analysis ""Hotel California" and the underrated concept album "Desperado" stand as the group's greatest statements".


title: Hotel California (Eagles album)

text: "Hotel California" was the Eagles' sixth album (including "Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975)"), and fifth of original material. It became a critical and commercial success. In a poll of rock critics and DJs in 1987, it was ranked 48 out of 100. In a public poll for the 1994 edition of "All Time Top 1000 Albums", it was voted number 107, and then number 67 in the 2000 edition. In 2001, the TV network VH1 placed "Hotel California" at number 38 on their 100 Greatest Albums of All Time list. "Hotel California" was ranked 13th in a 2005 survey held by British television's Channel 4 to determine the 100 greatest albums of all time. In 2003, the album was ranked number 37 on "Rolling Stone" magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, maintaining the rating in a 2012 revised list, dropping to number 118 in the 2020 reboot of the list.


title: Hotel California (Eagles album)

text: The song "Hotel California" was ranked number 49 on "Rolling Stone" list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" in 2004. It maintained the ranking in 2010, and was re-ranked at number 311 in 2021.


title: Hotel California (Eagles album)

text: The album and its tracks were nominated for five Grammy awards in 1978, winning two; Record of the Year for the title track and Best Arrangement for Voices for "New Kid in Town". However, the band's manager Irving Azoff refused requests by the ceremony's producer for the band to attend or perform at the ceremony unless a win was guaranteed. The band therefore did not appear at the ceremony to collect their awards. Henley later said: "The whole idea of a contest to see who is 'best' just doesn't appeal to us."


title: Hotel California (Eagles album)

text: The album first entered the US "Billboard" 200 at number four, reaching number one in its fourth week in January 1977. It topped the chart for eight weeks (non-consecutively), and it was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in a week of release. In its first year of release it sold nearly 6 million copies in the United States, and by July 1978 it has sold 9.5 million copies worldwide (7 million in the US and 2.5 million elsewhere internationally). On March 20, 2001, the album was certified 16× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, denoting shipment of 16 million in the United States, and had sold over 17 million copies in the US by 2013. Worldwide the album has sold 32 million copies. On August 20, 2018, the album was certified 26× platinum by the RIAA for 26 million units consumed in the United States under the new system that tallies album and digital track sales as well as streams.


title: Hotel California (Eagles album)

text: The album produced two number one hit singles on the US "Billboard" Hot 100: "New Kid in Town", on February 26, 1977, and "Hotel California" on May 7, 1977.


title: Parallel Mothers

text: Parallel Mothers () is a 2021 Spanish drama film written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar. The film stars Penélope Cruz and Milena Smit and features Aitana Sánchez-Gijón, Israel Elejalde, Julieta Serrano and Rossy de Palma.


title: Parallel Mothers

text: The film had its premiere as the opening film of the 78th Venice International Film Festival on 1 September 2021 where Cruz was awarded the Volpi Cup for Best Actress. It was released theatrically in Spain on 8 October 2021 by Sony Pictures Releasing International. It was also the closing film of the 2021 New York Film Festival on the same day. The film earned two nominations at the 94th Academy Awards for Best Actress (Cruz) and Best Original Score (Iglesias).


title: Parallel Mothers

text: Photographer Janis Martínez does a photo shoot with renowned forensic archaeologist Arturo. She asks him if his foundation will help excavate a mass grave in her home village, where her great-grandfather and other men from the village were killed and buried during the Spanish Civil War. Arturo agrees to review the case with his foundation; he and Janis then sleep together and Janis becomes pregnant. She decides to keep the baby and raise it alone, against Arturo's wishes, whose wife is undergoing chemotherapy, but wants to be with Janis.


title: Parallel Mothers

text: Janis later shares a hospital room with Ana, a teen single mother; they give birth at the same time. After both babies are held for evaluation, they are released, and Janis and Ana go their separate ways. Janis and Ana stay in touch, keeping one another updated on their babies' progress. Arturo arrives one day asking to see baby Cecilia; he reacts strangely, confessing that he does not believe the baby is his. Janis does a maternity test, which reveals that she is not Cecilia's biological mother, but she decides not to tell anyone.


title: Parallel Mothers

text: Months later, Janis runs into Ana working at a cafe near her home; Ana has left her mother's home to fend for herself after her mother left to pursue acting on the road. Janis invites Ana up to her apartment, where Ana tearfully reveals that her baby Anita has suffered a crib death. Janis asks for a photo of Anita, which confirms her suspicions that her and Ana's babies were swapped in the hospital.


title: Parallel Mothers

text: Janis later offers Ana a job as a live-in maid, watching over the house and baby Cecilia. She collects saliva samples from Ana and Cecilia without telling her they are for a maternity test, whose results confirm that Cecilia is Ana's daughter. Ana later reveals that her pregnancy was the result of a gang rape by her classmates, and her father pressured her into staying silent to avoid negative press attention. The budding sugaring-like relationship between Janis and Ana further develops into a casual sexual relationship, but Janis is unable to commit fully to Ana who wants more from her.


title: Parallel Mothers

text: Arturo arrives with news that his foundation has approved the excavation of the mass grave, and also that his wife has recovered from cancer and they are separating. He and Janis celebrate with a night out on the town, making Ana jealous. Ana's mother also comes by to reconnect with Ana, admitting to Janis that she feels like a terrible mother but wanted so badly to pursue her dream as an actress.


title: Parallel Mothers

text: Janis finally admits the truth to Ana, who reacts angrily and leaves in the night with Cecilia, to Janis' dismay. She calls Arturo and breaks the news to him as well; he spends the night with her as they console each other. The next morning Ana calls Janis, having calmed down, and says that Janis is still welcome to see Cecilia and be a part of her life.


title: Parallel Mothers

text: Months later, Janis and Arturo travel to her home village, where he gathers information about the grave from surviving relatives and prepares for the excavation with his team. Ana later arrives with Cecilia, and Janis reveals to her that she is three months pregnant. When asked what she will name the baby, Janis says Ana if it is a girl and Antonio if it is a boy (after her great-grandfather). The excavation is a success, and the village gathers at the exhumed grave to mourn their lost loved ones.


title: Parallel Mothers

text: In February 2021 it was announced that Pedro Almodóvar was ready to direct his new film entitled "Madres paralelas", with a cast headed by Penélope Cruz, Israel Elejalde, Julieta Serrano and Rossy de Palma. On 12 March 2021, it was reported that Pedro Almodóvar intended to integrate Anya Taylor-Joy into the main cast of the film.


title: Parallel Mothers

text: Principal photography began on 12 March 2021 in Madrid, Spain, and concluded on 22 April 2021. Shooting locations included Madrid, Torrelaguna and Torremocha de Jarama. Produced by El Deseo and Remotamente Films AIE with the support of RTVE and Netflix, the movie also received funding from the ICAA.


title: Parallel Mothers

text: On 4 February 2021, Pathé acquired the UK distribution rights to the film. On 23 April 2021, Sony Pictures Classics acquired the North American, Australian and New Zealand distribution rights to the film. The film had its world premiere at the 78th Venice International Film Festival on 1 September 2021. Distributed by Sony Pictures Entertainment Iberia, it was intended to be theatrically released in Spain on 10 September 2021 but was postponed to 8 October. It was released in the United States on 24 December 2021. It was released theatrically in the United Kingdom on 28 January 2022, and was the first film released under Pathé's new term deal with Warner Bros. Pictures along with "The Duke", after their distribution agreement with Disney expired on 30 June 2021.


title: Parallel Mothers

text: Its theatrical release poster, featuring a lactating nipple, was removed from Instagram due to its rules regarding nudity. The decision was criticized by the "free the nipple" movement, leading to an apology from Instagram.


title: Parallel Mothers

text: Netflix acquired the exclusive distribution rights for the Latin-American region, aiming for an early 2022 release, even if theatrical openings were not ruled out at the time of the announcement. A theatrical window of 15 days prior to streaming was the choice for Argentina, with the "in a few theatres" was released on 3 February 2022.


title: Parallel Mothers

text: At its opening night world premiere, the movie received a nine-minute standing ovation from Venice Film Festival attendees in the Sala Grande. It was submitted to be the Spanish entry to the 94th Academy Awards alongside "" and "The Good Boss", but the latter film was the final official selection.


title: Airbus A330 MRTT

text: The Airbus A330 Multi Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) is a European aerial refuelling and military transport aircraft based on the civilian Airbus A330. A total of 16 countries have placed firm orders for approximately 68 aircraft, of which 51 had been delivered by 30 November 2020. A version of the A330 MRTT, the EADS/Northrop Grumman KC-45, was proposed to the United States Air Force for its aerial tanker replacement programme and selected, but the programme was cancelled.


title: Airbus A330 MRTT

text: The Airbus A330 MRTT is a military derivative of the A330-200 airliner. It is designed as a dual-role air-to-air refuelling and transport aircraft. For air-to-air refuelling missions, the A330 MRTT can be equipped with a combination of any of the following systems:


title: Airbus A330 MRTT

text: The A330 MRTT has a maximum fuel capacity of without the use of additional fuel tanks, leaving space for of additional cargo. The A330 MRTT's wing has common structure with the four-engine A340-200/-300 with reinforced mounting locations and provision for fuel piping for the A340's outboard engines. The A330 MRTT's wing therefore requires little modification to use these hardpoints for the wing refuelling pods.


title: Airbus A330 MRTT

text: The A330 MRTT cabin can be modified to carry up to 380 passengers in a single-class configuration, allowing a complete range of configurations from maximised troop transport to complex customisation suitable for VIP and guest missions. Available configurations include 300 passengers in a single class and 266 passengers in two classes. The A330 MRTT can also be configured to perform Medical Evacuation (Medevac) missions; up to 130 standard stretchers can be carried. The main deck cargo configuration allows carriage of standard commercial containers and pallets, military, ISO and NATO pallets (including seats) and containers, and military equipment and other large items which are loaded through a cargo door. Like the A330-200, the A330 MRTT includes two lower deck cargo compartments (forward and aft) and a bulk area capability. The cargo hold has been modified to be able to transport up to eight military pallets in addition to civilian unit load devices (ULDs).


title: Airbus A330 MRTT

text: An optional crew rest compartment (CRC) can be installed in the forward cabin, accommodating a spare crew to increase time available for a mission. The passenger cabin of the A330 MRTT can be provided with a set of removable airstairs to enable embarkation and disembarkation when jet bridges or ground support equipment are not available.


title: Airbus A330 MRTT

text: Standard commercial A330-200s are delivered from Airbus's Final Assembly Line in Toulouse, France to the Airbus Military Conversion Centre in Getafe, Spain for fitting of refuelling systems and military avionics. The tanker was certified by Spanish authorities in October 2010. The first delivered aircraft (the third to be converted) arrived in Australia on 30 May 2011 and was formally handed over to the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) two days later on 1 June.


title: Airbus A330 MRTT

text: On 30 September 2016, Airbus Defence and Space completed the first flight of the "new standard" A330 MRTT. The new standard features structural modifications, aerodynamic improvements for a 1% fuel-burn reduction, upgraded avionics computers, and enhanced military systems. The first delivery was planned for 2018.


title: Airbus A330 MRTT

text: An Airbus/Saab team proposed an A330-based Airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) ("AWACS") variant with Saab's Erieye radar to the UK's Ministry of Defence in 2018 for the replacement of its Boeing E-3 Sentry fleet.


title: Airbus A330 MRTT

text: The boom operators sit at a video console using the Boom Enhanced Vision System. It uses a 3D camera vision system for day and night vision and ergonomics are significantly improved compared to operating in a prone position


title: Airbus A330 MRTT

text: The A330 MRTT has been ordered by Australia, France, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Canada, and by NATO in a multi-nation deal. Australia was the launch customer for the A330 MRTT.


title: Airbus A330 MRTT

text: Designated as KC-30A, the RAAF A330 MRTTs are equipped with both an Aerial Refuelling Boom System (ARBS) and two Cobham 905E under-wing refuelling pods. They are powered by two General Electric CF6-80E1A3 engines and are configured to carry up to 270 passengers plus 34,000 kilograms of cargo. Australia initially arranged to procure four MRTTS with an option to obtain a fifth; this option for a fifth was exercised to allow for two simultaneous deployments of two aircraft, the fifth being for contingency coverage. Australian KC-30As are operated by No. 33 Squadron RAAF, based at RAAF Base Amberley near Brisbane in Queensland.


title: Airbus A330 MRTT

text: In 2005, the RAAF expected deliveries to begin in 2008 and end in 2010. Deliveries fell two years behind schedule, partly due to boom development issues. On 30 May 2011, KC-30A RAAF serial "A39-003", the third converted A330, arrived at RAAF Base Amberley and was formally handed over on 1 June 2011, thus becoming the first MRTT to be delivered to an end user. The second, "A39-002", was handed over on 22 June 2011. On 3 December 2012, the fifth KC-30A was delivered to the RAAF. While the first conversion was performed in Spain, Qantas Defence Services converted the other four RAAF A330-200s at its Brisbane facility on behalf of EADS. In July 2013, there were reportedly delays to the KC-30A's full service entry due to refuelling issues, such as the hose-and-drogue system passing too much fuel.


title: Airbus A330 MRTT

text: In August 2013, the KC-30A made its debut as a VIP transport, ferrying Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and an entourage to Al Minhad Air Base in the United Arab Emirates. In August 2014, Defence Minister David Johnston announced the intention to buy two more KC-30As, one with a VIP layout for the Prime Minister's use. In July 2015, Defence Minister Kevin Andrews announced the order of two additional KC-30s, to be converted from A330-200s previously operated by Qantas, to be delivered in 2018. In 2016, it was decided to add a modest VIP fitout, including seating, meeting spaces and communication facilities, to a single KC-30, which remains primarily used as a tanker. The 2016 Defence White Paper noted a possible rise in the fleet's size to nine to support new RAAF aircraft such as the Boeing P-8 Poseidon.


title: Airbus A330 MRTT

text: On 22 September 2014, the RAAF deployed an Air Task Group, including F/A-18F Super Hornets, a KC-30A and a Boeing E-7A Wedgetail airborne early warning and control aircraft, to Al Minhad Air Base in the United Arab Emirates, as part of a coalition to combat Islamic State forces in Iraq. The KC-30 started operations days after arriving in the UAE, refuelling coalition aircraft over Iraq. On 6 October 2014, the RAAF conducted its first combat missions over Iraq via two Super Hornets supported by the KC-30.


title: Airbus A330 MRTT

text: In December 2016 an RAAF KC-30 conducted air-to-air refuelling trials with a US Air Force B-1B bomber.


title: Airbus A330 MRTT

text: In January 2004, the UK Ministry of Defence announced the selection of an A330 MRTT variant to provide tanking for the RAF for the next 30 years under the Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft (FSTA) programme, replacing the RAF's TriStar and VC10 tankers. The Ministry of Defence entered negotiations with the EADS-led AirTanker consortium. On 27 March 2008, a deal was signed to lease 14 MRTTs under a private finance initiative arrangement with AirTanker, with the first to enter service in 2011. The service's annual cost, including military personnel costs is around £450 million for a delivery of 18,000 flying hours a rate of approximately £25,000 per hour. There are two versions, designated "Voyager KC.Mk 2" and "Voyager KC.Mk 3"; the former is fitted with two Cobham 905E under-wing refuelling pods, the latter with a Cobham 805E Fuselage Refuelling Unit (FRU) in addition to the under-wing pods; none are fitted with the Aerial Refuelling Boom System (ARBS). All Voyagers are powered by a pair of Rolls-Royce Trent 772B-60 engines.


title: Airbus A330 MRTT

text: By May 2014, nine aircraft had been delivered, completing the core fleet. Further deliveries were for a "surge capability", available to the RAF when needed, but otherwise available to AirTanker for "release to the civil market, less its military equipment or to partner nations in a military capacity with the MoD's agreement". By 14 March 2016, all 14 Voyagers had been delivered. In November 2015, it was announced that a Voyager would be refitted to carry government ministers and members of the Royal Family on official visits. The refit cost £10m but was claimed to save roughly £775,000 annually compared to charter flights. ZZ336 is fitted with 158 seats and is known as Vespina. It entered service on 6 May 2016, the then Prime Minister David Cameron made his first flight on it to attend the 2016 Warsaw NATO summit. In June 2020, ZZ336 received a new livery based on the colours of the Union Flag at the request of the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Although undertaken as a part of routine maintenance, the new livery's cost was stated to be approximately £900,000.


title: Airbus A330 MRTT

text: Because the RAF's Voyagers are only capable of probe-and-drogue refuelling, they are unable to refuel current or future RAF aircraft that are fitted solely for flying boom refuelling, including the Boeing RC-135, Boeing C-17 Globemaster III, Boeing 737 AEW&C and Boeing P-8 Poseidon. In April 2016, the RAF stated its interest in fitting a boom to some Voyagers, bringing its fleet into line with other MRTT operators. Fitting a boom would add flexibility to the RAF Voyagers, not only allowing operation with those types in the RAF not fitted for probe and drogue but for other air forces that operate boom-refuelled aircraft.


title: Airbus A330 MRTT

text: On 18 November 2022, an RAF Voyager completed the world-first 100% sustainable fuel military transporter flight; part of the RAF's plan to become net-zero by 2040.


title: Airbus A330 MRTT

text: In 2007, the United Arab Emirates announced it had signed a memorandum of understanding with Airbus to purchase three A330 MRTTs. A contract was signed with the UAE in February 2008. The first UAE A330 MRTT was delivered on 6 February 2013. The remaining two were delivered by 6 August 2013. The UAE tankers are equipped with both an ARBS and two Cobham 905E under-wing refuelling pods; these ARBS units include a secondary boom hoist developed for the UAE. This system permits the boom to be retracted, even in the event of a primary boom retraction system failure. The UAE tankers are fitted with Rolls-Royce Trent 700 engines. On 14 November 2021, UAE ordered two additional A330 MRTT.


title: Airbus A330 MRTT

text: Saudi Arabia finalised an agreement to purchase three A330 MRTTs equipped with both an Aerial Refuelling Boom System (ARBS) and two Cobham 905E under-wing refuelling pods on 3 January 2008. In July 2009, it was announced that Saudi Arabia ordered three additional MRTTs. The Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) chose General Electric CF6-80 engines to power its A330 MRTTs.


title: Airbus A330 MRTT

text: On 25 February 2013, the first Saudi MRTT entered operational use. Three more MRTTs were ordered in a follow-on contract; delivery was expected in late 2014. By 31 August 2013, three had been delivered.


title: Airbus A330 MRTT

text: In February 2012, Singapore expressed interest in the A330 MRTT to replace its four Boeing KC-135s. In February 2014, the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) selected the A330 MRTT over the Boeing KC-46, signing for six aircraft. All are fitted with Trent 772B engines and configured for a maximum capacity of 266 passengers or of cargo, as well as a maximum fuel weight of .


title: Airbus A330 MRTT

text: The first A330 MRTT arrived in Singapore on 14 August 2018 in a special livery. It made its first public appearance at the RSAF's 50th anniversary parade on 1 September 2018. The RSAF's six A330 MRTTs attained full operational capability (FOC) on 20 April 2021 and currently fly with the 112 Squadron at Changi Air Base (East) in Singapore.


title: Airbus A330 MRTT

text: On 30 June 2015, South Korea selected the A330 MRTT; the Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) planned to induct four tankers by 2020. The first MRTT was delivered on 12 November 2018, after a ferry flight from Airbus's final assembly line in Getafe, Spain to South Korea, piloted by a joint Airbus and ROKAF crew. Designated "KC-330 Cygnus", it extends the endurance of ROKAF aircraft over remote areas such as Dokdo, Ieodo, and the North Pyongyang-Wonsan Line, as well as increase its ability to deploy overseas for international operations. South Korea received its second MRTT in March 2019 and the third in July 2019. The aircraft are powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 700 engines.


title: Airbus A330 MRTT

text: In November 2011, France expressed interest in acquiring 14 A330 MRTTs to replace its Boeing KC-135 tankers and Airbus A340 and A310 transports; one year later, it was announced that 14 would be ordered in 2013. In May 2013, Airbus made an offer for 12 to 14 A330 MRTTs to France. On 20 February 2014, the French Chief of Staff stated that 12 A330 MRTTs would be acquired in two batches, an initial standard configuration with a boom and wing refuelling pods and later with a cargo door and SATCOM. On 15 December 2015, France ordered eight A330 MRTTs, constituting the second tranche of a multi-year contract for 12 A330 MRTTs, worth €3 billion ($3.3 billion), signed by the French Ministry of Defence in November 2014. Initial deliveries were expected in 2018, with further handovers of one or two per year until 2025.


title: Airbus A330 MRTT

text: In September 2018, the "Direction générale de l'armement" (DGA) announced plans to speed up delivery of the A330 MRTT Phénix, as it is known in French service, by two years, planning for the last of 12 aircraft to be delivered in 2023 rather than 2025. In addition, the DGA stated that the fleet would be later increased to 15 aircraft. Later in September, the French Air Force received the first A330 MRTT as per the existing timetable. On 13 December 2018, France ordered another three A330 MRTTs of a third tranche of the multi-year contract; these are powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 700 engines and equipped with the ARBS and underwing hose-and-drogue refuelling pods.


title: Airbus A330 MRTT

text: In November 2011, the European Defence Agency (EDA) Steering Board and European Defence Ministers endorsed air-to-air refuelling (AAR) as one of the initial Pooling and Sharing initiatives after recognising the need for a greater AAR capability as it was heavily reliant on US Air Force tankers. In November 2012, the Ministers of Defence of 10 EDA member states (the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Greece, Spain, Hungary, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal and Norway) signed a letter of intent to jointly procure a multi-role tanker transport. The Netherlands was designated leader of the newly launched Multinational Multi-Role Tanker Transport Fleet (MMF) project, which had the aim of creating an initial European AAR capability by 2020. In 2013, the Netherlands expressed interest in the A330 MRTT to replace its two KDC-10 aircraft; a study was launched on standardising European AAR capability in cooperation with other MFF members.


title: Airbus A330 MRTT

text: In December 2014, following a request for information, the bulk of the MMF member states entered negotiations with Airbus to procure an A330 MRTT fleet to be owned by NATO while the Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation (OCCAR) and the NATO Support and Procurement Agency would support the procurement process. This was accompanied by a request for proposals sent by OCCAR to Airbus for two MRTTs with options for six more; only the Netherlands and Luxembourg were full MMF members at this point. It was decided to base these MRTTs at Eindhoven Air Base, which has noise clearance to operate up to eight MRTTs. In July 2016, the Netherlands and Luxembourg jointly ordered the first two MRTTs under the MMF programme, the first scheduled for delivery by 2020. In June 2017, Germany and Norway became MMF members, pledging to order five more MRTTs plus options for a further four. On 26 September 2017, Airbus announced receipt of OCCAR's firm order for five additional tankers.


title: Airbus A330 MRTT

text: The Belgian Ministry of Defence stated the intent to buy one A330 MRTT in a 2015 defence plan. The Belgian government investigated the €840 million plan, as well as the option of equipping Belgium's seven A400Ms with under-wing pods; a combined Belgian A330 MRTT and A400M fleet would cost up to €1 billion. On 22 December 2017, Belgium signed a contract for one MRTT, to be based at Eindhoven Air Base, bringing the MMF to eight aircraft. and officially joined the programme on 14 February 2018.


title: Airbus A330 MRTT

text: On 19 December 2017, NATO partnered with Israel's Elbit Systems to provide J-Music electronic countermeasures systems to the fleet. Having considered joining the initiative for some time, the Czech Republic joined as the sixth member during October 2019. In September 2020, Luxembourg committed to an extra 1,000 hours and to provide funding for a ninth MRTT via an existing contract option.


title: Airbus A330 MRTT

text: Out of the total of nine aircraft currently on order, five will be based at Eindhoven Air Base in the Netherlands and four at Cologne Bonn Airport in Germany. On 30 June 2020, Airbus delivered the first A330 MRTT. On 31 August 2021, the fifth aircraft was delivered. Aircraft six and seven, respectively were delivered on 26 and 28 July 2022.


title: Airbus A330 MRTT

text: Spain's Ministry of Defence stated that it was to acquire two A330 MRTT in 2016 to replace its ageing Boeing 707 tankers. In 2014, Spain's Secretary of State for Defence stated that negotiations had begun with Airbus about switching its excess order for 13 Airbus A400Ms to an undisclosed number of A330 MRTTs. Airbus Defence and Space commercial director said that although being a difficult issue, the company would negotiate with Spain in order to reach an agreement. In September 2020, Spain agreed to buy three A330s from Iberia that were no longer needed due to economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, then modify them to serve as a MRTT fleet. On 12 November 2021, Spain signed an order for three MRTTs from Airbus.


title: Airbus A330 MRTT

text: On 28 January 2021, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro announced negotiations for two A330 MRTT for the Brazilian Air Force. On 13 May 2021, the Ministry of Defence released an statement authorizing the deal, reportedly from the RAF's active inventory. On 30 June 2021, the British military attaché for Brazil, Royal Navy's Captain Mark Albon, confirmed the ongoing negotiations, conducted by the UK ambassador to Brazil and Ministry of Defence officials. On 27 January 2022, the Brazilian Air Force ended negotiations with the RAF and launched international bidding to buy two A330-200s on the civil market, estimated at US$81 million.


title: Airbus A330 MRTT

text: On 6 April 2022, Azul Brazilian Airlines was declared the supplier by the Ministry of Defence. The agreements with Airbus, conversion costs and delivery schedule were kept confidential. Conversion work into A330 MRTTs is at Airbus's plant in Getafe, Spain, fitted with two Cobham 905E under-wing pods and a Cobham FRU-805E fuselage refuelling unit, and will be based at the Galeão Air Force Base in Rio de Janeiro. VIP transport is also a possibility, in order to replace the Airbus A319ACJ in presidential trips necessitating intercontinental range. According to one source, they will be designated C-330 prior to the tanker conversions; thereafter they may be redesignated KC-330. Other sources suggest the designation will be KC-30.


title: Airbus A330 MRTT

text: In April 2021, Airbus was declared the only qualified supplier to replace Canada's RCAF CC-150 Polaris refuelling and VIP transport aircraft, beating out Boeing's KC-46 Pegasus. In July 2022, a $102M deal was finalised to acquire two used A330-200s from the International Airfinance Corporation for passenger/cargo only use that is expected to be converted into MRTTs by Airbus in the future; it is anticipated that up to four more MRTTs will be acquired, for a total of six aircraft.


title: Airbus A330 MRTT

text: In January 2018, Indonesian Air Force (TNI-AU) officials were reportedly studying both the A330 MRTT and Boeing KC-46 Pegasus tankers for a future modernisation programme, expected to take place after completion of the Airbus A400M Atlas programme. The TNI-AU was said to compare compatibility with its current aircraft; life-cycle costs; interoperability with current and future assets; and potential funding and technology transfer options with state-owned aircraft manufacturer Indonesian Aerospace.


title: Airbus A330 MRTT

text: The A330 MRTT and Ilyushin Il-78 competed for a tender floated in 2006 by the Indian Ministry of Defence (MoD) for six refuellers to extend the Indian Air Force's (IAF) operating radius. In May 2009, India chose the A330 MRTT over the Il-78. However, in January 2010, the government cancelled the order, citing high cost as the reason, reportedly against the IAF's wishes. After rebidding, India selected Airbus as its "preferred vendor" in November 2012. In January 2013, India reportedly chose the A330 MRTT as the "preferred bid". In 2016, Airbus said India's MoD had terminated the six-year-old US$2 billion tender for six MRTTs.


title: Airbus A330 MRTT

text: In January 2018, the IAF re-launched its aerial refuelling procurement programme, sending out a request for information (RFI) to Airbus, Boeing and Ilyushin. Both Airbus and Boeing responded to the RFI, while Ilyushin was disqualified as the requirement sought an aircraft with two turbofan engines. In 2017, India announced plans to purchase six airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) ("AWACS") aircraft that can also perform aerial refuelling, with the first two AEW&C aircraft awaiting approval by Cabinet in 2020. However, in September 2021, it was decided to use six Airbus A321s acquired from Air India instead.


title: Airbus A330 MRTT

text: Lockheed Martin is proposing a variant called "LMXT" for the Bridge Tanker Competition referred to as "KC-Y", which could lead to a contract to build up to 160 aircraft.


title: Airbus A330 MRTT

text: On 27 March 2014, Airbus announced that the Qatar Emiri Air Force intended to purchase two A330 MRTTs.


title: Airbus A330 MRTT

text: As of 2018, Sweden was reportedly considering joining the Multinational Multi-Role Tanker Transport Fleet programme.


title: Airbus A330 MRTT

text: In May 2021, it was revealed that Egypt was considering the purchase of two A330 MRTTs as part of a Rafale fighter deal with France.


title: Airbus A330 MRTT

text: The US Air Force (USAF) ran a procurement programme to replace around 100 of its oldest KC-135E Stratotankers, "i.e.", initially excluding the more common updated KC-135R variant. EADS offered the A330 MRTT. The Boeing KC-767 was selected in 2002; however the USAF cancelled the KC-767 order upon the uncovering of illegal manipulation and corrupt practices during the competition.


title: Airbus A330 MRTT

text: In 2006, the USAF released a new request for proposal (RFP) for a tanker aircraft, which was updated in January 2007, to the KC-X RFP, one of three acquisition programmes that are intended to replace the entire KC-135 fleet. The A330 MRTT was proposed again by EADS and Northrop Grumman as the "KC-30". It again competed against the Boeing KC-767, a smaller and less expensive aircraft with less fuel and cargo capability. Northrop Grumman and EADS announced plans to assemble the aircraft at a new facility in Mobile, Alabama, which would also build A330 freighters. On 29 February 2008, the USAF announced the selection of the KC-30 as the KC-135 replacement, and was designated KC-45A. On 18 June 2008, the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) upheld a protest by Boeing on the contract's award to Northrop Grumman and EADS over process improprieties. This left the status of the KC-45A in doubt, because the GAO decision required the USAF to rebid the contract.


title: Airbus A330 MRTT

text: On 24 September 2009, the USAF began the first steps in the new round of bids, with a clearer set of criteria. On 8 March 2010, Northrop Grumman withdrew from the bidding process, asserting that the new criteria were skewed in favour of Boeing's offering. On 20 April 2010, EADS announced it was re-entering the competition on a stand-alone basis and intended to enter a bid with the KC-45, still intending for Mobile to be the final assembly site. On 24 February 2011, the USAF announced that the development contract had been awarded to Boeing. William J. Lynn III, the deputy defence secretary, said Boeing was "the clear winner" under a formula that considered the bid prices, how well each tanker met needs and the operating costs over 40 years.


title: Airbus A330 MRTT

text: As of 30 November 2022, a total of 66 A330 MRTT had been ordered from Airbus Military. 55 have been delivered, including seven of the nine ordered by NATO's Multinational Multi-Role Tanker Transport Fleet (MMF).


title: Airbus A330 MRTT

text: On 19 January 2011, an air refuelling accident occurred between a boom-equipped A330 MRTT and a Portuguese Air Force General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon over the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Portugal. Early reports indicated that the boom broke off at the aft end of the boom near the F-16's receptacle, causing the boom to recoil into the MRTT's underside. The boom then became uncontrollable and oscillated until it broke off the boom assembly at the pivot point. Both aircraft were damaged but landed safely. The A330 MRTT involved was an Airbus test aircraft destined for the RAAF, operated by an Airbus crew. At the time of the incident, Airbus had not yet begun deliveries.


title: Airbus A330 MRTT

text: On 10 September 2012, an A330 MRTT's refuelling boom detached in flight at an altitude of in Spanish airspace. The boom separated cleanly at a mechanical joint and fell to the ground, while the tanker landed safely in Getafe without any injuries. The fault was attributed to a conflict between the backup boom hoist (fitted to the UAE-destined MRTTs) and the primary boom retraction mechanism, as well as to the test conducted. Airbus later explained that the malfunction was not possible under ordinary operating conditions, and that procedures had been implemented to avoid similar incidents in the future. Following the incident, the "Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial", Spain's airworthiness authority, issued precautionary restrictions to other users of boom-equipped A330s.


title: Isles of Scilly

text: The Isles of Scilly (; , "", or ) is an archipelago off the southwestern tip of Cornwall, England. One of the islands, St Agnes, is the most southerly point in Britain, being over further south than the most southerly point of the British mainland at Lizard Point.


title: Isles of Scilly

text: The total population of the islands at the 2011 United Kingdom census was 2,203. Scilly forms part of the ceremonial county of Cornwall, and some services are combined with those of Cornwall. However, since 1890, the islands have had a separate local authority. Since the passing of the Isles of Scilly Order 1930, this authority has had the status of a county council and today is known as the Council of the Isles of Scilly.


title: Isles of Scilly

text: The adjective "Scillonian" is sometimes used for people or things related to the archipelago. The Duchy of Cornwall owns most of the freehold land on the islands. Tourism is a major part of the local economy, along with agriculture—particularly the production of cut flowers.


title: Isles of Scilly

text: Historically, the Isles of Scilly were known in Latin as "Insulae Sillinae", "Silina" or "Siluruni", corresponding to Greek forms Σίλυρες and Σύρινες, possibly derived from native Celtic roots. In the late middle ages they were known to European navigators as "Sorlingas" (Spanish, Portuguese) or "Sorlingues" (French). Some authors claim that the Latin "Sillinae" is derived or related to "solis insulae", “the Isles of the Sun”.


title: Isles of Scilly

text: The islands may correspond to the Cassiterides ('Tin Isles') believed by some to have been visited by the Phoenicians, and mentioned by the Greeks. However, there is no evidence of substantial tin mining activity on the islands.


title: Isles of Scilly

text: The isles were off the coast of the Brittonic Celtic kingdom of Dumnonia and later its offshoot, Kernow (Cornwall), and may have been a part of these polities until their conquest by the English in the 10th century AD.


title: Isles of Scilly

text: It is likely that until relatively recent times the islands were much larger and perhaps joined into one island named Ennor. Rising sea levels flooded the central plain around 400–500 AD, forming the current 55 islands and islets, if an island is defined as "land surrounded by water at high tide and supporting land vegetation". The word ' is a contraction of the Old Cornish ' (', mutated to '), meaning 'the land' or the 'great island'.


title: Isles of Scilly

text: Offshore, midway between Land's End and the Isles of Scilly, is the supposed location of the mythical lost land of Lyonesse, referred to in Arthurian literature, of which Tristan is said to have been a prince. This may be a folk memory of inundated lands, but this legend is also common among the Brythonic peoples; the legend of Ys is a parallel and cognate legend in Brittany as is that of in Wales.


title: Isles of Scilly

text: Scilly has been identified as the place of exile of two heretical 4th century bishops, Instantius and Tiberianus, who were followers of Priscillian.


title: Isles of Scilly

text: In 995, Olaf Tryggvason became King Olaf I of Norway. Born 960, Olaf had raided various European cities and fought in several wars. In 986 he met a Christian seer on the Isles of Scilly. He was probably a follower of Priscillian and part of the tiny Christian community that was exiled here from Spain by Emperor Maximus for Priscillianism. In Snorri Sturluson's Royal Sagas of Norway, it is stated that this seer told him:


title: Isles of Scilly

text: Thou wilt become a renowned king, and do celebrated deeds. Many men wilt thou bring to faith and baptism, and both to thy own and others' good; and that thou mayst have no doubt of the truth of this answer, listen to these tokens. When thou comest to thy ships many of thy people will conspire against thee, and then a battle will follow in which many of thy men will fall, and thou wilt be wounded almost to death, and carried upon a shield to thy ship; yet after seven days thou shalt be well of thy wounds, and immediately thou shalt let thyself be baptised.


title: Isles of Scilly

text: The legend continues that, as the seer foretold, Olaf was attacked by a group of mutineers upon returning to his ships. As soon as he had recovered from his wounds, he let himself be baptised. He then stopped raiding Christian cities, and lived in England and Ireland. In 995, he used an opportunity to return to Norway. When he arrived, the Haakon Jarl was facing a revolt. Olaf Tryggvason persuaded the rebels to accept him as their king, and Jarl Haakon was murdered by his own slave, while he was hiding from the rebels in a pig sty.


title: Isles of Scilly

text: With the Norman Conquest, the Isles of Scilly came more under centralised control. About 20 years later, the Domesday survey was conducted. The islands would have formed part of the "Exeter Domesday" circuit, which included Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, and Wiltshire.


title: Isles of Scilly

text: In the mid-12th century, there was reportedly a Viking attack on the Isles of Scilly, called by the Norse, recorded in the ""—Sweyn Asleifsson "went south, under Ireland, and seized a barge belonging to some monks in Syllingar and plundered it." (Chap LXXIII)


title: Isles of Scilly

text: ...the three chiefs—Swein, Þorbjörn and Eirik—went out on a plundering expedition. They went first to the Suðreyar [Hebrides], and all along the west to the Syllingar, where they gained a great victory in Maríuhöfn on Columba's-mass [9 June], and took much booty. Then they returned to the Orkneys.


title: Isles of Scilly

text: "" literally means "Mary's Harbour/Haven". The name does not make it clear if it referred to a harbour on a larger island than today's St Mary's, or a whole island.


title: Isles of Scilly

text: It is generally considered that Cornwall, and possibly the Isles of Scilly, came under the dominion of the English Crown late in the reign of Æthelstan ( 924–939). In early times one group of islands was in the possession of a confederacy of hermits. King Henry I (r. 1100–35) gave it to the abbey of Tavistock who established a priory on Tresco, which was abolished at the Reformation.


title: Isles of Scilly

text: stat[ing] that they hold certain isles in the sea between Cornwall and Ireland, of which the largest is called Scilly, to which ships come passing between France, Normandy, Spain, Bayonne, Gascony, Scotland, Ireland, Wales and Cornwall: and, because they feel that in the event of a war breaking out between the kings of England and France, or between any of the other places mentioned, they would not have enough power to do justice to these sailors, they ask that they might exchange these islands for lands in Devon, saving the churches on the islands appropriated to them.


title: Isles of Scilly

text: William le Poer, coroner of Scilly, is recorded in 1305 as being worried about the extent of wrecking in the islands, and sending a petition to the King. The names provide a wide variety of origins, e.g. Robert and Henry Sage (English), Richard de Tregenestre (Cornish), Ace de Veldre (French), Davy Gogch (possibly Welsh, or Cornish), and Adam le Fuiz Yaldicz (possibly Spanish).


title: Isles of Scilly

text: It is not known at what point the islanders stopped speaking the Cornish language, but the language seems to have gone into decline in Cornwall beginning in the Late Middle Ages; it was still dominant between the islands and Bodmin at the time of the Reformation, but it suffered an accelerated decline thereafter. The islands appear to have lost the old Celtic language before parts of Penwith on the mainland, in contrast to the history of Irish or Scottish Gaelic.


title: Isles of Scilly

text: During the English Civil War, the Parliamentarians captured the isles, only to see their garrison mutiny and return the isles to the Royalists. By 1651 the Royalist governor, Sir John Grenville, was using the islands as a base for privateering raids on Commonwealth and Dutch shipping. The Dutch admiral Maarten Tromp sailed to the isles and on arriving on 30 May 1651 demanded compensation. In the absence of compensation or a satisfactory reply, he declared war on England in June. It was during this period that the disputed Three Hundred and Thirty Five Years' War started between the isles and the Netherlands.


title: Isles of Scilly

text: In June 1651, Admiral Robert Blake recaptured the isles for the Parliamentarians. Blake's initial attack on Old Grimsby failed, but the next attacks succeeded in taking Tresco and Bryher. Blake placed a battery on Tresco to fire on St Mary's, but one of the guns exploded, killing its crew and injuring Blake. A second battery proved more successful. Subsequently, Grenville and Blake negotiated terms that permitted the Royalists to surrender honourably. The Parliamentary forces then set to fortifying the islands. They built Cromwell's Castle—a gun platform on the west side of Tresco—using materials scavenged from an earlier gun platform further up the hill. Although this poorly sited earlier platform dated back to the 1550s, it is now referred to as King Charles's Castle.


title: Isles of Scilly

text: The Isles of Scilly served as a place of exile during the English Civil War. Among those exiled there was Unitarian Jon Biddle.


title: Isles of Scilly

text: During the night of 22 October 1707, the isles were the scene of one of the worst maritime disasters in British history, when out of a fleet of 21 Royal Navy ships headed from Gibraltar to Portsmouth, six were driven onto the cliffs. Four of the ships sank or capsized, with at least 1,450 dead, including the commanding admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell.


title: Isles of Scilly

text: An early governor of Scilly was Thomas Godolphin, whose son Francis received a lease on the Isles in 1568. They were styled "Governors of Scilly" and the Godolphins and their Osborne relatives held this position until 1834. In 1834 Augustus John Smith acquired the lease from the Duchy for £20,000. Smith created the title "Lord Proprietor of the Isles of Scilly" for himself, and many of his actions were unpopular. The lease remained in his family until it expired for most of the Isles in 1920 when ownership reverted to the Duchy of Cornwall. Today, the Dorrien-Smith estate still holds the lease for the island of Tresco.


title: Isles of Scilly

text: The Isles of Scilly form an archipelago of five inhabited islands (six if Gugh is counted separately from St Agnes) and numerous other small rocky islets (around 140 in total) lying off Land's End.


title: Isles of Scilly

text: The islands' position produces a place of great contrast; the ameliorating effect of the sea, greatly influenced by the North Atlantic Current, means they rarely have frost or snow, which allows local farmers to grow flowers well ahead of those in mainland Britain. The chief agricultural product is cut flowers, mostly daffodils. Exposure to Atlantic winds also means that spectacular winter gales lash the islands from time to time. This is reflected in the landscape, most clearly seen on Tresco where the lush Abbey Gardens on the sheltered southern end of the island contrast with the low heather and bare rock sculpted by the wind on the exposed northern end.


title: Isles of Scilly

text: Natural England has designated the Isles of Scilly as National Character Area 158. As part of a 2002 marketing campaign, the plant conservation charity Plantlife chose sea thrift ("Armeria maritima") as the "county flower" of the islands.


title: Isles of Scilly

text: In 1975 the islands were designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The designation covers the entire archipelago, including the uninhabited islands and rocks, and is the smallest such area in the UK. The islands of Annet and Samson have large terneries and the islands are well populated by seals. The Isles of Scilly are the only British haunt of the lesser white-toothed shrew ("Crocidura suaveolens"), where it is known locally as a ""teak"" or ""teke"".


title: Isles of Scilly

text: The islands are famous among birdwatchers for the large variety of rare and migratory birds that visit the islands. The peak time of year for sightings is generally in the autumn.


title: Isles of Scilly

text: The tidal range at the Isles of Scilly is high for an open sea location; the maximum for St Mary's is . Additionally, the inter-island waters are mostly shallow, which at spring tides allows for dry land walking between several of the islands. Many of the northern islands can be reached from Tresco, including Bryher, Samson and St Martin's (requires very low tides). From St Martin's White Island, Little Ganilly and Great Arthur are reachable. Although the sound between St Mary's and Tresco, The Road, is fairly shallow, it never becomes totally dry, but according to some sources it should be possible to wade at extreme low tides. Around St Mary's several minor islands become accessible, including Taylor's Island on the west coast and Tolls Island on the east coast. From Saint Agnes, Gugh becomes accessible at each low tide, via a tombolo.


title: Isles of Scilly

text: The Isles of Scilly have a temperate oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification: "Cfb"), which borders a humid subtropical climate (Cf) under the Trewartha climate classification. The average annual temperature is , the warmest place in the British Isles. Winters are, by far, the warmest in the UK due to the moderating effects of the North Atlantic Drift of the Gulf Stream. Despite being on exactly the same latitude as Winnipeg in Canada, snow and frost are extremely rare. The maximum snowfall was on 12 January 1987. Summer heat is moderated by the Atlantic Ocean and summer temperatures are not as warm as on the mainland. However, the Isles are one of the sunniest areas in the southwest with an average of seven hours per day in May. The lowest temperature ever recorded was and the highest was . The isles have never recorded a temperature below freezing in the months from May to November inclusive. Precipitation (the overwhelming majority of which is rain) averages about per year. The wettest months are from October to January, while April and May are the driest months.


title: Isles of Scilly

text: All the islands of Scilly are all composed of granite rock of Early Permian age, an exposed part of the Cornubian batholith. The Irish Sea Glacier terminated just to the north of the Isles of Scilly during the last ice age.


title: Isles of Scilly

text: Politically, the islands are part of England, one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. They are represented in the UK Parliament as part of the St Ives constituency. As part of the United Kingdom, the islands were part of the European Union and were represented in the European Parliament as part of the multi-member South West England constituency.


title: Isles of Scilly

text: Historically, the Isles of Scilly were administered as one of the hundreds of Cornwall, although the Cornwall quarter sessions had limited jurisdiction there. For judicial purposes, shrievalty purposes, and lieutenancy purposes, the Isles of Scilly are "deemed to form part of the county of Cornwall".


title: Isles of Scilly

text: The Local Government Act 1888 allowed the Local Government Board to establish in the Isles of Scilly "councils and other local authorities separate from those of the county of Cornwall"... "for the application to the islands of any act touching local government." Accordingly, in 1890 the "Isles of Scilly Rural District Council" (the RDC) was formed as a "sui generis" unitary authority, outside the administrative county of Cornwall. Cornwall County Council provided some services to the Isles, for which the RDC made financial contributions. The Isles of Scilly Order 1930 granted the council the "powers, duties and liabilities" of a county council. Section 265 of the Local Government Act 1972 allowed for the continued existence of the RDC, but renamed as the "Council of the Isles of Scilly". This unusual status also means that much administrative law (for example relating to the functions of local authorities, the health service and other public bodies) that applies in the rest of England applies in modified form in the islands.


title: Isles of Scilly

text: With a total population of just over 2,000, the council represents fewer inhabitants than many English parish councils, and is by far the smallest English unitary council. , 130 people are employed full-time by the council to provide local services (including water supply and air traffic control). These numbers are significant, in that almost 10% of the adult population of the islands is directly linked to the council, as an employee or a councillor.


title: Isles of Scilly

text: The Council consists of 16 elected councillors, 12 of whom are returned by the ward of St Mary's, and one from each of four "off-island" wards (St Martin's, St Agnes, Bryher, and Tresco). The latest elections took place on 6 May 2021; all 15 councillors elected were independents. One seat, for the island of Bryher, received no nominations and remained vacant until filled by a further independent councillor on 28 May.


title: Isles of Scilly

text: The council is headquartered at Town Hall, by The Parade park in Hugh Town, and also performs the administrative functions of the AONB Partnership and the Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority.


title: Isles of Scilly

text: Some aspects of local government are shared with Cornwall, including health, and the Council of the Isles of Scilly together with Cornwall Council form a Local Enterprise Partnership. In July 2015 a devolution deal was announced by the government under which Cornwall Council and the Council of the Isles of Scilly are to create a plan to bring health and social care services together under local control. The Local Enterprise Partnership is also to be bolstered.


title: Isles of Scilly

text: Two flags are used to represent Scilly, The Scillonian Cross, selected by readers of "Scilly News" in a 2002 vote and then registered with the Flag Institute as the flag of the islands, and the flag of the Council of the Isles of Scilly, which incorporates the council's logo and represents the council. An adapted version of the old Board of Ordnance flag has also been used, after it was left behind when munitions were removed from the isles. The "Cornish Ensign" (the Cornish cross with the Union Jack in the canton) has also been used.


title: Isles of Scilly

text: The Isles of Scilly form part of the Devon and Cornwall Police force area. There is a police station in Hugh Town.


title: Isles of Scilly

text: The islands have their own independent fire brigade – the Isles of Scilly Fire and Rescue Service – which is staffed entirely by retained firefighters on all the inhabited islands.


title: Isles of Scilly

text: The emergency ambulance service is provided by the South Western Ambulance Service with full-time paramedics employed to cover the islands working with emergency care attendants.


title: Isles of Scilly

text: Education is available on the islands up to age 16. There is one school, the Five Islands Academy, which provides primary schooling at sites on St Agnes, St Mary's, St Martin's and Tresco, and secondary schooling at a site on St Mary's, with secondary students from outside St Mary's living at a school boarding house (Mundesley House) during the week. Sixteen- to eighteen-year-olds are entitled to a free sixth form place at a state school or sixth form college on the mainland, and are provided with free flights and a grant towards accommodation.