title: Christianity in the Middle East

text: The next largest Christian group in the Middle East are the once Aramaic speaking and now Arabic-speaking Maronites who are Catholics and number some 1.1–1.2 million across the Middle East, mainly concentrated within Lebanon. In Israel, Maronites together with smaller Aramaic-speaking Christian populations of Syriac Orthodox and Greek Catholic adherence are legally and ethnically classified as either Arameans or Arabs, per their choice.


title: Christianity in the Middle East

text: Arab Christians are descended from Arab Christian tribes, Arabized Greeks or recent converts to Protestantism. Most Arab Christians are adherents of the Melkite Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Church. They numbered over 1 million before the Syrian Civil War: some 700,000 in Syria, 400,000 in Lebanon, 200,000 in Israel, Palestine and Jordan, with small numbers in Iraq and Egypt. Most Arab Catholic Christians are originally "non-Arab", with Melkites and Rum Christians who are descended from Arabized Greek-speaking Byzantine populations. They are members of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, an Eastern Catholic Church. They number over 1 million in the Middle East. They came into existence as a result of a schism within the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch due to the election of a Patriarch in 1724.


title: Christianity in the Middle East

text: Armenians are present in the Middle East, and their largest community, estimated to have 200,000 members, is located in Iran. The number of Armenians in Turkey is disputed and a wide range of estimates is given as a result. More Armenian communities reside in Lebanon, Jordan and to a lesser degree in other Middle Eastern countries such as Iraq, Israel, Egypt and formerly also Syria (until Syrian Civil War). The Armenian genocide which was committed by the Ottoman government both during and after World War I, drastically reduced the once sizeable Armenian population.


title: Christianity in the Middle East

text: Greeks, who had once inhabited large parts of the western Middle East and Asia Minor, declined in number after the Arab conquests, then suffered another decline after the Turkish conquests, and all but vanished from Turkey as a result of the Greek genocide and the expulsions which followed World War I. Today, the largest Middle Eastern Greek community resides in Cyprus and numbers around 793,000. Cypriot Greeks constitute the only Christian majority state in the Middle East, although Lebanon was founded with a Christian majority in the first half of the 20th century.


title: Christianity in the Middle East

text: Smaller Christian groups in the Middle East include Georgians, Ossetians and Russians. There are also several million foreign Christian workers in the Gulf states, mostly from the Philippines, India, Sri Lanka and Indonesia: Bahrain has 1,000 Christian citizens, and Kuwait has 400 native Christian citizens, in addition to 450,000 Christian foreign residents in Kuwait. Although the vast majority of Middle Eastern populations descend from "Pre-Arab" and "Non-Arab" peoples extant long before the 7th century AD Arab Islamic conquest, a 2015 study estimates there are also 483,500 Christian believers from a previously Muslim background in the Middle East, most of them being adherents of various Protestant churches. Converts to Christianity from other religions such as Islam, Yezidism, Mandeanism, Yarsan, Zoroastrianism, Baháʼísm, Druze, and Judaism exist in relatively small numbers amongst the Kurdish, Turks, Turcoman, Iranian, Azeri, Circassian, Israelis, Kawliya, Yezidis, Mandeans and Shabaks.


title: Christianity in the Middle East

text: Christians are persecuted widely across the Arab and Islamic world. Christian communities have played a vital role in the Middle East. Middle Eastern Christians are relatively wealthy, well educated, and politically moderate, as they have today an active role in social, economic, sporting and political spheres in their societies in the Middle East. Scholars and intellectuals agree Christians in the Middle East have made significant contributions to Arab and Islamic civilization since the introduction of Islam, and they have had a significant impact contributing the culture of the Mashriq, Turkey, and Iran.


title: Christianity in the Middle East

text: Christianity spread rapidly from Jerusalem along major trade routes to major settlements, finding its strongest growth among Hellenized Jews in places like Antioch and Alexandria. The Greek-speaking Mediterranean region was a powerhouse for the Early Church, producing many revered Church Fathers as well as those who became labelled as heresiarchs, such as Nestorius.


title: Christianity in the Middle East

text: From Antioch, where Christians were first so called, came Ignatius, Diodore of Tarsus, John Chrysostom, Theodore of Mopsuestia, Nestorius, Theodoret, John of Antioch, Severus of Antioch and Peter the Fuller, many of whom are associated with the School of Antioch. In like manner, Alexandria boasted many prominent theologians, including Athenagoras, Pantaenus, Clement, Origen, Dionysius, Gregory Thaumaturgus, Arius, Athanasius, Didymus the Blind, Cyril and Dioscorus, associated with School of Alexandria. The two schools dominated the theological controversies of the first centuries of Christian theology. Whereas Antioch traditionally focused the grammatical and historical interpretation of Scripture and developed a dyophysite christology, Alexandria was much influenced by neoplatonism, using an allegorical interpretation and developing miaphysitism. Other prominent centres of Christian learning developed in Asia Minor (most remarkably among the Cappadocian Fathers) and the Levantine coast (Gaza, Caesarea and Beirut).


title: Christianity in the Middle East

text: Politically, the Middle East of the first four Christian centuries was divided between the Roman Empire and the Parthian Empire (later Sasanian Persia). Christians experienced sporadic persecutions in both political spheres. Within the Parthian Empire, most Christians lived in the region of Mesopotamia/Asuristan (Assyria) and were ethnic Assyrian Mesopotamians who spoke eastern Aramaic dialects loosely related to those Western Aramaic dialects spoken by their co-religionists just across the Roman border, but with Akkadian influences.


title: Christianity in the Middle East

text: Legendary accounts are of the evangelization of the East by Thomas (Mar Toma), Addai/Thaddaeus and Mari. Syriac ("Syrian//Syriac" are etymologically derived from "Assyrian") emerged as the standard Aramaic dialect of the three Assyrian border cities of Edessa, Nisibis and Arbela. Translation of the scriptures into Syriac began early in this region, with a Jewish group (probably non-rabbinic) producing a translation of the Hebrew Bible becoming the basis of the Church of the Easts Christian Peshitta. Syriac Christianity is most famous for its poet-theologians, Aphrahat, Ephrem, Narsai and Jacob of Serugh.


title: Christianity in the Middle East

text: Eusebius credits Mark the Evangelist as the bringer of Christianity to Egypt, and manuscript evidence shows that the faith was firmly established there by the middle of the 2nd century. Although the Greek-speaking community of Alexandria dominated the Egyptian church, speakers of native Coptic and many bilingual Christians were the majority. From the early 4th century, at the latest, the monastic movement emerged in the Egyptian desert, led by Anthony and Pachomius (see "Desert Fathers").


title: Christianity in the Middle East

text: Eusebius ("EH" 6:20) also mentions the appointment of a bishop and the holding of a synod in Bostra around 240, which is the earliest reference to church organisation in an Arabic-speaking area. Later that decade, Eusebius (6:37) describes another synod in Arabia Petraea. Some scholars have followed hints in Eusebius and Jerome that Philip the Arab, the son of an Arab sheikh, may have been the first Christian Roman Emperor. However, evidence to support this theory is thin. The Ghassanid tribe were important Christian "foederati" of Rome, while the Lakhmids were an Arab Christian tribe that fought for the Persians. Although the Hejaz was never a stronghold of Arab Christianity, there are reports of Christians around Mecca and Yathrib before the advent of Islam.


title: Christianity in the Middle East

text: Christianity came to Armenia both from the south, Mesopotamia/Assyria, and the west, Asia Minor, as demonstrated by the Greek and Assyrian-Syriac origin of Christian terms in early Armenian texts. Eusebius ("EH" 6:46, 2) mentions Meruzanes as the bishop of the Armenians around 260. Following the conversion of King Trdat III to Christianity (circa 301), Gregory the Illuminator was consecrated Bishop of Armenia in 314. Armenians continue to celebrate their church as the oldest national church. Gregory was consecrated at Caesarea in Cappadocia.


title: Christianity in the Middle East

text: The Georgian kingdom of Iberia (Kartli) was probably evangelized first in the 2nd or 3rd century. However, the church was only established there in 330s. A number of sources, both in Georgian and other languages, associate Nino of Cappadocia with bringing Christianity to the Georgians and converting King Mirian III of Iberia. Georgian Christian literature emphasizes her connection with Jerusalem and the role played the Georgian Jewish community in the growth of Christianity. Certainly, early Georgian liturgy does share a number of conspicuous features with that of Jerusalem. The Black Sea coastal kingdom of Lazica (Egrisi) had closer ties to Constantinople, and its bishops were by imperial appointment. Although the Lazican church originated around the same time as its Iberian neighbour, it was not until 523 when its king, Tzath, accepted the faith. The Iberian church was under the authority of the Patriarch of Antioch, until the reforming king Vakhtang Gorgasali set up an independent catholicos in 467.


title: Christianity in the Middle East

text: In 314, the Edict of Milan proclaimed religious toleration in the Roman Empire, and Christianity rapidly rose to prominence. The church's dioceses and bishoprics came to be modelled on state administration: partly the motive for the Council of Nicaea in 325. However, Christians in the Zoroastrian Sasanian Empire (speaking variously Syriac, Armenian or Greek) are often found distancing themselves politically from their Roman co-religionists to appease the shah. Thus, around 387, when the Armenian Highland came under Sasanian control, a separate leadership from that in Caesarea developed and eventually settled in Echmiadzin, a division that still, to some extent, exists to this day. Likewise, in the 4th century, the bishop of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, the Sasanian capital, was recognised as leader of the Syriac and Greek-speaking Christians in the Persian empire, assuming the title catholicos, later patriarch.


title: Christianity in the Middle East

text: Christianity in Ethiopia and Nubia is traditionally linked to the biblical tale of the conversion of the Ethiopian eunuch in the Acts of the Apostles (8. 26–30). The "Kebra Nagast" also connects the Yemenite Queen of Sheba with the royal line of Axum. Evidence from coinage and other historical references point to the early 4th-century conversion of King Ezana of Axum as the establishment of Christianity, whence Nubia and other surrounding areas were evangelized, all under the oversight of the Patriarch of Alexandria. In the 6th century, Ethiopian military might conquered a large portion of Yemen, strengthening Christian concentration in southern Arabia.


title: Christianity in the Middle East

text: The first major disagreement that led to a fracturing of the church was the so-called Nestorian Schism of the 5th century. This argument revolved around claims by Alexandrians over alleged theological extremism by Antiochians, and its battleground was the Roman capital, Constantinople, originating from its bishop's, Nestorius's, teaching on the nature of Christ. He was condemned for splitting Christ's person into separate divine and human natures, the extremes of this view, however, were not preached by Nestorius. Cyril of Alexandria succeeded in the deposition of Nestorius at the First Council of Ephesus in 431. The result led to a crisis among the Antiochians, some of whom, including Nestorius himself, found protection in Persia, which continued to espouse traditional Antiochian theology. The schism led to the total isolation of the Persian-sphere Church of the East, and the adoption of much Alexandrian theology in the Antiochian sphere of influence.


title: Christianity in the Middle East

text: Some of the Alexandrian victors at Ephesus, however, began to push their anti-Nestorian agenda too far, of whom Eutyches was the most prominent. Much back and forth led to the Council of Chalcedon of 451, which found a compromise that returned to a theology closer to that of Antioch, refereed by Rome, and condemned the monophysite theology of Eutyches. However, the outcome was rejected by many Christians in the Middle East, especially by non-Greek-speaking Christians on the fringe of the Roman Empire – Copts, Syriacs, Assyrians and Armenians. In 482, Emperor Zeno attempted to reconcile his church with his "Henotikon". However, reunion was never achieved, and the non-Chalcedonians adopted miaphysitism based on traditional Alexandrian doctrine, in revolt against the Byzantine Church. These so-called Oriental Orthodox Churches include the majority of Egyptian Christians – the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria – majority of Ethiopian and Eritrean Christians – the Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Churches – many Syriacs – the Syriac Orthodox Church – and the majority of Armenians – the Armenian Apostolic Church.


title: Christianity in the Middle East

text: The name "Melkite" (meaning 'of the king' in Aramaic), originally intended as a slur applied to those who adhered to Chalcedon (it is no longer used to describe them), who continued to be organised into the historic and autocephalous patriarchates of Constantinople, Antioch, Alexandria and Jerusalem. Collectively they form the traditional basis for the Greek Orthodox Church, known as "Rūm Orthodox" () in Arabic, which is their language of worship throughout Lebanon, Egypt, the Palestinian Authority, Israel, Jordan, Syria and Christian diaspora. The Georgian Orthodox and Apostolic Church held to a moderate Antiochian doctrine through these schisms and began aligning itself with Byzantium from the early 7th century, and finally broke off ties with their Armenian non-Chalcedonian neighbours in the 720s. The term Melkite refers to the adherents of the Antiochene Greek Orthodox Patriarchy who switched allegiance to the Papacy in 1729 after a disputed election to the Patriarchal See in 1724 because the See of Constantinople which objected to the canonically-elected Patriarch Cyril who was considered to be too pro-Roman consecrated another candidate (until then the See was technically still in union with the Constantinople and Rome despite the split of 1054).


title: Christianity in the Middle East

text: The Arab Muslim conquests of the 7th century brought to end the hegemony of Byzantium and Persia over the Middle East. The conquest came at the end of a particularly gruelling period of the Roman-Persian Wars, from the beginning of the 7th century, in which the Sasanid Shah Khosrau II had captured much of the Syria, Egypt, Anatolia and the Caucasus, and the Byzantines under Heraclius only managed a decisive counter-attack in the 620s. The Greek-Orthodox Patriarch Sophronius negotiated with Caliph Umar in 637 for the peaceful transfer of Jerusalem into Arab control (including the Umariyya Covenant). Likewise, resistance to the Arab onslaught in Egypt was minimal. This seems to be more due to the war fatigue throughout the region rather than entirely due to religious differences.


title: Christianity in the Middle East

text: After the conquests, Muslims initially remained a ruling minority within the conquered territories in the Middle East and North Africa. By the 12th century the non-Muslim population had become a minority. The factors and processes that led to the progressive Islamization of these regions during this period, as well as the speed at which conversions happened, is a complex subject that is not fully understood by historians. Among other new rules, the Muslim rulers imposed a special poll tax, the "jizya", on non-Muslims, which acted as an economic pressure to convert alongside other social advantages converts could gain in Muslim society. In Egypt, Islamization was likely slower than in other Muslim-controlled regions, with Christians likely constituting a majority of the population until the Fatimid period (10th to 12th centuries), though scholarly estimates on this issue are tentative and vary between authors.


title: Christianity in the Middle East

text: In the period prior to the establishment of Abbasid rule in AD 750, many pastoral Kurds moved into upper Mesopotamia, taking advantage of an unstable situation. Cities in northern and northeastern ancient Assyria were raided and attacked by the Kurds of Persian Azerbaijan, "who killed, looted, and enslaved the indigenous population", and the Kurds were moving into various regions in east of ancient Assyria. When the Seljuks invaded Mesopotamia, they recruited the Kurds for their campaigns. The invading Seljuks and Kurds "destroyed whatever they encountered" and enslaved women. The Seljuks rewarded the Kurds for their support with land, and the Seljuk leader Sinjur renamed the region called Kirmanshah in Persia as Kurdistan. Mosul, historically a Christian city, was repeatedly attacked. The historian Ibn Khaldun wrote that 'the Kurds spoiled and spread horror everywhere'. The historian Al Makrezi, referring to the situation that emerged after the Kurdish settlement in al Jazirah, wrote that "they were able to establish Kurdish centres as their shares for helping the Turkish race in their conquest". In time, Armenia and Assyria became "Kurdistan". Afterwards happened the raids of Timur Lang, "whom the Kurds loyally followed and who enabled them to occupy the land of the Armenians, who were forcibly expelled". Timur Lang rewarded the Kurds by "settling them in the devastated regions, which until then had been inhabited by the followers of the Church of the East."


title: Christianity in the Middle East

text: The Ottoman Turks carried out a series of violent massacres of ethnic Assyrian and Armenian Christians in the 1870s; these killings, which resulted in over ten thousand deaths, were known as the Hamidian massacres. The settlement of the Persian Kurds along the eastern border was the first powerful action in changing the demographics of the Assyrian homeland. The Muslim Kurds remained loyal to the Ottomans as long as they were enjoying power and greatness. The Ottoman Turks conducted a large-scale genocide and ethnic cleansing of the ancient and indigenous Greek, Armenian, Assyrian, and Maronite Christian inhabitants of Anatolia, northwestern Iran, the fringes of northern Iraq and northern Syria, and Mount Lebanon during and immediately after World War I, resulting in well over 3 million deaths among the 6 million Christians who were living in the Ottoman Empire in 1914 of 26 million inhabitants and large-scale deportations in the Armenian genocide, Assyrian genocide, Greek genocide, the Dersim Massacre, and the Great Famine of Mount Lebanon.


title: Christianity in the Middle East

text: The Ottomans reinforced their eastern frontier with what they "considered a loyal Sunni Kurd element". They settled the Kurds in these regions in return for their support in their campaigns against the Persians. In 1583 Sultan Murad IV "gave huge provinces to the Kurdish tribe of Mokri", whose leader claimed to descend from Saladin. The French traveler Monsieur Tavernier noted that in 1662, Van and Urmia were purely Armenian; however, only a century later, another European traveler, Carsten Niebuhr, noted that both Turkomans and Kurds were involved in spreading disturbances. In 1840, Hortio Southgate visited these same regions, he was surprised by the "dramatic changes" and by "the decline in the number of the Armenians compared with the number of the new Kurdish settlers who then were still in the process of moving in". Southgate ascribed these changes to "the Kurdish persecution of the indigenous people". The inhabitants of Salamis, for instance, had been forced to leave. The Russian historian Minorsky at about the same time also stated that "the Kurds had occupied parts of Armenia permanently and were no longer living on their original land." According to Aboona, "the majorities, in particular the Kurds, rejected any form of coexistence" with Assyrians, and "in the eyes of the Kurds", the presence of Assyrian tribes in the midst of their own "settlements represented a serious challenge to their dominance of the region. The remaining Assyrian settlements prevented Kurdish settlements from forming a cohesive, homogenous ethnic block" and the "Kurds' aspirations remained unfulfilled". But when Nadir Shah invaded the territory of ancient Assyria in 1743 he got the full backing and support of the Kurds. This was a further step to "strengthening both the older Kurdish settlements, including those made after Çaldıran, and the newer ones that followed Nadir Shah's İnvasİon." Hence the Assyrians lost both land and numbers. After Nadir Shah's invasion, the "Assyrian tribes also faced further tightening of the Kurdish circle around their country".


title: Christianity in the Middle East

text: According to Adoona, "in the end, the independence of the Assyrian tribes was destroyed not directly by the Turks but by their Kurdish neighbours under Turkish auspices."


title: Christianity in the Middle East

text: In spite of the fact that every country in the Middle East has at least a small number of worshippers of Christ from a Muslim background, and in spite of the fact that the vast majority of native Christians are Arabic speakers themselves, Christians in the Middle East face persecution –in various grades, depending on the residence country– and are often isolated.


title: Christianity in the Middle East

text: The defeat and dissolution of the Ottoman Empire (1908–1922) and World War I (1914–1918) ushered in the greatest period of violence against Christians in the region. The Ottoman Turks conducted a large-scale genocide and ethnic cleansing of the ancient and indigenous Greek, Armenian, Assyrian, and Maronite Christian inhabitants of Anatolia, north-western Iran, the fringes of northern Iraq and northern Syria, and Mount Lebanon during and immediately after the First World War, resulting in well over 3 million deaths and large-scale deportations in the Armenian genocide, Assyrian genocide, Greek genocide, the Dersim Massacre, and Great Famine of Mount Lebanon.


title: Christianity in the Middle East

text: More recently, the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq, the Syrian Civil War and the concomitant rise of ISIS have greatly increased violence against Christians in those countries. Some, including Hillary Clinton or the European Parliament referred to the ISIS campaign against Christians and other religious minorities in the region as a genocide. Later on, in March 2016 the United States officially joined this view, with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry declaring during a news conference at the State Department that ISIS "is responsible for genocide against groups in areas under its control including Yazidis, Assyrian Christians, Armenians and Shia Muslims"; it was the first time since Darfur (2004) that the United States declared a genocide.


title: Christianity in the Middle East

text: Kurdish tribes in Turkey, Syria, and Iran have conducted regular raids against their Christian neighbors and even paramilitary assaults during World War I. Kurds were responsible for most of the atrocities committed against the Assyrian Christians due also to a long tradition of perceived Kurdish rights to pillage Christians. A Kurdish chieftain assassinated the patriarch of the church of the East at the negotiation dinner in 1918, and the aftermath led to further decimation of the Christian population.


title: Christianity in the Middle East

text: Bahrain's second largest religion is Christianity forming a minority of 14.5% of Bahrain. Christians in Bahrain number 205,000 people. In the 5th century, Bahrain was a center of Nestorian Christianity, including two of its bishoprics. The ecclesiastical province covering Bahrain was known as Bet Qatraye. Samahij was the seat of bishops. Bahrain was a center of Nestorian Christianity until al-Bahrain adopted Islam in 629 AD. As a sect, the Nestorians were often persecuted as heretics by the Byzantine Empire, but Bahrain was outside the Empire's control offering some safety.


title: Christianity in the Middle East

text: The names of several of Muharraq Island's villages today reflect this Christian legacy, with Al Dair meaning "the monastery" or "the parish." In 410 AD, according to the Oriental Syriac Church synodal records, a bishop named Batai was excommunicated from the church in Bahrain. Alees Samaan, the former Bahraini ambassador to the United Kingdom is a native Christian.


title: Christianity in the Middle East

text: Most Christians in Egypt are Copts, who are mainly members of the Coptic Orthodox Church. The Coptic language – a derivative of the Ancient Egyptian language, written mainly in the Greek alphabet, is used as the liturgical language of all Coptic churches inside and outside of Egypt. Although ethnic Copts in Egypt now speak Egyptian Arabic (the Coptic language having ceased to be a working language by the 18th century), they believe in an Ancient Egyptian Coptic identity rather than an Arab identity. (also referred to as Pharaonism). Copts reside mainly in Egypt, but also in Sudan and Libya, with tiny communities in Israel, Cyprus, Jordan, Lebanon, and Tunisia. Though, Copts constitute the largest Christian population in the Middle East generally estimated at 10–15% by officials or in the 20 million range presently. However, as Egyptian censuses since 2006 have not reported religious affiliation due to being optional along with the government acknowledging the census is not a proper representation of Christians, various Coptic groups and churches claim a higher number in the range of 15 to 23 million.


title: Christianity in the Middle East

text: Many Copts are internationally renowned. Some of the most well known Copts include Boutros Boutros-Ghali, the sixth Secretary-General of the United Nations; Sir Magdi Yacoub, the cardiothoracic surgeon; Hani Azer, the civil engineer; billionaire Fayez Sarofim, one of the richest men in the world; and Naguib Sawiris, the CEO of Orascom.


title: Christianity in the Middle East

text: Christianity has a long history in Iraq, with the early conversions of the indigenous Assyrian inhabitants of Assyria (Parthian controlled Assuristan) dating from the 1st to 3rd centuries AD. This region was the birthplace of Eastern Rite (Assyrian Church of the East) Christianity, a flourishing Syriac literary tradition, and the centre of a missionary expansion that stretched as far as India, Central Asia and China.


title: Christianity in the Middle East

text: By one estimate, there was about 1.5 million largely Assyrian Christians in Iraq by 2003, or 7% of the population, but with the fall of Saddam Hussein Christians began to leave Iraq in large numbers, and the population shrank to less than 500,000 today.


title: Christianity in the Middle East

text: Assyrian Christians still made up the majority population in northern Iraq until the massacres conducted by Tamurlane in the 14th century, which also saw their ancient city of Assur finally abandoned after 4,000 years. In modern times, Assyrian Christians numbered about 636,000 to 800,000 in 2005, representing 3% to 5% of the population of the country, mostly in Iraqi Kurdistan. The vast majority are Neo-Aramaic speaking ethnic Assyrians (also known as Chaldo-Assyrians), descendant from the ancient Mesopotamians in general and the ancient Assyrians more specifically, who are concentrated in the north, particularly the Nineveh Plains, Dohuk and Sinjar regions, border regions with south east Turkey, north west Iran and northern Syria, and in and around cities such as Mosul, Erbil, Kirkuk, and also in Baghdad. There are also a very small proportion of Arab Christians and small numbers of Armenian, Kurdish, Iranian and Turcoman Christians.


title: Christianity in the Middle East

text: The Iraqi Christian population is also declining due to lower birth rates and higher death rates than their Muslim compatriots. Since the 2003 invasion, Iraqi Christians suffer from lack of security. Many lived in the capital Baghdad and in Mosul prior to the Iraq War, but most have since fled to northern Iraq, where Assyrian Christians form a majority in some districts. Assyrian Christians belong to Syriac churches such as the Chaldean Catholic Church, the Assyrian Church of the East, the Ancient Church of the East, the Syriac Catholic Church and the Syriac Orthodox Church, with a small number of Protestant converts following the Assyrian Pentecostal Church and Assyrian Evangelical Church. The Iraqi former foreign minister and deputy prime minister Tariq Aziz (real name Michael Youkhanna) is probably the most famous Assyrian Iraqi Christian, along with the footballer Ammo Baba. Assyrians in Iraq have traditionally excelled in business, sports, the arts, music, and the military.


title: Christianity in the Middle East

text: Assyrians are distinct from other Semitic Christian groups in the Middle East in that they have retained their original Neo-Aramaic language and Syriac written script, and have maintained an Assyrian continuity from ancient times to the present, resisting the adoption of Arabic language and Arabization.


title: Christianity in the Middle East

text: In his recent PhD thesis and in his recent book the Israeli scholar Mordechai Zaken discussed the history of the Assyrian Christians of Turkey and Iraq (in the Kurdish vicinity) during the last 180 years, from 1843 onwards. In his studies Zaken outlines three major eruptions that took place between 1843 and 1933 during which the Assyrian Christians lost their land and hegemony in their habitat in the Hakkārī (or Julamerk) region in southeastern Turkey and became refugees in other lands, notably Iran and Iraq, and ultimately in exiled communities in Western countries (the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Russia and within many of the 27 EU member states like Sweden, France, Germany, Austria and the Netherlands). Mordechai Zaken wrote this important study from an analytical and comparative point of view, comparing the Assyrian Christians experience with the experience of the Kurdish Jews who had been dwelling in Kurdistan for two thousands years or so, but were forced to migrate the land to Israel in the early 1950s. The Jews of Kurdistan were forced to leave and migrate as a result of the Arab-Israeli war, as a result of the increasing hostility and acts of violence against Jews in Iraq and Kurdish towns and villages, and as a result of a new situation that had been built up during the 1940s in Iraq and Kurdistan in which the ability of Jews to live in relative comfort and relative tolerance (that was erupted from time to time prior to that period) with their Arab and Muslim neighbors, as they did for many years, practically came to an end. At the end, the Jews of Kurdistan had to leave their Kurdish habitat en masse and migrate into Israel. The Assyrian Christians on the other hand, came to similar conclusion but migrated in stages following each and every eruption of a political crisis with the regime in which boundaries they lived or following each conflict with their Muslim, Turkish, Arabs or Kurdish neighbors, or following the departure or expulsion of their patriarch Mar Shimon in 1933, first to Cyprus and then to the United States. Consequently, indeed there is still a small and fragile community of Assyrians in Iraq, however, millions of Assyrian Christians live today in exile in many communities in the West.


title: Christianity in the Middle East

text: Iran's Christian minority numbers some 300,000–370,000. Most are ethnic Armenians (up to 250,000–300,000) and Assyrians (up to 40,000), who follow Armenian Orthodox and Assyrian Church of the East Christianity respectively. There are at least 600 churches serving the nations Christian adherents.


title: Christianity in the Middle East

text: Christianity has a long history in Iran, dating back to Parthian times, in the early years of the Christian faith, although the major religion among the Iranian peoples themselves was Zoroastrianism. The Sasanian Empire was the centre of the Nestorian Church. Many of the early followers were Armenians, and transplanted Assyrians living in the Urmia region, and along the north western border with Mesopotamia. These were added to by other Semites, followers of the Nestorian church, some of whom were Assyrians from Mesopotamia, others being from Syria. Furthermore, there has been a thriving native Christian Armenian community since ancient times in northwestern Iran, nowadays Iranian Azerbaijan. The many Armenian churches and monasteries in the region, such as the notable St. Thaddeus Monastery, are extant remainders of this. Other significantly Christian populated areas in Parthian and Sassanid Iran included the provinces of Persian Armenia, Caucasian Albania, and Caucasian Iberia, amongst others. In the course of the 20th century, Iran's large Christian minority, mainly the native Armenians and Assyrians who have a presence in Iran for millennia, took a heavy blow due to the Assyrian genocide (by Ottoman troops crossing the border), Armenian genocide (by Ottoman troops crossing the border), the Iranian Revolution and the Iran–Iraq War. Especially due to the two Ottoman-conducted genocides, regions where Christians even made up majorities or had a significant native historical presence for millennia, never became the same again. However, due to the same genocides, Iran's Christian community was boosted as well at the same time as many migrated to Iran from the Ottoman regions.


title: Christianity in the Middle East

text: The most famous contemporary Christian of Iranian origin is probably the American tennis player Andre Agassi, who is ethnically Armenian-Assyrian. The "Armenian Monastic Ensemble", which includes several of the nations most ancient Christian Armenian churches and monasteries, are inscribed on the UNESCO world heritage list.


title: Christianity in the Middle East

text: Some 80% of Christians residing permanently in Israel are Arabs, numbering at least 180,400 as of 2019. Of all Christians, around 60% belong to the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, 32% of all Christians belong to the Eastern Orthodox Church, mainly the Jerusalem Patriarchate though some recent immigrants are Russian Orthodox. Smaller numbers are Roman Catholics, Maronites, Assyrians, Armenians, Georgians and Messianic Jews. During the 1990s, the Christian community had been increased due to the immigration of Jewish-Christian mixed marriages, who had predominantly arrived from the countries of the former Soviet Union. This added another 20–30 thousands of mostly Greek Orthodox Christians with Russian and Ukrainian ancestry. Many Christian towns or neighborhoods were totally or partially destroyed during the creation of the State in the 1940s and 1950s such as Iqrith, Al bassa, kufur birim, Ma’loul, West Jerusalem neighborhoods, all residents of Safed, Beisan, Tiberias (including Christians), a big part of the Christians in Haifa, Jaffa, Lydda, Ramleh and other places.


title: Christianity in the Middle East

text: In recent years, the Christian population in Israel has increased significantly by presence of foreign workers from a number of countries (predominantly the Philippines and Romania). Numerous churches have opened in Tel Aviv, in particular.


title: Christianity in the Middle East

text: Nine churches are officially recognized under Israel's confessional system, for the self-regulation of status issues, such as marriage and divorce. These are the Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic (Latin rite), Gregorian-Armenian, Armenian Catholic, Syriac Catholic, Chaldean (Uniate), Melkite (Greek Catholic), Assyrian Church of the East, Ethiopian Orthodox, Maronite and Syriac Orthodox churches. There are more informal arrangements with other churches such as the Anglican Church and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.


title: Christianity in the Middle East

text: Arab Christians are one of the most educated groups in Israel. Maariv have describe the Arab Christians sectors as "the most successful in education system", since Arab Christians fared the best in terms of education in comparison to any other group receiving an education in Israel. Arab Christians have one of the highest rates of success in the matriculation examinations, (64%) both in comparison to the Muslims and the Druze and in comparison to all students in the Jewish education system as a group. The rate of students studying in the field of medicine was also higher among the Arab Christian students, compared with all the students from other sectors. The percentage of Arab Christian women who are higher education students is higher than other sectors.


title: Christianity in the Middle East

text: In Jordan, Christians constitute 6% of the population as of 2017 according to the Jordanian government. This percentage represents a sharp decrease from a figure of 18% in the early 20th century. This drop is largely due to an influx of Muslim Arabs from the Hijaz after the First World War. Almost 50% of Jordanian Christians belong to the Eastern Orthodox Church, 45% are Catholics, with a small minority adhering to Protestantism. A part of Jordanian Christians have Palestinian roots since 1948. Christians are well integrated in the Jordanian society and have a high level of freedom. Nearly all Christians belong to the middle or upper classes. Moreover, Christians enjoy more economic and social opportunity in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan than elsewhere in the Middle East and North Africa. They have a disproportionately large representation in the Jordanian parliament (10% of the Parliament) and hold important government portfolios, ambassadorial appointments abroad, and positions of high military rank. A survey by a Western embassy found that half of Jordan's prominent business families were Christians. Christians run about a third of Jordan's economy.


title: Christianity in the Middle East

text: Jordanian Christians are allowed by the public and private sectors to leave work to attend Divine Liturgy or Mass on Sundays. All Christian religious ceremonies are publicly celebrated. Christians have established good relations with the royal family and the various Jordanian government officials and they have their own ecclesiastic courts for matters of personal status.


title: Christianity in the Middle East

text: Most native Christians in Jordan identify themselves as Arab, though there are also non-Arab Assyrian/Syriac, Armenian and Maronite groups in the country.


title: Christianity in the Middle East

text: Lebanon holds the largest proportion of Christians in the Arab world proportionally and falls behind only Egypt and Syria in absolute numbers. Christians were half of Lebanon's population before the Lebanese Civil War (1975–1990), but in 2012 they are believed to form a large minority of 40.5% of the country's population (according to the last official Lebanese Census of 1932, the Lebanese Christian population was 51% of the country's population). However, if one counts the estimated 8–14-million-strong Lebanese diaspora, they form far more than the majority of the population. The exact number of Christians is uncertain because no official census has been made in Lebanon since 1932. Lebanese Christians belong mostly to the Maronite Catholic Church and Greek Orthodox, with sizable minorities belonging to the Melkite Greek Catholics. Lebanese Christians are the only Christians in the Middle East with a sizable political role in the country. As a result of the National Pact the Lebanese president, half of the cabinet, and half of the parliament follow one of the various Lebanese Christian rites.


title: Christianity in the Middle East

text: Maronite tradition can be traced back to Saint Maron in the 4th century, the founder of national and ecclesiastical Maronitism. Saint Maron adopted an ascetic, reclusive life on the banks of the Orontes river near Homs–Syria and founded a community of monks who preached the Gospel in the surrounding area. The Saint Maron Monastery was too close to Antioch, making the monks vulnerable to emperor Justinian II's persecution. To escape persecution, Saint John Maron, the first Maronite patriarch-elect, led his monks into the Lebanese mountains; the Maronite monks finally settled in the Qadisha valley. During the Muslim conquest, Muslims persecuted the Christians, particularly the Maronites, with the persecution reaching a peak during the Umayyad caliphate. Nevertheless, the influence of the Maronite establishment spread throughout the Lebanese mountains and became a considerable feudal force. After the Muslim Conquest, the Maronite Church became isolated and did not reestablish contact with the Church of Rome until the 12th century. According to Kamal Salibi, a Lebanese Protestant Christian, some Maronites may have been descended from an Arabian tribe, who immigrated thousands of years ago from the Southern Arabian Peninsula. Salibi maintains "It is very possible that the Maronites, as a community of Arabian origin, were among the last Arabian Christian tribes to arrive in Syria before Islam". As a matter of fact, Salibi bases his conclusions, not on scientific evidences or irrefutable historical facts, but rather on his pan Arabic ideology. Hence, the majority of Lebanese Maronite Christians rejects his ideas, and points out that they are of pre-Arab origin. As a further matter, recent studies confirmed the Lebanese (the Maronites especially) lineage to the Phoenicians/Canaanites by DNA genome study. The study published in the American Journal of Human Genetics shows that present-day Lebanese derive most of their ancestry from a Canaanite-related population, which therefore implies substantial genetic continuity in the Levant since at least the Bronze Age.<ref name="www.cell.com/ajhg/fulltext/S0002-9297(17)30276-8"></ref>


title: Christianity in the Middle East

text: Many Lebanese Maronite Christians consider themselves of indigenous Phoenician ancestry, arguing that their presence predates the arrival of Arabs in the region. Though they originate from the Orontes river near Homs, Syria and founded a community of monks who left the Syriac Orthodox church.


title: Christianity in the Middle East

text: The Lebanese town of Zahlé is the largest predominantly Christian town in Lebanon and the Middle East (with Christians forming around 90% of its total population) and the one with the largest number of Catholics. While several Middle Eastern cities (Damascus, Cairo, Jerusalem) have larger Christian communities, yet these do not constitute a majority.


title: Christianity in the Middle East

text: The capital Beirut also has a larger Christian population than Zahlé (in the city proper), though most belong to the Orthodox confession.


title: Christianity in the Middle East

text: Christianity has a long history in Anatolia (now part of the Republic of Turkey), which is the birthplace of numerous Christian Apostles and Saints, such as Paul of Tarsus, Timothy, Nicholas of Myra, Polycarp of Smyrna and many others.


title: Christianity in the Middle East

text: Two out of the five centers (Patriarchates) of the ancient Pentarchy are in Turkey: Constantinople (Istanbul) and Antioch (Antakya). The Greek Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople stil today has his residence in Istanbul. Antioch was also the place where the followers of Jesus were called "Christians" for the first time in history, as well as being the site of one of the earliest and oldest surviving churches, established by Saint Peter himself. For a thousand years, the Hagia Sophia was the largest church in the world.


title: Christianity in the Middle East

text: The Greeks of western Anatolia and Georgians of the Black Sea region have histories dating from the 20th and 10th centuries BC respectively, and were also Christianized during the first few centuries AD. Similarly the Assyrian and Armenian peoples have an ancient history in southeastern Anatolia, dating back to 2000 BC and 600 BC respectively, both of these peoples were Christianized between the 1st and 3rd centuries AD.


title: Christianity in the Middle East

text: These ancient Christian ethnic groups were drastically reduced by genocide during and after World War I (see Armenian genocide, Assyrian genocide and Greek genocide) at the hands of the Ottoman Turkish army and their Kurdish allies. Population exchange between Greece and Turkey is another reason.


title: Christianity in the Middle East

text: The percentage of Christians in Turkey fell from 19 percent in 1914 or 3 million (thought to be an undercount by one-third omitting 600,000 Armenians, 500,000 Greeks and 400,000 Assyrians) to 2.5 percent in 1927 in a population of 14 million, due to events which had a significant impact on the country's demographic structure, such as the Armenian genocide, the population exchange between Greece and Turkey, and the emigration of Christians (such as Levantines, Greeks, Armenians etc.) to foreign countries (mostly in Europe and the Americas) that actually began in the late 19th century and gained pace in the first quarter of the 20th century, especially during World War I and after the Turkish War of Independence. Today there are more than 160,000 people of different Christian denominations, representing less than 0.2 percent of Turkey's population, including an estimated 80,000 Oriental Orthodox, 35,000 Roman Catholics, 18,000 Antiochian Greeks, 5,000 Greek Orthodox and smaller numbers of Protestants (Mostly ethnic Turkish). Currently there are 236 churches open for worship in Turkey. The Eastern Orthodox Church has been headquartered in Istanbul since the 4th century.


title: Christianity in the Middle East

text: About 173,000 Arab Palestinian Christians lived in the Palestinian Authority (including the West Bank and Gaza Strip) in the 1990s. Both the founder of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, George Habash, and the founder if its offshoot the DFLP, Nayif Hawatmeh, were Christians, as is prominent Palestinian activist and former Palestinian Authority minister Hanan Ashrawi. Nowadays, 50% of all Palestinian Christians are Catholics.


title: Christianity in the Middle East

text: Over the last years, unlike the increase trend in the Christian population of Israel, the number of Christians in the Palestinian Authority has declined severely. The decline of Christianity in the Palestinian Authority is largely attributed to poor birth rates, compared with the dominant Muslim population. The updated number of Arab Christians in the Palestinian Authority is under 75,000.


title: Christianity in the Middle East

text: Since the Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip in 2007, anti-Christian attitudes have been on the increase. Unlike in the Palestinian National Authority, the Hamas administration does not include Christians. From about 2,000–3,000 Christians before Hamas takeover, as few as one thousand remain in the Gaza Strip under Hamas Administration.


title: Christianity in the Middle East

text: In Syria, Christians formed just under 15% of the population (about 1.2 million people) according to the 1960 census, but no newer census has been taken. Current estimates suggest that they now comprise about 3% of the population, due to higher emigration rates than their Muslim compatriots. The largest Churches are the Greek Orthodox and Greek Catholic. There are also Syriac Orthodox, Syriac Catholic, Armenian Orthodox, Armenian Catholic, Assyrian Church of the East and Chaldean Catholic Church Christians. As of 2018, more than half of the nation's Christians left the country due to the Syrian Civil War.


title: Christianity in the Middle East

text: Syrian Christians are largely Arab Christians in the bulk of the country, though some may identify as Arabized Greeks (Melkites and Orthodox Church of Antioch) and ethnic Arameans (among Jacobites). In the big cities there are many ethnic Armenians and in the northeastern Al-Hasakah Governorate the majority of the Christians are ethnic Assyrians.


title: Christianity in the Middle East

text: Many millions of Middle Eastern Christians currently live in the diaspora, elsewhere in the world. These include such countries as Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, the United States and Venezuela among them. There are also many Middle Eastern Christians in Europe, especially in the United Kingdom, France (due to its historical connections with Lebanon, Egypt, Syria), and to a lesser extent, Ireland, Germany, Spain, Italy, Greece, Bulgaria, Russia, and the Netherlands.


title: Christianity in the Middle East

text: The largest number of Middle Eastern Christians residing in the diaspora is that of Lebanese Christians, who have migrated out of Lebanon for security and economic reasons since WWI. Many fled Lebanon during the Lebanese Civil War. The countries with significant Lebanese Christians include such countries as Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Cyprus, Dominican Republic, Germany, Greece, France, Mexico, New Zealand, Sweden, United Kingdom, United States and Venezuela among them.


title: Christianity in the Middle East

text: Assyrian Christians currently reside in diaspora with large communities in the US, Canada, Australia and Europe, reaching more than a million outside of the Middle East. Much of these is attributed to the massive Assyrian Christian exodus from northern Iraq following the 2003 invasion and the consequent Iraq War, and from north-eastern Syria following the 2011 Arab Spring and the consequent Syrian Civil War.


title: Christianity in the Middle East

text: Among the Arab Christians, about a million Palestinian Christians reside in the diaspora, largely in the Americas, where their communities have been established since the late 19th century and peaked following the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. More emigrated from Lebanon during the Lebanese Civil War.


title: Christianity in the Middle East

text: The majority of self-identifying Arab Americans are Eastern Rite Catholic or Orthodox Christian, according to the Arab American Institute. On the other hand, most American Muslims are black (African Americans or Sub-Saharan Africans) or of South Asian (Indian, Pakistani or Bangladeshi) origin.


title: Christianity in the Middle East

text: Many Christians in the Middle East are Semitic followers of Syriac Christianity, are ethnically and linguistically distinct from Arabs, and divided into:


title: Christianity in the Middle East

text: All of them are mainly found in countries like Lebanon, Syria, Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Egypt and to a lesser degree in Turkey, Iraq, Libya, and Sudan.


title: Christianity in the Middle East

text: Armenia, historically, was the first state to accept Christianity. There are small numbers of Russian Orthodox and Assyrian Christians in Armenia also. Armenian Christians are also to be found in Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Turkey, Iraq, Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Egypt and the Gulf states as expats.


title: Christianity in the Middle East

text: The Kurdish-Speaking Church of Christ (The Kurdzman Church of Christ) is an Evangelical church with mainly Kurdish adherents.


title: Christianity in the Middle East

text: The Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East is the Anglican church responsible for the Middle East and North Africa. It is quite small, with only some 35,000 members throughout the area. The Diocese of Cyprus and the Gulf looks after 30-40000 Anglicans in the area and ministers to Protestants and others.


title: Not the Nine O'Clock News

text: Not the Nine O'Clock News is a British television sketch comedy show which was broadcast on BBC2 from 1979 to 1982. Originally shown as a comedy alternative to the "Nine O'Clock News" on BBC1, it features satirical sketches on then-current news stories and popular culture, as well as parody songs, comedy sketches, re-edited videos, and spoof television formats. The programme features Rowan Atkinson, Pamela Stephenson, Mel Smith, and Griff Rhys Jones, as well as Chris Langham in the first series.


title: Not the Nine O'Clock News

text: The format was a deliberate departure from the stream-of-consciousness meta-comedy pioneered by "Monty Python's Flying Circus", returning to a more conventional sketch format. Sketches were mostly self-contained, lasting from a few seconds to a few minutes, and often had a degree of naturalism in performance. The series launched the careers of several high-profile actors and writers, and also led to other comedic series including "Blackadder" and "Alas Smith and Jones".


title: Not the Nine O'Clock News

text: The series benefited from video editing and recording techniques. The pace was enhanced by jump-cutting between library clips, usually of politicians, royalty, or celebrities. Then-Prime


title: Not the Nine O'Clock News

text: Minister Margaret Thatcher complained when, by adroit image editing, the programme implied she had crashed a car. Effects used in pop videos, provided by the Quantel Paintbox, were often a highlight of the musical numbers.


title: Not the Nine O'Clock News

text: "Not the Nine O'Clock News" was produced by John Lloyd. Lloyd pitched the idea to the heads of BBC Comedy and Light Entertainment, and was given a six-programme series on condition that he collaborate with Sean Hardie, who had worked in current affairs at the BBC.


title: Not the Nine O'Clock News

text: Initially, Lloyd and Hardie were considering doing a lampoon of actuality programmes "à la" "The Frost Report" with Rowan Atkinson portraying an old-fashioned host attacking liberal and/or modern trends. The programme was to be called "Sacred Cows", but the news programme was chosen because of its larger number of sources. The series’ name derived from its schedule, as it originally aired on BBC2 at the same time as the "Nine O'Clock News" on BBC1.


title: Not the Nine O'Clock News

text: Aside from Atkinson, the original cast comprised Christopher Godwin, John Gorman, Chris Langham, Willoughby Goddard, and Jonathan Hyde, and the first episode of a planned series was scheduled for 2 April 1979; this also featured Chris Emmett (impersonating Denis Healey), Robert Llewelyn (impersonating Bob Hope) and Hertz Rental (narrating general elections in Greenland).


title: Not the Nine O'Clock News

text: As the programme was originally scheduled to air in the time-slot occupied by "Fawlty Towers", John Cleese was to have introduced the first episode in a sketch referring to a technicians' strike (then in progress) that hindered the production of the series, explaining (in character as Basil Fawlty) that there was no programme that week, so a "tatty revue" would be broadcast instead. However, the 1979 general election intervened, and the programme was pulled as being too political, being replaced with a repeat of the American sitcom "Rhoda".


title: Not the Nine O'Clock News

text: The sketch with Cleese was broadcast later that year, when the final episode of "Fawlty Towers" went out during the broadcast run of the first series of "Not The Nine O'Clock News", though the significance of the sketch was lost to some degree. This link is included on the Region 2 DVD boxset of "Fawlty Towers". Basil's waiter Manuel, played by Andrew Sachs, also appeared at the end of the unaired episode, trying to get a joke about the Ayatollah's contact lenses.


title: Not the Nine O'Clock News

text: Other sketches of the unaired pilot episode were also lifted or remade on episodes throughout the first series. Healey's and Hope's impressions were achieved by the use of "talking head" puppets, which in the mid-1980s would become a characteristic staple of "Spitting Image", produced by Lloyd in its early series.


title: Not the Nine O'Clock News

text: Lloyd and Hardie decided to re-cast the series, retaining Langham and Atkinson. They wanted to bring in a woman, but Victoria Wood turned the programme down. Lloyd met Pamela Stephenson at a party, and she agreed to join. Atkinson, Langham, and Stephenson were joined by Mel Smith, who was scheduled to work on the pilot, but declined after reading the script (he called the finished pilot in retrospect "the worst half hour of TV" that he’d ever seen). The first series was criticised for being "a poor mix of stand up, and a mild portion of sketches" and newspaper reviews referring to it as "extremely offensive" and that it “should not be allowed on TV". Ratings were dismal as well: the first episode had fewer than a million viewers.


title: Not the Nine O'Clock News

text: However, the network controller reportedly liked the programme so much, that a second series of seven episodes was commissioned, also helped by budgetary cuts at BBC, which were repeatedly poked fun at in the second series' premiere episode, entitled "The Outrageously Expensive Not the Nine O'Clock News". Such cuts also forced the show to drastically reduce the use of outside scenes (which were recorded on film) as well as minor players. The shock value prominent during the first season was also toned down in favour of a more "offbeat" tone.


title: Not the Nine O'Clock News

text: For the second series, Langham was replaced by Griff Rhys-Jones, who had already been a regular player during the first series, aside from having directed the radio programme "The Atkinson People". The second series of "Not the Nine O’Clock News" won the Silver Rose at the Montreux Festival and a BAFTA Award for Best Light Entertainment Programme in 1982. The show's later series achieved improved ratings and became critically acclaimed.


title: Not the Nine O'Clock News

text: "Not the Nine O'Clock News" became a stage production in Oxford and London in 1982, but the main performers decided to end the project while it was a success: Stephenson began a Hollywood film career, Atkinson recorded the first series of "Blackadder" in 1983, and Smith and Jones became a double act in "Alas Smith and Jones". An American adaptation, "Not Necessarily the News" ran for seven years, from 1983 to 1990 on the Home Box Office cable television channel.


title: Not the Nine O'Clock News

text: Satire was a key theme in the series' comedy. For example, one spoof news element might include a routine announcement that NASA had once again announced a delay in the launch of its Space Shuttle owing to technical difficulties, as the screen showed the shuttle on its launch pad with oxygen streaming off the tanks, overlaid with the sound of a car engine turning over but not starting. An opening graphic featured the same blue screen and white analogue clock ticking down to 9:00 p.m. as preceded the original "Nine O'Clock News", followed by an announcement of the time in similar voice and, in parody, the announcement that this was "definitely "not" the Nine O'Clock News". Skits could include scenes such as a group of rural Americans at a barbecue singing several minutes of comical implausibles like "I'm prepared to believe that Nixon wasn't a crook; I'm prepared to believe "Love Story"'s a readable book..." and finally concluding, "I believe that the devil is ready to repent; – but I can't believe Ronald Reagan is president."


title: Not the Nine O'Clock News

text: The programme is credited with bringing alternative comedy to British television: Lloyd once commented he wanted to do a "modern, working-class" comedy in contrast to other series of the time, such as "The Two Ronnies", as well as attempting to replicate the satire boom of the early 1960s that launched the careers of John Cleese, Dudley Moore, Eric Idle, Tim Brooke-Taylor and others. This also happened at a time that the magazine "National Lampoon", "The Second City" troupes and "Saturday Night Live" became showcases of alternative comedy in North America.


title: Not the Nine O'Clock News

text: In 2005, Atkinson, Smith, Stephenson, Langham, and producer Lloyd reunited to talk to Sue MacGregor about the series. Langham's departure was touched upon, with Lloyd seeming to take the blame, though Atkinson had campaigned for Langham to be kept in the cast. (Langham actually refused to speak to his former cast-mates for a number of years after he was fired, until appearing as a regular on "Smith and Jones" in the 1990s). "The Reunion" was broadcast on Radio 4 on 31 July 2005.


title: Not the Nine O'Clock News

text: A documentary featuring the cast reminiscing about the making of the programme was shown on BBC 2 on 28 December 2009, before one of the 1995 compilation shows was aired (despite a "complete episode" being billed in television listings). The documentary was repeated on 3 August 2013, just over two weeks after the death of Smith.


title: Not the Nine O'Clock News

text: The main writers included Colin Bostock-Smith, Andy Hamilton, Peter Brewis, Richard Curtis, and Clive Anderson. However, the producers accepted scripts for sketches from a wide range of writers (including a then-undergraduate Stephen Fry), and ensured the programme remained topical by recording sketches only days before broadcast. Howard Goodall (subsequently composer of the theme music for "Blackadder", "Red Dwarf", and "The Vicar of Dibley") was musical director. Bill Wilson directed the first three series, while Geoff Posner handled the fourth.


title: Not the Nine O'Clock News

text: The series has rarely been repeated; eight re-cut and condensed (to make it "faster and funnier than ever") "episodes" made for a video edition in 1995 are shown instead. This is primarily because the original episodes in their entirety lampooned events that were in the news at the time. The last repeat of the show was on Sunday 27 March 2016 at 2:55am on Gold.


title: Not the Nine O'Clock News

text: Two highly edited VHS releases of the series, entitled "The Gorilla Kinda Lingers" and "Nice Video, Shame about the Hedgehog", were released in 1995.


title: Not the Nine O'Clock News

text: In August 2003, these videos were released on DVD under the title of "The Best of Not the Nine O'Clock News: Volume One", with "The Best of Not the Nine O'Clock News: Volume Two" following a year later. Both of these are available in one set, unavailable separately, in Region 1.


title: Not the Nine O'Clock News

text: Three vinyl albums were released at the time the series was screening, entitled "Not the Nine O'Clock News", "Hedgehog Sandwich", and "The Memory Kinda Lingers". These albums were very successful, with the first two both reaching the top ten of the UK albums chart, a rare feat for a spoken word album. "Hedgehog Sandwich" also peaked at number 89 in Australia.


title: Not the Nine O'Clock News

text: The original version of "The Memory Kinda Lingers" is a double LP. The second disc is titled "Not in Front of the Audience" and is a live recording of the cast's stage production. "Hedgehog Sandwich" and the first disc of "The Memory Kinda Lingers" were later combined on a BBC double-length cassette and double-CD set.


title: Not the Nine O'Clock News

text: "The Ayatollah Song" b/w "Gob on You" (as featured in the TV show) and "I Like Trucking" b/w "Supa Dupa" were also released as singles.


title: Not the Nine O'Clock News

text: The 1980 single "Typing Pool" by 'Pam and the Paper Clips' (EMI 5015), is variously ascribed to Pamela Stephenson and NtNON. It was in fact written by Roger and Nigel Planer, who were among the show's many writers.


title: Not the Nine O'Clock News

text: Three books were released to tie in with the series: "Not! The Nine O'Clock News", a collection of classic material rewritten and restructured as a parody of the short-lived magazine "Now!"; "Not the Royal Wedding" (the royal wedding in question being the marriage of Charles and Diana); and "Not the General Election", a tie-in with the 1983 general election. The first was reprinted in 1995 as "Not for Sale". "Not the Royal Wedding" was promoted by a little-known radio spin-off, "Not the Nuptials", transmitted on BBC Radio 1. The same station had also previously produced a behind-the-scenes documentary on "Not the Nine O'Clock News" as part of their magazine series "Studio B15".


title: Not the Nine O'Clock News

text: Two 'page-a-day' tear-off calendars, edited by John Lloyd and containing several contributions from Douglas Adams, were released in the early 1980s ("Not 1982" and "Not 1983"). Also published around this time was a spoof Orwellian edition of "The Times" newspaper, "Not the 1984 Times", which – although widely assumed to be – was not actually connected to the series.


title: V (Maroon 5 album)

text: V (Roman numeral for five) is the fifth studio album by American band Maroon 5. The album was released on August 29, 2014, through 222 and Interscope Records. "V" was Maroon 5's first album to be released through Interscope after the band's previous label, A&M Octone Records, transferred them along with most of its artists to Interscope. The album also saw the return of keyboardist/rhythm guitarist/backing vocalist Jesse Carmichael, after his absence from recording, touring and promoting the band's previous album, "Overexposed", which was released in 2012. It debuted at number one on the US "Billboard" 200 and produced with three hit singles, "Maps", "Animals", and "Sugar", peaking at numbers 6, 3 and 2 on the US "Billboard" Hot 100, respectively. A fourth single "This Summer's Gonna Hurt like a Motherfucker", was released on May 15, 2015, from the reissue deluxe edition of the album. "Feelings" was released as the album's fifth and final single on September 14, 2015.


title: V (Maroon 5 album)

text: In 2012, Maroon 5 released their fourth studio album "Overexposed". The record was released during a time of commercial momentum for the band following the success of "Moves like Jagger" (recorded with Christina Aguilera), a single which lead singer Adam Levine credited as having "revived the group", and the album's lead single, "Payphone", which became both a critical and commercial success. "Overexposed" was described by the band as their "most poppiest "[sic]" record to date", with critics giving the album mixed reviews upon its release.


title: V (Maroon 5 album)

text: "V" was recorded by the band at Conway Studios in downtown Los Angeles, California, over a year-long period from 2013 through to mid 2014. The recording sessions for "V" saw the band's keyboardist Jesse Carmichael return to the band after a two-year hiatus, which saw him absent during the recording and promotion for "Overexposed". The album also features a collaboration with Gwen Stefani called "My Heart Is Open", co-written with Australian singer Sia. Guitarist James Valentine, stated that the band has known Furler for a long time and working with her was "really cool".


title: V (Maroon 5 album)

text: The album cover for "V" was created by South Korean photographer Lee Jung. It features a 1.3m neon lighted crosstube formed in the shape of the roman numeral for five, the title of the album. The red neon display is placed in front of a reservoir in the Gyeonggi Province, with mountains in the background. The Maroon 5 logo appears out of focus in the background as a sign perched on the side of the mountain, similar to the famous Hollywood Sign. An alternate cover for the album was created by Indonesian graphic designer Bayo Gale (who won the band's alternate album cover art contest). It features the tiger's face with a shape of the letter V with a vertex at the bottom and the Maroon 5 logo.


title: V (Maroon 5 album)

text: Departing from then-active A&M Octone Records, the band signed with its related label, Interscope Records and frontman Levine's record label 222 Records to release the album. "V" was unveiled by the band and Interscope on May 19, 2014, slated for a release date of September 2, 2014, in the United States. Through a signed contract with Live Nation, the band had also announced that they are also set to embark on a world tour in late 2014 through to early 2015 in support of "V".


title: V (Maroon 5 album)

text: The artwork for "V" was unveiled through a series of five puzzle piece clues released daily through the band's Facebook page from July 17 through to July 21. After the series was completed, the album's artwork, in addition to its track listing, were unveiled on July 21, 2014. The album also includes a limited-edition of ZinePak. Moreover, to promote the album, Maroon 5 performed at the iHeartRadio Theater in Burbank, California on August 26, 2014 and on "The Today Show" (as part of the Toyota concert series) at Rockefeller Plaza in New York City, New York on September 1. Later, the band started the Maroon V Tour in February 2015 at venues mainly to take place in North America and Europe. The tour ended on May 12, 2018, in Zapopan, Mexico, comprising 136 shows.


title: V (Maroon 5 album)

text: "Maps" was released as the album's lead single on June 16, 2014. The song peaked at number 6 on the US "Billboard" Hot 100, giving the band their ninth top-ten hit in the country. "Maps" also reached the top-ten in an additional fourteen countries, including a peak of number 2 on the UK Singles Chart.


title: V (Maroon 5 album)

text: "Animals" was released as the album's second single on August 25, 2014. The song peaked at number 3 on the US "Billboard" Hot 100, giving the band their tenth top-ten hit in the country. The song also peaked within the top-ten in an additional ten countries, and has also sold in excess of 200,000 copies in the UK alone. Likewise with their previous single, "Animals" achieved platinum status in the US for sales exceeding 1,000,000 copies.


title: V (Maroon 5 album)

text: "Sugar" was released on January 13, 2015, as the album's third single. It is the most successful single from the album, reaching the top-ten in 24 countries, including number 6 in Australia, number 7 on the UK Singles Chart, and number two on the US "Billboard" Hot 100.


title: V (Maroon 5 album)

text: "This Summer's Gonna Hurt like a Motherfucker" was released on May 15, 2015, as the album's fourth single. Through it doesn’t appear on the standard edition, it is included on the album's reissue deluxe edition.


title: V (Maroon 5 album)

text: "Feelings" was sent to US contemporary hit and adult contemporary radio on September 14, 2015, served as the album's fifth and final single.


title: V (Maroon 5 album)

text: "It Was Always You" was released on July 29, 2014, as the first and only promotional single of the album. The song peaked at number 40 on the UK Singles Chart and number 45 on the US "Billboard" Hot 100.


title: V (Maroon 5 album)

text: The album received generally mixed reviews upon its release. On Metacritic, "V" received a weighted average score of 55/100 based on 12 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews". In a four-star review, Jon Dolan of "Rolling Stone" called the songs "precision-tuned and lustrously polished, jammed with hooks and choruses that build a man cave in your brain." Brian Mansfield of "USA Today" gave the album two and a half stars out of four, remarking the album was "easy to digest and contains all sorts of flavors while still being its own thing." In an 86 out of 100 review for "Billboard", Brad Wete argued the album "reveals that their foundation has not been removed." Writing on behalf of AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine rated the album three and a half stars out of five, praising the band for "[embracing] the tuneful, slightly soulful adult contemporary pop band they've always been".


title: V (Maroon 5 album)

text: In a mixed review, Kyle Anderson of "Entertainment Weekly" graded the album a C, suggesting Levine's songwriting didn't "live up to his ability to work a crowd." Writing for "The Guardian," Tim Jonze gave the album two out of five stars, dismissing it as "evidence as to why most people can't remember a Maroon 5 song two seconds after it finishes." In a two star review from "The Observer", Theo Leanse called the album "a gaudy chunk of over-produced electro-pop-rock", but noted its accessibility, saying it "flips a smug V-sign at us, knowing we'll never free its singles from our skulls." But, Kathy Iandoli of "Idolator" gave the album 4 out of 5 stars and called the album "lives up to that formula of big songs while never faltering, for better or for worse".


title: V (Maroon 5 album)

text: Evan Rytlewski gave a C+ review on behalf of "The A.V. Club" commenting the band "stayed hip", but only by "furnishing a too-perfect, soundstage ideal of whatever the kids are into these days." In the "New York Daily News", Jim Farber criticized the hooks on the album for being "so annoying, you won't be able to scrub them from your mind." Annie Galvin delivered a 5/10 review for PopMatters stating, "As far as lightweight, easy-listening charts pop goes, "V" doesn't totally offend the sensibilities, and that's surely more than can be said about some of Maroon 5's overly pandering, less exploratory 'pop-rock' peers."


title: V (Maroon 5 album)

text: In the United States, the album debuted at number one on the "Billboard" 200, with first week sales of 164,000 copies and earned their second US number-one album and their first since 2007's "It Won't Be Soon Before Long". As of August 2015, it has sold over one million copies in the US.


title: V (Maroon 5 album)

text: In Canada, the album also debuted at number one on the Canadian Albums Chart, with 15,000 copies sold for the week. In its second week, the album remained at number one with 7,700 copies.


title: The Scary of Sixty-First

text: The Scary of Sixty-First is an American horror thriller film directed by Dasha Nekrasova and written by Nekrasova and Madeline Quinn. It stars Betsey Brown, Quinn, Nekrasova and Mark Rapaport.


title: The Scary of Sixty-First

text: The film had its worldwide premiere at the 71st Berlin International Film Festival in the "Encounters" section, where it won the Best First Feature Award. In May 2021 it was announced that sales and distribution rights had been purchased by distributor Utopia and streaming service Shudder.


title: The Scary of Sixty-First

text: Noelle and Addie are young adults who are viewing an apartment on the Upper East Side. Despite peculiar elements of the apartment, including abandoned furnishings and a suspicious realtor, the two move in. On their first evening there, Noelle finds a tarot card, while Addie is plagued by nightmares.


title: The Scary of Sixty-First

text: A mysterious girl shows up at the apartment, having previously been spotted by Noelle and Addie looking inside from the street. Initially posing as a realtor, she reveals that she is there to investigate notorious sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. She believes that the apartment was previously owned by Epstein, and suggests that crimes, including child prostitution and murder, may have taken place there. Noelle and the girl begin to obsessively research conspiracy theories surrounding Epstein's death and his alleged activities, and eventually begin a romantic relationship. Meanwhile, Addie becomes psychologically disturbed, seemingly as a result of living in the apartment. She wanders the streets of New York in a daze. During sex with her boyfriend Greg, she asks him to pretend they are on Epstein's 'Lolita Express' private plane, and engages in ageplay, demanding Greg to treat her like she is 13 years old in a voice that is not her own; she has no memory of the events immediately afterward. She also masturbates to images of Prince Andrew, who was an associate of Epstein's, while dressing and behaving childishly.


title: The Scary of Sixty-First

text: Noelle and the girl's research reveals two other Epstein properties five blocks away from the apartment on either side; Noelle suggests a connection to the pentagram. The girl reveals that she also found a tarot card, this one in Addie's bedroom. The two visit a 'magical apothecary' to discover the meaning behind the cards, whose owner warns them to leave the apartment immediately and gives them an obsidian crystal for protection. They return to the apartment to find Addie, still seemingly entranced and sexually obsessed with Prince Andrew. Noelle and the girl visit the Metropolitan Correctional Center where Epstein died, only to find Addie there, dressed similarly to a young girl pictured in a photo with Epstein. The two meet Greg at his work and learn the story of the bizarre sexual encounter between him and Addie.


title: The Scary of Sixty-First

text: The girl suggests that Addie is a victim of CIA mind control experiments, similar to Project MKUltra. Describing Addie as a 'liability', the girl implies that she should be killed, which Noelle angrily rejects. The girl returns to the apartment to find the door chained shut, and evidence of Addie's masturbatory activities. She flees to the apartment's basement to find Addie before a large poster of The Sun tarot card, which includes depictions of nude children. When she discovers the girl's presence, Addie knocks her unconscious and begins to abuse her physically and sexually. She is interrupted by the arrival of Noelle, who kills her by stabbing her repeatedly with a knife. She returns to the apartment to meet the realtor who first showed them the apartment; their conversation implies that Addie's death was a planned part of a Satanic ritual.


title: The Scary of Sixty-First

text: The girl regains consciousness and finds Noelle in the apartment. Noelle attacks her and attempts to kill her, but the girl fights back, bashing Noelle's skull with the obsidian crystal. She flees to Greg's workplace, but when the two return together, the apartment and the basement are empty and clean, with no bodies or evidence of a struggle. Greg leaves angrily. The girl returns to the apartment to find an anonymous note, telling her that the events she experienced are a warning for her to give up her investigations.


title: The Scary of Sixty-First

text: On Rotten Tomatoes, 55% of 42 critics' reviews were positive, with an average rating of 6/10. The site's critics consensus reads, "It's hard not to admire its often ungainly attempts to achieve its ambitions, but "The Scary of Sixty-First" is a horror provocation that disappoints as often as it thrills."


title: The Scary of Sixty-First

text: Christian Blauvelt of IndieWire praised the film as "thrilling and unforgettable", drawing comparisons to "Eyes Wide Shut" (1999), 1970s thrillers and the works of Roman Polanski.


title: Sharif Atkins

text: Sharif Atkins (born January 29, 1975) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Dr. Michael Gallant on "ER" and for his role as FBI Agent Clinton Jones on "White Collar".


title: Sharif Atkins

text: Atkins was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and grew up in Chicago, Illinois. He earned his bachelor's degree in theatre/speech from Northwestern University in 1997. While at Northwestern in 1996, Atkins was initiated as a member of the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity (Theta Chapter). In 1998, he studied at the Los Angeles Performing Arts Conservatory (formerly PDAC), before getting his start in film and television.


title: Sharif Atkins

text: He gained fame for his role as Dr. Michael Gallant, a character that debuted in the eighth season (2001) of the NBC medical drama "ER". He left "ER" after the 2003-2004 season. In 2004, he went on to star in the short-lived police drama "Hawaii" as former Chicago Police Department Detective John Declan, who transferred to an elite crime unit of the Honolulu Police Department. Atkins continued to make guest appearances in both the 2004-2005 and 2005-2006 seasons of "ER", with his character returning on leave from duty in Iraq as a U.S. Army physician. His character was killed in Iraq at the end of the 2005-06 season. Atkins also portrayed the recurring character Gary Navarro in the acclaimed series "The 4400". Navarro is a telepath. In 2005 Sharif played in the tv sitcom "Eve". He played Shelly's boyfriend Grant.


title: Sharif Atkins

text: He has appeared as Assistant United States Attorney Rivers in the CBS drama "The Good Wife". In 2009 he appeared in season 4, episode 25 of "Criminal Minds" - "To Hell..." as Sgt. William Hightower. Atkins has also guest-starred in season 8 of "".


title: Male submission

text: Male submission or malesub is a situation in BDSM and other sexual activities in which the submissive partner is male. A woman who dominates a male submissive is referred to as a dominant, domme (feminine form of "dominant") or dominatrix. Sexual activity between a male submissive and a dominatrix is referred to as femdom. A 2015 study indicates that 46.6% of men who are active in BDSM expressed a preference for a submissive role, 24% consider themselves to be switches and 29.5% prefer the dominant role.


title: Male submission

text: Male submission in BDSM can take many different forms and include a variety of activities, including cock and ball torture, forced feminization, chastity, cuckoldry, erotic humiliation, facesitting, golden showers, pegging, foot fetishism, and clothed female, naked male.


title: Male submission

text: During the 18th century, some European brothels began specializing in restraint, and flagellation, as well as other activities which involved female domination and male submission.


title: Shiraz wine

text: Shiraz wine refers to two different wines. Historically, the name refers to the wine produced around the city of Shiraz in present-day Iran. In the current era, "Shiraz" is an alternative name for the Syrah grape, mostly used in Australia and South Africa. The modern "Shiraz" grape is identical to Syrah and originated in southeast France with no established connection to the city of Shiraz.


title: Shiraz wine

text: By the ninth century, the city of Shiraz had established a reputation for producing the finest wine in the world, and was Iran's wine capital. The export of Shiraz wine by European merchants in the 17th century has been documented. As described by enthusiastic English and French travellers to the region in the 17th to 19th centuries, the wine grown close to the city was of a more dilute character due to irrigation, while the best Shiraz wines were actually grown in terraced vineyards around the village of Khollar. These wines were white and existed in two different styles: dry wines for drinking young, and sweet wines meant for aging. The latter wines were compared to "an old sherry" (one of the most prized European wines of the day), and at five years of age were said to have a fine bouquet and nutty flavour. The dry white Shiraz wines (but not the sweet ones) were fermented with significant stem contact, which should have made these wines rich in tannins.


title: Shiraz wine

text: While travellers have described the wines as white, there seem to be no ampelographic descriptions of the vines or grapes. Marco Polo made mention of the wine, and other classical accounts describe vines trained by pulleys and weights to grow up one side of a house and down another.


title: Shiraz wine

text: The British poet Edward FitzGerald later translated the "Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam" from Persian language, in which praise is heaped on the Shiraz wines.


title: Shiraz wine

text: In modern Iran, Shiraz wine cannot be produced legally due to the prohibition of alcohol in Islam. Before the Islamic Revolution in 1979, there were up to 300 wineries in Iran; now there are none. As a whole, Iran is no longer a wine-producing country, but Iranian Christians are legally allowed to ferment wine.


title: Shiraz wine

text: Despite the name, there is no proven connection between the city of Shiraz and the modern-day red grape variety "Shiraz", planted in Australia, South Africa, Argentina, Canada, the United States, and some other countries. The modern Shiraz grape, now known to be identical to the Syrah grape, was brought to Australia by James Busby, the father of Australian wine. Busby travelled through Spain and France collecting vine cuttings that were the foundation of the Australian wine industry.


title: Alexandru Ioan Cuza

text: Alexandru Ioan Cuza (, or Alexandru Ioan I, also anglicised as Alexander John Cuza; 20 March 1820 – 15 May 1873) was the first "domnitor" (Ruler) of the Romanian Principalities through his double election as prince of Moldavia on 5 January 1859 and prince of Wallachia on 24 January 1859, which resulted in the unification of both states. He was a prominent figure of the Revolution of 1848 in Moldavia. Following his double election, he initiated a series of reforms that contributed to the modernization of Romanian society and of state structures.


title: Alexandru Ioan Cuza

text: As ruler of the Romanian Principalities, he supported a political and diplomatic activity for the recognition of the union of Moldavia and Wallachia by the suzerain Ottoman Empire and achieved constitutional and administrative unity between Moldavia and Wallachia in 1862, when the Romanian Principalities officially adopted the name "Romanian United Principalities" with a single capital at Bucharest, a single national assembly and a single government.


title: Alexandru Ioan Cuza

text: Alexandru's reform policies alienated a large coalition of conservatives and radical liberals, for the most part landowners and business owners. On 22 February 1866, he was forced to abdicate and leave the country. Today, he is often considered one of the founders of the modern Romanian state and a national hero of Romania.


title: Alexandru Ioan Cuza

text: Born in Bârlad, Cuza belonged to the traditional boyar class in Moldavia, being the son of Ispravnic Ioan Cuza (who was also a landowner in Fălciu County) and his wife Sultana (or Soltana), a member of the Cozadini family of Greek Phanariote origins. Alexander received an urbane European education, being educated at Jassy, Pavia, Bologna and Athens; and, after a brief period of military service, visiting Paris from 1837 to 1840 for a further course of study. becoming an officer in the Moldavian Army and rising to the rank of colonel. He married Elena Rosetti in 1844.


title: Alexandru Ioan Cuza

text: During the Europe-wide Revolutions of 1848, Moldavia and Wallachia fell into revolt. The Moldavian unrest was quickly suppressed, but in Wallachia the revolutionaries took power and governed during the summer. Young Cuza played a prominent enough part to establish his liberal credentials. He was shipped to Vienna as a prisoner, where he made his escape with British support.


title: Alexandru Ioan Cuza

text: Returning during the reign of Prince Grigore Alexandru Ghica, he became Moldavia's minister of war in 1858; he also represented Galați in the ad hoc Divan at Iași. Cuza was acting freely under the guarantees of the European Powers in the eve of the Crimean War for recognition of a Prince of Moldavia. Cuza was a prominent speaker in the debates and strongly advocated the union of Moldavia and Wallachia. In default of a foreign prince, he was nominated as a candidate in both principalities by the pro-unionist Partida Națională (profiting of an ambiguity in the text of the Treaty of Paris). Cuza was finally elected as Prince of Moldavia on 17 January 1859 (5 January Julian) and, after "street pressure" changed the vote in Bucharest, also Prince of Wallachia, on 5 February 1859 (24 January Julian), effectively uniting both principalities. He received the firman from the Sultan on 2 December 1861 during a visit to Istanbul.


title: Alexandru Ioan Cuza

text: He was a recipient of the Order of Medjidie, Order of Osmanieh, Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus, and Order of the Redeemer.


title: Alexandru Ioan Cuza

text: Although he and his wife Elena Rosetti had no children, she raised as her own children his two sons by his mistress Elena Maria Catargiu-Obrenović: Alexandru Al. Ioan Cuza (1864–1889), and Dimitrie Cuza (1865–1888 "suicide").


title: Alexandru Ioan Cuza

text: Thus Cuza achieved a de facto union of the two principalities. The Powers backtracked, Napoleon III of France remaining supportive, while the Austrian ministry withheld approval of such a union at the Congress of Paris (18 October 1858); partly as a consequence, Cuza's authority was not recognized by his nominal suzerain, Abdülaziz, the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, until 23 December 1861. Even then, the union was only accepted for the duration of Cuza's rule.


title: Alexandru Ioan Cuza

text: The union was formally declared three years later, on 5 February 1862, (24 January Julian), the new country bearing the name of Romania, with Bucharest as its capital city.


title: Alexandru Ioan Cuza

text: Cuza invested his diplomatic actions in gaining further concessions from the Powers: the sultan's assent to a single unified parliament and cabinet for Cuza's lifetime, in recognition of the complexity of the task. Thus, he was regarded as the political embodiment of a unified Romania.


title: Alexandru Ioan Cuza

text: Assisted by his councilor Mihail Kogălniceanu, an intellectual leader of the 1848 revolution, Cuza initiated a series of reforms that contributed to the modernization of Romanian society and of state structures.


title: Alexandru Ioan Cuza

text: His first measure addressed a need for increasing the land resources and revenues available to the state, by nationalizing monastic estates in 1863. Probably more than a quarter of Romania's farmland was controlled by untaxed Eastern Orthodox "Dedicated monasteries", which supported Greek and other foreign monks in shrines such as Mount Athos and Jerusalem, presenting a substantial drain on state revenues. Cuza got his parliament's backing to expropriate these lands.


title: Alexandru Ioan Cuza

text: During the secularization of the Antiochian Metochion in Bucharest, Cuza exiled its proistamenos the Metropolitan Ioannikios of Palmyra and arrested its hegumen Seraphim, later Metropolitan of Irenopolis in Isauria. He offered compensation to the Greek Orthodox Church, but Sophronius III, the Patriarch of Constantinople, refused to negotiate; after several years, the Romanian government withdrew its offer and no compensation was ever paid. State revenues thereby increased without adding any domestic tax burden.


title: Alexandru Ioan Cuza

text: The land reform, liberating peasants from the last corvées, freeing their movements and redistributing some land (1864), was less successful. In attempting to create a solid support base among the peasants, Cuza soon found himself in conflict with the group of Conservatives. A liberal bill granting peasants title to the land they worked was defeated. Then the Conservatives responded with a bill that ended all peasant dues and responsibilities, but gave landlords title to all the land. Cuza vetoed it, then held a plebiscite to alter the Paris Convention (the virtual constitution), in the manner of Napoleon III.


title: Alexandru Ioan Cuza

text: His plan to establish universal manhood suffrage, together with the power of the Domnitor to rule by decree, passed by a vote of 682,621 to 1,307. He consequently governed the country under the provisions of "Statutul dezvoltător al Convenției de la Paris" ("Statute expanding the Paris Convention"), an organic law adopted on 15 July 1864. With his new plenary powers, Cuza then promulgated the Agrarian Law of 1863. Peasants received title to the land they worked, while landlords retained ownership of one third. Where there was not enough land available to create workable farms under this formula, state lands (from the confiscated monasteries) would be used to give the landowners compensation.


title: Alexandru Ioan Cuza

text: Despite the attempts by Lascăr Catargiu's cabinet to force a transition in which some corvées were to be maintained, Cuza's reform marked the disappearance of the boyar class as a privileged group, and led to a channeling of energies into capitalism and industrialization; at the same time, however, land distributed was still below necessities, and the problem became stringent over the following decades – as peasants reduced to destitution sold off their land or found that it was insufficient for the needs of their growing families.


title: Alexandru Ioan Cuza

text: Cuza's reforms also included the adoption of the Criminal Code and the Civil Code based on the Napoleonic code (1864), a Law on Education, establishing tuition-free, compulsory public education for primary schools (1864; the system, nonetheless, suffered from drastic shortages in allocated funds; illiteracy was eradicated about 100 years later, during the communist regime). He founded the University of Iași (1860) and the University of Bucharest (1864), and helped develop a modern, European-style Romanian Army, under a working relationship with France. He is the founder of the Romanian Naval Forces.


title: Alexandru Ioan Cuza

text: Cuza failed in his effort to create an alliance of prosperous peasants and a strong liberal prince, ruling as a benevolent authoritarian in the style of Napoleon III. Having to rely on a decreasing group of hand-picked bureaucrats, Cuza began facing a mounting opposition after his land reform bill, with liberal landowners voicing concerns over his ability to represent their interests. Along with financial distress, there was an awkward scandal that revolved around his mistress, Maria Catargiu-Obrenović, and popular discontent culminated in a coup d'état.


title: Alexandru Ioan Cuza

text: Cuza was forced to abdicate by the so-called "monstrous coalition" of Conservatives and Liberals. At four o'clock on the morning of 11 February 1866, a group of military conspirators broke into the palace, and compelled the prince to sign his abdication. On the following day they conducted him safely across the border.


title: Alexandru Ioan Cuza

text: His successor, Prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, was proclaimed Domnitor as Carol I of Romania on 20 April 1866. The election of a foreign prince with ties to an important princely house, legitimizing Romanian independence (which Carol came to do after the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878), had been one of the liberal aims in the revolution of 1848.


title: Alexandru Ioan Cuza

text: Despite the participation of Ion Brătianu and other future leaders of the Liberal Party in the overthrow of Cuza, he remained a hero to the radical and republican wing, who, as Francophiles, had an additional reason to oppose a Prussian monarch; anti-Carol riots in Bucharest during the Franco-Prussian War ("see History of Bucharest") and the coup attempt known as the Republic of Ploiești in August 1870, the conflict was eventually resolved by the compromise between Brătianu and Carol, with the arrival of a prolonged and influential Liberal cabinet.


title: Alexandru Ioan Cuza

text: Cuza spent the remainder of his life in exile, chiefly in Paris, Vienna and Wiesbaden, accompanied by his wife and his two sons. He died in Heidelberg on 15 May 1873. His remains were buried in his residence in Ruginoasa, but were moved to the Trei Ierarhi Cathedral in Iași after World War II.


title: Vera Brittain

text: Vera Mary Brittain (29 December 1893 – 29 March 1970) was an English Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) nurse, writer, feminist, socialist and pacifist. Her best-selling 1933 memoir "Testament of Youth" recounted her experiences during the First World War and the beginning of her journey towards pacifism.


title: Vera Brittain

text: Born in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Brittain was the daughter of a well-to-do paper manufacturer, (Thomas) Arthur Brittain (1864–1935) and his wife, Edith Mary (Bervon) Brittain (1868–1948). Her father was a director of family-owned paper mills in Hanley and Cheddleton. Her mother was born in Aberystwyth, Wales, the daughter of an impoverished musician, John Inglis Bervon.


title: Vera Brittain

text: When she was 18 months old, her family moved to Macclesfield, Cheshire, and ten years later, in 1905, they moved again, to the spa town of Buxton in Derbyshire. Growing up, her only sibling, her brother Edward, nearly two years her junior, was her closest companion. From the age of 13, she attended boarding school at St Monica's, Kingswood, Surrey where her mother's sister, Aunt Florence (Miss Bervon) was co-principal with Louise Heath-Jones, who had attended Newnham College, Cambridge.


title: Vera Brittain

text: After two years as a 'provincial debutante', Brittain overcame her father's objections and went up to Somerville College, Oxford to read English Literature. By this time war had broken out and Brittain had become close to one of her brother's friends from Uppingham School, Roland Leighton. Finding her Oxford studies increasingly an irrelevance as her male contemporaries volunteered for war, she delayed her degree after one year in the summer of 1915 to work as a Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) nurse for much of the First World War. She served initially at the Devonshire Hospital in Buxton, and later in London, Malta and in France where she was stationed close to the front at Etaples and where she nursed German prisoners of war, a significant staging post on her journey towards internationalism and onto pacifism.


title: Vera Brittain

text: Roland Leighton, who became her fiancé in August 1915, close friends Victor Richardson and Geoffrey Thurlow, and finally her brother Edward were all killed in the war. Many of their letters to each other are reproduced in the book "Letters from a Lost Generation". In one letter Leighton speaks for his generation of public school volunteers when he writes that he feels the need to play an "active part" in the war.


title: Vera Brittain

text: Returning to Oxford in 1919 to read history, Brittain found it difficult as 'a war survivor' to adjust to life in postwar society. She met Winifred Holtby at Somerville, and a close friendship developed. They both aspired to become established on the London literary scene, and shared various London flats after coming down from Oxford. Eventually Holtby would become part of the Brittain-Catlin household after Brittain's marriage. The bond lasted until Holtby's death from kidney failure in 1935. Other literary contemporaries at Somerville included: Dorothy L. Sayers, Hilda Reid, Margaret Kennedy and Sylvia Thompson.